I haven't been very good about monthly updates lately, so I'll do a recap for 15 months. We took Matthew & Claire for their 15 month check up and vaccinations. Matthew is 23 lbs 8 oz and 32 inches tall. He is in the 25th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. Claire weighs 21 lbs and is 31 inches tall. She is in the 10th percentile for weight and 50~75th percentile for height. Both of them are doing great!
We gave up bottles about a month after they turned one and we're on to just sippy cups for milk and juice. Eating has become a little bit of a challenge, they were really good about eating baby food purees, but now that we're on to all solids, they're starting to be a little pickier. They do really good with fruit and yogurt, but vegetables are kind of a challenge. I'm trying to give them as many veggies as I can, hoping they'll start eating them more consistently. Some of their favorite foods are: waffles, chicken pieces, tater tots, mixed fruit cups, yogurt, cucumbers, and tomatos. There are a few others that I can't think of right now. We recently tried giving them ice cream as a treat, they loved it (who doesn't???). They were pushing each other out of the way to be the one that got the next bite (awesome parenting!!).
It's been nice out lately, so we've been able to take them outside to play. They enjoy running around the yard and are pretty independent. I think we'll have a nice summer ahead of us where they can really enjoy being out in the warm weather. Our newest activity is swimming lessons, which start tonight so I'll have to post an update on how that goes!
Matthew:
Matthew is very proficient at walking now and even runs quite a bit. He loves to play outside, in fact he throws a pretty sweet temper tantrum when it's time to go in. (We're working on this issue) He loves toys with wheels and has a fascination with the vacuum. He's pretty close to being able to open up the doors (we have the lever door handles at home), so my current project is putting safety features on the doors to the basement and outside. He loves to run around giggling, it's pretty funny when he gets into a laughing fit.
Matthew says a few new words, including "up" & "baby". There are a few more but those are the ones he says most often. He can put shapes in the shape sorter (with a little coaching) and is really good at putting the big plastic coins in the toy piggy bank. Matthew likes to have books read to him, he really points to everything on the pages. He'll also turn the book right-side up if you hand it to him upside down. He loves to dance (aka stomp his feet and spin in circles) when some of the toys play music. He likes doing pat-a-cake all by himself, he rolls his arms and claps along if you sing it for him. He can climb up the stairs and is getting pretty good at climbing back down. I'm not ready to let him have a free for all with the stairs, yet, since he still forgets that it's a long way down.
Claire:
Claire is walking all over and even tries to run a little to keep up with Matthew. She enjoys playing outside, she laughs hysterically at the dog as he runs circles around her. Claire likes to have books read to her; she'll bring them to you one after another, but likes to turn the pages by herself. If she's playing by herself, sometimes she'll sit down and "read" to herself. She likes to sing and dance, I'm pretty sure she's trying to sing itsy bitsy spider but I can't quite tell, yet. She can put a hat on her head and take it off by herself. She is trying to help me dress and undress her; she'll hold up one arm at a time or take her own shirt off from around her neck with a little help.
Claire says a lot of new words including: "rock-rock", "tickle, tickle, tickle", "spider", "eye", "hat", "hi", "up". There are a few more that I can't think of right now. She can put shapes in the shape sorter, coins in the piggy bank and balls in the toy rain gutter on the side of their playhouse. Claire can do pat-a-cake by herself and will do all the motions to Itsy, Bitsy Spider if you sing it for her. She repeats "spider" as she makes the hand motions. She is really good at climbing the stairs and is learning to climb down the stairs.
Matthew has 14 teeth, I think he's only missing 2 on the bottom and he'll have a whole set. Claire has 12 teeth. They are really good about letting me brush their teeth after their bath at night.
Here are some recent photos (I couldn't wrestle the pacifier from Matthew since it was getting close to bath time/bedtime):
