The 18th month...

Well since my last post we have all finally managed to stay well. Thank goodness! It's so hard to care for sick babies and yourself. Anyway, these past few weeks have been busy. We made a trip down to Willard to visit Seth's family. We had a good visit, although Emily and Savannah's sleep schedule got a little out of normal. It took a few days for them to adjust back.

We've been going to a Gymboree class for the girls on Thursdays. The class has directed activities along with the opportunity to just explore the equipment freely. Both Savannah and Emily just seem to be more comfortable watching everything that is going on, rather than participating. They have seemed to gain some more climbing skills from being on all of the equipment. They love the slides and are really focused on going up and down the stairs. The hardest part for me is getting to and from the car. We did discover a smaller side parking lot around the backside of the building, so that has helped with the "wandering toddler" impulse--not so much danger there as there was in the big parking lot. I'm working with the girls on holding my hand anytime we are out of the car and not in the stroller. They do alright most of the time, although this last week Savannah wanted to do some parking lot exploring while I was putting Emily into her car seat. I finally had to put Savannah in the floorboard just to keep her with me until I could get her into her seat.

New things the girls are doing now include doing the actions to the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" song, trying to sing the "ABC's" song, speaking in 2-3 word phrases, building block towers, and helping mommy pick up toys and putting them away in baskets or on the toy shelf. Emily is really trying hard to sing the ABC's. Everyday she gets in a few more letters. Seth has been playing his guitar for the girls and singing that song along with several other songs. Both girls seem to really enjoy it when Seth does that.

Oh yah, another new thing is that Savannah has been assisting Emily down the stairs to their little slide/climber. It started last week when I was busy on the phone and Emily wanted help getting down the steps (she likes to try to walk down like a big girl instead of crawl) and so she kept reaching out to me and finally Savannah walked over and took Emily's hand and helped her get down the two steps of the climber. I thought that was neat. Since then it has happened several more times.

This month we are working on getting the girls to learn how to drink from a regular cup without a lid or straw. They never have used a straw before, so I don't know what they would think of that, but the Parents As Teachers info along with the info sheet from our doctor say 18 months is a good time to do this. So, nightly we poor small amounts of water into open cups and allow the girls to drink...or soak themselves. Savannah seems to be getting the hang of it much faster than Emily, but she is so focused tips the cup slowly so I think that helps. Emily doesn't have as much patience for the regular cup right now. She seems to dump the whole amount of water into her face as soon as she gets the cup or she gets interested in the water and ends up dumping the water all over her tray or bib. She'll eventually get it, I know, but for now she ends up soaking wet from neck to knee.

Difficulties this month are their resistance to many things. Savannah's favorite word is "no", which is normal. Emily doesn't say "no" quite as often, but physically she gets really resistant--sometimes almost combative. Teeth brushing is one of the most challenging parts to my day. The girls mainly chew on the tooth brush or try to brush their hair with it. I am using a timer so that they will know when it's mommy's turn to help brush their teeth. They really put up a fight, kicking, twisting, crying, yelling, hitting. It's a major wrestling match! By the time we are done, I am usually sweating a bit and feeling very frustrated. Another difficult part of life these days is the girls' desire to be into everything and to have or gain access to everything. I'm finding myself running out of things to block them with. I recently purchased another gait so that we can block off part of the basement so they can play while I use the computer or try to exercise--although the latter doesn't really happen because I have to stop so often to intervene in many fighting/biting occurences between the two girls. Lastly, both Emily and Savannah gave up one of their two naps all at once! Now I really feel like I have no time to myself and it's extremely hard to get anything done around the house. I am looking forward to warmer weather so we can play outside and go for walks--then I can get my exercise in while the girls enjoy a stroller ride in the park. I must say the last few days have been the most trying for me--the girls are so demanding of my attention and aren't always getting along so I feel like I have to sit with them every second they are awake just to refer or entertain. Somethings's gotta give or I will go crazy! We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

Until then...