Almost 18 months old

Carl and Ella are now almost 18 months old.

Best of Friends? Or Not?

Recently we've been seeing some nice signs of love between them, with Ella randomly going over to Carl and putting her arms round him for a cuddle and Carl stroking Ella with a smile on his face. These gestures are not always welcome or reciprocated and often we find one shoving the other away or snatching things out of each other's hands which ends up with at least one in tears most of the time. They do now recognise the command 'Kiss Mummy' and 'Cuddle Daddy' etc. so we sometimes tell them to cuddle each other and it's so adorable to watch.

Quite often in the mornings after breakfast when I'm busy clearing up in the kitchen (and trying to have my own breakfast) I hear the most adorable chuckles and giggles from them. They seem to spend this time really well together, playing together and having rough and tumble games on the sofa with each other. Sometimes I stay outside and watch them on the monitor as it's so entertaining. I know that the minute I go into the room, they'll stop and play with me or separately so it can be nice to deliberately stay away and observe discreetly.

Jealousy

Ella in particular can show strong jealousy at times. Occasionally it's directed to Carl but that tends to be if she's feeling under the weather and she wants to sit on my lap and wants him off it.Recently though at some playgroups I've held someone else's younger baby and Ella's come over and tugged at the baby's arm in a really aggressive way and got very angry that her mummy is holding another baby. Carl doesn't tend to do this but he can be quite possessive over certain toys and get very angry with Ella for playing with them.

Walking/Running/Bouncing/Clambering/Walking backwards/Spinning round

They do all of the above! Both Carl and Ella have decided that running is far preferable to walking. This in turn keeps me very busy and my Fitbit is thriving. We have been experimenting a little with reins recently for times when I am going somewhere from the car so not too far but where vehicles may be. Carl walks wonderfully on the reins with me but Ella gets very upset when she feels the restriction. Perseverance is the key.We have Little Life backpacks with reins but they aren't yet steady enough for those yet so we're using special twin reins which are really versatile and can attach as one or as two reins, by handle or by waist belt for hands free. Fantastic when getting one out of a car with one on the ground. 

Ella has learned to spin round and round on the spot to make herself dizzy. She finds this hilarious as she falls over. She also likes to line herself up in front of me and walk backwards to end up between my legs for a cuddle. Carl will copy Ella after she has done this but he doesn't tend to do it of his own accord at other times.

Rough and tumble clambering plays a large part in their lives at the moment. Most often it's enjoyed by both but of course sometimes it gets a bit too rough. Soft play outings help them release the energy they have when we can get there.

They have started following some commands so we play a game where I say an action and we all do it e.g. "Up"and we stretch up high. "Down" and we touch the ground "Turn Around" is as you'd expect and "Dance" sees them swaying from side to side.

New Shoes / Wellies

They now have their 2nd pair of shoes (1st pair of proper walkers). Carl is 4.5E and Ella is 4E. We managed to buy these at the right time as it was Twin discount weekend at Clarks. They've also now got a pair of wellies each so we are ready for Peppa Pig's muddy puddles. They love to collect their own shoes and coats and bring them to me when I say it's time to go outside. They know their routines so well now that they let me know if I've forgotten anything!

Clothing Sizes / Hair

We are just getting ready to start wearing 18-24 month tops. I think Ella still has a while to go before she grows out of 12-18 trousers. Carl has been wearing 9-12 month trousers for a long time now but they seem to fit well so that may continue a while longer.

Ella's hair has been getting long. This is an after bath photo.

It was a battle for ages to get her to keep hair clips or bobbles in. Either she or Carl would pull them out immediately. Recently though she is happy to have a bobble in and even Carl doesn't bother trying to get to it although he still goes straight for the hair clip if we try to use one of those.

Carl's fringe gets cut by Mummy as and when needed.

They are both starting to look so grown up. Where have my babies gone?

Communication

We've been keeping an eye on their linguistic development since the Health Visitor mentioned it as an issue around their 1st birthday and it is apparently very common with twins. She also said to account for their prematurity with their speech development but that there is a wide variety in age that children begin saying words. Ella has always been very vocal in her babbling so we haven't worried too much.

Carl has graduated from 'Pia pia pia' to 'Daddy daddy daddy' but he uses it for everything! We have lots of 'da' from him when he wants to show us something but he is very good at getting his message across to us through his body language. He's also very patient and will repeat it again and again if we don't understand the first time. He will point to the box of tissues to ask for his nose to be blown, to the remote control and dance to ask for his favourite DVD of songs to  be put on and this last week he has continually pointed to his nappy, walked over to the nappy changing station and held his hands up to be picked up after he has done a poo. Proud Mummy! 

Ella is using starting sounds so will say 'd d' when she sees a dog and 'b b' when she sees birds. Her first two syllable word may well be 'Peppa' as she seems to say it perfectly when she sees Peppa Pig on TV or on her pyjamas etc. She's less patient than Carl and if we can't understand what she wants from us, she tends to whine or cry. Speaking of Peppa Pig, we went to a birthday party at the weekend where Peppa Pig herself made an appearance. I have never seen such a look of awe struck amazement as the look on Carl's face. Ella just wanted Peppa cuddles. It was wonderful to see. 

Books/Toys

Ella loves flicking through books and can often be found sitting quietly flicking through books on the floor. She loves touch and feel books and lift the flap books the most. Whenever possible she will point at a word and wait for us to say its name and this is really paying off as she is learning them very well. Her vocabulary awareness is high and often surprises me. I'll say something like 'Where's the rabbit? and she'll go and pick it out from all the soft toys purely from me saying 'rabbit' on the pages of a book.

Carl's favourite toy recently has been his plastic football. He brings it to us to throw and then he follows it. Sometimes he will throw or kick it himself too but following it is the most fun. If we go anywhere where they have a baby walker he will still make a beeline for it but is also showing more interest in other ride on toys too. He can get quite obsessive over one toy and hang on to it all day long. When we were at a friend's house last week he took a liking to a toy broom and carried it around the whole afternoon. Here's a picture of him trying to brush Ella's hair with it.

It was awful trying to get him to part with it when we left to the extent that they suggested we take it home with us. We managed to get him to stop full blown screaming eventually :-(

We've started introducing pretend play games and they're beginning to get the hang of it e.g. pretending to drink tea from the teacups poured by the teapot etc. They pretend to wash their hands in the fake sink in the kitchen of their playhouse. They are big fans of the play kitchen at nursery and playgroups too.

The Garden

It's been lovely being out in the garden since the weather has been improving.We are planning to extend the grass area in April once the threat of frost is over but for now we are using the main area of the garden.

They have a new playhouse and picnic table, some ride ons, a slide and a seesaw to keep them busy but mainly Carl likes to collect stones (Macca Pacca style) and Ella likes to pull leaves off flowers! It's lovely seeing them rock on the see saw together though.

It's so much easier to fill short blocks of time in the garden rather than always being in the house. 

Nanny's Sleepover

Mummy and Daddy had a well deserved break in February and Carl and Ella had Nanny Maureen over for a sleepover. I think everyone enjoyed the experience and we've been wondering how long is polite to wait before asking Nanny to do it again!!

New Adventures

Donkeys & other animals

We visited another farm park recently in Bucklebury, home of the Middletons and Chris Tarrant, both of whose houses were pointed out proudly to us by the guide who was supposed to be showing us the deer! The deer were amazing and we were up very close with them. Neither Carl or Ella were afraid but they were much more happy to sit holding onto me rather than throw feed to the deer like the older children were doing.

We went there with two friends and their children, Sharon and her almost 3 year old quads, James, Joshua, Emily and Lauren and Helen with Hugo who is a little older than Carl and Ella and the very recently born Lydia who was an angel and slept through the experience.

Ella was teething quite badly that day and was fairly grumpy unlike Carl who loved petting all the little rabbits and guinea pigs etc. Ella finally reached out to pet a donkey only for it to bite her. Cue Mummy panicking and a fantastically calm reaction from Girl Guide Helen with her amazingly stocked first aid kit.

Pony rides

This morning we went for a 'pony introduction' to one of the stables at the bottom of our road on Ham Island. They have a beautiful pony who loves being stroked and having his hair brushed by little people.

The children were allowed to do all that and sit on him, whatever they wanted and were comfortable with.

Carl sat on for a bit but was happier brushing his hair. Ella was braver and sat on him more often and for longer. She was even quite happy to sit on him while he walked very slowly around the field.

Dan and I also loved the whole experience. It was quite something to see them enjoying being around different animals.

Musical experiences

Not quite a formal lesson but here's a picture of Ella having her first go at playing piano, nobly aided by Cousin Katie in her best Japanese outfit following the tea ceremony! 

Almost 18 months...

Their different personalities are more and more evident as time goes on. It's a joy to watch. We are really enjoying this age, yet we have probably said that at every age so far. Someone once said to me when they were about 3 months old that it just keeps getting better and better even when you don't think it can and I totally agree with that.