17 Months!

Addison and Jackson are growing up so fast! I haven't been very good at blogging all that they've been up to over the past few months, so here is one big update to celebrate their seventeenth month:

The babies love to eat! For the past couple of months, the babies have been really into feeding themselves, which has varied levels of success. Most nights we end up with lots of food on the floor, on the tray, in Spud's hair, and all over Addison and Jackson--and hopefully some in their bellies. They're pretty good at trying new foods, but we generally have the most success with tried and true recipes--they love pasta of all kinds, mac and cheese, spaghetti, wheels, shells, all kinds of pasta and different sauces. They like rice less, and couscous even less than that. According to the babies, both of those grains are really good for throwing. They LOVE potatoes--red or Russet, mashed or baked, hashed and browned or pancaked, however I serve them, they love to eat them. The babies like chicken and beef, and pork a little bit less. They like quesadillas and grilled cheese sandwiches (though they don't like sandwiches with deli meat very much). They love eggs and omelets, and bread and toast. They eat a lot of fruit and veggies--apples, bananas, berry smoothies, oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon, peas, carrots--they are good little eaters! Jackson loves cheese, and they both eat a lot of Greek yogurt. We just dropped their daytime bottles completely (which wasn't too hard, I think they were ready for it), and in the next couple of weeks we'll drop the morning bottle (which will be harder, both because they wake up hungry and want that milk first thing, and because we like to have the bottles then lay around and play in the big bed, then continue that into their room--no morning bottle will mean a new morning routine, sadly)--then comes the taking away of the nighttime bottle, and I'm not looking forward to that.

We are so blessed to have good sleepers. Jackson likes to wake up early, but he's pretty good about talking to himself for a while then dozing off for a little bit longer. Most nights, the babies go to bed around 8 or 8:15, and we see them the next morning between 7 and 7:15--they only wake up in the night if they have a good reason to, like they're not feeling well. They still take two naps most days, but I fear we are coming to a point where we only need one nap a day (a sad time for parents and nannies everywhere!). Jackson is more ready than Addison to drop a nap, but it seems like every other day or so we still need that second nap to get us through the afternoon--I don't think we'll keep getting by with two for much longer though.

Addison and Jackson are totally talkers and babblers. Their two most often used words are no and more (which comes out sounding like "mo"). Here is a sample conversation with Addison:

Me: Addison, should we change your diaper?

Addison: No.

Me: Are you sure? You are stinky, I think you need a new one.

Addison: No.

Me: Addison, do you want more crackers?

Addison: No.

Me: Would you like a drink of water?

Addison: No.

Me: Addison, are you sleepy?

Addison (while rubbing her eyes): No.

Me: Is it time for a nap?

Addison: No.

Alternatively, if you get her on a roll blowing bubbles, playing music, or eating something yummy, she'll say, "mo, mo, mo," asking for more over and over again.

They mimic a lot of what they hear (we have to start being careful about what we say, yikes!), in addition to having lots of words: Ernie, Elmo (Jackson started to say "Melmo" over Christmas, but has since dropped the m), Abby, baby, noodle (noonle), banana (nana), apple, cracker, thank you, good night, hi, bye, Spud, good dog, pee wee, shoe, hockey, goal, ball, score, bubble, mommy, dada, grandma, grandpa, nana, water (which sounds like wa-wa), boom and hoorah (a la The Ants Go Marching), row (a la Row Row Row your boat), na and hey Jude (from the song titled the same), sometimes we get a big girl or Big Bird, and we're working on Audrey and Whitney. When we're getting ready for bed, we sing a few songs--at the end of December, Jackson started singing along, and it is the sweetest thing you've ever heard. We really like The Wubba Wubba Song from Sesame Street--I love you is hard to say, but I wubba you is much easier and the babies have both mastered that.

We are still taking our sign language class, and we have a lot of signs--some new signs are car, bubbles, star, helicopter, thank you (which Addison does with gusto), siren, ball (which Jackson does first thing in the morning and throughout much of the day), baby, cow, horse, frog, pig, duck, sleepy (which Jackson does when he is ready for a nap, so sweet), stop (which Addison will pause and sign to me when I ask her to stop doing something, but will not stop doing what I asked her to stop doing), and rain and sun (from the Itsy Bitsy Spider). We still sign food/hungry/eat, water, milk, drink, more, cracker, cheese, apple, elephant, gorilla, bear, dog, airplane, mom, dad, hear, see, bath, book, and please much of the time, and are starting to pick up colors like yellow, blue, green, purple, and red.

Addison and Jackson continue to love music and dancing. Every morning and most afternoons we spend time listening to music and dancing around. They've got some impressive new dance moves--Addison swings her left arm like crazy while she stomps around in a circle. Jackson has a stiff right arm that he shakes around--when he really gets excited, he almost does the twist! Overall, he has some pretty slick moves (just like his mom). They are really good at marching--we sing John Jacob Jingleheimerschmidt, and they march around in circles to the beat (just like the kids and Prairie Dawn do on Sesame Street)--and we've just started hopping like bunnies (thanks to Grandma Kaye). And if ever they're bored or upset, letting them play the piano for a while always makes them happy--Grandma Julie gave them an electronic keyboard for Christmas, and the babies can't keep their hands off of it!

It's amazing to see them learn and develop literally right in front of your eyes. In December, I was watching Jackson play with a toy--the yellow base that holds the four colored rings. He was able to pull all four rings off, but couldn't quite get them back on. Not two days later, he was sitting and playing with the same toy and had figured out how to both take the rings off and get them back on. He's one smart boy. Nana Candy gave the babies a skills board/puzzle for Christmas, with things that snap, button, zip, and buckle. I thought it would be a while before we would really play with that toy--but lo and behold, one day we figured out how to unsnap the snap. Then a couple days later, we figured out how to snap the snap. Now we are working on buttoning and buckling, and we love zipping. The babies have a mild obsession with zippers--if you're wearing a jacket or a sweater with a zipper, they are happy to sit on your lap and zip and unzip over and over again.

Jackson has caught up with his sister in the climbing arena--in the last couple of weeks, he has started hoisting himself onto the ottoman, standing up on the scooter, and scrambling onto the couch. And over the past few weeks, Addison has gotten very good and very fast at climbing. Turn your head for one second, and you may look back to find Addison sitting on the couch, reading a book like a big girl.

Their personalities continue to develop and shine through. Both of them are very affectionate--with us, with each other, with Spud, and sometimes with strangers--they are my little love bugs. They give such good kisses and hugs, and are sweet cuddlers. They like other people, especially other kids. Jackson is sweet, thoughtful, and focused--he is a deep thinker, and loves to have fun. It's funny to see him have selective hearing at times (must be a guy thing, even when they're little). Addison is sweet, spunky, and goes 90 miles an hour--she is delighted by so many things (and she is loving her mommy lately, which I love too). Both babies are really ticklish (Jackson more than Addison, though), and love to giggle and laugh. They love to climb into your lap and read stories (Addison a little more than Jackson). They seem to be having a little growth spurt--both are taller, and Jackson's face seems more chiseled and defined. They are looking and acting less like babies and more like big kids every day--their mom thinks they ought to slow down their growing up just a little bit! I find that my heart is really overflowing with love for these two--individually, each of them fills my heart, but compounded, it's almost overwhelming.