11 and 12 Month Update

August and September were a blur of sickness for our house so I'm combining these last 2 months of the girls' first year into one packed post! Also, you will notice in their monthly pictures I've made that they look very similar in their 11th and 12th months. That's because this gal got behind and ended up making 2 months' worth at the same time, less than a week before they turned 1 year old. #itiswhatitis

Here's the latest on what's going on with our girls...

First and foremost, they are both INTO. EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe. With a year under my belt now, I've come to the following conclusions:  I'm glad our house is one level. I wish we had less electronics. I wish there was some magical way to protect the toilet paper. I see the value of those robotic vacuums. I can't tell you the exact date the new season of Scandal starts (or if it even has yet), but I can tell you that there's a new show on Disney Jr called Vamperina that looks super cute and premiered on Sunday. So there's that. 

They wake up happy in the mornings and when they realize each other is just across on the other side of the room, they get happy and laugh. You can hear them chatting on their video monitor in the mornings. 

They are excellent eaters! We've same as given up baby food and they eat "table food". They love bananas, scrambled eggs, green beans, mac & cheese and biscuits. 

"Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" is BY FAR their favorite book. We read it every night before their bedtime bottles. Mae Parker will pick it up from the bottom of their bookshelf and walk it over to me without even asking. MELT my heart! 

They're not a huge fan of seeing me come home only to start cooking dinner or any other household chore. They are with me every step I make when I get home in the afternoons. Amelia generally is sitting on my feet while I cook and MP is standing hugging my legs from behind. 

They LOVE bathtime, but are determined to stand. It is a constant struggle to get them to sit in the tub. When is it too soon to just let them take showers?? #askingforafriend

These girls LOVE to sing. All you have to do is start babbling some made up song or la, la, la, dee, dah and they join right in. Watching them do this with their great-grandma Janice is one of the funniest things I've seen. Those three can belt a tune together. 

They both sleep about 10 hours at night and take about 2 naps a day anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Except for Sunday. They are true Stafford Sunday Nappers and will usually sleep 2 to 2 and half hours on Sunday afternoons.

Amelia 

Our little Nugget had quite the rough August. She had two different bouts of cellulitis. The first time far worse than the second. She had to have a small procedure done each time to drain the abscesses. It was the worse thing I've experienced this year as a mom to see her in as much pain as she was in. 

In a four or five day period she made 7 trips to the doctors' office and spent a night in the ER from dehyrdation. She had nearly 3 bags of IV fluids and several IV antibiotics. She was a very sick little girl. 

The second time (which was about 2 weeks after she recovered from the initial case), we knew what we were dealing with so we caught it alot sooner than the first time and the procedure wasn't AS bad as the first, nor did she get a severe infection, or so sick to the point of dehydration.   

The worst part was that she and I were spreading it back and forth. She got it, I got it, she got it, I got it. Literally, that's how it went. Between the two of us, we spent the entire month on antibiotics, bathed multiple times a day with an antiseptic wash, swabbed our noses multiple times daily with an antibiotic, and washed our hands WHO knows how many times. We FINALLY got rid of it. (I hope for good.)

Amelia has seen extreme hair growth in these last two months; she almost needs a little trim honestly. I can't decide whether to go through with it or not. 

She wears a size 3 Diaper and size 12 month clothes. They don't go for their 1 year well visit until next week, but we're guessing she's 18-20 lbs. 

When she's eating something she's really enjoying you'll hear her saying "mmmm" with each bite she takes.

She has two teeth. Is proficient in crawling. Has taken a few steps with a push walker, but is no where near ready to walk on her own. She can't really stand on her without some support yet. 

She had Hand, Foot and Mouth in September. She ran a fever the day before she started showing spots and was just miserable. Once the spots appeared the next day, they spread for another day but she never seemed to be in any discomfort. She acted just fine - she just had red spots around her mouth, hands, feet, legs and back. 

She can say "Ma-ma", "Da,Da", "Bye" and "Moo". 

She can hold up her index finger when you ask her how old she is. 

She is feisty, mischievous, plays bashful but likes attention, and pushes her boundaries. 

Tell her no, and she'll stop whatever it is. Smile the BEST dimpled filled smile at you then proceed to see if you'll let her reconvene whatever it was she was just being told to stop doing. 

Lately, we've seen a bit of a mean streak in her. She grunts angrily at you when she doesn't like what you've told her. She pulls her sister down by the back collar of her shirt, and yanks toys out of Mae's hand with the force of an Olympic body-builder. 

She is determined and has no fear. She is the leader of our little twin pack. 

Mae Parker

First and foremost, she is WALKING. She started taking a few steps in August, and by early September was a full fledged walker. She rarely crawls anymore at all. 

She loves toilet paper, paper towels and napkins. She will find them and she will destroy them. 

She was spared from Cellulitis but she did catch Hand Foot and Mouth a couple days after Amelia had it. Mae had it worse than Amelia by a long shot. She had bad blisters around her mouth and in between her toes. Like her sister, she didn't seemed bothered by it. We think she probably had them inside her mouth too, because she had trouble taking her bottles during that week. 

We tried an essential oils blend that a lady in town mixed up for us to treat HFM and I have to say, that stuff WORKED. Within 24 hours, you could tell a HUGE difference in the spots around her mouth and feet. 

She will mimic movements, motions and sounds you make. 

She wears a size 4 diaper and 12-18 month clothes. We suspect she's probably 23-25 lbs. 

She thinks her sister is hilarious. She thinks our nephews Riley and Colin are hilarious. She thinks that finger puppets are hilarious. Heck, she thought a Christmas Mickey Mouse Jack in the Box I showed her at Lowes one day last week was hilarious. The kid loves to laugh. 

She has EIGHT teeth. E. I. G. H. T.

With her first two, we knew she was teething, everything after that, you'd never know. She's been a champ. 

She can say "Ma-Ma", "Da-Da", "Bye Bye" and "Hi". 

You can say, "Mae Parker! OH NO!" And she'll throw her hands up to her face in her best Kevin McAlister impression. It's her best trick. 

Hands down she will win a staring contest. She's a people watcher like her mama. 

She LOVES to sit in your lap while you read her a book. She reaches for me to pick her up often. She has a jealous streak in her. If I'm giving her sister attention, Mae will find her way to be up front and center along with her sis. 

She likes to brush her teeth and you have to make a pitstop outside the carport every afternoon to see the Mickey Mouse "Welcome" garden flag in our flowers. If the wind is blowing and the flag is waving, she just kicks and giggles. Best $5 my Mom spent on a whim one day for those girls. 

She is the happiest girl, cautious in what she does, follows her sister's lead faithfully, and LOVES her people fiercely. 

Ok, see what I mean....2 months...same day. We'll just assume they didn't change much in that time span...

I've probably said it at other months during this past year, but I think this latest stage has been my favorite. The girls' personalities are developing, they're becoming so interactive, they're letting us know what they like and don't like...it's just a fun age.

The joy these past 12 months have brought us....

...it's surreal. 

I miss the tiny cuddly babies they were, but I love the fun toddlers they're becoming just as much! 

Well, that's it for the monthly updates! I've enjoyed recording and documenting these times so much! Thank you for sending so much love, prayers and encouragement our way during our first year of parenthood! It's bittersweet, but we can't wait to watch our girls grow!!