Baby Book: 12 Months!

I've been a terrible blogger, friend and participant in much of life lately. Mea culpa. I can only say that ~5 hours a day of pumping, plus work getting busy, plus that whole 'raising twins' thing has distracted me. It's been the best kind of distraction, but I'm ashamed of not keeping up with so many wonderful people who have supported me. With the twins' first birthday I've started the weaning process and I hope to do a better job of keeping track of what everyone else has going on. In the meantime, this was a post I had to make time for.

On Monday, T and A turned one.

• For months now, T has refused to crawl. She doesn't like being on her tummy, she doesn't like getting up on hands and knees. When she wants to go somewhere, she either rolls or badgers an adult into helping her walk there, because she loves to stand & walk. We all keep encouraging her to try crawling, but she hasn't been having it. Sunday, after her first birthday celebration, we set her on the floor. She immediately cralwed halfway across the family room to reach a toy. No going backward first. No hesitation. She just leaned forward and went like she'd always been able to crawl but just wasn't going to show us until now! 
• She can pull herself from sitting to standing. She's wobbly and she can't always do it, but she's done it often enough that it's a skill now.
• Just days ago she figured out how to sit herself up from laying down, although she complains when made to do so!
• She can cruise the furniture with relative ease. 
• T can put food in her mouth and is happy to do so. She will also grab a spoon from an adult's hand and 'feed' herself with messy success. She takes neat bites out of mum mums and french toast squares.
• T's still the needier baby. She wants someone to play with her, and cries if she doesn't get that 1:1 focus. 
• T is noticing her brother and will pass toys back and forth with him. It's amazing how the toy in the other baby's hand is always better than the toy in her own, and vice versa!

• A is constantly up cruising the furniture, crawling, and getting into mischief. The toy he most wants is whatever object he's not allowed to have (e.g., baby monitor, Dad's cell phone, Grandma's sewing.)
• A figured out how to pull to stand, then use the baby gate bars to pull himself up onto the step that leads out of the family room. 
• Like his sister, A wants to feed himself with the spoon. He also likes shoving his nose into the spoon and snorting. This is why our child has carrots up his nose. 
• A is such a happy kid. His grin is so contagious. 
• A's got 8 teeth - 4 uppers and 4 lowers. Molars are next, sob. Aside from constant drooling, he's actually done amazingly well. There have been a few days of bad naps, but nothing more serious than that. 
• A week ago, A figured out that he could reach into T's crib and steal her lovey. We've moved the cribs farther apart, but we usually come in to find him standing at the end of his crib, looking at her. 
• A will stop what he's doing and look for T if he hears her crying. She'll do the same for him.