2 years old! Wow! The saying is definitely true:  “The days are long, but the years are short.” Perhaps doubly so, with twins!

One of the most common questions I get asked by family and friends is, “Have the girls ‘caught up’ yet?”

As with any premature babies (remember, they were born at 32 weeks gestation, as opposed to a full-term 38-40 weeks), skills and milestones start off a little slower than other babies’ their age. But, we’re happy to report that they’ve officially “caught up.”

Every time we go to the pediatrician, we are given a double-paged checklist of milestones for babies their age (e.g., “can pull into standing position,” “can walk unassisted,” etc). We are to put an “X” next to the milestone if the girls cannot do the task. Once you get to 3 “X’s” you can stop filling out the list, as the tasks become increasingly difficult. This is a way for the doctor to guage the timing of baby’s development in various areas (motor skills, verbal ability, etc.). In early months we never made it to the second page of milestones because we had always had 3 X’s. At 18 months we were able to make it to the second page, and by our 24-month check-up we got through the whole list! Woohoo!!!

Here’s a couple quick photos for you:

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This was on the girls’ actual birthday. They got some balloons (which they LOVE) and pretty dress up shoes from my mom’s mom (Nan).

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Bailey “shopping” while wearing her new high heels

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Sweet, smiley Brooke

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Playing at the mall in a fun little car ride

Likes and Dislikes:

  • Like playing toddler apps on the iPad (this is a new one we’ve just started letting them do)
  • Dislike having a poopy diaper (and they’ve finally started telling us when they have a “poo poo”)
  • Like swimming at the pool
  • Dislike diaper changes (they want the clean diaper, but want it to just magically happen without having to deal with the actual diaper change)
  • Like dancing (and they do it all the time! We love our dance parties)
  • Dislike being left somewhere (I got a gym membership and they’re having a tough time going to the childcare, even though its phenomenal and the staff is incredible)
  • Like playing with Daddy when he gets home from work
  • Dislike eating veggies
  • Like playing with all their fun, new birthday toys!!!

Best Time:

This whole summer has been a “best time.” The girls used to be in an in-home daycare 3 days a week, but (due to a myriad of reasons I won’t go into here), that hasn’t worked out. We’re actively searching for a new option but in the meantime, the girls have been home with me. It’s challenging to get work done, but it has been SO MUCH FUN to be with them every day! They just get more and more fun all the time and I love hanging out with my little side-kicks! If I have to narrow it down to one thing, I’d say that our absolute best was probably the weekend away at the resort. I would say their birthday party, but with Brooke being sick with a cold, it probably wasn’t a ton of fun for her (aside from the cake and ice cream part!) I never mentioned it, but my brother was also sent to Scottsdale for a work trip and we went and visited him at his super-fancy resort one day. They had an awesome “beach” part (with sand that lead into a pool). The girls have never been to a real beach, so it was a ton of fun to hang out there. That was another “best time,” too!

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In the water at the beach!

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Posing with Uncle Trever!

Worst Time:

Hmmm…maybe the colds that the girls had? Those are never fun! Aside from that, we’ve started experiencing some pretty serious toddler temper tantrums, which are certainly not pleasant. In related news, I have totally become “that mom” that lets my kids melt down in public. I mean, I don’t want them to, but if they’re throwing a fit because we’re in the store and they want “X” toy, I’m not going to give in just to get them to stop crying. So I’ll pick the child up off the floor (they literally throw themselves down kicking and screaming), sit her in the grocery basket, ignore the screams and protests, and just calmly walk on. There is no reasoning with a 2-year-old (e.g., “we already have 10 balls at home, you do not need another ball.”). No point; less frustrating for everyone for me to just ignore it and move along.

Also – the whole child care situation is a “low” from the past couple months. As much as I’ve enjoyed having the girls here, its very stressful to try to find a new situation that we’re all happy with.

2-year-old Baby Stats:

  • Weight: Brooke is 21 lbs 6 oz (< 1st %), Bailey is 22 lbs 8 oz. (5th %). Still very dainty, petite little girls.
  • Height: Brooke is 33.5 inches (42nd %), Bailey is 34 inches (56th %). Long and lean!
  • Clothing Size: Still 18 month – 2T. They’re able to wear 2T shirts just fine, but some of the pants/shorts are still a little big. We’re moving more and more into them, but it just depends on the brand (some literally fall off while they’re walking).
  • Diaper Size: Size 4. We also finally got a potty chair and (in my dreams) I’m hoping to potty train the girls within a few months and be done with diapers for good. We’ll see.
  • Sleep: Still one nap per day, but its been pushed back to after lunch time (used to be mid-morning). Now they nap at about 12:00 or 12:30 for about 2-3 hours. Overnight they go down about 8:30 or 8:45pm and sleep until about 6:00 or 6:30 am.
  • Food: They eat everything we eat, minus the veggies. About the only veggie they like is corn. Certainly anything green (spinach, lettuce, asparagus, broccoli), we have a tough time getting them to eat…but I keep introducing it in hopes that they’ll eventually go for it. In the meantime, I like to make smoothies with a mixture of fruits and veggies so they’ll at least get some vegetables (this works really well with carrots and spinach, specifically).
  • Favorite Foods: They LOVE cheese (they get it from their Momma). If they ever see me pull it out of the fridge for use in dinner or lunch, they run over yelling “CHEESE, PLEASE!!!” Funny story about smart little Brooke. One time she saw me use some cheese with dinner and saw where I had put it back in the fridge. She remembered it and, the next time I opened the fridge for something she ran over. I didn’t think much of it (she always likes playing with the on/off light in the fridge), but then I realized she’d gotten something and ran off with it. I look over and she’s sitting at her little kid table eating handfuls of cheese straight from the bag! Too smart (and funny)!

It’s been an incredible year! And it just keeps getting better and better! Can’t wait to see what the future holds!