Truman & Elliott's 1st Birthday

My babies are a year old! I can't believe it. This year has gone by so fast. I know everyone says that, but it really does seem like they aren't old enough to be one yet! I think when Collin was a baby, we were so excited for him to grow and learn new things, but with Truman and Elliott, I just want them to stay babies! 

We have been thinking a lot about what we were doing around this time last Fall, and everything just blows my mind. That I had both of these boys inside my belly at the same time. That we started the season with only one child. That we suddenly went from a small family to a "big" family (I think three kids makes it officially big). That Truman and Elliott were born healthy and strong after months of fearing the worst. And that we've made it an entire year as parents of twins!

We decided at the last minute to do birthday cake outside with some friends, since the weather was surprisingly nice! I made them their own little cakes to smash. We had actually been pretty good about not giving them sweets before their first birthday (besides graham crackers and a few animal crackers), so this was their first taste of a real dessert!

Handsome birthday boys!

Elliott picked each of the marshmallows off first

Truman took a little while to dig in. He mostly wanted to play with a plastic fork, and then tried using the fork on the cake instead of his hands.

Neither went crazy for the sugar, but they did dig in a little eventually.

Pointing at their balloons

Finished. Elliott had pushed his on the ground.

We now have a 3-year old and two 1-year olds!

The boys didn't quite get the hang of opening presents, but I think that's because Collin took it upon himself to "help" them a little too much.

Truman

Elliott

Checking out the new toys

I haven't been great at writing about their milestones and personalities, so I wanted to record a little about each of them.

Truman

As a little baby, he always loved having his back rubbed. If he was fussing in his crib, I could go in and gently rub his back, and he would calm down immediately.

He's had eczema since around 3 months old, that gets worse in cold weather.

His hair seems to grow faster than Elliott's and sticks up when it gets long. From ages 3-6 months or so, he looked like he had a little mohawk. He also has a double cowlick in the back.

He is very active and always wanting to explore and move. It's almost impossible to change his diaper, because he always wants to be playing and moving. We love his playfulness and energy!

He caught on to eating solids quicker than Elliott (though neither was very interested in being spoon-fed for a long time).

He was the first to army crawl across the floor, at about 6.5 months, and was pulling himself up on furniture at 9 months.

He got his first tooth on Mother's day, beating Elliott by 2 days!

He is becoming a screamer, especially when he wants something.

He likes climbing and getting into things any chance he gets, especially electronics and cords if he sees them.

He has started a really cute fake cry.

When we'd put the babies to bed when they were around 9-10 months old, Elliott would usually just lay down and go to sleep, but Truman would stand up and play for as long as possible.

He has 8 teeth- 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom.

When he's laying face down in his crib, he hits his face on the mattress over and over, or kicks his legs against the mattress repeatedly. We don't know why, but we see him doing it when we check on him, and hear him doing it over the monitor.

When he's riding in the baby carrier, he kicks his feet a lot, and it's pretty uncomfortable for Rob.

He thinks it's really funny to shake his head side to side, and loves it when we do it back to him.

We can't get enough of his sweet smiles and giggles!

Elliott

Had a really cute "sad face" as a little baby, sticking out his lower lip when someone unfamiliar picked him up.

He was ticklish on his neck starting around 4 months. When we'd tickle him, he'd bring his head to his neck and giggle. It was adorable.

At age 6.5 months, while Truman was working on crawling and moving, Elliott was focusing on sitting up by himself.

He was the first to babble and make consonant sounds. He makes us laugh nowadays when we look at him and he makes a sudden deliberate sound at us like "ba."

He refused to eat very much solid food for a long time. I started feeding solids at 6 months, and it took until about 8 months for him to finally consistently open his mouth for the spoon.

Shortly after learning to crawl at 7 months, he started to love pushing cars around on the floor. He'd entertain himself for a long time just rolling his car around.

He is my snuggler. He loves being held and laying his head on my shoulder. I love it too. He'll snuggle with Rob too, but I think he's more of a mommy's boy. :)

He is getting to a stage where he cries when he sees one of us leave the room. Whenever a door closes (even if it isn't one of us), he gets a little distressed.

He really likes "painting" with his bottle. He turns it upside down and makes it drip all over the floor any chance he gets.

He can often be found just sitting on the step in our living room.

He has 7 teeth- 4 on top, 3 on the bottom.

In the last couple of weeks, he has started standing on his own and will take 1-2 steps at a time.

He loves making us laugh by crawling around the couch then flopping down on his back, looking at us, and laughing.

We just love our silly sweet Elliott!

And both of them:

Have always been very calm and content babies for the most part. I've been amazed when realizing that they would let us sit down while holding them instead of screaming unless we were standing up, or that we never once had to stand there and swing them in their car seats because it's the only place they'd fall asleep (both daily occurrences with Collin as a newborn). They've really made this twin experience better than I could have imagined, and I am so grateful!

Are great sleepers.  For the first several months, they'd wake up a few times a night, but I really can't complain because they'd go back to sleep easily once fed and taken care of. They were both officially sleeping all night long at around 8 months old. It took a lot of work and consistency to maintain routine and keep them on the same schedule every day, but it has paid off and they sleep very well at night and usually during naps. 

Love playing with remotes and my cell phone. I usually find a remote for them to hold while changing their diapers to get them to sit still for a minute.

Are very tough when it comes to putting up with Collin's "affection." They love playing with their big brother.

Are so happy when we go in to get them after naps. They bounce up and down and smile and do an excited gasping noise.

Are very regular. Very.

Love climbing up the stairs. If ever the gate to the stairs isn't up, they know, and they immediately make a mad dash for them.

Chew on their crib rails. But not the front rails that you can buy plastic covers for. The side rails, on the sides facing each other's crib. They stand there, looking at each other, and eat away at the wood.

Love swinging at the park, and love playing with balls. When we went to play at the community center recently, both of them would crawl all over the place chasing balls whenever they saw one.

Went through a phase (around 10 months old, probably teething-related) when they'd bite my shoulder hard whenever I was holding them. Both of them did the exact same thing! It seriously hurt, and for about a month I consistently had multiple bruises on each shoulder.

Absolutely love dancing! They get so excited when music comes on, and they stop what they're doing and bob up and down with huge smiles. They especially love being held and dancing with us. We have to be careful because if we try to put them down after dancing, they scream because they don't want to stop. So if Rob isn't here, instead of trying to give them each a turn, I usually end up having to hold both of them to dance at the same time. And they are getting heavy!

I love watching their individual personalities develop, and I marvel at how they are alike in so many ways. When they're growing alongside each other and have such similar temperaments, their slight differences in preference or personality are more clear to us. One thing I've noticed is that strangers sometimes try labeling them based on one brief interaction. I was recently at the community center and both babies were crawling in opposite directions, so I picked up Truman and followed Elliott while he crawled. A lady said, "so you have one social baby and one shy baby?" Just because at that one moment, one was crawling and one was being held. Or at the store this week, Truman was fussy and a lady looked at Elliott and said, "you must be the quiet one." I know people are fascinated by twins and are just being friendly and making conversation. I think it is interesting, though, how their slight or momentary differences in temperament can be turned into "labels," so we are very conscious of that. In reality, they are both sweet, both smart, both active and curious, and both perfectly adorable! We are excited to continue watching them grow and develop their little personalities.

We are so grateful for our twins. It's been an amazing first year!