Gracie and Bailey's Mom: 14 Months

14 Months Old

"We love to giggle at each other in our hoodies"

We have been very busy the last month and have been having lots of fun at 14 months old. We are continuing to love our twins play group that we meet with twice a month and have been making lots of new friends and having fun play dates with other twins. I have joined a Mom's group called "Birds on a Wire" and so we attend that every Monday morning and while I have group with other moms Gracie and Bailey play with their friends in the child care at First Baptist of Alpharetta. I have been loving this group and so that will be another post! We also started swim lessons that we attend each Saturday. Our first lesson was on Gracie and Bailey's 14 month Birthday so it was a fun way to celebrate the day. Their first lesson went great and they seemed to have lots of fun. They learned how to blow bubbles in the water, how to kick their legs, how to move their arms and how to hold on to the side of the pool. The instructor said that they have been some of her youngest participants and that she thought their skill level was great! We also became members of a gym where I can work out while Gracie and Bailey go to play with other kiddos. They have lots of wonderful children's fitness activities as swim lessons are our first to try but we are looking forward to baby gymnastics soon.
At 14 months old we are working on lots of "transitioning." We are still trying to come completely off of our bottles and we are super close. I have tried not to become frustrated as it has been a very hard process. The pediatrician stated that for preemies they really have until 18 months but I am exhausted with washing bottles and so I am determined we will be off of them soon. We sometimes are only taking one nap a day and I think we are moving more consistently in that direction. The weather has helped immensely in that we are able to break up the day with spending lots of our time outdoors. Gracie and Bailey are feeding themselves and are doing great with their table manners. They have both learned to say "all done" instead of screaming when they are done with eating. We are still working on not throwing the food that we don't like on the ground but cookies seem to be helping with enforcing good behavior. I have introduced "time outs" although I am not really sure if we entirely get the concept. Their time outs are either in the pack and play or turned around in their high chair but it seems to be more of a punishment for who ever did not commit the misbehavior because they miss their twin so much. I am amazed at how smart Gracie and Bailey are at this young age. They can follow simple commands...if I say "eat" then they go to their high chairs, if I say "outside" they will run to the door and the one that I love the most is when I say "love each other" and they will hug each other. Gracie loves to read books and she will bring book after book to me to read to her. She also loves to ride Dixie who is such a good sport for putting up with her literally climbing on her back. Gracie has recently discovered how to dance although she can only move backwards when she is dancing and she shakes her little hands. Bailey loves to play ball and he can point to his facial features. His favorite game is peek a boo and he is constantly giggling at something. He loves to talk on the phone to his daddy on his way home from work.
I feel amazingly blessed that my husband gives me the opportunity to stay home with my sweet babies to watch all of their growth. I am learning more and more each day about how my role as a mother these first five years is vital at shaping who Gracie and Bailey will become. I absolutely love staying at home with Gracie and Bailey and capturing all of their "firsts."

Our first swim lesson