21 Months

Weight: Jack weighs 31.4 pounds and Eli weighs 29.2 pounds. And it is nuts how different they feel when you pick them up. Jack feels so solid and Eli feels little.

Sleep: They've been going to bed around 8:00pm and sleep until around 7:00am. They take one afternoon nap usually around 12:45-3:30. I love that they've been sleeping so long for this nap!

Typical Eli is having his arms up and feet crossed. Love it. 

Words: Still not saying real phrases too much but they are jabbering more and its so fun to listen to. They will have conversations while holding phones. They jabber to read books. They are starting to jabber back and forth and talk to each other too. New favorite word of Jack's is "outside". He says it with two syllables like this: "ou-iiiii!". Clapping, smiling, stomping, and cheering go along with it every time because he is so excited. They call glasses and sunglasses "eyes". When they are done eating they say "a-nuh"  for "all done" or "osh" for "wash" to ask us to clean their hands and face. They say "ish" for "fish" along with a hand going back and forth because that's the sign language for it. They say it when they want to watch Finding Nemo. They also say "choo choo" if they want to watch Thomas and "go" (for Let if Go) if they want to watch Frozen. Those are their favorites. They say "coooold" when they eat something cold, the water is cold, or the weather is cold. They fold their arms while they say it and pretend to shiver. They started counting the number 2 with me like this: Me-one...Them-two...Me-three...Them-GO! When they see letters they try to sing the ABC song which mostly sounds like "B, C, B, C". They say "hup" for "help". We are working on "down" instead of saying "up" for every time they want to be moved somewhere. Both say "no" way too much and it's a problem! They even point their finger directly at you (or innocent children) and shout "no!" for no reason at all or you looked at them the wrong way. It's being so hard to get rid of because they feed off of each other. They say "he-wo" for "hello". They say "hmmm" if they are trying figure something out, find something, or you ask them a question.

I love walking into a quiet room to see them both looking at books. 

Jack: This month I've really noticed that Jack likes to be a little organized. I've seen him several times emptying out a bin of toys or a shelf of books, playing with them, then cleaning them all up in their proper spot before leaving the room or onto another activity without me asking. Even when I say we should leave an activity to go outside or go take a bath, he will often start cleaning up before leaving. I hope it sticks around! He also has become a huge mammas boy and needs me in his eye sight at all times or he's shouting out "MAMMA!"

Eli quirks: He uses his tongue to lick his lips and makes noises when he wants to try something your eating or drinking. He walks around with his hands behind his back or his fingers crossed. He loves to run away when you are trying to get him to go the other way and thinks it's hilarious when you chase after him. He always tickles the back of Zach's neck when he is carrying him, and he plays with my hair in the back when I carry him. Every time. We love it

Behavior Problems: I know they are young and behavior issues come with this age, but I swear other children their age aren't like this... I struggle daily with trying to figure out how to deal with a tantrum or emotional break down. I feel like we have more than what should be normal! But then I know I have to remember I have TWO toddlers so I have double the chances of a breakdown and maybe..just maybe..if I only had one toddler it wouldn't feel as overwhelming or abnormal. When these tantrums are seen by others, they usually assume that that child is the "harder" one of the two and label is put on them. "Oh that's the sensitive twin", "Oh that's the grumpy twin", etc. But in all honesty their moods switch off ALL the time with each other. It's what makes it so hard to predict! Some days Jack wakes up and is happy as can be for the day, and other days he wakes up and melts down for an hour (literally) over what he wants to eat for breakfast. Sometimes Eli is so easy going, then sometimes you can just pick him up in the wrong way or say the wrong thing and he's rolling on the floor with a blood piercing scream. I really haven't been able to understand what is going on in their little minds when this happens every day at different times and at different things. But it always has me on edge when we are in public or playing with friends. I try to be patient with myself but it often leaves me feeling like a really bad mom for not being able to help her kids with what their needs are. I know I'm learning and no mom is perfect, it's just really hard a lot of days with these two! I don't mean to be negative, I just want to document this time of life with raising twins and be real about it.

One morning Jack saw a box of crackers that was left out and he really wanted to eat them for breakfast. I let him have one then told him we'd have to save them for a snack or lunch later. He was in hysterics and neither Zach or I could do anything to calm him down. For some reason it was a battle I didn't want to lose. I didn't want him to think if he acted that way, he could just get the crackers for breakfast. Zach had to leave for school and I ended up putting him back in his crib to try and cool down there. He screamed for almost exactly an hour before calming down. I went in, acted super happy and positive and said I was so excited to go down with him to eat breakfast, and tried again. This time he finally agreed to eat and he was fine the rest of the day. I don't understand toddlers!!! This is the pic I sent Zach after the battle was over and I WON! 

 Eli melting down on the sidewalk...

Sick: Although we had a lot of fun , we really spent the majority of this month with one or more of us not feeling too great. We spent a lot of time cuddling and watching way too much TV. But the boys were troopers when I'd still take them on little outings to get out of the house and I think we are all finally back to our normal health!

Play: They love the water and to swim, the park, trains, cars, balls, airplanes, 'babies' (stuffed animals), hiding, bugs, rocks, sticks, and coloring. Eli's favorite hiding spot is in our closet. Once he was upstairs alone because I was getting Jack dressed downstairs to go swimming. I went up to get him and our bedroom door was closed. I walk in and it's silent with no Eli to be seen. So I go into the closet and there he is just waiting in his hiding spot!

They both love to hide and play in the laundry closet. We've had lots of smashed fingers from this. 

And let's end with some hugging. Because it's just the best.