12 Months - Update on the Babes

12 Months Old! (well, ok, so almost 13)

Many, many apologies for my being MIA. Life is nuts right now! I haven't hardly had a free second to write my baby updates! What is this world coming to?

Feedings: BIG changes here. Huge. No more breastfeeding! Woohoo! Do I miss it? Ummm...nope! See, I was an exclusive pumper. Therefore, Me and my Breastpump were BFFs. We didn't go anywhere without each other, and were attached at the hip, er, um, boob. So, I was DONE, to say the least. BFing wasn't a bonding experience for me, it was strictly supply and nourishment. And now that they are able to have whole milk, I am doing the happy dance! I literally stopped on their birthday, January 8th. I had to pump on the 10th, and do a couple of hand extractions, but thats all! I am happy to say I have had no problems whatsoever, and I was worried about that. And I breastfed for a year...with TWINS! Go Me!!!

They took to whole milk like champs too, so there was no worries there. We are doing organic though, which turns out, isn't that much cheaper than formula for two babies! I can't catch a break!

They are eating more normal foods, and haven't eaten baby food in a long time. The problem now is letting them eat what we eat. And as I said before, we don't eat nearly as healthy as we should. They eat much healthier than we do at this point. So, its going to take some getting used to. I switched around their feedings so that they are getting three full meals earlier, instead of the snack at 11:30. Their appetites have totally changed since the 1 year mark (dropped) so since they seem hungrier earlier in the day than later, I am trying to adjust accordingly.

Also, they do awesome with a sippy cup, but we are still on bottles. The reason I am doing this is because they drink bigger amounts much better with a bottle, and tend to "sip" from the sippy cup (imagine that!). And since they are still little, I try to make sure that they still get the calories they should. But, I'm not worried b/c they really do well with the cup too, so I don't think there is going to be any transitional issues.

Waketime/Napping: Our waketime is usually around 2 hours in the morning, a longer for the second break. We are still doing two naps, and that seems to be still working fine!

Nightime: Doing great here. Going down at 7:30 and getting up at 7:15, sometimes even a bit later!

Our Schedule:

7:15- wake/feed 7/8oz each whole milk for Josh & Jules then cereal with fruit or waffle with cream cheese spread
9:15:9:30 - nap (hopefully at least 1.5 hours)
11:30 - feed - 6oz each bottle, then lunch a little later. This is where I am struggling. Its so hard!!! I try to keep stocked organic chicken bites, low sodium sandwich meats, string cheese, cut up veggies, fruit, and some pasta that I make that stays in the fridge (I use organic baby food as the sauce). So, I just try to mix it up a bit. I need to start doing a weekly menu to keep me straight. 3:00 - feed 6oz for each + "dinner" This is either some of a pasta I have in the fridge, or toast with hummus and fruit. Their also might be cut up tofu, chicken, cut up veggies, beans, or rice. I try to keep some easy things in the fridge to grab.
6:30/6:45 - I still feed another meal here, but they usually just pick at it. Their appetite really drops here. And honestly, I am supposed to feed them a snack in between these feedings too, and when I do that, they won't touch food at this time.
7:00 - baths, then a sippy cup of milk
7:30 - story/bedtime

Outing/Events: It has been COLD, COLD, COLD here and SNOWY, SNOWY, SNOWY. Not much going on in our outing dept. In case you count the gym child care.

Diet: WOOHOO. I have been regularly working out. However you can't tell at all b/c I have stopped breastfeeding. So, now I am just maintaining what I was b/c of the extra calories (here is where I miss breastfeeding...miss burning those calories!)

Milestones: We are now BOTH officially walkers. And they are walking EVERYWHERE. I think they are officially in toddler territory, b/c now they never crawl. They walk. everywhere. into. everything. can't. keep. up. LOL. In all honestly, who are these people that told me that it would get easier with twins at the year mark? What happened to those babies that just sat there on their tummy time mat and didn't move? How have I not lost 20 pounds chasing after them?Did I honestly think it was hard back then? What was I thinking? HeHe. They say Mama, Dada, Byebye. Still not much else. I have now been working with them in sign language for probably 6 months now, and they still don't sign. However, we joke with Jules when we change her diaper and go "Shoooo!" and wave our arm in front of our face like it smells, and she now can do this of all things. So now she says shoooo, and waves her arm. Sign language? Nope, nothing. Shooo, smelly diaper? Picked that one right up. She still loves her books. Josh has now become much more interested in them as well, which is awesome. They LOVE their pottery barn chairs we got them for their birthday. And they have just started being able to sleep a little bit with their loveys, even though I still sneak in and take them out of their crib, b/c I am a worry wart. But they recognize them and love them. I am loving life right now. They are the sweetest, funniest, happiest babies ever. I am beyond blessed.