18 months!

It is so hard for me to believe Jack and Madelynn turned 18 months old on Sunday.  Time has flown by so quickly.  I spent a couple hours Saturday night watching videos we took of them in the NICU and over the first several months of their lives.  It is amazing how much they have changed.  They are starting to look more and more like little kids and less like babies.  I have to say, this is one of my favorite ages.  They are starting to be a little bit more self sufficient, and they learn something new everyday.  Seeing the joy on their faces when they accomplish something new, seeing them mimick every day tasks (Maddy likes to help fold the clothes, she shakes them vigorously first to get out the wrinkles and Jack is very serious about helping to clean up-he puts the books on the shelves and the toys in the bins) is so much fun. I am exhausted, but I can't imagine my life without these two little people.

Jack at 18 months:
Jack is such a sweet boy.  He always makes sure his sister has something if he does--he takes her a sippy cup, a bite of snack, and makes sure she has her baby before she goes to bed.  Jack has the best giggle and laughing eyes I have ever seen.  He is such a strong little guy--he climbs anything (including out of his crib now) and quite literally bounces off the walls.  He has more energy then I could ever imagine.  He loves seeing how things work, he takes things apart and puts them back together.  He throws balls (he has a pretty good arm, too!), he also likes to have order and will often help clean.  He LOVES his food.  The kid eats more then I do.  There is not a single thing he won't eat, and he often helps to finish his sister's plate.  He says mama, dada, nana, and has started to say the beginning of ball, coat, and shoes.

Maddy at 18 months:
Maddy is a precious little girl.  She sits for long periods of time flipping through her books and loves to bring book after book to us to read to her.  She also loves asking me to change the clothes on her dolls and then she wants them swaddled and she takes the baby from me and gives kiss after kiss to her doll.  She always helps me with the laundry--shakes the clothes and folds them, or gets side tracked and tries to put them all on at the same time.  She has become obsessed (this is truly the right word to describe her behavior) with lotion.  I put her lotion on after her bath and she continues to ask for more in her hands and then rubs her hands together repeatedly and puts the lotion on her legs and in her hair. She has the same words that Jack does, and she has just learned how to roar like a lion, and says aah ahh for a Monkey sound.

I will post a video this weekend--I will try to capture some of their antics!