Sometimes I just kick myself when I think about how naive I was as a parent the first time around.

I now realize that kids are super capable of so much more then you give them credit for. And they actually want to do it!

Unlike the first two, the twins help me with everything.

In fact, they get upset if I do certain chores and forget to ask them to help with them.

They brush their own teeth, they put themselves to sleep at night, they climb in their own car seats and sometimes we even get them to clean up their own toys.

They even throw out their own garbage! Jack will still hand me his garbage even if I happen to be standing right next to the can itself!

Helping take the trash out

Recycling

Who knew laundry could be this fun?

Sam’s vocabulary has started to expand. Alarmingly, this next three words made me pause and think perhaps my parenting skills could use some improvement.

1. “Geee DOOOWWWW”. Sam loves this word. He picked it up because every time he climbs up onto the high chairs then onto the high kitchen island, I yell emphatically, “Get DOWN!” Sometimes he’ll start saying it, then laugh and run over to the island and climb up on it. Then continue to yell it while he’s up there. So I think he probably thinks I am saying, “Time to climb on the ISLAND!”

2. “Noo”. Yes, after “shoes” and “get DOWN!”, his third word is “No”. He says it with a long “O” sound so it comes out more like “New” than “No”. He says it while shaking his head back and forth. I think he actually knows what that means, because he will stop doing what he is doing (sometimes) when I say it. He may even answer me with a “Noo” if he doesn’t like something.

3. “Ba”. That’s code for “Ball”. He says it every time he picks on up and throws it. I’d like to take credit for it, I remember my friend Michelle’s nanny, Flo, would sit there and repeat “Ball, Ball, Ball” while playing with the ball over and over again. But I think I said it once or twice and he got it, smart little bugger.

Last week we had the twins 15 month check up.

It made me realize I that a lot has changed in three months!

They love cleaning!

We have managed to drop all the bottles but the morning one. And the twins have recently started eating at the same time as the older boys. They mostly eat the same food. Sam prefers fruit and yogurt while Aaron likes the carbs. Aaron is a great eater, always shoves whatever you put in front of him in his mouth. With Sam it’s a crap shoot. Sometimes he eats, other times he cries or starts a food fight with Aaron.

Sam continues to be an early riser. I have moved the bedtime up to 6:30 from 7 which has made Aaron an even easier going, happy baby (although Aaron is always mellow about sleep. Anytime you put him down he will fall asleep without crying and wakes up and chats to himself until you come get him.) Sam wakes, stands at the front of his crib, and screams at the top of his lungs until you get him. Sometimes I can get him to go back to sleep on my chest, sometimes he just kicks and chats in my ear until I finally give up and turn the light on.

Sam loves pens, we caught him scribbling in the basement with one recently.

As for their stats, Aaron is taller yet Sam weighs more…

Sam is 31 and 1/2 inches tall, in the 50%. He weighs 24 pounds 2 ounces, in the 50% – 75% and his head circumference is 46.8 cm, in the 50%.

Aaron is 32 and 1/2 inches tall, in the 75%. He weighs 23 pounds and 8 ounces, in the 50% and his head circumference is 47.8 cm, in the 75%.

I’ve been holding off on this blog post.

Because I was so hoping that Aaron would be the first to  speak.

He showed such promise, babbling first and more often. I really wanted Aaron to do something, anything before Sam.

One day I started saying “Hi” to the babies. Not just any “Hi”. It was a high pitched, long and drawn out, “Hiiiiiieeee”

Sam repeated it. I rationalized he was not actually talking, he didn’t know what he was saying and sometimes he answered us and sometimes he didn’t but he never said “Hi” on his own so it wasn’t really a word, just mimicking.

Then there was more mimicking from Sam. I waited, hoping I could distort reality and hear Aaron speak first.

But this week, something that could not be construed as mimicking popped out of Sam’s mouth.

Every day he tries on any shoes that are around the house. I’ve seen him in Jack’s shoes, Ben’s shoes, Adam’s shoes and my shoes. It is quite clear that he can say the word shoe and identify what a shoe is.

So it is with big joy, and also big unease for Aaron’s ego, that I announce Sam’s first word, “Shoes”. His pronunciation, “Shz”.

There is a crazy phenomenon happening in our neighborhood.

At first I thought it was a fluke, but now I realize it’s an unlikely truth.

Let’s start with our building. We live in a 3 flat. Shortly after I moved in, another couple bought the upstairs unit. They were pregnant with twins. Then, after we bought the basement unit we found out the people we bought it from later had twins. Then we had twins.

Now that I’m trying to drop the twins naps from 2 to 1, I’ve been taking them to a small park near my house to keep them awake in the mornings.

Friday morning FOUR sets of twins were there. I thought it was a improbable coincidence. But this morning another FOUR sets of TWINS! Only one set were the same as Friday.

Sam and Aaron with twins Will and Emmitt

So, if you are in my neighborhood, don’t drink the water. Unless….well, you know.

I have a secret hook up. A sponsor. A benefactor, if you may.

Like a little elf, she brings me super cute twin clothing and leaves it on my door step.

New outfits for the twins.

She has twins two years older than our twins. And she has very nice taste in clothing. We are very appreciative indeed! Thanks Tami!

Adam and I took the twins to get their one year check up today. Both twins had to forgo their shots. Aaron has been running a fever for 3 days and when he arrived at the doctors office it clocked in at 101°. They gave him some liquid medicine, which he refused to swallow, but they some how managed to get down. I know because 10 minutes later I was holding him over the sink as he almost threw it up.

We knew Aaron was sick. But Sam surprised us with another ear infection in the same ear he seems to keep getting them. He has been sleeping through the night and seems pretty happy so we had no idea. They prescribed him a course of antibiotics.

As far as measurements, turns out Sam has overtaken Aaron in weight, but in height Aaron measured taller.

Aaron’s height was 31 in, in the 85%. His weight was 21 lbs 5 oz, in the 50% and his head count was 47 cm, in the 75-90%.

Sam’s height was 30 in, in the 50%. His weight was 22 lbs 8 oz, in the 75% and his head count was 46.2 cm, in the 50%.

As promised, here is my one year birthday post!

My goodness what a year we’ve had! It’s hard to imagine life before the twins, and they have only been around a short 12 months.

Having twins has truly been a unique experience. My friend Jennifer told me once I got past the first year, things got a lot better. And I definitely have seen my happiness levels rise dramatically with each passing month.

As they grow they continue to reveal themselves to me. It’s a wonder how different two kids who are going down the same path in life can be.

Aaron is sensitive and easy going. He gets scared easily, for example he will cry when you put him in the swing, get his hair cut, or put him in the bath. Yet he can be easy going as well. It doesn’t matter who feeds him or puts him to sleep. You can leave him in the basement to play quietly for a moment and he won’t even notice your absence. He will sit quietly and happily in the stroller or car seat, unbothered by being harnessed. Oh, and he is quite the dancer. He’ll sway back and forth to any music, no matter how bad.

The start of a Calisoff boy band?

Sam is more adventurous and more demanding. If you take him to the park, he is off and running in every direction. Chasing birds, using the equipment correctly, he seems to have an innate sense of the right way to do things. He started automatically crawling backwards to get back down the stairs the other day. But he notices is you leave the room and will follow you, whining all the way. And he is very restless in car seats and strollers. He seems to be leading the charge in all developmental things, including dropping his second nap.

As for new talents – Sam has learned to clap, Aaron has learned to blow raspberries. Sam will clap randomly, like when he’s eating, or when you are trying to sing him to sleep. Aaron likes to blow raspberries on furniture and any exposed body parts he can find.

Where Sam is careful, Aaron can reckless. Sam will walk straight and tall, puffing his chest out like a ballerina or lion. When Aaron walks he reminds me of my old roommate Rob Hart after he’s had 17 beers. Stumbling and falling and laughing the whole way.

No matter what, they are definitely joined together in life at this point. Where one goes, the other follows. What one has, the other wants.

For their birthday party we treated them like the 3rd and 4th kid that they are and skipped the big fancy party. But as promised, here is the proverbial frosting picture…

Sam is a neat eater, Aaron not so much.

As is our tradition, we wait until the babies are close to a year old before getting their hair cut.

Yesterday we cut Sam and Aaron’s hair.

How did it go, you ask?

Before…

During…

After…

Before…

During…

After…

Slightly behind Sam makes it much less exciting, but he still walked earlier than Jack and Ben.

So what is his walking style? Well, it’s unlike Sam who would stand for hours without holding onto anything, then slowly started walking, very carefully, Aaron prefers to pull himself up to standing then launch himself off the furniture in the hopes he stay upright. His skinny little legs look like they are accomplishing the impossible by holding him vertical. It’s very wobbly and therefore I’ve named his style, “It’s time to Meet the Muppets” because he looks like a muppet walking.