18 Months Old!!!

My babies are officially 1 1/2 years old today!!  It amazes me that these past 18 months could have possibly gone this quickly!  It has been so hard to keep up with all of the new things they are doing, saying, and figuring out... it seems like especially in the last month!  They are true boys, and we thank God each and every day for these precious miracles that God blessed us with!!

(Since we don't go in for their 18 month appt for another couple of weeks, I'm not sure of their height and weigh yet, so for now I'll guess! =)

Stats:
Height: Probably around 33 inches (they seem really tall--no surprise with their tall Daddy!)
Weight: ~25 pounds (makes for a nice heavy load carrying them up and down stairs!)
Size: Size 4 diapers, 18 month clothes (they are skinny though so they still fit in a few 12 month outfits), size 5 shoes
Sleep: 7pm-7:45ish am, naps vary... most days are just once a day, but we still have some 2 nap days
Food: Almost completely on table food.  We still have some baby food jars for back up when they are being picky!

I've really tried to take some pictures and videos to illustrate the following new skills, but some I still haven't captured. Trust me... they are all super cute!  (I think I might be a bit biased!) But be warned... this is a super long post, and includes many videos!  Feel free to break it up into two or even three sessions!  =)

A Random List of New Steiner Dude Skills:

• Knocking on doors/wall--As they knock, Will says "ba ba ba" and Jack says "na na na". They love to play on opposite sides of their bedroom door!
• Their 'thing' with Daddy when they are in their high chairs is to do fist bumps--and they both say "boom" really loud when their fists connect! A super cute Daddy & sons thing! 
• They LOVE to play with Betsy, or at least try to! She still doesn't stay too close if they are coming at her, but they sure love to try!  And they love to feed her food off their trays--I think I taught them that since I usually throw Betsy the extra crusts or things they don't finish.  Oops. They love it when Molly (Gigi and Grandpa's dog) is over too, because she doesn't run away like Betsy does!
• Making basketball shots--both can make baskets on their little hoop, and quite often, they use any and all toys to make those shots! Here is Jack dunking his basketball!

• "Man-Man" This is Jack's word for Superman, Batman, and as of yesterday, the trash man too!
• They can consistently point to their nose when you ask them.  They can say 'eye' and show you on a toy, but don't consistently show you their own yet.  They also know head, mouth, and ears.
• Climbing--just in the last few weeks, they figured out that they can climb up onto furniture.  Thanks to the fearless climbing ringleader, Will, our couch and chair are gated off when the boys are up.  After realizing that I am just not long enough to stretch to hold them both when they are on opposite ends, I've decided that couch climbing time is for when Daddy is home! Here is one of the first times Will figured out how to climb up... He was so proud of himself!

• They are just chatter boxes!!  Well, Jack is a super chatter box, and much of the time, Will lets him speak for the both of them!  They pretty much say the same words, but there are some that we really only hear Jack say right now.  Their absolute favorites right now are car, quack-quack, and nana (banana). They also say mommy, juice, milk, poo-poo (good one, Daddy!), night-night, bye, hi, shoe, Betsy, Molly, and blueberry (Jack only). I bet there a ton I'm missing, and there are a whole lot of others that they mimic but don't say independently yet. And the drs told us not to expect much talking for awhile since they were preemies, boys, and identical twins! Yeah right! 
• Animal names and noises (these are the ones that they know with the sounds)--monkey, cow, cat, duck, lion, horse, pig, elephant (with hand motions!), and more!  I got them a set of animal magnets and they spend a ton of time playing with them on the fridge! Their favorite books are their animal books.  They love spending time looking at them, repeating their sounds, and even kissing them! Gigi and Grandpa even got them a book that makes duck sounds when they push the button... a HUGE hit!!

They spend a lot of time doing this!!

Grandpa and the boys

• They love blowing kisses!  They'll say bye to people and blow kisses! Adorable!
• They love playing with their plastic bowl, spoons, cups, and pretend to stir and drink out of their cups.  They have a drawer in the kitchen full of all these types of things that multiple times a day gets completely emptied out and scattered around the kitchen!
• They play hard up in their playroom!  We have just recently moved their slide out there, and they have become experts on doing it on their own!  Check out the cute video!

• They love their teeter-totter also... especially Jack!  He loves to sit in the middle and rock on his own.  Wil does too, but usually Jack fusses for Will not to bother him! 

Jack

Will made it on!

• They love to eat! Their favorite foods are blueberries, bananas, cookies, and cheese... all which they ask for by name.  We have been starting to dip foods lately (see their first experience with ketchup below!) and in the mornings, they practice eating the last bit of yogurt or oatmeal with spoons. They make a huge mess but are doing really well! They also got to eat their first pizza crust at a restaurant and loved them! Such big boys!

W

J--note the ketchup didn't help all the green beans
to get eaten =(

J, W

Mmm... pizza crust

• Their favorite shows that we watch are Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Yo Gabba Gabba.  
• They love to dance, wiggle, spin, and bounce to music. I play a bunch of music for them during the day, and they smile and clap along to the songs!  Anyone remember Psalty, the Singing Songbook??  Many of the songs we listen to are ones I grew up listening to!  It's fun to sing them again with my boys! Most of them are pure scripture, and I love that this is what they are soaking into their little hearts!
• They are learning to 'test' our reactions on things.  One thing I try to be super consistent on is telling them no, hot, danger when they are near the oven.  I always move them away, but sometimes they still sneak in and try to touch it.  Lately, Jack has been coming over, putting one finger on it, and glancing up at me with a smile.  Stinker.  We have similar experiences like that with other "no-no"things, as well as giggles as we are trying to reprimand.  Fun times are ahead!
• They love to cuddle with their soft blankets.  We have fleece and fuzzy blankets upstairs and downstairs, and they love to lay on them, cuddle with them, drag them around relax with them! 
• Will is the king of dumping out tubs of toys, and they both are pretty good at clearing off an entire shelf (or 2) of books or demolishing a clean room in about 10 seconds!

Sadly, for right now, this is where most
of our books are during the day.

• They both are super good at identifying pictures of family members, especially their cousin Ryley!  She was the first one they would each and every time say "Eye-lee" when we asked who it was.  Now they can identify the rest of us too, most of the time! =) Everyone's pictures are up next to the changing table in their room, and we go over them every day!
• They love to look out the windows for "ca" (cars) all the time!  They wake up in the morning and that is the first thing they say when we open the blinds! We also look out the windows of the van at them also! They are such boys!  We are working on learning "truck", but for now, all vehicles seem to be cars!
• We have been playing outside a lot in the beautiful weather we have been having!  They boys haven't been too big a fan of grass yet, since it has been dead and scratchy. But they sure do love the porch!  

It is getting greener and softer!

It's fun to play underneath too!

And they're up!

Helping mommy clean up a bit (W)

• We had our first chipped tooth last week during bath time. =(  Jack now sports a small chip on his left front tooth. Thank goodness that there was no serious harm done. We hold them so carefully during baths, but somehow in getting him ready to come out and into the towel, he slipped. After a a few tears, he was fine, but we sure felt badly! Thank goodness God is protecting our babies, better than we ever can (even when we try our hardest)!

Not sure if you can see the chip here, but he
sure is a happy boy!

• They love taking self-portraits!  Well, actually mommy loves taking pictures with the front facing camera and they get a kick out of seeing themselves on the screen!  We take pictures often to send to Daddy at work! They also love FaceTime!  We did it the other night with Mammaw and Pappaw and the boys had so much fun!  Now when they hear their voice on speakerphone, they look at the screen to try to find their faces! So cute! We have to FaceTime family more often, since so many of us have iphones!

• And last but not least, I have to share a video of what we get to watch in the monitor.  I can't tell you how many days we just lay in bed or stand at the counter (the two places where the monitor screen sits) and just watch in awe.  They giggle, they clap, they steal each other's blankets, and sometimes they even bite the other's finger... but you can tell that they just love being together!  It has been even more fun since their cribs are now back to back!  The camera is in a new location now, so since this was shot, we can now see them both clearly in the same frame... much better!

I bet there are so many new things I've forgotten to mention, but I think I'll end this post now.  Can you tell life is super fun in the Steiner house? =)

And my little studs... I have this posted on my header right now, but I wanted to make sure I had these on this post too.  They are just at such a fun age, and it honestly is getting more fun with every moment!

I never dreamed that being a mommy would make me so deeply happy and fulfilled.  I'd heard that being a mother is like having your heart beating outside of your body, and it is so true.  I just never imagined the kind of love I'd feel for my precious boys.  

Happy 18 months, my sweet William and Jackson.  

I love you more than you'll ever begin to understand!