So much has changed with Hailey and Hunter since 4 months ago (the last monthly update I did), that it seems like a world away. I get fun updates in my email on what to expect for their milestones and this is the one I got for 16 months:
"Your toddler is learning how to get a laugh out of you and what brings your disapproval. He's studying your reactions, so now's the time to start teaching right from wrong by cheering on "good" behavior (picking up a toy and putting it in the toy box) and frowning on "bad" (throwing the toy across the room). And don't forget to watch what you say and do. Your child learns how to behave by imitating others close to him. "
Well, yep! That is them to a T right now! They are both pushing boundaries by repeating actions we tell them not to do! If we get one of them to stop doing something (like standing on a chair or worse, on top of their tall slide), the other one will go and do it too! So, we've implemented time out. Now, when they do something bad we tell them CORNER and they will walk themselves over and take a break. Of course that doesn't last long and if one of them is in time out, the other comes over to rub it in their face.. so I will end up standing there with whoever is in timeout to act as a blocker for the other one coming over.
Aside from the bad behavior and testing boundaries, they do have a very sweet side these days... Especially Hunter! He loves to go up to his sister and hug/kiss her, but she HATES it! She throws a temper tantrum and he's left looking at her like- what? But he still is biting which is hard to tell when he also likes to give kisses.
Hunter is still very much into tackling his sister... oh and mom, dad, the dogs, the cat... anything he can find! Hailey on the other hand can sit quietly in the corner and enjoys having a moment to look at books and be alone.
Both Hailey and Hunter have been sleeping very well (a trend that i HOPE extends throughout these next few years). At daycare, they take naps on nap mats with several other kids in the room for about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs in the afternoon. On the weekends, Hunter still enjoys taking a nap in the morning, but Hailey is up all day and will take a good nap later in the afternoon like she does at daycare. They both are ready for bed around 6-630 at night and typically wake up around 4/430 to start our day (yes, that includes on weekend which is so BRUTAL when all you want to do is sleep in!).
Our speech is developing quickly! Hailey now says several words and will even talk back if you ask a question. She knows how to say mommy, daddy, dada, mama, baba, paco, doggie, sock, and mine (which sounds like Mikey and daddy does NOT like that). Hunter can say mommy, dada, baba, mama, and sock. But our ALL TIME favorite word? NO! They will say no to us, to each other, to the dogs... ugh. The good part about the word is that they understand what we ask them. If they are done eating, instead of taking them out of the high chair at the sound of screaming, we make them say 'all done' with hand gestures or nod yes to the question. Both of them love to scream and hear their voice so we are trying desperately to get them to use their words so we are not embarrassed in public when they start screaming and actually know what they want.
As far as toys, Hunter is very into trucks. He loves to take them and crawl alongside them as he pushes them across the kitchen floor. He also really likes anything that you can stack or build (like Legos). Hailey loves stuffed animals... LOVES THEM! She will take them and carry them around everywhere and if we make her put it down to put on a jacket or change her, she points and says 'mikey' (mine). And of course, as mentioned, she loves books. She likes to point out things on the picture and over time is starting to listen to stories for a longer period of time instead of getting bored and either walking away or changing the page before you are done reading it.
As for mommy and daddy? We are having to watch what we say and do WAY more! We're not too bad with bad words, but the occasional S word will slip out (especially when you are juggling getting the dogs outside to potty and one of them goes for poopy from one of the dogs or when you are across the room and one of them decide to stand on top of something like the slide that is really tall and you have to run over to get them before they topple over), so we've decided that if we use a swear word, that it will cost us 25 sit-ups and each additional word in that day, you add that 25 on to.. so, 3 bad words = 75 sit ups! That'll teach us to be better about it for sure.
Looking forward to what comes next and really trying to enjoy every stage along the way.. it goes WAY too fast.
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