15 Months

As you can tell from his smile, Charlie loves to watch animals.

Greta likes to try to whistle.

These are some outtakes from our Christmas photo shoot. Nick ended up taking the photos while I danced, sang & otherwise acted silly behind him to try to get the twins to look at the camera (we gave up on smiling too). We fed them right before we left & they had just taken a nap, but we got the biggest smiles when they were put back in their carseats.

The twins have been so busy its hard to remember what they have learned to do in the last month. They are both really good walkers. It is unusual for Charlie to crawl anymore. They both love climbing. Their favorite toys are my hairbrushes, any chair & things that move. They love to try to climb onto Ella's scooter.

Neither of them eat very well. They both love ravioli, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, pears, bananas, apples, (do you see a trend?), peaches & especially mandarin oranges. Greta used to love cantaloupe, but she is more picky these days (perhaps she only likes it in season?). Greta will usually eat ham & turkey, but Charlie has declared himself a vegetarian. I haven't found a dairy product that they don't like (with the exception of Charlie & cottage cheese). Mealtime usually starts with them crying because I haven't taken away their cups that were thrown on the floor & ends with all the food on their tray being thrown to the floor (& one Happy Hogan).

Greta will say a handful of words - more, milk, Ella, (ba)nana, hogan (though it sounds just like Ella, it helps when she points to the treat box at the same time), ba(th), ball, sit, up, down, off, hat, shoe, nose, "row, row, row," apple, "A, B, C, D" (when requesting that you sing the alphabet song), night-night, food, open, book, no, yogurt.

Charlie doesn't say at much, preferring to grunt & point, but he surprised us yesterday by mastering the key word when you are multiple & there is only one parent around - UP! He also (occasionally) says "row, row, row," apple, milk, ba(th), more, (ba)nana.

They both understand what we say, but often choose to ignore us.

Their favorite playmate is Ella, but they can be a little rough for her at times. Greta likes 'games' that challenge her fine motor skills - like twisting a cap onto a bottle. Charlie likes to make things move or make noise. He also LOVES books & will bring them over to be read. He could sit on your lap & listen to you read the same book for hours. His favorites are Good Night Moon & anything that involves animal noises.

Greta still likes to get a reaction out of people - she loves to take Charlie's blanket or pacifier. Charlie still gives up too easily when Greta challenges him for a toy. But he does have a little fight in him for people other than his twin sister. The other day another little girl tried to climb on his two seater toy & he put his arm out & said "NO!" A little displaced anger I think.