18 Month Review

No more babies in the Manning home, now it's a little girl and a little boy. The biggest changes during their 18th month was that Meredith and Berkley started eating with spoons and forks and they won't let me carry them up and down the stairs. Since they can now go up the stairs on their own I decided it was time I gave them their first tub bath by myself. Before if Steven wasn't here to help me, I would just do it in the sink downstairs, but now we have fun in the tub even when daddy is at work. Other fun things this past month; Berkley noticed the moon and called it a ball, I told him it was the moon and now he always looks up into the night sky pointing and saying "moo, moo." Meredith started calling Berkley by name, she calls him "Ber." Berkley finally started saying Larry, but he says "ya ya," which is what Meredith called Larry at first as well. I've noticed that Meredith says, "alright" and "okay" a lot, I think she got that from me because whenever I tell her something I'll end by saying, "okay." They have both started saying milk and cheese. We started time outs with the twins this month and it's been really effective. I was starting to feel out of control as a parent and like nothing I was trying was working in the discipline category. I got some advice from another parent and gave time outs a try. I was amazed at how well the kids responded to it and thankful to feel more confident in how to respond when they misbehave. Meredith and Berkley have learned to spin around in circles and Berkley especially loves it when he loses his balance. Berkley is so observant of everything around him and especially loves to see how things work. Berkley loves being outside and when I put him in his carseat he likes to sit with the van door open watching the pine trees blow in the wind. Meredith loves her big brother and likes to copy whatever he does. Meredith said her first small sentence this past month, it was "YahYow owsi," which translates, Larry outside! They both got three new teeth each, bringing Meredith's total up to 7 and Berkley's, 11 teeth. As you see from the picture above, Meredith has started biting her fingernails. I was surprised that this habit would start so early, but I guess if she's to teeth, she's going to use them. Berkley has started this absolutely precious thing that I don't want to forget; when I read them "Goodnight Moon" before bed Berkley will put his finger up to his mouth and so "shh" when I get to the part when it says "the old lady whispering hush." It's so cute the way he holds that little finger over his lips and he always knows when it's coming, before I even get to the picture. And a final thing they're both doing now is helping me clean-up, yay! Meredith likes to help clean-up more than Berkley, but he still helps some.

It has amazes me how much they have grown this last month! Their vocabulary is growing daily and they've become so independent. I continue to be thankful that I can be home with them to watch them grow and reach new milestones everyday!