15 Month Big Boys (Well, a week shy...)

In one week, my precious boys will be 15 months.  I've been meaning to write this post for a few weeks now, but life's been pretty full.  I've written multiple other posts which capture a few things from the past couple of months, but there are still a few things I want to remember about my boys at this age.

Communication
These past couple of months have been a huge leap in the boys communication.  They are working so hard each day at trying to say and learn new words.  As I mentioned in a previous post, their object recognition has beyond amazed us.  Ever since they took off in this area, they've been trying to say the words as well.  There are a huge number of words the boys speak these days, some they say perfectly, but the majority of them can only be deciphered by us since we are with them all the time.  For example, the boys love to 'bambum' which is vacuum.  They (especially Gavin) love flowers, which are 'naner'.  The list is huge, I really don't think I would even know where to begin in listing them and how they try to say it.

With this new growth in communication, I've seen an increase in whining these days.  I figure this has to do with the fact that they have so much more they want to say, but aren't sure how to say it yet, which in turns frustrates them.  Each day I encourage them to 'use their words' and take lots of time to help them express themselves and show me what it is they are trying to say.

Top 5
If I had to choose 5 favorite activities of the boys', I would say books, outdoors, blocks, cars and Baby Einstein DVDs.  We spend a huge part of our day going through our huge library of books.  I typically don't even get a chance to read the real story, but make up stories as they turn the pages.  We point to all the pictures and name all the objects we can find.  They come up to me all the time with books, pointing and trying to say what the word is.  They amazed their dad the other day when he was asking them to find certain things in books and they would point right to it!

Wyatt and Gavin still love being outside.  Now that's it's summer time, we get to play in the pool (our backyard fun and the community pool and splash pad).  These boys are fearless.  They just want to run, and don't care that the water is up to their chin.  They love to splash and jump in the water as we catch them.  They laugh when they stick their head in the water.  We took them to Galveston's Moody Gardens (the Aquarium and Palm Beach) and they had so much fun!  I'll have to post about this separately along with some pics.

Blocks (many different versions we have) also keep the boys very entertained these days.  They spend a lot of time building and tearing down.  I use them for color lessons as well, which they are still doing great at.

They love cars!  Not just the big cars either, but the 'big boy' match box cars and such.  I bought them several along with some race tracks which they throughly enjoy all throughout the day.  Now that they don't stick everything in their mouth, we don't have to worry about chocking on a wheel that might happen to fall off after chewing sessions!

Much to my dismay in the beginning, the boys love to watch DVDs.  Well, Baby Einstein and Boz that is.  I've realized that it's not a bad thing at all.  I limit it of course, but they just soak this stuff in.  They are continually learning while watching; body parts, shapes, colors, animals, 'objects', signing, etc.  These really are great shows and I think just another tool that has helped the boys excel.

Teething
A few days before Easter started the boys crazy teething month.  By 8 months they boys had 8 teeth each (just like their Mama).  After that, nothing!  Until April (13 months).  In 4 weeks, Wyatt had 8 new teeth and in 5 weeks, Gavin had 8 new ones.  That's all 16 teeth now (next ones are their 2 year old molars). Poor guys, it was a rough month as they came in, especially the molars.

Pacifier Free
I am not sure if I mentioned this yet, but the boys have not had their pacifiers in about a month and a half at least.  They were just using them at night and naps at 1 year, but I didn't want to try all together getting rid of them because they went through their crazy teething month.  Once this was over, the pacifiers went away.  It took them a good extra 10-15 minutes to fall asleep that first nap w/o them, and then that was all it took.  They still thought about grabbing them before sleep for a couple of days, but when they didn't see them on the ledge where we kept them, they didn't seem to care.  Yay for easy transition!

Food and Such
Gavin loves bananas, and Wyatt loves blueberries and watermelon; although they both have both of these on their favorite food lists.  Other favorites: fig newtons, Chick-fil-A, cheese sticks.  They eat everything, but there are just some things they eat with certain gusto as my family says.  While the boys were teething and then sick for a couple of weeks afterwards (the quick San Antonio trip), their appetite dropped majorly though.  Just the past couple of weeks has it begun to increase again, but still no where where it used to be.  The boys are still about 26+ lbs, but we'll find out their measurements next week at their 15 month check-up.  They haven't seem to go through another major growth spurt this past month either, but they are still quite tall.  They are in 24-2T clothes these days.

Other Tid-Bits
The boys love to 'fly' as Daddy swings them around.  They love for Mama to play 'Tickle Monster' and games of chase.  Although very different, they both have the most amazing laughs that melt my heart.  When they get the giggles, I can't help but crack up too.  They love to snuggle and are so great at it.  They love to give kisses and hugs.  Wyatt is my 'scrunchie theif' as he's always taking out my pony tail and cracking up.  They get the biggest kicks out of being tickled by my hair.  Sometimes I'll trap them on the ground (although they often lay down willingly) and throw my hair in their face.  They giggle so hard and keep asking for more.  When we practice eating with the spoon, the boys doing very well.  I'm actually surprised at how well they have it down, although it's still a work in progress.  The boys love people and love to wave at them and tell them high and give them big ol' cheese grins!  Wyatt has started to give a pouty lip and say, 'poopoopoo' when he's whining which is so funny.  They are really into the mimicking phase which is pretty funny.  They think it's funny to stretch crazy like and show off their muscles like Daddy.  Old McDonald is still their favorite tune to try to sing, 'EeeIiiiEeeeIiiiiEeeee'.  They love animals, naming them and saying the sounds they make.  Gavin's favorite animal seems to be the giraffe and Wyatt's the monkey and duck.  Wyatt loves to say, 'guack, guack', and both love to say, 'moo moo'.  They have taken to riding the dogs like their rocking horses (which they also love and think they are trick riders...).  They drink from my cup w/o a straw very well these days, although I still hold it for them.  They've been practicing this in the tub, and actually do very well on their own.  I mentioned before the love cleaning; vacuuming, dusting, washing hands and taking baths.  Bugs make them laugh and they think it's a great treat when butterflies dance around them when we are outside!  They love their cowboy hats Grandma MaryJane bought them for their birthday.  They also make everything else into hats and we use their old bibs as capes (putting them on backwards).  They sit in any box they fit in, which includes daily their toy boxes and the dog toy box.  They love to climb and now climb on the couch (although they have to 'sit on their hinnies' and 'be safe') at all times.  They enjoy looking out windows.  They get so excited when we put on shoes or put on sunscreen b/c they know what's coming next!  They also run and get the diapers, wipes and changing pad when I say, 'let's change your diaper'.  They've been enjoying sitting on the big boy potty, but they still have not increased the amount of times they actually go potty on the seat.

Oh, there is so much I want to remember about Gavin and Wyatt at this age.  It seems they forever captivate me.  I love their love for this world God created and their pure enjoyment of it.  Being their mom helps me take the time to soak in the beauty and wonderment all around me.