Mya and Stella are 18 Months!!

Our precious little ladies are a year and a half old! They are growing and changing daily and are very intelligent. They have become very vocal over these last few months and have an ever growing vocabulary. They have begun to sleep in on random days which makes us excited to think that it could possibly happen more often in the near future. At this point we never know when it will happen but we completely appreciate it when it does. Sleeping in for us is 7:30 or8:00. Normally the girls are up around 6:00 or 6:30.

They are fearless and climb all over everything. They love to dance, hold hands, give kisses, stomp their feet, do ring-around-the-rosie, run laps around our house and up and down the hallways, read books, rearrange the furniture in our kitchen and living room (grrrrr!), play with my jewelry (again grrrrrrrr!!!), play with phones, look out the window, play with whatever the other one has, color and take baths. They giggle often and have the sweetest hearts. They love to be praised and so when they share something they always look to me with a smile and wait for me to say "Oh, that was soooooo nice!!!" They always want to know where the other one is and if one wakes up first they are always looking for the other and calling her name.

Both girls' hair has really grown. Mya has to have her hair in piggies all the time or it hangs in her face. Stella is inching closer and closer to being able to put a clip in it. She so desperately wants one when she sees me put them in Mya's hair. Soon enough! Stella has 7 teeth and Mya has 6. We are slow in this department, I know. I was pretty sure this would be the case because I was the same way. I was slow to get them and slow to lose them. I had to have my last two baby teeth pulled the summer before my senior year! That was awesome :/ But they sure enjoy brushing what they do have. That is mostly because they watch us and their tooth brushes blink!

They eat whatever we are eating but have become much pickier. I hate this! They used to devour veggies but now they only eat a little and we have to give them these first. Their favorites include cheese, yogurt, and all fruits. They still only drink milk (Silk - soy milk for Mya because she still gets a bad diaper rash when she drinks cow's milk) and water. They call it "mock" and "wato".

Here are some of the words they say and how they say them:

*mock - milk

*wato botto - water bottle

*paja (sounds very Indian) - paci/pacifier (and yes I know what you are thinking....why do they still have them and my answer is I have twins get off my back! They are helpful when they are whiny. :) They really only have them for bedtime on extreme occasions although they ask for them all the time. )

*baby

*bear

*goal - when watching soccer with Daddy

*Go Bucks

*Go Weds - Go Reds

*Mya - Stella really accentuates the "ya" so it's My-YA!

*Sissy - Mya doesn't say Stella yet but instead always calls her Sissy

*Votto - Stella loves to look at Daddy's Reds magnet with Joey Votto on it on our fridge and she babbles a bunch but loves to say Votto!!!

*punka/punky - pumpkin

*phOne - with a stress on the O

*So-ee - Stella's version of Sophie

*Soapy - Mya's version of Sophie

*YoGo - yogurt

*cheese - when taking pictures or eating

*cup

*poon - spoon

*hat

*bock - book

*ny-ny - night night

*po-ple - purple

*geen - green

*circle

*buh-pee - Butt Paste and they usually try to apply it themselves with the cap on lol

*diapa-diapa-diapa - diaper and it's always 3 times :)

*boop - poop or pee, they grab their diapers and so I'm thinking potty training isn't that far off

*open

*see ya

*bye

*hi

*up

*down

*hold you

*caca - cracker

*gape - grape

*appo -apple

*badada - banana

*read - when handing us a book

*banky - blanket

*goggy - doggy

*puppy

*zeba - zebra

*cow

*uh oh - but it is usually said when they did something on purpose that they weren't supposed to.

* Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Papa, YaYa, YoYo, Marga (Aunt Morgan), Tayloo(Taylor), Mananana(Amanda), and Milo

*I'm sure I'm forgetting some because they are constantly talking.

They can point to their hair, head, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, chin, face, mouth, tongue, teeth, fingers, toes, hands, feet, elbow, belly, belly button, back, knees, feet and booty. They know the sounds a dog, monkey, lion, tiger, cow, sheep, turkey, duck and rooster make. They also know what Santa says. They know the colors purple and green and can identify a circle, oval and square. They know where pants, shirts, socks, shoes, hats, and coats go. Oh speaking of that they can say all of those words too. They love to try to dress themselves and often have many layers on. They make a huge mess when they play but they like to clean up and while they do they chant "pick up, pick up". They can run pretty fast and always run when you call their name if they took a toy from their sister - little stinkers! We bought some froggy pottys and they like to sit on them to read books but have no interest when they are actually naked. They've never actually went to the bathroom on them. We go for the 18 month well-check on December 15th. We needed an evening appointment and that was the first available for both of them so I will update their stats at that point. I am totally dreading that appointment because Mya is so afraid and there are more shots to get. Boo!

Life is crazy and beautiful and I wouldn't trade a single moment of it! They are all we dreamed of and so much more! Loving life here at the Rethman house!