As usual, I am a few days late with this post. The girls turned 10 months on Saturday. It seems to have gone so quickly, but at the same time is feels like years ago that we brought home those two tiny bundles! So much has changed and it is amazing how much they learn and grow this first year.
At 10 Months...
Candace -
Oh boy, what a temper this girl has, she is our little spitfire! I keep thinking she'll outgrow it, but if anything, it just seems to get worse! She is quite impatient, easily frustrated, and she will squeal and scream in a possessed manner if things do not go her way. Do they offer anger management courses for infants, lol? Of course at this age her short fuse is more amusing than anything else, so hopefully she outgrows it. I don't think it will be quite so "cute" at two years old!
Developmentally, Candace is right on track with her peers. She is cruising around furniture like a pro, although she is still a little clumsy like her mother. She loves to clap her hands together and is learning to wave bye-bye. She is not very "talkative", but she has recently started saying "kitty" (although I am not sure it is in strict association with the cat just yet.) She is very focused and analytical and you can almost see the wheels turning in her head as she intently studies and investigates new things.
Her favorite things to do include reading and looking through books, having Daddy flip and toss her, watching big bird, stacking rings and blocks, and playing with her Pooh bear. She has a stuffed Pooh that she sleeps with and I often find her awake from her nap, squealing at the stuffed bear and wrestling him in her crib. She gets very riled up by that silly little stuffed animal!
Cassidy -
Cassidy is our silly little clown. She has a million goofy expressions, laughs easily, and likes to make others laugh. She is still a little clingy to me and cautious of strangers, but around the people she knows she is friendly, affectionate, and daring. She is also very sneaky and we have to watch her carefully because she is quite clever!
Developmentally, Cassidy also is right on track with her peers. She is a cruising and standing pro, and can even take up to three steps independently before falling down. I predict she will be walking within a month. She claps, gives kisses, is learning to wave bye-bye, and her only real word is still "kitty-cat," although she does say "mama" and "dada" with about 70% accuracy.
Her favorite things to do are play peek-a-boo, chase the cat, explore her surroundings (a.k.a. finding trouble!,) and babble. She has also started to notice Candace more and more and likes to try to get her attention. Just this morning she crawled over to her, stroked her face, and gave her kisses! It was the sweetest thing ever and my heart melted! She also likes to "share" her food with her, which works out well because Candace likes to take her food, lol!
At 10 months, the girls are still nursing, but unfortunately I will have to start the weaning process a little earlier than the one year mark since I will be returning to work soon. I keep procrastinating it but I know we will have to make the transition when I leave them with the nanny. I am still not certain how I am going to go about it (gradually, all at once, bottles, cups, type of formula, etc.), but I do know I want to keep at least the morning and evening nursing sessions until they wean themselves from those or my supply diminshes. Also, I am so thrilled to share that Candace seems to have finally outgrown her milk intolerance, yay! I can now enjoy pizza, ice cream, cheese, and other dairy treats!
As for table food, they are finger food pros, and after introducing the Nuby brand cups, both girls have pretty much mastered the sippy cup. They still get spoon-fed their cereal mixed with baby food at each meal, but they have been introduced to lots of new foods they can do themselves. Candace loves biter biscuits, bananas, nectarines, and any other fruit. Cassidy loves noodles, carrots and green beans. They have also tried peas, meat sticks, squash, gardenburgers (not a success though), Kix cereal, and Ritz crackers. Candace seems to be a little more eager and more receptive to new foods than Cassidy, but probably because she has 6 teeth to Cassidy's 2! Candace has also always seemed to have a little bigger appetite.
In other news, we found a nanny! After several phone conversations with her, including an hour long interview, phone calls to all of her references, and a thorough background check, I am confident she will be a wonderful fit for our family! She has lots of experience, including experience with older twins, she had glowing recommendations, and she answered my interview questions candidly and in alignment with our family values, practices and philosophies. Additionally, I just have an overall "good feeling" about her and my intuition and instinct tell me she is "the one." We interviewed ten nannies and of them all she is the best fit. I am excited we found someone so perfect to care for the girls!
The girls were too funny in these hoods! They were very amused with each other's hood and kept trying to "help" each other take them off.
We love Daddy!
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