I am a little regretful that my last developmental update post was for the boys’ 11 months, but I’m happy to share all the new and exciting things that have been happening for our family!
Life Updates!
Daily summer shenanigans. Over the summer, I was a full-time stay-at-home mom, and being the extrovert that I am, I can’t ever stand to stay home for very long. We went out on our daily adventures to the splash pad, pool, library, mall, parks, indoor playgrounds, etc! We met up frequently with other mama friends and babes and had so much fun exploring different things together!
Our first camping trip! We took our first road trip/camping trip as a family for daddy’s birthday. Some friends also joined us as well, and it wasn’t the easiest thing adjusting to a totally different environment, but it was 100% worth it. We enjoyed our time there sleeping under the million stars and breathing the fresh pine air. The boys definitely had their fair share of dirt eating and falling, but they still had a blast. They had a slight off-napping schedules and woke up earlier than they would at home, but overall, I would say they did an excellent job for sleeping through the night about 9-10 hours.
Buttons brand rep! This has been a new exciting additional thing for us (or maybe just me haha). But we were chosen to rep our favorite cloth diaper brand, Buttons! We are currently using buttons, rumperooz, and flips covers with prefolds, but with a recent purchase of the Supers from Buttons, I can’t believe how well they fit on the boys! It’s definitely a big plus to have the flaps to keep the prefolds in with the double snaps and double gussets. I pretty much fell in love and now I am looking to switch out all our covers for the Supers from Buttons. I will need to replace about 10-15 covers. We got a slow start, but being a brand rep may be the best thing ever, because we can take advantage of our discount code as a rep and free goodies in our rep package!
Back to work! After a wonderful summer of being a full-time stay-at-home mama and also studying my butt off for my school psychologist exam, I am back to work to finish up my internship! However, I needed more secondary hours, but my district would only allow it if I commited to at least 4 days of internship, so I am not 4 days away from the boys. Last year, I felt that 3 days of work was the perfect amount for me to miss the boys but still be okay with leaving them. I realize having 1 more day with them makes a pretty big difference. I am pretty sad about leaving the boys with my mom and am sometimes rushing back home.
Motor Development and Play
Running! Yeap, that’s right. These guys aren’t only walking with ease, but now they are RUNNING. So guess what that means? Yeap, I’m also running. They are so active and are definitely on the move! When we are in unfamiliar envrionments, Wyatt, being the fearless adventurer that he is, will take the lead in most situations, while Owen always needs a bit of a reassurance before moving forward. But even Owen’s hesitation doesn’t last very long, because he just follows his brother’s lead and the two are off to play!
Water play! The boys absolutely love the water! At first, they weren’t sure what to think when we took them in the pool, but with more exposure to splash pads, pools, beaches, waterparks, and water play at home, the boys have learned to really enjoy any kind of water play! We are still working on the beach part, but as of our last beach visit, Wyatt actually ran into the waves and was laughing so much as he went in the ocean water up to his neck! (Of course, with our supervision). Owen managed to touch the water and splash it few times, but that was about it. I was still happy about all our water adventures, because last year was probably the only summer I didnt frequent the pool very much like I usually do. It was probably the only summer I was bit pale. I was not in our californian sun very much because the boys were newborns and I didn’t have much courage to take the twins out by myself and deal with the feeding/sleeping difficulties. But thank goodness… WHAT. A. TURNAROUND! The boys just love to splash and run in the water!
Favorite toy: Ball! For their first birthday party, both Wyatt and Owen grabbed the ball for the Korean doljabi game. And their choice stands true, because their favorite toy by far is the ball. Any kind of ball you name it. They like little bouncy balls, beach balls, basketball, soccer ball, tennis balls, play balls, just about everything. It’s literally their favorite toy. They know how to kick and dribble the ball with both their feet. And they are now understanding the concept of playing catch, as they will throw a ball to us and wait for us to throw it back. They have yet to catch it properly, but they are definitely catching onto the idea of the game!
Sleep
Every night the boys sleep about 11 hours. It’s been consistent from when they were about 5 months and they are continuing to sleep through the night from 7:30 pm to 6:30 am. During the day, they have been going back and forth from one or two naps, totaling about 2-3 hours of nap time. The day they began to take just one nap, I just couldn’t believe it. But nowadays they will do a nap from 10-12 then a maybe nap from 3:30-4:30. Sometimes they will take a nice afternoon nap and then they are refreshed and ready to play again afterwards. But sometimes when I put them down for the second nap all they do is laugh and giggle and chat with each other until I take them back out.
Language Development
Receptive language. The boys definitely are picking up some words and phrases (in both Korean and in English)! They understand so much more! It’s so funny because when we comment or ask questions to the boys, many times they respond by saying “uh” (informal way of saying “yes” in Korean) or “yeah”. I’m pretty sure they understand so much more than I give them credit for, but there are definitely some sure things that they know:
- their names
- mom, dad, grandma, grandpa
- “ahnyonghasaeyo” (formal hello with a bow in Korean)
- “joosehyo” and please
- charyut and gyuknet (military attention and bow)
- “ga ja” (let’s go in Korean )
- “gong” (ball in Korean )
- “mool” (water in Korean )
- milk and oohyoo (they understand it in both languages)
- “check” (book in Korean )
- “mamma” (informal/baby way to say food in Korean)
- “chika chika” (informal/baby way to say brushing teeth in Korean)
- “no” and “ahn dweh” (both languages for no)
Expressive language. One big thing that they continue to do is babble with one another as if they understand what they are saying to each other. It’s like they have their own language and are leaving me out in the secret sharing. They love to do this during their playtime.
The boys also participate and follow along when we sing and when we pray. The boys will fold their hands together, but Owen will also say, “ahhhhhh” for the whole time that we pray. When we do independent reading, the boys will point to pictures and say “ah ah” or other babbly nonsense words, and though there is no meaning to any of the utterances, they do understand that someone needs to be verbally emitting sounds, and that’s exactly what they’re doing! Recently however, Owen began pointing to the picture of the bees and will say “bzzzzzz”. He also pointed to the picture of balls and said “gong” which is ball in Korean. I was so shocked and proud of him! I’m sure Wyatt will also say it soon, because usually when starts something, the other will follow along pretty quickly.
The twins also love to share toys and hand each other toys for each other, kiss each other on the lips, and feed one another their own food (I’m 100% sure they would also do this if we had a dog). It’s just the sweetest thing ever when they share, but don’t worry, they also fight over toys and will bite HARD, slap with an open hand, and throw major temper tantrums by crying and kicking and refusing to share. I’m at a complete loss in how to discipline them for this unacceptable behavior, and sometimes I just wanna give up, but I’m dealing with the behavior in the way I know best.
I have also been trying to teach them to communicate functionally, instead of crying, by using sign language! Currently, they know more and all done. For their verbal expression, they know the following!
- ma for (umma/mom)
- ppa for (appa/dad)
- “gong” (ball in Korean- Owen)
- “check” (book in Korean)
- “bzzzz” (bee- Owen)
Physical development
Growing boys! My boys are getting bigger! They are continually gaining steady weight and it seems that they are getting taller too! The boys are currently in 18 months clothes and are wearing 2T shirts even though they look a bit oversized. I figure they will grow into them soon enough. Also, I either gave away or packed away our 12 month clothing. They finally grew out of them! They are in size 4 toddler shoes, but I’m pretty sure we will have to up the size within the next couple weeks. They are in size 4 disposable diapers (with grandma). And we are moving up to Buttons Super covers as they seem to be a better fit for us.
More teeth! The boys just recently in the last 2 weeks have been going through another teething stage. This means I have had cranky, fussy, crying boys for the last 2 weeks. When I took a look in their mouth, I discovered 2 growing molars in both boys. Wyatt’s erupted first and he doesn’t seem to mind as much as Owen. Owen is straight up distressed.
Previously when their teeth began to erupt, it wasn’t too bad. They weren’t nearly as cranky as they are now. But right now, their drooling is through the roof and we are going through multiple bibs per day. We are religiously brushing twice daily and flossing once daily. They understand that “chicka chicka” means brush teeth and Wyatt will put his finger in his mouth to imitate brushing teeth and putting toothpaste on with or without his actual toothbrush. It’s actually pretty cute.
They have a total of 10 teeth now! 4 on the bottom front, 4 on the top front, and 2 top molars (one on each side).
Thank you, Lord
Everyday, I am beyond grateful for my 2 healthy and amazing little boys. I am so thankful that they are growing so well and that they have each other. They are so amazing in their own unique ways. I totally love that they have a singular love for the ball and also for me, but that they also have opposite personalities. I absolutely love their personalities: Wyatt’s bold and fierce independence and Owen’s sweet and caring love for others. It’s kindof crazy how different they are, but I just love them so much more for it. They are always there for one another, even when I can’t be and they bring so many smiles to those around them. I hope that God will continue to use them to be warriors for his kingdom and to reveal his glory by being the light and fire in this dark world.
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Click on the links below to see updates from our previous months! (I only have a few because I started by blog when the boys were around 9 months!)
