18 Months!

I can't believe that "the babies" are 18 months old!  I do call them "the boys" a lot, but I also still refer to them as "the babies" a lot.  I guess I'm going to have to quit calling them that at some point soon since they are growing up so quickly!

Both boys are starting to talk more, but I definitely have to use the context clues to figure out what they are saying most of the time.  Other than Momma & DaDa, "ball" and "dog" are the only words that are really clear.  But I keep finding myself surprised at how much they understand what we are saying even though they can't say much themselves yet.  On the day they turned 18 months, I told Baylor to hold Griffin's hand and he went running over to Griffin and held his little hand out.  He did it again when I asked him to hold hands on the way into Holly & Jason's house, but that time I was able to get a picture of them.  Hollins' 2nd birthday party was the same day as the babies' half birthday which worked out really well because I got lots of pictures of them and they got cake. 

It's been so fun to see Baylor & Hudson's personalities develop and see how they interact with each other and how different they are from each other.  Baylor is such a sweet, loving little boy.  He will just stop in the middle of what he's doing to give me, Hudson, or Griffin a hug.  To say that he loves to play ball would be a huge understatement.  He almost always has a ball in his hands and very often has more than one.  He also loves music and loves to dance--as soon as any little tune comes on the TV, from a toy or wherever, he will start to do a little wiggle and sway.  Hudson is Mr. Personality.  He loves to make people laugh (and knows how to do it!), and he has the sheepish grin and the devilish smirk down pat.  He is already a little rule-breaker and telling him "no" only makes him want to do it more...but then he gets his little smirk and it's hard to get too upset with him.  But when he doesn't get his way, he lets you know that he doesn't like it by throwing himself on the ground and banging his head on the floor. In fact, they are both pretty good at that one.

They really love to play together.  One of my favorite things is to hear them giggling when they are playing peek-a-boo with each other from their cribs.  But as much fun as they have playing together, we also have lots of squabbles over toys, food, my attention or space on my lap, and more...and I'm sure this is only the beginning!  They also ADORE their big brother.  They want to be in the middle of whatever he is doing...and, luckily, he's usually pretty understanding about it and enjoys playing with them, too.  The picture above is of Baylor pushing Hudson on the princess riding toy.  This is a favorite activity to do on their train at home, too.  They even push Griffin on the train sometimes!

Hollins' birthday party was a Minnie Mouse themed party and I got Baylor, Griffin, and Harper with their mouse ears on.  I've always thought Baylor looked "pretty" enough to be a girl with his blonde hair and blue eyes...and having a pink bow in his hair just confirmed those thoughts.  Hudson wouldn't keep the ears on long enough for me to get a picture, but he let me get plenty of pictures of him once he had a cupcake in front of him! 

We don't go to the doctor for their 18-month checkup for 2 more weeks, but we've been to the doctor plenty of times lately for sick visits.  Both boys have had ear infections for the past month--every time they finish an antibiotic, by a day or two later they have a fever again and back to the pediatrician we go.  So we have had plenty of weigh-ins lately: Baylor is coming in at 24 lbs 15 oz and Hudson is 24 lbs 5 oz.  I measured them both on their growth chart and both are right around 31 inches, but Baylor seems to be a tad bit taller.