16 months old!

Sharing a chair

Today the boys are 16 months old!  It feels like every month goes by more quickly than the month before, and while the boys do change rapidly, the change is much slower than it was in the first months of their life.

Doors? Who needs doors?

Everyday we have fun together.  Both boys adore getting attention and will ham it up when they know they're being watched.  They are clearly starting to understand when we say things to them like, "bedtime!' and "do you want to nurse?"  Asher says "good good," and Benjamin will say "mama" when I prompt him.

Asher has stopped nursing before bed, and is picky about when he does nurse.  He may be ready to wean, or getting there, which is hard for me to handle.  I definitely have an emotional attachment to nursing.

"Hi, I'm Asher, and I'm 16 months old today!"

We've been going swimming a lot, and I don't know if it's them getting accustomed to swimming or the fact that the hot weather has turned all the pools into bathtubs, but they never make a peep of protest now.  Asher loves to splash and kick, and Benjamin likes ducking his head into his float and playing peek-a-boo.

Asher enjoying the slide

Last night we had dinner at my aunt and uncle's, and the boys were being especially cute.  First they loved my aunt Jane's blueberry soup-- who knew? They each ate an entire bowl, and were quite demanding when we didn't feed it to them as fast as we could.

Benjamin with his soup

Asher with his soup

Benjamin getting hot

Nice and cool!

Benjamin must have gotten hot from all that cold soup-eating, and at the end of dinner he took his shirt off!  No dinner is dull with them around.  Fortunately, my aunt and uncle are good-humored about it and don't expect dinners to be all adult conversation and good manners.

We have more family coming later this week- my cousin is coming with her husband, whom we have not yet met, and my uncle (her father) is also coming to town.  We're having a small celebration of their marriage, since we could not attend the wedding, and she will finally get to meet the boys!

I cannot believe that 2 years ago at this time, I was in the midst of the IVF cycle that would bring me these boys.  I also cannot believe that we have made it to 16 months without any major illness or grave concern.  We are so lucky!  Everyday I kiss my boys and hope they know just how much I love them, and how grateful I feel to have them in my life.