15 Months Old (almost)

We've been loving how it's May in Phoenix and still not in the 100's yet. This week, the babies and I mostly hung around the house. As usual, on Tuesday, the Developmental Therapist came. On Wednesday, the Occupational Therapist came (our Speech Therapist is on vacation), and Thursday, the Physical Therapist came. Needless to say, we didn't get out of the house much until Friday. All of the therapists were so excited to see how rapidly the babies are improving with their skills (especially Gabe). Gabe took his first few steps this week (6 being his most consecutive steps, walking from the fireplace to the coffee table)! I am so excited to have a walker around here! It's already so fun to hold his one hand and walk him down the hall. I feel like he is such a big boy. Gabe has also mastered the art of sippy cup drinking, which I'm thrilled about. He drinks his lunch milk from his cup! I know this doesn't sound like such a big deal, but believe me, it is for us! This kid would not hold his own bottle ever (until now) and never wanted much more than a couple sips of liquid at a time. Now, he'll drink and drink as long as he gets to hold his cup. Gabe is also trying to give up his afternoon nap (he forgot to read the memo that babies are supposed to give up their morning nap!). He still wants to crash at 10 AM every morning, no matter where we are, but it's been pulling teeth to get him back down at 3:30 PM for his second nap. Just last week he was taking two 2 hr. naps a day and loving every minute. I thought this was supposed to be a gradual transition. It feels like every time he learns a new skill (now, it's taking steps), he stays up from his nap and practices in his crib. When the novelty wears off, he goes right back to sleeping like a lamb. Ariana is still not even close to giving up her second nap yet, and I refuse to have them on separate nap schedules, so he'll just have to find ways to entertain himself in his crib. Ariana is sitting for longer and longer periods of time. She loves practicing sitting and seeing the world from an upright position. She is also babbling so much more and is wanting to eat larger quantities of food (a major goal of ours for a long time). Now, she eats her whole baby food jar plus some regular solid foods so she can practice chewing. She desperately wants to eat whatever Gabe is eating, but is always disappointed when she realizes how difficult it is to chew. I try to give her the softest foods so she can feel accomplished when she chews something completely and swallows it. Today, we had two of Jake's high school buddies over with their families for a BBQ and swimming. It was so fun! I just love to see new people on the weekends, because I get kind of tired of seeing the same therapists week after week.