We’ve hit double figures and the girls’ first birthday is looming large on the horizon. Here’s what they’ve been up to in the last month:

1. Food. They are gradually eating less ‘mush’ and more human food, as I like to think of it. They absolutely loved roast dinner (the Yorkshire puddings were a particular hit) and I made them little cheese and tomato pizzas, which they positively gobble. We’re trying to have lunch at the same time as them when we’re at home and have bought booster chairs so they can sit at the table with us. They tend to eat a lot better if they see us eating the same food as them.

2. Milk and fluid. I decided to cut out the 11am 4oz bottle of milk three weeks ago and the girls haven’t noticed. They have some water and a rusk or rice cake instead. They are eating more dairy now (G will hoover up three yogurts in one sitting if we let her) so I don’t feel they are missing out and they weren’t very interested in it anyway. They have water after every meal from their beakers and happily swing one-handed. They hold their own bottles 95% of the time and only require help when they are tired.

3. Teeth. They have one bottom front left tooth each. G cut hers on 28th August and R cut hers on 9th October. I can see a white mark in G’s mouth next to the existing tooth so I don’t think it will be too long before she has ‘Toofer too’. G has milked her PAIN for all its worth. R has just got on with it, as we suspected she would.

4. Weight. They are around eighteen and a half pounds, so not much of a gain this month. They are still some way off the weight they need to be to go into the next stage car seat (20lbs).

5. Crawling. R has developed a very efficient crawling motion and keeps one leg tucked under so that she can sit back up when she’s had enough. G is less fussed about crawling but likes being on her front (most of the time) and can shuffle about, mostly backwards.

6. Developmental milestones - G:
• She did a two handed wave, followed a couple of days later by a one-handed wave
• She likes pointing at people and laughs when we point back at her.
• She can copy the actions of the ‘clappy hands’ song her keyworker at nursery does with her.
• She can play peekaboo on her own now – she holds a muslin square over her face and removes it with a rather theatrical flourish and gales of laughter.
• She shakes her head meaning ‘no’ when she’s had enough food.

7. Developmental milestones – R:
• She puts a smaller object inside a large one and shakes it
• She can sit up in her cot from a lying down position
• She can do a one-handed wave
• She is an absolute daredevil (think Evel Knievel) and will just fling herself at an object with no care for her safety or what’s around her.

8. Standing. R can pull herself up to a standing position. G has tried, but gets about half-way up and gets stuck. They both love being pulled up by us into a standing position and will stand with support for ages.

9. Chatting. The girls are SO chatty. In fact, they don’t shut up!

10. Wrestling. The girls grab and pull each other over. Depending on their mood, they either laugh hysterically or scream and cry and have to be separated!

11. Swings. We took them to the park yesterday and the girls played on the swings for the first time. G absolutely loved it, even when she was swinging quite quickly. R enjoyed it, but didn’t like the fast swinging quite as much.

The girls seem to have come on in leaps and bounds in the last month. I was starting to despair about their lack of teeth and their (slightly) limited movement but the girls have allayed many of my fears over the last few weeks.
I’m finding it difficult to predict what they’ll get up to in the next month. They are beginning to make noises that I think will become actual words in the next few months. They become more mobile and independent every day. I’m going to look at dropping the 3pm bottle in the next couple of weeks.
It’s good to have so many positive things to talk about. I feel like I’m really enjoying the girls now and it’s great to get so much back from them. Apparently the girls’ keyworkers at nursery are doing developmental observations on them at the moment and are really impressed with their progress, particularly in terms of their ability to work out and play with toys, their responsiveness, mimicking skills and chattiness. It’s good to hear that collectively, we appear to be doing a good job with R and G.