Bit late with this one – it’ll probably be the last monthly update I do as I missed the 17 month one completely and there’s only so much I can add each month that’s new and different now that they have achieved most of the major baby and toddler milestones.
Over the last month or so R and G’s development seems to have come on in leaps and bounds (literally). They weren’t exactly behind their peers with many things to start with, but their recent achievements have really impressed dh and I:

Physical development. They are just starting to get the hang of running, although they fall over when they get to a certain speed! R has just about mastered jumping up and down on the spot. G has all of the action but none of the lift-off. They are both very good at climbing, R in particular. G is slightly less graceful than her sister (doesn’t really live up to her name!) but they both achieve the same things in their own unique styles.

Teeth. After having six teeth each for the last six months (argh!) they have suddenly sprouted three new teeth each. So, 18 down, 22 to go (she says looking on the bright side) and they are both in pain (PAIN!) at the moment so they’ll have some more soon, hopefully.

Weight. We last weighed them at the end of May. G was 11.4 kilos(25lbs 1 oz) and R was 11 kilos (24lbs2oz).

Speech and words. After months of fretting on my part, the girls’ vocabulary has really come on over the last few weeks. They say so many words now that I couldn’t list them all. G’s favourite is NO, accompanied with a vigorous shake of the head. R’s favourite is a very loud HELLO! They also say OH NO in dramatic voices and ‘what’s that?’. G is a little mimic and does an excellent impression of me as I tell R off, copying my finger point and saying ‘NO! NAUGHTY!’.

Singing. G loves warbling along to songs on the radio and at random moments she bursts into nursery rhymes, accompanied with the appropriate actions.

Dancing. The girls have developed their own unique set of dance moves. They are difficult to describe, so I’ll try and take a video and post it up.

Animal noises. They girls are obsessed with a book with pictures of animals in it that our friends bought for them. On an average day we read it to them approximately fourteen times. Each. We took them to the zoo at the end of May to see the real-life versions and they love making animal noises. Me: what does a pig do? R: oink oink (sounds more like arf arf)! Me: what does a tiger do? G: graaaaah! R likes making the various noises so much that she shouts MORE! MORE! So we play the game endlessly.

Bedtime toys. They now have four bedtime toys each. G has pingu (now rather grubby but very much loved), a beanie Winnie the Pooh, a tiger and a Labrador. R has a zebra, a beanie Donkey Kong (I have no idea either), a giraffe and a Labrador as well. They insist on carrying them ALL downstairs in the morning, making negotiating the stairs rather tricky...

Feeding. They now feed themselves about 95% of the time and are now pretty used to using a spoon. They have changed from a sippy cup for water to a sports style drinks bottle. They still have their morning and evening milk in bottles – tut, tut!
Cross-stitch project. I can’t remember the last time I did any work on it. There’s no hurry though.
There’s actually loads more I could write, as both R and G seem to do something worth writing about every day. At the moment I’m too busy enjoying them to write everything down!