11 Months

Annie and Maddie turned 11 months old on Saturday. It astounds me that we've made it this far. In another month, we'll be celebrating the twins birthday. (No more buying expensive formula! Woo hoo!!) Right now the twins are getting around everywhere. Maddie stands up all the time, and is beginning to "cruise." Annie is generally content to sit and play with toys while Maddie finds the action. This isn't to say that Annie can't get around, because she can, and no longer with the army-style crawling. But while Annie sits in the living room with the box of baby toys, Maddie plays with shoes by the front door, checks down the hall to see if the bathroom door is open (it isn't) and then goes into the kitchen to unload the drawer full of kitchen towels. Once Maddie starts attacking the kitchen, or if I'm in the kitchen, then Annie will join in the kitchen destruction.
They take cues from each other. If one baby is sad, often the other will start fussing too. I feel overwhelmed quickly with both Annie and Maddie crying. It's my personal belief that crying babies is a form of torture. With two babies crying, you don't even get the pause when there is a breath in, since baby #2 doesn't take a breath at the same time. And then I am stuck holding two babies and I am unable to take care of anyone else's needs or wants. On the other hand, it is great to watch them both while you play with them. If you tickle Annie's tummy, Annie laughs and Maddie will at the very least smile too. It's really fun to get them both laughing at the same time from just "getting" one of them. But sibling rivalry starts young with twins. When they both have binkies in their mouths, #1 will see another binky, grab it out of #2's mouth, spit out her own binky and put in the other. Then #2 will grab the binky from the floor and stick it in her mouth. Same goes for toys: whatever toy you have is cooler than the one I have.