Dear Rowan and Scarlett – 1 Year Old Twins

Rowan and Scarlett,

My beautiful twin girls!!! I blinked and a year passed (and then I blinked again and a whole month passed before I had a chance to write this post!). It makes so me so happy to be your mom. It has been so incredibly wonderful getting to know each of you over the last year and I can’t imagine our family without you two. You bring so much love, giggles and happiness to our house.

We celebrated your first birthday with a small birthday party with family at our house on the big day (April 12th, 2019). All of your grandparents were there, plus your great grandma, great aunt and uncle Susan and Dean, and your aunt and uncle Claire and Josh and cousins Molly and April. I made a memory wall with my favorite photos from the last year. I got these incredible smash cakes at our local grocery store – nothing fancy but they were absolutely PERFECT!

I completely predicted incorrectly who would eat their smash cake. I thought Rowan would dive in and eat it and Scarlett wouldn’t. Instead, Scarlett DEVOURED her cake (she ate at least half of it and it was big!) and Rowan tentatively looked at it, then touched the frosting and then finally ate some because Siena started helping her along.

I want to write two separate letters to you for your 1 year birthday.

Rowan,

You are our adventurous climber! You started walking about halfway through your 11th month and once you figured it out, you nearly started to run! You took your first steps downstairs, just days after I returned from my cruise (your dad claims you did not walk while I was gone, other than a few steps) and I was so happy you waited for me! Now you’re climbing up on the ottoman, the couch, chairs…anything! Before you started to walk you were obsessed with pushing everything around the house at an impressive speed and you figured out how to maneuver and turn things to go the direction you want really quickly! 

You are very smart and pick up on things very quickly. You figured out how to get the colored shape blocks into the shaped holes pretty quickly and were putting the rings on the stack toy before I even showed you how! You seem to understand what we’re saying and give us this look where you bend your head forward and then sheepishly look up with your eyes from under your eye brows, almost like you’re saying “you’re not fooling me, mom.”

At your 1 year appointment we were told you are 30.6 inches (91%), 20.8 pounds (65%) and your head is 45 cm (52%).

You’re a social butterfly and say “Hi” on repeat. It’s adorable! Another new word is “Ow”( you like to pull my hair and say it) as well as words you were already saying (“done”, “mama”, “dada”). You make a ssssshh sound when I point out a fish in a book. You are showing us that you understand a lot of what we say now – when I say the word book you immediately run over and grab a book, say something that sounds like “book!” and bring it back (but won’t sit still long enough to get through me reading it to you). You also understand the words “shoes” “water” “bottle” “ball” and many.

You absolutely LOVE to be outdoors, whether it’s in the backyard, riding the “train” as we call it, or in the front yard playing with the neighbor girls. When we go for walks you just take it all in and don’t say a peep as you stare out at the world (I’m sure it helps that you don’t get out much so when you do you’re just in awe). You are really excited when you first see me or you dad come into the room and you get very upset when we close the door behind us (more likely because you’re mad that you can’t go outside with us). You love music and musical instruments and grandma thinks we should put you in music lessons now! You love the water and will put your head under the faucet in the bath and just sit there happily!

Rowan, I love you so much!

Scarlett,

You are our beautiful, sensitive girly girl! You will often end up in my lap if I’m sitting on the floor (you won’t stay for long) for a quick cuddle. You are drawn to baby dolls and baby strollers and often carry around one or two baby dolls at a time. You love to be held upside down and will squeal and laugh when we hold you that way. You love the Cozy Coop car in the backyard and often climb in and out of it over and over again.

At your 1 year appointment we were told you are 31 inches (96%), 19.1 pounds (51%) and your head is 47.2 cm (95%).

You took your first series of steps across the room on your dad’s birthday, just after you turned 11 months old. I was SO excited and proud of you! Your sister, though, felt a bit threatened and stood up and pushed you hard and you fell down!!! It was pretty horrific for everyone, I was in tears, she was hysterical and put in time out, you cried from the shock of it all …. but afterward we came together. We explained to your sister that we still love her just as much as we did before you girls came long and that we’re a big family who supports each other when we are learning something new.

After those first steps, you took your time over the next couple of weeks to start fully walking. It seems like your personality is the type to try something slow and steady, not to just dive in. You love being outdoors and used to sit at the doorway before heading outdoors, but now you and your sister just walk right out the door at any chance you get (we joke that you’re just like grandma’s dog lulu who will run straight out the front door anytime it’s left open for a second).

You’re saying a few words, including, “up” “book” “wawa” “baba” “uh-oh” “mama” “dada”. You are really good at repeating funny noises I make with my mouth. You definitely know how to make it known when you want something or don’t want something! You are incredibly squirmy during diaper changes and clothing changes, it’s nearly impossible at times! You LOVE to have your teeth brushed and play/chew on the tooth brush before bed!

Scarlett, I love you so much!

You both are such a joy and I can’t imagine my life without you. We can tell that you two have a twin bond that is strong, though you both have your unique personalities. Your sister loves you very much and is such a good big sister. She loves to play with you and her room is your favorite room in the house. We can tell that you look up to and admire her very much already.

You both love your dad so much and light up when he comes into the room. You got to spend a whole week with him when I went away for my cruise , but he is a big part of your life every single day. He plays the ukulele and sings to you before bed every night and often is the one who gets you up in the morning and brings you downstairs for your bottle while I’m doing a workout or out for a run. We all are so lucky to have him.

When your sister was this age, I was always looking ahead, wondering when the next milestone would come or what she would say or do next. With you two, I just soak things in and you often surprise me with the things you do and say! This time I’m not worrying about milestones so much as just enjoying them as they come and often thinking that time is going TOO fast (and so are you, it’s so hard to get photos because you both move so quickly!!!).

I love being your mom!

Love,

Mama