Esther and William are today 12 months corrected and 15 months actual age.

It is always a worry working out their milestones against their age because for some things they are about where they should be for their corrected age and sometimes for their real age and often somewhere in between. They have 7 months left now catching up time before they turn two and lose their corrected age status.

But I have to say that they really are not doing too badly.

Both Esther and William are able to imitate activities such as Daddy brushing his teeth and Mummy brushing her hair. They are very competent at copying Mr Tumble’s signing on the TV. They LOVE Mr Tumble and it is he, not me, who taught them to wave and touch their nose!!

Both babies are very good at letting us know what they want. Arms are raised for cuddles, Esther can point to the things that she would most like to eat and she has just started pointing and grunting to get me to name things that are new to her. William is not so good at this but he lets you know when he is hungry and makes it clear when he needs his milk. They are starting to be proper little people. It is quite mad when you actually sit and think about it.

Putting objects into containers and tipping them all out again is one of our favourite games at the moment. Often Mummy tidies things away and Esther and William get them all out again. Fun fun fun! William in particular loves putting different sized cups on and in other cups; he also likes putting different sized balls into different containers. William likes to know what is what. He has an investigative mind, always curious, always testing things out, particularly wheels on buggies!

Esther is the better talker of the two. She can say star, ball, mama, dada, balloon (sort of), car, duck and up. Her pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired but the words are there and recognisable and in context. William tries all the same words but is not quite as eloquent as his sister.

Both Esther and William are able to understand and respond to simple instructions. They love to race each other to find things when asked. They can find balls, shakers, tambourines, milk, and cars. They understand when you ask them to dance or clap. They recognise the start of songs such as Happy and You Know It and Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes and start to do the actions. Esther is especially good at this. They understand no though do not always stop what they are doing. They are soaking up so much at the moment. They can cuddle on demand and if you say ‘Oh bonk’ they pretend to fall over and bash their head. They are adorably cute and very funny with the things that they do. Isn’t this a lovely age? Sometimes in the madness of the day I forget how wonderfully lucky I am to have such beautiful, healthy children.

Esther and William are not walking yet but they are very confident on their feet and can stand for short periods independently. William has taken two steps on his own but has since refused to take any more! They spend a lot of time standing though, even in the bath! They can twist and turn, stoop and stand again with ease. They just need to be confident enough to travel on their own. They can both walk confidently with their walkers and also if they are holding hands with an adult.
They just need to get on and do it on their own.

I have not given Esther and William crayons yet. I am more than a little nervous as everything that I do give them goes straight into their mouth. I do not want them to start eating crayons. This weekend, however, we are changing our house around to allow Esther and William the freedom to roam around all of our downstairs. We have also bought an old round table where we can eat together and start to do art activities in a controlled environment, to minimise the eating!

Esther and William are in a transitional phase with their food. They are starting to like normal family type foods now such as macaroni cheese, beans on toast and fruit salad. They love to feed themselves but are not really very good at it and their spoon control is frankly atrocious. Meal times are becoming lengthy and such a mess. But I know that we must persevere to get them to a point where they are eating independently. Our poor dining room floor!!

Esther and William are good drinkers. They drink a lot of milk from beakers, a mix of formula and full fat cows. They also sip at water at meal times but mostly they are still drinking milk. They have been able to rink independently from a cup for a few months now and like having a cup of their own that they can go back to when they choose.

Esther and William love to play ball. We have balls of all shapes, sizes and textures among our toys and play with them every day. Both babies can roll balls back and forth and like to play ball. William is also good at throwing balls and has a good throwing arm. He seems to be able to control a ball well with his hand which I think bodes well for the future.

Esther and William love watching television. We watch more TV than I thought we would before they were born. In the morning we watch our Sing and Sign DVD, joining in with the songs and the signs. We also watch Mr Tumble everyday and In The Night Garden before each sleep. Esther and William like their TV in no more than 10 minute slots so although we watch a range of programmes we do not watch any of them for every long and so I do not feel too bad about it. In The Night Garden in particular has a positive effect on their language and their understanding of sequencing and story. We read books every day too and so I am happy with our page and screen balance. We also go out to five classes a week and so I know that Esther and William are getting a wide range of stimulation and experiencing different social situations.

I do not think they are doing too badly really and I have to say that I am quite proud of all we have achieved in our corrected year.

Starting life as a tiny frog in their daddy’s hand, just look at us now!

Just look at them now!

Happy Corrected Birthday Esther and William. Our little stars x

I measured Esther and William’s development against these Emma’s Diary Milestone Markers