"Are My Babies Behind?"

I know that this question has definitely run through my mind several times. I'm sure as twin moms, we ask ourselves this frequently especially since, odds are, our babies were at least a little premature. And on top of that, there's two of them so trying to get them to sit still while you read a book or sing a song and teach them is near impossible.

Aria & Cadence are the cutest. But they only started tummy crawling at eight months. Some of their friends who are younger than them are already using push walkers, pulling themselves up to stand, or even walking. They have been saying "mama" since they were seven months, but only recently learned "dada" and that's the only two words they know! Ugh, is it true? Are they behind?

I think we, as twin moms, always feel the need to compensate for, well, a lot of things. We gave birth to them a little early so they started off really small and had to develop certain things outside of the womb that other babies their age were born with. We don't get the one on one time with our babies that other moms with singletons get. I can be trying to help Aria to stand, and Cadence will get jealous and scream her guts out, so I stop and help her. On top of that, our babies learn at different paces. So while one may be standing, the other one may be just starting to crawl. Should you applaud both efforts? Of course!

It's not important whether they are doing what their friends are doing, or even what each other is doing, as long as YOU are there to support them in all of their accomplishments, however little they may be.

Aria and Cadence may not be crawling on their hands and knees yet, or walking along the couch, but they have eight teeth, they both love giving kisses, they eat absolutely everything, and they sleep for twelve hours at night.

The truth is, everyone's baby is behind. The baby that is walking at your play date could be keeping his mom and dad up and eating three times throughout the night. The baby that is saying "ball" could be still exclusively on breastmilk and not eating solids yet.

Constantly comparing your babies to other babies and to each other is not fair to anyone.

Keep working with them. Celebrate when they figure out something new. Share in their excitement as they discover themselves. With your support and love they are, most definitely, ahead.