We are almost two weeks into having three two year olds and we are alive, so that's a win, right? Seriously though, these three are sometimes a lot to manage, but they are also tons of fun. I'm sure I'm going to miss a ton of things they are doing in this "wrap up" post, but I wanted to make sure to get it up and done so we don't forget any of this cuteness!
They are growing up so fast and getting big. We had their two year well check up this afternoon and Avery is the only one still under 25 pounds. Here are their stats:
Ellie-33.75in (46%tile), 26lbs4oz (43%tile), 48cm head circumference (63%tile)
Isaiah-33.5in (24%tile), 25lb (14%tile), 49.5cm (71%tile)
Avery-33.75(46%tile), 24lb, 4oz(17%), 47cm(35%tile)
(I still think Ellie is taller than either of the other two or at least has longer arms because she can reach things more easily!)
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| I think you can appreciate the size difference in this pic |
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| and this one shows how close these silly kids are in height |
They are talking so much. It's crazy to hear the things coming out of their little mouths sometimes! It's changed a lot even in the past couple of months. The nice thing is that we now understand what they are saying a lot more often, even out of context. And they are pretty persistent with helping us understand if we don't, meaning they are much less content with us saying "oh really, yeah, okay, etc." if we don't get it.
They have also been singing a lot more these days. Some favorites over the past couple of months have been The Farmer in the Dell, Ring around the Rosie, ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle. They're all pretty consistent with identifying colors these days though black, white and brown still get mixed up every now and then. Tonight they all claimed pink as their favorite. They are also really good at "reading," aka filling in the end of sentences in books we've read over and over. Have you heard of the campaign to get kids to read 1000 books before kindergarten? I'm 100% positive that we top that number every year. These kiddos really like to read books and now have the attention span to start to handle a little longer books which has been fun. They really like Go Dog Go now, which has been great for learning opposites like over/under and in/out. Their pretend play has also really expanded in the past couple of months and they are playing with instead of just next to each other more and more. When they cook in their play kitchen they make a variety of food and not just "noodles!" over and over again. They are all very into their "babies" and have each claimed one as their own pretty consistently. They like to push them in their doll strollers, wear them in carriers, nurse them, rock them, take them on bike rides and of course, periodically drop them on their heads or abandon them outside!
Ellie
Ellie has kind of taken on more of a leader role lately and for the most part has really just been a joy to be around. Most importantly to our mommy sanity, she has gotten over her whiney clingy mornings. She seems to be picking up on a lot of concepts, like colors, numbers and letters, very quickly and is the first to answer almost every question we ask when we are reading books and such. I can't quite describe it, but Ellie has a way of saying things that is particularly adorable. She generally has the best pronunciation of words so when she mixes things up it just seems so cute. One of my favorites is that she says "banama!"
Ellie continues to love the color pink and is excited to pick out her clothes and get dressed every morning. The choosing process is sometimes agonizingly long and I think now that we've switched to fall/winter clothes she seems to think there isn't enough pink or dresses to choose from. Oddly we have a super cute pink polka dot dress and she doesn't seem the least bit interested in it! And there's a cute pink shirt with a little design on the front and I suggested it the other day and she said "no, too fancy!" She's a character!
Ellie is also particular about her food and is our pickiest eater. This is relative because really they are all good eaters and fairly adventurous, especially for toddlers, but Ellie has started the classic "I no like it!" when we put her plate in front of her and before she's even tried it. She has also started requesting "different food," which is tricky because we are working hard to avoid the trap of making two different meals. Ellie has really picked up on the use of polite words and is quick to say please, thank you, and sorry and will even say "bless you" after we sneeze, and also sometimes if someone toots!
Now that the outdoor pool has closed we rejoined the Y and have gone to the indoor pool a few times and Ellie has really gotten brave and is swimming like crazy. She has also learned how to gallop and likes to randomly gallop around. It's pretty cute (and drives Avery nuts because she can't quite figure it out). Ellie also learned to jump down from about 4-6 inches with a two foot takeoff and landing. And with a little help she has started to get the idea of pedaling a tricycle.
Avery
Avery is still a mover and a shaker. She has the hardest time sitting still and is the hardest to keep track of because she'll see something (often an animal) and want to go check it out. She was the first one to insist on doing everything herself and probably says "self" or "Avery do it" about 30 times a day. Her determination and persistence with doing things herself have paid off and she can get shirts over her head now and occasionally get her arms in, though more often than not the neck hole ends up around her waist! Avery has also figured out how to get all her clothes off, which is tricky since her preferred state of being is "nakey!!" She has had the hardest time with the change in the weather since we are now insisting on clothes when they go outside! The fact that she can get her pants and undies down by herself is handy for using the potty though and she is the most independent with that.
Avery continues to be our biggest animal lover and she says "pet the dog" EVERY time we see a dog! She is very sweet with animals and is very empathic, sometimes to the extreme. The other day we saw a deer that was limping and I said off-handedly to Michelle that maybe her leg was broken. Well for many days afterwards Avery would say "deer has broken leg!" sometimes accompanied with a sob or wail. She couldn't let it go in the car one day so Michelle tried to reassure her that the deer would be okay because it had four legs and could still walk on three. Well she got out of the car and then wanted to know if she could walk on one leg, lifting up one of her legs! She's actually pretty good at balancing on one foot. =) Her empathy also extends to her siblings and she is really super sweet to them if either of them gets hurt, coming over to give them a pat on the back or a hug. The other day Isaiah was crying and she went up to him and said "What's the matter buddy?!" and gave him a little pat and kiss on the head.
Avery has had the hardest time catching on to counting and for a while was stuck going 1, 2, 1, 2...now she usually says 1, 2, 3...6, 7, 8, 9, 10. She does seem to have a knack for language though and is often the first to try out new grammatical concepts like "-ing" and past tense and is the only one who consistently says "pick me up" instead of "pick you up" and is more consistently using "I" instead of saying Avery all the time.
She is still the most adventurous when it comes to climbing at playgrounds and will try just about anything. Interestingly, she seems to have the most fear of heights and will crawl across bridges and platforms with a more open design while the other two will walk.
Isaiah
Isaiah continues to be the goofball of the crew. He has the best laugh and laughs the most! Isaiah has the longest attention span of the three and is the most likely to get absorbed in play. He is also the most persistent with fine motor tasks like trying to put puzzles together. All three kiddos have been enjoying playing hide and seek, but Isaiah LOVES it! The only trouble is that he often has very specific ideas about what people, especially his moms, should be doing and will lose it if things don't go exactly the way he wants. He especially likes it when Michelle or I hide under the covers with him on the bed and has a hard time moving on from that spot. Speaking of beds, Isaiah continues to be our little nighttime/early morning snuggle bug. He loves to snuggle with his moms and I think he really likes the big beds.
Isaiah is very concerned about keeping doors closed! He is constantly closing the gate or the doors and locking his sisters in or out of a space. He was also the first one to figure out how to open door knobs, though thankfully not all of them are easy enough for him yet! He likes to open their bedroom door and go out into the hallway saying "bye bye! see ya!" and then come running back in just like in the picture above.
Isaiah is our music lover! He is the most likely to break out in song and start bee-bopping to any music he hears. He's the first to pick up on new songs and was the one who started the Farmer in the Dell craze around here! He's also the most into trains of the three of them, which you might say is so typically boy, but has no issues bucking the gender stereotypes and periodically chooses to wear one of the girls' dresses and loves their neon yellow and pink shoes!
Isaiah has been talking a ton more, but still babbles a lot too. He can just go on and on and on in gibberish with an intelligible word here and there in a string of nonsense. In general his language seems to come in fits and spurts rather than just continuing to expand on a linear path and I think the gibberish just fills that space where he has a lot to say, but doesn't have all the words figured out yet. He loves counting to 10, but skips 5 almost every time!
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| #terrifictriplettwos here we come! |
