3 year old snapshot

These shirts say it all!

Perfect gift from a fellow triplet mama

Well, their birthday month has passed already so I thought I better get up early with Michelle and try to get a few thoughts captured while I have the chance.  So here's a quick "snapshot" of the kiddos as three year olds.

We just had their three year well check on Saturday and the doctor was very happy with how they are doing.  Both girls are now just over 37" and Isaiah is 36.5".  Ellie weighed in at 31.5lbs, Avery 30lbs, and Isaiah 29.5lbs.  Naturally they also "passed" all the questions and tasks the doctor asked of them (colors, jumping, how old they are, etc).  When asked what her favorite vegetable was Avery said mushrooms. =)  Bedtime continues to be a challenge, but I think part of the issue is that they are getting close to dropping naps, which is a major bummer for Mommy!  I do insist on some quiet time every day even if they aren't sleeping, but it's never as long as naptime used to be!  On the plus side, they have been sleeping until 7 again instead of getting up at 6.  We have also been having more night wakings lately, but they usually go back down pretty easily.

We have just been loving watching their natural curiosity and all the learning that they are doing despite not being in school.  They are all picking up numbers and counting and I love listening to them count to 20 (1-12 is pretty consistent usually followed by a string of various "teens" before hitting 20).  The other day Avery was counting and said "eleventeen, fourteen, fifteen, nineteen, twenty!" and Ellie chimes in with "No, you forgot eighteen!"  Just in the last few weeks they are really into learning about the sounds and letters that various names and words start with.  They've known our immediate family's "letters" for a while, but now they are working on extended family and friends' names like "H is for Hopey" and then someone will chime in "and Heather and Humphrey."

We closed up our pool this weekend, but I really need to put together a compilation movie of their incredible swimming skills.  Dr. Koeppel asked this weekend if we'd put them in swim lessons yet and was super impressed that our answer was no, but they can all swim across the entire pool. =)  They continue to try new things with their bodies too, jumping between their beds, trying to hang upside down on any bar/trapeze they see (including at the grocery store!), and Avery in particular has been wanting to get up and put on a yoga video like she sees us doing sometimes and has gotten pretty good at imitating the poses.

Their pretend play has just exploded in the last few months.  This time last year the only pretend play scheme they really had was playing restaurant and some simple baby play.  Now their pretend play runs the gamut from firefighters to princesses to dragons to doctor to dogs to who knows what!

Avery

swimmer girl!

If there's one thing to say about Avery at 3 is that she is a HUGE aminal lover, and no, that isn't a typo...that is how she currently says the word animal and it is about the cutest thing. =)  She is particularly obsessed with all types of babies (both animal and human) and talked non-stop about the kittens and baby bunnies she has been able to hold at a couple of local farms we have visited. There is a farm about 20 minutes from us that has open farm days at least once a month and Avery LOVES to go there to see all the animals and will hang out in the petting tent for as long as the other two are willing to hang at the farm. She is dog obsessed and can't see a dog and not get to pet it without a meltdown.  She particularly loves small dogs, probably because they all seem like babies to her.  It can be tricky when we are out at public events because either one of of is just following Avery around meeting ALL the dogs, or she will sometimes just take off and head over to a dog she sees, so we have to do a LOT of coaching about making sure she lets us know before heading off!  On the plus side, Avery has worked through a lot of social anxiety and will now walk up to every dog's owner and very politely ask "Can I please pet your dog?"  Avery is also the first one to walk up and introduce herself to kids and adults at parks.  If you ask Avery what she wants to be when she grows up she says "a doctor for babies, moms, and dogs!" Avery has probably been the most interested in the first letter sound learning the past couple of weeks and both Michelle and I have been astounded with how many she is starting to figure out on her own.  If we drag out the first sound a bit she can pretty consistently identify M, H, P, T, & L (and probably a couple more I'm not thinking of) the majority of the time.  And although I might wish to forget this, I can't talk about Avery at three without a quick mention about her "spirited child" non-stop limit testing behavior.  She is most definitely an experiential learner who will not take your word for it and HAS to find out for herself!

Isaiah

his trouble maker face

Isaiah's favorite pastimes right now sword fighting & torturing his sisters, especially Ellie, with some imagined form of violence (fire, spells, etc).  This from the little boy whose favorite color is still pink and who, at least 50% of the time still prefers to wear dresses and if not in a dress insists on wearing tight leggings.  We are struggling a bit with how to support his need to work through all this "rough play" without having to listen to Ellie squealing as the "victim" constantly.  Taking a wrestling break where we take him to the bedroom for some good horseplay or pillow fighting seems to help, but sometimes that isn't an option and then it's a struggle.  Not surprisingly, Isaiah wants to be a knight when he grows up! =)  This little boy is also our best snuggler and just loves to snuggle, particularly right after he wakes up in the morning or after nap.  The other day he said to Michelle "I just wanna snuggle you.  That's all I want!"  Isaiah is usually a little slower to approach people, but if the girls are feeling shy/anxious, he will usually be the one who responds to questions people ask.  At Michelle's office when one of her coworkers asked his name he said "Avery, Ellie, & Isaiah." =)  Isaiah enjoys seeing the geckos and little frogs we have been finding in the pool skimmer this summer.  He has gotten progressively braver and will sometimes hold them on his hand.  Isaiah seems to be a whip with numbers.  I haven't "tested" him, but I would guess that he can recognize maybe 50% of the numbers 1-10 and seems to be picking up the early math concepts quickly like simple addition and subtraction.  Isaiah also has an incredible imagination.  He can really get going on a pretend play scheme, often blending multiple different themes/stories, so much so that no one else can keep track of his ideas! This active imagination might have something to do with his occasional night terrors.  The other night he was screaming in the middle of the night, climbing up me when I went in to settle him, convinced that crocodiles were in his bed trying to eat him!  Poor guy!

Ellie

The only kiddo who will still pose for pics

Ellie is still pretty obsessed with all things princess though her favorite princess has rotated a bit over the past few months.  She really wanted to be Tiana (princess & the frog) for Halloween, but she had a specific idea of what the dress should look like (long and full!) and the ones we could find online did not meet her specifications, so she settled for her old standard, Elsa.  Ellie will tell you she wants to be a princess when she grows up.  Ellie may be technically the youngest, and was baby C from the get go, but more and more she seems like the oldest.  She is the biggest and a lot of times she takes on the "leader" role amongst the trio.  Yesterday she and Avery were playing in the sprinkler and Ellie was reminding me of myself, clearly trying to direct Avery's play and saying things like "these are the rules" and "you have to do this, but only I can throw it." But on the flip side, all Isaiah has to do is look at her with his "mean face" and she melts into this weeping little victim.  All the kiddos love to look at videos on YouTube about things we have been talking about, but Ellie loves videos and TV shows the most I think.  She will often ask us to do her hair, but really it's just because she wants to watch a little video and that's been our routine since they were much younger.  Ellie is the first one to answer any question about shapes.  She also seems to be picking up the letter sounds quickly, but as has been her MO for a while now, she doesn't like to guess at them and tends to keep quiet until/unless she is sure.  Ellie's funny little quirk is that she usually adds an H to some E words like "hedward."  Thankfully she doesn't do that for her name! =)  Oh Ellie is so cute lately because she will just randomly offer up a slew of kisses. She's super empathic and if she notices I'm getting frustrated sometimes she'll just come up and give me a hug.  So sweet!  Every night at bedtime we have a "huggle" with each kiddo so they get a minute of one on one.  Every night Ellie says "what do you love about me?!"

These three continue to keep us on our toes, but we wouldn't have it any other way!  We just love seeing the incredible little people they are becoming!