wantingababymaas-Bleacher-Report: ..and a HALF!

I remember when I was younger how that 1/2 year "birthday" was such a big deal. When you no longer were 7 but rather the much further grown up 7 AND A HALF. Well, my kiddos finally have their first 'and a 1/2!' Yep we are now 1 1/2. 18 months. Long gone are my babies, and all their baby rolls. We are now lean, mean, toddlers. We are learning something new everyday & enjoying the warm weather (while it was here) & the opportunity to get out of the house & explore more. And staying busy we are, hence the reason I'm getting this posted days after our actual 18 month hoorah!

Often with multiples people ask me "Who is the naughty one?" "Who is the smart one?" "Who is the ____ one?" While they are obsessed with classifying them as "the triplets" as opposed to individuals, people always have to find some way to differentiate them and things like "The naughty one" seem to be the chosen way. And while I admit it sometimes drives me crazy, in part because I prefer to see them as individuals as opposed to just one part of a larger whole, I too am guilty of comparing. However I think they rotate through stages of "classification." One is learning something at a crazy rate, while someone else just got done with a spurt & is being naughty, while someone else is mastering something else. So its a fluid comparison as opposed to someone always being "The ____ one."

But for comparison sake...
As of late, Hayden is our "social & inquisitive one." For example, he was the least shy at the TIPS appointment. He is very clingy yet has the least amout of stranger danger in that he will actuall smile at a stranger as opposed to Logan who cries & Livi who peers over her glasses at them in a nasty, old school teacher way. And Hayden questions "dis?" constantly! At home, during our entire family vacation & to every object in the TIPS room. I have an inkling that the "why" age with him could be testing! He is very adamant about declaring his independence & often gets frustrated when it takes me a while to figure out what he wants.

Olivia right now is the "smart one." She can show you SO many body parts (& other similar things) when asked. Head, hair, "pretty" (hair bow), eyes, ears, nose, teeth, glasses, shirt, pants, shoes, socks, bib, belly, belly button, fingers, foot, toes. Fingers... thats my favorite for some reason. I think that is a LOT of knowledge! She really enjoys books. Not necessarily reading them, but pointing out & learning new things. They newest one she can usually show me is a strawberry.

Logan is the "doer." Oh he is a busy body. Never sits still. Always doing something. Puzzles are big. Doors are still a favorite. Putting in, taking out. LOVES to drive cars. Throw balls. Go..go..go! 99% of the time he is SUCH a good player. And a few times he has KICKED a ball. Done it on accident, thought it was funny, then did it on purpose. So we'll keep encouraging that with him.

We have all pretty much mastered the art of getting on the couch. Logan sometimes struggles, but Hayden does have a whole inch on him. And we are doing pretty well with knowing a couch is for SITTING! As opposed to standing or jumping. Because our couch butts up to the railing in our split entry home. Standing on the couch back would mean a kid falling 5 feet & crashing down the steps. So this is something we are very strict about.

We are getting better about remembering that our toys are now in the basement. And we are doing great with the stairs. Only 1 Logan tumble & 1 Livi tumble to report. Olivia's, I'm sorry, was hillarious. The front door was open so she was walking from the dining room, gazing out the door, not paying attention & just stepped right off the edge (while mommy was trying to hurdle the kitchen gate & run from the kitchen to stop her because I saw it coming) She took one step off, did 1 sideways summersault spaning about 4 stairs, landed on her butt & that is where I caught her before she fell the other 2 stairs. She cried for about 6 seconds, I reminded her to be careful & watch where she is going (such a hard thing to learn) & off she went. Totally not traumatic. And I can laugh 1. because she is fine & 2. because I have TOTALLY done the same thing. Not in our house at least... but as everyone in my life knows, stairs are definately NOT my strong point.

We continue to be somewhat picky eaters. And live mostly off the same staples as we did a month ago. One of our newest faves is V8 fusion juice. And our newest eating ability is that we can all now eat certain things with a fork!! Olivia screeches out in excitement everytime she stabs something & it stays on. She gets so excited we have to remind her to actually EAT it. We like spoons too. But mostly we dip them in pudding or applesauce just enough to get a dab on the spoon, as opposed to actually scooping up spoonfuls. Maybe thats why the lessened weight gain? A lot of the time they INSIST on eating with silverware & often refuse to accept help.

We have gotten really good at using shaking our heads "NO" to show our independence. Mostly while eating when they don't want a bite of something off my plate that I want them to try, instead of just grunting or locking their lips, they shake their heads "NO."

And in our independence, we have gotten pretty naughty. We like to hit. And it has grown beyond the "you steal my toy & I react & hit." Its like the... I'm going to intentionally walk across the room & all out hit you on purpose! We can be down right naughty. And unfortunately, they have us out numbered & they feed so much off of each other. Throwing food at the dinner table for example. Logan tosses a handfull of eggs off & they splat on the floor. Hayden & Olivia proceede to laugh hysterically. Jeff & I scold & say "No." But due to the siblings laughing, AKA encouraging the behavior, more food throwing follows. Why would you listen to mom & dad saying NO, when the continued behavior gathers laughs from the chorus? This is why people say multiples are so hard. They gang up on you (& out number you!!)

We are working on learning how to clean up. Which is where the putting cheerios in the cup story from TIPS comes in. We have some little snack cups that are "spill proof." And I gave them to the kids one day full of snacks while I hopped in the shower for 5 minutes. When I was done I found all 3 of them pulling out handfulls of crackers from the cups & throwing them up in the air. Laughing hysterically. Kind of defeats the spill proof concept? Hallway COVERED in crackers! So through tears & tantrums, I made them sit & pick up each & every cracker & put them back in their cups. One by one. They knew they were in trouble. I wasn't mean, but it must have warped them because the lesson stuck. We used those same snack cups on vacation & if they accidentally dropped one cracker, 9 times out of 10 the immediately stopped, picked it up & put it back in the cup. We can occasionally get the concept to carry over to picking up toys, but it is very short lived & it never fails that I have 2 picking up while #3 is pulling the same toys back out! But its a start. Now if we could just stop with the food & sippy cup throwing off the high chairs we'd be in SUCH a better place.

One of my favorite things right now is them clapping for themselves. Dunk a basketball & clap. Livi went down the slide over & over & clapped at the bottom everytime. Get in a puzzle piece & clap. Throw a ball, clap. They are so proud of their accomplishments & I LOVE that!

One of the biggest changes lately is their individual choice of "favorite" parent. Hayden has always, always been a mama's boy. I think I've said that 1000 times. But lately he prefers Jeff over me 100%! To the extent that it makes me sad :( If we are both home, you better believe I ought not be the one to pick him up, hand him his sippy cup, anything. Daddy, daddy, daddy. And Olivia, who used to be a daddy's girl.... always wants mommy! So while I am grieving my lost Hayden cuddle time, I am quite enjoying my mother-daughter time. Logan continues to be the least needy & we usually play zone defense with him. Though lately too it seems he prefers Daddio to me too. Coincidence? Or do they make some gender association at this age already?

Thats pretty much what has been going on here. I had some beautiful tulips bloom this year, so I got a few photos snapped of the kiddos.