While this Halloween was pretty relaxed, it is still one for the girls’ “digital memory” book. Now that they are a little more tolerable out and about (even well behaved!), we chose the simple route and walked around the neighborhood for a short trick-or-treat.
Craig’s dad flew in from Juneau in the afternoon to enjoy the holiday weekend with the kiddos. He brought foam swords that were quite the hit with all three, producing a lot of giggles from kids and adults. Everyone was happy to see Grandpa!
Sword fighting Papa Cliff
Emerie dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Harper as a pink, sparkly fairy with yellow wings and Reagan as Ana from Frozen. The dresses fit a bit better than they did during Trick or Treat in the heat six weeks ago- I guess the girls will keep growing!
With the unusually warm temperatures in Alaska this year and the past month, outside trick or treating activities were actually feasible. If it was the typical high 30s and 40s, we probably wouldn’t have ventured out, but this week’s 50 degree weather allowed the girls to stay warm enough to have some fun, even with a little rainfall.
Craig put everyone’s coats and boots on under their princess dresses, with hoods up, and loaded them into the wagon with a Halloween themed blanket.
We made it to about ten houses. It was early enough that not a lot of other kiddos were out yet, but the sky still had some light. After a few houses we let the girls climb up the neighbors’ steps for the candy and they were pretty shy about grabbing candy out of the bowl. At the first house Harper grabbed a piece and threw it back in the bowl! After a house or two they didn’t want to sit back in the wagon so everyone walked a bit.
All in all, nothing too exciting, but everyone was a good sport. I’m sure we will be wearing Halloween outfits over the next week or two as new daily apparel.
We ended the night playing downstairs and snacking on some popcorn and ice cream. And, who remembers this spinning toy from waaay back in the day!? I found it at the consignment sale and the girls think it is quite hilarious. They don’t understand how to turn themselves on it…but definitely insist we push it for them.
And so it begins. I came home from work the other day to a nice, teeth sized bruise on Emerie’s arm. The next day a similar one showed up on Reagan! The girls are now comfortable with the idea of using their eight front teeth as weapons, wheedling them against their sisters when they are upset or don’t get their way.
This might look semi-sweet but really Emerie is trying to bite Reagan mid-climb
This month’s theme in our household is sweet and sour (yes, like the candy…it is October after all). The girls can be so sweet one moment, to each other, or you, or the dog; and the next moment that switch flips and BAM! They are beating each other with a toy, stealing one and running away with a sneaky laugh, or trying to lock those teeth down on a sibling while throwing a screaming fit.
Sour: These are not the first miniature bite marks we’ve come home from work to see, but it goes to show the toddler attitudes are continuing to emerge daily. For example, the light bulb switched on for everyone regarding hair. All of a sudden, all three at some point in the evening attempted to pull handfuls of hair off their sisters’ head. I guess it was the day for them to notice the blonde hair atop each other and try to grasp it. Obviously that was not met with giggles and smiles; but rather some rage and screaming and Craig and I hollering at them to stop it.
Sweet: Not every moment is the sour side of the candy, they can definitely be sweet too and we gain more of those moments each week. As I wrote in my last blog, Harper is a great hugger now- not only will she give you a nice bear hug throughout the day, but she also goes over to Reagan and Emerie when they are upset and will rub their head gently until they a calmer. It’s a very sweet gesture. Similarly Reagan, the main sharer of the three, will try to cheer up her sisters by bringing them a toy, book, or sometimes a random goldfish she found on the floor. It’s the thought that counts right? Emerie is more often the recipient of the sweetness, but has her moments as well.
Sweet kisses are shared now! No more (or as least much less) of the full face licking kiss we saw during late infancy. I wouldn’t exactly call that a kiss but it was a cute attempt at one. They won’t always respond when you ask for kisses, but sometimes they will come over and plop a sweet on on you.
Wrestling
Sweet AND sour? A new sport in our house is toddler wrestling with a side of baby giggles. This activity is becoming more common as they grow and produces both joy and rage depending on the outcome. When you mix three sets of arms and legs there is generally at least one casualty by the end, whether that is a kick to the face, someone getting stepped on or smacked, or a bonk into nearby toys or furniture.
While several months back I recognized that “nothing is safe” in our house, now I really mean NOTHING IS SAFE. An example of 30 seconds out of sight of the children, who are freely allowed to roam the living/dining room and kitchen (with furniture and stairs blocked off, cabinets locked, and dog door safely closed. I walked through the baby gate, closed it and went downstairs to pull a load of clean laundry out of the dryer. In the time it took me to do that, pick up the basket, and walk back upstairs; I returned to this:
30 seconds of unsupervised freedom and a chair…
I mean COME ON. We are now in the habit of stacking the chairs on the kitchen table or pinning them between the wall and the table…otherwise…well…this happens. If they had been gifted another minute, I probably would have found them playing with bottles on the countertop.
It also doesn’t matter what type of chair is left out…a grownup one or child’s…because they’ve all discovered things are movable and can be used to reach new, higher heights and opportunity! This newfound methodology very quickly expanded to anything else that can hold a baby’s weight- toy bins, foam blocks, pillows; you name it. We’ve removed some extra playroom toys for this very reason- they are using them to climb to new places, or potentially over the baby gates- I am hoping to squash that learn-able life skill for a least a bit longer. So would you call this sweet or sour…
I’m also finding with multiples that they love on each other almost as much as they fight. Earlier this week Emerie had a total meltdown after Reagan wouldn’t share her book (that she had been carrying around a while). She sat on the floor and was screaming bloody murder; I let the scene play out. Harper got up from my lap and walked over to her raging sister, stood there, and patted her head until she stopped crying. It was the sweetest thing and even helped Emerie calm down!
Head patting their sister
As a first time parent, it’s quite amazing the things that will come out of my mouth before I really realize how funny they are. For example, in the last couple weeks alone, Craig or I have said all these ridiculous things:
Don’t bite your sister!
Don’t bite me!
Get off the table!
Stop licking my belly button!
Put your shirt back on!
The inside of your shirt is not a food pocket!
Don’t bite the dog!
Let go of her tail!
Don’t suck on my shoes, that’s gross!
Stop licking your snot! Stop licking the dog!
Thank you but I do not want the half chewed goldfish from your tongue.
Put your food in your mouth!
Stop pulling her hair!
It’s not nice to drag your sister around by her shirt…or her glasses…
It’s okay, your foot will not come off and throwing a fit won’t help!
I mean really, who thought such monstrosities would come out of one’s mouth before they had children? They aren’t even uncommon anymore. I’m amazed they don’t say the word “stop” yet…we sure seem to say it enough. They still mimic “not nice” at us when we say it.
Other cute happenings in the Douglets household:
Brief triple snuggles
Dog door: Every night we open the baby gates and the girls walk upstairs to the nursery for bedtime. One of the funny parts of that march is once they’ve climbed the stairs from the family room into the dining/living room. Like clockwork, every night, all three go racing over to the open dog door (since we were downstairs so it was open) and whoever arrives there first grabs the door part off the table and runs back to Craig or I, hollering the whole way. They always want us to know that the door is unlocked, even though they are more than willing to climb through it without permission. It is the funniest thing.
Binkie wars: One of the only ways everyone potentially stays in their crib at night and during nap time is with several binkies. This may be a bit out of control at this point, because each crib has three or four now- this helps when they roll over in their sleep and are reaching around, eyes closed, looking for one; and that often solves their fussing without parental intervening. We’ve now noticed at bedtime, once parents have exited the room, that they will throw those binkies back and forth in each others’ cribs, on the floor, all over the place. Fingers cross this entertains them for a while and they don’t start trying to climb out!
Books: We are SOOO close to reading books instead of chewing/throwing them. Reagan expresses interest in reading one specific, Alaska animal book while the others will sometimes bring one over to look at, but it still only lasts maybe a minute. I’m excited that we are getting closer to reading time- something I did a ton of as a kid.
Creative play: Imaginations are expanding and it’s fun to see. Whether it’s pretend eating the play food, climbing into laundry baskets, or flipping face first off the couch into pillow, they are all getting more creative. Everyone plays with the foam blocks and understands how they go together, and we are starting tower building on the duplo blocks now that they are more interested. They think ice is the coolest thing and walk around outside trying to collect (and eat) it.
Emerie
Hanging out on the couch
Harper
Puppy time: When we play out in the backyard the girls now entertain the dogs. They throw the ball or dog toy, will tug on them with Koda, and produce lots of giggles. Both dogs are great with them and Kalli seems to be much happier now that they are a little older. Harper likes to take the toy from Koda, toss it a few feet, then take it from her again, and repeat. All very monitored fun. We opted to keep both dogs for now and have a dog walker coming twice a week to burn some energy. This seems to greatly help their attitudes day-to-day.
Harper and Koda
My “sweet and sour” babies continue to be one or the other at any given moment. Thank goodness it evens out, because life with three toddlers is certainly an emotional roller coaster and we still have a few toddlering years to go. Emerie has another ear infection, making her more “sour”, with a mood improvement once the medicine kicks back in. Everyone is a littler “sweeter” than last week when snotty noses maintained the mood factor.
And I am happy to report, for the first time in longer than my short-term, mom-brain memory recalls, Emerie slept ALL night in her crib the other night. One night is not a trend, but man is it a welcomed improvement! Reagan woke up at three and other than that, the night was uneventful. It felt oddly weird. Now THAT is some sweet news!
We are currently in the thick of the 10th developmental leap for the girls, called the World of Systems. It is the last “baby” leap, occurring at about 18 months, and nicknamed the Fussy Phase– sounds awesome right?
Play time in full swing
A quick overview on what this developmental leap entails- now that the girls mentally understand more processes and that their actions can have varying results, they see everything in a more curious, yet mature mental state. They are certainly becoming little people!
A couple other notable things from this phase:
You can’t spoil babies, but you can toddlers!
Toddlers generally just want to be near you and have that personal attention (this is a lot harder with 3!)
Bring on the mischievousness.
With it comes more grumpiness and less sleep…nap time AND overnight.
After reading up on this particular leap (all-the-while experiencing it), I gave myself a mental activity to try during outings with the girls. With increasing mental capacity and curiosity of the world around them, I should try to think how a child would see and interpret new things; get away from the often mundane way adults view the world. Sometimes we forget how boring an adult can be. Being a kid is exciting! We also forget how interesting the little things can be when we are used to seeing things one way and not keeping our eyes open for the joy or excitement in it.
Harper cuddling Koda
The girls react to little things in such cute and random ways. For example, Reagan dumping out a bin of toys. She dumps out a few and reacts to the abrupt sound of toys hitting each other and the floor; then she dumps out the rest because it is fun! I can see Emerie’s mind figuring out how to sit in the doll stroller. She aligns herself, butt out, toward it, and tries to sit back. Sometimes it works, sometimes it rolls and she gets mad. Harper will sit and hug the dog, slowly petting her in a partial hug. I imagine she’s thinking what her fur feels like, how it’s different depending which way she pets, and she listens to Koda talk back to her.
I gave everyone pieces of mint grown on the back porch this past summer. It’s a smell that reminds me of summertime during my childhood…it smells so good. I showed them how to sniff the leaves. Reagan was all about sniffing and licking the leaves. Harper, on the other hand, was unimpressed entirely while Emerie just wanted to collect and carry them around.
Emerie and Harper testing out those front teeth
The other day I caught Emerie and Harper chewing on the old television stand. Very quietly, standing there, gnawing away. It must have felt oddly refreshing against those eight tiny, front teeth. I watch them sit in their comfy animal chairs- now instead of just sitting on them, they’ll turn one sideways and sit on it. Or they’ll lay across it or flip it upside down and lean on it. All new perspectives to something that’s been in the room for a few months, but has endless opportunity in the eyes of a toddler.
The girls precision is also improving. They will sit still and focus on putting shapes into the correct holes of their picnic basket, trying out incorrect holes methodically until they find the right one. They look around and find different things to add into the pink shopping cart, then watch the contents shift as they push it around the room. All so many interesting ways to look at things!
Last Saturday turned out to be one of the busiest days we’ve had in a while. With three separate outings and being out and about all day, it was anyone’s guess how the day would turn out or if the girls would be overstimulated. Surprisingly, they did great the whole time we were out, staying pleasant for nearly the entire day on a short, 30 minute car nap. Bedtime wasn’t quite so smooth, but we expected that. It was fun to have a full day of outings and see how the girls handled the new experience.
Craig took the girls to dad group in the morning for some play time (and man-time) while I cleaned and did a few household chores. We headed straight to the valley for fall, family photos after group. It took the girls longer than planned to doze off in the car, resulting in a short nap since photos started when we arrived. The day was beautiful. It was a little cold, with the fall crisp air making the girls arms a bit cold- but I was dedicated to their outfits and we went with it. We couldn’t have asked for a more gorgeous afternoon, with the sun bouncing off the bright, fall colors at the Palmer Visitor Center. In true Brittany style, our session was quick and successful! I cannot wait to see the photos.
Harper and Reagan wandering off
Thinking about how the girls would view those photo sessions, you could see they love to explore the flowers and see the yellow, crinkly leaves on the ground. We tossed leaves at them to try to produce smiles and they curiously looked at them. Emerie, on the other hand, tried to pick up all the rotten crab apples off the ground and carry them. They likely felt squishy and cold and she carried around a handful for a few minutes; I don’t think she tasted any thank goodness. Reagan kept running across the pathways, giggling as we hollered to come back toward the camera. Harper did some great photos and then too went off after her sisters with big smiles. They are much more coordinated than when we took photos here in July. This time all three could run across the grass pathways without tumbling. They peeked at flowers and picked up more leaves and tried to grab everything out of Britany’s purse.
After photos we walked (wagoned) over to a little baby fair at the Palmer railroad station, peeked at a few vendors and I found two airplane books, and then loaded back up for the reindeer farm. On the walk back to the car, all three were attempting to lift their legs out of the wagon, feet up in the air. That was apparently quite comical and more fun than sitting there, enjoying the ride.
The reindeer farm was a hit. The girls petted reindeer, which surprisingly no one referred to as “kitties”. In fact, they were all very sullen, shy and quiet when we let them out on the wagon. Everyone did pet one though! And one reindeer really wanted to come home with us, eat out of the wagon, and check out all the contents of the diaper bag. He kept coming back for more! He tasted Reagan’s coat hood as well and she was not impressed.
I imagine that all three toddler minds were a bit overstimulated at this point in the day, with huge, furry animals (and antlers) walking about and a ton of people around. They did get a bit braver and walked around the pen after a few minutes. Afterwards everyone went for their first horse rides- Reagan wanted off by the end of hers while Harper and Emerie thought it was fun and looked a little happier about it. Emerie was a little unsure of it at first, giving me the “hell no mom” look, but after a few feet appeared to enjoy the experience.
I am still mildly shocked the day went off without a hitch on a 30 minute nap. Next year, when the girls are two, fall events will be a little more fun to experience and hopefully a bit easier. For now, I am happy to add this day into my memories as a good one with friends and gorgeous, Alaska weather.
What other things did I notice over the past week that an adult might not appreciate, but the girls find interesting?
With daily practicing of body parts, the girls now understand belly, nose, ears, and are learning where eyes are located. Everyone is extremely enthusiastic about their bellies (and yours too) and getting better at pointing to your nose or theirs. They find wearing bodysuits (as opposed to shirts) unacceptable when they can’t adequately show off their bellies to you when asked. Emerie took this newfound skill to a new level, shoving her finger right up her nose and walking around, making sure you know she knows the answer. It’s pretty cute until she comes after your nose! Reagan will tug on her ears-and I mean hard- when you ask where they are. I think she believes they weren’t there prior to her learning about them…so she tries to pull them off.
Emerie
Emerie continues to master the block building. She likes to walk around with two duplo blocks and put them together or pull them apart. She comprehends how they interlock and will sit there and focus on it. Her new understanding is impressive; and you can tell she is fascinated that she can do it! I know tower building is right around the corner and I can’t wait because that means we are one step closer to Lego’s! She also just discovered buckles and likes to buckle herself into the lunch table. Luckily she hasn’t figured out how to unbuckle yet; hopefully we have some time for that one. Everyone is fascinated by zipper pulls. This is great for fun, but not so great when they try to take their coats off when we want them on!
Reagan discovered somersaulting on the floor last week, without any help! Since before they were crawlers, everyone enjoys standing on their heads, wiggling their tiny butts in the air, giggling at the world upside down. Reagan was quite impressed the first time she went all the way over by herself and landed on her back. Why? Well the whole world moved, how cool is that?! Similarly, all three girls like to careen off the arm of the couch and flip over onto pillows, or onto a sister, or onto Mom or Dad. Harper seems to free fall off of it; I’m surprised her landings have gone so well this far.
Or just stand on the basket…
Another really cute toddler discovery is hugging. Harper will come up to you and strong arm you into a solid, double armed hug. It’s so sweet and she will hold it for a few seconds, with her head against yours. She’s a great hugger! I imagine she likes the feeling as it generally results in smiles and talking. Emerie will give you little hugs sometimes too. Reagan is not quite into it yet, but she will pull your arms tight when she wants to snuggle. If you move your arm, she will pull it back over her until she feels that compression. She’s learned this is a better snuggle position than simply being beside someone. The past few nights she demanded full on snuggling to sleep, something I am doing my best to appreciate since it won’t last forever!
After 18 months, our greyhound Kalli finally figured out she can get six, tiny toddler hands to pet her back. I’ve turned around several times this week to see the girls giggling and petting a very happy puppy.
Petting Kalli over the baby wall
The girls are learning to pretend “grocery shop” with lots of plastic, play food scattered everywhere in the family room. They all take turns with the pink, Minnie Mouse shopping cart, the doll stroller, or the smaller hand basket; sometimes they pile food into the toy bins and kitchen cabinets. Everyone mastered pretend eating, including the nom nom nom sounds that come with it. They will pretend sip out of tea cups, chew on the fake food (sometimes more than light chewing) and are starting to understand they can stack pieces together (like pieces of a cheeseburger).
Harper stacking the lotions
Harper prefers chewing the fake hotdogs; I’m guessing this is because it feels nice on her molars. Reagan often brings you food to share, and you better fake eat with her…she won’t take no for an answer and will hold it up to “bite” until you do it. You can see her imagination is expanding into the world of pretending. Emerie fills the cart or basket with food, condiments, leaves, sippy cups, or anything she can find and takes it places, usually accidentally dumping the contents out on the way to the destination. She gets all riled up if her sisters take over or grab things out of it. She enjoys collecting leaves in her shopping cart or any container within eyesight. Harper will add things to the cart, but is far more interested in pulling contents out of a box or bin and meticulously figuring out how to fit them back in. She’s gets very focused and always helps me put away the baby lotions after bath time, taking everything out and then replacing it back in the container. I mean…isn’t it so cool how everything fits!
Another fun realization relates to wind up cars (I know…not airplanes!). We’ve had several in the toy box for a while, but now they better understand how to use them and are starting to see they can make them drive without calling for assistance. I pulled up the rug in the living room and we drove cars back and forth for a while the other day. It is definitely exciting in the eyes of a kiddo- to be able to make tiny vehicles speed across the floor and bang into the wall, or furniture, or the dog…on the other side.
With the nanny out with the flu for the rest of the workweek, I used my day off to take the girls to one of the local recreational centers (along with half the parents in town) and let them run wild. It was great to catch up with a few twin moms and let the girls burn some energy. With such a dreary fall day, it was THE place to be! The center purchased new foam climbing mats since we last visited and the girls went to town playing on all the different pieces and shapes. Everyone liked to climb up the tall one, sit and “oversee” the other kids. Harper discovered a toy car that had a bouncy seat, Reagan liked to crawl through the tubes and underneath “tunnel” mats, and Emerie freely wandered the room and tried out everything, making friends along the way. Of course, I forgot to bring her glasses and patch. In the midst of the chaos of twenty-plus young children in one large room, the girls did great exploring new things and socializing with other toddlers. They climbed on everything and ran around. They made friends with a few other parents as well…parents that just happen to have some snacks…
Fingers crossed the flu stays out of our house (foreverrrrr). So far, so good. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be fully of teething babies again, so I think that is enough to deal with. For now, I will keep trying to see the fascinating things through the girls’ eyes and find new and fun things to teach them, or learn from them!
The past summer was hot. Super hot for us Alaskans that dislike hot weather and humidity! Our August maintained the warmer than normal temperatures, but when September hit, it was almost like a switch was turned and things went back to typical fall weather (rain, 60s, etc.). This temperature change, while welcomed by me for sure but not by most, brought on the first cold of the fall/winter season, giving us three snotty babies for the first two weeks of September.
This didn’t completely ruin our fall time- we continued to play outside and bundle up, and had our first puddle splashing adventure. That was a hit! The girls also realize the boots light up and will pull them out of the bin and bring me one to put on them when we are playing inside. Yes, that is Harper you see trying to eat the street puddle water. A moment after these photos everyone made a break for it and took off down the street (monitored).
Mom, put on my boots!
Tracking in leaves means more vacuuming. The girls always want to help!
Last winter the girls survived three colds total, all that mostly involved stuffy/snotty noses and fevers for all three simultaneously; only Harper ever developed a cough, which was more “flemmy” than a deep, scary chest cough. I’m pretty sure Craig and I managed to keep another cold or two at bay from the girls throughout last winter, mostly by crazy hand washing and special efforts not to spread our germs. Now that the girls are a little older, colds seem way easier to struggle through. It’s still not great, but it’s not completely unbearable. I’m telling myself that delirious point, because it might have simply been a minor cold they handled better than normal…trying to stay optimistic here, folks.
Anyway, last weekend we had one night and following morning with a seriously grumpy Reagan, which is generally unlike her. By the time we made it to the doctor that afternoon, she had an ear infection and blown left ear drum. Poor babe. By evening the medicine kicked in and her mood significantly improved.
Over the last week Harper and Emerie started tugging at their ears a little and were grumpier than usual. While I don’t always assume it is an ear infection, I figured maybe getting over the cold prompted the ear issues. After another doctor visit, we determined Harper was in the clear and Emerie had a minor infection.
Harper on the slide
Em looking at the ducks
Reagan on the slide
While I don’t like my babies to feel sick, the snuggles are pretty nice since they rarely sit still for any period of time when feeling good. We went to the park a couple of times, even with the rain, played outside all bundled up, and met up with some friends. Looming colds or ear infections are not going to stop the adventures hit year; hopefully they will be minimal and everyone will stay in good spirits when we can’t outrun them.
We discovered a lone, tennis ball at the park that turned in to quite the toddler adventure. Throw the ball…watch all the babies chase it…pick it up, they throw it toward you, and repeat. Lots of open space to burn energy, fill up on giggles, and have some good ‘ole entertainment. Next visit to that park, I am bringing a soccer ball! Enjoy.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a height/weight and development/leap update on the littles…so here goes!
We decided this development checkup to split out the appointments and not bring everyone into the doctor together. The past few have gotten more difficult now that the girls are mobile and want to get into everything. Two hours in a tiny, hot doctor’s office is a looooong time with three toddlers.
Emerie
Emerie was up first and solo. Taking one baby to the doctor almost seems relaxing and allows us to have a little one-on-one time while the nanny also gets a little break! At this visit, Emerie weighed in at 22.0 lbs and in the 43% percentile. She is much higher in the height percentile than weight, at 82% and measuring 32.75 inches.
Of the three, Emerie is the best at entertaining herself with her toys, random containers and nick knacks, or really anything. She is happy to sit on the floor and figure out how a toy works, or put smaller toys into a bigger container, or play with her shapes picnic basket. This can occupy her for a lot longer than I’d probably guess, simply because Harper or Reagan usually interrupt the quiet playtime, steal a part of or all of her toy, and then the fighting (and timeouts!) begin.
Her tinier stature also assists in climbing into small places- boxes, bins, anything that looks fun! She enjoys trying to figure out how to do it; although she often gets frustrated if it isn’t easy and then gets mad and starts hollering about it.
She is a fan of saying “no no no” (it’s never only once) and pointing at her sisters when they do something they shouldn’t. She still loves peek-a-boo and climbing into blankets, or peeking out at you and hiding.
Harper
Harper is up to 23 lbs 10 ounces! She is in the 64th percentile for her weight and at 33.75 inches, in the 96th percentile for height! We have very tall babies! She continues to be rambunctious and talkative, learning new words constantly. She loves to tattle on her sisters in a slue of baby gibberish when she is mad. She will tell you allllll about it. She also loves to run around and giggle with her sisters, pulling and pushing them around the room until everyone is solidly laughing. Some nights she solo runs around and thinks she’s a riot. She’s the only one to say her own name so far, and while only a couple of times, it was very cute and came out like “Hapa” during a game of peekaboo.
Harper is the only one sleeping full nights in her crib (lately)- with Reagan and Emerie alternating on who demands attention at all hours of the night. I’m so glad she’s back to being my good sleeper!
She’s also the best at eating pouches at meal time (doesn’t matter the flavor), but probably the most picky eater in general. Lately she’s been my trust faller, and will lean right off a slide or play set, regardless of how close by a parent is. She enjoys jumping off the side of the family room couch, into a pile of (strategically placed) pillows, and jumping up and running back around to do it again.
Lastly, I still believe Harper will be my soccer baby. She remains interested in my mini pink soccer ball more than her sisters and we are working on the concept of kicking. I can’t wait to put everyone in sports next year!!
Reagan
Reagan continues to be our binkie baby and anti-crib napper; but, she will fall asleep in her car seat seconds after a busy morning of playing. She weighs in at the same 23 pounds 10 ounces as her sister, in the 64th percentile, but is 34.00 inches, and slightly taller, in the 97th percentile. She remains the shyest so far but will come out of her shell when she is comfortable; she’s timid on big park toys and not a big fan of most swings.
Lately she dislikes eating meals more than her sisters, but I believe it’s just a phase resulting from teething, snotty noses and possible stubbornness. In the evening she has started to enjoy more snugglingbthan when she was younger, and will sit with you and relax.
Of the three, I believe Reagan tries to pull things off the counter and table the most, intending to grab anything within her reach. I’ve caught her climbing onto the table a couple of times from a nearby chair to grab something, and she will just look at me like, “what?“
While not so interested in the concept of soccer, Reagan loves to play catch with the mini, pink soccer ball I’ve had since childhood. She also is great at fetch… ahem…I probably shouldn’t call it that… She seems to favor her right arm to throw the ball, so we might have a right hander (I’m very interested to see if everyone favors the same hand as they grow!). The throws produce quite the punch as well, so you must pay attention or take a nice ball to the face, or throat, or chest.
Words
The pediatrician set a goal of five words per kiddo for their 18 month appointment. I believe we hit that mark over one week in August! So far everyone’s favorite word is “baby” and “kitty“. They definitely understand that kitty means the cat; but they also think it means all animals like dogs…horses…pigs… Everyone has mastered saying “no no no” and shaking their finger at you and are starting to say “not nice” back in my face when I scold them for hitting or being mean. They can also inform you when they want a “baba”. And no that does not mean they want another baby. It definitely means they want a bottle and you are not funny!
Emerie at her checkup with Dr. Katie
In addition to the everyday momma and dadda, other words they’ve picked up over the past three months include bubble, yeah (Harper loves to say this!), more (sometime they will sign it too), belly, wow, puppy/dog (sometimes when it’s not kitty), cheese, hi, ball and uh-oh. Emerie is in a phase of repeating uh-oh after she purposefully throws something on the floor. They all love to point out where their belly is if you ask and usually want to point at yours as well. There’s no privacy here; they will lift your shirt right up to make sure YOU know where your belly is. Sometimes they will point to their nose when prompted and Emerie will say nose. Reagan also says Papa instead of Grandpa. A little to my dismay, they are all now repeating our “not nice” phrase when they hit each other or steal a toy. Not only do they repeat it, but they definitely say it a little higher pitched, almost like it’s there first word to throw back in my face. Oh toddlerhood…
Harper and Reagan at their checkup with Dr. Katie!
So it appears to me that we are good to go on the word quota for these appointments! While generally speaking, most multiples’ speech is delayed, due to premieness and/or because they will do baby language to talk to their siblings instead of real words. I am unsure that this will affect us in the long run. While it’s still too early to tell, both Craig and I are good at languages so I’m guessing that will genetically rub off on them. Our next goal is 50 words by age two. Since that is six months away and we are already well into it, I don’t foresee this milestone difficult to achieve. Now if I can just keep them from learning bad words to add to their vocabulary from a few certain men! 😉
Favorite Foods/Eating
The past few months have been a bit more frustrating on the food end. In addition to Grandma Sue’s food not being a hit with the tiniest grandchildren, they aren’t really enthusiastic or interested in eating a lot during meals, no matter what is placed before them. With the runny noses that visited in early September, no one really wanted much milk either! A big part of this is due to teething- everyone finally has four molars, two top and two bottom on each side, in addition to eight front teeth. I might also add everyone has the exact same teeth in…so we are continuing the identical-ness there too.
Harper
Emerie
Reagan
Favorite meal foods for all three still include breakfast sausage, rice of any variety (fried, white, brown), canned green beans and corn, avocados, blueberries, yogurt, FRENCH FRIES and udon noodles. For the most part, they seem to maintain tastes similar to Craig and I. On the fruit scale they like almost everything, including mandarin oranges, bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, apple (sauce), and nectarines (not peaches as much). Apple pears and watermelon seem to give them immediate diaper rash so we are holding on them for a while…which sucks because they love watermelon. They also like a lot of vegetables, including steamed carrots and broccoli, cold sliced green peppers, sauteed squash, onions and zucchini (Em really likes this!), and cabbage. Yes, I said cabbage, surprising right? Craig makes a mean coleslaw and they like it.
We discovered last week that cheese quesadillas with sour cream are quite a hit too and will be making more of them in the future. While Harper will scarf down a couple strips in no time, Emerie is insisted that she needs a good gallon of sour cream smothered in it and Reagan too. They will lick off the sour cream and hold it up for more. I think that runs in Craig’s side of the family…. They also like tofu fried up on the stove- not sure if they like the consistency or it’s just easy to eat when their teeth hurt. Dislikes include most meats- they will tolerate steak bites and chicken sometimes, but don’t love it.
Other snack foods include goldfish (of course), any type of chex mix cereal and cheerios, veggie straws, animal crackers, cheese puffs and fig newton bars. They are definitely snackers, so to mix it up a bit we add veggies into the mix sometimes too.
Harper
Emerie
Reagan
In general everyone’s likes and dislikes in the food department are pretty similar, but there are some variations. Reagan really likes my mom’s lime jello salad (really likes) while Harper thought it was the most poisonous thing every to touch her lips in her lifetime. Harper likes Grandma Sue’s turkey meatballs while the other two tolerate them. Emerie really likes mushrooms and now I have to share mine whenever we have stir fry; the other two somewhat tolerate them but don’t love them.
Harper is the pro at eating the fruit and vegetable pouches while Emerie and Reagan think it is more fun to squeeze them on everything and eat it off the table. That is a day-to-day battle… we finally have a house of straw drinkers! In addition to using sippy cups, both Nalgene bottles for water and sippy straw cups for milk, they love drinking out of adult water bottles with straws and the one moms received from the hospital to keep us hydrated. With a surprisingly big straw, they can all drink out of it perfectly fine. They also apparently like coffee (thanks Grandma…) and were all fighting over a frappe Craig brought home from Costco the other day.
Sleeping
I wrote this title…but what does that mean? Sleeping? Haha kidding…not kidding. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a good nights sleep for all three. In general the trend appears to be one will sleep well (maybe wake up once for a bottle but go back to sleep), one will be angry/keep us up a few hours overnight, and one that is in the middle of that, waking up but going back to sleep relatively easy (usually in our bed or or the guest room). Some nights two will sleep all night in their cribs without so much as a peep, but the third will be grumpy and fussy and still keep us up, so it overshadows the success of the other two!
I can’t remember the last night we slept all the way through without anyone fussing or sleeping in our bed! For a while I barely had a night sleeping in MY bed, often sleeping the second half of the night in the guestroom with angry baby #2. Other nights we finally settle one in the master bed, a second falls asleep with me in the guestroom, and then #3 freaks out. That generally seems to end with me sleeping with #3 in the nursery armchair for a couple hours if I can’t get them calmed enough to go back into their crib. They all continue to vary on who is the grumpiest and who is the best sleeper and it can change from one night to the next. The past week or so Emerie is the grump and Harper and Reagan are trading off for best nighttime sleeper. A couple weeks prior to that Harper was the grump and before that Reagan.
We still use the white noise machine for naps and nighttime. I am looking forward to the airport project completing next month so the noise from the 747s flying over our heads all night will be gone. Now that darkness is returning, folks also won’t be outside as much making noise; and nighttime, once again, looks like nighttime!
Activities
We tried coloring out again, this time with retractable crayons (which are… umm…SO cool). They ate them a little less and I’m counting the bashing them on the table as coloring…at least it produced some marks on the paper. We also used our smarts and taped the paper to the table. That at least lasted a couple minutes. We are getting closer…but not quite there yet.
Trying out a different type of crayon with Daddy
Teamwork is slowly starting to develop, with the girls coordinating to knock over toys, push each other around in their cars and airplanes, and best efforts to run three different directions whenever possible to confuse the poor, overtired parental figures. At bedtime the other night (picture a full bedtime march upstairs), two made it out the unlocked dog door by the time the third was up the first set of stairs (with me). They are sneaky like that. Never a dull moment.
More recently the girls are starting to help you when getting dressed and undressed. Reagan has her moments of taking her shirt off voluntarily and without permission, but otherwise all three are usually willing to assist in removal. They will put arms in the arm holes and move their legs to help, as opposed to becoming a bag of bricks and not helping. Everyone thinks it’s a game once they are down to diapers and pajamas are intended; they will step toward you and then run away as fast as they can in the midst of big smiles and giggles. It’s pretty cute…and you definitely have to chase them because they are not coming to you.
Craig preparing for Daddy’s Home singing
One other daily activity Craig started a little while back that is cute enough to mention… when he gets home from work, the girls flock to him for immediate attention. I’m usually home already so I get to watch this. He will pick up all three, for now this is still doable and only, you know, about ~68 wiggling pounds, and sing the Daddy’s Home song while jumping up and down. They think it is hilarious and love participating. We will see how long he can handle all three at once!
This blog turned out to be much longer than I anticipated, and honestly I can barely comprehend we are on the turning curve to age two already. Time is passing quick and I feel as though I say that quite often but still don’t believe it’s true. For comparison, here is a 6 month photo, taken about this time last year, and a photo from this week. Man are they growing up quick! ❤
The Douglets 