The 18-month Check Up

Today was our 18-month check up, a little late. We're almost 19 months! In any case, here are the stats:

Sean: 22 pounds, 12 ounces (10th percentile!)

32 3/4 inches (59%)

Luke: 21 pounds, 1 ounce (not on the chart)

33 inches (66%)

Charlotte: 18 pounds, 14 ounces (not on the chart)

31 3/8 inches (25%)

So, we're all pretty long and lean, sort of. At least Sean is charting in weight. The pediatrician generally wasn't concerned, although Charlotte even fell a little off her own growth curve, meaning she hasn't kept pace the last few months with her own typical growth pattern. This isn't terribly unusual at this age given their non-stop activity level. Nevertheless, since she's so small we're going to take her in for another weight check in a few months and see if she picks up the pace a little, if not, we'll do some bloodwork just to make sure everything looks normal, like her kidney function and thyroid. We're not freaking out, but mommy sure is going to butter up those veggies and keep the whole milk flowing!

Other than that, we're just trying to survive each day. And I mean that literally. The kids are SO incredibly active and curious and get into everything. We usually have at least one or two bumps, bruises or scrapes each day. Just in the last few weeks Luke demonstrated his ability to escape the pack and play he naps in, climb the stools to get on the kitchen counter, and pull toys up to the baby gate to use as steps to scale over. The boys together ripped a hole in our couch by pushing the kitchen table bench off the step from the kitchen to the family room. We are also learning the art of toy negotiation...a never-ending process. Since kids don't actually comprehend sharing until around age three, I simply try to let most toy stealing go unless there was pushing, shoving, hitting or biting involved in the theft. Sometimes I feel like I can't even go the bathroom unless they're secure in their high chairs!!! We've moved to one nap per day, which in general has been a good thing but I haven't found that "sweet spot" time of day to put everyone down to get a good nap out of all of them. Someone always seems to wake after just 45 minutes or an hour...barely long enough to clean up the morning mess, grab a VERY quick bite and be on our way once again. One saving grace, though, is what wonderful night sleepers they are. We have been truly blessed in that regard.

Despite being a challenging and sometimes exhausting age, it's also just plain magical! Hearing my children's actual voices as they begin to talk is disarming. Little angels on earth. They are discovering the world around them and using their words more and more to participate in it. They spend many hours each day looking out our back window onto the pond to watch for geese ("goo!"), ducks (qak! qak!) and watch for airplanes from the nearby air strip for small planes. They can ask for milk ("mi!") and crackers ("ca!") and tell you they see their favorite toy, a ball ("ba!"). Fortunately their use of sign language helps us work out the similar sounding words like "da" which could mean Daddy or dog, depending on the situation. Jeff and I have also begun enjoying the hugs and kisses that the kids freely dole out. What a warm feeling you get when your 1-year old wraps those tiny arms around you for a great big HUG!

As much as I know we are not, we do try to be "normal" whenever we can. I feel we owe it to them to give them as many of the same experiences a child would have if they were born one at a time. They are enrolled in a park district "mini-gym" class, we run errands all over town (getting compliments on our stroller along the way!), go to a stroller fitness class for mommy's well being once a week or so, have playdates, and play outside now that the weather's finally warming. Occasionally our attempts to be normal backfire, and I'm slowly learning our limitations, at least at this age. One playdate resulted in a spilled cup of coffee, a near-demolition of a television when Luke got a hold of the cord, and a close-call with a table full of food when again, Luke or Sean (can't remember which) grabbed the tablecloth and yanked. Thank goodness it was a ranch-style home or someone probably would have fallen down the stairs too. We promptly packed up and left and I made a Note-to-Self: do not take three children between ages 1 and 2 to any home that is not "triplet-grade" babyproofed. You are asking for trouble.

Since I haven't really posted a good update in months, I could go on and on. Instead I'll just try to post a little more frequently when cute, fun stuff happens. There are so many funny things that happen each day that I don't want to forget, but the sheer volume of memories will obviously make that impossible. So...until the next post...