2 1/2 Years Old

I've been overwhelmed by the thought of writing this blog post as the kids keep doing so many new things and I don't feel that one blog post will do them justice, but also because I have been stressed by Jack's health issues and some days I feel so frustrated by the "terrible twos" that I don't have many nice things to say about our trio. But I know I will be disappointed if I don't continue to document our kids' lives through this blog, so I'll do my best to capture the new things, but also to balance that out with the reality of the stress in our family right now. [Edit: This post is super long, so I guess I really tried to capture everything new! I understand if no one actually reads it besides the grandmas.]

Weight: 

Alexis: 24 lbs 3 oz (she gained 1.5 lbs in six months and she is in the 5th percentile)

Jack: 23 lbs 7 oz (he gained 2 lbs in six months and he is below the 3rd percentile)

Faith: 24 lbs 2 oz (she gained 1.75 lbs in six months and she is in the 4th percentile)

Height: 

Alexis: 36 inches (grew 1.5 inches in six months and she is in the 53rd percentile)

Jack: 34.5 inches (grew 2 inches in six months and he is in the 11th percentile)

Faith: 36.5 inches (grew 2 inches in six months and she is in the 66th percentile)

According to a few websites I found, most toddlers gain about 4 lbs and grow about 3 inches in their third year of life, so our kids are right now track! This is great news to a mom of 3 lb preemies. 

Size Clothes: Last year the kids go really nice winter jackets for Christmas and although they are size 18 months, they still fit right now!  I think the jackets must be a bit oversized since there is no way the girls can fit into any other 18 month clothes because of their height. Jack wears 18 month and 2T pants and he wears 2T tops. The girls wear 2T and 3T in both.

Teeth: 

Alexis: 17 (+5 in six months)

Jack: 19 (+5 in six months)...only one more baby tooth to go!

Faith: 17 (+5 in six months)

Speech:  Every day Alexis, Jack, and Faith surprise us with things they say. I've been trying to pay more attention to how many words they are actually putting together as to me it seems like we have regular conversations with them now. This afternoon Jack came upstairs with me when I got Alexis up from her nap and he was trying to plug the space heater into the outlet but I told him to stop. His frustrated response was, "But I'm trying to plug it in!" Yep, I think seven words together counts as a full sentence! 

Overall the girls seem to talk more throughout the day and a little more clearly than Jack, but I think this is a normal boy / girl difference and I don't think there is anything to be concerned about. Jack says all of his "f" words with an "p" sound, for example fan come out as pan, fish comes out as pish, and finger comes out as pinger. It's cute and I think he'll outgrow it soon as he called yogurt "wogurt" for the longest time, but he seems to have corrected that already.

The girls often surprise us with stating their feelings, although I think I need to give some credit to the show "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" as it is really good at explaining emotions. Recently we have heard the following:

• "I"m feeling shy." Faith's response when I asked her why she didn't respond to a little boy who said hi to her at a store.
• "I missed you." Faith to Micah, without any prompting, when he returned from a five day business trip.
• "I feel happy." Faith, unprompted, to Micah when she finally got a turn riding on his shoulders.

Faith elated to be on Micah's shoulders at the Botanic Garden

• "I had fun." Alexis, unprompted, to us when we were driving home from the River of Lights.

Alexis having fun on the slide

• "I'm scared." Alexis to me when Micah turned on the leaf blower.
• "Whoopsie daisies." Okay, this isn't a statement about emotions, but Alexis says it all of the time and I have no idea where she learned it!

Expanded speech also means more demands. When driving in the car we almost always listen to kid music, but sometimes one or more kids does not want the music on and they will yell, "No music!" Of course, the others that want music yell at me to turn it back on when I turn it off, so there is a lot of yelling from the backseat on some car rides. Oh the joys of 2 1/2 year olds! 

Faith loves to sing throughout her day and many times this annoys Alexis so she will tell Faith, "No! Stop singing!" Oh boy, this is just the beginning of the kids getting on each other's nerves.

One morning I asked Faith if she wanted butter on her pancakes and she said she didn't, so when I took the butter out of the fridge to put on Jack's pancakes she got really mad, ran in front of me, put her hand up in the air, and yelled, "Stop!!" I guess the girl really doesn't like butter!

One of my favorite things to do with the kids right now is to talk about our day, either before going to meet up with friends or recalling events at the end of the day. I will ask them to name who else we will see if we are meeting up with someone we see often, and they are really good at naming the other people in the family or group. At the end of the day I like to ask questions like, "What did we have for lunch" or "What was your favorite part of the day" and it is interesting to hear their responses. I love that I can actually have conversations with the kids now.

My absolute favorite thing about growing speech, though, is hearing the kids talk to each other. Their conversations are not that in depth right now, but I love hearing their little voices talking to each other. An example of a conversation right now is: Faith, "Lexi, what are you doing?" Lexi: "I'm playing with a ball." Faith, "Yeah, you are playing with a ball." I expect these conversations to start getting much more interesting over the next six months. 

Eating: Our kids continue to be light eaters, and Jack is by far the pickiest. Our general eating schedule is breakfast at 7:30 when Jack gets up (although the girls will often have a small bowl of cereal when they get up at 7:00), a mid-morning snack between 9:30 and 10:30 (depends on what we are doing), lunch around 12:15, a light afternoon snack around 4:00, dinner around 5:30, and a bedtime snack around 7:15. It seems to me that we give a lot more snacks throughout the day than our friends do, but since our kids eat such small meals and Micah and I always snack between meals, it works for us to give our kids snacks throughout the day. 

Lately I have been asking the kids what they want for lunch, which means I sometimes make more than one thing, but I'm happy to do this as I'd rather make something they want and I get tired of making these decisions for meals. I often let them choose their snacks as well. 

Generally we feed the kids the same dinner that we make for ourselves, but in the last week I have sometimes been offering Jack PB&J when I know he won't touch the food I made. Jack is not very adventurous with food and although we tried every trick to get him to take bites, we've decided that it would be less stressful for all of us if we just gave him something he would eat. Jack has enough stress in his life with his frequent blood draws and we feel like he needs to eat more to stay healthy, so PB&J is working for now. He does eat plenty of fruit, so at least he is getting a little balance in his diet.

Naps: When the kids turned 2 back in June I was really frustrated with nap time as there would often be one or two kids that wouldn't fall asleep and therefore I wouldn't get a mid-day break. Thankfully naps have become much better after I moved nap time back from 12:00 to 1:00.  I think they just weren't feeling tired at 12:00 so they got frustrated when I put them to bed, or maybe they've just realized that quiet time in their room isn't so bad as nowadays if someone doesn't fall asleep they just play quietly in their bed for a couple of hours. I am so thankful that I usually get about two hours to myself during nap time. If I put them down at 1:00 I don't let them sleep past 3:30 (or 4:00 at the very latest if it took them awhile to fall asleep) so that they can fall asleep at night. Unfortunately the kids often wake up a little crabby after their nap and right now it gets dark around 5:00, so it's hard to get out and do anything before dinner.

Bedtime: Our bedtime routine is fairly simple, and overall things go smoothly and everyone sleeps well. Around 7:00 we start changing everyone into their PJs, then we feed them a snack (most of the time it's yogurt which we feed them by spoon so that they don't make a giant mess right before bed), then we read a couple of books, then we go upstairs to brush teeth. After everyone has their teeth brushed we read another book or two (lately Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is the final book of the night per the kids' request). Finally we sing the ABC's as a family (prompted by the final pages of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom), and then the girls are brought to their beds. For some reason they like being carried in like "babies" cradled in my arms (the girls are a bit demanding and they insist on me doing the carrying if I'm home). Jack comes in the girls' room with us and says good night to them, and if he doesn't they call to him until he comes in. We then bring Jack to his room.

The girls almost always spend 30-60 minutes playing in their cribs, singing, and chatting with each other, but they always fall asleep eventually without us going back into their rooms. Jack, on the other hand, has been having some trouble falling asleep. For awhile he cried for me every night as soon as we shut his door. We tried getting him back up with us for awhile, going into his room and putting our hands on him for awhile, Micah even tried pretending to fall asleep on his floor. Although all of these things were temporary fixes, as soon as we left him in his room alone again he would start crying. Unfortunately these problems seem to come up whenever Jack has been hospitalized, so we feel really bad about making him cry it out, but we don't feel like we have any other option since nothing else helps him calmly fall asleep. Thankfully he doesn't do this every night and talking about all of the fun we had during the day when we put him in his bed seems to help him relax. Hopefully this is a phase that he will outgrow really soon.

In the last two weeks we have been sleeping well (knock on wood!), but before that we had a really rough patch of trying to help Jack calm down at bedtime and then waking up with one or more kids during the night due to colds and molars. We felt like we were back to the newborn stage since we were dealing with all three kids during the night! We were exhausted and I'm so glad that phase is over, at least for now.

New Things: 

• "OK to Wake" clock: The girls wake each other up in the morning since they share a room, and they often wake before I feel they should. In the past I felt like I needed to get up and get them out of their beds as soon as I heard them, even if they were happy, as I didn't feel it was fair to leave them in their room until a random time. A friend told me about a clock that she uses for her kids that turns on a green light to let the kids know when it is okay to get up. I am so glad that I decided to get this clock for the girls as I am FINALLY in a morning routine. I wake up at 6:45 every day so that I can get dressed and put in my contacts, and then when I hear the girls say, "It's green!" at 7:00 I go into their room and get them out of their cribs. Besides the occasional crying due to a stinky diaper in the morning or the girls being upset from their stuffy noses, this clock has really helped me establish a morning routine with the girls. Jack sleeps in until 7:30 every day, so he doesn't need a clock right now.

• Soccer Balls: For the longest time Alexis called every single ball, from a pom pom to a beach ball, a soccer ball. But she finally understands that different balls have different names!

• Musical Prodigy: Jack LOVES music. We first noticed this right around his 2nd birthday as he would "strum" a tambourine like a guitar. Soon after that he started pointing out every guitar he saw whether they were tiny ones in books or real ones being played in church. Throughout the day we see Jack "strumming" an air guitar, his stuffed guitar, or one of the toy guitars, and sometimes he turns his guitars into violins and pretends to play. When he wakes up from his nap he often sings to himself and strums his stuffed guitar. He absolutely loves music and we can't wait to see where this takes him in life.

Jack using his stuffed guitar as a violin. For some reason he has decided that the triangle stick from his music class kit is a bow, and even in music class when the other kids play their triangles Jack pretends to be playing a violin.

• Music Class: I am so thankful that we found a great music class for the kids this past September. Not only is it budget friendly, but it also is a great class with a wonderful teacher. The kids talk about the class all week and they love every minute of it. Jack's favorite part is strumming the ukulele that the teacher plays at the beginning of every class, Faith's favorite part is participating in the movement such as following the teacher around the room during a song and dancing, and Alexis does the best at participating vocally by completing words of a song when the teacher prompts the class. We are so excited to continue with this class during the spring semester.

• Our Names: We have been teaching the kids what our first names are what our last name is, and they all know it now! I was told this was important in case of an emergency so we've been working on it for awhile.

• Playing with Babies: The girls in particular like to pretend that their "babies" are crying and they'll walk around the room holding a doll or stuffed animal and make crying noises until they lay them down for a nap or feed them a bottle. Seeing my babies take care of "babies" is super cute. I've found it interesting that Alexis and Faith are more drawn to this type of pretend play than Jack, and I think it shows their innate gender differences.

Alexis, Faith, and Jack feeding dolls with their old bottles.

• Tools and Electronics: I do not believe we did anything different when giving the kids toys or in our interactions with them, but Jack seems to be very drawn to tools, such as scissors, tape measures, and screw drivers, and electronics, like the iPad, our phones, and the TV remotes. The girls think these things are interesting too, but Jack absolutely obsesses over holding these things. He will be getting a doll stroller for Christmas so that he can play with one if he is interested (the girls are both very possessive of their things), but he will also be getting some toy tools so that he can play with them as well!

• Look Alike: Alexis and Faith are identical, but most people have been able to see a difference in them until recently. I guess they really are looking more alike as even Jack has confused them on occasion! When Micah and I call them by the wrong name it's because they are dressed alike and we aren't paying attention or we can't see their faces, but it is a weird feeling to not know which daughter it is until we are looking directly at her face.

Both girls are very attached to their doggies, so we can also tell who someone is by which doggy she is carrying. Alexis is on the left and Faith is on the right.

Drawing  with chalk under the table. Who is who!? Luckily they also have different shoes so that gives them away (Faith on the left, Alexis on the right).

• "Pray Amen?": I have to admit that we are not the best at remembering to pray before meals as we tend to go into survival mode at meal time as we are trying to get everyone's food on the table and everyone in their booster seats, but on occasion we do remember to pray. Since kids are sponges, one day back in September Alexis asked me to "pray amen" at lunch. At first I had no idea what she was saying, but then it clicked. Since then each of the kids has asked us to do this numerous times (you would think we would remember to do it on our own by now!), and everyone loves to say "Amen!" loudly at the end. 

• Living a More "Normal" Life: Will life with triplets ever be normal? I'm not so sure about that, but I do know that I was able to go to every Bible Study meeting with a group of women from our church this fall (we met twice a month and childcare was provided..woohoo!). And we only missed one music class due to colds. Although these things might sound small, to a first time mom of multiples that has had to give up many things from her "old life" since becoming pregnant and then becoming a stay-at-home-mom, these things feel huge. I love routine too, so this has made my life feel more stable.

Walking into music class without the wagon today. We actually never used the wagon to get in or out of music class, we only used the wagon to get into Bible study a couple of times at the beginning of the fall, and we no longer use the wagon to get in and out of church even when one of us is alone with the kids. We feel like way less of a spectacle without the wagon, and it's nice that we can trust the kids to walk in and out of known places.

• Kisses, Hugs, and "I love yous:" Although kids can be really difficult some days, it all seems worth it on the days that they shower us with love. The other day Micah was playing with Faith and he was giving her a lot of kisses. Jack saw that, looked at me, and started giving me tons of wet, silly kisses all over my face. It was the sweetest thing ever! When one of us is leaving the house the kids always want to give us hugs. And the random "I love you" statement is the greatest thing ever!

Frustrating Things:

• Hitting, Biting, and Pushing: Although the kids are talking a lot, they still don't know how to express themselves when they are frustrated or mad so it comes out as hitting, biting, and pushing. Mostly they do this to one another, but I've been hit quite a few times recently too.

• Refusing to get dressed, get a diaper change, etc.: Even when we are getting ready to do something fun, the kids want to have control and they often put up a fight when it comes to get ready in the morning and getting PJ's put on at night. The only way to guarantee not having to fight them is to have them watch a show, which I almost always end up doing in the morning anyway so that I can shower in peace too. Sometimes you just have to do what works!

• Fighting Us When Getting in the Car Seat: Right now Alexis is the most resistant to getting in her car seat, but everyone takes their turn. I was completely lost one day after having to pin Alexis down in her car seat to get her buckled after I was already down because we were leaving the hospital after a difficult appointment for Jack, so I reached out to a car seat Facebook group for advice. It sounds like this is a common issue and that most moms resort to some sort of reward. We now have a bag full of small marshmallows in our car and whenever the kids don't resist getting in their car seat they get one marshmallow. This has worked wonders so far so I hope it continues!

• Demanding to Be Carried: Maybe I'm just not paying attention, but it doesn't seem like other 2-year-olds want to be carried as much as our kids do. I often find myself carrying two kids at a time! Luckily they aren't that heavy, but it's still exhausting. Many times when we are out, such as at the Botanic Garden, I have the wagon along so I say they can ride in the wagon or walk. Although I try to be firm, there are often multiple meltdowns as a result of my firmness, and I have to pick my battles because I only have so much energy in a day, so I end up carrying kids while we are walking around. It's not that I don't want to hold and snuggle the kids, but there is only one of me and three of them!

• Yelling at Us For Stuff: I try to stay calm when they yell at me that they need more food, drink, or whatever, and I ask them to say it nicely. Most of the time they respond with a sweet "Please" and they often still sign it at the same time (which is the only sign they still use and it was the last one they learned!). Someday they'll learn to ask nicely the first time, right?

• Running Around the House Non-Stop: Some days it feels like all the kids do is run and chase each other around the house. I understand that they have a lot of energy to burn and it is good for them to run, but it puts me on edge all day as I'm so worried that someone is going to fall and get hurt. I know toddlers fall all of the time, but Faith has fainted a couple of times after falling and Jack has ended up being admitted to the hospital twice after falling, so I feel like I have good reason to worry. Running outside isn't bad as there isn't as many sharp corners and there is more space so they don't run straight into each other. I'm already looking forward to a little warmer weather and longer daylight hours, and it's only December!

Jack's Health Update:

When Jack was first discharged from the hospital in June after his three night stay due to extremely low platelets, we thought his body would heal itself quickly and that he would be better by now. Unfortunately this has not been the case and Jack has now been hospitalized three times and he has had four platelet transfusions.

After the first hospitalization in June I brought Jack in for blood draws every 10-14 days to check his platelet count, and although his platelets were below normal they were high enough that he did not have to be treated. On September 30th, though, Jack fell off of a kitchen chair and hit his front teeth and his mouth would not stop bleeding. Since it was evening and the Infusion Center was closed for the day (where we go for the blood draws and where he can receive outpatient treatment) Jack had to be admitted to the Hematology area of the Pediatric Unit and he was given platelets to help his mouth to clot.

We continued going in for routine blood draws and on November 13th his platelets were low enough again that the doctor decided that he needed platelets to give him a boost. Unfortunately, a week later on November 20th he fell on our first step when going upstairs to brush his teeth at night and he hit his forehead on a sharp point on our wooden banister. He immediately had a black and blue goose egg bump, and after talking to the doctor we brought Jack back to the hospital for another overnight stay and platelets. Although his platelets were actually still high from the platelets he received the week before, the doctor was concerned but internal bleeding in his head so platelets were given to Jack as a precaution.

Jack loves this "Tiny Guitar" app that I have on my phone and iPad, and Micah and Jack had a little jam session while waiting for the nurse to come in during our most recent hospital stay. One fortunate thing about his last fall was that my parents were in town so they stayed home with the girls and Micah and I brought Jack to the hospital. Since Micah was in AK during Jack's initial hospitalization he had not been to the PICU yet, so I was able to show him the ropes and he actually spent the night there with Jack so that he will feel comfortable bringing Jack to the hospital if needed in the future.

Since Jack went over three months between his first and second platelet transfusion, we were not overly stressed about his condition for awhile. But now that he has had three platelet transfusions in less than two months, two of which were due to toddler clumsiness in the evening, Micah and I are a bit more anxious about his condition. It is extremely difficult to keep one 2-year-old from falling, and three 2-year-olds are a million times worse as they tend to unintentionally run into each other and also they love to wrestle and chase each other around the house. I am extra stressed in the evening as if he gets hurt during normal business hours Jack can receive treatment as an outpatient, but if it happens after 4:00 he will have to spend the night in the hospital which isn't fun for any of us.

We know that Jack has a platelet antibody which is why his platelets keep decreasing, but we are not sure what caused it and whether or not this is something that he will outgrow. We plan to start working with an Immunologist soon to find the root of the problem and see if there is any other way we can treat the problem instead of the symptom of low platelets.


Happy 2 1/2 Year Olds:

I realize this was an extremely long blog post, but it's hard for me to find time to blog and when I do I want to cover everything! We are so thankful for our three beautiful kids, even on the difficult days.

Alexis

Jack

Faith

Thanksgiving Day (F, A, J)