Howard Trio Plus One: 18 Months

I've decided this will be my last "monthly" update as our babes are now 1 1/2 years old, and it seems a little silly to write an update every month like they are infants. I will definitely keep posting to my blog about things we are doing and random things that I think about during my days as a stay-at-home mom, but I won't continue to write about their weight gain, their schedule, and their milestones. When looking through a developmental checklist from our early intervention therapist, I realized that our babes are now caught up on almost everything except for language! This feels amazing as they have come so far and I hardly refer to their adjusted age anymore. No one seems surprised when they ask how old our kids are and we tell them their real age, so I don't feel the need to mention their prematurity as often as I once did. We feel so thankful that they are all healthy and developing on track, as we had so much anxiety about our future when I was pregnant. So, here is my last monthly update (*tear*).

How old? 18 months (16 adjusted)

Our weights:
Alexis: 20 lbs 6 oz (+6 oz from last month). Alexis weighed 3 lbs when she was born, so she will soon be 7x her birth weight! It is truly hard to imagine our sturdy girl as a preemie.

Jack: 19 lbs 6 oz (+ 13 oz from last month). I was shocked to see this weight gain from Jack this month as he can be a finicky eater. Jack weighed 3 lbs 3 oz when he was born, so he is more than 6x his birth weight.

Faith: 20 lbs 2 oz (+ 5 oz from last month). Faith was tiny at birth as she weighed only 2 lbs 13 oz. The 6 oz between her and Jack made her look so much smaller and more fragile. Although she definitely has less meat on her bones than Alexis, Faith can hold her own! She is also almost 7x her birth weight.

Our heights:

I never mention heights in my blogs, but when we went to the doctor a couple of days ago we found out that the girls were both 31.75 inches, which puts them in the 50th percentile for 18-month-old girls! We never paid much attention to percentiles since our babes have always been small, but I'm shocked that they are so tall in relation to others their age. Jack is 30 inches tall, which means he is in the 1st percentile for 18-month-old boys (boys and girls have different charts), and he is in the 6th percentile for his weight, but at least he's on the chart!

Size clothes: Jack is in 12 month pants and he is starting to move into 18 month tops. The girls are almost completely in 18 month clothes. We have a few 12 month onesies that we put on them, but they definitely will not fit much longer!

Eating schedule: Our eating schedule has not changed since last month, which means we still give our babes two bottles a day. They don't drink much throughout the day so we feel like it is important to give them their morning and night bottles to help them stay hydrated, and to give them some extra calories. They really aren't interested in drinking milk out of a sippy cup, although they will drink water, and the doctor said that the amount of milk they get in their two bottles is more than enough since they eat yogurt and cheese every day.

Naps: Same as last month: Nap from 10:00-11:00 and 2:30-4:30. I am surprised that they still seem to need two naps a day, but maybe we are close to transitioning to one nap as almost every day for the last week I have had one babe refuse to take an afternoon nap. I am not excited to cut out a nap as I really enjoy having a little time to myself in the morning to shower and in the afternoon to get some stuff done around the house. It is extremely difficult to get anything done with three busy toddlers as I have to keep an eye on them at all times! Although it puts a damper on my productivity when one babe refuses to nap, I am still able to get quite a bit done as I only have to keep an eye on one busy kid.

Bedtime: Bedtime is still going smoothly but, like last month, we have continued to have some night waking. I'm beginning to see that this is just how it is with kids no matter what their age as there are so many factors that affect their sleep (and with three littles those factors are multiplied!). We have had five full night's of sleep in a row, though, so today I feel super-human!

Favorite Activities: Climbing is a new favorite skill. They have been able to climb the couch for awhile, but now they don't need an throw pillow to give them a boost. They also climb the kitchen chairs constantly, even though we try not to let them since it's so easy to slip off, and tonight Jack climbed onto the table from a kitchen chair.

Pretend play is also a new favorite. They like to take bowls and cups from the play kitchen and pretend to eat or drink, and they love to "feed" us their pretend food. They also like to "clean" the kitchen floor with the travel Norwex cloths, which isn't surprising considering how often they see us cleaning the floor after meals!

They love to get stuff that we ask them to bring to us, such as a stuffed doggie, a plastic giraffe, or a ball. It is amazing to see them process what we are saying, look around the room, and then proudly bring back the item. Today I was reciting the words from the book "Pajama Time" and Alexis excitedly ran over to the book bin, found the book, and then proudly brought it over to me. I hadn't even asked her for it and I was shocked that she knew exactly what I was talking about even though we haven't read that book recently!

New Stuff: Last month I said that we were dealing with a lot of whining and I was disappointed in myself for not teaching them sign language, so I focused on it for a few days and amazingly they have caught on! So far I have only taught them "more," "all done," and "milk," but it has made a huge difference in the amount of whining that we hear every day which is major relief for our nerves. The girls are especially excited to sign, which makes sense as they are slightly ahead of Jack in the number of words they say as well.

Both girls often repeat words that we say, and Jack has been chiming in lately as well. Although they are technically behind in speech right now, I feel confident that they will catch up by the time they are two (which is what is expected of preemies).

Biting was an issue last month and it continues to be so. All three bite out of aggression and anger, usually when a toy is taken from them or when someone is in their personal space (read: all of the time!), but I am trying my best to keep a close eye on them and stop the biter before it happens. I think we are making progress, but it definitely isn't a fun problem to have.

They are getting a little better at sharing when I ask them to do it, and they also comfort each other when one is sad, which is amazing to see. Faith seems to be the most empathetic as she doesn't like to see Alexis sad, so she will find a pacifier, a bottle, or a stuffed animal to give to her so she feels comforted. All three are also starting to hug and kiss each other to show affection, and all three like to pat or rub another's back when a babe is tired or sad. This melts our hearts!

Here are a ton of pictures from the last month as there were so many cute ones to choose from!

We visited the Botanic Garden and Aquarium using our new Triple Play stroller. All three seem to enjoy riding in it and it's great for me as our triple stroller doesn't fit in our car so I always had to carry one if I went anywhere alone. Plus, there is a huge storage bag in the back for all of our necessities.