23 Months

One more month until the big 2.0! I have no idea how we almost have three two-year-olds. When the kids were born I thought it would be an eternity before they turned two, but now the countdown is on. Both sets of grandparents plan to be here for Alexis, Jack, and Faith's birthday weekend, and Micah and I are planning on giving each of the kids alone time with Mommy and Daddy (Micah and I with each child independently) which has NEVER happened. It should be a fun, family filled weekend!

But for now we are just 23 months old, so I should probably write about some updates since last month.

Weights & Heights:  
Alexis: 22 lbs 12 oz

Jack: 21 lbs 1 oz

Faith: 22 lbs 3 oz

Size clothes: No change from last month, except that the 18 month pants are looking even shorter on everyone but our skinny kiddos won't fit in the next size yet!

Eating:  I have a confession....since all three kids got really sick mid-April we went back to bottles for a few days again just to make sure they were properly hydrated. It was only for a few days and only 1-2 times a day, and they haven't asked for a bottle since, so I think we have officially, officially dropped bottles this time :). 

We stopped for lemonade after the botanic garden as a friend's daughter had a lemonade stand outside a local bakery. This was their first lemonade and usually they don't understand straw cups, but on this day it clicked!

Yep, here's the proof that we gave them bottles again...

...but they were pretty miserable...

...as they have never all been content piled on me like this before (or since)

When I brought this 5 lb block of cheese (plus another 2 lb block and 48 string cheeses) home from Costco the other day Micah said, "I guess we are a 'real' Costco family now!" All five of us consume a lot of cheese.

Naps: The length of naps is very unpredictable. Some days I get three hours from everyone, and then there are days like Monday when both girls took a 10 minute nap on the drive home from the zoo and neither would nap in the afternoon. Most days I get at least 1.5 while all three are napping to get stuff done.

Bedtime: We are still putting everyone down at 7:30 (or 7:45 on days where they all nap really well and no one seems that tired), but the girls seem to spend 30-60 minutes talking and playing in their cribs before they actually fall asleep. This doesn't bother me as long as I don't need to intervene, and most of the time that's true. Jack is in his own room and he has been going to bed and falling asleep easily these days.

If Lexi wakes up before the others in the morning or at nap time, she always wants to wake her siblings up. She is rarely alone with me since usually Faith and Lexi wake up at the same time in the morning since they share a room, and Jack is generally the last up in the morning and the first up from the nap, so maybe she feels lost without her siblings.

New Schedule: Now that we have officially dropped bottles (for the final time!), we have a new schedule. The girls are usually awake between 6:30 and 6:45 and I bring them downstairs to play, eat from their snack cups, and drink water until Jack wakes up. Jack is usually up around 7:15, but if he's not I wake him up. I change everyone's diapers and then we have breakfast (before we would do a bottle of milk and then wait a bit before having breakfast). This change makes our mornings a little easier and quicker. Breakfast is around 7:30, and then we generally go upstairs so I can take a quick shower while the kids watch a show (sometimes they just play upstairs but that usually results in someone crying, so my shower is more enjoyable if they are watching a show). After I take a shower I change the kids' clothes and brush their teeth. If everyone cooperates, we are usually ready to leave the house between 8:45 and 9:00.

Depending on the day, around 9:00 we have friends over, go to the store, go to the biopark, or just hang out in the backyard. I find it is best to do something in the morning as the kids go bonkers if we just hang out inside the house with the four of us. There is usually some sort of morning snack, but it's generally eaten on the go from snack cups or while riding around in the wagon if we are out.

Around 11:00 I begin prepping lunch so that the kids can eat around 11:15 (or a little later if we are out). Lunch is usually done by 11:45, I change everyone's diapers, we read a couple of books, and then it is off to nap time at 12:00.

Jack and Faith are usually awake between 1:30 and 2:00, and Lexi usually sleeps until 2:30 or 3:00. We eat a snack when everyone is up from their naps. Everyone also gets another diaper change at this time.

After the snack, we play in the backyard, go for a walk, run another errand, or just play inside. Since the amount of time that we'll have in the afternoon is unpredictable since all three nap for different amounts of time, we don't usually have big plans for the afternoon.

Around 5:00 I begin prepping dinner and most of the time the kids end up watching another show so that I can move around the kitchen without stepping on anyone, so that I don't have littles crying and saying "up" constantly, and so that I don't have to worry about anyone running up to the hot oven when I open it.

Micah gets home at 5:45 and we eat right away. By 6:30 we are done with dinner and if we are both home for the evening Micah takes the kids upstairs to play while I clean up the kitchen (I get the choice of playing upstairs or cleaning, but by that time a little solitude sounds nice even if it means I'm doing dishes). 

Around 7:00 we change everyone's diapers again and change everyone into their PJ's. We then sit around the table while the kids eat a snack and Micah or I read them books. Around 7:25 we go upstairs to brush teeth, and then everyone is in bed around 7:30.

Words: As I mentioned in my last blog post, the speech therapist believes all three are caught up in speech for their actual age! Last fall I was worried about Jack as he didn't seem to say much at all, but after Christmas that changed and he starting copying words and using them on his own. More recently I was worried about Faith as she loved to "say things" but she just made up her own sounds, but suddenly she seems to be saying a lot of actual words on her own, repeating words when we ask, and copying words we say on her own. 

We have never been really concerned about Lexi's speech as she always seemed slightly ahead of Jack and Faith. Just the other day Micah had his laptop open where she could see the backside of it and she looked at it and said, "apple." I guess Apple knew what they were doing when they chose their brand since a 23-month-old can clearly name it from the simple image! 

I don't think I've ever mentioned this in a blog post before, but for some reason Alexis, Jack, and Faith did not start truly saying "Mama" (or any name for me) until a few weeks ago. Maybe their speech delay had something to do with it, but it seems like mama, mommy, or whatever kids call their mom is one of the first words a baby learns. Obviously I was a little worried that my kids took so long to catch on to saying mama, but now I hear it constantly, especially from the girls, and I love hearing it. To be honest I prefer "mommy" over "mama," but for now I'll take what I can get!

Recently Lexi is super attached to me, and there were a couple of times last week that I left the kids with Micah so I could go do something and both times Lexi cried really hard and repeated "mama, mama, mama!!" over and over. I'm sure it's just a phase and it will pass, but it's a first for me since saying mama is so new at our house.

One of the cutest things that the kids have really started doing in the last month is calling each other by name. The girls call Jack "Jackie" most of the time, which is adorable, and both Faith and Jack call Alexis "Lexi" and it comes out sounding super cute. Faith is a much more challenging name, but sometimes Jack and Alexis try it and other times they call her "sissy."

Since we have now had three colds in the last two months (the kids have another small cold right now), all three have become very familiar with getting their noses wiped and everyone will say "nose" when they want me to wipe it if it's extra runny or if they sneezed. It's pretty convenient since I had to check their noses periodically when they had colds when they were younger.

Everyone loves to try to sing along to songs when I sing, and Jack has started singing along with our kid music in the car. He usually just ends up repeating the main words after he hears them, but it is super cute to hear.

Mobility: They are still trying to conquer jumping with two feet. Faith has a new skip that she likes to do when she's excited. They walk well with the hold-on handles, but I have yet to try it alone as I don't trust that they'll continue to hold on. I will try it alone at the zoo or botanic garden, but there's no way I'll do it in a parking lot or by a street until they are older and understand a bit more about danger.

New Things: Alexis, Jack, and Faith now climb into their boosters seats and buckle themselves in for every meal and snack. They don't always get the buckles themselves since the straps get stuck behind them if I don't have them laid out and ready to go before they climb into their seats, but they no longer want us to help them into their seats. Pretty much every time they buckle themselves I have to go around and kiss their fingers that got "pinched," although luckily no one ever seems that hurt.

Jack 

Faith

All three definitely have their own ideas of how things should be done and what they want to do, which is cute and sometimes frustrating. Many times there is at least one kid that doesn't want to be strapped into their car seat, which is obviously not an option. These days we are hearing a lot of, "no, no, no," especially from Lexi. Usually this is related to a diaper change that must be done or getting out of the bath. It will be interesting as Faith and Jack catch onto telling us "no" as well. 

The girls decided to take their doggies on our walk

We hardly ever carry the kids up the stairs anymore as they want to climb up themselves. On the one hand this is nice since it's tiring taking three trips up the stairs carrying kids, but on the other hand this can become a very slooooowww process. Especially when Lexi spends several minutes saying "bye bye" to whoever is in the kitchen (or to no one as she pretty much says it every time no matter what). 

We have a ways to go before they figure out how to dress themselves, but that doesn't mean they don't want to try!

Faith and Lexi crying because I buckled them into their boosters

Here are some other photos from the last month:

Jack wanted to put all three sun hats on by himself 

Eating a snack between the couches

Lexi had a very serious phone call 

Faith was chatting it up with a friend

Lexi

They arranged themselves this way to watch TV one afternoon while I was making dinner. This is the order they were in when they were in the womb and I've noticed they've been sitting in this order a lot lately!

Jack loves to point out things and name things in books

The girls just hanging out

We went to the botanic garden as a family and I wanted a pic with the kids, but they weren't very cooperative 

Hanging out at the farm portion of the botanic garden

Faith and Daddy

Drawing with Daddy

Faith and Jack watching a little morning TV (in hopes of a happier attitude after the show)

Lexi trying to clean the rain off the window 

These kids are clean freaks!

Someday they'll understand that the rain is on the outside, but for now I just laugh and let them entertain themselves

Rainy days mean we need fun indoor activities. Play-Doh is a hit with Faith!

Half the fun is playing with the Play-Doh container (Lexi)

Jack

The girls hanging out post nap

Checking out their newest outdoor toys that I got at the ABQ Mother's of Twins garage sale

Every time we make something we have to stir it on the ground so everyone can watch. I never knew I would be hosting my own cooking show!

Jack and Faith building towers and balancing on blocks

During afternoon snack yesterday Faith wouldn't sit with the rest of us until she fed her doggie. She set him up in the kitchen like this and got the cup and spoon all by herself.

Of course she had to take bites of the "food" too

Jack was having a lot of fun with Charlie Brown after snack time