Howard Trio Plus One: 2 1/4 Years Old

I've been meaning to write a post for a couple of weeks with an update on the kids, but I've been procrastinating as there is always something else I should be doing and I feel like they are doing new things every day so it is hard for me to document it all. Here is a snapshot of our kids at 2 1/4 years old.

Bye-Bye Baby Stuff: I believe the last of our "baby stuff" has finally been put into storage as we no longer have a bottle drying rack in our kitchen! I feel so happy every time I see space on the countertop where the drying rack resided since we moved into our house 18 months ago. Although we haven't used bottles in five months (I can't believe it's only been five months!) we continued to use the drying rack for sippy cup parts, but recently we weren't using it as much so I put it in storage. Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.

Bottles are becoming a distant memory but all of sudden they kids are asking us to "feed them like a baby" and they want us to hold their sippy cups for them. They also like us to carry them like a baby when I'm taking them out of the car and when we put them to bed at night (especially the girls).

Weight: The kids have continued to steadily gain some weight and I believe their weight gain is "normal" for their age according to my Google search. It might seem strange that we still stress about their weight gain, but I think having preemies that don't eat well makes any parent a bit obsessive about their kids' weight. Their weights as of 9/14/15 were:

Alexis 23 lbs 13 oz (1 lb 3 oz since 5/28/15)
Jack 22 lbs 8 oz (1 lb since 5/28/15)
Faith 23 lbs 6.5 oz (1 lb 1.5 oz since 5/28/15)

Eczema is Gone: I don't know if I ever mentioned this in any previous blog posts, but beginning last summer both girls struggled with eczema behind their legs and sometimes on the inside of their arms. We treated it with an over the counter lotion twice a day and whenever it got really bad we used a steroid cream. When you have three babies or toddlers to change every morning and every night you really don't want one extra thing that you have to do, so putting the lotion on them twice a day was kind of annoying. Thankfully the eczema seems to have disappeared in the last couple of months! We were told that it normally goes away around age 2, and it seems that it went away for Alexis and Faith around their adjusted 24 month date.

Comfort Objects: We gave the girls Beanie Babies as replacements for their pacifiers the day that we threw them all away in the beginning of May, but as it turned out they both became the most attached to stuffed doggies that we already owned. Of course there was no way of knowing that they would be most attached to things that we already had and it was exciting to open something new after throwing out the pacis, and both girls still insist on the sleeping with the Beanie Babies as well, but when we check on them at night they are usually both snuggled up with their stuffed doggies. Alexis sleeps with a stuffed Snoopy and Faith sleeps with a stuffed Husky dog that Micah actually gave to me 15 years ago. We really want Jack to stop sucking his thumb so we decided to buy him a stuffed guitar for a comfort object. I searched high and low for a good one and I found the perfect one on Etsy! Jack loves his stuffed guitar, and during the day it does work to tell him to hug his guitar instead of suck his thumb (or strum it!). Now we need to find a good strategy to get him to stop sucking his thumb when he sleeps.

This particular night the girls were having trouble falling asleep so I let them sit on the couch with me for a little bit. Thankfully this hasn't been happening often. Of course their doggies had to come downstairs with them.

Jack looking pleased with his new stuffed guitar

Complicated Outings: Although Alexis, Jack, and Faith are all very much mobile, they still cannot be trusted in parking lots and stores as they are prone to "2-year-old moments," so I have to plan ahead how to move them all safely from a car into a building before I leave the house if I'm by myself. Recently I had to buy cat food at the pet store and go to Target, and although these two stores are almost in the same parking lot I did have to be strategic since I wanted to use the triple cart in Target but I couldn't use that in the pet store. So when we got to the parking lot I loaded everyone in the triple wagon and we went into the pet store, then we dropped the cat food off at the car and I put everyone's backpacks with leashes on, I then got everyone out of the wagon and put that in the car, and then we all walked into Target (with the leashes on) and got into a triple cart. I explained this whole process to the kids before we did it and during the process, and luckily everyone was extremely cooperative. I look forward to the day when I can run simple errands without having such a strategy in place.

On an evening stop at Trader Joe's Micah and I decided to let the kids walk, but of course then they decided they all actually wanted to be in the cart so this is how we shopped!

Becoming Independent at Home: Although the kids still need a lot of supervision when we are out in public, recently they have begun entertaining themselves so much better at home. Although fights can break out quickly, there have been short periods of time that the kids have played in the backyard alone while I was inside working in the kitchen. Luckily our kitchen window and slider door overlook the yard so I can keep an eye on everyone, and I just use the screen door so that I can hear them and they can easily let themselves in and out of the house. We are having small glimpses of independence like this all of the time and it gives us so much hope that we won't have to commit every moment to our kids when they are awake in the future (Mommy and Daddy have other stuff they need to get done too!).

Cooperative Play: Although we have had glimpses of our kids playing cooperatively with each other in the past year, for the most part they have been doing "parallel play" (playing near each other but not really interacting) and "associative play" (joining in on the same activity, such as building with blocks, but not working together), which is common for young toddlers. Recently, though, we have been seeing more and more "cooperative play" (interactive playing), especially between the girls. They will ask each other if they want to play ball and then they each take a different post in the living room and they throw or kick a ball back and forth (at least, as best as a 2-year old throw and kick). We don't see much cooperative play between the girls and Jack yet as he seems more interested in doing his own thing at this point, but often they will imitate each other and getting each other laughing, which is really cute to see. From what I've read online, this is a bit early to be starting cooperative play, but I believe the girls already have a very special relationship so it is easier for them to interact like with each other than with other two-year-olds.

Usually we see "associative play" like this where they are all doing the same activity but not really interacting, except for the nonstop giggles. In fact, this ended soon after I took the picture as the girls ran straight into each other when going in opposite directions so they both fell into the puddle and got soaking wet.

I don't know who decided to put bubbles on their face first, but it soon looked like fun to everyone!

More copying...both girls have their legs in the air

If one has a toy phone, everyone needs to get theirs out

Pretend Play and Drawing Something: When the kids are playing with buckets and spoons outside I often ask them what they are "making" and almost every time Alexis says donuts, Jack says pancakes, and Faith says pasta. I guess we know what their favorite foods are! The other day Jack was drawing on his Magna Doodle and then he came up to me and excitedly said, "I drew a violin!" It actually looked like a pretty good circle, but to him it was a violin (and then he continued to draw more and more violins as he was quite proud of his accomplishment). Their imaginations are definitely running and soon I'm sure I will hear stuff like this all of the time.

Feats of Strength: Everyone is testing their limits when it comes to climbing, jumping, and other strength activities these days. I'm glad that are kids are strong and that they dare to climb high and try new things, but it does make me a little nervous as I can't be in three places to catch everyone if they fall.

Jack loves to hang on things

Faith thinks it's fun to climb on the railing

Jack can get to the top of the climbing wall on the play structure in our backyard

And Jack can climb the entire ladder at our neighborhood park

Climbing up the steps to the slide is obviously for babies. All three are always creating new ways to the top of the slide.

Lexi has abs of steel

People Preferences: Faith is in a stage where she only wants me to do something, or she only wants Daddy to do something, and sometimes she only wants Alexis to do something for her. Although all three kids have had their Mommy or Daddy preferences in the past few months, Faith is the only one who will choose who can push her chair into the table at dinner time (much to our frustration!). It's funny to me, though, when she wants Alexis to buckle her booster seat straps and push her into the table! I guess we know who wants to be in charge around here.

Alexis pushing Faith's chair to the table per her request

Speech: Some days our kids shock me with what they say. One morning Alexis was in bed with us and when we woke up she said, "I have a doggie named Snoopy." First of all, we never talk about the fact that her doggie is named Snoopy and second of all that was definitely a complete sentence. I was shocked. I've heard all of the kids look at something and refer to it as being "cute." The girls love to tell Jack that he needs to take his thumb out of his mouth. I also often hear the girls ask when someone falls, "Are you okay?" Thankfully this seems to have tapered off a bit, but for awhile all three were saying, "I NEED more!" That sounded super bossy to us and we tried to stop that one right away. Jack loves to get my attention by saying, "Hey! Mom!" Does he think he's 10? And the questions have started: What is that? Where are you? What are you doing? Thankfully they are not questioning every move I make yet, but I'm sure this will be happening soon. I am so glad they are talking more and more every day as life is so much easier when one can say what they need or want.

And here are some random photos from the last month: