Thursday, October 11, 2007

15 Months Old!

Okay, so we're actually 9 days away from being 16 months old. Sorry! I'm a busy person!

Here's the measurements as of their 15-month checkups...Zachary is of course still my biggest child, weighing in at 23lb 13oz. That puts him at 45%, up from last checkup's 35%. Reagan maintains her spot in second place, weighing 22lb 14oz and 50% (remember the percentages are different for boys and girls). You may recall that Tiny Thomas had passed Jonathan up at the 12-month checkup, resulting in the new name of Not-So-Tiny Thomas. Well, he remains in third, but is closing in on second! Thomas weighed 22lb 8oz. That's only 6oz less than Reagan! Still, he's on the small side for a boy at only 20%, but that's up from 15% last time! Jonathan brings up the rear at 21lb 1oz and a slight 10%, but that's still a gain from 8% at his last checkup!

The kids all got glowing reports at their checkups. They are in great health, or at least they were at the time of the checkups!



Skill-wise, we just learn more and more all the time! Everyone is walking now!




They look so big, especially when they're dressed to leave the house (they usually just wear onesies all day if we aren't going anywhere!) and wearing their shoes! They love their shoes! It's a challenge to keep them from chewing on them before we get them on, but they sure do love them. I keep them in a big bucket for easy portability, and when they see that bucket, they get so excited!





They are masters of the finger foods, not always clean masters, but masters! That is to say, I don't feed them anything anymore. They won't let me! They want to feed themselves. We're working on spoons. They are very, very messy, so we only eat with spoons when I know they're about to get a bath!



They still aren't saying much that's recognizable as English. If I had just one baby and he wasn't talking at this age, I would probably be a lot more worried than I am. But it isn't like they don't communicate. They know some sign language, they point to things they want, they certainly understand an amazing lot of what is said to them! They babble all the time. There are some sounds that they repeat pretty often in reference to certain objects. Those sounds may count as words. I'm not really sure. And I suppose it's highly likely that they have developed words that mean something to each other, but are gibberish to me. Who knows! I will say that they each can say mama and dada. And I firmly believe that Jonathan says diaper, even though it sounds more like di-dee. He says it all the time while handing me diapers he has pulled off the shelf, so I'm counting it! For awhile, he was saying it more like di...pause...(whisper)purrrr. It was very cute, but I haven't heard him say it that way in a long while.




The fact that they understand so much of what I say is what makes this stage so fun. I ask, "Reagan, do you need a new diaper?" and she runs over to stand next to the changing table. Jonathan picks up a sippy cup from the floor and I say,"Jonathan, whose cup is that?" He takes it to the right sibling and hands it over. I say, "Kids, it's time to eat, find your chairs!" and they all stand in front of their chairs!



Where is your ear?



How old are you?





Of course, the fact that they understand so much of what I say is also what makes this stage so difficult! "Jonathan, whose cup is that?" and he takes it to the right sibling, starts to hand it over, then clutches it to himself, runs across the room cackling, sticks it in his own mouth and starts guzzling away. Thomas throws a handful of food into the floor and I say, "No, Thomas! Do not throw food in the floor!" He looks at me, smiles wide, and throws another handful of food onto the floor. Thomas starts crying, and I look over to see Reagan walking away from him carrying the book Thomas was just playing with. "Reagan, did you take that book from Thomas?" Reagan grins victoriously and holds the book up in the air.




Not to mention the physical acts of violence! Zachary likes to grab siblings by the shirt collar and just haul them to the floor. No one likes to share space. They have shoving matches for who gets to stand in the middle of the gate, who get to sit in Mommy or Daddy's lap all by himself, who gets to stand in front of the window, who gets to be right in the middle during storytime and preferably with no one else close enough to touch! They push each other off of toys, squeeze each other out of chairs, and snatch anything they can get their hands on. If someone else has it, I want it! And Reagan has bitten all three of the boys, some of them more than once.



So it's a fun time, but it's a challenging time. I'm not sure if learning to talk will make it better or worse! Although, I admit, I'm ready to risk it! I want them to start talking! But I'm patient. Language will come! And there are plenty of other things to keep me busy in the meantime!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

they are too cute! i miss you guys so much. tell them aunt jodie says hi!

Anonymous said...

A word about the spoon skills: when you are ready for forks, I have found that pancakes are a great first forks food. They seem to be easy to stab, stick to the end of the fork without falling, and are a yummy incentive to get the fork to the mouth. Of course I have never tried it with 4 at once! Although there is nothing in the rule book that says they all have to try at once. Go with the minimum amount of syrup, and stick with the just-before-bath strategy. Kim

Unknown said...

great update!

sounds like you've got the makings of a good football team. If you and Jim play then you have enough for a 6 man team. Woo-hoo! Get 'em!

TnMomTo3 said...

Let the fun begin!! They sound so cute together! :)

You also sound like you're writing our story (and our girls are a year older)...it's the same thing (and worse) when they're 2! :)

You sound like us on the food messes, though. We only have spaghetti on bath nights. :) I understand the spoons only on bath nights! :)