Claire - 15 months

Hair:
Getting longer at the back. Now that we are outside in the sun you can really see the red still.

Teeth:
She added two top molars this month. Now when she smiles you notice the gum spaces rather than the teeth.

Sleep:
We are still making progress. We are consistently at one bottle in the night now and we had three consecutive nights of no bottles which was exciting. The bottle warmer we were using broke over Easter so she now gets cold milk. She drinks much less now.

We had no 2 hour night parties this month which was really nice. She is consistently getting up before 7 now but that makes getting her fed and ready more relaxing in the mornings.

She had three weeks of not having to drive her sisters to school and she napped much better. Without sisters she would nap after lunch. She is still an extremely light napper which causes me all sorts of frustration with Leah and Emma and trying to make them be quiet.

Getting Around:
She can now bend down with ease and is much more balanced. She likes to dance and walk around in circles. She also likes to run away when she knows it’s time to get her shoes or coat on. We have spent some time outside over the past week and I think it’s going to be a challenging summer. The backyard is not level and I think it will take awhile for her to master the slopes that all end in the fence. She definitely can’t roam free yet.

Yesterday she managed to get on the couch for the first time. She stood right up and started jumping on the back. I think her sisters had a breakthrough moment about Claire doing stuff she sees them doing and why I tell them to knock it off. She also likes stairs and the few times I have tested her she has turned around and tried to go down on her stomach (an improvement from just walking down them…).

Things she’s saying:
A week with just Claire and we realized how much she can actually say. And it’s not like the girls talk for her, She’s just so involved in keeping up with them that she doesn’t have time to talk. She’s also started saying NOOO NOOO NOOO when she’s upset and tonight she said NO MOMMY NO NO NO MOMMY when I put her in the stroller to leave the park. She can also say cookie, thank you (dank q), shoe, cheese and nose. She will repeat the first few letters of the alphabet if you sing them to her one by one.

Eating:
She is doing really well this month. She has her favourites (bread, cheese, yogurt, sweet potatoes) but she is more and more willing to try new things. She eats up fruit no problem which is nice. Some days she does really well and some days she throws everything on the floor.

I am trying really hard to get her on a cup but she refuses to drink out of a straw cup. She can get the milk/water into her mouth but then she lets it dribble out of her mouth rather than drinking it. She has one of those nuby straw cups and she does a little better with that one. Standard sippy cups also get dribbled. She’s being a monkey. I haven’t pushed too hard since I knew I was going back to work. We will have to get tougher soon.

Stats:
She had her shots yesterday. She was just over 21lbs and just over 29inches. She really enjoyed the waiting room and danced and went around the room smiling at everyone. As soon as we were in the room she started screaming and then she turned it up a notch for the doctor and then went crazy when she got the needles. She recovered though. Leah and Emma were with us getting a preview of what’s in store for them at 4 years. There’s been a lot of talk about needles this week.

Fun things she’s doing this month
-actively colouring which involves taking the lids off the marker, scribbling, giggling at herself,and putting the lid back on and choosing a new marker
-stealing the keys and trying to get the key in the door
-trying her best to open the basement door (she’s tall enough now)
-talking on the phone rather than just trying to press all the buttons
-Silly smile. I have to get this on video. She scunches up her face in a silly smile and you can’t help but laugh.
-Trying to dress herself.
-putting John’s gloves on
-putting our shoes on
-bringing me stuff from the drawer

Personality:
She’s still pretty easy going although we do see her temper now and then. She’s done well so far at adjusting to being in someone else’s care 3 days a week but we’re only 2 days in so we’ll see how she does this month. She is a funny little girl and she has a good sense of humour if that is possible at 15 months. She’s just silly and funny and she definitely knows it.

She had a week without her sisters this month and I think they missed her more than she missed them. She was much more needy to us that week. When they came home she squealed and let them hug and kiss her and it was pretty cute.

That’s all I can think of. I have to take some pictures!

I almost forgot - Claire’s 15 month day was extra special because our friends Coby and Carrie’s son Spencer was born. Those Lamarche boys better not be trouble in 15 years

 

Claire - 13 months

I need to go back and see how long I did this with the girls. All things need to be equal even though I am fed up writing updates.

Hair:
Getting longer at the back. Mullet material for sure.

Teeth:
She got two molars on the bottom this month. They caused her some pain and gave her a nasty rash on her bum.

Eating:
Slowly getting better. She’s added cheese to one of her favourites. Bread is the ultimate and she would eat it all day long. She likes trying out the snacks at Costco.

She also really likes something (like corn) one day and the next day she throws it on the floor in disgust. She is very methodical about putting stuff on the floor and once she starts there is nothing you can do to convince her that everything doesn’t belong on the floor.

I am still giving her formula since I don’t think she eats enough other stuff to be well balanced quite yet. She gets about 1/2 formula, 1/2 homo milk. We give her straw cups/sippy cups/nuby straw cups but she’s not all that interested in drinking unless it’s in a bottle.

I take back the eating delayed comment - we’ll just call it stubborn now. I mean she eats her meals with her sisters…what was I expecting?

Sleeping:
Right after her first birthday my mom and I put our second crib up in our room. For the most part Claire lets you know when she wakes up but she was getting quick and it was inevitable that she fall out of the bed.

So she adjusted fine to spending the first part of her night in her crib. She still falls asleep in my arms (oh well…there’s only one of her) but she doesn’t suffer from the “nice try thinking you can sneakily put me in my crib asleep” freakouts anymore and goes in no problem. She usually wakes a couple of times for her soother and then when she’s hungry. Yes, I know at 13 months she shouldn’t be hungry but she won’t eat enough during the day so she’s up at least once in the night for food. I try and settle her as much as I can but you just know when you are creeping into milk or no milk I’m going to be up for 2 hours territory. That is not a happy time and we try to avoid it. So I would say for half the month she had 1 bottle and for the other half two. The progress is slow.

Napping is still all over the place. We have stuff at all different times throughout the week so it really depends on the day. Napping can be rough for tag along Claire.

Things she’s saying:
She continues to chat away. She likes looking at pictures and always points and says baby then smiles because she’s so proud of herself. She’s started saying cat (Emma and Leah’s first word) and she says it just like they used to. She says Ahhh boooo alot but I have yet to figure out what it means.

Getting around:
No, Claire is not walking. She can walk though but (I’m not kidding) she gets down on her knees everytime we get out the camera. The other day I was sitting at the kitchen table and all of a sudden she walked from the tv room into the living room. She walks in between furniture and along the wall but she doesn’t want to walk full time.

Her balance is getting very good and she’s very careful (and determined). She can get in and out of our shower and she is constantly trying to climb up the stools the girls use in the bathroom to reach the sink. She is pretty steady.

Fun things she’s doing this month:
-pointing at things and talking away about what she’s pointing at. She can get pretty animated.
-when she finds something soft she lays down and pretends to sleep then looks up at you and giggles. She can do this one over and over again.
-Opening the freezer and the bottom of the stove and taking stuff out.
-Opening the drawers that aren’t magnet locked
-putting her legs up so I can slide a diaper under her, putting her legs out so I can put her tights on, putting her arms out when I put her coat on (and her chin up when I zip it)
-crawling to the door and saying bye to John every morning
-when you read her a book she will crawl up in your lap and plunk her bum down

Personality:
Nothing new. She got bit this month in nursery and it didn’t phase her. She’s really easy going unless she’s tired. She is getting harder to deal with when she’s tired and she can get pretty grumpy.

We are also starting to see some temper when you take stuff away from her. Apparently she hasn’t figured out it doesn’t work in our house!

I just read Emma and Leah’s 13 month update and Claire is a bit like both her sisters. John was out tonight and at bedtime I was telling the girls they had to be good for me so I could get Claire to settle. Somehow we started talking about how it was when they were both the same age as Claire. Emma thought it was really funny to think about having 2 babies like Claire - she started thinking about feeding them and trying to get them to bed etc. It was a funny conversation.

Some kid tried to eat me

Up to no good.

 

Three and a half

As tedious as I find these updates, I know someday I will appreciate them.

Hair:
Their hair is slowly getting longer. I am not going to cut it again until it has the chance to get long. They have started letting me put it in ‘bunches’ and will tolerate some hair clips although they usually pull them out and lose them. Emma is always talking about my hair and wants hair like mine. Her hair is darkening up again this winter but it is still gold and I now have my doubts that it will ever be really dark. Leah’s hair isn’t as curly as Emma’s and it looks longer. Her hair is dark but it has a lot of red in it. I have started using adult shampoo/conditioner on them and I find their hair much more manageable. They both like it when I blow dry their hair and Leah’s has expressed interest in the flat iron…

Teeth:
They are getting much better at brushing their teeth. John got them Cinderella and Arielle electric toothbrushes and they have been a big hit. At Halloween they learned about getting holes in their teeth from eating too much candy and the idea has stuck with them and they rarely protest anymore.

Sleep:
I had them napping again in the summer but they were going to bed later and later. The week before school started we took away their naps completely, It was a rough week but they quickly settled into a new fall routine and a 7pm bedtime. They actually started going to sleep pretty quickly which made a huge difference in everyone’s life - especially Claire because she was able to go to bed in peace. John and I got some evening downtime again for the first time in months.

Things were going well and they were sleeping til 7:30am pretty consistently and then the clocks changed and it all broke. They started getting up before 6 and only recently have they started occasionally sleeping past 7am again. We put a digital clock in their room and told them they could not come out til 7am. We have messed with it but only by 30mins.

Toilet:
They night trained by accident one night when John forgot to put pullups on them. With the night training came screams of “I HAVE TO GO PEE” in the wee hours of the morning. It was tempting to pull up train them again but instead we stopped letting them take sippy cups to bed. It worked well. Every once in awhile we get woken up with “I’M THIRSTY” but it’s not that often.

I don’t remember the last time they had an accident. They go at school and the Y no problem.

In December we had issues with Leah holding her poop again. Thankfully we have  learned enough about that child’s bowels that we can fix her if we’re patient. I need to send a letter to Senokot with my appreciation of their product!

Eating:
Emma has turned into a very good eater. She likes a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in addition to meat, bread and dairy. Although Alphaghetti is hands down her favourite food, it is not hard to get a well balanced diet into her.

Leah on the other hand is really bad at fruits and vegetables. Her hands down favourite is…tuna. She has gone off bananas and lately will only eat applesauce. She will eat baby carrots and corn without fuss. The other stuff is deemed ‘yucky’ or ‘disgusting’ and there is lots of resistance. I try my best not to fight with her about it but I will admit it is really, really frustrating. While Emma is a good eater, if Leah declares her dinner disgusting, Emma usually agrees out of some twisted sisterly love. And then Claire refuses to eat. Those are the fun nights. I have bought a book on adding pureed vegetables to everyday cooking and I am getting some of it into them.

The are getting good at eating the main course and for the most part they eat what we eat.

Language/Imagination:
They can express pretty much whatever they want now. Sometimes they still get caught in the crying/screaming stupidity but they quickly recover when I remind them that I’m not listening til they use their big girl voice.

All our focus on manners has paid off and they are good at saying please, thank you, pardon me, and excuse me when they want someone’s attention. They are still working out that excuse me doesn’t mean instant attention.

Their imaginations are really fun these days. They make up stories and role play. They still prefer playing with each other over their toys. Their best stories come when you ask them what the dream about. Emma in particular gets very animated when she tells a story and feeds off your reaction. It’s pretty cute.

Getting Around:
 I wanted to write my dad’s observation that Emma runs like an athlete and Leah runs like a girl. Amusing but accurate.

The drop in they go to at the Y is usually gym time. They have a bouncy castle, mazes, all sorts of sports stuff, trikes, scooters etc, etc etc. It’s all about running around and I think it has been great for burning off winter energy. It has also been good for Leah and in watching her I notice that she is much more confident and coordinated than she was when she started.

Independence:
Emma is miss independent unless she’s in a needy mood. She can dress herself, go to the bathroom herself and always wants to try everything out herself before she wants help.

Until very recently Leah was happy enough having everything done for her. She would dawdle getting her coat on knowing I would just do it for her in the end because we needed to go. Recently she has started to want to do things herself.

Personalities:
I just read what I wrote when they were 3 and not much has changed.

The one big change since they were 3 is that they now hang out with kids their own age 4-5 times a week. Preschool has done wonders for them. While Emma had a really rough start, she has adjusted fine and overcome a lot of her shyness in new situations or around bigger kids. Just the other day one of her teachers was saying that Emma will now sit beside the little boy that tackled her and she has even told me that he was her friend. The thing that I was most proud of her for was that once I told her that the little boy didn’t have words and was just frustrated she accepted that and even started defending him when Leah called him naughty.

They have both done well adjusting to their teachers. I was worried that Leah might have a hard time with authority but after her I only want a yellow cup stupidity she has settled down and now understands that isn’t how it works. They love all their teachers but Erika is their favourite.

School has also introduced them to the concept of friends beyond each other. They were both quite taken with two little boys in their class but one of them stopped going after xmas so now they have both settled on one little boy. According to the little boy’s mom he talks about them all the time. He lives right up the street from us and I’m sure we’ll have to have him over soon. When I found out he lived near us I remember Leah trying to convince her blind mom she’d seen him across the street on Halloween night and me humouring her…

They both seem to have a thing for older boys and they can get quite silly about it. They laugh and giggle and hang on every word. We don’t really play with many older girls so I’m sure (this is what I tell John) that it is just an older kid thing!

Playing/sharing:
For the most part they play really well together. Considering they are always together, they don’t fight all that much and are never ‘mad’ at each other for more than 1 minute. I find the biggest problem is that as they get older I have a harder and harder time listening to them fight. Growing up pretty much an only child I have no experience with just how easy it is to push your sibling’s buttons. It makes me want to scream. I can’t even imagine what it will be like when Claire gets in on it.

We’ve let them have princess stuff and they do spend somedays in costume. I refuse to get the shoes and they both improvise by walking around on their toes because they have ’shoes with sticks at the back’

We aren’t doing as many crafts at home since they do them at school. Both girls love to colour and they can now draw simple pictures. I need to scan more of their drawings since the detail is different with each passing week. They know all their letters and can spell their names and write words if I tell them the letters. We have started working on sounding out simple words and they are starting to learn some words by sight.  

They can count no problem and are ok with number recognition but the interest isn’t there just like it wasn’t with letters awhile back. I now just accept that they won’t learn something until they want to and it’s not worth the frustration of trying to teach them. They can do simple math if it involves treats or timbits- they know if they each get two how many I need to order and then can figure out how many if I wanted two etc. See what I mean about motivation

They know all their colours and have picked up (maybe at school) that you can mix colours to get new colours. They know all the days of the week (and which days their daddy stays home) as well as the months that have passed since they’ve been in school. They have learned quite a bit at school and should be well prepared for kindergarten. Did I mention that I enrolled them…and that I’m separating them?

And thanks to Dora they know their colours, can count to ten and know quite a few new words…all in spanish. I’m sorry that I was mean to you Dora. I should have been more focused on Disney.

That’s all I can think of for now. There’s lots more but I’ll just get this up so it’s not forgotten!

 

Claire - 1 year

I can’t believe how fast these kids grow. It seems like just yesterday that I was 37 weeks pregnant and coming back from my ob appt with a scheduled c section. I still find myself saying her birthday is Jan 9th - I don’t think I ever quite wrapped my brain around that last minute change of dates. I will never forget that feeling of panic that came over me when the nurse called at 10pm on Saturday night to tell me they’d changed the date to Monday morning. It is nice that all three girls were born on Monday mornings within 2 hours of each other. It will be easy to remember in my old age!

I also remember the drive to the hospital that morning. It was warm and pouring with rain and I was relieved that it wasn’t snowing. John and I were nervous but still talking about names. I knew it was a girl and I had been waffling about Kate for months. We both really liked Kate but there was some concern over our last name. The week before we were back to Claire and on the drive it was decided. For boys I agreed to Lucas. The other name was Aidan but I thought it was too popular. 

Then there was that lady in labour in the assessment room, me puking during the spinal and finally the somewhat surreal section birth of Claire. After that we spent our 4 luxurious days enjoying a full term baby at what we called the North York Hilton and then came home to our family of 5.

Having a full term baby brought many experiences we never knew we’d missed with her sisters. I know I’ve said this before but I remember a NICU nurses telling me that the one nice thing about preemies is that they’re babies for a little bit longer. This is definitely true with Claire. I look back at the pictures and she’s always looked the same. I had a hard time ordering her pictures for her 1 year album! She did everything (except eat…and sleep) when she was supposed to and it has all seemed to go by so quickly.

This coming year will bring about many more changes. I am starting to realize that we haven’t yet experienced what it will really be like with three kids quite yet. Once Claire can talk and have an opinion (…and whine), things are going to be interesting for everyone. Here’s hoping she’s an easy going toddler!

Hair:
Light brown with lots of copper in it. Getting longer and scruffier. If I had to guess, she’ll have wavy hair like Leah’s.

Teeth:
She got two more bottom teeth this month for a total of 8 - 4 on the top and bottom. She does pretty well with teething and once again I didn’t even know she was teething til they were cut. She does get a diaper rash when her teeth come in.

Size:
Weight: 19lbs3ozs
Height 28.5 inches

Eating:
She continues to be on the schedule I posted last month although her bedtime is sometimes a bit later depending on her naps. The antibiotics she was on and the pain meds tend to wind her up so we have to make sure we give them to her well before bedtime or else it can be a late bedtime.

She is still taking 2 bottles through the night but every so often she only has one and we get our hopes up. She can’t seem to go more than 8 hours without food and I’ve tried giving her more during the day or settling her without a bottle in the night but no go. Maybe if it were just Claire I would try harder but she gets very angry and I start to think she’ll wake the neighbours up nevermind her sisters.

She is still not overly excited about food. She’ll eat up all her mush now but she’s very skeptical of anything solid that isn’t bread and will just sweetly pick it up and drop it on the floor. Her 1st bday cupcake and cake were dropped on the floor even after she tried the icing.

Sleeping:
Well she made it to a year without sleeping through the night. Her longest stretch was 7 hours and required soother help.

She is an extremely light sleeper. I’m not sure how that happened since she slept in the middle of the action for the first part of her life. She can do without sleep and if there’s something better going on she wants no part of sleeping.

She is geting better about settling at night but we have to wait til she’s tired. If she plays happily on the ground then she’s not ready. The minute she does the stiff leg when you try and put her down or crawls after you trying to climb your leg you know she’s ready.

She’s usually pretty good about settling after she eats in the night. Every once in awhile she’ll be up for 2 hours in the night (yes, it’s always 2 hours). She is happy and wants to play but usually she poops or teeth come in a couple of days later so there is usually a reason. She’s just really not a whiner about not feeling well - if only it lasts into her toddler years. 

Napping is going well in the morning. In the afternoon she naps when we’re in the car.

She is still in our bed although don’t worry Mom, things have changed in her 13th month.

Getting Around:
She is really steady on her feet now and can bend over and pick things up as well as get back down gracefully. She can stand on her own and clap and dance without losing her balance. She can’t stand up on her own, she lets go from a standing position. She has taken a couple of steps but she’s not steady enough for walking solo. She can walk holding on to just one of your hands and when you give her both hands you can feel she’s just using your fingers for comfort rather than for balance.

I finally let her on the stairs and now she’s a speed climber. She loves stairs and we have to be very careful about the gate because she’s quiet until she gets to the top and starts giggling.

Things she’s saying:
It is safe to say that she can say 5 things and her mom won’t be getting her put into speech therapy. Actually, I am thankful for the experience I had with the NICU follow up clinic with Leah and Emma. I feel totally confident that I could flag an issue for the first 2 years of development. Unfortunately, I don’t have the same confidence in the 2 min checkup we get at the doctor but then maybe that’s because they also get the sense that I know what I’m doing.

My favourite thing she does this month is sing (ahhhhhh) on command. It’s pretty cute. She also started calling John’s mom Nana over Christmas and then called my mom nana as well when she was here. She also says Emma but I don’t think it’s specific - she yells it when she can hear her sisters but can’t get to them. She can say backpack (E and L are always talking about backpacks) and baby (baba) and dance (dan dan). She just comes up with random things everyday like ny ny for good night. So far it seems the constant chatter is helping her rather than hindering her speech.

Fun things she did this month:
-taking care of the baby. Giving it the soother, hugging and kissing it, and patting it to comfort it.
-Dancing. She gets pretty into it and bops up and down if she’s on her bum or bounces if she’s standing. She waves her hands and squeals “dan dan”
-trying to walk and taking a couple steps. She is so proud of herself and loves the attention we all give her when she tries.
-talking on the phone, pointing the remote at the tv before she presses all the buttons
-There are so many things she can do now. It’s like she just went from baby to toddler all in one month.

Personality:
One year later and Claire is still a happy and easy going baby. She has started the frustration cry but it passes quickly. We are now also able to hurt her feelings - if my tone is too sharp with her she pouts her lip and starts to sob. It’s hard not to laugh at her.

She is a very social baby and adjusts well to new people and surroundings. She continues to go into her weekly 2 hours of daycare with no issues. They love here there and they are always saying what a nice little baby she is.

She is extremely stubborn and hard to sidetrack. If we are somewhere that has stairs she will be on them or trying to get to them for the entire visit. She gets increasingly annoyed when I move her but then she figures out that silently finding the stairs is the best strategy to try and trick me.

She loves her sisters and they continue to be very good to her even now that she really messes with their stuff. They sing to her and try and make her laugh. We have had no jealousy issues and if all goes well we can keep this streak alive. The will say things like Daddy will play with them and Claire can play with me so that might be interesting. I am still number one with baby Claire…I think I might have another couple of months tops until the daddy adoration starts.

 

Claire - 11 months

Hair:
Not much change.

 Eyes:
Same.

Teeth:
Still no more teeth. 

Eating:
I guess the big news this month is that I weaned Claire. The night time wakings were getting a bit out of control so I just stopped. Going into Baby C I was pretty worried about breastfeeding and I am happy that it was such a positive experience in the end.

So now she still gets up twice in the night but now she gets bottles. John and I have worked out a system so that we don’t have to go downstairs and make/heat bottles. She is consistently eating in the night around 11pm and 3am. Usually settles right back to sleep after eating but she went for a week this month of being awake for 2 hours in the middle of the night.

She is more scheduled during the day and it goes something like this (I was writing this out a lot sooner for her sisters!!)
7am - wake up
8am breakfast (fruit and cereal)
9:30am - 6oz bottle
11:30pm Lunch - whatever I can get in her. Veggies on a good day, yogurt on a bad day.
2:00ish - 6 oz bottle
5pm - dinner - see lunch comment!
7:15pm - 6oz bottle then bed
11pm - 6oz bottle
3am - 6oz bottle

What she eats is still all over the place. She had another cold this month and completely lost interest in everything except yogurt and formula. When all things are going well she’ll eat most mush and try table food. Bread is her favourite but she also ate chicken, sweet potatoes, pasta and grapes. The rest was methodically deposited on the floor.

She also rarely finishes a bottle. She gets 5 bottles a day totalling 30 ozs. I’d say she drinks closer to 20ozs now. I’m supposed to be putting her on whole milk next month - we’ll see. I’m not convinced she’s eating enough yet.

Sleep:
Except for her week of midnight partying, she has been sleeping really well…well, really well for Claire. She goes to bed right after her sisters and she is much more settled since I’ve weaned her. She usually wakes up once for her soother before we go to bed and maybe 3 or 4 times in the night she’ll settle again with her soother. You know when she’s hungry because she gets insulted when you try and give her the soother.

She does really well at napping if we’re home. If we stayed home all day long (which we don’t do much anymore), I know she would nap at 9:30 and then again around 2. Instead she tags along with her sisters and naps in the car. It used to be that I could get her inside or into the stroller without her waking but the cold air wakes her up everytime now. Most school afternoons are spent with me reading my book in the car while she naps.

Getting Around:
She is now pulling up on everything and getting better at balancing. She can stand up without pulling herself up but she needs something for support (like the wall or my leg). She isn’t steady enough to stand on her own yet but she’s getting there. She is walking along the furniture and can walk holding on to your fingers.

She is now really good at crawling and can pivot etc with ease. She is just all around more steady.

Things she’s saying:
-She now says dad dad dad for John…and squeals with her sisters when he gets home from work.
-hi and bye have been separated.
-she says mmmmaaa when she gives or blows kisses
-she says fsssss for fish
-she is babbling a lot and likes to talk. I am sure she’s saying other stuff that I’m just not connecting.

Things she’s doing this month:
-she loves playing peekaboo and now puts things over her head in addition to using her hands and poking around corners
-she does the sign for milk.
-she watches and learns how to play with toys - like dropping balls in a hole
-she loves baby dolls
-she loves other children and can be quite aggressive in trying to touch (maul!) them. Just ask Patrick!
-she blows and gives kisses
-she shakes her head
-she can be very interested in the tv.
-she pulls up and looks out the side windows of the front door, waves and says bye bye
-if she can hear but can’t see her sisters she goes looking for them
-she loves putting her hand in the toilet and is there in seconds if you don’t close the bathroom door.
-remembers things you teach her and can do them again later. Things like showing me where Dora’s eye is on the bath toy or getting me a fish.
-checking everything out. She isn’t scared of anything and she loves it when I use the dustbuster to clean her tray off.
-flipping through books more than chewing them
-scribbling on the drawing boards
-she likes to pass you something then take it back over and over again
-singing her abcs - just kidding.
-she is now completely comfortable when I drop her off at the Early Years Centre. They really enjoy her there and I know she is spoiled with lots of attention for 2 hours.
-she is getting more social again and will smile and laugh at strangers.

Personality:
Her easy going personality is really starting to show. I often call her tag along Claire because she gets dragged everywhere and thankfully rarely complains. She is happy to play and follow her sisters around and we only hear from her if she’s tired and hungry - both which are easy to anticipate.

She definitely has her mommy suck moments but she has recently started making eyes at John (and so it begins…). She willingly goes to most people once she has warmed up and doesn’t miss me as long as I’m not around. The only thing I think she prefers me for is getting to sleep. I can get her to sleep in minutes - it’s not so easy for others.

She is still very interested in her sisters and they continue to be very patient with her. They are always looking out for her and recently their stories have started to include things that Claire will do with them when she’s bigger. They still remind me of all the things that Claire can’t do because she’s a baby. They are always watching out for her - opening the basement door can send them both into a panic if Claire so much as makes a move towards the stairs.

With the last month of her first year coming up, I find myself full of reflection. This time last year I was very pregnant and very ready to have Christmas over with and to meet our new baby. This year I’d like the month to slow down so we can enjoy it.

I’ll get her 11 month picture up asap!

 

Claire - 10 months

A little late this month. I blame her sisters and their 5 am wakeups.

Hair:
Same colour. Getting long enough to actually look scruffy. Sometimes it gets all frizzy at the back.

Eyes:
Same greeny brown.

Teeth:
She’s had all sorts of what I would call teething issues but still no 7th tooth.

Eating:
This month I daytime weaned her. With having visitors, and her sleep issues, and lack of appetite for solids, it just kind of happened. So far it has been a good choice as she now has a huge interest in solids and eats up at every meal - sometimes to the point where she’s too full for yogurt! 

She’s still what one might call behind in her eating. This month she finally started eating the puffs and cheerios. She has yet to try to self feed anything else beyond bread and will just stubbornly stare at me when I put it on her tray. She will flat out refuse any chunks I offer her on a spoon.

She usually has 3-4 bottles during the day. She’s falling into a bit more of a food routine which is easier to manage. I still breastfeed her at night but even that is becoming more consistent since she is eating so much better during the day. Her latest groove is eating twice a night - around midnight and 4am.

Sleeping:
We were in a really bad place with sleeping last month. Thankfully things have really improved. As I mentioned, she is now eating so much more during the day and she is much more settled at night. With the cold weather we are nearly always home for her to have a morning nap and she is getting better at working out her catnaps to suit her sisters afternoon schedules.

She is usually in bed and asleep by 7:45pm. She will stir once or twice before we go to bed but goes back over with her soother. She is still in bed with us - I’m not willing to mess with somewhat regular sleep quite yet. It’s also really really cold in the night and I remember why we ended up with her in our bed in the first place!

All that being said we did have a few nights this month where she was up in the middle of the night ready to party. On those nights one of us ended up downstairs with her playing. I traced it back to the chocolate I ate before bed. Unfortunately enjoying a half size Burnt Almond is not worth two hours of lost sleep. My children - slowly taking away my pleasures one by one!

Getting Around:
Big changes this month. She started pulling up not long after I wrote the last update. She is now a pro and can get back down. She is pretty daring and her favourite thing to do is pull up on the tub to watch her sisters in the bath. She is very persistent and I should get a picture of me trying to wash two little heads while straddling a baby between my legs.

We found out Claire could walk assisted by accident. Claire was playing at her table and Emma started pulling it. Sure enough Claire walked along behind it. We took her down to the basement and got out the hippo walker. Sure enough she can walk behind that too. I’m not sure how long she’s had this ability (bad mother!).

She is also very quick at crawling now. When she sees one of the four of us coming to get some contraband off her she takes off. I’m not encouraging her to do stairs but she can get up on my treadmill no problem so I’m pretty sure she could climb them. I take no chances with stairs and the gate is now closed or I have my two little watchdogs on her. 

Things she’s saying:
Moving on to ‘words’ this month! These are the things she says in context:
Mum mum - me!
ma ma ma ma ma  - she says this when she sees her bottle (which I call milk)
hibye - says when she’s waving 

Things she’s doing this month:
-waving
-putting her hands up to her head when you say peekaboo
-circling her index finger on the palm of her other hand when you sing round and round the garden
-getting excited when you say milk
-getting excited (and eating!) when she sees a bowl of food coming
-defiantly throwing food on the floor when she’s full
-crawling away quickly when she knows she’s up to no good.
-Screaming when you take something away from her
-looking for each family member by name
-walking behind walker
-saying mum, ma (milk) and hibye
-trying really hard to be where her sisters are
-following me around the kitchen trying to pull up on my leg
-crawling around after Emma and Leah while they scream she’s a monster coming to get them
-playing with the cat door
-heading for the bathroom if we forget to close the door
-gently touching things and using her index finger to feel and study things
-pulling books (and everything else she can get) off the shelf

Personality:
She’s a good baby. No change there. I still wish she’d sleep a little more but she is so incredibly easy to deal with during the day that it doesn’t bother me as much as it probably should.

Emma and Leah are still really good with her. Things have changed a lot during the past two months as Claire has become increasingly mobile and quick. She is always very curious to see what her sisters are doing and for the most part they are very accomodating. When they do get annoyed with her it doesn’t take much to get them to remember that she’s a baby and doesn’t understand.

I brought out some of the girls old stuff for Claire this month. They are always interested in her toys but this was the first time we had three children going for the same thing. When I told them to let Claire play with her toy I was quickly corrected with “Claire has to share her toys Mommy. We share with Claire so she has to let us have a turn.” Let’s hope that in 14 years they’re still teaching her nice things!

Ticklish Claire. She loves watching this video of herself.

Discovering her hidden talents.

 

Claire - 9 months

Hair:
Still straight. Getting longer. Coppery colour.

Eyes:
Greeny brown

 Teeth:
She got her top right one for a total of 6. I think she is working on two new top teeth.

Size:
Measured on the 10th. 17lbs 10ozs and 37 inches long (I think she’s longer - she was having a fit about laying naked on the protective paper.)

Eating:
She was eating really well until we gave her yogurt. Now it’s a fight to get anything that isn’t yogurt into her. I was hoping it was her teeth that was causing her to like cold stuff but I think she just likes yogurt. Claire is very stubborn. I am now a pro at mixing things with yogurt.

I have her cheerios. She plays with them and drops them on the floor. She will eat baby cookies.

She is still nursing (mostly at night…) a few times a day. She can go quite a long time during the day and I have to remember to feed her because she won’t cry. I am trying to get as much into her during the day in hopes of getting her to go longer at night. It’s not working.

She still gets a bottle of formula at bedtime.

Sleep:
Claire is a sleeping disaster this month. I just read last month’s update and it seems like an impossible dream at this point.

We are having a hard time getting her to nap. She seems to want to nap when she’s in the car and will fall asleep on the way to drop off the girls and then wake up when I have to take her out to drop them off. The catnap settles her need for sleep but then she’ll fall asleep again when we pick them up and again get woken up. If she naps at home she never lasts long.

Bedtime is going well and she is usually asleep by 7:45. She usually gets up at least twice before I go to bed and then every 2-3 hours for the rest of the night.

She is back in bed with us. She had a cold a couple of weeks ago and on night three of hourly wakings I gave in. I bought my first book this month and it has lowered my sleep expectations as well as reinforced our decisions.

Getting Around:
Claire started crawling this month and is now into everything. She did the commando for a couple of days and then figured out there was a better way. She is pulling up onto her knees. She has taken some good spills but she recovers quickly. She isn’t overly daring but sometimes she gets excited and loses her balance. She likes to stand if you hold her up and you have to bend her knees to get her to go down. She also does this funny move where she goes up on pointed toes and puts her butt up in the air. She also has the v sit position mastered - I think babies would find pilates a piece of cake.

Things she’s saying:
We have heard so many sounds this month. B, D, G, E, I, M, N, P,V, W, Y combined with uh, ah, ee, um. I know I’m missing some but she’s always talking and copying us. She does have her serious moments but I doubt Claire’s speech is going to be delayed by having two sisters.

Things she’s doing this month
-eating yogurt, yogurt and more yogurt
-being stubborn
-making faces. Current favourites are the “you did not just put a vegetable in my mouth” disgusted look and the “I’m so hurt you gave me to a stranger” lip quiver.
-she settles well in nursery and by all reports has a lot of fun. She also naps for them…little monkey.
-being surprising good natured on very little sleep
-repeating sounds we make
-initiating games of peekaboo around corners or with a blanket
-crawling around and discovering toys. She loves to pull out the baskets and empty them one thing at a time
-Doing the stiff body when we try and put her in the carseat
-losing her attachment to her soother
-showing an interest in books and sitting still while we show her things
-playing with her sisters. She loves when they tickle her. She also crawls around looking for them.
-playing with the door stoppers
-hanging out near the closet mirror and giggling at herself

Personality:
I think the trait that sticks out the most this month is how stubborn Claire is. Her resolve is quite impressive - and very frustrating.

She is still very easy going during the day and is content to crawl around the main floor exploring. She loves when she gets down into the basement - so many things she can explore with supervision. Emma and Leah are all over the rules and serve as two extra sets of eyes when it comes to keeping Claire safe.

My only complaint is that I wish she’d sleep more. It’s been way too long since I had 5 hours of consective sleep nevermind 8 hours!

Claire - 9 months

“I had yogurt for dinner….”

 

Claire - 8 months

A month full of change!

Hair:
Coming in quite quickly. It’s still pretty straight!

Eyes:
Greeny Brown. 

Teeth:
She got three teeth on the top this month. The two middle ones and the one to the left. She now has 5 teeth.

Eating:
I think it’s been the teeth that have been stopping her from eating. Since the 5th tooth came in she has shown a huge interest in mush. She now eats pretty much anything you offer her. She’s even getting quicker - yes, I still hate spoon feeding.

She is still getting one bottle of formula at bedtime. She still rarely finishes more than 5 ozs. She seemed to be eating more at night than during the day but I’m on to her now and have started offering her something every 3 hours.

Sleep:
You can all stop tsk tsking me…Claire has been sleeping in her crib for nearly a week now!! As usual, it didn’t go nearly as poorly as I’d expected. She got pretty mad the first night but has been easy to settle ever since. She’s even going longer between feeds and the last two nights has only fed once in the middle of the night and then once around 6am. She will go into her crib awake and fall asleep on her own. When she feeds in the night it only takes a few minutes and then she is right back asleep. In the morning she wakes up and plays happily until we go in and get her.

She is more predictable lately and usually naps about 2 hours after she gets up and then again in the afternoon. The length is determined by where she is sleeping. If she’s at home she sleeps well. If we’re out and about she takes catnaps. She is usually ready for her bedtime bottle around 8pm. 

Getting Around:
Claire is getting very agile at getting around. She’s not crawling but she can go a few feet backwards and roll/squirm all around the room. She can go from sitting to up on her hands and knees and she rocks back and forth. All the crawling pieces are there - she just needs to put it together. I think she will crawl properly rather than do the commando style her sisters did.

Things she’s saying:
Claire starting talking this month. It started with “ba ba ba” but she quickly added “da”, “ga”, “ma”, “wa”, “ya” and also some e sounds. I don’t remember ever noticing this stuff with Leah and Emma but after my speech therapy parent training I am listening more this time I guess.

Things she’s doing this month:
-She’s out of the bucket and into the carseat. I really miss the Snap’N'Go.
-She started playing strange with new people but she is fine after a few minutes.
-She is very determined and focused when she wants something
-She likes playing peekaboo
-She can hold her bottle
-She can pick up really fine things like a piece of grass
-She likes to sit outside
-She can clap, put her arms up, give you five.
-She’s over her fear of being alone and is quite content on her own as long as she has something to play with.
-She more interested in toys and figuring out how they work.
-We got her a Frog (to match Chickie and Lambie) this month. She’s not overly attached yet. She loves the baby dolls the girls have - she laughs and giggles and tries to eat their faces.

Personality:
Claire continues to be a very easy going baby. Her ease of transition into a crib is a great example of how she just takes everything in stride. She likes me but she is by no means a Mommy suck - as long as she’s getting attention she is fine. She is still fascinated by Emma and Leah and they enjoy making her laugh.

She is a pretty happy baby but she has her serious moments where it can take a lot of work to make her smile. When she’s in a serious mood she will just stare at you and not even crack a smile - it’s pretty cute.

Claire really enjoys being outside. She is happy enough to sit in her stroller at the park or on the grass when we’re at home. She also enjoys being out and about and will sit in her carseat and stroller for hours while we are out and about on the weekends.

Emma and Leah continue to enjoy having a baby sister. I suspect crawling is in the near future and it will be interesting to see how they deal with Claire getting into their stuff. I am very thankful that the basement is finished and we’ve already started paying more attention to what toys are on the main floor.

 

Claire - 6 months

Half a year. Already.

Hair:
Still light brown with a lot of copper in it. It’s filling in a bit. Her new stuff is pretty straight but my mom reminded me that L and E’s hair was once like that.

Eyes:
All the blue is gone but they are not done changing. I think they will settle into hazel like mine and John’s. 

Teeth:
Still just the two bottom ones.

Eating:
I seemed to have worked out my supply issues by taking fenugreek, blessed thistle and eating oatmeal. I’ve also had formula on hand for the times she won’t settle. She is doing much better which is a relief because I’m not ready to give up breastfeeding quite yet. I also started her on solids a couple of weeks ago. She’s only had rice cereal and oatmeal so far. I need to get my act together about feedings - I really don’t enjoy spoon feeding. It’s a completely different experience with just one baby. I know exzctly how much she eats and how painfully slow she is! With the girls one would “chew” while I fed the other and there was no waiting around. One positive is that the girls have already lost interest in helping feed their sister.

Size:
Her appt and shots are next week. I will update then.

 Sleep:
She did much better this month but is still no sleeping star. She consistently naps for at least 30 mins in the morning. I try and get her to nap with the girls in the afternoon. Somedays are better than others. She’ll sleep by herself but she usually stirs a couple of times and has to be comforted back to sleep. If you miss the comfort window it is hard to settle her again.

Bedtimes are still a bit all over the place but lately she seems to be asleep by 9 for the night. She can also be hard to settle at night but once she gets into her deep sleep she’s fine. She sleeps anywhere between 4 and 6 hours for the first stretch then is up every 3 hours after that. She’s never up for long in the night.

My friend Rachelle said that her daughter Adelle suffers from what they call FOMO (fear of missing out). Claire has the same problem and with two very active sisters there always seems to be something better to do than sleep. She gets really cranky when she’s tired - pretty obvious sleep cues

Things she’s doing this month:
The rolling from belly to back still seems to stump her. She will flip over and play happily on her belly going around in circles but then yells when she’s done. Every once in awhile we find her rolled over but it’s not something she does whenever she feels like it yet.

She is getting very good at sitting. We were given a bumbo seat and I think it really helps them learn to sit. She can sit independently now for long periods of time. You still have to watch her though because she hasn’t figured out how to balance herself and she’ll just fall over or backwards when she’s done.

She loves her bouncer and can turn herself around in it. Her favourite toy is a wind up giraffe that John got her. She giggles and squeals whenever she sees it.

She knows her name.

She will pick everything up, inspect it, chew it, bang it and then throw it.

Her attention span is getting longer. She will sit and listen when Leah and Emma read her stories.

Personality: 
Claire is very social and likes to be part of the action. She is happiest when she can see what’s going on. She likes to yell and talk and she starts to laugh when she gets your attention. She is starting to say mmmmm.

She is very ticklish.

She has never liked to be held face in right from when she was a newborn. She prefers being cradled so she can see what’s going on. The only time she’ll tolerate facing in is when she’s eating and even then she has to check out whats going on a few times a meal.

She could watch her sisters all day long. She sits in the bumbo and watches them eat. She’s happy as can be at the park if she can watch them. She loves being outside.

She loves people and will go to anyone. She’s starting to do the playful smile and pretend shy dive into my neck but she’s back for more right away.

All in all Claire continues to be a very easy going baby. Gone are the days of the newborn lump, but the curious and happy baby that has replaced the lump is still pretty easy to live with. She’s still easy to take places and rarely causes us any trouble.

Leah and Emma continue to enjoy being big sisters. They are good about being quiet when Claire is sleeping or entetaining her when I need a moment to do something. They also enjoy helping (in a useful way) with everything Claire needs. They get protective of her when strange kids try to look at her at the park and have been known to tell random people not to touch their baby sister. They let Claire pull their hair and they are just really sweet with her. One of the sweeter sounds is when we are in the car and they try to get her to laugh. The three of them will laugh and laugh and laugh and it is so cute. Maybe they’ll always be like that!

 

3 Years Old

This is very long. I have been writing it in spurts when I have a moment. I still can’t believe they are no longer babies or toddlers.

Hair
Emma’s hair is still quite fair and has a tight curl. My mom cut it last month to tidy it up and it is quite short with the curl. Her eyelashes are getting darker so her hair might follow. Leah’s hair is light brown but has some red in it. It has a loose curl which I find
hard to manage. I put anti frizz stuff in both their hair which amuses John. I never have clips etc in their hair but I tolerate it when our moms are around. I will probably have to take the plunge in the coming year and let their hair grow. It’s just so easy when it’s short!

Eyes
Both their eyes got a little lighter this year.

3 Year Checkup
They were at the doctor last week. They are both 27lbs which is in the 5th percentile - that’s the curve they’ve been following now since they got on it and the doctor is not concerned. Leah is just under 36 inches and Emma is just over (25th percentile). Emma is noticeably taller now.

Emma has a heart murmur that they are going to check out with an Echo on July 3rd. The doctor was not concerned but he wanted it checked.

Eating:
They are not the greatest eaters but there is usually something I can find that they will like. Leah could exist on peanut butter and toast. They are getting better at trying things and I don’t give them a hard time if they don’t like something as long as they try it. Emma is much more adventurous and likes a fair number of fruits and vegetables.
Leah will eat bananas and all the meat and bread she can get. She loves tuna.They still only get juice for a treat and they still love milk. They are both now fully aware of the vast array of junk food that is available. They love potato chips and chocolate. They are not
so crazy about sugary candy.

The toilet
We had some pretty intense moments with Leah over the past 6 months after she started holding her poop. I don’t think John or I will ever forget how awful things got. It took 5 months for her to be back to normal and I am very relieved she got over it.

In other more exciting news both girls started intense potty training at the end of March. I decided to do Emma first and leave Leah (who was still having poop issues). It took one morning, five outfits and one broken washing machine for Emma to get it. She never looked back. Much to my surprise Leah took Emma’s lead and within a week we were in full time undies.

They are both really good about going and have just recently started being very interested in public washrooms. They would visit 4 times if you let them just to check it out. We only use the handicap stalls so they haven’t figured out there is a whole row of stalls quite yet - give it time! I also have the potty in the car in case of emergencies - we’ve only had to use it once. Both of them had to go. In 35C heat. My mom and John tried to convince me to throw it in the gas station garbage bin but I thought that was gross and decided to drive home with it. Never again!

Sleep
Night time sleeping is good as long as you are ok with getting up early. They get up early and itt doesn’t seem to matter what time they go to bed at. Emma needs more sleep than Leah but lack of sleep doesn’t mess up her day. Leah needs more sleep than she gets and can be a handful if she’s tired. Leah goes to sleep last and wakes up first pretty much every day.

I had nearly given up on napping when pregnant brain finally lifted and I started separating them right from the start of the nap. Emma sleeps in the guest room every day now and Leah in her bed. They are fine with it and they read quietly until they go to sleep. Sometimes I even get Claire to sleep at the same time and I don’t even know what to do with myself it’s so exciting (guess why I have time to write this!).

Since they miss out on the old two hours of mid afternoon partying they are pretty excited when it comes to their alone time at bedtime. They usually have to get a few ‘adventures’ out of their system before they settle down and read their books. They get along much better at bedtime and when they’re tired they go to sleep rather than fighting.

We don’t really have an involved bedtime routine but there are a few key points that can’t be forgotten or you will be called back upstairs. With the arrival of Claire John found out that Little Bear is on every night at 7:30. For most of the past 6 months they have watched Little Bear before bed or had a bath. After they are in their jammies (as they call them) they brush their teeth then hide under the blankets while we pretend we can’t find them. Once they are found John gives them their super hero medicine (water), their monkey juice (sippy cup) and then they ‘kiss the animals’ which involves you flying them around their room and them kissing all the pictures in their room. After that it’s playtime until they call you up to put their blankets on.

Big Sisters
The girls became big sisters this year. They have both accepted Claire right from the start. When she was a newborn they were gentle but not very interested. As she has developed they have become much more interactive with her. Emma was always a little mommy right from the start and was very interested in helping. Leah has come around now that she can make Claire giggle and hold her hands.

In the 5 months Claire has been around we have had no issues with jealousy or resentment. They have never put up a fuss about anything Claire related and I can leave the three of them alone in a room and know they’ll look out for her not beat her up! Looking back I am really surprised at how well they adjusted without it being a big deal. Twin benefit I guess!

Language
All focus has shifted from what they say to what we say. I have had to cut so much out of my vocabulary. I’m really careful (anal) about what I want them exposed to. School is coming quickly and the innocence will soon be gone. They don’t know the words fat or stupid or anything else really derogatory. I wish it could always be like that but I know it will come and I don’t want it coming from us. I never realized how many times I called myself fat until I had daughters!

Getting Around
They can do pretty much anything they want now. Leah is still lacking in lower body strength but she can for the most part keep up with Emma. John jokes that Emma is pound for pound the strongest person he knows. She can carry milk, a bag of potatoes or 12 cans of corn with minimal effort.

They can both pedal their bikes now and spend many hours going up and down the driveway. It’s still early in the summer but they are still whiners about cold water. They pretty much have no interest in the fancy splash pad that is 3 mins from our house. They are a bit better in the sprinkler at home but it takes a ton of coaxing.

Independence
They are both pretty much independent now. I officially retired their feeding chairs for the bday party so now they sit in boosters up at the table. They still don’t get down unless someone lifts them which works out well for keeping the house a little less dirty! They can both dress themselves but Leah still likes you to help her. Now that it’s summer I can tell them to get their hat and shoes on and wait by the door and they are ready to go without me lifting a finger! 

They are both really into helping. We hear “Can I help?” about 50 times a day. So far I’ve got them making their beds, tidying up their room, doing laundry, helping unload the dishwasher and vacuuming up their crumbs with the dustbuster. They can also change a diaper with supervision.

Personalities
Leah is highly emotional. She’s usually a very happy little girl who loves to sing and talk about her day. Leah will just randomly tell you how much she loves you. I have talked about her spirit before and it’s hard to put in words but those who know her know what I’m talking about. She’s just super sweet - when she’s in a good mood. THe other side of Leah can be hard to deal with. She’s quick tempered and can whine with the best of them. In recent months we have seen less and less of bad mood Leah. Her vocabulary has expanded and just the other day she said to John “Sometimes I get frustrated and I cry. I’m a big girl now and I need to use my words not cry’. The message is getting through! We have also noticed a big improvement in her attention span (for things other than tv - Leah loves tv) and her patience. She will now sit and do a puzzle to completion whereas before she would get annoyed and give up.

Emma is more devious than Leah. She watches everything and takes it all in. She is testing us a lot more these days and sometimes she can be very defiant. You always know when Emma is being ‘bad’ because she half closes her eyes when she talks to you. Emma can also whine with the best of them but she is much more persistent. Where Leah will just start screaming Emma will repeat “please share Leah” over and over and over and over again. WHen she finally does get upset it is not something she gets over quickly. Emma is a great little helper and likes to be involved in everything we are doing. While she isn’t as openly affectionate she still has her moments when she’s very sweet. Emma is a really good little girl for the most part. She listens well and will follow most rules without being reminded. She likes to do things herself and she is very proud of her accomplishments.

Both girls love John. They are definitely Daddy girls. And to his credit it’s not because he’s soft on them. He’s just super fun and has a ton of patience with them. To my credit when we ask if I should go to work they are both adamant that I have to stay home with them…that they would miss me…and most importantly “You can’t go to work Mommy, you don’t have work shoes”.

While all the kids around them are fascinated with there being two of them, they still don’t get the twin thing. They just recently found out that Dora has twin siblings (I have a lot of apologizing to do to Dora…and Diego) but they don’t make the connection. We also don’t talk about it very much. I still call them the girls rather than the twins. I think to us they are just so different and I would prefer everyone else saw it rather than just lumping them in as the twins.

Playing/Sharing
Over the past 6 months the girls haven’t really played with any particular toys. They have been too busy making up games and playing with each other. The pretend to be random pairs of people - the favourite since their bday party is Leah as cousin Stevie and Emma as cousin Tommy. It’s really funny watching and listening to the stuff they come up with while on their adventures.

They enjoy crafts and puzzles and will sit and patiently work at both. They are up to 48 piece puzzles now. The big thing that has finally happened is that they’ve stopped hoarding. This has been a huge deal because it used to drive me insane that nothing stayed together. It also made playing things with them tough because the stuff was scattered all over the place in random bags/purses or even wrapped up in kleenex…

Somedays they play well together and other days they are at each other all day long. I am convinced that 99.9% of the crying can be blamed on there being 2 of them. The bad days are becoming less frequent (especially with the return on the nap). They are slowly learning to take turns and be nice to each other.

They are also pretty good with other kids. The neighbour runs a daycare and we see them at the park a few times a week. The girls just jump in with their ‘friends’ and play away. They are both very social and like other kids - especially the older ones.

They both love to sing and they know a ton of songs. We are currently working on Oh Canada which they started to sing while watching Sens games.

The are also getting good at their letters and can each draw a few letters as well as shapes…and also random scribbles that according to them are cats, dogs, elephants…

Leah’s favourite colour is still yellow and Emma’s is still pink. It is a bit obsessive. For their birthday we got them each a pictures frame, a plate and a bowl in their favourite colour. They thought it was the greatest gift… 

They are getting more sensitive and you can now hurt their feelings. If someone other than myself or John is stern with them they will usually cry.

I could really write about them all day but I think I’ve got the important things down. I might add some more as I think of them. I am really starting to appreciate writing down all this stuff about them every so often. They’ve changed so much in just a year. This coming year they will start preschool and grow even more independent. I can’t even imagine what they will be like when they’re 4 but I know it will seem like the blink of an eye before I’m writing about it!