My parents are still in town, so we took the kids to the Lakeline Mall to let them play in the kids zone area. For once, Walt couldn't wait to get down and check everything out. I was so happy to see him play! Adele, however, was completely freaked by all the kids there. There weren't very many, but they were *big* kids (as in walking) and very loud. Also, every single girl there wanted to come over and make friends with Adele. I guess her pretty dress, made by 3 Little Monkeys from one of Jeff's old shirts, was just too much for them to resist. She was approached by no less than 5 other girls trying to be close. At first, Adele kept shading her eyes and crying, but eventually she calmed down enough to check things out.
We left for a little bit to get a drink, have a quick snack, and stretch our legs. Then we went back to the play zone and this time it was almost empty. So Adele was much happier and even made friends with another little girl by waving and saying 'hi'.
Walt checking out his new ride.
Adele finally checking out the tunnel.
The boys are ready for take-off!
Adele is trying very hard to get Grandma to look at something.
Gordon and Adele were both loving the slide. So was Walt, but Walt loved the cars & planes more.
Gordon was EVERYWHERE. He loved the chaos, the kids, the toys, the carpet, everything.
Grandpa was happy to take any of the kids on the slide. Adele looks a little unsure, but she's laughing by the end of her first run.
The kids had their 15 month doctor's visit today. I delayed (they were 15 months old on the 4th of Jan) so that I could have both my parents with me since the kids got a LOT of shots.
The visit went well. The kids are all HUGE, but especially Gordon. The nurse joked he was as big as a 2-year-old. At least, I think she was joking.
Developmentally, they were all pretty much on track in communication and other skills. They are behind on walking, but the doctor wasn't worried. She was watching them all crawl around and pull to standing and she thinks they'll be walking any day now. She also was happy to see they were all tracking with each other developmentally. Plus, she says that it is her experience preemie kids track with their 'adjusted age' (this would be their age according to their 40 week due date, my kids were born at 32 weeks, 4 day) until they are about 2 years old.
Here are the kids stats:
Walter - 32 inches long, 23lb 2oz, 49 1/2 cm head circumference
Gordon - 33 inches long, 28lb 2oz, 51 1/2 cm head circumference
Adele - 32 inches long, 21lb 8oz, 49 1/4 cm head circumference
Here's a video my dad took of the kids waiting for their shots after having their weights & exams done.
My kids seem to have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. Their communication skills have stepped up, as I mentioned in the prior post.
And they are so close to walking, I can almost see it!
But they are also HUGE. We have our 15month appointment on Tuesday and I can't wait to see how long they've gotten. They seem so, so tall to me.
But I can really see the changes in their expressions and the way they play and interact. It cracks me up because Adele enjoys playing 'dress-up' already. She's always putting toys on her wrists like bracelets. She loves for me to put on her hats so she can look at herself in the mirror. And one day when I let her wear my jacket, she thought she was the coolest thing ever.
Walt's really into his walker. Any time he comes into the room, he heads right to it. All 3 kids also still treat their straw cups like toys. This day I caught Walt drinking and driving.
Gordon has become a much more independent boy. He's started getting really mad when you try to make him do or stop something he doesn't want to do or stop. He also is trying so hard to make his wants known and he's getting frustrated by his inability to communicate them yet. But he still gives the best snuggles!
It has gotten chillier here, so I've gotten the kids new hats.
My parents are in town and they've been a big help with the kids. Meal times have been a bit of a battle lately with unhappy kids yelling and throwing food. Additionally, we tried to go to 1 nap a day, but that didn't work out, so we've been transitioning back to 2 naps a day, which has been rough. It has been really nice to have my parents here, both for the extra hands, and to get a break sometimes.
My dad took this photo to show off Adele's ponytail. It is definitely my favorite mommy-daughter photo yet!!
It has been a while since I posted and I have a ton of photos and videos I'd like to get up on the blog. But rather than do that, I'm going to document the boys' first haircuts. Technically, Walt had his hair cut previously by me, but this was the first professional job. They acted just as I expected -- Gordon did amazing and Walt cried like crazy once he figured out what was going on. I felt bad for the poor stylist!!
Before I get to that, some notes on the kids' development. They are all starting to communicate a lot more. Gordon says 2 words for certain -- dada & banana and I think he's starting to pick up few more. Adele has a number of words -- hat, dada, socks, bow wow wow, meow, kitty cat, and many more. Walt is starting to make sounds as responses that I *think* may be actual words, but I'm just not identifying them yet. Regardless, I've seen a HUGE leap in the boys' verbal communication just in the last two days.
Nobody is walking yet, but we are super close. Gordon will stand unassisted in the middle of the floor and lurch like he's about to take a step, but not quite. Adele is cruising around all the furniture and loves to stand unassisted by pushing off a pillow or someone's leg. Walt is the one who walks around with the walker, but he just won't let go. Once that clicks, he'll be walking.
Here are the photos and such from our first haircuts. We went to one of those kids' specialty places. I had Gordon go first.
Doesn't he look like such a big boy? And he sat so still.
Look at me, Mama!
Walt was perfectly happy to get into the chair.
And he thought the cape was pretty cool.
But once the spraying and cutting started.....
I managed to distract him for a while with the iphone.
I waited until we were home and smiley to take some haircut photos.
