Triplets 3.0

We just had our 3 year check up and as usual the boys are the picture of good health. No shots this time thanks to an intra-nasal version of the flu shot (which still did not keep Eli and Thomas from freaking out, I can only imagine their reactions to a real shot). So the only thing to report is their heights, weights and percentiles:

Caleb
Weight  27lbs 12.5oz
Height 35 inches (89cm) 3rd%
BMI 47% (almost right in the middle, meaning he is very well per portioned, not too skinny not too fat)

Eli
Weight 26lbs 14oz
Height 34.84 inches (88.5cm) 2nd%
BMI 36% (a little skinnier but still very well per portioned)

Thomas
Weight 27lbs 1oz
Height 34.84 inches (88.5cm) 2nd%
BMI 40%

The boys all grew about 3 inches this last year, which seems like a lot to me but I imagine children of tall parents probably grow a lot more from 2 to 3. The doctor wrote out a little equation with my height and Phil's height and calculated the boys will be about 5 ft 6.5 in tall which doesn't surprise anyone considering that's only a hair shorter than Phil is (who is 5ft 6.75in tall). Of course nothing is set in stone and that could vary a couple of inches.

In the last few months, as is evident by their weights, Caleb has continued to be the best eater and as Phil and I always say 'you can always count on Caleb to eat.' Eli has been eating like a horse and if he keeps it up he will for sure pass Thomas. Thomas has been our worst eater lately and if he keeps it up he'll soon gain "the little one" status. Funny because he was our Big Boy up until age 2. But even with that said the boys are all good eaters and by no means picky considering they are 3 years old. They will eat a variety of ALL food types and while they will pick out the onions or tomato chunks out of their food they by no means need food to be a homogeneous blend in order to eat it. I hold steadfast to not becoming a cook to order so they eat what I make or they don't eat at all. I also only offer them healthy snacks with "treats" (cookies, candy, ice cream) sprinkled in throughout the month as rewards. I think my efforts are paying off!

The boys are officially now wearing all 2T clothes, they could get away with the tops being 2T for a few months now but until very recently they outgrew their 18mo pants. I could probably still squeeze them into a size 6 shoe but it was getting too hard to get their feet in there so they are all wearing size 7 now.

I meant to take pictures of them before leaving the house because they looked so handsome but I was so nervous about the flu shot they never got and getting there on time that I totally forgot. So as we were loading up to leave the parking lot, this was the only picture I took : (

Language Progress

The boys speech is progressing very nicely and they are actually catching up so it may not be too much longer before they no longer are considered to have a delay. They are making rapid progress and for a couple months now use simple sentences (3-4 word sentences). Of course it's a garbled up mess of Spanish and English so don't expect to understand them unless you also speak Spanglish. For a while I was concerned that they were mostly adding English words, but since we went into our speech explosion I'm happy to see them adding TONS of Spanish. I might be willing to say their Spanish is on par with their English now, and I should mention their understanding of both languages has never been delayed. They have a pretty big vocabulary but many of the words that they are adding are repeats, meaning they are learning both versions of the word (in Spanish and English).

Even though I've started to emphasize what is English versus what is Spanish their teachers have assured me that the boys are smart enough to already know and understand that there is a difference and will soon begin to separate the two languages when speaking. It will be exciting to see that develop! They also tell me that there is no "normal way" that language develops in bilingual kids as it does in single language kids. All they really have to compare them to is single language kids. So there is never a way to predict how it will play out for each individual child since every one has a unique situation, as far as how much of each language they are exposed to. So even though they are learning twice as much as other kids they are expected to be at the same level as single language kids. Not a perfect system but until there is more research that's how they understand things. I have also been told that we are in a perfect storm for a speech delay, being that the boys are/were preemies, multiples, and dual language learners....So if you are now confused by what I just wrote above, well then welcome to my world. That is just the beginning of contradicting statements I've found when researching speech delays in bilingual children.

Since the boys turned three we had to say good bye to our speech teacher that would conveniently come to our home once a week to work with the boys. Now we have a speech group that the boys go to once a week at a nearby elementary school. It's a class of four students so it's the boys and another little girl their age. The new teacher is awesome, she is British but speaks Castillian Spanish (Spain version of Spanish, really it's just a slightly different accent). She conducts the class in Spanish which I love and she can actually understand all of what the boys say since she knows both languages. It's only 45 minutes long but man can she sure pack in a lot of things in in that short time. The first day they read a story, then they did a craft project, played a matching game, played a bowling game, and finished off with another story! The boys seem pretty comfortable and seem more willing to speak to their teacher than with me, ha! I only stayed to observe the first class but after that I'll be spending 45 minutes of peace and quiet reading in my car, I'm actually pretty excited about it : )

This morning in their over sized footie pajamas