19 Months Old

Again, on the eve of their turning 20 months, here's a quick peek at life right now with our 19 month olds:

• The boys are at a very affectionate age! They've recently started blowing kisses, and it's about the sweetest thing ever. They will also give us hugs on demand, and occasionally a smooch or two.
• If Cooper falls down lately, he'll often cry and come over to one of us for a kiss, then go about his business, all better. Similarly, if Will falls, he will cry and come over to us and have one of us kiss his finger (regardless of what part of his body he bumped) and then he's OK.
• They are all climbers these days, but Griffin is the one who gives us mild heart attacks every day. He is such a daredevil! Will caught him climbing into their play kitchen sink the other day. He is a little kamikaze and has no issues flinging himself onto or off-of objects. 
• They love messing with the computer area in the kitchen lately. I left them for a minute last week, and came back to find that Griffin had pulled over one of our tall kitchen table chairs to the computer area, and climbed up onto the chair so he could mess with the printer and mouse. 
• They love, love, love Baby Signing Time and ask us to watch it constantly- signing "baby" and saying "Bae? Bae? Bae?" over and over again.
• Watching those DVDs has certainly paid off, though! Their signing vocabulary continues to grow, which is also helping their word vocabulary, too. They can sign (and say): bird, cat, dog, play, sleep, eat, drink, please, thank you, sorry, car, friend, share, cracker, milk, juice, pear, apple, cookie, water, banana, cereal, all done, potty, shoes, hat, ball, bath, bear, wash hands, brush teeth, book, nice, hot, cold, game, telephone, stop, go, and music.
• All three boys could use their first hair cut. Griffin is most in need- he's rocking a particularly impressive mullet. I have suggested many times that we take him in for his first cut, but Will has firmly declined the idea. I am not sure if it's a "holding onto the baby" thing, or if it's that he wants all 3 to get their hair cut at the same time, but whatever his reason is- I'm going to let him decide when the time is right. Will often accepts that I have trouble letting go of baby things (things like holding on to their infant clothes, sobbing over selling their car seats, keeping bottles around that we no longer use, etc...) so I'm going to let him have this one. Don't get me wrong- it makes me sad to get rid of their baby hair, but I also think it's past time for Griffin to get his first trim. 
• Boys after their mama's heart: they have discovered a love of ranch dressing. I give them some ranch in hopes of getting them to eat more vegetables or chicken. Instead, they will literally scoop the ranch up with their fingers and eat it by itself. And when Cooper's done with his ranch, he'll reach over and help himself to Will's ranch, too. They also really love hummus lately, and use the same finger-full approach to eating it, even when offered crackers to help them scoop it up.
• Speaking of eating, very little eating seems to happen these days. What they love one day, they won't touch the next. And they have developed an annoying (and yet oh-so-funny) habit of throwing food over the side of their table, and then sweetly saying "bye bye!" while waving. Griffin is especially bad about clearing out his part of the table with one giant sweep of his arms. Meals have become very trying on our patience lately! Their favorite foods right now, besides ranch dressing and hummus, are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, yogurt, string cheese, and smoothies. And cookies of any kind. 
• Speaking of meal times, we have separated them again. Griffin has a tendency to pick on the brother that gets stuck in the middle seat of the triplet table. We spent many mealtimes refereeing the boys, and often yelling at Griffin to stop biting or picking on his (usually crying) brother. We brought our clip on high chair back out and have started rotating one baby in the high chair during meals. What.a.difference. Meals are so much more relaxing and quiet now that all 3 boys have their own space. I worried that they would see sitting separately at the island as a punishment, but they love sitting over there and will often protest if they get put in the triple table instead of the high chair.
• Cooper has recently formed an attachment to his own stuffed animal- a little brown bear that his great Auntie Ann gave us before the boys arrived. It's funny because we have 3 of the same bear, just different colors. But he only has eyes for the dark haired bear. He will bring it to bed with him, and like Griffin, will insist on bringing it downstairs with him for meals.
• I started a little game with the boys a couple weeks ago where I'd say "shhhhhh" and put my finger to my lips so we could listen for sounds (birds outside, an airplane, daddy coming up the stairs, etc...). They now "shh" us often so we are all very quiet and listen for noises.
• Now that the weather is warming up, we're starting up our neighborhood walks again. It feels good to get out of the house! And the boys are enjoying the walks, seemingly more than they used to. Now they are very observant and will point out all the things they see- birds, dogs, "tucks" (they LOVE trucks!). 
• I've also started taking one of them outside with me to get the mail when I arrive home from work. Will, especially, loves to go with me to get the "mae".
• We have officially transitioned the boys down to one nap during the day. I'll have to write up a separate day in the life post that highlights our new schedule. While Will and I really loved the 2 nap schedule (meaning 2 breaks for us!), the boys weren't sleeping all the long. It seemed like they were ready to transition before we were! 
• They love baths and request them almost every night...but we're still only bathing them twice a week. 
• Their favorite seat in their playroom right now is the windowsill next to the couch. They can perch themselves on the windowsill and look at everything outside. Only one can really fit up there at a time where their feet still touch the couch, but they sure try to cram two or more on to the seat by shimmying into the corner spot!
• All three love to jump these days. Sometimes on their mini trampoline (which has recently been removed from the playroom due to misuse) and often in their cribs. They can actually jump really high in their cribs when they hold onto the side rails!
• Will is still our little sweetheart. The way he looks at you with his big blue eyes can just melt your heart! He loves to talk and is getting very good at using his signs along with the actual word. I noticed the other day that he is really starting to form opinions and is getting better about sharing them with us. I gave him milk during breakfast the other morning, and he pushed it aside and signed and asked for "duice" instead. I love that we can communicate like this now! He is still our little shy guy in public, but he has a big personality at home. His laugh is infectious- it's so adorable when he gets excited about something and starts laughing! While he is not our "biter", he has certainly pulled out the chompers from time to time. He has started flipping around on the changing table during diaper changes, but he can be easily distracted with a book or toy. Will still loves his Dada the most; every night I am allowed to say goodnight and take him over to see their "ter-tuh" Tranquil Turtle, but as soon as he's seen the turtle, it's immediately back Dada's arms to go into the crib. And any morning when I come in the room to wake them up, his first question is "Dada?" Will loves "talking" on the phone- he is almost always talking to either Papa or Dada. 
• Griffin. Oh how Griffin can try our patience! He can be the sweetest little boy in the world one minute, and then one minute later go into crazy mode and attack his brothers. We are still having issues with his biting. He bites when he's mad, when he's excited, or when he's playing. He is starting to understand that he hurts his brothers when we catch him in the act and discipline him. But a lot of times we aren't aware the biting is happening and only find out when the bitten brother cries and runs over to us. He's also started hitting us in the face when we're holding him. Again, he'll do it when he's mad or excited- it's just his way of showing emotions. Like I mentioned above, he's also our daredevil who loves a good climbing surface. And he's gotten very good at ignoring us when we say something he doesn't want to hear, like "don't climb on the chairs". He is our little Hercules- I honestly can't believe how strong he is! Just yesterday he tore the cabinet door off their play kitchen sink. Diaper changes have become a big struggle with Griffin. He hates sitting still and will fight you the entire time you're trying to change his diaper. We have tried distracting him with books, random objects, even our phones to get him to hold still for us. He can seriously make you want to pull your hair out just trying to do a simple change. As much as he is a source of frustration, he is also so much fun at this age! He can be the most cuddly of the trio, and loves to be read to. He'll curl up on your lap for a long period of time if you're reading to him. And he is great at giving big bear hugs, and positioning his face so you can smother him in kisses. 
• Cooper is just a ball of energy, from the time he wakes up until he goes to sleep. He loves to jump, all the time. On any surface. It's a toss up between Cooper and Will for who asks for Baby Signing Time the most, but I'd have to give it to Cooper for being the most persistent. As I said above, he's recently developed an affinity for his "ba ba" baby bear, and will sleep with him in his crib at night. He has recently started saying "I love you" back to us, and I melt every time I hear his little voice say, "Eye-ewe". He is fantastic at making animal sounds and can very accurately moo, bah, hoot, tweet, bark, oooh, oooh, ahhh, ahhh, and growl (which covers lions, tigers, bears, and dinosaurs)- but the funniest impression he's caught on to is beating his chest like a gorilla.  He still enjoys being close to his mom and dad when he can, and still really enjoys being an only child whenever possible. While Will and Griffin distinctly ask to be picked up ("Up, pweeeee"), Cooper has a different way of saying it: "Ba, pweeee". He loves to blow kisses, and tell us "bye byeeee" as he runs away from us. Cooper is not a biter like his brothers, in fact he manages to avoid most fights with his brothers. He is pretty laid back- even when one of his brothers steals a toy he's playing with. He will either not care, and move on to a different toy, or throw a little crying fit, but quickly get over it. He's not one to retaliate. He's becoming a bit of a mama's boy, which I'm totally OK with- I can often count on him to give me hugs and kisses on demand.