18-21 Months Times 3

Nadia at 18 months (12-24-2009)

1. At 21 months Nadia had 14 teeth, Oliver has 12 teeth, and Ian had 8 teeth. Oliver has been far more enamored with brushing his teeth than his siblings ever have.

2. At 21 months Nadia and Oliver were wearing 24 month or 2T clothing with the exception of pants (18 months). Ian was wearing 18 month clothing, and there were some 18 month shorts that he couldn't wear because his waist was too small (they just fell right off of him). As for pants, he still wore size 12 months.

3. Nadia and Oliver were perfecting their skills with using a fork and spoon. We were still working on getting Ian to eat pureed food that I fed him by spoon. A fork had never entered his mouth. Of course Nadia and Oliver never had to deal with eosinophilic esophagitis or reflux.

4. Nadia and Oliver were very friendly at this age with waving and saying "hi" to strangers at the grocery store and such. Ian didn't interact with strangers At All.

Ian at 18 months (6-12-11)

5. Nadia and Oliver were perfectly content to walk around the house barefoot. Ian wanted to have his shoes on all the time. He also was more interested in dressing up than his siblings at this age. Ian loved wearing hats. Oliver likes to pick what he wears to bed and during the day. He points to what he wants in his drawer and says "these!".

6. At this age we were impressed with Nadia's memory and also her sense of humor. The boy's language skills weren't developed enough yet for us to be aware of either of these.

Oliver 2/6/14 (one day shy of 18 months)

7. Nadia could identify several colors at 21 months old. It wasn't obvious at this age that Ian knew any of his colors, but he could count to five! Oliver can't count, but he said the word "green" when pointing to something that was green.

8. Ian took off during this time period in terms of his vocabulary. His expressive vocabulary was about 100 words at 21 months. Nadia's was over 200 words at 20 months. Nadia was already speaking in sentences at this stage. Ian had said a couple of two word combinations (like "shoe on"), but usually he just said one word at a time. Oliver has said a few sentences (3-4 words long), but his vocabulary is smaller than both of his siblings at this age. His favorite words include: Mama, Dada, no, juice, more, cracker, tv, these, and teeth.

9. All three kids went to bed around 8:00pm. Although Nadia occasionally slept until 7:30am, it was pretty rare for her. She usually got up between 6:00-6:30. By 21 months old Ian was sleeping until at least 7:00am and sometimes as late as 8:00am. Oliver has been getting up between 6:45-7:00 lately.

Nadia at 21 months (3-24-10)

11. All three kids went down for their (one) nap sometime between 12pm and 1pm when they were this age. Nadia's nap was 90 minutes to 3 hours long. Ian's was typically 15-25 minutes long. Oliver's is usually 60-80 minutes long.

11. Nadia and Oliver could do simple puzzles at this age. Nadia also engaged in imaginary play. Ian hadn't gotten into either of those at this age. The boys spent far more time looking at books and playing independently than Nadia did at this age. Ian showed far more interest in vehicles than his siblings. Oliver loves to play with Mr. Potato Head more than his siblings ever have.

9/12/11 - Ian at 21 months

12. Ian was a boy on the GO. He loved to run, run, run (far more than Nadia or Oliver at this age). The boys threw, hit, and kicked a lot more than Nadia ever did. We're working on that with Oliver right now.

13. During this time span Ian had speech therapy and occupational therapy once a week, saw a psychologist, allergist, GI doctor, and urologist, and was under general anesthesia 3 times in the last 4 months. Nadia has never been seen by any of those medical professionals or ever been under anesthesia. During this time span Oliver had one surgery (that involved a one night admission) and also a four day hospitalization for RSV and RAD.

14. Nadia sucked her thumb for comfort whereas Ian soothed himself by touching his belly button. Oliver thus far doesn't have a soothing habit. Thank goodness.

15. Nadia and Oliver were far more independent than Ian.

16. Nadia and Oliver were both good eaters from 6 months to 18 months, but it was around that age that Nadia began to be much pickier. Oliver thankfully will still eat just about anything. He has the most voracious appetite of the three kids. Many times during the day he will bring me a small plastic container, which is one of his ways of asking for food.