27-30 months old times three

Ian - 27 months old (March 2012)

1. Not that Nadia wasn't affectionate, but Ian really was the cuddler. Oliver really likes his hands to be held. He is more affectionate with strangers (doctors, nurses, etc.) than Ian was.

2. Nadia and Oliver were day and night potty trained. Ian was day time potty trained and was waking up dry sometimes. Oliver was the only one asking for privacy and the only one who managed to get poop ALL over the place, and he did it multiple times! Ugh! Nadia  and Oliver didn't care who took them to the bathroom. Ian preferred either Daddy or PopPop to take him if they were around.

3. Nadia's typical afternoon nap was 3 hours long. Ian's typical nap went from 30 minutes to 45-60 minutes over these three months. A few times his nap exceeded one hour, but it was never a full two hours long (much less 3 hours!). Oliver's typical nap is between 1.5-2 hours, but sometimes he does sleep for 2-3 hours like his big sister did.

4. Nadia was wearing 2T and some 3T clothing at this point. Ian was wearing size 24m/2T for everything except pants. He still was wearing size 18m pants. Oliver is wearing size 24m/2T for everything.

Nadia at 27 months (September 2010)

5. Nadia and Ian both were prone to asking people again and again and again "what's your name?". Ian became a lot friendlier during this time span, but Nadia was still far more of an extrovert than Ian or Oliver. I've never heard Oliver ask anyone what their name is. In December he started going up to strangers (always men) and asking (through body language) if he could sit on their laps. Ian would never have done something like that. Evidently there is one girl in his class at church who is crazy about him. Her dad told me that she talks about Oliver all the time!

6. Nadia was far more fixated on the day's schedule than Ian or Oliver. Their understanding of time and routines is not nearly as advanced as hers was at this age.

7. Ian made a LOT of progress with eating during this time span (he spent 4 weeks in the intensive feeding program when he was this age), but he was still light years behind where Nadia and Oliver were. Oliver wins the prize for the best eater in our family! Oliver also drinks far more water than his siblings ever have. Unfortunately he can now reach the water dispenser on the refrigerator. This was never a problem with the other two because they didn't like to drink water. Thankfully water doesn't make as much of a mess as milk does on the floor!

Oliver at 27 months old (November 2014)

8. The boys were more prone to running, hitting, pushing, throwing things, and playing rough house than Nadia was. Thankfully none of them ever went through a biting or hair pulling phase like many do. Oliver BY FAR has the worst temper of our three kids. He even threw a plate and broke it in a million pieces once! Oi vey!

9.Ian was more interested in animals and knew the names of more animals than Nadia or Oliver.

10. Ian cried a lot more than Nadia or Oliver.

11. Ian and Nadia both could count to 13 without any mistakes. Oliver can't count yet.

12. Nadia had more books memorized than Ian, and Ian had more books memorized than Oliver, but they all could sing the lyrics to many songs. Lately I've been trying to be more purposeful about reading books to Oliver that are on his level. It's so easy for me just to read books that are geared to his siblings.

Nadia - 30 months old (December 2010)

13. Nadia didn't mind getting messy. Ian went nuts if his clothes got wet. Oliver is not quite as dramatic as Ian, but he is more like Ian than Nadia in this regard. Both boys were more conscious of trying to stay clean and dry than Nadia was. Oliver loves washing his hands though, and Ian hated doing that.

14. Ian has far stronger opinions about what clothing, shoes, and socks he wore than Nadia or Oliver did. It also was a difficult transition for Ian to switch from pants to shorts, whereas this wasn't an issue for his siblings.

15. Nadia and Oliver were much braver than Ian, especially on the playground.

16. Nadia was much better at following instructions. She was doing gymanstics at this age whereas her brothers weren't ready for that at this age.

17. Ian showed more imagination in terms of coloring, Play-doh, and dressing dolls than his siblings were at this age.

18. Ian spent many more hours playing with Little People, cars, and the Fisher Price dollhouse than Nadia or Oliver ever have.

Ian at 30 months (June 2012)

19. Ian made the adjustment to a twin size bed at 29 months whereas we didn't have Nadia move from her crib until after she turned 30 months old. None of them had issues without falling out bed, but the transition definitely went more smoothly for Nadia, although who knows if Ian's would have been easier if the transition hadn't happened shortly before my hospital stays. Oliver made the transition at 28 months. He usually gets up once each night to go potty, which wasn't the case for his siblings when they were night time potty trained.

20. All three kids enjoyed puzzles, but Oliver asks to do them FAR more often than his siblings did. They were just doing peg puzzles at this age, and he can do 25 piece jigsaw puzzles on his own!

21. Ian's first time of going through a long separation from Mommy happened when he was 29 months old. I was in the hospital for 6 days, and there were longer periods of separation that summer during my 10 weeks of bed rest and Oliver's 4 week NICU stay. Nadia's first long separation from Mommy took place when she was 17 months old. I was in the hospital for 12 days that time. It was really hard for both of them although with Ian it showed up more when I came home. Oliver's first separation from me was only 47 hours long, and it took place when he was 29 months old. He handled it very easily since he was with his siblings and grandparents.

22. Nadia and Oliver loved swings from a very early age. Ian just started to enjoy swings around 30 months. He also became independent with going down slides at the same time (whereas Nadia and Oliver were going down on their own at a much younger age).

23. Ian slept in later in the morning than Nadia or Oliver did at this age. He usually slept until at least 7:00am, and he slept until 8:15am on a few occasions. Oliver is usually up sometime between 6-6:30 (and sometimes earlier than that).

24. Ian and Nadia were very healthy (if you don't count Ian's eosinophilic esophagitis). They only went to the Pediatrician for well visits. Oliver was in the PICU for four days due to RSV, asthma, and a collapsed lung at 28 months.

25. Nadia and Oliver liked Knoebels, but they never asked to go as often as Ian did. He was obsessed with the fire engine and whip.