Quiz Your Toddler - Then and Now

A little over 5 months ago, I asked the boys these questions.  The first answer (in orange) was their answer at that time. I asked them again today.  I added their answers (in green).  I can't believe how far their language has come!

What's your name?
"Ollie" 
"I Ollie!"

How old are you?
"I two!" 
"Uh...3!"

When is your birthday? 
"Cow?" 
"July 5th"

How old is daddy?
"Daddy? I two!" 
"40"

How old is mommy?
"Mommy? I two!" 
"Mommy?  Mommy's 20!" (aww...thanks, buddy!)

What's your favorite color? 
"White" 
"Uh...gray!"

What's your favorite food? 
"Oranges, popcorn" 
"Uh...smoothie.  I like smoothies."

Who's your best friend? 
"Sarah! Auntie Lisa! Baby Halle!" 
"Mama!" (heart melting!)

What's your favorite show?
"ABC Show" (Preschool Prep), "123 Crew" (Numbers Parade) 
"Paw Patrol" (doubtful...he rarely watches it)

What's your favorite movie?
"Minions!" 
"Uh...Angry Birds." (pretty sure he just said this because it was on when I asked him)

What's your favorite song? 
"Music? Christmas Lights!" 
"Uh...hmm...Twinkle Twinkle"

What's your favorite animal? 
"Chicken! Cow!" 
"Lion...my favorite is lion"

What are you scared of? 
"Scared?" 
"I scared of skunk!" (me too, kid!)

What makes you happy? 
"Happy! 
"Mama!" (I seriously love this kid)

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What's your name? 
"Nolan!" 
"Nolan"

How old are you? 
"Nolan" (he knows this) 
"I'm 3!"

When is your birthday? 
"Nolan happy" 
"July 5th"

How old is daddy? 
"One Daddy" 
"I think Daddy 40" (must be all those gray hairs...)

How old is mommy? 
"Two Mommy" 
"35" (I liked Ollie's answer better)


What's your favorite color? 
"Red" 
"Color? Black."

What's your favorite food? 
"Popcorns" 
"Peach and pie...and cherries.  And I eat broccoli and strawberries and watermelon and yogurt and pineapple." (I believe him on the pie, broccoli, watermelon, and yogurt...the other things, not so much)

Who's your best friend? 
"Auntie Lisa" 
"Um...Alex K" (sorry, Auntie...you've been replaced)

What's your favorite show? 
"ABC Show" (Preschool Prep) 
"ABC Show" (some things never change)

What's your favorite movie? 
"Movie?" 
"Toy Story movie"

What's your favorite song? 
"This song" 
"ABC song"

What's your favorite animal? 
"Animal?Cat!" 
"Camel" (this really is his favorite)

What are you scared of? 
"Sad" 
"I scared of monster"

What makes you happy? 
"Happy Nolan!" 
"Smiling"

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What's your name? 
"Lucas" 
"Um, I Ollie" After telling him "You're not Ollie..." "Um, I Lucas."

How old are you? 
"Lucas" 
"Um...3!"

When is your birthday? 
"Lucas" 
"Um...July 5th"

How old is daddy? 
"Daddy" 
"One!"

How old is mommy? 
"Mama, Lucas" 
"One!"

What's your favorite color? 
"Green" 
"Um...red"

What's your favorite food? 
"Eat! Food!" 
"Um...let's try watermelon.  I like watermelon."

Who's your best friend? 
"Mama" 
"Um um um...let's try...um...Alex K or Alex E" (both of these kids are in Nolan's class, not Lucas')

What's your favorite show? 
"1-2-3 Crew" (Numbers World) 
"Um, I like...let's try, um...choo-choos.  I like choo choos." (Thomas the Train)

What's your favorite movie? 
"1-2-3 Crew" 
"Um...dragon movie" ("How to Train Your Dragon)

What's your favorite song? 
"1-2-3 Crew" 
"Um...Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!"

What's your favorite animal? 
"Green? Lucas!" 
"Um, let's try camel." 

What are you scared of? 
*makes sad face* 
"Um...sad."

What makes you happy? 
"Happy!" 
"Um...laughing."

Fall Fun: Louisburg Cider Mill & Pumpkin Patch

We had such a fun weekend!  Grammy and Papa came to see us and we packed our weekend with a whole lot of fall fun!

On Friday, we went out to the Louisburg Cider Mill.  We got donuts, toured the cider mill, rode tractors, looked at the farm animals, rode the hayride down to the giant slide, took pictures next to the "Mater Truck", went to the pumpkin patch, and played in a super cool tunnel!  Auntie Jen and Dakota joined us too!  I got so many great pictures of the boys and Dakota!  Here are some highlights:

Nice Boys

At the end of days like today, I can't help but think James and I must being doing something right with these boys. I got several compliments on the boys today. I'm used to the "Oh, they're so cute!" comments, but today I had several people compliment them on their behavior.

The first two were random strangers at Walmart. We just needed to make a quick trip to look for tights for their Halloween costumes. Walmart doesn't have double or triple carts (only one of the many reasons I don't typically shop there), so we decided to go at it on foot. I told them ahead of time that I expected them to all hold hands and that if they were well-behaved, we could pick out some stickers (I love that we're at the age where bribery...err, I mean positive reinforcement, works). I have to hand it to them, they behaved beautifully. We got what we needed. They stayed together and we were able to get in and out of there without any issues. While checking out, I had a lady comment on how good they were. Then as we were walking through the parking lot, an older man rolled down the window of his truck and yelled out "You look like you're rich! You've got the kind of wealth money can't buy. Enjoy those precious gifts." It definitely made me smile.

Then this evening as I was picking up the boys from the kids zone at the Y, the ladies working the child care just kept going on and on about how cute they were and how they're such nice boys and that they're always so well-behaved when they're there. These are the kinds of things you want to hear about your kids.

First Day of Preschool!

I'd be lying if I said there weren't tears.  Just mine though.  Weren't they just in the NICU yesterday?

Meet the Teacher Night

Our boys are going to be going to preschool is less than a week!!!  I know!  How in the world is this possible???  Last night we got to meet their teachers.  Ollie has Ms. Chris.  Lucas has Ms. Kristi, and Nolan has Ms. Kim.  That's not confusing or anything.

The boys had a great time checking out their new classrooms.  I think they're still a little confused about the idea of not being together in the same class.  If I'm honest, I'm a big hot mess about it all.  I feel like they'll be fine without me...but not so sure how they'll do without each other.  I hope we're making the right decision about separating them.  I'm seriously losing sleep at night about it.

But for now, let's just look at these cute pictures of them meeting their teachers!

3 Year Appointment

You know your boys have an awesome doctor when they all three go run and hug her when they first see her.  3 year appointments went really well!  Guess all the doctors books, Daniel Tiger doctor episodes, and playing "doctor" (to help prep them) paid off!!!  The only meltdown took place when we had to leave.  Ollie just didn't want to go!

Our stats:

Ollie - 31.8 lbs, 37 in

Nolan - 28.2 lbs, 35.8 in

Lucas - 27.2 lbs, 35.5 in

July 5th

July 5th. As I lay in (Nolan's) bed in the wee hours of the morning, I can't help but wonder if it will always be like this. Over the years to come, will there one day be a day where I don't wake up in the middle of the night on this day and remember all the little details of their birth? That feeling of fear I had as I sat on the edge of the table in that OR getting my spinal block, not knowing if James would make it on time. Or the fear of not knowing if my babies would be okay. The relief I felt when they all three came out crying. The mixed emotions that flooded through me while I lay in recovery, eagerly waiting to be wheeled up to the NICU so I could finally meet my babies. Excitement. Anticipation. Frustration. Longing. The joy I felt when I saw each of them and all their tiny little features. The deep desire to hold them but not being able to. The adrenaline of that whole day and how I refused to rest because I just wanted to be with my babies. Will I always remember it all so vividly? Or will these feelings and memories one day fade? I truly can't believe they're three. They're little boys. No longer can I get away with calling them babies, even though these sweet little boys will always be my babies. Happy Birthday, Oliver. Happy Birthday, Nolan. Happy Birthday, Lucas. Thank you for letting me be your Mommy. I love you all more than anything!

Cute/Funny Things Our Boys Do/Say

I feel like the boys are constantly doing and saying the funniest things.  I figured I should keep a record of all these things so I can look back on them down the road.

• The other day I wore a black and white striped shirt.  All the long the boys kept pointing at me and yelling "Zee-bah!  Zee-bah!"
• Lately, Nolan has become a bit bossy.  A while back, he was sitting next to Lucas and realized that Lucas was picking his nose.  He batted his hand away from his nose while yelling "No no, Uckas!  Yucky gross, Uckas!"
• The boys love to draw on our easel with sidewalk chalk.  The other day Lucas was erasing everything and just kept saying "Bye bye" to the disappearing chalk.  It was cute.

I'm sure there will be many more to add to this, but just thought I should write these down.