Three personalities

Let me update you on the craziness of raising three toddlers 16 months apart. Kaison, our oldest, is currently 2. He will turn 3 in October, which is wild to think about! The twins, Kinzley and Koehn, are 17 months old. I feel like right now we are at a time where all the kids are developing and learning new things constantly. The twins are also starting to show more of their own personality.

We recently purchased a couple remote control cars for Kaison thinking my husband could teach him how to work the remotes and how to navigate the cars around obstacles. Well as soon as we put a remote in Kaison’s hands, he knew what to do. He learned within 2 minutes which buttons made the cars go forward and backwards, and what buttons made the cars turn left and right. I was mind blown at how quickly he was able to catch onto this.

Kaison has also started potty training! Well, kind of. We had queues that he was ready to start this before our family vacation a few weeks ago, but I didn’t want to add another level of stress to the trip, so we held off until we returned home. We let him pick out his own little toilet and then we set it up across from the main toilet. He sits on it with no issue; however, he does not GO to the bathroom. He has only gone pee 1 time so far.

We have him sit on his toilet when he wakes up, and then before bed. In a few days we will have him sit on it every couple of hours, but right now we just want him to get used to it. He smiles and talks to me when he is sitting on his toilet but doesn’t use the restroom. We have tried using stickers, chocolate chips, and other favorite items of his as incentives but so far nothing seems to entice him. I know we are only at the beginning stages, and they say patience and consistency are key, so fingers crossed that once we start having him go more often, we will begin to see results.

Kinzley is still our petite girl. Even though she is 10+ pounds lighter than her brothers and inches shorter, she doesn’t let them push her around. She will grab onto Koehn’s shirts and just pull him along with her as they walk, both of which think it’s the funniest thing right now. We also just witnessed her get football tackled by Kaison because he wanted the balloon she had, and Kinzley was able to push Kaison off her. If you’re wondering Kaison did not get that balloon LOL. Even though she has shown us that she will be able to defend herself from her brothers, she is such a sweet little girl. She loves her daddy cuddles and loves to sit on your lap whenever she can. Blankets are her best friend; she always has one within reach of her and when she’s getting tired, she will have a blanket in one hand and her thumb in her mouth.

She is teething currently. Unlike the boys, Kinzley is already getting her molars which has not been pleasant. She has been very irritable and does not want to eat much. She also has bad teething poops which is causing a diaper rash. Other than that, Kinzley has also been very brave recently and shown us that she can complete somersaults. Not just one, but she can do 8 back-to-back! She also loves standing on my husbands’ shoulders. He will wrap his hands around her waist and then flip her forwards to put her down – which she loves! She just smiles and laughs every time. We will see how next summer goes but I think when she turns 3, we will enroll her in a couple of gymnastics classes and see how she does!

Koehn is my little cuddle buddy and my mini shadow. I have read many times that if you have multiple children there will always be one child who is a “clinger” – Koehn is that child. He follows me wherever I go, wants to help me with everything I do, and will always ask to be held and placed on my hip. Out of all three of the kids, he is the one that will sit down with me and do quiet activities like reading, puzzles, and blocks with no hesitation. Contrary to that, he also loves giving his parents strokes due to how accident prone he is. We have had more ER visits with Koehn than any other kid. We called 911 and had the EMTs show up at our house because he knocked himself out! He just has no fear factor when it comes to things. He will climb onto the couches and nosedive off for the heck of it. Heights don’t seem to bother him at all so he will climb and climb on things that he is NOT supposed to climb on. So even though he is the sweetest most cuddly little boy, he is also just a crazy toddler. Think of the sweet and sour patch kids – he is like that but a sweet and crazy version.

As a mom of three, I’ve been asked many questions regarding my kids. Recently, someone asked me a question I have never been asked before. The question was “how would you describe each of your kids’ personalities in three words?”. This probably took me longer to answer than it should have but it also really made me think about each one of my kids separately in ways I hadn’t thought about.

I would describe Kaison’s personality as independent, spirited, and adventurous.

I would describe Kinzley’s personality as resilient, interactive, and reserved (with others outside of the family).

I would describe Koehn’s personality as affectionate, sensitive, and fearless.

These three little kids mean the world to my husband and me. We are so proud of who they are becoming and cannot wait to watch them continue to grow and learn new things.