All About Isaac

I have been asked more than a few times how I tell the boys apart to which my initial reaction is "are you crazy, just look at them", but then realizing how three small boys all dressed the same must look to others who don't see them everyday, I suddenly understand. It has got me thinking though...no laughing...about how Evan, Isaac, and Drew are so similar yet so different. So the next three posts will be about each individual little guy starting with Isaac.

Ike, Ikie, Ike-n-stuff, Mob Boss, Isaac, whatever you like to call him, this kid is busy! I like to call him Isaac the Mover. He is constantly moving things around the playroom; pushing toys, throwing things out, stacking them up, you name it he is moving it...or trying to climb it! Isaac gets very focused on his project du jour and gets VERY angry if something or someone gets in his way, thus our biting problem. He has gotten a lot better about biting because now when he can't take the book or toy away from someone else or push the slide over he will stomp his little feet and fake cry. That is right-a tantrum. I will take this 5 second tantrum any day over the biting though!!!

Isaac does like to take breaks from his intense focus on projects to run and jump in your arms and give you a big hug. He is very friendly and lovable and will almost always give kisses and hugs when asked (and mommy asks a lot). He is also the "father hen" of the group and likes to give binkies and toys to his brothers (as long as he is done with it) when they are upset and also likes to give bites of his snacks away!

Mr. Ike is definitely our parrot! I will really need to start watching what I say around him soon and will need to find something besides dummy to call the dog! He will try his hardest to repeat anything you ask him to and is getting really good at talking.

If you know Isaac then you know he loves to eat! He has always been my best eater but only recently has been given all of his food at once because of his tendency to shove it ALL in his mouth at once. He still eats too much at once but is getting better at it because his fork is slowing him down a bit:)

Here are some pictures of Isaac doing what he does...

Ikie loves to push the wagon. Sometimes when we are at the park he wonders off to push the wagon around!

Don't let his "uh oh" face fool you. He isn't scared of anything!

Why would I go around and use the steps, mom? I can just climb up the side of the playground equipment!

We brought a ball with us to the park on this day and I sort of regretted it because Isaac was obsessed with taking it up to the top of the slide and rolling it down over and over and over. The poor guy was working so hard, he was huffing and puffing but apparently having fun.

I even tried throwing the ball out in the field to try to get him to do something else but all he did was go get the ball (after crying) and head right back to the slide!

Little Isaac.

Socks

The boys recently discovered how to take my socks off. They think that it is really funny to take off my socks and try to put them on, which consists of setting them on their feet. I thought I would help them out and put my socks on them which just looked weird because they were pink with stripes so I got them each a pair of daddy's socks and they loved it! I pretty sure this was all just for my entertainment though!!

Evan, Isaac, and Drew.

Isaac and Drew.

Sir Evan.
Look mom! This is typical "wild Ike".

Isaac the elephant.

Tulips!

We made it to the tulip fields this year!!! We managed to find a nice day in the middle of the week to avoid the crowds which was amazing considering our attempt 2 days prior was more like storm chasing! I could not get out from under those dang rain clouds but could clearly see sunny skies all around us! Although the boys were not awed by the rows and rows of tulips they are always up for an adventure and some good ol' people watching...or more like getting watched by people! We were able to take a few good pictures even with people pointing and not-so-subtly saying "look, triplets". We made a full loop around the field at Tulip Town and braved the mud. Good thing I wore boots! Tulip Town had some really great large kites flying that they boys loved and a big empty field to run in that they loved even more. After the tulips we went to a park where all three boys touched a dirty sock on the ground but had a great time getting some energy out. And to end the day we had dinner at the Olive Garden. Surprisingly, this has turned out to be a good restaurant for the boys because of the bread sticks. Casey and I can actually eat because of them. It was also a great opportunity for Evan to try out his new trick - shaking hands. So my little guy shook hands with Keith, the evening manager.

The Egger Family

A bored Isaac and mommy.

Isaac found a flower for mommy. I hope it was already on the ground!

Drew touching the flowers.

Isaac smelling! Ahhhh.

Evan is my daisy picker. He always stops to inspect the grass and pick something!

Casey and the boys watching a tractor go by. So exciting!

Casey with a bouquet of babies!

Freedom!

Casey, Drew, and Evan.

Easter Egger Hunt

For Easter this year we headed over to Grandma and Papa's where we also got to hang out with Uncle Johnny, Auntie Ioanna, and cousin JW. Auntie had a great idea to have an Easter egg hunt for the boys which I didn't think Evan, Isaac, and Drew would do so good at but could at least enjoy a good run outside with their big cousin JW. Little did we know that our boys were bred for egg hunting! They followed JW's lead and were soon racing around putting eggs in their baskets. It was so much fun to watch them all. They were all so good it only took a few minutes for them to find all of the eggs so we just kept taking them out of their baskets and re-hiding them over and over. I tried to take some pictures but when the all of the boys get together they get pretty excited so all I end up getting are pictures of the back of everyone's heads! We had such a good time. Thanks for the great idea Auntie!!!

Drew, Isaac, JW, and Evan eagerly waiting for their Easter baskets from Grandma and Papa.

Oh my gosh! Trucks and ducks! Our favorite things!!!!

Gotchya! Finally I got a picture of JW's cute little face. This kid is fast!!!
JW getting some help from Papa.
Evan

Drew

We have no idea how our mad scientist Isaac ended up with a basket full of just orange eggs but we have decided he must be brilliant.

Evan was very concerned when the eggs would open and ask you to fix them. So cute!

Ikie running with eggs.

Drew must have already spotted his next egg!

Super Heroes

Here are my little super heroes. Their special powers change daily but for the most part Isaac is Superman, Drew is Batman, and Evan is Spiderman. One day they will smile when I ask!

Valentines

Since Casey was out of town working on Valentine's Day, the boys decided that they would like to get dressed up and be sweet little Valentines for Grandma and Papa Grose. They even made a card! Here are the little heart breakers.

Say What?

Language development for the boys is very important to Casey and I especially after learning that multiples can have a delay because they get less one on one time talking with mom and dad. We try really hard to talk about everything around them, look at books, sing songs, emphasize sounds, and avoid baby talk. We even bought the "Your Baby Can Read" DVDs - no laughing. Even after all of the effort we put into their language development I have found that they are each other's biggest influence. They all say or don't say pretty much the same things and make the same sounds for words. Watching the boys grow and develop is fun, rewarding, and very interesting. I have found it very strange that the boys will name some animals and make some animal sounds but none of them will name an animal and make it's sound together. It is one or the other with them!! For example they say dog (all the time) but will not make a dog sound. They will make a cat sound (which is a hilarious high pitched screech) but will not say cat. It is pretty funny and I always know when our cat is in the room. No wonder she doesn't stick around for long though!

Although the boys are selective in choosing words to say and sounds to make they surprise me everyday with how many words they understand! They know most of their body parts - head (used to be Isaac's favorite word to say as he slapped his head), shoulders, knees, toes (yes, they follow along with the song), eyes, ears, mouth, nose, tongue, and arms. They can pick out different animals in books and while playing with their Little People farm set. At 16 months old the words the boys are saying are:

dog=daw

ball=baw
up=mu-p

milk=nil

more=mo

snack=na

banana=ba by Drew and nana by Evan - together they make the whole word

DVD=DVD (so funny)

mama

dada

Brewster=B or daw

papa

baby

bus=bu

head=he

blueberry and watermelon, but will they say cat, no!

Evan, Isaac, and Drew will all make a T and S sound but refuse to use them with words! The sounds the boys like to make include:

Elephant - they even lift their arms up like the elephant's trunk

cat

car

truck

fire engine (Drew's favorite)

airplane

owl

cow - Evan is the only one who will make this sound and he says meeeeee

Another word the boys love is toast. No they don't say it, they just laugh every time I say it. They are so funny!

Evan

Isaac

Drew