Lucy and Ellory loved turning three! They had a great time at their Frozen party, and have thoroughly enjoyed the release of Frozen 2. That soundtrack is a favorite! At their three year wellness check, Ellory was 32 lbs. (64%) and 38” (73%). Lucy was 27 lbs. (13%), and 38” (73%). On March 6, Lucy's bottom left permanent tooth started coming in! The dentist said it could come in early since there was a hole (last fall her and Ellory bonked heads just wrong on the slide and Lucy's bottom left tooth was super loose, so we had to pull it). About a month ago, they switched to 4T clothes. Ellory just switched to size 9 shoes, and Lucy is still wearing size 8. Ellory got glasses right before Christmas, and has been doing super well wearing them! It took a couple weeks to get used to them and she would sometimes take them off, but never really fought us on wearing them and for a long time now has been wearing them consistently with no issues. I think she realizes they help! We were able to meet their new cousin, Murphy, back in January, which was awesome!
I have now quit calling nap time nap time and now just call it rest time. It's hit or miss if it's good or not- usually one is good, either rest time or bed time. Though, it's not too bad at all when I think of when they first switched to big girl beds- that was a hard few months. Even if they aren't sleeping, they usually do a pretty good job of not being too crazy or loud. Not always, but usually! Another update is that we took the baby gate off of their door and now they sleep with the door closed. This transition went amazingly well! Lucy still naps almost everyday, but not as long usually as it used to be, and she either takes longer to fall asleep or wakes up earlier because her and Ellory are playing. Ellory is maybe 50/50 for her naps? She definitely doesn't take one everyday. Ellory is still my rock night time sleeper, and Lucy still somewhat frequently wakes in the night, though thankfully goes back to sleep easily. When everyone except me had the flu back in February, that threw off Lucy's sleep for awhile and she was up multiple times a night, but thankfully has been doing better lately, even somewhat regularly in the last couple weeks sleeping through the night! Lucy has been doing super well with being dry and is dry almost every morning, and I don't put a pull up on her during rest time anymore either. Ellory has just recently started being dry some mornings, but even when she's wet, it's not near as wet as it used to be. Ellory still naps in a pull up (just to be safe) because we are still working on pooping for her. She saw a pediatric GI specialist in Sioux Falls back in March (because of long term constipation issues), right before social distancing started, and we've tried two colon cleanses to hopefully clear her out and make her poop regularly soft. I feel like it's still too soon to give a complete update of how those worked. It has made it softer, thankfully, but still working on other aspects and independence in that area.
We are currently in the middle of COVID-19, which has been so wild! What a different, unprecedented time. We have been practicing social distancing since March 16. Lucy and Ellory have handled it quite well overall. They don't quite understand, but do get the basics that we can't go places or see people because of the virus that makes people sick. They are missing family/friends and activities, but in a different way than Norah because they are younger. They have been enjoying virtual Kindermusik, library videos, and have really enjoyed watching Norah's virtual preschool videos. We started doing a preschool workbook with them too, just for practice and to get ready for preschool (like tracing objects, color identification, etc.- beginning preschool information), and they love it and think it's so fun to have their own “big kid” work. They are both very excited to go to preschool in the fall and talk about it often!
Everyone is enjoying the warmer weather and Lucy and Ellory love playing outside. Ellory still really loves chalk like last summer, and she loves her scooter and the water table and sand table. Lucy recently learned how to ride a 12 inch bike with training wheels and we are amazed at how she zips around! She is so determined and has incredible stamina for a 3 year old. We have tried to teach Ellory how to ride a bike, but she's not very interested. She will pick her scooter first every time, and loves to go for family bike rides (which we have been doing a lot of lately), but is totally fine riding in the Burley while Norah and Lucy ride their bikes. We will keep practicing, but also don't want to force it. Lucy loves to make sand/mud creations outside with Norah with the sand and kitchen toys.
It's so fun to watch them together. The twin bond is something really special. Of course, they bother each other sometimes, but most of the time they get along quite well. All three play together often as well, but there's something different about Norah being older and having things that are just for her based on her age. We miss Norah while she's at school, of course, but it's neat to watch Lucy and Ellory play together during that time too. In public, Ellory usually participates in activities more, like at the library or Kindermusik, and Lucy stays closer to be, but they totally flip at home. At home, Lucy is on the move and louder. She goes and goes. Ellory likes to take quiet breaks sometimes and will play by herself a bit more or just lay in her bed for a couple minutes to recharge. They both amaze me with how sweet they can be to each other and Norah sometimes. One of my favorite things is hearing them sing worship songs- so sweet! We love you so much, Lucy and Ellory! You are so very special to us!