Differences in Triplets' Development

No two multiples develop at the same pace. I know its hard to try to not compare your baby with another baby --but, man, its especially difficult when you have two or more babies being raised in the same family. Our triplets are nearing their 1st birthday and are (or will be soon, we hope) going through dramatic developments and now, more than ever, its so easy to see the differences between this one and that one or between our one girl and two boys. I can imagine a baby development researcher (if there such a profession) coming to our house and thrilled to see the many differences in stages our three are exhibiting proving, overwhelmingly, that it is true, all babies develop at their own pre-programmed pace. I just need to keep reminding myself of this fact. For example, Ava, is setting herself up as the independent, maybe even the leader of the trio, totally oblivious to her brothers who happen to be right underneath her as she crawls over them to reach a favorite toy. Ava has been the first in many gross motor movements, so far. Although the youngest, Grayson, was the first to sit up at 6 months, Ava has been the first to roll over, to crawl, to come to a sitting position when laying on her stomach, to stand up from a crawling position and most likely, the first to walk before their 1st birthday. She was also the first to get a tooth and the first to eat Cheerios and those beloved Gerber Fruit Puffs. Did this all happen because she was the first born? Probably not. Maybe because she's a girl? Possibly. Now, lets take a closer look at her brothers. Cameron is the second born and is far from being second on doing everything his sister is doing. He began sitting up at 6 1/2 months and has been very contented to be in this position since then (interesting that he takes after his 6 year old big brother who also was very happy not to begin moving until his 11th month). Cameron has always disliked the idea of being stuck on his stomach (until very recently) and was even happy if he happen to topple over onto his back and no one was around to help him sit up. When will this boy start moving? I can see him eyeing his sister as she scoots around the house, grabbing forgotten magazines on the floor or an uneaten cookie crumb, but has no motivation to try and keep up. On the other hand, Cam has been the first to really take to eating jar foods when they were first introduced. We are also noticing he is becoming quite the vocalizer (more like the screamer) when things don't go his way or wants our attention. Ava rarely says a word and I'm becoming a little frightened of our little girl who silently moves about the house and into trouble. Grayson, the youngest of our family, although has also not been the first in many gross motor movements (like his brother), he has been the first of many other things. Like I mentioned earlier, he was the first to get his balance and sit up. He has also been the first to copy vocal sounds from his mommy and daddy. He was the first to shake his head no and he was also the first to try and attempt to stack things on top of each other. Much to our dismay though, he does NOT like the idea at all of being on his stomach and we see him and Cameron making attempts to crawl much later then their sister. However, you never know, one of these two might actually make the first attempt to walk after being fed up with Ava getting all the good toys first. It is amazing and wonderful to see these three together -- as they reach certain stages (whenever they are ready to) -- you are able to see their excitement and even a little bit of passion as they discover new things they can do. Very soon, these three little separate beings will also begin to show each other on how they do things. Yikes on that comment!! For now, we are thrilled to see them each perfect the skills that they have so far. Labels: development, hints