Kate and Sabrina are 1!
My first thought is what a relief! We made it this far and things seem to be getting better, even if there are new challenges. Looking back, the 10-month update was probably a bit rosy, because I chose to write it on a good day vs. a bad day. Afterall, who wants to hear whining and problems? Things have changed considerably and the girls are so different, I’m not sure they will end up friends, though I keep hoping.
To celebrate their birthdays I took them each to the playground separately, so they could have quality time with Mommy and do the activities they want, without the constraints of the other sisters. This will be a new tradition and the only challenge is figuring out how often, and where the time comes from. An unexpected benefit of the financial meltdown is that business has slowed a bit, so I have a chance to do some of the things I want to with them.
Once again a few weeks have elapsed since I started writing this, because I keep waiting for a good day to write. Sabrina has been sniffly, and it didn’t seem fair to write while she was in a bad mood. Here is a brief summary of Kate and Sabrina at 1 year:
Kate is definitely the most aggressive of our three girls. She is athletic (based on Jumperoo), smart, ambitious, focused, but very demanding and not particularly nice to Sabrina. Kate is learning to walk and smiles widely any time she accomplishes a few steps. It is wonderful to see the joy she experiences from doing something new or better. She went through a few weeks where she wanted to be walked all the time, holding on to your fingers to take a tour of the house. Now she tries it on her own. Kate generally grunts until she gets what she wants (a book read, a walk, etc.) and insists on feeding herself at dinner-time. When you take an object away from her and hide it and try to distract her, she knows where it is and stays focused on it, which is quite different from what we are used to. She loves seeing how things work – opening and closing doors and drawers, putting simple puzzle pieces in their place, and stacking rings. While she has pushed Sabrina quite frequently in the past, I’ve noticed it seems to be when she is playing with something and Sabrina comes over to join her, so now I try to divert Sabrina’s attention. From Kate’s perspective, perhaps it is not fun having a sibling that wants everything you’re playing with. Now instead of pushing she tends to do a block instead, and she does this with Zoe and other kids as well.
Sabrina is the most mellow of the three girls, which we attribute to the lack of red hair. We sometimes wonder if she ended up in the wrong family, and suspect that there is a nice calm family out there who has a crazy redhead in it and has no idea why she is so different from the rest of their kids. Sabrina still makes happy cooing sounds at things that please and they are guaranteed to turn any bad day into a good one. Sabrina is a proficient crawler but seems to have very little interest in walking. She loves rolling around on the floor reveling in her cuteness. She also really loves Zoe’s Potty Power video and squeals in delight when she sees it coming on. Sabrina loves sucking on the tag of her pancake teddy – it is one of her favorite activities. She also loves her music class and dancing in general, whether it be bouncing on the floor or in your arms. While we think of Sabrina as the easiest, I suspect she may end up being the most difficult in the end. She has no respect for the word No or barriers of any type. She is never deterred from going through the barrier to the kitchen, or pulling out the gate so she can go into the bathroom. I’m not sure she has ever listened to NO, except a few times.
All in all, it is fun to see them developing distinct personalities and to be able to write about them separately. Despite my concerns that they may not end up friends, I do have some cause for hope. Recently I saw them sharing a sisterly glance in the back seat of the mini-van, almost like they were both in on an inside joke that the rest of us wouldn’t understand. Dinner time has become somewhat amusing as they pass food that they don’t want between their trays – they must of learned how to “share” from Zoe.
Next year I will put them in separate classes so they can develop their own friendships and get a break from each other. Perhaps absence will make the heart grow fonder. 
