15 Fun Facts About My Kids

At the suggestion of a blogger I simply adore, The Feminist Breeder, I'm writing up some fun facts about my kiddos to capture a snapshot of who they are in February 2012. I love to talk about my kids so this should be fun!

1. Katelyn has suddenly started acting like a much older child. For example, she's become addicted to her mp3 player, which she bought with money she received for her birthday. Currently, her favorites are Islands in the Stream by Kenny Rogers and Alkaline Trio's cover of  I Held Her in My Arms by the Violent Femmes. She refuses to wear shoes with mud on them to the grocery store because they're "disgusting" and "at least 10 people are going to judge her." Her words - not mine! Sometimes it's refreshing to see glimpses of a child who is more caring and responsible and other days, I wish she would've stayed 5 years old forever!

Levi's first Valentine's Day

2. At 23 months of age, Evan is the single most destructive child I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Hands down... He can trash the living room, kitchen and dining room singlehandedly in less than 3 minutes. It's astounding!

Evan's busywork while Mom was putting Levi to bed

3. Just shy of 8 months old, Levi has fallen in love with his siblings. He watches them while we eat, he talks to them and pulls their hair and he has goo-goo eyes for Katelyn when she carries him around the house. That's a funny sight considering he's close to half her body weight!

Shooting dagger eyes at his "love bunny" on Valentine's Day

4. Evan is our lefty. He fit right into the statistics, which say that in a family with 4 kids and one left-handed parent, 1 of the kids should be left-handed. That's him. We've known for months now as he's had an extreme preference for doing everything left-handed since a little after turning one.

5. Katelyn and Trevor are currently in the phase where poop is the funniest thing around. Our days are filled with poop jokes and made-up songs about poop and even dances dedicated to poop. I'm seriously looking forward to the end of this phase... (though I'm certain that Evan and Levi will create a nice encore performance at some point)

6. Trevor is the "electronics whisperer..." He seems to possess a natural talent for operating anything which plugs in or runs on batteries, especially if it involves a need for hand-eye coordination. I don't know if these is a bonus skill that results from his Aspergers and OCD or if this is just intrinsic to his nature. Either way, it's pretty cool. He may soon overtake his father as IT of the household.

7. For about a year, Katelyn and Trevor were convinced they're twins. People used to ask if they are twins, but that was about 4 years ago. Maybe they should've been twins. Every once in a while - just to mess with people, they insist they are (again.)

8. All the kids have blue eyes, just like my husband. I had seriously hoped we would have one green eyed child (like me), but unless something crazy happens with Levi, that's not gonna be the case. Katelyn's left eye does have brown stripes. That's called heterochromia and she thinks it's pretty cool.

9. Katelyn and Trevor are 19 months apart in age. Evan and Levi are 15 months apart in age. There's 3 1/2 years between the two "sets" of kids. So far, it's worked out pretty well. Katelyn and Trevor are best buds (and worst enemies on occasion). My hope is that Evan and Levi are are close as the first two...

10. Many kids with Down syndrome (Trisomy 21, aka T21) grow slowly and have difficulty gaining weight. Levi has broken all the rules and is just as heavy as his brothers were at his age and is of average height for almost 8 months old!

11. We have three kids "teething" all at once. There's a good chance we'll reach all four getting teeth at once if Evan's molars aren't completely in by early summer as Trevor will be 6 at the end of August and is likely to have at least one tooth out shortly before then...

12. Evan has just gotten into hugging and giving kisses. It's awesome. He loves on Levi all day long and has plenty of affection left over for Katelyn and Trevor when they get home from school. Lots for Mom and Dad too!

13. Trevor is obsessed with getting a Nintendo DS, despite being informed he'll probably never be allowed to have one. (because of his OCD, he'd likely never ever put it down without a major blowup at us). Despite our assurances that we're not changing our mind, he's putting his faith in the power of positive thinking and continues to suggest it and/or the associated games for whichever gift-giving occasion is next on the calendar.

14. Based on their current growth patterns, both Trevor and Evan are likely to exceed Hubby's height and reach approximately 6'4". That freaks me out. I have a lot of difficulty imagining the day when my child will not only be as tall as me, but actually taller. Too weird!!

15. In Levi's first couple of months, I thought for sure that he was going to have a more observant-type temperment because he was so content just hanging out and watching everything going on around him. Once he gained head control, however, it became very clear that Levi would much rather be moving than not. In fact, I see it as a complete possibility that he may begin army crawling before he masters sitting independently for long periods of time. He hates sitting with a passion because nothing exciting happens when you're sitting still. Good things happen when he's lying on his tummy shoving his feet into the carpet. Toys suddenly get closer and he finds all sorts of nifty things to investigate with his mouth!