Baby E, our Elliott Rose, is the “youngest” of the bunch. Many of you may recall that Ellie was tucked way at the top of Mommy’s tummy and has her own penthouse suite in the womb. She was a mover and shaker then and is certainly now. She is fondly called, “Ellie-nado” because she doesn’t sit. Her happy place is anywhere that she can bounce, run, dance without harm… aka a bouncy house.
When Ellie is happy, she is really happy and likewise when Ellie is angry, she is really angry. She is an independent woman who has been the first of V5 to take on crawling, walking, running, going up and down stairs, riding a tricycle, putting on her clothes and shoes, etc. I believe it is because of her determined attitude. If Ellie sets her mind to it, she won’t quit until it is accomplished all by her “own-self.”
It also wasn’t until recently that Ellie-Rosie found her words. She previously talked incredibly fast and it was difficult to decipher what she was saying. She has learned to slow down her speech and is still practing her pronounciation. Many thanks to her Phonic instructor- Mr. Theo- who will often correct her.
Rose’s favorites are easy to guess, as you will see…
Her Favorite Animal: KITTIES!
Her Favorite Stuffed Animal: White Kitty (Marie from Aristocats), Black Kitty Pillow Pal (Whiskers), Little Jaguar Kitty (“Pink Kitty”)
Her Favorite Animated Character: Hello Kitty, known has Kitty-Catch-My-Fire due to the Theme Song
Her Favorite Show: Hello Kitty
Her Favorite Food: Anything without onions
Her Favorite Activity: Moving! Swinging, Dancing, Jumping, Running, Spinning… she doesn’t stop.
Now, let’s look back at Ellie’s second year…
Ellie at two years…
If you really want to turn back the clock, check out Ellie’s First Year…
Kali Mae is the most compassionate quint. She has a sixth sense for the needs of others and truly enjoys caring for her brother and sisters. She also has a special place for animals in her heart. She loves Papa’s dog, Holly, and enjoys going to the local petting farm to see all of the “cute” animals.
K-Mae is our little firecracker and the queen of temper-tantrums. It doesn’t take much to lay Kali out on the floor and send out that shrill, monkey screech. Her cure is typically an outlet for her anguish (stomping her feet, talking it out, etc.) or simple reassurance that it is okay to be angry. She is also the human emoji and has a collection of facial expressions for every occasion.
Kali’s name has ebbed and flowed over the years, but has settled on the originally Kali Mae. She enjoys a variety of nick names, including K, K-Mae and Mae. But, when asked what her name is, she now replies Kali Mae.
Kali has many loves, but the following are her favorites…
Her Favorite Animal: Piggy
Her Favorite Stuffed Animal: Piggy Pancake (featured in If You Give a Pig a Pancake), but you will also find her Moose (If You Give a Moose a Muffin), Minnie Mouse and Yellow Bears tucked in her bed with her.
Her Favorite Animated Character: Peppa Pig
Her Favorite Show: Super Simple Turn and Learn ABC’s
Her Favorite Food: Anything sweet, but in all honesty she’s enjoys everything
Her Favorite Activity: Gardening
Now, here’s a look back at Kali Mae’s second year…
Kali at two years…
If you really want to turn back the clock, check out Kali’s First Year…
Lillian Grace is as sweet as she is silly. She is consistently seeking to please both her parents and her siblings. She is our household helper and loves to lend a hand. Her favorite way to help is to find and retrieve “lost” items. She’s amazing at finding what other’s need, but somehow can’t find what she needs even if it is right under her nose.
Lily’s best friend remains her stuffed koala, Uti. He has been her companion for years now and will not close her eyes at night if he is not tucked right under her chin.
Lily can be silly, but she can also be a tease. She is the best at “pushing her sibs’ buttons.” Whether it be stealing their toy, calling them a goofy name or squishing them, she knows how to rile up the crowd. Her signature move is the Lily Lean; it is Theo’s “fave.” She’s been practicing that one since the womb.
Her other favorites include…
Her Favorite Animal: Koala and Turtle
Her Favorite Stuffed Animal: Uti (of course) but her Mousey (featured in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie) is a close second
Her Favorite Show: Blue Clues
Her Favorite Food: Meat, Lily is a true carnivore
Her Favorite Activity: Family Hugs
Now, here’s a look back at Lillians’ second year…
Lily at two years…
If you really want to turn back the clock, check out Lily’s First Year…
Isabella Marie is three! As we look back and ahead at our Bella-Bean, it is clear that Bella is the most creative, artistic and imaginative among the five. She can entertain herself for hours with intricate story lines. She is a social butterfly, but truly enjoys her alone time.
Bella also appreciates order; “A place for everything and everything in its place” truly describes Bella’s space. Her room may appear to be a mess, but it is perfectly imperfect in her eyes.
She also appears to be the “popular” girl among the V5 and tends to rule the roost. The only card that will trump Bella is Theo; He has a special place in her heart of hearts. Also, since Bella (Felix) and K-Mae (Oscar) have been rooming together they also have become besties. It warms our heart to see them playing hand-in-hand and caring for one another’s needs.
Bella is the opposite of “even keel” and often unpredictable in mood, opinion and action. It’s also difficult to pin her favorites but we’ll try!
Her Favorite Animal: Seal
Her Favorite Stuffed Animal: Truly her Fuzzy blanket or Her Ginormous Brown Bear
Her Favorite Animated Character: Lambie from Doc McStuffins
Her Favorite Show: Doc McStuffins
Her Favorite Food: Avocado
Her Favorite Activity: Snuggling on Daddy’s lap
Now, here’s a look back at Isabella’s second year…
Bella’s at two years…
If you really want to turn back the clock, check out Bella’s First Year…
Another year has passed and it is time to take a look back at each one of the Vanderwall-5. Starting with big brother, Mr. Theodore Joseph!
Mr. Theo is the most well-spoken, genuine and loving three-year-old. His brilliance and considerate-nature often leave me speechless. If he catches you staring off into space, he will kindly ask you what you are thinking about with honest interest. The little guy is truly a sponge; you only have to tell him once and he will remember it. He also enjoys quizzing others to be sure they know, too. It is adorable to catch him teaching his sisters- not only- their abcs and phonics, but all manners.
He is an even keel little fellow, but when he gets excited watch out he will transform into a T-Rex (Theo Rex)! His favorites have also remained the same over the years.
His Favorite Animal: Dog
His Favorite Stuffed Animal: Brown Bear
His Favorite Animated Character: Thomas the Tank Engine
His Favorite Shows: Super Simple ABC’s and Blues Clues “Alphabet Train”
His Favorite Food: Anything and Everything, but don’t stand between Theo and his veggies with hummus
His Favorite Activity: Snuggling while reading a book
Now, here’s a look back at Theo’s second year…
Theo at Two Years…
If you really want to turn back the clock, check out Theo’s First Year…
The summer of 2016 has been a blast! It still amazes me how much children grow up between the ages of two and three; too many milestones to count. At two years… I was so fearful if I caught them climbing, running, and jumping and now at three years, I want them to climb, run and jump! This summer the V5 have had ample opportunity to do so, too! We have explored local dream parks, splash pads, played polar bear plunge in our mini pool and slip and slide, hit up the zoo, farms and bounce on every bouncy house in sight. Not to mention… turning three, moving to “big kid” beds and receiving their very own “park” (aka play house). The kiddos even go to attend their first wedding!
They soak it all in just like the rays of sunshine. It is amazing what they recall from months ago… down to the color socks they wore when we went to the zoo the last time.
I had to capture these precious memories…here’s to many more!
Time continues to roll by; days turn into weeks, weeks into months and now months are quickly turning into years. At some point in the last few months, the V5 turned the corner. One evening, they went to bed little squirmy wormy caterpillars and woke up beautiful butterflies. We have truly witnessed our babies’ metamorphosis into little people.
They are verbal and becoming more articulate; all can mumble through the ABC’s. Their coloring and writing skills are becoming more and more impressive; all can spell their names. Most often you have to rearrange a few letters but they’re all on the paper. They are becoming more independent with each day; all are day-potty trained. They are scary-mobile. I recall keeping them down off high equipment at the park and back from ledges knowing that their little bodies would keep them from doing what their minds were determined to do. But, now, now I just wince a bit as they jump from here to there, or climb as high as they feel comfortable and run as quickly as their legs will carry them. It’s amazing.
My favorite marker of growth, however, is the growth of their imagination. I love watching my children use their creative minds to make up games, stories and scenarios as they either play alone or with each other (rarity, but it does happen). Most of the time you’ll find…
Theo having some “boy-time” playing with his orange lam-bor-ghini and green tractor, heading off to Farm and Fleet.
Bella playing dress-up and hurrying off to church, the grocery store or the eye doctors. She has the most elaborate imagination and will keep herself busy in her creative world for hours if we let her.
Lily typically hovers around any and all of her siblings, wanting to play along or simply snatch the toy their playing with. It’s not malicious, only devious. She’s a little troublemaker. Her favorite scenarios these days are caring for her little koala (Uti) or mouse (Mousie) and helping them learn how to use the potty.
K-Mae loves to write, draw and color. You’ll find her at the blue table writing her name, drawing shapes or coloring little yellow bears and piggies. When she’s not practicing her penmanship, she’ll be running around with Bella. Since those two became roomies a few months ago, they have been nearly inseparable.
Ellie is a mover and a shaker. All of her imaginative play is as active as it can be. Her favorite games to play are “obst-cle” course and “bouncy house” where we rearrange the couch to be a huge square for her to bounce around in. It was a real treat when the Whitakers’ borrowed us their real bouncy house.
It is ever so hard to believe that they will be three years old in two weeks. The transition from toddlerhood has been real physically, emotionally and socially. We have truly watched them turn the corner and are now excited to watch them head down the road to new knowledge, skills and adventures.
Spring is an amazing time of new beginnings, shedding of winter’s layers and welcoming new life. The V5 are enjoying every minute of exploring our new backyard, the neighborhood and all of the flowers and plants starting to poke their heads from the ground.
We formally welcomed Spring at the Madison Area Mom’s of Multiples Spring Fling. The kids had a blast at the Open Gym with all of the trampolines, mats, parallel bars, obstacle courses and toys. We now adoringly call the open gym, the Bouncy House. We, however, picked up a nasty bug at the event and riding on the fun memories, giggles and smiles that we shared last weekend to carry us through. Here are a few of our faves…
Isabella is Cruisin’Lily in her BugTheo is in his Little Deuce CoopPedal to the Metal Ellie Rose is gone in a FlashK-Mae was swerving with authority and a smile
There is a cabin fever epidemic in our household. We are quite thankful that Spring is upon us because we cannot wait to get outdoors!
We tried to make it outside throughout the winter, but the quints’ affinity for snow and cold varies on a wide spectrum. Ellie Rose took on Frosty and loves to galavant through the snow; she anchors the scale at the “love for snow” end point. Mr. Theo dislikes all that snow has to offer; thus anchoring the other end of the spectrum. Kali Mae is our mid-point; She enjoys sitting amidst the drifts catching snowflakes and munching on a snowball. Lily and Bella are a bit more free-spirited and can tolerate it for a bit, but then quickly want to go indoors. Needless to say, our snow experiences typically last about 20-25 minutes, or half of the amount of time it takes to prepare.
How we are treating cabin fever and getting our crazies out…
Everyone, however, loves to be outdoors when it’s warm. We trekked to the park in our neighborhood the other day for the first time. It was very cool to watch our 29-weekers climb the play structure with ease, run around the park, swing on the swings, and best of all get dirty! The V5 are not, typically, fond of getting messy. If they have a drop of water- fondly known as a Dibble-dop – on their clothes, they demand a new outfit. But, when we left the park, everyone had dirty hands and mud stains; it was a true milestone! We look forward to many more mud pies and grass stains in the future.
V5 in their Spring Gear
Lily and TurtleEllie and Her KittyBella, Nana Bear and Mr. Walrus, fondly known as WusRahl
The quints also made their first appearance at Sunday School last week and loved it. They learned a new song, made new friends and didn’t shed a tear. We are very excited to watch them grow in their social skills, as well as, learn about God’s love. They were also very excited to get dressed to go to church!
The V5 in their Sunday Best
Ellie, K-Mae, Lily, Bella and Theo
We (Dad, Mom and Nana B) continue to try our best to stay a step ahead of our crew physically and mentally. It is evident that our bunch needs consistent challenges that stimulate them intellectually and outlets to get their crazies out physically. We welcome suggestions for challenging the V5. Right now, we are:
Reading like book worms
Practicing writing our names, numbers and shapes
Singing songs
Learning our ABC’s and 123’s
Building towers and puzzles
Theo reading the “Dot Book” to Lily
We plan to start:
Practicing with scissors and making more necklaces to improve fine motor skills,
Gardening to foster a love for getting dirty, and
Getting out and about to increase opportunities for social interaction.
The holiday commotion has settled and now the only flurry is the typical day-to-day of having five two-year-olds. This Christmas season was very special because it was the first time we got to see the holiday through a child’s eyes.
The wonder and amazement of gift giving, reindeer, snowflakes and Frosty, as well as, jolly Old St. Nick adds another element to Christmas.
We enjoyed our first Christmas in our new home, travelled to Lake Villa to enjoy our traditional family dinner, and even had our first sleepover with Papa T and Holly.
Christmas Eve Morning and a Very Vanderwall Family Christmas Video
The holiday flew by, and the New Year is upon us. What’s on the docket for 2016? Well, the V5’s vows for 2016 are to…
Learn how to Count to 20
Our munchkins can easily recognize numbers 1-10, but counting (in order) is a skill to-be-mastered. Theo has got 1-11 and a few of the girls can get to 10. One goal is to be able to count to 20 by the end of the year, as well as, count items all the way up to 20. Their new puzzle from Aunt Debbie and the girls will be a key to their success.
Sing the ABC Song
Letter recognition has come easy for the quints, since they have been exposed to so many names since birth. The letters T, I, B, L, K, M and E are hands down the easiest to recognize. Everyone also can recognize all of the upper case letters in the alphabet and most know the lower case, too. Since the V5 are really into singing now, we are hoping to capitalize and teach them the ABC song. If they can sing Frosty the Snowman and Rockabye Baby verse-by-verse, I’m confident we will get the ABC’s before 2017.
Theo’s rendition of Rockabye Baby
Spell and Write Their Names
Our bunch love to practice writing their names. We enjoy teaching them how to spell along with fun stories. For example, Theo learned how to spell and write his name by first learning that his names starts with “T,” and Mr. T is a line who always wear a hat, “H” comes after “T” and doesn’t leave home without his belt. “E” is third in line and wears shoes, a belt and a hat. Finally, “O” who looks like a circle.
Use the Potty
Our potty training adventures have ebbed and flowed throughout 2015. However, since everyone asked Santa for underwear this Christmas, potty training is a must in 2016. I must note that this was an unassisted request which was publically declared to the mall Santa.
Mall Santa Pic
Everyone now has the motor skills to use the potty. We are now working through recognition. Bella has mastered number “1” and “2;” she will be the first in her new purple undies. Ellie has “1” down, but often finds she is too busy to take potty breaks. K-Mae also is a “potty-going” superstar for “1” but “2” continues to sneak up on her. Theo is interested but isn’t there just, yet. And Lily, Lily gets an “A” for attempts. She sits and sits and tries and tries, but the poor-thing is still trying to figure out the difference between “1,” “2” and her perpetual gas… toots, toots, toots.
Mind their P’s & Q’s
This is, honestly, the number one priority. Teaching our children manners and respect is a lifelong priority. For now, we’re working on “please,” “thank you,” and “no thank you.” When they are polite to us and one another, the tone of the day is entirely different; dare I say it is easy? However, the majority of the time (nearly all of the time) they are quite the demanding bunch. We’ll get there, one P&Q at a time.
Time continues to fly by and we continue to try our best to savor each moment and stage, as well as, plan and prepare for the next. Childhood is truly a phenomenon; the days can seem so long, but they grow up in the blink of an eye, but don’t dare to blink because you’ll miss them. Here’s to a healthy, happy and fruitful New Year!
Bump 2 Bab[y]ies 