Measuring Up

At birth, now almost seven years ago, Andrew, Justin, and Kevin were all less than five pounds and within a few ounces of one another: Andrew weighed 4' 15", Kevin 4' 10", and Justin 4' 7".

It is amazing how much weight kids gain during the first two years and then how their growth patterns evolve differently over time. Now nearly seven years old, the boys look less and less alike and their different body types are readily apparent.

Today's doctor visit confirmed what is obvious to everyone: the physical differences among them are becoming more pronounced. By the time they reach puberty--and it won't surprise me if they begin eighteen months or more apart (and won't that be a challenge for the late bloomer to understand?)--they probably won't even look the same age and there could easily be a thirty pound weight difference.

Here's how they compared today:

Andrew: 50 1/4 inches; 61 pounds   (95th percentile)

Kevin:   49 inches; 45 1/2 pounds   (90%; 50%)

Justin: 45 3/4 inches; 46 pounds   (25%; 50%)

That's a whopping 4.5 inch and 15 pound difference between Andrew and Justin.

It's easy to assume that Andrew or Kevin will be the tallest. But I keep recalling Kathy's claim that she was one of the tallest kids in her class through second grade when she just stopped growing, and how I was one of the shortest boys even through high school until I sprouted several inches in college. So time will tell.

To this day one of the most common questions we get when strangers meet the boys and learn they are triplets is, "Which one is the oldest?" and a hundred times at least I've had someone point at Andrew and ask, "Is he the oldest?"

I have never understood that question.

Yes, I know that there are habitual questions people ask without giving them much thought, but it still baffles me. (I have a friend with boy/girl twins who is often asked, "Are they identical?" and she sometimes shrugs and answers, "Yes, except that one has a penis.")

Do people assume it will explain one child's ten pound and four inch size difference over his brother if we answer that he was born sixty seconds earlier? Or do they think triplets can be born months apart?

It's a mystery to me.