I Laugh When I Pee

That's a statement that's worthy of a good story. Most people who have small kids no how fast they can get into something they shouldn't and having triplets obviously intensifies this. As a result, it's important to do everything you can to monitor them visually, but what's a parent to do when nature calls and your home alone? Since we have a bathroom right off of the living room, when I need to go, I just go with the door opened so I can listen for trouble.

Yes, I know this is gross, but some time ago Sarah figured out that when her daddy goes in that strange room, something is going on. So she follows me as far as our gate will allow her to and she stands on her tip toes trying to see what I'm doing. She can just barely see me standing as I take care of my business. So as I'm standing in front of the toilet trying to quickly take care of business, Sarah begins to giggle and grin, waiting in anticipation for the "Tinkle Music" of the bathroom orchestra that her daddy conducts! As soon as the tinkling begins, she starts belly laughing as though I was doing the funniest thing in the world. The laughter is contagious, and for me it's dangerous, as laughing can cause control problems.

So as a result of Sarah's continue wonderment at all things daddy, I now usually laugh when I pee. Meva says that Sarah is going to be very disappointed when she learns she can't pee like her daddy does, but I guess we'll tackle that problem when we come to it.

Speaking of Sarah, she is walking all over the place! Many people already know this, but we've been too busy to post lately, so consider this the official announcement. She still walks like she just left a toddler tavern, but she goes from one end of our living room to the other without a problem. Ryan is a bit behind her, standing up and taking a step or two on his own, but then falling down because he hasn't yet mastered control of his big baby muscles. Perrin could care less and is more than happy to crawl around on his hands and knees. He can stand and walk along the sofa, so we know it's just a matter of time for him.

The other day Meva took all three kids to get their picture taken, completely on her own. It didn't go well. The kids were cranky and the photographer really sucked at his pictures and didn't get how difficult it is to shoot three babies at once. As a result, some of the pictures of Ryan are just classic! In the second picture he looks like he's eating rocks.

I think the biggest surprise of this outing for Meva was that Perrin actually was the least crabby and as you can see from the left, he took a pretty good picture. I think that's all him and Meva and just some open luck on the part of the photographer. Meva has said that this is really a two person job and that the next time they get them taken, we're going to double team them!

I won't promise I'll post anything else this weekend, but I will try to get another post up soon as tomorrow the kids are going on their first visit to the zoo! There is a special exhibit that lets you pet sting rays, so with any luck we'll get some interesting pictures of the kids with wildlife to share!

Return of the Slackers!

That's right, Meva and I have officially become slackers here on the blog! Meva doesn't really have time to do much contributing here and I've been devoting my free time to writing in other areas, so we haven't put much time into updates. So, what's been going on?

In a nutshell, not much at all. The biggest news we have concerns teeth. At this point Perrin has 6 of them, 4 on top and two on the bottom. Sarah still has her 4 and Ryan now has an amazing 5 teeth. I say it's an amazing 5 because unlike Perrin, his top 4 teeth are all in the front (incisors), Ryan has broken a molar on his left top side! I discovered that last night and when I told Meva I think she thought I was pulling her leg---until she felt it herself. Surprisingly the biting hasn't been bad at all, just the occasional chomp here and there, and nothing that's really aggressive.

On the mobility front, depending on the perspective, it's gotten worse and better. No one is walking fully on there own yet, but Sarah remains closest. She took three steps on her own yesterday! I got so excited trying to get Meva's attention so she could see it that I scared her and Perrin with my shouts! Meva worked really hard with both her and Ryan over the weekend, acting as a guide and having them walk around the house with her. I think I can see their improvements from just this! She's such an excellent mother and she really understands what the kids need and how to take care of them (although I fear we'll never agree on the whole heating of bottles issue!!!). Perrin still shows no interest in walking on his own. He will pull himself up and walk along a sofa or table, but that's only to further his mischief. Even when Meva tries guiding him like she does Ryan and Sarah, he refuses and just lets himself get dragged. I think once the others are walking, he'll join them quickly.

Despite no one walking, their ability to crawl all over the place and get into things we think are out of their reach, they are constantly showing us how dumb we both are. What makes matters worse is that they really do work as a team! We've seen them hold objects still so that one of the others can climb it and reach for something on a table or desk! Like I said, their mobility is both good and bad.

We had the kids all reassessed for developmental issues at the 1 year mark because of being premature at birth. They're really all doing well, with Ryan and Perrin having a few issues. Ryan's issues are just in his shoulders--the boy has big tight muscles! I know that might not sound like a problem, but because they are bigger he doesn't like to move his arms above his head. It becomes a real annoying struggle with him when we're changing his clothes and trying to put on or take off his shirts! He is going to be meeting with a therapist to help him learn to use those muscles correctly and increase his upper body flexibility. All in all it is my belief that this is a sure sign that the boy was born a warrior and destined to be an NFL linemen!!

Perrin's issues are a bit more complex and are going to require more work. It's nothing bad or dangerous, but the best way to describe it (I don't know the medical term for this) is to say he is sensitive, or that he has sensory issues. What this means is that he doesn't like strange or new stimulus, especially with his sense of taste and touch. Giving him a new food is stressful situation for him, double so if it involves a texture that isn't like what he's used to. Foods like peas or berries need to be well smashed or "hidden" in the other foods so that the texture isn't immediately obvious to him. Once that happens, we slowly remove the disguising food until he's only getting the new stuff with the strange texture or taste. After coming along slowly, he's usually safe and good to go. A therapist will be helping him and us discover better ways to transition him to new items and foods here in the future.

For the future I think it's safe to say that slowly but surely we are trying to get them out of the house more often so that they'll be used to going out and seeing people. It's been hard up to this point because of everything we would have to do to take them somewhere, but it really is becoming a bit easier as they get older. We have a hydrocephalus walk coming up in October that we'll be bringing the kids along on and I'd like to get them to the Zoo this year before the weather takes a turn, but until they are able to walk for themselves, it will still be a real challenge. The real goal for both Meva and I is to have them ready for winter so that we can take them sledding!

The Last First Birthday Party

The weekend has ended and it marks a very busy week, which Sarah was nice enough to tell everyone about in the last post. At some points we were so busy that the babies were often forced to fend for themselves and find their own food. You can see here that Ryan thought there just might be some left over bottles waiting for him in the microwave. He didn't have any luck, but I was fortunate enough to catch him just as he was leaving and starting to search for food elsewhere. Seriously, we managed to get back from Ohio, to the doctor's office, deal with teething issues, and then host a second and final 1st birthday celebration for the babies with all of our friends and family from Illinois.

The doctor's visit went very well. The kids are all doing extraordinary and they are really starting to get big. The new weights are on the side, but for the most part they are 21, 22, and 23 pounds respectfully. They are each about 27 inches tall too. Despite being 2 months premature, Sarah is in the 90% for weight and height, which if you've seen her eat, that will come as no surprise to you. The kids each got a shot in their arms and Perrin really surprised us all by not flinching or even crying when he got stuck. He just sat there and took it like a hardass. To think, this is the same kid who gets scared when I tell his sister to stop beating him up! We did discuss some physical and sensory concerns we've had with both of the boys. Ryan appears to have some tightness in his shoulders and won't raise his hands above his head. Meva thinks Perrin is having some issues with sensory input like tastes, textures, and especially sounds. I'm not sure if that's really the case, but there are enough signs for concern, so we're having them both evaluated for some therapy.

The party was a rousing success! I am once again moved by the generosity of our friends and family in their support of us and the babies. It was a treat just to have everyone together for a few hours, but they all exceeded this by bestowing gifts upon us. I don't think Meva and I can fully tell you all how much we appreciate each of you. Our friends Tom and Colleen came and brought their son Finn. He's the one above us on the right, and he's one of the cutest babies you'll ever see. I am happy to report that there were absolutely no incidents of vomiting this go around. The kids did real well with handling the chocolate cake, but Perrin was the first to want to be done. Surprisingly, as you can see to your left, he was also the messiest of the bunch. I have witnesses that will vouch for the fact that he got that way on his own with very minimal assistance from me.

Both Ryan and Sarah were much more dignified in their eating. I would say they weren't as curious about what was in front of them this time, instead they were more focused on eating the cake and filling their bellies. At one point while Perrin was getting a cleaned up of all that chocolate, I had to pick up both of the remaining kids cakes and turn them around so they could get more cake! It was funny that at one point, both Sarah and Ryan decided they didn't want to use their hands any more and simply leaned forward and ate the cake directly with their mouths. I wasn't quick enough to catch Sarah in the act, but I was able to get Ryan with his little mouth planted in the front of the cake, that picture is below us on the left hand side. I think that had something to do with Ryan looking as though he has a Van Dyke on his face!!

I think if we were to have actually weighed and measured it, Sarah could be credited with having eaten an entire layer of her two layer cake! I was able to control the day a bit more during this party and I made sure that the kids napped before this and hadn't eaten for a few hours. It was important for them to be hungry so that they'd want to eat the cake and also so that they wouldn't get sick as the unusually high amounts of sugar, carbs, and wheat didn't interact badly and cause them to vomit, which I think played a key role in what happened to Perrin last weekend.

Being with the three babies all the time I've grown accustomed to doing things a certain way and I take them for granted. It's always interesting to me to have this realization hit me when I'm in the company of other people. I don't second guess in any way how I pick up and transport the kids around. I've been picking all three of them up and moving them since they were sturdy enough to handle it. As they've gotten older, bigger, and heavier I think it's gotten a bit easier because they cling on to me during this process. I don't often realize that I have almost 75 pounds of baby in my arms.

Well, at one point I found it necessary to grab all three of the kids during the party and carry them somewhere, possibly to change their diapers, I don't really remember. At some point everyone was joking about it and I suggested I add little Finn to the mix. Finn is a good choice because he and I get along really well, and he was such an obvious choice to add to a Dangerous situation. So here I was with all four of the babies, and my hat that Perrin tore from my head, in my arms. By the time I had walked from the dinning room to my recliner in the front room, little Finn had just about too much stimulation and was beginning to get a little uneasy, so we gave him back to his mommy. But the deed had been done, I successfully held them all, approximately 95 lbs of baby cuddling me and in my arms. That will be a moment I'll always be able to look back on and smile in my old age.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

Hello Everyone!! This is Sarah. My daddy has been real busy lately getting our house clean and ready for people to look at it. I don't know why that happens, but it seems pretty important and daddy is always cleaning up after us. He said that since I'm now a big girl at 1 yr old, I could talk to everyone here on our website.

This has been the busiest week of my entire life. We went to Ohio to see my mommy's family and have a birthday party! When we came home, we went to the doctor and poor daddy has just been cleaning and putting all our new stuff in it's own place. Daddy said he would talk more later, but for now I could show you some pictures since I'm not very good with words. So, here's our little trip:

This Is Us At Grandma's House Eating Before Our Party

We Didn't Know It, But Mommy & Daddy Made Us Each Our Own Cake!

We All Had Birthday Hats! Here Is Ryan's.

Perrin Wanted To Eat His Hat.

I HATED My Hat! Daddy Came To My Rescue And Took It Off Quickly.


This Is Us Seeing Them Bring Us Our Own Cake


Ryan Eating His Cake


Me Eating My Cake


This Is Perrin Saying He's Had Enough Cake. They Should Have Listened.


Perrin Had To Take A Bath With Mommy Because He Got All Pukey!

Ryan Kept Eating His Cake.


So Did I. I LOVE Chocolate Cake.


I REALLY Love Chocolate Cake! I Bet You Wish You Had Some Right Now!


Even If I Could Use A Fork, I Would Still Get This Messy.


Anyone Want A Chocolate Kiss From Me?


Mommy Just Told Me We're Going To Do This Again Next Week!


This Is The Cakes After We Were Done. Daddy Said He Thought We'd Eat More.


We Cleaned Up Next To Open Presents, Isn't Ryan Just So Cute.


Even Perrin Cleaned Up Very Nicely. He's Another Cutey.


We Finally Got To Meet Our Aunt Virginia, She's There With Auntie Pooh.


Daddy Tried To Get Me To Ride A Truck. I Cried Again.


Ryan Liked Riding The Truck. He Said I was Being A Baby.


Perrin Wanted To Ride the Bike. Don't Tell Him Pink Is For Girls Though, He'll Get Mad At Mommy.


Ryan Spent Time With Grandma Muriel.


So Did Perrin, They Read A Book Together.


Grandpa Fred And I Took A Nap And I Had A Bottle.


Then It Was Time For Swimming With Mommy & Daddy. See Our Cute Suits.


This Is Ryan And Auntie Kelly. He's So Cool In His Pool Shades.


I've Also Got A Cool Pair Of Shades For The Pool, And A Bottle Of Course!


On The Way Home, Daddy Got Tired, So I Drove.

I really liked our birthday party. Is it true you get a cake every year on your birthday? I think I just fell in love with birthdays!! Daddy said he'll update with more info later, but I have to go now because he said I need to take a nap. I would fight him on this, but I do get a bottle. Anything that leads to me getting some food can't be all bad can it? Thanks For Visiting! Double Click on ANY Picture to See a Bigger Photo!

A Walk In The Park

Recently my aunt Linda came over to visit the babies. It's always great to see her and I enjoy having the kids get to spend time and take picture with relatives so that they're used to seeing different people. She arrived just as they were finishing up their bottles and we decided to head over to the park that is just a few blocks away. It's the same park we've been to before, so it wasn't anything the kids haven't seen or done before. It was a very windy and sunny day when we went. I think we were gone a total of 35 minutes, but the wind and the sun took their toll on the kids. When I put Ryan in the swing he was flailing his arms and swinging his head from side to side as though he was in a fight. I finally put my hat over his head while he swang. Not only did he like this, he darn near fell asleep swinging in the swing! It's a great picture because he looks like an Icabod Crane in training.

Since this particular park only has two infant swings, it actually can get a bit boring with one baby having to sit out and watch the other two. The playground surface really isn't designed for little babies, as it's a heavy grade of mulch. Just looking at it I instantly know that if I were to set any of my children down there, the mulch would be immediately in their mouths! Instead of just doing the same old thing of watching the babies on the swing for a bit, we decided to take them to the other parts of the playground that they can't really make use of yet because they are so small and uncoordinated. I was pretty much expecting it to be something like, "Hey, look at this kid. You're too small for it." Instead we did find something that they could use a bit with some careful support and monitoring.

You can see Perrin sitting in his own little car (The glasses come off when we go outside....it's hard enough to find where he or Sarah take them off at in the house.). This is a little metal car with a seat and a wheel sitting on one of those giant springs that allows kids to bounce and move back and forth. Perrin wasn't that enamored with this, but he did enjoy sitting on it a bit and looking around. Ryan on the other hand is continuing to become more and more of a ham. He simply loved it the moment we put him on it. As soon as Linda put him on the seat, he instantly grabbed the wheel and was off on his own little adventure! He was bouncing up and down and laughing and giggling very loudly. He was totally at home on this thing, balancing himself perfectly, although Linda is close by, I wonder how long he could have went before falling or losing interest? To think that he's the one who crawls and stands the least, yet he totally dominated this ride! I think it just proves my statement all along that the little guy is just stubborn and lazy, once he's motivated or interested, he can do anything he wants.

Sarah enjoyed the day out on the car too. I had dressed her in one of Meva's favorite outfits for her, a nice little yellow sundress that she has just about destroyed. It's a bit long and goes past her knees, which really hampers her ability to crawl around. My little girl just soldiers through it, inventing a one legged crawl and just about ripping the skirt off the dress, she's going to be a very dangerous Tomboy I can tell! Her time in the little car was similar to Ryan, but in a much more dignified tone. I guess even though I think she'll be a tomboy, she'll always have room to be my little lady and conduct her self in a proper manner------- at least until she breaks wind! That little girl sounds like a motor boat going through the house when she lets them rip! But anyways, you can see her smiling and loving it.

Afterwards we walked back to the house and the kids were ready for a quick bottle and a nap. The entire trip with all the wind and sun really took a lot out of them and the slept really hard for 4 hours afterwards; even Ryan was out for most of it. Remember, if you want to see a bigger picture, just click on the image and you'll get a new window to open up and see it in.