April

We're quite a bit behind in posting things on the blog here, but we've been having a lot of fun.
Here'a a video of the kids swinging in the park when they visited Nana and Papa during Easter.
There will be more coming soon.

Another Fine Mess

Just got this e-mail from Chuck, and I thought I'd share...

Baby……

Just thought I’d share a few things with you. The first is that I plan to shampoo the rugs this weekend, most likely Saturday night. The second is that Ryan decided it was more comfortable to sit all the way against the potty and then bounce up and down like he was riding a horse!!! Third, there are wires running from the back of the training potty to the front and they are very easy to get wet, so in the future you need to be aware of that if you ever have to go back there.

Yeah, what you’re thinking right now, that’s what happened!!!

Of course Ryan being the uptight little guy that he is, wasn’t happy about crapping all over the back of the potty. So he immediately started freaking out and yelling about the poop. He then stood up and walked around a bit before plopping onto the floor. Did I mention poop? At this point it was all over the potty, Ryan’s lower body, and now the carpeting that I just spot washed last night because of Fudd pooping. Somehow Ryan then got it all over his hand, which caused even more cries and whines, this time to the sound of “Mess” and “Mess Daddy” and “hand messy.” So as I tried to take off his shirt (which also got poop-sided in the initial run from the potty) he either fought me or tried to help me (I can never tell for sure what his motivation is when he does this) and proceeded to get it on his stomach and chest and my hands and arms.

We never made it to the store before nap time, Ryan got two pieces of candy because he did poop after all, and I had to take the potty into the tub and give it a shower, much to the delight of the children.

I’m not going to ask or wish it, but I will tell you to enjoy the fact that your day is better than mine!!

LOL……..we asked for kids right????

MM

Milk table smackdown

I got this e-mail today from Chuck.

Baby….

Dinner tonight will consist of chicken stir-fry. If you want anything beyond that, you’re on your own! The kids just pretty much turned on me at about 11:30---- it was all fighting, all crying, all meltdown special here at the triplet ranch and at one point Sarah’s sippy cup that still had Milk in it had the rubber insert come loose. Milk was everywhere!! She started spilling/pouring it all over and before I could figure out what was actually happening, she did it to Ryan. This was worse than a crying thing in the bathtub because it was Milk and it WAS a mess. He tried to use his words to tell her to stop it, in between cries of anger, but she refused to listen and did it again. Next thing I know (and I got to see this all in slow motion as (was trying to get there before this happened) Sarah got pushed off her feet and on to the kids little table on her back. This caused her to kick and Ryan then went ……… well you’ve seen it........all Hulk and he ripped Sarah’s pig hat off and pulled her hair until she fell off the table. That caused the sippy cup to go flying into the wall and it then opened and the milk was all over the floor I got to them at this point and got everything stopped, cleaned up, and then put to bed.

I tell you this because it’s kind of funny and as a result of what I am calling the great Milk Table Attack, they are in need of a bath today. I am waiting for you to come home tonight so you can help me as I get them into the tub.

Here’s to hoping that the naps are a help!!!

Secret Triplet Language

We get asked on occasion if our kids speak any secret language.
To my knowledge there are two things.

Nunga Nunga Nunga (said very fast with exuberance) This is said when excited about something, and mixing it up with your hands. For example you might put your hands in a container of blocks, stir them up quickly and say, "nunga nunga nunga". They all say this while doing this.

Enonon. or something like that. This is something that Ryan will say to Perrin, that causes Perrin to stop what he's doing, drop to his knees and cry. Chuck thinks that maybe Ryan is telling Perrin, "enough".

Spelling List

These are the words I can remember that the kids are spelling most of the time. A few of them they are a little shaky on, but I'd bet Ryan and Perrin would get better than 85% on these... Sarah isn't into spelling like the boys, but she still knows a heck of a lot of them. Does anyone know where there's a spelling bee for 2-1/2 year olds?

1. of
2. play
3. it
4. he
5. you
6. in
7. I
8. to
9. have
10. and
11. a
12. said
13. is
14. the
15. for
16. that
17. are
18. as
19. but
20. go
21. had
22. here
23. his
24. like
25. my
26. on
27. see
28. she
29. they
30. was
31. we
32. with
33. frog
34. pig
35. sheep
36. bug
37. dog
38. duck
39. robot
40. rocket
41. banana
42. bed
43. pie
44. pizza
45. can
46. pot
47. pan
48. cake
49. cookie
50. bus
51. boy
52. box
53. fox
54. rug
55. jug
56. star
57. all
58. at
59. be
60. by
61. from
62. her
63. him
64. look
65. one
66. on
67. some
68. there
69. this
70. up
71. word
72. stage
73. slide
74. stairs
75. clock
76. nest
77. net
78. canoe
79. heart
80. jet
81. hat
82. ball
83. doll
84. Ryan
85. Sarah
86. Perrin
87. mom
88. dad
89. Gus
90. goat
91. Bears
92. bus
93. doll
94. no
95. yes
96. horn
97. drum
98. Elmo
99. cap
100. map


* On another exciting note, my college friend has a daughter with hydrocephalus, like Perrin. She was told while her child was a baby that her brain was injured in the speech area, and her daughter may never speak. This girl, now around 9 years old just got 6th in the Iowa state spelling bee. Way to go Maria. Setting the bar for us all, and showing that hydro doesn't put you in a box.

Attack of the Potato Babies!

It's not the photo update I talked about, but I couldn't wait to put these up any longer, they are just frickin hilarious! I hope you enjoy them. Only two of the triplets are hams enough for this kind of project, Ryan was too serious doing Ryan-type things somewhere. Double Click to see a better image!

I was at the store when Meva got these pics. Who knew Mr. Potato Head was so fun?

Seriously, he's my boy and I love him, but that is just creepy!!

He must have heard me because now he's giving me "The Look!"

Not to bee outdone, Sarah is assimilated!

Even she knows it's silly!

These pictures are going to come in handy at graduations, birthdays, before high school functions, and weddings!! I can't wait to pay them back for all the sleepless nights lost and to come.

Just Stories

I have some nice picture that I'll hopefully get to putting up here soon, but it takes a bit more time to take care of than I have at the moment. That's because for each photo I put up, there is probably 4-8 that I don't and I go through them and resize them for faster loading and when necessary I crop them or fix the red eyes. I will post more later though. In the mean time here are some observations and stories that I always mean to include but often forget:

• Prior to becoming a parent, I wasn't aware that there is a "Daddy Costume" that all kids require a father to wear. As such, I may have to spend the rest of my life wearing shirts without sleeves, a baseball cap, and my gym shoes. Anytime I am without any of them, the triplets get....... well, the get a bit weirded out and worried. It's pretty sad when at the age of two they are already concerned with my appearance! If I am not wearing my hat, they usually find it (or a suitable replacement) and tell me to put it on. If I tell them I don't want to, they cry. Sometimes they just ask me about why I don't have the hat on and if they don't like the answer, they go and get it for me. And they are quick about it. If I take off my shoes, or put on a regular shirt, or God forbid take off my hat, within 30-60 seconds they point it out and the entire process of getting me back in "costume" begins all over again. Perrin is the most observant, but Sarah is the most dedicated and most tenacious about what she considers my "proper attire."

• For those not in the know my mother-in-law is a fantastic music teacher. She teaches music and/or band to her entire town via the elementary and middle schools (I believe this is right) in addition to her church's choir, their bell group, tons of weddings, private music lessons, and she also "chips" in and fills in when neighboring towns, districts, choirs, and the occasional heavy metal violin band needs her. She got cancer almost two years ago and begrudgingly agreed to cut back----but only giving up the private lessons. She's also a former teacher of the year for the state of Ohio. So when I say she is involved with music and that it is a big part of her life, it's not an exaggeration. I've never said this out loud (or in print) before, but my impression of her is that she is honestly the "beat" of her town. Despite that, I am still me and one of the ways I often tease her is by calling a violin (her instrument of choice) a fiddle. She humors me when I do that by not choking me. Same thing when I tease her about destroying the kids desire to enjoy music. But the other day I tried to talk Sarah into helping me tease Muriel by teaching her to call a violin a fiddle. Sarah will often do anything daddy tells her (accept the first item above), especially if I am persistent. But in this instance she absolutely refused! No matter what I said or did, no matter what I threatened or bribed her with, she would not call it a fiddle! I thought Nana should know this.

• Perrin has picked up using a "deep" voice for affect. It is most notable when I get him to say, "How Dare You!" It is hilarious, especially combined with the faces that he makes as he's using it. It is precious and wonderful and I hope to get it on video very soon.

• Sarah has made the switch to a toddler bed. I think it's been successful. For the first week everyone talked about the "new bed." The boys initially felt left out since they are all still in the same room and in cribs, but we've bought each child a new pillow with satin pillow cases and made a big deal out of everyone having "soft pillows" to use. It's been less than two weeks now and the focus is off of Sarah's bed and more focused on the pillows. Sarah has also very dedicated to staying in her bed and not getting out and playing by herself or with the boys. She's not perfect, but I thought it would be more of a fight. Pictures of everything will follow.

• Slowly but surely I believe I see Perrin walking better and better. Thesey are small improvements and they don't come quickly, but I see these "small steps" and it makes me want to break down and cry when I think about what he's overcome, what he's currently facing, and what is/may be in store for him in the future.

• They all know who Batman is!! They like him and ask to watch him. It's like Rush Limbaugh's kids asking for their first vicodane!

• They are getting very good at cleaning up their toys at the end of the morning and night! They are far from perfect and need consistent and firm reinforcement to stay on task most of the time, but they aren't throwing a fit (for the most part) and at times they are awesome at this.

• Just last night Sarah was having nightmares or teething pain (she's late with her 2yr molars) or something unknown, so I brought her to bed with me. As I qwnt down with her, I told her that we needed to get into "cuddle position" and as I held her to get her to sleep, we spent about 5 minutes cooing back and forth with each other! She'll never remember it, but I'll never forget it.

• Ryan is getting better with his fear/anxiety of water. Still trepidatious and unsure at times, he's now pouring water on his head! He'll never be Aquaman, but he might actually enjoy time at the pool.

• A big treat for the triplets is "nap time with Daddy" when we all lay down in our bed. Aside for the novelty of it, I think they enjoy the fact that I sing for them. Bless their lack of scrutiny and critical ability, but they really like my versions of songs that are often adlibbed, out of synch, and almost always out of tune. It is the only time in my life I have ever enjoyed singing (with the exception of a weird dream I had that Meva still laughs about).

• Of all things that are odd and different for a little girl to like, Sarah is obsessed with a black octopus grandma Muriel gave the triplets. As the boys are reminded on a daily basis, this is Sarah's!! Woe to those who try to even touch it! It is covered with pink hearts and is holding a Valentines heart and a red rose. She will not take a nap or go to sleep without her "occa puss."

I had fun just thinking about all the above and sharing them here, so I might start doing this on a regular basis so I don't forget all the great little stories and events that are small, but tell mountains about them.

Frozen Veggies To The Rescue!

Today has been a rough day. The fact that all three children are still alive and not strung up from their toes is testament to my patience........and injuries! They're still running little colds and leaking snot all over. They're crabby and selfish and want what they want when they want it, which is often 5 minutes ago. Today was like that, but worse.

I brought Ryan into bed with me around 5am because he wouldn't stop crying. He was upset because his blanket fell down. Keep in mind it was still in the crib with him covering his legs, so I don't know what he was truly upset about, but I was really tired and just wanted to go back to sleep, so I dragged him with me and we fell back to sleep pretty quickly.

When we did wake up, I went directly into the bedroom to get Perrin and Sarah. Poo biscuits filled the room with a strong stench that almost knocked me down when I opened the door. Meva said she wanted to experiment and try putting Perrin down with his pajamas on normally---the experiment failed! Maybe it's just me, but Meva seems to like to conduct these experiments when she isn't around to see the results the next morning. From now on we hold off experiments until she is here for the results, that's for sure!!

Anyways, Perrin had taken off all his clothes and his diaper. He then pooped all over the bed---on his pillow, all his dolls, his towel, his tent, and as I later found out, all around the outside of the crib! And the best part is that he did it a few hours previous so everything that he got on himself, and did I mention it was on his legs, arms, ribs, back, chin, ear, neck, cheeks, forehead, the one sock he left on for reasons only he knows, and in his nose---well that was already hard and caked.

So, I immediately set out to clean him up. It takes awhile and the boy was red from all the scrubbing, but I got him depooped and he had a clean diaper on. I deserved some coffee at this point. so I went and grabbed a cup and clean clothes for the triplets and went back to getting them dressed. Perrin went first without any further trouble. Sarah followed Perrin and was excited to wear a skirt that I had picked out for her, so she went quickly and without incident.

Then came Ryan.

He was excited because I told him that when he was done we'd all have waffles and sausage, which all the kids love. So Ryan starts giggling and laughing, half-running and jumping, and isn't watching where he's going at all, which leads to his almost 40 poundsdoing a little hop, skip, walk right onto my left testicle!

So I do what comes natural and I groan loudly and give a little yelp. This being Ryan, it of course startles him and he stops standing on my groin just long enough to fall to his knees. Guess where 40 pounds of upset toddler landed, knee first? Yep, second hit in about as many seconds!

I had to take hydrocodone and ice down "the boys" with a bag of frozen veggies because it hurt so bad. And, I hadn't made it back yet to clean Perrin's mess. I thought that would take 20 minutes, but it took almost an hour and a half with all the crap I had to clean.

Did all that with a limp, a groan, and many a mumbled curses!

Then the colds took over and they got crabby, and it wasn't even nap time yet!

So on a day like today, since doing much else hurts, I figure I'll post some photos and remind myself of how cute they are. Plus I'll have this story that can be entered into evidence in any criminal trial from stringing them all up!! But seriously, here are some photos of the little monsters in better moments.

This is definitely cuter than the face I saw early this morning.

Our little musicians jamming at the piano.

Ryan did some finger painting as part of his sensory therapy.

Of course we wouldn't have him just do it while the other two watched.

This became a family event with all the kids trying out their inner Picasso.

Meva thought Perrin would have problems with it. I told her she was nuts. Perrin agreed with me.

Sarah liked it alot. Especially when I gave her a duck tatoo on her chest.


Ryan got a matching tatoo and a goatee. He didn't get as messy as the other two, but had fun regardless.


With a little help from Daddy, Sarah was ready for Braveheart!

Towards the end Perrin became almost completely blue. I didn't have to help him at all. Unfortunately we had to get them ready for a bath, so this was probably the best example we have of him digging in.

Now it's time for the end of this picture session. I was fixing something on Meva's computer when Perrin started a Daddy Pile. The also actively tried to pull my pants down too. The must get that from Meva, she's another one who is weird too!

That's it for now. Remember to double click on any picture to see it bigger. Hopefully seeing these makes you feel better too!

Massive

That's a word that can be used to describe the amount of catching up we have to do here AND how poorly we've been in posting here. There's so much to show and say that I don't know where to really begin. I know Meva wants to talk about some things, so I'll just sort of sum up how things are standing with the kids and then it will be on to posting pictures (some will be from Christmas, how pathetic is that? Honestly, we are proud of the kids.)

We've started potty training. At this point the kids are more ready than the parents. Doing all three at once is more work than I would have ever realized. They're all pretty good about it and they like trying (and the candy rewards) but as we tell them, accidents happen. Of course, accidents also require cleaning--cleaning of the floor, underpants, and said child! Doing that in triplicate is just about a full time affair in itself, so that has been the biggest challenge.

Ryan is no longer in speech therapy! It's wonderful that he has progressed that well, but it's sad in that his speech therapist Jean, was absolutely wonderful and the kids all miss her and her toys! They still occasionally ask for her. Ryan is now working with an Occupational Therapist to help him with his sensory issues. The biggest part of this is brushing therapy. We try to do it every 2-2½ hours. I'll let Meva explain more about that later since she'll undoubtedly have a better understanding and ability to thus explain it.

Sarah is Sarah. She still wants to be a good girl and is the least disciplined of the three. She genuinely gets upset when she's even scolded, let alone given a timeout or the rare spanking. She's currently very into having a bow or ribbon in her hair (although it's still a thistle of curls that are almost untameable) and wearing different shoes (Sarah Marcos?). She also loves to play dinosaurs! Grandma Muriel & Grandpa Fred got the kids tubes of little plastic dinosaurs for their Christmas stockings. Nana and Papa (as they are called) thought they would just be cheap throw-away toys that they wouldn't be too interested in, but Sarah blew that projection. Everyday she plays with her dinosaurs and often wants me to help her. We have them dance on their plastic rocks and then they get in a school bus and go for rides (They always leave that part out of the academic books). She's just a blast.

Perrin, is quite possibly insane! He has decided that the word "Boundaries" should not apply to him. He is both curiosity and drama personified! He has also currently become the most cuddly and loving of the three. He will routinely come to us and just want to give us a kiss and a hug. He's also the only one who will tell us "I love you" when we tell them that. It's quite adorable and even melts this curmudgeon instantly.

Perrin is still receiving weekly physical therapy. We had a visit with a neurologist and Perrin has been officially diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, but a mild form. This wasn't a shock to us and we took this as a welcome development because it will allow Perrin to have access to help and assistance when he needs it in the future. Of course despite this he is insane, did I mention that? My son with these physical disabilities is now climbing onto the kitchen counters (via the drawers) to get anything he wants. Like I said earlier, no boundaries! Just the other day I found him in the dinning room, standing on the middle of the table jumping up and down trying to catch the ceiling fan!! When I tried to explain that he could easily fall off and "break his Perrin" he wanted to hear nothing of it! When I have a heart attack, it will undoubtedly be due to him!

Wow, so much for a summary huh? Anyways, let's get to the pictures!! Remember to double click on an image to see a bigger view!

The triplets have started to enjoy making "Little Beds" on the sofas.

Of course sofas are also a great place for some quality Daddy Time! Almost every time I lay on the sofa, they do this.

This is one of Sarah's self-made Superhero disguises. Although it is a mixed message, those are supposed to be snowmobile goggles and pink helmet. She is the Christmas Avenger!

The Christmas Avenger gets very serious and warns you to be good or you'll get Candycaned!

Once the Christmas Avenger was elsewhere, Perrin decided to do his own version of the Naked Chef.

As Christmas got closer, being good and staying out of trouble got harder. Sometimes we had to wash all the bad off.

Sarah waiting in "The Duck" clothes hamper for her turn in the wash.

Perrin didn't like waiting through the spin cycle.

Sarah wanted to show you that she knows what a uvula is.

Perrin is once again pushing the fashion boundaries.

As Christmas got closer, Sarah got excited.

Even Ryan busted out half a smile!

Of course, if you promise him some candy with an advent calendar you get an even better smile.

We had an early Christmas at home because we knew Santa and Nana and Papa would give us more than enough gifts to bring home with us. This was the aftermath once we got home.

But Christmas was spent with the grandparents. Nana provided a nice big box to keep the toys in, but sometimes if you dig too far you can fall in.

Perrin shows you exactly what we mean. It sounds mean that I left him like that crying and screaming while I grabbed the camera and took the picture, but the shot was worth it!

Later on Wolfgang and Ludwig got started on some toddler Carols.

Sarah and her Christmas outfit having a snack with Nana.

Of course going to Ohio means they get to see their great-grandma Dixie. They love spending time with their GG.

Then it was off to visit more relatives at Uncle Harvey and Aunt Skip's (Somehow short for Charlotte) house.

Here's Perrin with his cousin Elyse and Aunt Karen.

Elyse is big enough to still kinda, almost, somewhat, hold the triplets!

This is all the cousins together in one picture. It's very hard to get them all still for even this long, especially the boys Trey and Matt. They were literally climbing the walls.

Once we got back home, they were too tired to do anything but sit nicely with their babies.

Speaking of babies, we had a late Christmas get together with Grandma Vera, Uncle Louie & Aunt Sharon and cousin Sylvia!

It's very rare that Sarah even notices a baby, let alone wants to hold one. We had to get this picture before the moment passed. I didn't even have time to put on sleeves.

Mommy put on a great spread for dinner. Ryan gave up his chair for Sylvia; he's such a little gentlemen.

It's been another great year for snow in Chicago, and the triplets took advantage of it out in the yard with me and their tobaggon.

Perrin and his first snow angel.

Sarah liked going down the slide into all the snow.

The whole snow angel concept was very confusing to Sarah. Why would she want to lay down when she could be DOING something??

Although he was cold, Perrin enjoyed himself.

So did Ryan, but he refused to make a snow angel. I think it creeped him out.

I still have more photo's from this month, but this post is long enough. I will post the other stuff tomorrow.