Our Hero Without Pants

I just wanted to take a little bit of time out to let everyone know that Perrin has pulled through his surgery very well. For those of you who weren't in the know, Perrin's medical team (which consists of his pediatrician, 2 neurosurgeons, physical therapist, and one orthodist) began to suspect that he had tethered cord syndrome and a series of tests were started.

I think it is important to note here that nothing was ever able to clearly indicate that Perrin was suffering from TCS, but there were indicators from different areas and different people that lead us to believe that surgery was the best option for him. Meva and I both trusted Perrin's medical team, especially his neurosurgeons, that after talking it over we agreed to go through with the procedure.

Medical jargon isn't my strongest language, but I feel I can speak it passably if I am forced to. As it is 3am and I still have work to do, I'll leave the technical aspects for Meva to use as she bedazzles and illuminates you with $75 words, I will talk like an actor who's played a doctor on TV.

Basically Perrin's spinal cord should be free at the bottom, hanging inside the vertebrae and ending before they curve into the tail bone. His wasn't. There was some type of fatty fiber connected to it and pulling it down and stretching it. Think on how it might feel to have your spinal cord continually stretched everyday. That's what he went through. It became much more problematic once he began walking (which in retrospect is amazing) and contributed to his unusual "gait."

So, the medical team only suspects it and wants to cut open his spine and check it out. On Thursday afternoon they made an almost 4 inch incision in his back, removed that pesky "back bone" that was in the way and then opened a flap to reveal the spinal cord and a mass of nerve endings. Using some type of electrical system that is much more complicated than I am smart they identified the "live" nerves and created path to this tethering fiber. Basically they turned my little boy into a living game of operation, DON'T TOUCH THE SIDES!!

Once they cut the fiber, they were able to see an immediate release on tension, similar to pulling your shirt out in front of you and then leaving go. This was confirmation that he did indeed have tethered spinal cord syndrome.

Right now we've spent the last two days with Perrin laying on his stomach and he might have one more such day to go or less. To his credit he hasn't tried to wriggle around or move too much because it causes quite a bit of pain to him. Even picking him up to hold him on my chest gives him discomfort. I believe the plan is for him to begin working on sitting and then walking. For me the hardest part was just watching him lay there and not want to move with a tired and kind of sad look in his eyes. But he's such a tough kid that it didn't last long and he was laughing and giggling, playing peek-a-boo, and trying to punch my head off. He was also very interactive and talkative, which I think shows how strong he really is and that poking around in his head and his spine aren't enough to keep him down!

As of Friday night there was no definitive word on when he might be coming home. Current thinking is anywhere between Sunday and Tuesday, so I would imagine that alot has to due with how he responds tomorrow.

I just want to say that I am floored with all the kind and wonderful words that so many people kept Perrin and us in their thoughts and prayers. That meant a great deal to both Meva and I.
Hopefully tomorrow I or Sunday Meva and I will bring in another update and some photos from the hospital. But for now, enjoy the shots I have put throughout this post of our Man of the Hour. He doesn't know it yet, but he is already my hero, even if he doesn't always wear pants.

The most recent morning I was greeted by the Au Natural Club. This one didn't end as nicely as the previous ones. This time it got dirty!

That's not Chocolate!!


Of course this is usually what I get from him, so I guess the adventures of Naked Hippy Cowboy are worth it!

2 Down & Infinity To Go

Well the kids have finally made it to 2 years! I say this because the way they've been behaving lately I wasn't sure if they were going to make it this far. These days I truly feel outnumbered and mostly overwhelmed. If I were to be honest, I'm loving every minute of it while I try to hold on for dear life. And if this alone wasn't enough of a challenge, we've taken down the gates and given the triplets access to the rest of the house!! What it really means is that they can now get a running start when they attack! Let me start with some birthday pictures. We didn't do too much with taking pictures of the actual day as we had a full house and Meva and I were very busy, as were the kids.

This year we decided on much simpler and smaller cakes for each kid.

Sarah enjoyed her cupcake.

As did Perrin


Ryan really liked his


The nicest part was that the cleanup was less than last year even though they all tried to make a mess.


Sarah ACC (After the Cupcake!)


Perrin ACC


Ryan ACC!!! How did he get THAT messy?


It starts by being too lazy to use your hands


Then it ends with your head face down in a cupcake of course!!

The birthday party was much fun and it was nice getting to see everyone, which seems to get harder with everyone leading such full and busy lives these days. And like everyone else, we've been keeping busy with all sorts of activities.

There's Coloring


Eating our Puzzles!


Visiting museums to try on hats


Going out to the river.



And even getting our hair done all pretty! Thanks Daddy!

Well that's about all for today. I have a lot of pictures still to post here, so I'll try to be back again tomorrow.

Almost 2

The babies are fast approaching 2 years old, I can't believe it. Perrin would like to show you, despite a concern that preemies have issues with all their teeth coming in correctly due to all the intubations that occur when they had been in the NICU... we have no such concerns and all our teeth are coming in nicely.

This picture of Perrin is typical of how we find him in the morning as you saw from the last post. He has learned how to take his shirt off, and for the most part put it back on on his own... Sarah has mastered her socks, and somewhat her slip on slippers. Ryan's head is too big for him to get his shirt off on his own, and though he's "tried" to get his socks on, most of the time he just gets frustrated with it.

I've tried to capture a few of the things the babies are doing these days.

The boys have been into reading a whole lot lately. Perrin and Ryan have their colors down, and most of their basic shapes. They are working on talking more now, but are still slightly behind. We should be getting a speech therapist out on Thursday, after being waitlisted for the last 6 months. Sarah, is too busy to sit and learn her colors. She has organizing to do, as you can see from the wipees she delicately hung up on the baby gate here. This picture was taken after Perrin had come by and destroyed most of her handiwork, but she is always organizing her stuffed animals and bringing you things she finds on the floor and saying, "Uch-ee". She reminds me of my mother with all this.

Sarah is very much into girly things, despite frequently being dressed in football themed outfits, she LOVES to have her hair done. This particular day, we put in all the barretes we had. She was voguging all day long.




The babies have mastered Ryan's favorite thing in the world.... NA NA NAAS! When Ryan is sitting and "reading" one of his picture books, he says, "na na naa" every time he turns the page, and when he really finds a picture of one, he gets very excited about it and says it so loudly while giggling. Here is how they get their snack of na na nas on the leather couch so if they get in to messy mode, it's an easy clean up.

One of their other favorite things to do is to drag all the pillows and blankets to the end of the hall for a fake nap fest. Sarah usually starts this by the organizing of the blanket and pillows, as you can see her doing here, and the boys join in. Of course, Perrin has taken his shirt off as its pretend nap time. Ryan is modeling how well they've done with their teething with the drool on his shirt.



We recently bought some basic puzzles for the kids. They all love them. After they played with them for about a week, learning their colors and their shapes and how to manipulate them, they figured out another really cool thing you can do with puzzles. Use the handles to put them in your mouth and walk around like that for hours. It is a huge thing with Ryan and Perrin to do this. They think it is hilarious.

The other toy items they have very much been into are the characters of Sesame Street. Everyone loves, "Melmo". But surprisingly, the character they love even more, is Ernie. Sesame Street is very much like you may have remembered it, with a strong focus on letters and counting and basic social skills. What is new is a focus on eating smart. In fact there is a song with cookie monster that, "Cookies are a sometimes food." not to mention the broccoli that raps.

Disappearing Babies

Although it's happening right before our eyes, I want to deny that the kids aren't babies anymore. I suppose they haven't been babies for months now, but it doesn't mean that I am ready to acknowledge they are really toddlers and not the tiny little things that Meva and I brought home from the hospital almost two years ago.

I plan on giving a more detailed update later this week--- lots of words, me rambling on, just like normal---- but for now I'm just going to show you the results of an experiment I've done with Perrin. I call this, What Does That Boy Do In Bed??? Keep in mind whenever we put him down for a nap or for bed he is always clothed properly and completely dressed like his brother and sister.....

Ryan was nice enough to pose for you so you could see an example of how the kids are dressed when they are put in their cribs.

It's not just the boys, are wild haired little girl also is dressed accordingly. And yet when I open the door and turn on the lights......

Sometimes Perrin's shirt has been turned around.

Sometimes he takes off half the shirt.

As you can see, overalls do not impede this ritual!

Of course there is the ever popular "Skins" look too!

Sometimes we can't quite get the shirt all the way off, so we stuff our pillow against the wall!

I'm not sure how this happened, but the other morning he had somehow found another shirt and put it on UNDER the one he was wearing the night before!!

There is of course quite a bit of activity prior to falling asleep. It includes banging, slamming, singling, and yelling along with the usual crying and laughing. Sometimes I think he is fighting some imaginary, mythical monster inside his crib because it looks like a war zone in the morning.

The outside floor of the crib. Blankets, pillows, and even his companion duck have all been ejected in some type of violent upheaval.

He also likes to play a game with me called, "Can Daddy find my shirt?" I often have to pull the crib from the wall and pick it up off the floor.


To prove that I wasn't joking or exaggerating, here if what prompted Meva and I to start this experiment. At some point in the night he managed to dismantle the spindle and he's holding it in his hand for me. I particularly like the Tarzan look of his shirt.

The funniest part of this for Meva and I is that he's doing all of this in the dark. Some how he not only takes the shirt off, but he finds it and then puts it back on, albeit with varying degrees of success! The other night we learned a valuable lesson with Perrin when Meva put him to bed wearing a shirt that had a hood on it. He had been in his bed for almost two hours when he began screaming urgently. By the sound of his crying I knew something was wrong, so I went to get him. When I pulled him out of his crib, his face was completely covered by the hood! He had taken the shirt and put it on backwards, covered his face with the hood and then couldn't get it off in the dark! He was very scared, but I couldn't help laughing at the predicament he had created for himself!

If you want to see larger images of the pictures, please click on them for enlargements.

Catching Up

It's been a while, huh? We've been pretty busy, so here's a little pictorial guide as to what we've been up to.

In late April, we went home to visit family and friends in Ohio. The babies got to hang out with Ellie Shively and meet the newest Shively member, Maggie. Maggie worked her charms on Chuck and had him reconsidering his visit to the urologist a few years back. No such baby mojo coming my way.

Miss Ellie was a real charmer and so sweet. She is only 2 months older than our kids, but she's so much more verbal and active and kind to her books. She has a little baby magazine subscription that is paperback that she generously shared. Our kids got out their board books that have been duct taped several times over and still barely hanging on and probably weren't that good at sharing them. We all went down to the park with Grandma and had fun feeding ducks and swinging. Chuck went down a huge spiral slide with Perrin. Too bad Chuck's heart is young but his butt isn't - he hardly fit in the diameter of the thing and it took forever to reach the bottom. We are normally a sight to see when we travel via triplet train, but with Ellie making up the caboose, even more so. Ellie and Sarah were fast friends, and later Ellie's mom sent me this picture with an update.

"I bought some little rag dolls for Ellie at a garage sale last weekend, four for $1.oo. She loved them instantly and then I heard her talking to them. Guess what she named them all on her own???? Ryan, Sarah,Perrin and Maggie!! All babies have been Maggie up unto this point but not anymore! Ryan is a naked black-haired girl, Sarah is a blond-haired girl and Perrin in a little black baby! We took them with us to Brian's first base ball game last weekend and she pulled them in her doll wagon and carried them around all day calling them by name."


Here's a video of the babies playing outside...


And our future soccer player....




The weather is finally starting to turn and we are trying to get the babies outside a little more, which they just love. These are some pics of a good time outside with daddy a few weeks back. Dad had lots of fun with the sidewalk chalk Michelle sent our way at Christmas. I'm glad he left the chalk outlines for the feet, if it had been baby body chalk outlines when I got home, I'd be worried. Here's a little tail end to wrap up the chalk pictures...


Uncle Louie came up and visited. He made the babies ham rolls and they beat him up for it. The babies love watching this & kiss the camera if you show it to them through the viewvinder.
Click to see the video.



One of my oldest friends, Rachel, was passing through and stayed over for a very nice visit. Chuck and I hold Rachel in very high regard, as it was after a long waivering discussion about whether there should be a second date at all, that she gave us a thumbs up... so we credit Rachel with a large role in Sarah, Perrin, and Ryan being here at all. Here's the babies swarming her to thank her for this.


The babies' best friend Finn has been over a fair amount this month, which we've all enjoyed, except maybe Finn. He is so much a part of the family that he is played with and bullied as if her were the fourth sibling. I'd say this is a perfect example of that, but the credit for this one all goes to Finn alone. It makes me think of the days during the end of my pregnancy where I'd be laying down and Chuck would taunt his "turtle" before helping me up. I'm feeling your pain, Finn.


"Who Leaked on the Carpet?"
Speaking of pain, have I mentioned there are two things I dread about having three babies at once. 1) Potty Training. 2) Drivers Ed with a 100 hour supervised driving per child requirement for licensure. So, the babies are just shy of turning two. I figured I should educate myself about how to best get through the potty training stage. Turns out, they aren't quite ready for it... but they are ready to get ready. So, we are talking a lot about pee and poop lately. This is really nothing new for Chuck, but now we are signing it a lot.

Well, it's taken me a while and an early morning rise before babies to get this blog posted... but Grandma Muriel did say she hadn't seen any new pictures of Sarah in a long time. So, for Grandma Muriel and for Sarah to hate me later...here's a good one.