In Session

It won't come as a surprise to those who know me to hear I am Early-Childhood-Educationally challenged.  Yep, not a single original child-entertaining-and/or-educating thought in this noggin.   Go ahead, look it up on the internet (at least on this site)... the word "SassyMama" is listed as the antonym to "Creative".

I am not being overly self-deprecating here.
Just honest.

Sometimes I just look at my kids and can't come up with a single new way to play with them.  Isn't that just wrong?
Doesn't that just come with their delivery?

So, in an attempt to fill in some measure the large hole that is my Child-Entertaining talents, I have been reading (I'm sure a big shock to everyone...).

And I have been inspired!
So my recent absence from the blog is at least in part due to Project Fever.  I have become tres excited by all the many activities, crafts and educational games I will be able to do with the triplets.  And I have become elbow-deep in making little crafts and toys for fussy-time entertainment.  Yes, I could turn on a DVD or buy a few more battery-powered toys.  But something about making toys and planning activities myself is enjoyable and feels very organic.  Many of the ideas (ok, nearly all) must be saved for a bit until they are older, but I have been inspired nonetheless.  For example, I made little foam puppets on popsicle sticks for them yesterday.  They are made of small pieces so the Somewhat-Toothsome Threesome can't play with them themselves, but I put on a mini-puppet show yesterday as they sat in the feeding table after lunch... and I got a few giggles:).

I have also been busy constructing a "lesson plan" for the triplets.
Don't worry, we aren't having school over here for three hours a day...
And I'm not expecting such lesson-ing will produce famously brilliant scientists with tousled hair (not naming any names here, folks... I don't want them to sue me in 30 years if they aren't just.like.him).  But I do like to be organized, so I thought it smart to have certain things we concentrated on in a week to be sure that each of them are being exposed to all their colors, animals, etc.

I got the idea from this site which has lesson plans starting from newborn(!) to kindergarten.  They include such things as classical music, poetry (a small piece from A. A. Milne every week), a book to read, an indoor and an outdoor game, a nursery rhyme, a children's song, a bible verse, puppetry, etc.  The lessons are based on their age (so I am using the triplets' adjusted age).

In addition, I added "animal of the week", "color of the week" and "sign of the week", and dropped some of the other categories that we do already (i.e., classical music, children's song) or I felt to be less important (i.e., art appreciation).  And after supplementing with some activities from a few toddler books I have been browsing, I am left with a SassyMama-triplet specific bi-weekly plan.  Really more of a plan for me than for them.  Every day I spend about 10 minutes with them in the feeding table going through maybe two things (book, puppetry, sign, bible verse, color, etc.), the others we do as part of their play (usually one-on-one).  Some of the sections, (like book, ASL sign, poetry, animal and color) we do every day, but the others I am happy if we hit a few times a week.  The important thing is that the "lessons" give me something to focus on so that things don't fall through the cracks.  You know, some confidence that all three are being exposed to the basics.

I mean, wouldn't it be a shame if they were 3yrs old and I had forgotten to teach them their colors?:).

All this planning and organizing has left me very excited about my interactions with them.
I feel more engaged and involved.
I feel more pertinent and connected.

Which is a very, very nice thing:)

Month Fifteen

Chronological Age: 16 Months

Adjusted Age: 12.5 Months

Dear Emery, Parker and Isaac,

Meals have become much more fun as you are all eating well and get VERY excited when I pull out your finger foods. Cubes of cheddar cheese are the crowd fave. Peaches, pineapple, and bananas are also tops while edamame (although very popular with Isaac), mango, and peas rank at the bottom of the list.

All three of you love being out in the courtyard; exploring the artificial grass, tugging on the branches of bushes, running around the portico, examining leaves, and experimenting with the sounds different surfaces make when one beats on them with t.upperware. Now that the weather is nice, we sometimes even go out in the evening just before bedtime. Last week we even turned on the fire pit and let you watch leaves burn (from a safe distance, of course...)


Emery: You jabber constantly. Sometimes it sounds like you are speaking Chinese, sometimes Russian, and occasionally your clicks are more reminiscent of an African dialect. Talking with your hands already (Can't imagine where you got that from...), you raise your right hand out, index finger extended as if holding forth in a momentous oration.

We have started playing a game when I put you down for nap or bedtime. I put a binkie in your mouth and then use my teeth to take it from you. You grin widely and then attempt to either take it back with your hands or with your mouth. It has been great fun. By the way, you have some serious pluck, my dear. Clearly you inherited your father's Gene of Dogged Persistence (as well as his Gene of One Track Mind). Removed from a forbidden object (even into another room), you immediately turn around, firmly determined to return to the treasure from which we so callously separated you.

Your walking has taken on a prancing quality, occasionally turning into a skipping step or two. It is common for you to now lead the boys on excursions down the hallway. A fan of the laundry hamper for some time now, you have recently taken to turning the hamper over and spreading dirty onesies, cloths, bibs and socks around the house. To find you, one only needs to follow your trail...:).




Parker: You have an infectious, ready grin that takes up your entire face. I can't help but smile myself. You are currently in the process of cutting two molars (Ouch!), so occasionally your usual good nature is hijacked by teething... at least temporarily. Despite dental trauma, your equine-like appetite remains intact and although you would never be considered portly (ha!), your pants are getting shorter. I will be very interested to find out how much you weigh when at Dr. Pedi's next week.

Dad recently gave you a haircut which left clips of curls in the bottom of the tub (which, like any self-respecting mother, I gathered up and put in your keepsake box). I was sad to see your long hair go, but I must admit it was getting a bit ratty. With shorter hair you look less like a baby and more like a little boy:) (and besides, it will just grow back...).  Lately you giggle without fail at fake sneezes. And pretty much any other funny noise we send your way:).

You started walking this month and quickly picked up speed to keep up with the other two. Whenever at the park you become preoccupied with what older children are up to... throwing a football, riding bikes, etc. You watch them intently and occasionally meander towards the activity. I know it won't be long now before you will be joining in the play.




Isaac: You walk absolutely everywhere.  All the time.  Your gait, very halting last month, has smoothed out and at times you are nearly running (especially around the courtyard or down the hall).  One of your favorite things is a game we play when I am out in the courtyard and you are in the long hallway.  I knock on the glass doors and make funny faces, amusing you to no end.  Once you head down the hallway, I jump ahead of you to surprise you at the next glass door.  A few times you laughed so hard you ended up falling back on your bum:).

You aren't a big fan of sippy cups (which, I hate to tell you, will have to change soon...) but B.aby E.instein (and other videos like them) are apparently THE BOMB.  Frequently, turning on such videos puts you into a deep trance.

Since the time change, you have been much more tired in the evenings... even once falling asleep sitting up in the feeding table.  Because you are more tired even at naps, you occasionally allow me to rock you to sleep while singing lullabies (or your song which never fails to get a smile out of you), something you haven't let me do for ages.  Considering you are usually much too wiggly and clearly much too old for such nonsense, I have fully enjoyed every minute I was able to hold you in my arm, rub your head and brush hair off your forehead.

I feel like I fell asleep last night in August and woke up this morning with you three months older.  The time moves so quickly (I now understand what people have been telling me for years...).  And although I am loving watching you learn and change rapidly, I pray that I am successful in cherishing your goofy quirks, funny giggles and little accomplishments.  For it will be only another blink before you are headed out the door with backpacks.

Yesterday, I had two of you by the hands as we headed out to the courtyard to play. 

I was walking. 

With my children.

And I was reminded how terribly proud I am of each of you.

How you have grown and defied many odds.

How happy (and amazed!) I am that you are ours.

And how much I love each of you uniquely. Exquisitely.

And I hope, especially while I have you here at home for the first five years, that I do you justice.

That I teach you what you need to know in order to be happy and successful in this big world.

And I hope, somehow, that despite obstacles bound to batter you in this life, I can help each of you to retain even a little of your charm, curiosity and personality that has emerged this month.

Even just a little.

Love,
Mom

*Blogger's note: Ummmm... the layout is not exactly as planned. Help from anyone with brilliant knowledge (i.e., anyone with any ideas at all) regarding horizontal layout of multiple pictures using either the new or old editor in blogger are welcome!

**Update: Thanks to Laundry Queen for the help.  Not perfect, but better!   I'm getting there.  Lesson learned... what I see in the edit box has essentially no relation to what will show on the blog:)

Possibly The Longest Photo Description EVER

The babies, although nearly 15 months old, remain rear-facing in the car. For two reasons... 1) Per reports it is safer for them to be rear-facing as long as possible (up to 30 lbs!) and 2) Two of the three have not yet reached that ever-magical 20 lb milestone. So even though we obtained our new Fancy-Dancy-Fits-Three-Across-My-Car convertible car seats, they have been drinking in a fabo view... of the back of their seats.

 Now as we have a Long-and-Possibly-Masochistic upcoming road trip (17 hrs of driving... I mean who does this with 16 month triplets:)? But the option is long airport waits and a 3 hour flight with the Now-Very-Wiggly-Somewhat-Toothsome Threesome, their car seats, strollers and other misc. gear and scores of sick people. Not fun either...), I have been secretly hoping that we would be able to turn them forward-facing before the middle of December. I'm all for "making things work", but leaning over the front passenger seat as well as the back of car seats in order to give sippy cups/bottles to the babies, as well as monitoring frequently since two of the three have developed a penchant for turning their bottles over and allowing milk to puddle wherever they are, gets old VERY QUICKLY.

*as an aside, when speaking to friends I have almost uniformly been told... "just get into the back seat next to them when they eat". Ummm... they ARE the backseat:).

The fuel pump on my car had to be replaced last week.  Not a happy day. And apparently to do so, it required dismantling the back seat of my compact SUV... you know, the one with three car seats snugly installed. Yep, that one.

So when I picked up my car, the car seats were thrown in the back of my car:(.

Now I must explain that the installation of my new Fancy-Dancy-Fits-Three-Across-My-Car convertible car seats was anything but routine. I had a certified car seat installer do the job. But the center seat wasn't working with our seat belt (the belt wasn't long enough). It was such a problem that he actually had to call the car seat manufacturer and speak with an engineer. The two of them were able to find a work-around, which, although it was deemed safe, never seemed ideal to me.

So here I had three car seats in the back of my car and not a single idea on how to install the center seat rear-facing (and no real inclination to return to the car seat installer immediately for help). So I suppose it is a good thing that Isaac has surpassed the ever-magical 20 lb mark (two months ago). We managed to snugly install all three car seats... two rear facing and one forward-facing.

This last weekend, Matt and I took the babies out to a park with a few ponds, peacocks and picnic tables. Much fun was had by all. Parker in particular was fascinated by the older kids riding around on bikes. The Somewhat-Toothsome Threesome were nearly taken out by a few VERY angry geese, but we whisked them off quickly (what would we have done with quints? Not enough arms!!!). It was Isaac's first forward-facing experience and he seemed to be down with it. On the way back, Isaac and Emery found they could play with each other across their seats.

My heart melted:)

What We Learned in October

For anyone who might have been wondering, the next day was better, as it was bound to be:).

I will update in a few days... but for now, here is their October video... late, as it was bound to be:).

What We Learned In October from SassyMama on Vimeo.

Mama Warned Me There Would Be Days Like This

Today was one of "THOSE" days.

Let's just say it included a call to poison control, two separate hits to Isaac's head with resulting goose eggs, sub-par napping, powdered tapioca mix tracked around the kitchen (a box which Emery, with her superhuman ability as Elasto-girl, managed to squirrel through the pantry cupboard despite child locks, and then gnaw through both the box and inner bag), me dropping (umm... accidentally, of course!) a knife within inches of Parker's nose, and, because no "bad" day would be complete without it, poop in places poop should never be.

Not my finest hour(s).

It was three fussy (two of whom are cutting molars) babies who insisted on being not only in the same room, but plastered to my legs. While I was trying to cook. While I was cleaning up dishes. While I was doing anything.

And picking them up didn't make them much happier.

And have you ever tried removing three determined toddlers from a freezer as you try desperately to close it? Much like trying to carve a chasm in water.

I didn't exactly earn "Mommy of the Year" points today.
But we survived.
All of us.

And they are in bed.
And tomorrow is bound to be better:)

Not What The Nightly News Would Have You Believe...

Today I did something truly deserving of a Gold Medal In Colossal Absentmindedness.

Truly.

I left my purse in the grocery cart after loading groceries into my car and placing the cart in the corral.
I drove home.
I made funny faces and played Peek-a-boo with Emery.
I unloaded groceries from two separate grocery stores.
And then it occurred to me that I had no idea where my purse was.

A complete check of the car and house revealed... nothing.
So leaving Rosa with the triplets again, I high-tailed it back to the last grocery store. (And yes, if anyone is wondering, I do believe that I may have exceeded the speed limit... but only by one mile an hour, I'm sure...).
The whole while trying to figure out when I would go to the DMV to replace my Driver's license, how to tell Matt we need to cancel our credit cards NOW, and how sad I would be to lose my favorite ring that I threw in my purse two days ago after a dinner out.

On arrival in the store parking lot... my purse was not in the cart (placed neatly, I might add, in the cart corral). So with my heart in my hands I went to Customer Service on the off chance someone nice picked up my purse and turned it in.

What were the chances?
I wasn't feeling to great.
There is a bad recession with many people in financial straits.
And the papers, radio and TV news programs are full of bad stories.
Horrible stories.
When people are defrauding, deceiving, thieving and murdering, why would someone think twice of just taking a purse someone carelessly left in a cart? If you buy into the news, everyone is out for themselves.

But guess what?
My faith in humanity just got a big boost:)
My purse was turned in.
Everything intact.

Despite the nightly news, I would like to believe there are more good people in this crazy world than we tend to remember.

And I am exceedingly grateful.
That whoever picked up my purse did not take advantage of my blunder.

So thank you, not only to the person who turned in my purse, but to all of you who have (or would have) done the same.

Hallo-weeunion

The Level II NICU where the babies spent a few weeks as a transition between the Level III and home turned two this month. So they threw themselves a Halloween Costume Birthday party this last weekend and invited all the NICU "alum". We didn't spend nearly as much time at the Level II NICU as we did at the Level III, but it was great to see the nurses and staff again and show them how much the triplets have grown and how well they are doing.

When we wheeled them into the reunion in their wagon, you'd have thought M.ichael Jackson himself had just walked in! They caused quite the stir:) (The triplets, the triplets! Look how big they are! That can't be the triplets, look how big they are!, etc). A photographer was there and taking pictures on hay bales. It started out all right (although Isaac's costume was a bit "roomy" in the head...

But quickly deteriorated... probably due to the hay sticking up through Emery's tights. Parker on the other hand, was quite satisfied as he found something with which to pick his teeth:).

Within 30 seconds, Emery was throwing herself off the bale and Isaac was in a full whine. Well, we tried:).

The staff had a full lunch complete with lots of halloween treats, clowns, entertainment and activities for older children. We had a great time, and hope to return next year:).