Knee Deep In Diapers

Everything goes into the mouth. Last night Sammy found a clothes pin. He apparently opened the pin and then proceded to chew on the side that was now two peices of wood held in place together by his little hands. Just as I saw it happen, I knew what would come next. His hands released, knowing he had gotten the object into his mouth successfully. The pin, of course, immediately responded to the release and suddenly Sammy's little mouth sprung open right with it. I was just a few steps away from him now when his little eyes went into the slanted position they do when he lets out a great big "sky is falling" cry.

Sometimes with triplets it can seem a little like that game - wack a mole. You know the one where you have to scan a table with holes in it and then quickly react to the mole's head popping up. Bam! Then just as you see you have conquered it, you notice another mole had been up in the far corner watching you the entire time,and is now on its way back down....quick! Bam... Ugh, missed that one.

I think you can walk into my house and guess the height of my kids by the line that has seemed to form on the walls, the shelves, and the refrigerator. Magnets holding information on upcoming school schedules and pictures made by small, not yet known artists, are slowily moving to near the very last 12" of space. Magnets are a particular item of fear. This is further reinforced by the recall made by Magnetix over the deaths and injuries caused by children who have swallowed the magnet peices.

Wack a mole. I wonder if this shouldn't be part of the training? Perhaps the next generation will be better at raising multiples because they grow up with video games that demand quick thinking and short attentions. Pac Man and Wack a Mole certainly didn't prepare me.

Posted by Jaycie at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is really interesting how different people, and thereby kids, have different stregths and areas of intelligence. Sammy was our last to crawl and last to walk, but first with words. Benjamin has always physically been the first. Livi has always been the most socially aware of the three. Now that we are at a point where we can communicate, the forms of communication seem to follow suit. Livi uses a lot of inflection in her voice in order to commicate needs verses surprise, etc. Sammy uses words and Benjamin is more abt to express himself through body language.

List of our current vocab:
Duck, Ball, Bear, Duice (Juice) and A (for big sister Allison)
Turtle, Apple, and Bubble

Posted by Jaycie at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So far I am not sure if anything has been quite as fun as first words. Sammy was our first to speak words with the association to the object, well or so I thought.

Last night I was putting Sammy's PJs on and he had a little bear on the right chest of his Pjs. I pointed to it and said, Bear. He looked at me, looked at it, and in a Jersey accent - Bear. Yes Yes, that is right Sammy, Bear! I was so excited.

However, today Sammy had a t-shirt on and I was retelling the story to a friend of his first word. He was listening and as I said Bear, he pointed to the dog on his shirt and said.......Bear.

Bear is anything on a shirt............well we are close.

Posted by Jaycie at 07:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On Saturday we made our first trip to the zoo. It was A's birthday and I wanted to find something we could do as a family - so to the zoo it was! We took the Radio Flyer wagon for two toddlers and one stroller. It worked out well. Highlights of the zoo were the train, concessions, and then probably the fish in the glass near the jaguar exhibit. We aren't quite at the point where we know the other animals, so they weren't as much of a hit, but to come! Great outing for families!

Posted by Jaycie at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, we have done it. On the last day of 2006 we completed a flight which to us, feels worthy of NASA.

Our 14 month old triplets, our nine years old daughter and the two of us took off on Dec. 27th from Florida to Minnesota to see our family. We had two infants in arms and four seats - Sammy got his own.

A few days prior to the flight, all four were struck with a cold and had a stuffy noses. I was pretty worried about the effect this might take on their ears for the trip and up until the last day we waited to see if we should cancel. In the end, we decided to make the trip.

We took the luxery of conveinance at the airport and used the valet parking. I would suggest either this or having someone drop you off. We also brought one bag with the baby essentials and then another with some toys and other time wasters. The essentials included gas medicine, benedryl, wippees, diapers, finger foods (lots of variety) bottles, and sippe cups. I know there were a few other things in the mix, but this was primarily the list.

Less is more is probably the best rule. The more you have, the more there is to manage.

As far as security goes, I really don't understand why everyone is so concerned with the amount of liquid you are now able to take on a plane. If we were using breast milk, I guess I could understand. Although, even then you are allowed some exceptions and could certainly use formula in this case. We simply asked the flight attendant when we boarded for some water to mix formula and we were given a full bottle both times. Everyone was very accomidating.

We were most worried about the climb and decent for their ears. As the flight went up we were all prepared and holding bottles to babies mouths with our breath held. No reaction from them. It was almost as if they were wondering what all the fuss was about.

All three slept at least an hour of the journey. The rest of it was spent eating and looking at the magazines stuffed in the back of our seats.

On the return flight we had a few minutes of crying and fussing due to the long periods of sitting. For the most part, it went better than we expected. What it was was a lot of work. Time spent entertaining and shuffling things around left us exhausted upon arrival.

Would I do it again? Yes I would. It was worth the time to see our parents and family. It is also important to get out, even if it is more difficult to do. Will I be doing it again anytime soon? Probably not. : )

Posted by Jaycie at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I have never been a huge fan of the likes of such songs as The Wheels on the Bus or I like to Eat Apples and Banannas, but some of these will enter your repertoire once you have children. Barney, however, is not a requirement.

This week I was listening to NPR and there was a blog they mentioned call Zooglobble.com. It has some great stuff and I was surprised by some of the great music available. I myself have always been a fan of Jack Johnson and of course he is featured on the Curious George soundtrack, which is worth a purchase. The music is soothing and easy to listen to, even for adults.

On the side of fun, I really enjoyed the Jellybots. They do wonderful songs about things that hit close to home with kids, such as a day spent riding a bike. The sound is truely unique to children's music and provides a little funk and punk to the little ones style.

Posted by Jaycie at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When I found out we were having triplets, panic set in. Panic and honest deep down fear. Now bare with me on this one, but here is your advice if you just found out you were expecting triplets.

I had my sales class today and we discussed our financial and professional goals. Mine now revolve around the kids and gone are the trips to Europe, etc. Well, at least on the serious back burner. But it occurs to me this. All of those things I can choose to obtain. We ultimately decide what we want in life, even if life throws us curves. How we react to those curve balls is up to us.

So I thought about my response to having triplets and I am going to equate it to this. If someone came up to me and said, you are now going to be a player on a professional basketball team and you start in one week. I would think, no I am not. I can't. I am not ready to play on a professional basketball team. I am not good enough. In fact, I never even remotely considered that I would ever be a professional basketball player.

But what if I really was given the opportunity and had to play. How good could I be? How many people get an opportunity like that? Think of how many people would love to have someone offer them such an opportunity. What an amazing experience.

So guess what. You are going to be parents of triplets. You can do it. You should and will feel extremely gratefull that you get this opportunity. It will be hard. It will stretch you to perform on levels both professionally and at home that you never imagine you would do. Perhaps never even thought of doing. Somedays it won't feel like you should be there and lots of days you are going to be dog tired. But you remember, you have been selected. It is amazing what you can do once you are selected.

Posted by Jaycie at 09:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well today was our full-time Nanny's first day. She was at our house at 7:15 AM. A had just walked out the door to start her job (for real this time) and I was juggling the three babies and our 9 year old and her friend from the neighborhood. It was her first sleep over at our house and perhaps not the best night to do so, but we haven't had any friends for her in the neighborhood so when we found one, we gladly accomidated.

The boys never have many issues with new faces. Benjamin is more hesitant once he is outside of our home, but Sammy is Mr. Social. Now Livi, that is a different subject. She needs a little warming time. Our oldest was home from school and

Posted by Jaycie at 03:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)