As the Cavelets grow, so does their curiosity about their new world.  It’s been an interesting week.  Michaela has decided to kick off the crawling festivities, pulling herself up on to the couch (now that’s she’s figured out how to swing her legs), and going bananas.  She even tumbles on purpose and is so proud of herself when she makes it on to the couch. It used to be combat crawling, then walking, and now climbing.  Emma looks on, but isn’t attempting to climb as much as the other two – we’ve spotted her doing it, though.

She is a real piece of work, this Michaela.  So far she likes to try to challenge us the most, constantly trying to see what she can get away with, yet working on sharing things with us when she sees fit.  She can throw a legendary tantrum, spilling herself on to the floor once she’s on her knees.  Maybe part of it is all the molars she has coming in.  She’ll be a real treat once she can talk and start to express herself.  She is still in love with all things binkie, and we’ve seen her walking around with 3 binkies (one in her mouth and one in each hand).

Christopher has decided he wants to climb now too, but he’s most interested in reaching onto table tops and pulling things off.  He can see over the table now thanks to his steady growth, and he’s smart enough to go grab a wooden spoon or something long to shimmy whatever he wants within reach.  He finally has more teeth coming in.

Emma is still the mellow baby and content with staying out of whatever mischief Michaela and Christopher get into.  Michaela and Christopher are truly partners in crime!  When Emma’s not happy, she’ll let us know, and loudly.

 They don’t pester her as much, but she is still capitalizing off of their down time to get her fair share of time in with the toys and one on one time with Angelique and I.  We’re certain she’ll be the one that wants to go far away to college to get away from the other two.  She’s very vocal, making noises with her tongue (sound like “liter”) and is very good at mimicking the cat’s meow.  In my opinion, she can make the widest range of sounds out of the 3.

What else has been new, though? 

The Mega Trots

Christopher and Emma have had the mega trots for the better part of a week.  We’ve gone through so many diapers.  It was so bad early on that Angelique had to take those two straight to the tub to hose them off.  I had to stay home Friday to help out.  Michaela is fine (so far).  We’ve done our best to keep them hydrated while this runs its course.  The photo shoot we had planned for this past weekend with the 5 of us was cancelled as a result.

Moving

Packing has been tough.  Caring for 3 little ones adds to that.  We’ll be moving into a single story home.  We’ll put our place up for sale in a few weeks.  The new place has a more open floor plan, so the toddlers she be thrilled with the layout.

Looks and Names

They all have moments where they look a lot alike.  It depends on the angle and what they’re doing.  For example, it’s most evident when they are sleeping.  Christopher’s eyes completely relax and he drifts towards looking like Michaela.  Emma and Michaela look a lot alike when they make certain faces.  It’s been said that Emma looks the most like me, but that didn’t mean that I was going to name her Michaela Briana (my middle name is Brian).  She really does look like an Emma.  Her name seems to fit her personality.  Emma and Christopher have the same pouty bottom lip when they are just looking around. They also have my eye shape.  They continue to be 3 distinct skin tones, all equally beautiful.  Also they have 3 different hair colors, with Christopher still blond as ever.  Emma and Christopher have curls, while Michaela has wavy hair.  They all respond to their names now, which is nice.  We throw in their middle name for emphasis if they misbehave.  Very rare for Emma, though.  It’s mostly Michaela and Christopher.  Christopher loves to bang things in the kitchen, repeatedly closing doors and pushing things around to satisfy his inquisitive itch.

Music and Colors

We have several go to movies.  They include:

• Tarzan
• Home
• Anastasia
• The Little Engine That Could
• Lilo and Stitch

Certain types of music calm them down or cause them to dance.  We know early on if a movie is going to work or not.  If they stop what they are doing, it’s a keeper.

Growing Up Too Fast

It’s true when they say they grow up too fast.  Long gone are the days where you’d prop them up in boppies and they couldn’t yet escape.  Michaela is much longer now, but the other two grow at a steady clip so it washes her growth out and she continues to look petite.  She can wear 18 month onesies now, though.  Christopher is losing his baby fat and becoming a handsome young boy.  Watch out, ladies!  He hasn’t learned yet to stop trying to stand up under the table, and sometimes he turns around and walks right into it.  It’s all part of growing up, though.

I’m sure our future will include constant bickering, sibling sabotage and even more tantrums; however, we still kiss them all as much as we can and they’re happy to be held by us (although Christopher is REALLY heavy!).  We’ll continue to try to phase out bottles in favor of sippy cups.  It’s a process, though – you take one step forward and two steps back.  We no longer track every diaper change, bottle feeding or meal.  That white board saved us early on, though.

With springtime around the corner, we plan on getting them out of the house more.  We’ve gotten pretty good at loading and unloading them in and out of the minivan now.  We want to try going to Red Robin as a family to see how they do.  Also on the horizon, the beach and the zoo.  We aren’t so worried about all of the stares and comments anymore.  The kids need to understand and appreciate that there’s a whole other world out there and it’s time to start living (and enjoying) life.  When we take them out, though, the tables turn.  Emma’s the one that takes off (flight risk, and fast!), and Christopher stays close to the nest and has to have either Angelique or myself in his sights – their first day of school will be fun…haha.  Michaela doesn’t boss the other two around out in public.  She’s reserved (or calculating) and stays back before she engages.  The look in her eyes is very determined and cautious – or maybe it’s the binkie  in her mouth that makes her have the serious face.

Here’s to many more firsts!

Cheers,

M.