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The Apple(s) 🍎 of my 👀 Eyes

Three different personalities means it is never a dull moment in this household. The best part of this is that it provides opportunities to try many different things. The worst part is that it could produce a lot of waste if you aren’t careful…haha! This is what makes the introductory photo so funny. Clearly someone loves apples (Michaela), while another wasn’t feeling it at the moment (Emma), while the other (Christopher) likely partook in the delectable treat at the behest of an older, bossy sibling (Michaela). Oh, a picture really does paint 1,000 words!

We can’t make this stuff up. I have been following another triplet mom’s blog for some time. That has served as my roadmap of what to expect as they get older. Her identical triplet boys just turned 7. Her latest blog was about how their personalities are all but settled in. I read the blog this morning and smiled. In one of her earlier blogs, she wrote about how one of the boys had thrown a potato 🥔 at the TV and broke it. I could see that happening with us, especially since Christopher likes to throw things randomly. One thing is guaranteed year after year with these three – entertainment!

I look forward to getting home from work to see how much they’ve learned while I was gone. Every day it is something new as they continue their rapid evolution into little people. Lately they’ve all become fixated on grasshoppers. There is a resident grasshopper that is missing a hind leg that hangs around the outside of the house. Sunday the grasshopper made its way to one of the screens in a nearby bedroom. They all got excited and screamed when they’d get close to it and talked amongst themselves about the grasshopper. They each refused to get close to the window to take a closer look without a buddy – it was so cute. For the next few days they have demanded that a grasshopper be drawn on the magna doodle. They think it is real, because Angelique asks them to touch it and they freak out. If she asks them to kiss it, they run and/or cry. Yesterday she decided to chase them around the house with the latest drawing. She’s a really good artist like her mom so I’m sure it looked life-like.

Michaela’s bossy disposition and hierarchy in the group of 3 is all but confirmed. On Monday, they each got to choose what movie to watch. Of course, Michaela got to pick first and she chose Anastasia (which once upon a time was on the list of girl names before they were born. She doesn’t look like a Stacey…although I would have loved to sing “Stacey’s mom has got it going on” all day…haha!). After the movie 🎥 🍿 played, Angelique asked Emma what movie she wanted to watch. Emma said Olaf (Frozen). Michaela quickly intervened, putting her arm around Emma, looking at her and saying “Emma, don’t you want to watch Anastasia?” (and in the same tone as Ana asked Elsa, “Do you wanna build a snowman?”) 🤪. Guess what was watched (again): Anastasia 🙂. Persistence, persuasion, charm and determination. And beauty…Oh my!

You’ll have to excuse me, Michaela has selected the DVD she wants to watch at 4:45am: The Secret Garden. Blah

More on the other two another time!

M.

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We Can’t Keep Up! 🤷🏾‍♂️

The triplets are barreling towards their 3rd birthday on October 23rd. We can’t keep up with all the new things they are doing and saying. So here’s my best summary.

Michaela

She’s speaking in ‘completer’ sentences. She can use possessive (Mommy’s), a few prepositions (on, in, out), and obviously can give her two siblings clear directions (“Emma, put on the dress”, “Ferfer, get out!”). ABCs? No problem? Counting 1-10? Piece of cake. Colors, no problem. Shapes? Check, including Octagon, Cone, Sphere and Rectangle. Potty training is going well. She’ll for sure be the first one fully trained at some point before she’s 3 and a half I’m sure. She is up to about 5 or 6 wardrobe changes a day. She demands not only a kiss on the lips goodbye before I leave for work each morning, but now on the forehead as well. Plus, she rallies the cr3w to ensure that I give them kisses, too. Alrighty, then! Michaela was also the first to ride a bike (with training wheels) recently. She figures things out quickly.

Emma

Emma has great command of words. She can repeat pretty much whatever she hears verbatim, like a parrot. The alphabet and letters are no problem for her, although sometimes she gets a letter wrong now and then. She loves pointing out body parts: head, eyes, lips, mouth, ears, cheeks, chin, eyebrows, toes, shoulders, knees, and even belly button. She loves to jump long distances, and has no fear in that regard. She jumps off the couch often and into the arms of whatever adult is near. She’s got this heart that once was on a necklace that she carries around nearly 24 hours a day and even sleeps with. Not a pretty sight when it goes missing. She and Michaela have cryptic conversations. They seem to be negotiating. I’m not able to translate all of it 🙂

Christopher

Christopher is a rough and tumble boy. The first development evaluation report indicated he was a shy and timid boy. That’s actually true. He’s pretty shy until he warms up to folks, but once he does he is a bundle of energy and quite annoying, actually. He loves to growl, and it’s really annoying. He’s finally talking more, and is able to express himself better. You can usually find him with his troll pool toys (Princess Poppy was missing for weeks but magically reappeared last week), or with his toy cars, lining them up in a straight line in inconvenient locations around the house.

Age 2 wasn’t that terrible. It was 2 and a half when things got wild. They have tested our patience, and we’re sure they are just getting started. When they can really talk, we will see what mischief they concoct. We will be in survival mode until things calm down, which might be as soon as 5 or 6 years old…haha we’ll see.

In the meantime, enjoy some recent pics and videos from below.

M.

Other kids are drawn to our three. They share their stuff pretty good.
I certainly am tired of cleaning up these rocks!
Size 3 is no match for this big boy. He’s got a long torso!
As you can see, Michaela loves to lead the way!
Emma is not so interested yet. Hasn’t figured out peddling.
Michaela got the potty stuck on her head. It took 5 tries to get it off. She won’t be doing that again!
Emma stunned us with her beautiful hair straightened out. You could tell she liked the different look.
These two have their close moments…sometimes.
Michaela rocking a fitted sheet, butterfly wings and a black shirt holding them together as a fashion statement…in a princess dress.
No caption needed! Cute!
Cute and she knows it!
Christopher is the clown of the group. Can you tell?
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Blessings of Mass Destruction

Take a long look at the above pictures. These three, working together, pulled down the curtain rod in the family room. We have the suspects apprehended, and in the second picture, you’ll see that they were all put on a time out because they were all caught red handed in the vicinity of the destruction zone. You can tell who the most guilty are by a.) their proximity to the scene of the crime and b.) their excitement. Michaela’s masterfully worded self-incriminating line: “Mommy! Broken!”.

When my wife Angelique sent the pictures to my mobile phone, my jaw dropped. It was only a matter of time before they brought it down. Fifty pound mollies are no match for the Cave Triplets! These three are extremely efficient at systematically breaking down perceived obstacles.

I don’t think the movie Tarzan was playing on DVD, but someone (or 2) heavier toddlers were hanging on the curtains like they were vines. It’s what toddlers do, and when these guys get going, look out!

I figured I’d share this as we close our their second year of life and gear up for them turning 3 next month. Now that they are talking more, they really are going to be a handful over the next 12 months. Who knows what else they will destroy over that 12 month period. I guess we’ll see.

🙂

M.

 

 

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Independently Particular

Greetings,

The kids know what they want, when they want it and why. Now that they can better articulate what they want, it’s been a comical month are now their active little minds are forming becomes more apparent. Below are some examples mixed in with super cute photos.

Michaela

Fiercely independent. Fiercely Particular.

Will no longer let me help her undo her diaper when it’s time to sit on the potty or help her get on (unless it’s early in the morning and she not awake yet) or off. She pushes my hand away and says “No, I do it”.

Will devour an Uncrustable, but will still leave the outer portion, which already has no crust.

She likes to wear specific accessories with her many wardrobe changes throughout the day. Yes, that includes only certain shoes 👞🤷🏾‍♂️.

She prefers to drink the purple box of Costco apple grape juice. If available, no, it has to be the purple box, and she’s told me so a few time.

When she wants water, she say “Drink of water?” no, unless she asks specifically, she prefers it out of mommy’s big cup. Alrighty!

And let’s not forget, the milk must have the right amount of chocolate Ovaltine mixed in. If not, she will inspect in the light and give me back.

She likes to administer vitamins and medicine herself via the syringe.

When she and/or Emma are going potty and Christopher wanders in, she says “Privacy!” and he leaves. He’s just being nosy, as he’s not really too interested yet.

And in true girly girl fashion, she knows when she wants her finger nails and toe nails painted and which color.

Emma

Emma parades around most days with an enigmatic expression on her face. It’s like she knows something none of us no. We still catch her staring at us and then she will smile and those oddly space dimples high on her cheek will pop out. She is totally content doing her own thing away from the high energy play of Michaela and Christopher. That tends to be a moving danger zone – best to stay clear of that!

She likes her privacy, much like I did growing up. She also likes to hold on to small items. Her latest fascination is this little red plastic key. Now she asks for it specifically (“Where’s my key?”).

She likes, well loves, the new Amazon Echo. She is always wishing Alexa a good morning and asking her to tell a joke. She also likes for us to ask her to play the Trolls soundtrack so she can dance in the kitchen.

She loves vegetables such as green beans, black olives (sliced) and vanilla bean yogurt, which has to be in a bowl, apparently.

Emma can nod yes and no when she wants or doesn’t want something. Lots of nodding no lately to sitting on the potty. So we are in a bit of regression period with her. It happens after they are getting over being sick, and it’s not surprising. At least this cold only lasted a week.

Christopher

Cars. Cars. Cars. He is particular about his cars. He usually carries several around with him and lines them up and piles them in my lap as gift offerings. And he has a lot of them. Michaela has been known to grab one and chuck it behind the couch just to piss him off.

He also is into these troll water toys. He can usually be seen carrying Princess Poppy and Branch around. Guy Diamond is usually missing. I don’t know why he likes to lose that particular troll. He’s currently missing.

One day it is clear that I will be looking up to this little man as he will be tall. I will teach him the finer points of the game of basketball if he’s interested. He has a long torso. He’s got a swimmer’s build currently with the chub long gone. He might be left handed or ambidextrous like me. He’s been eating and throwing stuff with his left hand recently. I’m left handed but eat and write win my right. When I played baseball I threw with my left but batted right. Weird!

Anyway, on to the rest of the recent cute pics.

Lastly, none of them want help brushing their teeth.

The kids really enjoyed my mom’s visit. We all went to a real beach in Pacifica, their first beach experience. The drive is too long though. We will have to wait until they are older to venture that far again.

Hope you enjoyed the read!

M

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Spring Forward, Fall Back

Fall may be rapidly approaching, but our kids keep progressing with a spring in their step. Lots of changes to report, although I’m sure I will not capture them all. Angelique and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary on 8/12/2017, and we ended up going out to lunch for some sushi. Before we did, we got a family photo.

familypic

Christopher is talking more now. He has his go to words, and continues to build confidence. We are certain that one day he’s just going to take off and start babbling. He’s picking up on his chattier older sisters words and adding them to his arsenal. And now they each demand time standing on the counter to practice saying the letters and the associated objects.

cwletters

They certainly have their moments bickering, but the enjoy playing together.

train

Michaela typically directs the day’s play activities. Michaela and Emma, when they aren’t whining, are usually able to clearly tell us what they want. It’s always something completely unexpected to, like a bottle top on the counter, or a hair scrungie. Michaela’s morning routine includes asking me to turn on the TV, torn off the light in the bathroom, open the door, and give her multiple kisses goodbye. She also insists on having the “Pink Diaper” (training pants) if she sees them. I’m happy to follow her instructions 🙂

Emma continues to amaze us with how she’s able to repeat big words. She has grown fond of the new Amazon Echo and is always telling Alexa “Good Morning” and asking her to tell a joke.

Interest in potty training is growing, especially with the girls. They had their playdate yesterday with KhloeBella, and the girls noticed she had panties on and was going to the potty when she had to go. Obviously they are making the connection now, as they were repeatedly going on the potty the rest of the afternoon. Michaela even went at the church daycare on Sunday when the helpers asked all of the kids. Wow! The timing couldn’t be better as we’ve all but given up buying nighttime diapers from the stores. Get them on Amazon now because I’m tired of them not having the size I’m looking for.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

M.

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!=o Three…Three…Three=o!

Monday thru Friday, I leave the house around 6:40am en route to work. The past month has been great for send-off. Most of the time I get three hugs, three kisses goodbye (at least 5 from Michaela, and she actually asks each time, “Kisses goodbye?”), and three not so little munchkins waving goodbye and blowing kisses, with Christopher giving chase, as I back out of the driveway. Yes, that feels good!

The sponges are eager to apply the fruits of their daily discoveries. This has resulted in new words, behaviors, alliances, likes and dislikes. Now that we know they understand what we’re saying, when they ask for something out of the fridge, we make them go get it, especially Emma. “Milk!”, she demands. We tell her that she knows where it is, and that if she wants some, she can get it herself. She “pretends” to not be able to open the fridge door, saying, “It’s stuck!”. I tell her to try harder. And it doesn’t end there. None of them, though they try, get to drink it wherever they want like the days of old. They have to sit at the table or stay in the kitchen area. We’ve found ancient milk cups previously…ugh! And when they’re done, we tell them to open the door, put it back, and shut it. They assumed early on compliance was optional, but now they realize it’s compulsory 🙂

I still hear from folks all the time that they don’t know how I do it. Well, I don’t. My wife, Angelique does the heavy lifting. I go to work and make the money that fuels the chaos that is our reality…lol! New greys sprout out every day, but it’s more a product of being 38 years old than being a father of triplets. Yes, a lot of things they do are frustrating, but they’re kids and that comes with the territory. We spend extraordinary amounts of time with them (me specifically on the weekends), and it takes creativity to keep them busy. I think the comment I get from folks generally comes from the perspective of having multiple kids potentially, but not all the same age at the same time. Truth be told, I can’t imagine these three spaced out in years. That’d be weird. Each additional child compounds the challenges. Someone is always going to be unhappy about something or feel left out or annoyed. For example, now that Emma’s got a large arsenal of words, she can actually say, “Hold me”. Of course most of the time we do, but sometimes we have to say no for a variety of reasons, and she’s not happy about it. However, it’s healthy for kids to not get everything they want all the time. Now mind you, they get lots of love, but we draw the line with their sneaky attempts to take advantage of situations. We were kids first, you know 😉

Potty training has been an adventure. I’ll just say that I track it still because I look at it as diapers saved. And thanks to Michaela’s efforts, she’s saved us 230 diapers (2 boxes worth) and Emma 183 diapers (1 box and some change) and Christopher 29 diapers. If I tracked how many times he’s gone in the tub his number would be higher but I’m not home usually when they get baths.

They are instant playmates. Michaela and Christopher are maniacs and bicker a lot over toys and whatever else Michaela has laid claim to first. Michaela is well aware she’s the oldest and doesn’t care how much bigger Christopher is than her. And he always stands down…for now. Emma is still content doing her own thing most of the time. I still trace it all back to her time in the isolette in the NICU. She was in the isolette the longest and probably got used to the bubble, but the others are just too much most of the time.

These kids are something else. Those that have had the pleasure of their company can attest to that statement. And each visit is a different experience. Age 3 with these three is going to be a wild ride. Much more talking, opinions, defiance and independence. We’ll be here in to steer them in the right direction every step of the way.

Their latest favorite movies include:

  • Trolls
  • Boxcar Children
  • Moana

New favorite foods:

  • Uncrustables
  • Pickle chips
  • Sliced black olives (we buy 8 cans a week!)
  • String cheese
  • Stonyfield Yogurt pouches
  • Costco apple sauce pouches
  • Polenta
  • Bananas

August should be exciting. My mother (Mima) will be visiting again later in the month. I think this time she’s fully aware that they are completely different kids from the last time she saw them. We’ll let her dive in and get pummeled like the other times as it is unavoidable. Hope she’s got an idea of how she’ll keep her energy up…lol!

The highlights of my workday are when I get a text from Angelique describing something crazy they did or some cute pictures of a funny video. Facebook has been great with the On This Day photos as we’ve seen some great photos from 2 years back or even last year and it’s incredible how much they’ve changed. I look forward to coming home each day. I remember the days when I was home helping look after them for 4 months straight. It totally re-wired my brain, as I wasn’t thinking about work (well not that kind of work). I was in full-time parent mode. I’m glad I had that time with them, though. Years from now we’ll play all the videos that prove that we both were there, and we both were heavily involved. And hopefully, they’ll appreciate all the sacrifices we made to bring them into this world, to make sure they were happy, loved and ready to leave their own stamp on this life.

M.

 

 

Posted on by cav3dad · 2 Comments

That’s What I’m Talking About

Now, the kids can better express themselves. As a result, there is less and less of Angelique and I guessing or agreeing with them even though we have no clue what they are talking about. The girls are putting together sentences that make a lot of sense, and Christopher is repeating his favorite words ad nauseum to perfect his craft.

Lots of asking for milk, yogurt and pickles from everyone. Oh yeah, and a bite of whatever we are eating. Lots of shock on our faces as they blurt out a new word they hear on one of their learning shows or describe stuff now with a leading noun – pink diaper (Michaela’s training pants), for example. Yesterday Emma’s arms flew up at her trademark 45 degree angle, and she shocked me when she said “Hold me…” 😮. Working on manners. Emma and Michaela can say Please, and Emma always drags out the word and says “Pleeeeeeeease????”. She hasn’t got the T down with her Thank You, so it comes out as “Hank You”.

Emma has a remarkable ability to repeat a word, and some of them are complex. She has no idea yet what she said, but it’s impressive and she’s been doing that for a while.

The word “No”? Mastered by all 🙊

Emma tends to ask for the things she wants. Love it when she asks for water, by the way.  Michaela’s new found leap in vocabulary has revealed she’s well aware of her inner boss. The other day she was on the potty 🚽 and I was sitting their and had spaced out while I waited. It was dark in the bathroom, and when I tuned in to what she was repeating I realized she was telling me to “Turn on the light!”.  The next day she was telling me to “Close the door!” (for privacy, which she tries to also say).

Yep, age 3 is going to be a real tr3at, times 3 😊

👋🏾

M.