Posted on by cav3dad

Phases galore

On the Phase Train, our kiddos have decided they wanted to stop at the strangest places. Oh, what wonderful things we’ve seen:

Food Stop

  • They all have decided to spit out whatever they are eating in favor of what’s up next that they see we have that they want. I guess this is better than throwing food, but they haven’t yet figured out that all they need to do is finish what’s in their mouth, not rid their pallets of it…haha. Bananas, green beans and bean burritos are the usual victims of this malpractice 
  • While bottles are generally on their way out, there is fierce completion for the first warm one in the morning and evening. Michaela’s whole “I was born first” argument usually doesn’t work. It is usually awarded to whoever gets to the couch and into position first. Sometimes Emma takes the long way and seeks out her favorite spot at the far end of the couch, so she misses out…ha ha!
  • We have reached the picky eater stop. Lots of shaking their heads no 

(Change trains) Sleep Train

  • They usually wake up between 4 and 5am
  • Christopher is too heavy to place in his crib without waking him up (thanks gravity) so a toddler bed reconfig is on the horizon 
  • Michaela has night terrors from time to time
  • Emma sometimes has an in depth conversation with herself in her sleep

Shoes

  • They can all say “Shoes” now (although Emma seems to say, “where’s my shoes?”). This usually means they want to try them on. They walk over to where they are stored and tug on the cabinet door. Once Emma has them on, she starts going “Oooh! ahhh!”
  • Michaela likes to organize the shoes into matching pairs. It’s her thing.

Giving and Sharing

  • Emma is going through a phase where she wants to bring us anything and everything from around the house. This morning’s offerings included both potties, fully dismantled, a tractor truck, a few pairs of socks and several stuffed animals. I just thank her and chuck it when she’s not looking 🙊
  • Michaela is learning to share more with her siblings. Of course she likes to direct what happens after she shares. This weekend she shared her apple with Emma after relentlessly taunting her with the sheer juiciness and aroma for several minutes
  • Christopher seems to like to feed us. His feelings aren’t hurt when we politely decline 

Tantrums and Time Outs

  • They each throw tantrums from time to time and for different reasons
  • Michaela’s are usually a product of being told No too many times or not getting something she feels she deserves. She revs up the tears and gets going on the floor. She gets put on a time out 2-3 times a day. She has to go sit on the couch for 2 minutes. Interestingly enough she complies, and hops off when we tell her to. For being such an Angel in the NICU, wow! Haha! 😂
  • Emma doesn’t get put on timeouts…yet. Like me she seems content with learning what not to do from her siblings and just making the adjustments. Sometimes she’s inconsolable though – must be the Diva in her. Soon though she will be able to tell us what ails her (or who did what…haha)
  • Christopher seems to melt down when mommy leaves the room. He’s been extra clingy lately likely due to teething. But when she leaves to run an errand I usually just let him cry it out. He’s learning that she’s not always going to come to his rescue. Most times he just passes out. 

Big Hearts

  • When we were at Bodega Bay, there were a few families with kids also at the beach. Michaela saw this one lady was interested in saying hi so she was walked right up to her and gestured to be picked up. The lady absolutely melted. She had a boy, and told her boyfriend that she wanted a girl now and this was a sign. And Michaela was pouring on the cozy affection. They lady couldn’t get they boyfriend quipped that he didn’t want to risk having triplets so he’d take a hard pass…haha!
  • Christopher has warmed up to males wanting to hold him. Usually he’d just cry. But he’s much more social now. 

Playtime

  • They now like to collectively run in circles around th recliner and chase each other. Michaela seems to be holding back her true speed and acting like she can’t run fast. 

Stripping and Dressing

  • This is mostly Michaela. She seems to like to be in just a diaper and sometimes nothing at all. Super problematic if she’s pooped 💩 
  • Michaela likes to dress herself and the garments usually end up on right, especially shirts. What she chooses to accessorize with is anyone’s guess

 

  • Christopher can usually be found tugging at his tallywhacker daily from 2-3pm in some part of the house 😊
Posted on by cav3dad

Word Blitz

The latest updates with our three two year olds includes:

Michaela

  • Challenging us at every turn. Pushes the envelope. Ends up on the most time outs by far 
  • Exhibition of more dominance over her siblings – now she says “Me!” when she takes stuff. Of course we sometimes take it back and give whatever it is to the other two and remind her to share 
  • Has a unique sense of fashion 
  • Has gone piddle in the potty 6 times now
  • Has gone piddle on the floor at least 6 times now
  • Loves to take her clothes (and diaper off)
  • Loves to practice counting to 5 – sounds it out but it doesn’t make much sense yet
  • Babbles a lot more now. Has go to babble salad that she cycles through when she’s taking about something important to her. It sounds like goochie gurtchie girlie 
  • Is the first to greet me at the gate when I get home from work  and tries to obstruct my path when I am leaving for work in the morning 
  • Michaela’s new go to word: Yes (probably to counter our No)
  • Loves singing bingo and especially saying B and I
  • Is highly organized. Likes to put like things in order. Can stack and dismantle and sort items
  • Runs very fast 

Emma

  • Is the leader of the word blitz. She’s working the hardest at talking. I will not likely list all of her new words, but they include: now, go, ow, wow, oh my, my, why, bye bye, hi, uh oh, come now, let’s go, baba, cat, bird, plane, okay, no no no, ooooh, whoa, baaaaaaa, woof, quack, clock, meow, moo, nayyyy, up, down, yeah, duck and last but not least, Apple. She is good at mimicking sounds like monkeys, tigers, sheep, dogs and cats 
  • Doesn’t cause trouble like the other two. Hasn’t been put on time out 
  • Is still strategically carving out her play time and one on one time with us while the other two nap
  • Is probably our pickiest eater. We’re not sure what she’s eating at the moment lol
  • Likes to toss clothes around and shoo things she doesn’t want away from her with a stern “No!”
  • Loves to hop in to my lap in the morning and hang out in the glider chair
  • Loves to tumble
  • Loves to repeat movements. She will climb up and over you over and over if you are sitting down somewhere. It never gets old
  • Seems to like sparkly things 
  • Loves animals
  • Likes soft and furry things
  • Seems to like when her hair is styled…not so much what it takes to style it

Christopher 

  • Loves music 
  • Is trying to talk more. He can say a few words like purple, baba, grandpa, shoes, uh oh 
  • Loves tigers and cheetahs and making those growling sounds – gets excited when he sees Sabor the cheetah in Tarzan 
  • Loves to wrestle 
  • Loves to help clean. Sweeping, vacuuming and wiping the floors 
  • Dances when he hears music. His bouncing is his go to move 
  • Features a new bruise every week 
  • Seems to be compassionate. Goes and looks for Michaela’s Binkie and offers to put it in her mouth for her or hand it to her
  • Likes to go get or bring us stuff – usually listens to us when we tell him to come to us or stop doing something…usually
  • Loves to snuggle with his mom to round out the evening 
  • Is the Braun in the equation when Michaela wants to do something bad and usually wants to join in on what she has gotten into
  • Doesn’t like to be separated from his sisters. We found that out one week at the church child care. He likes to see a familiar face 
  • Is busting out of most 2T clothes, especially shirts 

They all

  • Are very social kids – no issues interacting with other kids 
  • Love to play hard
  • Still wake each other up some nights 
  • Are good riding around in the minivan. Thank goodness for that built in DVD system and lots of movies!
  • Are spitting food out or turning their nose up at stuff, except broccoli 
  • Can clap, stomp and high five when asked to. They like praise and like to do well
  • Wear size 8 (CW) and 7 (the girls) shoes 
  • Loved mima’s visit, especially the back rubs at night!

That’s all, folks!


M.

Posted on by cav3dad

Here Comes Age 2

We’ve been blessed with amazing kids. Three different personalities, hair colors, skin tones and preferences.

Tomorrow they will be 2 years old. And they’ve been giving us a taste of things to come. Lots of:

  • Crying
  • Fussiness
  • Tantrums
  • Teething
  • Defiance 
  • Clinginess 
  • Not listening
  • Sleeping
  • Energetic evenings and hard crashes
  • Taking clothes off
  • Taking diapers off
  • Fighting naps

As you know it comes with the territory. Normal kid stuff…haha!


Imagine what 3 will be like when they are really talking. Oh gawd…

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Boxes Galore

Kids and pets love the free toys. We’ve been using stock piled milk and diaper boxes as big blocks, shoring them up with packing tape. This has created countless hours of fun for our kids. Enjoy the pics and vid!


​​

Posted on by cav3dad

Once Upon A Child…

Once upon a child, they used to:

  • Fit in the palm of our hand 
  • Be able to be given a bath in our kitchen sink
  • Stay in one position in the boppy pillow and just look around 
  • Cry in unison at the same time every evening (the witching hour)
  • Wake up every few hours at night. Rotating between the three of them
  • Not mind when you helped them out with something 
  • Have nothing but gums
  • Prefer to crawl from place to place

No more! 

🙂

M.

Posted on by cav3dad

Update Time

Greetings-

It’s 4am and Christopher decided he wanted his bottle around 3:50am. He just finished and now he’s watching Thunder and the House of Magic. It’s amazing that we watch all these movies over and over again and apparently never watch the whole thing through because we see something new we didn’t notice before each time.

These days the kiddos are into everything they can get their hands on. Nothing on the kitchen counters is safe anymore now that everything is in their reach. This is possible due to their newfound resourcefulness where they go grab something like a box, toy truck or box to stand on.  Translation: gotta keep an eye on them.

We’re getting out with them more, either taking them places one at a time or all together. It still takes planning, but now they happily walk to their assigned car seat.  The DVD player in the minivan comes in handy. Usually one of them passes out along the ride.

They are growing like weeds, and eating a lot more as a result. They really prefer to do things themselves now, even drink their squeeze pouch. They will pull away from us if we try to help them.  They are good with utensils when they eat.

Generally speaking they get along well. They have moments where they like to chase each other around. Emma is mixing it up with them more, but she still largely prefers to be the more independent player. And she doesn’t stir things up – that honor is solely with Michaela and Christopher. But Emma has a habit of pestering the other two during their naps.

Michaela is challenging us at every turn, trying to constantly push the limits of our patience, and even resorting to being remarkably cute and giggling. She’s not fooling either of us – we have established our places as authority figures. All I have to do is say what I don’t like in a specific tone and they usually stop. They still get a certain degree of freedom to explore and have fun – they’re kids!

Michaela remains the boss and sometimes lets Christopher know. She has bitten him a few times when she feels she’s out of options. One of these days he will make it known that biting doesn’t solve matters – she will need the protection he is equipped to provide as their social environment changes 🙂

Still on the to do list:

  • Going to a beach
  • Flying on a plane (they don’t like elevator rides, so that’s still a ways out)
  • A much longer car ride 
  • The Monterey Acquarium

They are rapidly approaching the age of 2 – these next few years will be challenging for sure, but so far it’s been a blast. On the horizon is potty training. That will require P P (patience and praise). Michaela seems just about ready to try. She appears to hold it most of the night and let it fly when she gets a clean diaper with her morning bottle. 

Smart kids – they understand us and respond to what we want them to do. They are trying hard to talk now and are definitely individuals with distinct personalities. People can’t tell they were ever preemies, and are realizing less and less they are triplets because Christopher’s so big and they all have distinct looks, hair colors and skin tones – crazy.

That’s all folks – coffee time 

m.

Posted on by cav3dad

It will always be something

I see other triplet dads earlier in their own journeys venting about the challenges that come with the first year – I’ve been there. You wonder if it will get easier, let alone will you survive. You do, but you come out different. The challenges that come with raising triplets are all unique, just like each child is.

You graduate from the witching hour, unexplained fussiness, grassiness, teething, food aversions, mega blowouts, etc. to new challenges. And it’s all different for each family. Anyone that says it is easy or gives advice to try this and it will work is smoking crack.

Our current challenges, while frustrating at times, are all part of them growing up and exploring:

  • Climbing
  • Biting (Michaela)
  • Bullying (much less of this from Michaela thankfully)
  • Pushing the envelope
  • Destroying
  • Throwing things (including food)
  • Running off with iPhones
  • Pulling things out of drawers
  • Using items as stools to open doors or get things off of counters
  • Hanging on curtains (Christopher is heavy)
  • Drawing on walls with crayons (thank you Magic eraser)
  • Flailing limbs when you least expect it
  • Pestering one another during nap time 
  • Skipping a nap all together 
  • Refusing to open their mouths during tooth brushing time 
  • Chewing on books 
  • Running off with dirty diapers 
  • Hiding in cupboards and getting stuck
  • Spoons all around the family room
  • Smooth rocks from our backyard under the couch
  • Long lost binkies magically resurfacing
  • The toy tornado fallout

Anyone that proclaims they have a perfect baby is dreaming – that’s just not how it works.

They are a lot of work, but also a lot of fun, and this is what we happily signed up for. We wouldn’t have it any other way.


You really don’t hear us complain about things much – we kind of embrace it, because we know how lucky we are to have these blessings. They are the Cav3 Cr3w!

Cheers,

M.