17 months!

I made these shirts as prototypes, I'm envisioning 2T plain colored hoodies each with a different cool monster of my own personal design : ) 

I love having triplets! And yes I obsess all the time about coordinating their outfits       : P

Caleb with mama Elda

Thomas

Eli

The true triple hold is becoming too difficult these days!

My mom was out here last week and like I mentioned before it was go go go! We'd take the boys somewhere in the mornings to get their wiggles out and then after nap time we'd go and do some thing fun for us (like shopping!). I think we did too much though because I ended up terribly sick the last two days of my mom's visit, I'll explain it in a bit. As you can imagine there was plenty of kisses, hugs, and Spanish baby talk. After each unhealthy dose of Spanish baby talk the boys' would add a swagger to their step and they'd get all goofy, needless to say my mom left the boys sooo 'chiciados!' (sorry no English equivalent but you can kind of see it in Eli's face in the pic where he's with my mom).

C

E

If you're wondering were the boys got such cute outfits, they are hand me down's from another set of BBB triplets. Along with tons of clothes they gave us many sets of matching Nike's and Converse shoes that supposedly were used but they look brand new to me! The first set of shoes finally fit and I wanted to get a nice picture of them before my trio got them all grubby but didn't get the chance : ( Such generous folks, thank you, thank you, thank you!

We're back in business! There was a new Eebe's Adventures added to Netflix and I thought I'd give it a try and the boys loved it! We survived several months without t.v. so we'll keep our t.v. viewing to once a week now!

Caleb watching Eebe's from afar

The Breastfeeding saga continues...

I spent more than 24 hours with a fever I just couldn't kick, and then another two days feeling like I was going to die. I got a plugged milk duct that got infected and I'm on antibiotics now. This is my third plugged milk duct, and if you are wondering why you've never experienced this after successfully nursing your own children, well it occurs more frequently when nursing multiples (yay!). The first time only lasted a few hours. The second time, I dealt with it for close to a week, it got infected but I was able to overcome it without any antibiotics. They are soooo painful, to the touch and especially when nursing, I seriously almost started crying at one point. And can you guess what the best way to get rid of them is??? Massage (not the gentle kind) and nursing nursing nursing! I couldn't breastfeed on the affected side until I kicked the fever so I just pumped till I could stand to nurse. Seriously so painful. I'm feeling much better now and the duct is unplugged but I'm still quite sore not to mention the sharp shooting pains I feel for up to and hour after nursing. 

Current studies are showing that nursing (even just two or three times a day) to the age of two is still beneficial to baby's immune system and brain development. However, at this point I'm thinking the sacrifice is far out weighing the benefit. I DO NOT want another one of these again and I'm not entirely sure why I got it this time around. I have read that it can be a way for the body to tell you to slow down so this is my only guess since the babies had been nursing normally. The cause of my last one was obvious because the babies were sick and not wanting to eat, and we were in California so I didn't have my pump with me. 

Initially the antibiotics made my milk supply tank, so much so that for a moment I thought it might be the cause to an abrupt end to nursing. I was very sad and immediately started missing the close bond it gives me to my babies. This is not the way I had envisioned weaning, I wanted it to end my way when the time came. Since the start I had no idea if I'd be able to breastfeed successfully so I had no goals for when to stop, I was just playing it by ear so to speak. When I made it to one I thought hey maybe I can make to two! Thankfully my milk supply rebounded but I think it's time to start thinking about weaning sooner than two : (

Good day sirs!

Bear Hugs

If you liked the video on my last post this one will melt your heart! Just try to ignore my dumb voice in the background <3 <3 <3

 Back, side, front: I don't know why I like this picture so much : )

 All the boys sporting their Mexican futbol jerseys that mama Elda brought them

 CET

 Went up to the rose gardens and stopped by the play ground

 Mama Elda with Eli

The boys were a big hit with some tourists from Saudi Arabia they even requested a picture with all three of the boys. I figured what the heck, it's not everyday you get to see identical triplets!

Caleb said 'eight' (perfectly pronounced) and 'thank you' twice (sounded like tay uuuu)! The hard part is getting them to repeat them selves, it's once or twice and they never say the same words again : (

Caleb climbed up a chair today for the first time all by himself! He's not even tall enough to do it but he uses his upper body strength to pull himself onto it. Big sigh!

I have been good about posting twice a week but since my mom got here we've been going all over the place so I haven't had time. My mom leaves tomorrow : ( so I'll do better next week : )

Hugs & Molars

Very very short video I promise...

Hugs among the boys are occurring more frequently, we didn't even teach them to hug each other, so this is true brotherly love : )

Last post I mentioned that Thomas got his first molar in but I hadn't realized that Caleb had cut two molars too. Let me write this down so I can keep this straight (I'll probably get tired of keeping track soon, HA!).

Eli: 4 up top all in the front in a row
      4 on bottom all in the front in row

Caleb: 4 up top all in the front in a row
          2 on bottom in the front
          2 molars on the bottom, left and right one

Thomas: 4 up top all in the front in a row
              3 on the bottom, the front two ones and the one his left
              1 molar on the bottom on his left

24 teeth altogether, AHHHHH!!!

 The boys are responsible water babies and read all safety materials provided. Next time you see these infant life jackets there will be clear blue water in the background and sand under their toes. Call me paranoid if you want but I call it a healthy fear of the ocean. Sympathize with me since I don't even know how to swim. 

 Fell right off the couch and landed like this. If only they could wear these all the time there would be no more head bonks!

No we will not be taking that umbrella with us!

Hawaii checklist

sandals √

sunblock √

swim trunks √

life jackets √

sun hats...I'm on a mad search! Thankfully I still have a couple of months, grrrr!

Oh Crap! moment #12

Oh Crap! moment #12 brought to you by Caleb...

Looks like some furniture rearranging was in order

Walah! The boys fav new corner of the house

 Eli being a snuggly-wug with me : )

 Caleb looking so sweet but little do you know how much of a whippersnapper he is at home!

 "Now tell me what I can do to get you in this set of wheels?" Thomas practicing his used car salesman look

 The sacrificial book to see if the boys are ready to have full access of their books, that's a nay!

 Caleb got some new boo boos : (

Notice something strange about this picture? Expecting full out fighting and slipping I experimented to see how the boys would do without their bath seats. It was a 2/3rds disaster when Caleb and Eli freaked out because they didn't have their seats. Thomas seemed to do ok but he pretty much stayed in one spot as if he was in his seat the whole time. Looks like we're staying in our bath seats for a while longer, yay! : )

 I once found Eli with a pair of dad's shorts on and underwear on his head, I couldn't get the camera fast enough so here's the second best. In case you are doubting, yes he did this all on his own : )

Caleb and Eli did the sign for 'thank you' back to me when I prompted them for it, what polite boys!

Thomas was pretty miserable all day yesterday, I felt to see if he had any new teeth and couldn't feel anything. This morning I felt the tip of his new bottom left molar!

Good Eats

I wanted to share with everyone a really great article that my sister in law sent to me, it's called Raising An Adventurous Eater and if you don't have the time to read it (but I highly recommend it) I'll highlight the author's main points:

1) Exposure: Expose kids to new foods often but keep in mind that it may take several offerings to get them to try it.

2) No Pressure: Never force a child to eat something

3) No Junk Food: offering kids unhealthy over processed foods with too much sugar and salt desensitizes their taste buds to where they will not enjoy the flavor subtleties of more wholesome foods.

4) Involvement: I love this one! Involve your child in preparing, picking, and growing food.

5) Example: lead by example, of course SO important. I need to work on this one : )

This is my food philosophy since reading this article. I'm certainly no health food Nazi since I admit to regularly giving the boys vienna sausages (hahaha, but they really like them!). I'm happy to report that the boys have yet to have any out right junk food! That's right, no candy, cookies, ice cream, fast food, cakes, pies, microwave dinners, soda, or even juice. I'm sure there's been occasions where they've gotten "tastes" perhaps intentionally or unintentionally by others. So many of our adult eating habits are formed before the age of 5 so it's very important to give our kids a good start.

I thought it would be a really big challenge but really it has been a breeze. If baby doesn't know what it is and has never eaten it then baby won't ask for it, crave it, or want it. It's as simple as that! The biggest challenge has been leading by example because they always want to try what I'm eating and many times they end up eating half of my breakfast, lunch or snack. So I have to be careful when sneaking in a cookie to be out of sight and yes I know I will need to kick the habit as they get older : )

I'm excited about our veggie patch this year and I am hopeful for a good growing season and time to care for it. I have two blueberry bushes I planted a couple of years ago and can't wait to let the boys go to town on it, I have a feeling they'll clear the bushes in one go! When the boys are a little older we are getting them each a chick so that we can have chickens and best of all delicious organic eggs!

 I had to take a picture of this rare occurrence, everyone is up at the same time from nap and happy!

 Good things come in small packages : )

 Check out our new Ergo carrier, it's so awesome and good till 40lbs!

 I don't understand their obsession with paper and am constantly swiping it out of their mouths. I let them go to town on some junk mail to see if they'd just get it all out and not be so interested in it anymore. Well they were in heaven and probably ate a pound of it each. I don't think my plan worked though : (

 Some fun with stickers

Unlike real t.v. the boys love watching videos of themselves, what egos!

.

Baby Updates

It happened as clear as day, I asked Caleb if he wanted more (without even signing it myself) and he signed back to me! He got lots of praise and kisses, so now they all know the sign for 'more!'

The boys all wave bye-bye now, but only if they feel like doing it. 

Caleb silently snaps his fingers, so cute!

Caleb points at everything now and is constantly hyper extending his lips which makes him look like a duck. 

Phil witnessed Caleb and Thomas going back and forth pointing at something and babbling on and on to each other. 

Eli popped a new tooth on the bottom. He now has 4 on top and 4 on bottom. That's one more tooth than Thomas and two more than Caleb.

Happy Friday to everyone and congrats to Phil! He passed the first of 6 exams towards getting his architectural Licence, it's quite the process to even qualify to start taking the exams. Next one is in March!

Deconstructive Play

The boys are triplets today! That's what Phil and I call it when we dress them alike : )

Thomas is so funny!

Shoe Socks!

Do toddlers this age really play? Since having kids I've realized they don't really play, instead they destroy, destroy, destroy!!! Or to put it nicely I'll call it deconstructive play. They stomp, chew, bang drop, rip and throw whatever they get their hands on. While the babies nap I clear all the toys off the floor and put them away so that I can sweep up the floors. When they get up it only takes them about 5 minutes for the toys to be spread all throughout the living room again. We can see the second law of thermodynamics at work in this house, entropy at it's best! But the other day I actually got Eli interested in some constructive play. The novelty only lasted a few minutes but I got him to stack his blocks! 

Our progress with baby sign language is going painfully slow, probably my fault since I think I don't do it enough. Thomas and Eli know 'more' pretty well and we are working on 'eat' 'all done' 'gentle' 'thank you' and 'book.' Caleb like with many things is as stubborn as a mule, he refuses to do any signs. It took me a while to realize it but I think Caleb is actually trying to say 'more' because a lot of times he'll say 'maaa' 'maaa' 'maaa' which is close enough to 'mas' the spanish word for 'more' which I use more frequently than it's English counterpart. So maybe Caleb's plan is to skip sign language and just move on to actually speaking, we'll see I guess...

We had an adventurous Saturday, we had no plans but wanted to take advantage of the warm sunny weather, and by warm I mean mid 50's. Sadly we forgot the camera so I have no pictures to document it. We first headed to Forest Park and went on a short hike, we turned around when the terrain got too rough and steep for the stroller. Next we headed for a nearby neighborhood to take a walk and we ran into some friends that have a little boy close to the age of our trio. After walking and chatting for a bit we swung by a friends house to see their newborn baby boy (the same friend I threw the baby shower for). He was only 2.5 weeks old and oh so cute! I must add that even though he was so precious and sweet I realized that I SOOOO do not miss having newborns. The very thought of being pregnant again even with one baby makes me cringe! Whenever I get some random 'pregnancy' symptom a wave of shear panic and desperation runs through my body. Thankfully the boys are old enough that I don't have to worry about Irish quadruplets any more, 4 kids under the age of two, no thank you! Lets just say we are more than content with our three : )