2yrs + 11mo!

A day early but here it is!
2 years and 11 months old
Our last month as 2 year olds has begun!

Went peach and apple picking : )

iPad time with Tia

I let the boys watch The labyrinth while they "ate" dinner (special occasion),
I am very pleased they liked it since it was my favorite movie growing up and I may have disowned them if they hadn't liked it!

The boys with their Tia and Tio, their visit was much too short!

How do you keep control of 10 boys? You cage them up!
Just kidding!
We had a play date with two other BBB triplets plus a big brother : )

Running wild and free!
They did this for what felt like an hour, it was great seeing them play together : )

Currently the boys favorite meal is Mexican Spaghetti

Caleb ate seconds (they did eat their broccoli too btw, willingly)

So good he licked his hand clean!

Mexican Spaghetti

I ate Mexican spaghetti as a kid but had long forgotten about this meal until my mom made it again for the boys a year or so ago. It was an instant hit and is currently their favorite food. I made it last night and thought to ask my mom where the recipe came from since there is no such thing as authentic Mexican spaghetti. Turns out my mom just invented it! It's a super kid friendly meal so I'll share with you a little family secret in case you've been looking for something super easy to make and hopefully something your kids will actually eat too : )

Ingredients (I pretty much just eyeball everything so take this as approximate measurements and feel free to tweak it as you like)

16oz (1LB) package of spaghetti cooked however you like
5-8 cloves of garlic, finely minced (maybe adds up to 2-3 tablespoons)
2-3 tablespoons Butter
2 16-oz cans Tomato Sauce
1/4-1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 of a medium sized onion, slice it very thinly so it looks like spaghetti (most of the time my boys don't even notice it and eat it right up!)
Cotija Mexican cheese (It's a salty and dry cheese, you can pretty much find it in any major grocery store), chop it up or crumble it up with your fingers

-Add Butter, garlic, and onions to the pot (medium heat) and saute until the onions are soft and transparent. -Add tomato sauce and start adding the sour cream a spoonful at a time until the right color appears (you want it to look a little pink and taste creamy).
-Add spaghetti and mix
-Sprinkle Cotija cheese on top and enjoy!

I believe we'd sometimes eat it with garlic bread too but I usually don't go through the trouble since it's already a carb heavy meal : )

Drawings and Friday Flashback!

Eli's drawing (and his brother's too) is improving very quickly and I'm a impressed because just two months ago he was still just scribbling random stuff that didn't look like anything. It all started with happy faces, and now cars, monsters, trains, and people. All stuff that actually resembles the real thing! I'm finding it all very fascinating, as this is the first time I get to witness this in a child : )

Eli said these were cars

Eli draws his first person!

Eli drew "chiquito mami, big papi"

A person or three-eyed monster?

Triplet Talk

I want to write down some random words and phrases that the boys made up before they quit saying them and I forget all about them. Twin/Triplet talk is to be discouraged but it spreads like wildfire among multiples and I'm not sure it can be combated, or should it be?

Deet = cut or scissors

Amen = menta (mint in English)

Deet Amen = Floss (because you cut floss and it's mint flavored, of course)

Qui Qui = Queso (cheese in English, although they do say cheese but only for pictures) or chiquito (little in English)

Caci = butt (although they are saying "butt" now too)

Agua Nemo = fish

Ding ding, ya! = my turn (this one requires a more extensive explanation, I set an alarm sometimes to signal someone else's turn hence the "ding" and 'ya' in Spanish means enough)

There is a lot more code that I haven't been able to crack so with triplet talk and using both English and Spanish words who knows when anyone will be able to understand what they are saying!

Flashback Friday! Happy Friday everyone : )

A flashback to December 2010!
I love my mismatched pj's, I guess you can say I had bigger things to worry about : )

When Does It Get Easier With Triplets?

This is a post for those who love to know more about the mysterious life of multiples and not so much for those that just love to look at pictures (I'm admittedly one of those that mostly likes the pictures in the blogs I follow, gotta love eye candy!).

I guess we've read one too many books about trains because the boys are obsessed with tickets (mostly Thomas but the others are too). This is a small pile of "tickets" that Thomas made. First he either tears or cuts out pieces of paper, draws some random squiggles on them and then hands them to me so I can repeat a line from one of their favorite books "thank you sir, dinning car to the rear."

This is a section of a handout I read about how kids drawings evolve. I found it very interesting because when I first got it they where on the 'scribble stage' and now I think they are somewhere between 'shapes and intersecting lines' and 'suns.'

On the left, Eli drew a monster and on the right that same monster is now eating a snake. Eli is really into drawing monsters that eat snakes, fish and spiders. His snakes look the most realistic : )

Just a cute pic of T and I post bath time

This morning riding our bikes : )

The Secret Life of Triplets

Immediately after the boys were born I began asking any and all who had older triplets, "when does it get easier?!" Never once did I get the same answer, so I kept hoping that someday it would. So here goes my answer to that question based on my own personal experience. For those that are expecting or have babies currently, you are not going to like my answer: IT DOESN'T, IT'S JUST DIFFERENT! Ok, well not exactly, let me explain...

Personally 0-3mo were the roughest, the babies themselves were very easy. All they did was eat and sleep, at least mine did. In reality it wasn't very hard work, what made it feel hard was only getting 4 hours of sleep each night, which I should mention were interrupted because I had to get up and pump! I'd wake up feeling pretty good but shortly after my body would demand sleep and I had to put up with feeling like a zombie the rest of the day. So everything you did, change diapers, clean bottles, feed babies where just that much harder. Awful, I don't ever feel like repeating that again! 

4-12mo was still pretty rough although this is when I started getting more sleep so you at least have the energy to tackle the quickly compounding tasks that are added as the babies grow. During this period of time I fed the babies every three hours (except at night) because I was not blessed by the milk gods and that was the maximum amount of time I could go between feeds and still give my boys as much breast milk as I possibly could. Some of the new tasks include starting them on one feeding a day of solids, then later two, and then three. Mine still woke up a lot at night so I still put up with interruptions in my sleep but it was not too bad because I'd just give them a boob and we'd both be back to sleep quickly. Also naps were frequent but short so you never got enough time to finish anything. And at this point you have very active babies that you need to entertain while they are wake. They become very demanding of your attention through these ages. So actually it gets harder but at least you sleep and have energy!

1-2yrs was when we started to venture out on our own (just mama and babies) because they went from napping 3 times a day to 2 and then eventually to 1. Before this I never had enough time to change, feed and then go out to do something with enough time to be back at home for nap time. I didn't like rocking the schedule too much because nap time was so precious and still is, it was the only time I could do anything productive so I wanted to be home while they napped, no car napping for us! So with going out more brings more tasks that involve planning ahead, packing diaper bags, getting the kids in and out of the car. And the hardest part of this age is getting used to all the fighting! Constant conflict, you become a referee now too! But at least you got the big breaks at nap time and bed time, these were the golden ages for sleep. A solid 7:30pm -6:30am bedtime and 12-3pm nap time, I think back and am jealous of all the time I had!

2-3yrs Terrible two's/three's, need I say more...(I'm not there yet but most agree that 3 is worse than 2)

It might not be getting any easier but I will say this, having triplets now at the age of almost 3 is about as hard as having say three kids of separate ages under the age of 5 or 6, it's just different of course. The same in some ways, harder in different ways, and easier in other ways but in the end about the same amount of work. I have probably the same amount of laundry, the same amount of cooking and cleaning, etc. It's harder because of the conflict and fighting between kids since they all have to share EVERYTHING. And no older brother or sister to help out like re-tying someones shoe or holding a hand while walking somewhere. It's easier because everyone is on the same schedule, I don't have to juggle picking up older brother from school while the younger ones nap or having a sleepless night from baby. Also everyone has the same interests and abilities (extra plus from having BBB or GGG especially if they're identical) so it's very easy to make everyone happy when going out or picking an activity to do together. 

From what I've heard (and more consistently now) is that as triplets get older it will actually be easier than having three of different ages. I'm excited for that time to come, I envision it starting around the age of 4/5 but of course I have no idea. I'll be sure to write about it when that day actually comes, so stay tuned for part two, date TBD : )

Two Goodbye's

We said goodbye to uncle Garret yesterday only to pick him up 15 min after we dropped him off at the airport!
The flight was actually for today, silly Garret, goodbye again!
We'll miss you!

TCE, some pics by tio Garret : )

Watching a "dig dig" at work

Eli

TEC

CTE, love those faces!

C, riding the choo choo at the zoo.
Since the train goes through the woods the boys said that the train was hiking!

T

E

Sand and Water

Now that I have kids I realize there are two things that keep small children entertained for very long periods of time. Those two things are sand and water, a sand box is golden (even a little one), a water table (or small pool) is dynamite. But beware, the combination of the two makes kids almost burst with giddy happiness, it mimics some sort of euphoric drug induced high. Don't worry, you did not lose your child to the bright side, a short nap in the car and arriving at home will bring your child back to the dark side. Yes, that same child that throws himself to the ground when his granola bar breaks in half will reappear soon enough. (Note to self: move to the beach)

TCE: The boys uncle Garret is visiting this week and took this picture of the boys. It was at one of our favorite spots to stop at on our way to the beach. This has instantly become one of my top 5 favorite pictures of the boys, wouldn't you agree?

Eli as a piggy

Eli

Thomas

An instagram favorite of Caleb

Uncle Garret with the boys as they burst with excitement!

They were yelling at the waves to "STOP!"
Caleb at the very back is yelling at the top of his lungs, so funny!

There always seems to be a little creek draining into the ocean, those are the best spots to play in since the water isn't as cold and you don't have to worry about your child being whisked off into the ocean!

T kept doing the splits

T and his sand soul patch

Camping 2013

This is the boys third camping trip but probably the first one they'll remember for a while. The first time I was pregnant, and then we went again at 9mo before they could walk. We were not brave enough to take them last year when they were almost two, but I'm pretty sure it would have been a disaster unless we had a 2 to 1 adult:child ratio. My mom's visit was very last minute so we initially intended on going just Phil and I but boy was I glad that my mom and Sam were there to help us with the boys. It would have been a much higher stress camping trip if they hadn't been there. Of course the boys had a blast with this new experience. I had been telling them all along about camping and how we would sleep in a tent, eat outside, and go fishing. They knew it was going to be fun and were anticipating going but when we got to the campsite they all had a little bit of a bewildered look on their faces as they tried to grasp the concept of 'camping.' Slowly it all clicked, I'm sure, as they saw Phil put up the tent and saw us pulling out the cooler and chairs from the car. I love seeing that moment when "they get it." We also had some friends camping in the site next to ours, they too have triplets. We got to hang out with them out at the river and had a combined dinner one night.  

I picked up some bug collection kits at the dollar store and gave them to the boys as Phil and I began setting up the camp site. They went right to work looking for specimens (they were a huge hit)! 

Exploring the tent after we set it up!

Caleb, post roasting marshmallows

Discovering their headlamps, surprisingly not a big hit!
(neither were the glow sticks, you just can never tell!)

Bedtime!
The boys slept in our big tent with my mom and Sam while Phil and I slept in our 2 person backpacking tent.

The next day Thomas was rearing to go!

Caleb

My mom and T walking out to the river

The boys spent a lot of time wading in the river, I'm convinced they don't get cold because I didn't even want to stick my big toe in that cold water!

Another big hit was dollar store chalk boards

With our triplet friends, they are only 1 month older than my boys : )

Everyone except Phil, who is taking the picture

Our little group : )

Updates

I have been meaning to write more meaningful things but I just haven't had to time. So here are a few things I'm remembering at the moment. 

The boys for quite sometime now have made X's with sticks or have pointed out X's in things (like in a chair who's legs are crossed). I think it was their favorite letter for a while, they often fight over who's gonna do that letter on their alphabet puzzle (that and the T because it has a picture of a train on it). 

Now they are starting to write a few letters, they are very primitive but you can certainly tell what they are. Not surprisingly the letters they are writing are C, E & T. As you can imagine those letters come up a lot but writing letters is not something we've been working on so it was a little surprising. Sometimes they'll scribble something and say it's an 'M' for example but it doesn't really look like an 'm' unless you use your imagination. 

The other day I asked Eli to say that he loved me and he pleases me by saying "amo mami, amo papi, amo tia!" (tia = aunt, aunt Janet had just visited)

As we were walking to the park the boys were extra happy because their friend Oscar was with us and because I had just gotten them bats at the dollar store. I gave the boys pb&j sandwiches to eat in their wagon as we walked to the park and Eli all of a sudden says "a ball, a bat" and then very emphatically "a nat!" (nat = snack)

When aunt Janet was visiting, we were all together and Eli holds up three fingers and as he points to each finger he says "mami, papi, tia!" I love how they know how to count and it's not just wrote memory. They actually get the concept of counting : )

Cozy up for a silly little story that happened, again, while aunt Janet was visiting. The boys got up as usual, very early in the morning and as we were all trying to milk as few more minutes of sleep Caleb and Eli come into our room holding a box of mini wheats. Little known fact, the boys love mini wheats and while I discourage them from eating them dry they can and will sometimes just eat them dry. When we got up the boys had mini wheats lined up in various places and a few here and there on the floor. Only God knows how many mini wheats they had eaten. All I know for sure is that Eli ate a lot! Because by the time he pooped for the third time I told him, "don't eat so many mini wheats next time, they're making you poop so much!" Several hours later, what do you know, he's pooping again, I ask him if he's ready to be wiped but requests that his tia wipe him. As the barer of bad news I ask aunt Janet not to kill the messenger but Eli has requested she wipe him. Aunt Janet obliges and comes back to tell me that when she went in there she says "you pooped again?" And Eli responds with " caca mini wheats."