Gym Time

We've been going stir-crazy being stuck inside with the cold weather, so we finally got around to visiting our local rec center.

While the girls love running around the gym, Arthur is fascinated by all the grownups playing basketball. While sports may be in his future, his interest could just be in the loud "boom boom" the balls make.

3 Little Helpers

We've been trying to get the triplets to help clean up after themselves, and they seem to enjoy it. Now after meals, instead of pointing and shrieking at the mess they've made, they'll get a rag to help wipe it up (or smear it around more...)

Big Talker

The triplets, Arthur especially, have started mimicking the words we say, and have increased their vocabulary. Mostly the girls soon forget what they mimic (which we were thankful of when Betty repeated the word "Damn"). Arthur though, is making connections right and left. And he's linking together his signs and words into complex ideas - today he signed "out-eat-bird," as he asked to see the bird feeder outside (or to go eat at KFC...). Oh, and Arthur is convinced that Sabine, our little minpin, is a little bear. Each morning he wakes up, and signs "bear" when he hears her (sometimes going to the door and calling, "Bahr? Bahr?"). Here are a few new words and signs we've written down:

Signs: Dolly, Bear, Out, Car, Draw, Cook

Words: Bear (bahr), Water (wawa), Crocodile (dadi), Ta-Da! (da!), Book (boh), Out (ow), Draw (draw), Wow (wow), Cut (cutcutcut)

A Day at the Zoo

Since it was a warm day, we decided to take everyone to the zoo. We hadn't been in a few months, so we were shocked with how much more aware the triplets were of the zoo. Not only did they want to run around after the 1st animal exhibit, but they were interested in looking at the animals and making the right noises and sounds for them. They knew the signs for monkey, cat (snow leopard), camel (it was really a llama), bird (eagles, vultures, and other birds), and goats and pigs (the sounds).

We also noticed that Coraline got in her bottom left canine tooth. Only a couple more to go!


Tooth count: A-10, B-16, C-14

Grandma Toni, Uncle Matt and Aunt Allison Visit!

Today Grandma Toni, Uncle Matt, and Aunt Allison came to visit. The kids didn't cry at all, and were eager to play with them as soon as they came in the door. I had recently ordered magnets with pictures of all of our relatives, and the triplets love looking at them on the fridge (and having us identify who each person is), so perhaps this helped. We enjoyed opening all the presents from them, including toy cell phones and a nice wooden puzzle.

Later on in the day, all of the girls went shoe-shopping, so Arthur and Uncle Matt had some quality time in front of the television.

Merry Christmas!

The triplets had a great Christmas! They woke up around 6am, and then we had them walk into Nana and Pop Pop's room to wake them up as well. Coming down the steps, they were most excited to see their new table and chairs set (which has become the "cool" spot for them to hang out). We brought out their extra large stocking, and Arthur immediately crawled into it to pull out a present. Coraline didn't quite know what it was for, but she could recognize a soft pillow when she saw one! Later on in the day, we took everyone on a walk up to the top of the hill behind Nana and Pop Pop's house.

Christmas is Coming....

Today we took the kids to the doctor's office to finally get their 2nd flu shot. Betty has also been dealing with a wound on her foot - running in from outside, I opened the front door and caught her bare foot with the corner of it. The large scratch doesn't seem to hurt her, but when her sock is off she notices it and cries. (Though it's more of a fake cry, accompanied by her signing "hurt").

Arthur, meanwhile, helped Nana out with vacuuming. Today we also noticed he got in his 4th bottom tooth. Slowly but surely he's catching up with his sisters.


Tooth count: A-10, B-16, C-13

The Christmas Story

To celebrate the first day of winter, I thought I'd post this video today to get everyone in the holiday spirit!

The Christmas Pretzel

Nana and Pop Pop have set up a small Christmas tree (raised up on the entertainment center, behind a large baby gate) that is *mostly* out of reach of the triplets. That hasn't stopped them from showing continued interest in all of the decorations on the tree. They'll ask us to pick them up so that they can see each of the objects. Today, though, during snack time Coraline ran over to the three and started signing "help me." It took me a bit to figure out what she wanted - for me to hang up her pretzel on the tree. Arthur quickly pointed it out to everyone.


Oh, and Arthur got in his top left molar today.

Tooth count: A-9, B-16, C-13

Ta Da!

Erin taught Arthur to say "Ta Da!" a month or so ago, and I never got around to filming it. As you can see, he's got the "Da!" down, and gets high marks for his arm placement. We'll work on teaching him "Ta."

Arthur's New Molar

So after fighting a stomach virus for two days, Arthur is back to his usual crazy self. And we discovered that his upper right molar had come in!

Tooth count: A-8, B-16, C-13

Tunnel Play

Today Betty and Coraline had fun playing with a tunnel that Nana made by draping a blanket between the couch and their playscape. They ran in and out of the tunnel, hiding from us. We had to take it down, though, when Betty went up into the playscape and tried to climb over the top of the blanket (luckily Nana caught her).

Arthur, meanwhile, is still recovering from a stomach virus. Last night he had a fever of 103 and threw up on me. Today he still had a fever and threw up on Erin. He's been a tired and sick little boy. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him.

Oranges

With three kids, any time one of them gets something, the others have to have it as well. So when Arthur grabbed an orange off the counter, the girls wanted some to play with as well. Loud Betty here is choosing not to use her "help me" sign to express the fact that she wants help peeling the orange to eat. We do hope that the orange roll will one day become an Olympic event, as we are starting to train them so early.

Cold Sand

We've felt bad about not taking the kids out much this week, due to the cold and the rain. So since it got up to the mid-40s today, we took them outside to play in their sand table.

Jingle Bells

The kids have started getting in the holiday spirit, especially when we're trying to decorate the house. Pop Pop headed to Florida today to see Great-Grandma, and Arthur enjoyed shouting a "hello" to him over the phone.

Nana and Pop Pop's New TV (Box)

Chairs

The triplets have gotten quite comfortable climbing into chairs. While they haven't yet figured out how to climb onto the couch, and they''ve refrained from climbing up onto the coffee table too often, chairs seem just right for them. They've even figured out how to position themselves, twisting around in the chair, so that they face forward. This chair though, is too high off the ground, so each of the kids ended up doing a face-plant when they tried to get down. We'll put it in a different room until they grow a bit taller.

Communication Skills

Recently the triplets' communication skills have grown by leaps and bounds. They can follow simple commands, such as throwing away garbage, or cleaning up their toys or snacks. When the girls wake up in the morning, the last one up helps to find all the scattered pacifiers before coming downstairs. Arthur, especially, has started speaking more words (along with making the sign for them). Most recently he has been practicing:

No - "No-No-No
Run - "Raw-Raw-Raw"
More - "Maw-Maw"
Rain - "Ran-Ran"
Diaper - "Di-ya"
Up/Down - If you say one, he'll say the other

As an example of his usage of words and ideas, this morning he was in the living-room, and we heard him say "Uh-oh." So we turned to him and asked, "Uh-oh, what?" He then said "Tick-tock" and pointed to Nana's antique clock. We still didn't know what he wanted, so he signed and said "More-more-more." "More what?" We asked. And he said "Tick-tock" - for sure enough, the clock had run-down and the pendulum wasn't swinging anymore.

Christmas Decorations

All of the triplets love spotting (and then pointing out) all of the new Christmas decorations that Nana has been putting up. Here Betty is talking about them in her unique language.

Blocks!

Finally the kids have found out that blocks are good for more than just knocking over. They'll hand you pieces and help you build a tower. Coraline especially loves the smallest blocks, and she'll put them together (while you help make her creation structurally sound). And they'll have enough patience to use up the whole pile of blocks in a grand tower. And then they'll knock it over.

Heating Vent

There's nothing more fun on a cold morning than to hang around the heating register.

Cooperative Play

We've started seeing more cooperative play out of the triplets. They are getting used to playing together, and seem to enjoy helping each other out. During diaper changes, the girls play "pacifier swap," where they'll walk over to where their sister is crying on the changing mat, and give her their pacifier. Or, if they both have pacifiers, they'll rip the one out of the one laying down, and trade pacifiers. Somehow this helps. Arthur is getting more affectionate, and is more prone to give his sisters kisses than try to rip out their hair. But it is still a slow process, and we are trying to get them to work on not stealing each other's toys, and learn the concept of "taking turns."

Oh, and Coraline got in a new upper tooth.

Tooth count: A-7, B-16, C-13

Bath Time

We've finally given up on using the bath rings, and have started bathing the kids directly in the bath tub. So far they are listening to us when we tell them to sit down, and they don't play with the drain when we threaten to end the bath early. And the best part is that we are now able to bathe them together (and at the larger tub at our house, we can do all three at once). However, this has become a new obsession for Coraline. She often starts signing for a bath around lunchtime, and throws a tantrum if she doesn't get one by bedtime.

The Kissing Booth

So today Sophie set up a kissing booth on the recliner, and all the triplets lined up to get kisses from her. We were most disturbed with Arthur's eagerness for open-mouth kisses (and Sophie's eagerness to French).

16 Months Old

Well, we've made it to 16 months, but we're still using the car for all of their daytime naps. Oh well, at least it gives Nana and Pop Pop a rest as well.

Snow!

Shortly after we woke up this morning, it started snowing! As it was the last day of their visit, the triplet's cousins were thrilled to go out and play in the falling snow before flying back to California.

So while the girls stayed warm indoors, the boys went out and had fun in the snow/sleet.

Dixie Caverns

We had tons of fog and rain today, so we decided it was the perfect day to explore Dixie Caverns. It was a little cold outside, but once we got underground (and climbed the hundreds of stairs), we warmed up nicely. The kids all seemed to enjoy the interesting sights in the dark cave system.

Coraline did drop her pacifier along the way, but luckily we found it again as we retraced our steps to exit.

Raking Video

Here's a quick video from yesterday showing Arthur helping us outside.

Lazy Fall Day

Last night we took this cute picture of all the kids. We didn't do too much today with them though, the weather seems to be sapping our energy. Plus, the triplets are crankier than usual. After not sleeping well last night, we took Arthur to the doctor's today to see if he had an ear infection. Of course he didn't, so either it's a virus, or just teething pains. Here are some pictures of us playing outside in the leaves (again) today.



Oh, and this is a shot of Arthur's "wacky" face. It is one of a number of crazy faces he makes to get attention. We think he'll be a clown when he grows up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For the first time all five cousins shared a Thanksgiving meal together. We'll try to make this a tradition.

Grandma Toni, Grandpa Carter, Aunt Allison and Uncle Matt all came to join in the feast.

And though Arthur and Betty both were running fevers, it didn't stop their appetites. Betty liked the mashed potatoes best.