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.

Bedtime Play

The triplets love having another kid their age to play with. Though after this shot of them in the tunnel, Adam quickly backed out, ran around to the side, and did a pile-drive jump onto Coraline, who was still within it. Oh, and Arthur got a new tooth!

Tooth count: A-7, B-16, C-12

Cold Weather Activities

This vacation is turning out colder than planned, so we're finding it difficult to think of activities four 15-month olds would enjoy. So we've fallen back on our staples. Here we have drawing time, and Arthur managed to actually scribble up his entire page. (The girls still only gently apply their pencils/crayons on portions of the page)

We then bundled up everyone to go outside. It was still only 36 degrees, but we had fun playing with the leaves and the rakes, until the triplets found a half-frozen puddle of water. We then rushed them back inside to change their wet shirts and warm up their hands.

Arthur's Antics

Arthur started the day by learning how to climb up on top of the radiators. We're not certain how we are going to break this habit. And as we expected, he wanted to do everything today that Nathan did (including refusing to eat lunch until he had a similar meal). Here he climbed up on the chair to help with making apple dumplings with Nana.

And of course, four out of five kids enjoyed playing in the leaves today.

Our Cousins Visit!

The triplets' cousins, Nathan and Adam, finally came to visit (we hadn't seen them since last Christmas!) Arthur is excited to have some more boys in the house, and he has started following his big cousin around - it won't be long before he learns new things from him.

We also had a lot of fun playing in the backyard, but it is colder here than we expected. All of our planned outings were outdoors :(


And of course, bathtime is much more fun when you have a bath buddy.

Milk Lady

Today Erin had a snow day (though there was no snow....). Cora the Collector gathered together the three milk cups from lunch, and pushed them around the kitchen in her shopping cart. And then we got out a new toy piano to play with, so Arthur composed his first complex performance piece.

Nine Shots

We took the kids back to the doctor's office today, as we were fairly certain that the girls' ear infections had cleared up. Thankfully they were all healthy (and the doctor didn't mind Coraline's runny nose), so they could finally get their 15-month shots, and the first dose of the flu vaccine. With nine shots coming between the three of them, we didn't blame the kids when they started hiding underneath the counter in the room (Coraline hoped having the blood rush to her head would dull the pain of the shots). Anyways, after waiting an hour and a half in the doctor's office, and nine shots later, we were finally done. And in the process of all the children screaming, we happened to see that Arthur had gotten his first molar.

And so after a rough day at the doctor's office, we tried to relax tonight with some pizza.

Tooth count: A-6, B-16, C-12

Wild Monkeys

The other day Arthur realized that he could push out his high chair, climb up the front, and get into the seat by himself. He now does it when he's ready to eat. Then today, we turned our backs on the kids for a minute while they were watching their Signing Time video. When we came back, Coraline and Arthur were seated together in the rocking chair. We still don't know how both of them climbed into it on their own.

And then during snack time, Arthur and Betty found themselves standing on top of the coffee table. This confused me for a bit, until I later saw that Arthur had found a new use for the shopping cart.

And then Arthur ended the day learning how to climb up onto a kitchen chair without any aides....

Drawing Time

We've started having the triplets practice their drawing skills during the day. They now seem to get the hang of it, and will scribble all over (and off) the page.

(The impressive drawings, the circles, the sun, and Betty's name were done by Erin)

Skipping Nap Time

Betty thought she could skip her afternoon nap. So when she finally crashed, she missed playing outdoors.

Erin's Day Off

Erin had a day off from school today, and so she got to play with the kids outside in the leaves.

When It Rains...

Three weeks ago, Nana and Pop Pop's furnace and television broke. We've had to dress the kids warmly, and make due with alternate entertainment. Today though, both repairmen finally were scheduled to show up, to haul out the old furnace and install the new one, and to access the repairs for the tv. So of course it was pouring rain today. And then the power went out. We had the kids in the kitchen while the tv guy tried to figure out what was wrong with the tv, and we all watched a signing time dvd on Pop Pop's laptop, in the dark. Oh, and later on in the day Coraline decided that she was an astronaut.

Arthur's 5th Tooth!

Arthur finally got his fifth tooth in today (the bottom right). We're quite excited, as this means he'll have a little easier time eating some of the tougher foods.


Tooth count: A-5, B-16, C-12

Our Vocabulary

We started making a list the other day of all the words the kids know. For the most part, all three of them use them equally, but there are a few words that are still child-specific (though it won't take long for the other two to learn them). We have definitely found that their vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds once we started them on the "Signing Time" dvd series.

Words:

Boom, Book (buh), Bubble (bah-bah), Ball (bah), Butterfly (buh-bye), Bye-Bye, Daddy (dah-dah), Out (aw), All Done (aah), Pacifier (pah-pah), Pumpkin (puhm), Pop Pop



Sounds:

Elephant, Camel (spitting), Dog (panting), Flower (sniff sniff), Clock (tick-tick), Hot (blowing twice), Monkey, Pig, Bear



Signs:

Book, Eat, Hat, All Done, More, Help Me, Dog, Squirrel, Sun, Bath, Monkey, Frog, Butterfly, Banana, Drink, Fan, Pacifier, Phone, Cold, Stay, Milk, Cat

All Bundled Up

The temperature is still in the mid-50's here, so the kids have to be bundled up before they go out to play in the leaves. But they love going outside, especially since the leaves are up to their thighs now. At one point Coraline tripped on something, and fell flat down like a tree. She lay there, face down in the leaves for quite a while, until a little muffled squeak let us know that she needed help getting up.

1st Haircut, Parts 2 and 3

We finally got tired of seeing the girls' hair in their eyes, so we decided to give them their first haircuts this weekend. It was pretty simple, just a trimming of their bangs.

We would love to be able to use barrettes, or something similar in their hair, but it would only be a matter of time before some other kid yanked it out.

Oh, and Betty hit her head today, and has a scratch right where Coraline's birthmark is, making it even harder to tell them apart at first glance.

Leaf Clean Up

I often wonder how long it will be before I can rest in a hammock and watch the triplets do the yard work for me...

15-Month Check Up

So we took the kids in for their 15-month check up, their shots, and their flu vaccination. Right away the doctor was impressed with their size and mobility, and told the nurse how they had only gotten sick once so far. Then she noticed that both girls had ear infections, with Betty having it in both ears. It seems that they've been fighting off a virus, which explains the rash Betty had on the back of her neck on Monday. We thought their clinginess and crankiness was due to their teething and general clingly nature. Ah well. So no shots this time, just amoxicillin.

Arthur was 31.5 inches tall (62nd percentile), and weighed 22lbs 13oz (27th percentile). If the weight is right, he's no longer the smallest of the three.

Betty was 31 inches tall (77th percentile) and weighed 25lbs (80th percentile). We didn't trust the nurse's first height measurement (30"), so we had her do it again. But still it shows that she's 1/2 an inch shorter than 3 months ago. We're not sure how much each measurement was off, but we do know Betty should be the tallest.

Coraline was 30.5" tall (62nd percentile), and weighed 22lbs 2 oz (40th percentile). These are the exact same measurements she had three months ago. Another recording error? Or perhaps she's hit a temporary growth plateau. Either way we hope she'll catch up to her siblings soon.