Outdoor Fun

Today the kids had fun playing in Nana and Pop Pop's backyard, and hanging about in the trees.

Then, of course, it started raining. This has been the wettest summer in Virginia since we moved here. However, Erin had promised to take the kids for a walk. With everyone bundled up in hats and coats in an attempt to stay dry, they all had a fun (and wet) walk around the neighborhood.

Ice Cream Day

We decided to use our birthday coupons for Coldstone Creamery today, and we all went out for ice cream. However, it wasn't too novel for Betty, who has been on an ice cream diet for the past week. She had come down with herpangina, which caused painful blisters in her mouth that prevented her from eating much of anything else (and she lost two pounds this week!). They are almost all healed now, and we'll expect her to make a full recovery by the time the next cake arrives.

Playing the Bells

We got this simple bell toy at a garage sale, and we were quite pleased to find out that the kids can cooperatively play together with it. Here Arthur spins the toy, while Coraline rings the bells.

Happy Early Birthday!

Since Nana and Pop Pop are leaving shortly for Mexico, we decided to hold a small birthday party for the triplets in our backyard (The larger party will be next Saturday in Richmond). They loved eating the cake and the chinese food, and of course opening up some presents.



Betty became the first to be able to say "Happy Birthday." Previously the kids have been saying "happy cake," "happy day," or "happy happy."

Three Sleeping Kids

One benefit to having our car in the shop is that we got a rental large enough to sit all three carseats side-by-side for the first time.

Dig Diggers

Arthur loves his "dig diggers." Any type of large construction vehicle, or farm equipment, causes him to stop in his tracks and marvel at it out loud. He still plays constantly with his dump truck, making it say "beep beep beep" (as he heard when a truck dropped off dirt at Nana and Pop Pop's house). We've started renting episodes of "Bob the Builder" from the library for him to watch in the morning, and when we go on a long walk up the hill by Nana and Pop Pop's, he always rushes ahead to explore the real-life construction equipment.

Language Skills

These are some of their three-word sentences that we've heard so far:
"I love you" (Coraline)
"Arthur, no climb!" (Betty)
"More ____ please." (all)
"Lady get rock." (Coraline)
"That in hand." (Betty)
"Shhh. Betty Corline sleep." (Arthur)
"No Corcor take." (Betty)
"All done Betty." (Arthur)
"Daddy come see." (Coraline)
"That baby's sock." (Betty)
"Ready, out! The rain stop." (Betty)

Oh, and Betty also loves singing the opening to Sesame Street song. But she doesn't know the words, instead bellows out loudly, "DAAAA DEEEEE DAAAH!" Finally, Arthur has been working on his pronunciation of Coraline's name (though he still confuses her for Betty). He now calls her "Corline," which is amazingly close. However, most of the time in the house, it's "Artr," "Babee," and "Conka."

In other news, Coraline got in her first 2-year molar (top left).

Tooth count: A-16, B-18, C-17

A Rough Wake Up

Today we woke up to the sound of someone sideswiping our minivan, parked out in front of our house. So I got to spend the morning dealing with the police, the driver (charged with reckless driving), and the insurance company. Of course it is Sunday, so we can't get a rental car until tomorrow morning - and we don't want to drive it, as Coraline can see right outside from her seat. The good news, though, is that the police officer gave each of the kids a "junior officer" sticker, which Betty proudly wore.

Triplet Play Date

We finally got together with another set of triplets for a triplet play date! Cassie had been an internet friend of ours for the past few years, and recently moved just a few hours away from us. Her triplets are just five days older than ours. Pictured here on the couch are Betty, Arthur, Connor, Christian, Cole, and Coraline.

Everyone had a lot of fun, and they all got along well together. For lunch we ordered pizza, and all six toddlers walked around the backyard munching on their slices.

They went home at nap time, and when Arthur woke up, the first thing he did was ask about his "friends." We can't wait for the next play date!

Three New Teeth

Last night we realized that the triplets' poor sleeping pattern might not be solely related to the transition to toddler beds. It turns out they've been teething. We knew their teeth were coming, we just didn't know that they had arrived. So we found out Arthur finally got in his 16th tooth (top right), and Betty got in her bottom 2nd molars. Coraline is working on a molar as well.

Tooth count: A-16, B-18, C-16

A Day at the Library

Three Toddler Beds

We woke up this morning to Betty crying out, "Climb! No! Arthur! No Climb!" and sure enough, Arthur had climbed *into* her crib. So for naptime today we're trying out everyone in toddler beds. The girls get a double-sized one to share, and Arthur still gets his own single bed. However, we expect that they'll probably be in and out of each other's beds...

A Visit from Aunt Allison

Arthur's Big Day

The day we've long anticipated finally has arrived. Arthur climbed out of his crib last night. We actually had thought he'd do it last year, but for some reason the thought never crossed his mind. So after a loud thump, and a shrieking cry, we ran up to find Arthur on the ground, his lip bitten, and three large rugburn marks across his chin (which he landed on). After calming him down, we put him back in his crib. A few hours later he was out again, and a few hours after that, I caught him in the act of swinging his leg over the crib railing. So it was time to set up his toddler bed. The plan had been to put all three toddler beds in the same room, but we had hoped it wouldn't be for a few more months.

Here's Arthur's new bed in the girls room, in front of a large wrap-around mural of the New River Valley that I've been slowly working on. I had hoped to finish it before moving all three of them into the room, but Arthur had other ideas. We'll see how long it takes the girls to start begging for their toddler beds.

Blueberry Picking (with Arthur and Cora)

Falls Ridge Hike

The Fourth at Jefferson's Poplar Forest

Our Cousins Visit!

Min Joo and Nu Ella, two of my cousins, flew in to visit for the week. We'll be keeping busy with all sorts of activities with them.

More Hugs