Mall Photo Booth

Tick Tock

This is the only video I've gotten so far of the kids saying "Tick Tock" when they see a clock. It was something taught to them by Great Aunt Shirley weeks ago, and all three continue to say it. In fact, it is more of a "tick tick" they say, and it seems to be the only word they currently are vocalizing ("Pop Pop," their first word, hasn't been heard in over a month).

You Say "Tomato," I Say "Yum!"

Erin had the girls on the back porch today, while Arthur finished his nap in the car. She turned her back on them for a second, and then noticed that Coraline had her mouth full with some unknown object. It's a relatively safe area for them to be in, but they are quite fond of pulling off leaves and twigs from the nearby bushes. Of course, it didn't help that it looked like Coraline was munching on a large red berry. Poisonous, perhaps?

Well, it turns out that Pop Pop had been harvesting his cherry tomatoes the other day, and had left a few on the porch railing in order to fully ripen. One must have fallen, and Coraline was happily munching away on it. In fact, she loved it so much that not only could Erin not take it away from her, she started shrieking when she noticed the rest of the tomatoes on the railing. So needless to say, a half-dozen cherry tomatoes and two large tomatoes later, Coraline has a new favorite food, which was not surprising as she loves her fruits and vegetables. Betty joined in for the larger tomatoes, eating them like apples.

A New Slide

We got a new indoor slide/gym for the kids to play on. It's going to take them a bit of time to master it though. Arthur seems the most secure on it, climbing up the slide on his own, and standing safely on top. The girls can climb up the other side (though not the slide), but once on top they are a bit too careless. Coraline slipped through a hole and landed on her head (she's fine) because she wasn't looking where her feet were. So we'll take it slowly, let them play on it every other day for a bit, until they have mastered how to play safely on the slide.

In other news, last night Arthur finally got in his 2nd upper tooth! Though he still only has half as many teeth as the girls (and Betty has three hematomas where her first molars are starting to come in).

Tooth count: A-4, B-8, C-8

Mommy's Home!

After missing her connection in Charlotte, Erin finally got home to a warm greeting from Arthur, Betty, and Coraline.

Day Two

Growth spurt? Teething? Cold? We don't know why, but we've got three cranky kids. Coraline didn't fall asleep until way past midnight. Arthur's taking extra long naps, but still acts horribly tired during the day. Betty seems to be catching Cora's runny nose. At least we know that they aren't sleeping well because their mom is gone, as the kids didn't sleep well the last night she was here. But Erin will be back tomorrow morning, and hopefully things will get back to normal.

After making rice pudding (with Nana's official taste tester), we took everyone for a walk on the Huckleberry Trail. Betty and Arthur fell asleep during the walk, so we decided to extend it by walking through the nearby mall. We stopped at Dairy Queen, and while Arthur slept, the girls snacked on vanilla ice cream. Soon the mall echoed with their loud gibbon cries for more...

While Mom's Away

Erin flew out this morning to attend Great Uncle Doug's wedding up in New Jersey. We had planned on bringing the kids to the wedding, before we found out how even the slightest change to their sleep routines causes them to be cranky for days. Plus, the reception doesn't even start until their normal bedtime. So Erin won't be back until Monday morning, the longest she's spent away from the kids.

So Nana, Pop Pop, and I are making do. It doesn't help, though, that the kids had a horrible night last night (finally falling mostly asleep past midnight, and then getting up again at 4 this morning), and Coraline is either fighting a cold or having symptoms from her molars trying to come in. We took them to play in our backyard, where the playhouse is still a hit. The neighbor's kitten came over to pay a visit (we're still trying to teach them the sign for "kitty"), and Arthur and Coraline found it fascinating. Betty, noticing her siblings were distracted, took the opportunity to empty out the three snack cups.