The Little Gym

The girls were invited to a birthday party today.  Robin recently met another Indonesian with whom he has a lot in common.  He has a daughter who turned 3.  I asked on Facebook if The Little Gym (where the party was held) was age-appropriate for the girls.  I was told it was.  Their website says that they have classes for kids as young as 4 months.  So, I thought it would be ok.  Overall it was, but it was too advanced for them.  They had fun crawling around on the mats, but there were too many places for them to get hurt.  Katie and Maggie both almost hit their heads on the gym equipment, and Katie found a nice sharp piece of metal on the floor to play with.  That girl can find ANYTHING on the floor.  She must have really good eyesight!

Several of the adults there thought that Izzy-B was a boy. Seriously, would I dress them all in the EXACT same PINK outfit if one of them were a boy? She does look like a boy, but seriously people. A few of the Asian adults at the party didn't think that Robin was the girls' dad. They didn't think the girls looked Asian enough. Izzy-B totally looks like Robin.




Katie sees that tiny thing on the mat:

Maggie has such a great smile:

 Such a cutie!

Maggie loved being in the middle of the action:



She pulled herself up and licked the bar.  YUCK!!  I wanted to wash her mouth out with anti-bacterial stuff (of course I didn't ).

 I don't want to cut her hair, but it's getting so long!

After playing, we stopped for dinner at Fazoli's.  We haven't been there in a long time.  There were some teenagers there all dressed up having their pre-prom dinner.  Seriously?  Fazoli's is barely a step up from McDonald's.  Robin overheard their conversation.  Apparently, they went to Ruby Tuesday's and were told there was a 1.5 hour wait for a table, so they went to Fazoli's instead.  I was sad for them.  It would really suck eating spaghetti at Fazoli's in a prom dress. 

Sick on Easter

I'm sick.  Really sick.  It started as a cough.  Turned into a chest cold, and then it moved into my head.  I can't breathe, and there is so much pressure in my head, I think it might explode.  I'm cold.  I have a headache.  Basically, I'm miserable.

I'm so thankful that this sickness arrived on a weekend though.  Taking care of triplets is hard, and I'm glad Robin is here to help while I'm so sick.  I frequently think about the military wives and single moms of multiples.  I can't imagine not having someone there to help me.  Thank goodness Robin can take the lead with the girls this weekend.  Hopefully, I'll feel better by Monday.  We even cancelled Easter with my family tomorrow because my parents are going on vacation next week, and I don't want them to catch what I have and be miserable on their trip.

Yesterday, Robin was off work becuase his office celebrates Good Friday.  It was their first day off since New Year's.  Despite not feeling so hot, we decided to take the girls to Monkey Bizness.  What a mistake that was.  It was not really age appropraite.  Izzy-B threw up all over the floor and herself.  If I had been by myself (which I never would have attempted in the first place), it would have been the most miserable experience of my life.  We stayed there for about 30-45 minutes.  Then we took the girls to Chipotle for lunch.  After that we took the girls by my old office.  It was nice to see my co-workers.  Then it was home for nap.  After their nap, we took the girls to our favorite happy hour location, The Yard House, for drinks and appitizers with two friends.  It was fun.  The girls were really well behaved.  They had french fries for the first time.  Then we took the girls to Target for our weekly shopping trip. 

Today, we attended an event with my HOM group for Easter.  They had a pancake breakfast, pictures with the Easter bunny and an egg hunt.  It was cold and lightly snowing this morning, so we skipped the egg hunt.  It was way above the girls' heads anyway.  We did have some pancakes and sausage and took pictures with the Easter bunny that they had there.  The group hired a photographer, but Robin took his own shots.  He had to seriously crop them because there were kids (many sets of triplets) running around in the background.  It was chaotic. 

No wonder I'm feeling so miserable this afternoon.  I really pushed myself way too hard over the last two days. 

Here are some pictures of the girls in their Easter outfits at the party this morning.  I'm hoping to get some better shots.  My dad bought the girls these outfits.  They're so cute!  The socks are super cute - even though they don't really match.  They have the girls' initials on them (those are courtesy of my former co-worker Cherrie).  Izzy-B's outfit is the cutest of them all, and you can't see it at all.  Another day!

Worst. Day. Ever.

Yesterday was a rough day, and I didn't even get the worst of it.  I ran errands and sat through a REALLY long meeting - like almost 4 hours long.  Then I had more errands to run.  I got caught in a huge traffic jam from an accident, then I had problems returning some stuff that I had bought online.  They sent me the wrong thing.  So annoyed.  Then I went to the new Target only to discover that it's not really a Super Target.  It had everything except a meat department, bakery and deli.  I REALLY wanted some fresh meat and cold cuts.  Oh well.

Ok, so that doesn't sound that bad.  It was a long and rough day for me, but here's the bad part.  Robin called me at about 3:30 as he was getting the girls up from their nap.  I've noticed that Izzy-B has been picking at her diaper through the leg of her onsie when she wakes up early from her nap.  Well, under Robin's watch, she maganed to pull the entire diaper off.  And, it was poopy.  And, she was eating the peas that were in her poop.  YUCK!  Robin had to give her a bath and do a load of laundry.  He said the poop was everywhere.  All over her face, hands, bedding - everything.  By the time he was done, there was poop all over him too. 

I'm so glad I missed that one.  Now, she naps in a sleep sack.

Izzy-B's First Steps

Not to be outdone by her sister, Izzy-B took her first steps today.  I love how she claps for herself.  The background noise is a jackhammer and Katie crying.  They're still working on breaking up the concrete in the basement.

This one is a little better.  In this video you can also hear the sound of them hitting the concrete with a sledgehammer.  Fun stuff!





The Helpful (or maybe just annoyed) Sister

Izzy-B has truly mastered the art of the temper tantrum.  I've blogged about this before.  She does not like to be told 'no.'  She screams and cries and continues to try to get her way. 

This afternoon, I was playing with the girls in their room.  They are not allowed to play in their room unsupervised because there are too many things in there that they can get into.  I was sitting on the floor in between two cribs so the girls couldn't get to the changing table and dresser.  Izzy-B was playing with the door, but she pushed it too hard and she couldn't get it open again (it wasn't closed all the way).  This caused a minor tantrum.  Then she set her sights on the changing area.  I, of course, would not let her through.  This caused a major tantrum.  She was crying so hard she couldn't breathe.  And her runny nose makes the whole thing even worse right now.  This went on and on for about 10-15 minutes.  Katie finally got the door open, and she was swinging it back and forth.  Suddenly, she left the room and went into the playroom (right outside their room).  I was surprised that she left.  She returned with Izzy-B's pacifier.  I laughed so hard.  It was so cute.  It was either - here sister, please feel better OR here sister, please shut up.  Personally, I think it was the latter.

Katie's First Steps

Katie took her first steps this morning!!!  I'm so glad Robin and I were both there to witness it.

She got her first cold yesterday and took her first steps today.  That's a lot of activity for a little one!  She is 13 months, 3 weeks and 5 days old; her adjusted age is 11 months, 2 weeks.  This time last year, she was still in the NICU.  Of course, you can hear Maggie crying in the background.

I may have said this before, but it's so interesting to me how everyone says that the first year of having triplets is the hardest. Let me tell you - I thought the first year was a breeze. I find that it gets harder and harder as each day passes.  As they become more mobile and vocal, it gets harder.  It's been so windy here recently that I haven't really been able to take the girls out much. They are bored, and the crying is almost too much to deal with.

As you can see, my house is still a mess from moving in.  We moved 2.5 months ago, but we're still working on getting the basement cleaned out.  There's a large concrete block full of rocks down there that we are FINALLY having removed tomorrow.  It was part of a solar heating system that was revolutionary when the house was built.  There are 8 identical units (4 duplexes), and there are only two units that still have the big concerete block left in the basement.  I think all of the units removed the solar panels from the roof sometime in the 80s.  It would be nice to have solar heat, but the system they had was awful.  I think the concrete block with the rocks was simulating some sort of geothermal system that stored heat when it wasn't sunny.  Anyway, once it's gone, we will have more storage space in the unfinished portion of the basement (for things like the moving box and the vacuum), and we can make another playroom in the finished part of the basement where our office space is.  Tomorrow may be interesting with the concrete saw going all day.  It will be loud, but the finished product will be so worth it.

Allergies and the First Cold

Several weeks ago, I gave the girls peanut butter for the first time.  Soon after (not immediately), Katie, who also has some skin issues - dry skin, atopic dermatitis - got a red rash around her neck.  I put some steroid cream on it, and it went away.  I was nervous that she may have a peanut allergy.  Katie scratches herself around her shoulders, neck and thighs until she bleeds.  I spoke to several of my HOM moms who have kids with allergies, and they all said that her symptoms sounded like it was possible.  I made an appointment with National Jewish.  Yesterday was said appointment.  Grandma watched Maggie and Izzy-B while I took Katie to the allergist. 

I'm so pleased to announce that she does not have any allergies to food or cats or dogs!!  What a relief.  She just needs lots of moisturizer for her dry skin.

The appointment was close to my old office, so I stopped by to see everyone.  Almost no one was there!  I guess that's what happens when you surprise people.  I chatted with some of my former co-workers for awhile.  Then I went across the street to Robin's office.  We used to have lunch together often since we worked right across the street from one another.  By this time it was about 11:30am, so we went out to lunch with Robin and his co-workers at the Elephant Bar.  Katie enjoyed some of Robin's sweet and sour chicken and some of my chicken marsala with spinach and mashed potatoes.  After lunch, Katie and I made a quick stop at Costco.  I was supposed to have a refund waiting for me from my furnace installation, but there was a problem.  We didn't do any shopping.  I couldn't bring myself to put her in a cart yet.  We didn't make it home until about 2:30pm. 

It was such a joy to take Katie around town yesterday.  It was SOOO easy to only have one child to take care of. 

Poor Katie.  Today she has a fever and a runny nose.  She must have caught a cold while we were out yesterday?!?!  No one held her, and the only thing she touched was the high chair and the table at the restaurant, and I thoroughly disinfected those before she touched them.  As far as I know, no one we were with was sick either.  I guess that's what happens when you keep your kids isolated for so long.  Their first trip to the real world causes them to get sick (ok - we have been to Chipotle twice and they didn't get sick then).  I assume Katie will pass it along to the other two.  Izzy-B has a bit of a runny nose too, but she doesn't have a fever (yet).  Katie is still happy and playing normally, so no medicine for her.  Let the fever do its work!

The Proof is in the Evidence

I have positively identified the biter. 

As I said before, Izzy-B has 2 upper and 2 lower teeth.  Yesterday, I noticed that Katie actually now has 3 on the bottom and 4 on the top.  As you can see from the bite mark, there are at least 3 on top and there are clearly 3 on the bottom.  It has to be Katie.  Plus, the spacing of the upper teeth matches Katie.  Frankly, I'm surprised.  Now, I just have to catch her in the act.  Izzy-B doesn't have any bite marks on her, so Maggie must have really done something to Katie to make her mad!  It doesn't appear that she is just going around biting just for the fun of it (yet).

Do I Have a Biter? And Other Updates.

I think Maggie has a bite mark on her arm:

The funny thing is, I would think she would be the biter.  Of Izzy-B and Katie, I think it might be Izzy-B.  I can't really tell how many teeth are involved.  Maybe someone can help me.  Izzy-B has 2 on top and 2 on bottom while Katie has 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.  Looks more like 2 and 2 to me - what do you think?  Now, I just have to catch her in the act.  I'm going to assume Maggie didn't bite herself, but anything's possible.  With the way Maggie has been acting lately though, I really can't blame Izzy-B for biting her.  Izzy-B will be standing somewhere and Maggie comes over and pushes her way into the situation and causes Izzy-B to fall or pushes her back so she can't see what's going on. 

These days Maggie is a serious handful.  By lunch time, I'm ready to throw in the towel.  She is going through a - hopefully short lived - phase where all she wants is to be in my lap.  This sounds like such a joy.  Who doesn't want a loving little one to cuddle in your lap?  HA!  If only she were a cuddler.  She cannot sit still; she arches her back and bangs her head on my chest; she kicks me.  I have permanent bruises on my ankles (I'm normally sitting on the floor with her).  It is a down right awful and painful situation.  When I've finally had enough and I leave, she cries and cries and cries and cries.  It's not easy to deal with.  I don't understand why she doesn't like to be cuddled.  It's impossible to hold her in a "rocking baby in your arms" way.  It's even difficult to hold her facing you.  She always tries to turn away.  Soooooo frustrating.  Even when Robin is around, she doesn't want to be with him.  Only me.  There will come a day when I will look back on this and wish I could have these moments of her only wanting to be with me back - maybe in 11 years or so when she wants nothing to do with her mom.

Izzy-B throws temper tantrums.  She hates to be told no, but hey - who does?  She cries and gets really upset when I tell her no.  She folds herself in half and pushes her face in the carpet and cries.  I think the best way to describe her is sensitive.  Her new favorite thing to do is to throw all of her blankets, lovey and pacifier out of her crib.  This normally only happens during naptime (and then sometimes she cries because she doesn't have her pacifier anymore).  Sometimes she can reach one of the blankes and she tries to pull it back into her crib and she sucks on the blanket stuck in between the crib rails while still crying for her pacifer.  When we put her down at night, she doesn't throw everything out.  I do find all of her stuff on the floor by morning though. 

Right now, Katie is my model baby.  She is so independent and can play alone without crying for awhile.  She likes to cuddle and sit on my lap. 

The girls have all FINALLY learned how to wave.  I love how they wave at themselves.  Katie and Izzy-B are the best at it.  Maggie has only done it a couple of times.  Both Katie and Izzy-B can wave and clap on command.  It's so cute.  Sometimes when I say "good job," Katie will start clapping.  When I went to get the girls up from their nap today, I opened the door and Izzy-B was sitting in her *empty* crib clapping away. 

Katie and Izzy-B are doing really well with the push toys.  This afternoon, we took them outside and let them push the toys up the sidewalk.  It was the first time they walked in shoes.  Izzy-B really liked it and went a long way.  Katie did well too.  Maggie is having a lot of balance issues.  I had to hold her hands on the toy and walk with her (I was pushing the toy so she had to walk).  She can't really keep her feet straight.  I really worry about her.  She is frequently standing on her toes (like she's a point ballerina - on the tips of her toes).  She will put weight back on her heels though.  The OT doesn't really know what to think except that Maggie just needs more practice cruising.  If I had to guess, I think Katie will be the first to walk.  She likes to stand independently a lot, and she *almost* took a step today.

Their language skills seem delayed to me.  They don't really say anything.  They finally say mama and mom, but I'm not sure if it's directed toward me or not.  Mama, mom and dada are all they say right now, and I'm not convinced that any of those words mean something to them.  Katie frequently says "da."

That's about it for now.  I'm excited Spring is finally here.  Just in time.  The girls are seriously getting bored with being in the house all day.  And I'm starting to lose my mind.