Today I admit defeat. I attempted to go to the botanic garden children's area on my own. Well not really on my own since we met up with Heather and her twin boys. Heather and I have been able to accomplish many play dates as a team (she is a great helper), but this was too much for me.
- The layout is not ideal for us. There are several sections to play in but all have dual entry/exit points.
- The entire area is either wet cement or mud (slippery and dirty). The girls are good about falling (no crying they just get right back up) but the cement and mud compounded with the falling just made everyone a complete mess.
- There are a lot of older kids running around forcing me to dodge them when chasing after my little ones.
- We are good walkers, but not THAT good. Uneven river rocks prove too challenging for me in flip-flops let alone three new-ish walkers.
After Fiona exited in one direction and Daphne in another all while Stella bit it (but didn't cry) in the mud, I was done. I picked up two girls and put the other in my bjorn and stumbled out of the area. While trying to strap everyone in the stroller, Daphne ran towards some sleeping woman and started pulling her hair, I didn't even care. I was defeated and pretended not to notice. The woman didn't say anything, I think she could see by my face that I was overwhelmed. I ran away in shame barely holding it together while loading/driving/unloading everyone. Once we got home, I changed everyone into clean clothes and put them down for their nap. It is then that I broke down. I was exhausted both emotionally and physically.
I pride myself on being able to do anything I need to with the girls. I am so thankful to have our trio that I will do whatever it takes to get them the most 'normal' childhood experiences possible. Sure it may take me longer, but I can usually figure it out. This was the first time that I left an activity in defeat. Hopefully in a couple days I will recover from this experience and adventure out with the girls again.......but it will not be to the children's garden alone, I can guarantee that.
8.11.10: Fourteen months old
(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)
Ah ha! I figured it out. If I take the monthly photo of the girls while they are in their feeding table, then I can get a picture of everyone together (captured audience I suppose). Anticipate many more monthly photos in the feeding table.....at least until they can follow directions better. I try to take a 'thank you' photo each month. It always seems to come in handy (yes I know the girls are spoiled). I handed the girls the thank you signs but they were getting eaten/destroyed so I took them away...this is what happened. Perhaps a nontraditional 'thank you' photo, but memorable nonetheless.
(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)
Another exciting month. The girls have become excellent walkers and even run occasionally. They are done with their infant carriers and use full size car seats. Group baths have become the norm which also means there is a new found love for splashing. We continue to have several play dates a week allowing them to learn from other toddlers. The girls have also begun playing more with each other and sometimes (only sometimes) sharing a toy. They know the hand motions for wheels on the bus and if you're happy and you know it.
As of the past month, the girls seem to each have their own favorite food. This is the food that they eat first no matter how many options there are in their bowls. Fiona loves wholewheat bread, Daphne will steal string cheese from anyone who has some and Stella gets very upset if she catches anyone eating HER blueberries (this includes those found in her sisters' bowls). They eat a puree of veggies every meal and we are slowly expanding the finger food assortment that follows (especially now that we are sprouting/have twelve teeth each (4 molars, 4 top front, 4 bottom front).
8.8.10: Wrinkly toes
(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne)
Well we did it. We had our first family swim. It has been a personal goal of mine to get to this point by the end of the summer and in early August, we accomplished it! Up until now, we'd take the girls into the pool one at a time while the other one entertains the two non-swimming kids poolside. The watching girls usually got pretty restless so the time swimming was very limited. Now that we all swim at the same time, everyone gets to swim much longer. It was fun for all and the girls seemed happy and comfortable in their floats. We stayed so long, we had thirty cute little wrinkly toes.
8.7.10: Children's garden
(left to right: brant/daphne, fiona, stella)
Today we adventured to the botanic gardens to explore the children's area. I would like to pretend that I was helping push the stroller when not taking this picture, but I wasn't. Brant (the very proud dad) did it all himself. I just walked along side, not really sure what to do with myself.
(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne)
This children's garden had several cute little surprises. One of my favorites was this mini table and chairs. Since we don't go out to restaurants and use highchairs ever, this was our first time putting them in chairs 'their' size. Next time, we bring snacks and eat at this perfectly situated lunch spot.
(left to right: daphne, fiona, stella)
The girls are really into splashing these days. These fish buckets spray up water and provided a lot of entertainment for splashing each other. Fiona didn't even seem to mind when she got water in her face every 10 seconds. There was also a really fun misting area, but it was tough to keep the girls contained in that area - hence no picture.
8.3.10: Yum, crayons
(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)
The girls did great eating their lunch today. They even seemed happy sitting in their chairs after eating (mainly chewing on spoons). I decided it was time to test out coloring with crayons. We have done finger painting (semi-assisted) and coloring (very assisted) but never with everyone at the same time (without assistance). Turns out the girls aren't quite ready for coloring and instead prefer to eat the crayons. (note: the artwork in the picture is all me)
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past couple weeks:
stella
fiona
daphne
7.31.10: We (almost) all fall down
The girls have taken a serious liking to the swim floaty (minus sunshade) as a bouncing device in the house. This poor star gets jumped, drooled, and climbed on (kind of like me). The girls fight over who gets to recline in the star and often carry it with them throughout the living room to prevent their sisters from getting to it. I thought to myself, perhaps this is a good time to teach sharing. I put all the girls into the star sitting on the edge, giggling ensued.
(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)
More gigging. Then they all started to bounce themselves while sitting on the edge. Once Daphne decided to bounce, I discovered a problem. She bounced Stella and Fiona right off the floaty. More giggling.
(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)
(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)
More gigging. Then they all started to bounce themselves while sitting on the edge. Once Daphne decided to bounce, I discovered a problem. She bounced Stella and Fiona right off the floaty. More giggling.
(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)
7.28.10: Taking over
left to right: fiona, andrew, wesley, anna, daphne, stella
In an effort to make singleton parents the minority, Donna (another triplet mom) and I took over the children's museum. We decided to capture this moment and attempt a group photo. Yes, it was 100% staged. There is no way anyone would play near each other, let alone sit still. For just a brief moment all the kids were still and (sort of) looking at the camera. I think this was the first time I was ever in the majority, having triplets.
7.25.10: Garden paradise
Well we did it. We finally opened the boxes from our new car seats to discover a 'garden paradise'. The pattern isn't a bad as we feared and actually coordinates with our tan interior reasonably well. Brant installed all the new seats into the car today. Since these car seats are advertised to 'fit three across most cars' we assumed they would be spacious compared to our prior infant carriers (which BARELY fit in our Civic). Turns out the fit across is almost exactly the same - very tight. In fact, since the girls are rear facing, we actually had to move the front seats up even further to accommodate the taller seats. The important thing is that the seats fit!
BEFORE:
(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)
AFTER:
(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)
We took this opportunity to eliminate binkies in the car. Now the only place the girls get binkies is in bed. Of course, I always have some on hand - just in case - but the girls don't need to know that. We also tried peanut butter and jelly for the first time. Everybody really enjoyed this new treat (and thankfully no peanut allergies!)
BEFORE:
(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)
AFTER:
(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)
We took this opportunity to eliminate binkies in the car. Now the only place the girls get binkies is in bed. Of course, I always have some on hand - just in case - but the girls don't need to know that. We also tried peanut butter and jelly for the first time. Everybody really enjoyed this new treat (and thankfully no peanut allergies!)
7.23.10: Water everywhere
(daphne green, fiona pink, stella yellow)
Today we adventured over to Heather's house for a backyard play date. The boys got a fancy new sand and water table making their backyard even more amazing. The girls had a great time splashing the water (especially Stella) but weren't super into the sand side. Perhaps because the boys were too busy trying to haul the sand to various places in their yard. Once Fiona made sure to soak up as much water from the baby pool into her diaper as humanly possible, we changed and then headed home (4lbs diaper and all).
(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)
Tonight was our first group bath. Brant doing all the bathing work (as usual) I was the entertainment. Okay, I didn't really do too much but the pre- and post- bath rituals. The girls did pretty well. Stella was showing off her new splashing skills acquired earlier that day. Daphne wasn't so sure she wanted to stay in the bath. Meanwhile Fiona was thrilled to have a book that she was allowed to eat.
7.22.10: Long lunch
Brant was able to take a long lunch today so we had an impromptu zoo adventure. It went really well. I'm not sure the girls really appreciate the variety of animals just yet, but hopefully soon. Of course, since most animals live in a habitat to which they blend in, it makes it difficult for young eyes to spot the animal. Clearly we need more practice (and trips to the zoo).
We also adventured to the park today. While this is nothing new, my neighbor added a twist to this adventure. She decided that we should have the girls (and her son) play on the playground. Ahh, I was overwhelmed. The girls all went in different directions and insisted upon eating the wood chips on the ground. With her help we managed ok, both taking on two kids. We go to the park a lot, but not too often to a playground without a fence and lots of other kids. After hogging the swings for a good fifteen minutes, I caved to the looks of the impatient parents waiting and tried to remove the girls from the swings. Daphne and Stella were happy to find other things to play with but Fiona was not happy. She just cried and pointed to the swings. I sat her in the wood chips hoping that she would get tired of just crying and want to play with her sisters, but no. Turns out she is very persistent. I even tried turning her away from the swings and she would turn back to the swings and continue to point and cry. Thankfully Brant met us at the park after work and between the three adults we were able to distract her. Mental note, be prepared for crying upon removing Fiona from the swings.
We also adventured to the park today. While this is nothing new, my neighbor added a twist to this adventure. She decided that we should have the girls (and her son) play on the playground. Ahh, I was overwhelmed. The girls all went in different directions and insisted upon eating the wood chips on the ground. With her help we managed ok, both taking on two kids. We go to the park a lot, but not too often to a playground without a fence and lots of other kids. After hogging the swings for a good fifteen minutes, I caved to the looks of the impatient parents waiting and tried to remove the girls from the swings. Daphne and Stella were happy to find other things to play with but Fiona was not happy. She just cried and pointed to the swings. I sat her in the wood chips hoping that she would get tired of just crying and want to play with her sisters, but no. Turns out she is very persistent. I even tried turning her away from the swings and she would turn back to the swings and continue to point and cry. Thankfully Brant met us at the park after work and between the three adults we were able to distract her. Mental note, be prepared for crying upon removing Fiona from the swings.
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