2.23.12: Pet Rock

I'm really not sure where this came from (book, tv show, or another kid) but somehow today Daphne decided that she needed a pet rock while we were leaving the library.  Sure enough after our next departure from the park, everyone needed to bring home a pet rock.  These rocks ride in the front of the car with me but as soon as the girls are free from their car seats the rocks are whisked away and carried around until the next meal.  Oddly everyone seems to agree on the owner of a given rock, which is great because I paid no attention during the accumulation.  I have no idea how long this obsession will last but I suppose this is better than pet scorpions.

2.20.12: Banana Slug

We had so much fun while Debbie was visiting (stella/pink, daphne/blue, fiona/purple).  We went on a hike and showed her THE river.  We even tried to feed the fish in said river but turns out fish are not cannibals and therefore do not enjoy goldfish crackers.  Next time we bring bread.

(top to bottom: debbie, fiona, daphne, stella)

While Debbie was entertaining the girls one evening I was even able to cook while the girls were awake - a novelty in this household unless the television is on.  The girls helped to make their own pizza by sprinkling on the cheese (fiona/white, daphne/blue, stella/pink).  We then all sat down for family dinner, another novelty but something we are trying to work on.

On a trip home from the children's museum, the girls discovered that Debbie had a whole repertoire of songs they hadn't heard before. Upon this discovery the rest of our drive home and all subsequent drives were filled with Debbie patiently singing the same songs over and over again (their favorite was Banana Slug).  The girls were very sad to have her go, but sure enjoyed the enthusiasm (and new songs) she brought to our home.

2.18.12: Stella's big girl bed

Today Stella got to sleep in her big girl bed.  She has stayed dry during nap and overnight for a while now and was more than excited to have a big girl bed.  We are really hoping this change will help to motivate Daphne to stay dry at least during naps.

In a moment of adorableness, Stella found the letters on her crib and read them out loud, 'G-R-A-C-O, hey that's not my name'.  She was pretty distraught that her bed would have someone else's name on it, but once we pointed out that the sign over her bed had her name on it she seemed more accepting.

2.14.12: Happy Valentine's Day

The girls started the day by making some Valentine's Day cards.  Stella, Fiona and Daphne had a fantastic time decorating these hearts with stickers and coloring the backside.  They were modeling with their creations so they could wish all their friends and family a virtual Happy Valentine's Day.

2.11.12: Fiona's big girl bed

(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne taking their dolls to the doctor)

Tonight we took off the front of Fiona's bed (yes, only Fiona's - we are approaching this process one toddler at a time) and moved her mattress from the floor to her 'big girl bed'.  She has done great staying on her mattress the past couple of days even with the coaxing of her sisters to give them new books, toys, etc.  We were able to push Fiona's bed perpendicular to Daphne's crib which created a rail for about half of her bed. This gives her the ability to get in and out of her bed but hopefully prevents too many falls during the night.

The girls love playing on Fiona's bed and she seems to tolerate the additional guests during awake times.  We have told the girls that Fiona got a big girl bed because she is completely potty trained (even though it was really her crib tent demolition).  Regardless, we are hoping it will motivate everyone to stay dry all day and night.......or perhaps destroy their crib tents if they ever figure out our real motivation for the change.

(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne reading to their dolls after their doctor appointment.  The girls were actually repeating the words from the books they have memorized.)

2.9.12: Are you curious?

(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne - wearing the George mask she colored)

Today the local mall had Curious George coming to meet and greet kids.  The girls love Curious George. We have lots of books, plush Georges and yes, it is one of the television shows that the girls are allowed to watch.  Needless to say, we had to go!  The girls had been telling Brant and I for days they were going to give George a hug and Fiona told us 'I'm going to ask George if he is curious' (yes she came up with that all on her own).

The girls and I arrived at the mall unsure of the environment and preparing for chaos.  After some confusion, it turned out we had to sit through two books, two songs and a whole lot of waiting just to give Curious George a hug.  The wait wasn't bad it was the anxiety from all the kids continuously looking for their favorite character while someone painstakingly read books that were unrelated.

Upon completion of the mock story time in the food court a race broke out for a new line in order to meet George.  If you know my family you know I have been well trained in Black Friday shopping. This time was a little different because I had the kids, but thankfully they took my lead and we were tenth in line - success!  We finally get our turn and Daphne and Stella raced to give George a hug, Fiona....wouldn't let go of my leg.  Pictures of the hug were a blur as I was wrangling someone, holding Fiona and trying to take a picture of the child who was hugging George.  Perhaps I will never be a sports photographer.  Thankfully I had a picture of the girls waiting for story time to start.

Tonight we caved at our attempts for a temporary fix to Fiona's crib and decided just to put her mattress on the floor.  We'll see where she ends up in the morning.  Daphne and Stella are still in their cribs so at least we only have to keep track of one roaming toddler this evening.

2.5.12: Free Fiona

Today we had our first party in our new house, a Super Bowl party. We had ~30 people over (1/3 of them under 5) and our new house held up really well.  The girls did even better.  They shared their toys with the other kids, interacted with the adults, and were overall amazing (even past their bedtime).

People began arriving during the girls' nap time.  Fiona must have been anxious to see everyone because she destroyed the zipper on her crib tent.  I don't know how she did it, those crib tents have been extremely well tested during the six months that we've had them. Somehow today was the day she managed to break it and she did so beyond repair.  Thankfully when she finally got to bed she was so exhausted from the party she went straight to sleep, buying us additional time to ponder our sleeping strategy.

1.30.12: Spelunking

Today the girls (fiona/penguins, daphne/frogs, stella/pigs) decided to play with the table instead of playing on the table.  Seeing the girls climb all over the place, fighting for space while under the table and playing with each other brought back fond memories of my very active pregnancy belly - somethings never change.

1.26.12: Potty training triplets

(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)

Regardless of all the research done and other multiple moms consulted with, you just never know what you are getting yourself into when attempting to potty train triplets.  For those people who think one method will work for everyone, I believe we are a good example of that philosophy being incorrect.

Well I can honestly say it has been a process.  A process that is not yet complete but well underway.  Here is our timeline thus far:

It all started November 11, we had three days of only underwear when awake.  During quiet time (~30min) the girls wore pull-ups and nap time (~3hours) and overnight (~12hours) the girls wore a diaper.  Small stickers when peeing on the potty and big stickers when pooping on the potty.  Watched potty videos whenever requested and had been hyping up the wearing of 'real undies' for weeks.

In mid-November after the three day intense training period, we put everyone in pull-ups when awake.  Brant had to go back to work I couldn't handle the mess x3.  I also couldn't handle being stuck in the house any longer. Stickers and videos continued.

In late November we started wearing underwear again when awake with pull-ups over underwear.  During quiet time and nap time the girls wore pull-ups and overnight the girls wore a diaper. Stickers continued.

In December we braved the next major milestone and wore underwear when awake.  During quiet time the girls wore underwear with pull-ups outside their pajamas - just to catch anything but definitely make them realize that it wasn't okay to go potty while in their cribs.  Stickers became less interesting as we have 'group potty' times - everyone tries to go potty even if you don't need to go.

In late December they wore underwear during quiet time. Underwear when awake, pull-ups during nap and diaper at night. The 'Poop on the potty' song was born.  Everyone in the house sings the song whenever some is successful.

In early January, after showing continuous dryness during nap, Fiona started wearing underwear during nap.  Stella and Daphne still wore a pull-up and everyone wore diapers at night.

In mid-January, after showing continuous dryness during nap Stella upgraded to wearing underwear with Fiona during nap.  Fiona upgraded to wearing underwear overnight as she continuously wakes up dry.  Daphne really likes to poop during nap (like clockwork), so she still wears a pull-up.  Stella and Daphne still wake up with a wet diaper overnight so we are still wearing diapers until we have many consecutive nights of dryness.

Stella is pretty close to wearing underwear overnight as she only has an accident about once a week.  Daphne, well we really need to get her to stop holding her poop for nap time, that is my next goal for her.  Regardless we are down to 2 overnight diapers and 1 pull-up a day a huge decrease from our previous levels when in 100% diapers.

Last night was a big night for us.  Everyone woke up dry.  Of course this doesn't mean it will happen every night from here on out, but it does mean that progress is being made.    Still a work in progress, but I would say we survived the majority of the potty milestones and are well on our way to have potty trained triplets.

1.14.12: Serenade

On a quick trip to the hardware store we had an amazing find in the parking lot...a giant race car shopping cart that was calling our name.  The girls (left to right: stella, fiona, daphne) all took turns driving and riding in the basket.  They had enormous grins the entire time we were shopping and Brant and I actually had a minute to look at the store without wrangling - it was great!

The serenade began on the way home. Everyone took turns singing the ABC's, Beanbag song and Are You My Sunshine (yes, Are You, not You Are).  They were all singing at the same time, but different songs, and very loudly...we were cracking up.