Winter. Oh, how I loathe you. It’s a new found loathing, though. See, as a school teacher I admittedly loved the unexpected and occasional day off – either staying in my jammies all day or getting out for lunch with the girls. But I have a new job now, stay-at-home mom, and blizzard-like snow does not grant me time off like LCPS once did. In fact, it makes my job that much harder. See, we respectfully kept our germs to ourselves for eight weeks, got healthy and ready for outings to resume. Then Blizzard #1. Then Blizzard #2. Just as we cautiously resumed life, accumulating snow is expected tomorrow. But, we did manage to visit with Ruth, Jason and Ella, as well as with L, S, and T last weekend (and have no pictures to show for it), we Tumbled until we could Tumble no more this week , and we’ll enjoy the company of four other triplet families on Friday at a mega-playdate. And with temperatures reaching 40 degrees today, we’ll go for a walk around the neighborhood while anticipating spring and summer - daily playing at the park, trips to the lake, attending outdoor concerts, swimming, going to the zoo, maybe go to the airport to watch the planes take off and land. I’m even thinking we might attempt the aquarium. Who knows. All I DO know is that we want these kids to experience EVERYTHING possible. It’s easy with three of the same age to say “It’s too difficult”, but our kids didn’t ask to be triplets and as such we don’t want them to be shortchanged.
Recent “highlights”:
• Our final visit with “the county” was on Tuesday, February 23. While our nurse and PT wanted to discharge the kiddos months ago, I begged them to keep us on as long as legally possible. Yesterday was “that” day. The kids are doing great and have officially been discharged from Early Intervention.
• Orthotics. (Let me preface this by saying we have TWO Physical Therpists. One is assigned to higher order multiples & preemies by the county. I will refer to him as Mr.J. He visits us every two months to assess the children’s development and mention anything of worth. We also have a private PT who Landon saw regularly to work on low muscle tone. I will refer to her as Ms.S.) Anyway, Mr.J is not one to rush any child into orthotics although he once made and sold them. Instead, he’d much rather give each child the time for their foot muscles to strengthen on their own. Ms.S is in that same school of thought. But both are in agreement –Morgan and Landon MUST be fitted for orthotics, and the sooner the better. We’re scheduled to go next week, and here’s the crazy thing – the man who will be fitting both kiddos also fitted MY SISTER nearly 25 years ago!
• Morgan has over 100 words in her vocabulary. Hayden’s not far behind, and we have not yet counted Landon’s but he will tell you a story like none other – one with gestures and the greatest facial expressions ever. If you can’t understand it, that’s YOUR fault (or so he thinks).
• The kids often call me by name. If Hayden calls me “mama” and I don’t respond quickly enough, she reverts to “mama mama Debbie”. While I was at an appointment the other day, I’m told that Landon stood at the front door calling out “Debbie Debbie Debbie”.
• Our breakfast menu has expanded to include cereal - - - in a bowl - - - with milk - - - and a spoon - - - self fed by three toddlers.
• The children show little interest in potty training, but I put them on the potty anyway. You know. Just in case.
• There’s still A LOT of interest in undressing so we put the children’s footy pajamas on backwards (we did buy Mookie Moos, but they are footless so we’ll use those in the spring and summer). Recently, John and I walked in to the nursery to find Morgan’s PJs on the ground and Hayden handing us her diaper saying “dirty dirty”.
• Hayden can take her diaper off - - - through her clothes.
• We’ve made the best of this winter by doing several crafts. Our most recent include hand print hearts, ripping paper and creating heart mosaics, and using cotton balls on photos of our house to remember the blizzards of 2010.
• Our Valentine’s Day was fairly low key. John shoveled the porch which was much needed. Unbenownst to me, this would be endless entertainment for H, M, and L who even shouted “HOORAY” when Daddy made his way up the porch stairs. My wonderful husband did, however, pick up a fantastic dinner from Morton's Steakhouse for us to enjoy once the kids went to bed.
• Hayden LOVES her baby doll. For a while now, she's carrier her around from place to place, and of course to sleep. But now she's making sure that Baby is included in everything. Most recently, I was giving Hayden some teething tablets and she INSISTED her baby get some, too. Seriosuly insisted and would not walk away until the baby got her medicine. She also "high fives" the baby doll and asks that we do the same. Yep, even asked Mr.J from "the county" to show his love to Baby.
• Since the kids boycott any form of confinement, we got rid of our primary strollers and kept just our joggers.
• I’m fairly certain that all three littles have their two year molars coming in. Clingy.
• Today we got the kids dressed up and spent the morning out. First, we stopped by to see Aunt Stacy and Grandpa Gary at work. While shy at first, the kids quickly warmed up and took over the place, laughing, smiling, and running. Then we went to the mall where the kids enjoyed a small taste of freedom - no strollers.
• It’s been years – seriously- since I’ve been to the movies. Last weekend, though, I managed to escape home long enough to see “Dear John” with some good girlfriends (oh, and indulge in Johnny Rockets).
• Sadly, our good friend and nanny, Becca, is moving. We’ve known since we met her that graduate school was in her future. I guess we sort of thought she’d fall so in love with our family that she’d forget about her life’s dreams. Not so much. She’ll be moving out of state, and while we’re sad to see her go, we’re thrilled that she’s pursuing a career (in Recreational Therapy, sort of like Occupational Therapy) that will help SO many others. That said, yes we’re looking for another nanny, but it’s incredibly difficult to “replace” such a good friend. We love you, Becca!
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