Mar 21

Interests and Personalities

It’s that time of year ago, to celebrate another birthday. I can hardly believe it! In honor of year two, I am breaking out the girls separately to highlight that while they are sisters and triplets, they are also individuals with different interests and personalities too!

Birthday girls in their birthday dresses!

Due to the eventful societal issues right now, two year checkups were canceled so we measured heights and weights ourselves. In my head the girls were already 30 pounds and I was way off! While I look forward to turning the car seats forward facing this year, we are definitely not ready to trigger that yet.

At two, the girls constantly call to each other and it’s very cute to see. Emerie is the chattiest and consistently talks to Harpa and Ray-gi; Harper says Emmi and Ray Ray; and Reagan says Harpa and Emmi. Emerie also calls herself Emmi (emphasis on the “i”) when she explains something happening to her. The girls also say Momma (me), Daddy (Craig), Papa (Lon and Cliff), Nanny (Chris), and we are still working on Grandma…and not to be forgotten…Koda and Kalli (dogs) are consistently spoken to and about. They are not on a first name basis with the cats yet.

We are amidst the terrible twos and have been for several months now. While the scale of tantrums is less than I would have guessed, everyone has their moments. The loving moments trade back and forth with the hitting, biting, crying, and toy stealing…and timeouts. The toddler grumpiness will be interesting over the next year, and I’ve yet to capture a full-on, triple temper tantrum but rest assured, I am prepared to catch that on video!

In the midst of that, small tasks allow the girls to be more helpful. Everyone throws their laundry downstairs at bedtime, sometimes help clean up toys, and will put their boots and coats away when asked. If directed, they will bring a toy or juice over to their sister as well as a binkie for comfort.

Harper

Height: 35.5″ tall

Weight: 27.8 pounds

Harper is a social butterfly and quite a sweetheart. She gives amazing hugs. But, she is also what I would call a “bulldozer;” once she puts her mind to something, you better go with it or move out of the way. This goes for her sisters as well, they can be collateral damage when she is on a mission. Like her dad, she is either still or moving one hundred miles per hour… something we learned when she started walking and immediately started running. I certainly consider her the sprinter of the household.

She is our best sleeper and a grump when she misses a nap or has an interrupted night of sleep. If Emerie or Reagan abruptly awakes her in the middle of the night, it is very difficult to coax her back to sleep in her crib. If they don’t wake her up, she sleeps fine. She wakes up in the morning happy and ready to start the day, but usually grumpy after nap time because someone woke her up before she was ready.

She is not a fan of snuggling under a blanket, but loves to wear them around the house, curled around her head and shoulders. She absolutely refuses to have one over her feet to go to sleep. She loves to pretend drive the toddler cars that are currently in the dining room and will sit there and spin the wheel and giggle.

By this age I figured everyone would have a bit of realistic “fear” in them from the possibility of getting hurt. Harper? Not a chance. She’s a daredevil and freely trust falls off things, expecting you to catch her, climbs as high as she can for the view, and dives off things just to try it. While she doesn’t like to be cold and outside on frigid days, but she enjoys the excitement of sled rides and when we swing her around on it. She also likes to help shovel.

She is by far the chillest baby of the three (unless her hair is getting done), even from infancy, and she still loves watching and interacting with animals. It seems to be quite the heartbreak when Nanny Chris goes home each day, as she sadly called out Nanny to us for a good five minutes before we distract her with something else! Two of her front teeth are chipped (and did not enjoy the dentist), she likes salty over sweet, and she loves an occasional snack of dog food, that happens more often than I care to admit.

Emerie

Height: 34.5″ tall

Weight: 25.2 pounds

Emerie is our little peanut and the smallest of the three. She doesn’t let that stop her and can definitely hold her own with her sisters. She enjoys discovering how things work, building blocks, and playing with the little people dollhouses. She runs around the house with a purse filled with all kinds of goodies or a dolly, yelling “buh-bye!” Any small box or container becomes hours of entertainment, whether it is filled with snow, an ice cube, snacks, or random specs of dirt.

She is the main talker (maybe I should say the most demanding) of the three and mimics words like a pro. She then teaches them to her sisters; even relatively large words, such as caterpillar, broccoli, french fries, and so on. Her most common words are shut, no, and Daddy and while she doesn’t yet say colors, she seems to believe the color pink is called “Harpa.” She is also a daredevil and climbs on anything and everything. She can do a somersault and enjoys running away from you and standing on her head, just so you can’t change her clothes.

Her latest obsession is Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off and the song must be played first thing each day…and repeated…and repeated. She has smooth dance moves and enjoys solo and group dancing. After three months (Christmas present from Shelly!), dancing with the singing monkey is still as fun as ever and she will tote that animal all over the house.

All of her front teeth are intact (for the moment!). She is a good sport at doctor appointments, even when she’s visited so many. One of her favorite places is outside, hot or cold, and she would stay and play for hours if we’d let her (and didn’t have two others!). After a sled ride she generally melts down when forced back inside. This would be easier if she would wear her gloves, but so far she doesn’t mind being outside with tiny, frozen fingers.

She doesn’t mind getting her hair done and getting “pretty.” She likes to check out Mom’s jewelry and will tell me it’s pretty with a big smile. Lastly, she is the only one of the three that actively helps clean up the house- she will put toys back into the bins and close them, even before any prompting from an adult.

Reagan

Height: 35.5″ tall (identical to Harper)

Weight: 27.8 pounds (identical to Harper)

Reagan remains the shyest of the three and is the binkie baby. Not only does she constantly yell “binkie” at you, but she often has one in each hand and one in her mouth. Her love of binkies reaches to her sisters and she is more than willing to share one when a sister is upset. Little does she know this phase of her life is nearing an end, when the binkies will be out of sight and hopefully out of mind… that might be a rough week. She is a daredevil in some ways, but also willing to hang back and see what Harper and Emerie do first.

Since infancy, she always loved to dance and definitely has rhythm from her Dad (thank goodness). She often grabs a blanket and binkie and sits on the couch with you for a snuggle session. At bedtime, she must have a blanket on before turning off the light and she will remind you to do it. Of course, of the three, Reagan requires the least amount of sleep and she knows it! She fights nap time and bedtime the most and ends up in our room to settle more often than the other two. On the other hand, iff we are in the car, she is always the first one asleep and will sleep like a champ.

Taking after her Dad, she LOVES sugar and sweets and is adamant we share anything we are eating that relates to dessert. Her front, right tooth is nearly chipped in half from a fall in the dining room a couple months back; although she didn’t mind the dentist nearly as much as Harper did. If you want to check her ears, she is much less thrilled. Teeth? They seem okay. And she continues to climb like a monkey, so fingers crossed for her other tooth…

While cleaning up toys is not a constant practice with her, she does love to run around the room with the toy vacuums and pretend to clean the floor and rugs. I think she will be the kid to vacuum the house once she’s bigger, as the real vacuum is quite intriguing. She greatly enjoys bath time and standing at the faucet and playing, but will run from you when you try to brush her hair afterwards. Luckily, with a small bribery of chocolate chips, she doesn’t fight getting her hair done.

Reagan is the most advanced in terms of potty training- she’s been telling us her “business” for a few months now, although sitting on the potty chair is more of a game than a practicality. A dirty diaper must be changed immediately or the yelling will continue. She will tell you and then walk up the stairs and point to where you should go to fix the issue. She was also the first to figure out clothing removal: shoes, socks, pants, shirts, and now her diaper. She will not wear her pajamas at bedtime unless we put her in a full sleeper and safety pin the zipper until sleep sack time. In the car, she is the first to remove her shoes and often trades boots with whoever is sitting next to her so they are mismatched.

Favorites

While many foods and activities are the same for all three, if you really look at it, some traits are different. Here are some of the highlights between the three, in order of Harper / Emerie / Reagan.

Favorite Food: green beans, broccoli and corn, cheese, sausage, applesauce and white rice

Favorite Snack: fruit snacks, goldfish crackers, apples and peanut butter

Favorite Toy: pink riding airplane / singing monkey or any container / mini vacuum

Favorite Song: Tay Tay’s (Taylor Swift) Shake It Off, Baby Shark, and This Little Light of Mine

Favorite TV Show/Movie: Llama Llama (if you can count 30 seconds of watching TV as a favorite…they love and dance to the theme song every time though!), music from Moana, Frozen and the entire Trolls movie soundtrack

Favorite Sport: soccer or sprinting (she’s our runner) / soccer (she likes to kick the ball) / basketball or baseball (she has quite the arm)

Favorite Songs: Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off, Baby Shark, all the songs from the Trolls movie, and Pharrell William’s Happy

Favorite Word: buh-bye / shut or no / binkie

Current Obsession: nursery sound machine and nightlight!

It was quite the year, and to quote myself from last year, I look forward to seeing what new things the girls comprehend and learn in 2020. I’m also genuinely excited for spring to get here already (and summer), so we can play outside without taking fifteen minutes to get everyone dressed, enjoy the sun, and go on more outdoorsy adventures than the past two years, even if we have to practice “social distancing.”

❤

Mar 14

Testing Freedom

It’s ironic to be talking about giving the girls more freedom at home, when everything going in across society seems to be restricting access to basic amenities we are used to. What an interesting time!

Last weekend we tried opening up the living room “play jail” and freeing the girls to explore the rest of the room and main floor, and be less supervised than in prior months. Of course this meant blocking off the stairs, rearranging some furniture and baby proofing newfound opportunities to get into stuff.

The first thing requiring baby proofing was the fireplace. That took t-minus five seconds before Emerie tried to open it up and test out the charred wood. She, of course, shared this new find with both sisters. Needless to say, it now has a child proof lock on it.

The diaper changing area is full of fun things to play with that are not for kiddos. A favorite is the temperature taker and ear checker. These moved up higher until we put things back. The sock and diaper drawers seem to be quite the messy hit as well.

Any surface that can possibly be climbed on was moved out of range. No more end table and lamp. Thankfully it’s more light out now and we can go the summer with less lighting. The wooden bin “bookshelf” is distanced from the reclining chairs, as it was way too easy to reach and resulted in three children constantly climbing on it. It’s also easier for the girls to access the bins, which is actually a time saver because they will put boots on and their coats (with some help).

Because the front living room windows are now within acceptable toddler range, the girls appear to understand the concept of outside versus inside. They will tell us when they see something outside, and especially like four legged visitors (moose) that creep right up to the window and when Mom and Dad get home and come in the front door.

Moose visitor prior to the furniture rearrange

Earlier in the week we finally had warm enough temperatures to walk the neighborhood (yay sunlight!). I asked Emerie to get their hoodies out and she proceeded to get one at a time from the bin and bring them to the corresponding sister- the teal one for Reagan and pink for Harper. Then she grabbed the white one for herself (since we don’t have it in purple and she knows that). She called their names as she delivered them. So stinkin’ cute.

After the weekend we put the baby jail back for the nanny. She ended up just blocking off the fireplace and hearth and opening up the rest of the living room all day. Big step! So far everyone is still going strong…the kids AND the nanny!

Now if we can just get them to stop standing on the chairs, licking the windows and screens, and pushing each other off the furniture. Oh and running out the front door, which Harper did the other day. Apparently she wanted to spend the night with my favorite “nanny”.

Fingers crossed if we have a two week quarantine (however that actually plays out), that it will start feeling like spring outside and be warm enough for outdoor kiddo adventures. Please please please!

Feb 28

Pink Purple Teal

A new phase is on its way and it is color related.

The other night, for the first time ever, Emerie color associated all on her own. Because we often dress the girls in their colors, although we do so less often than we used to, it was just a matter of time until they started to picked up on it. While we don’t stress learning their colors too much (although we tried at Christmas and too soon), most days center around pink/purple/teal in regards to their outfits.

In case you can’t remember, Harper is pink, Emerie is purple, Reagan is teal. Each theme color means a set of clothing that matches those colors, or triple matching outfits I’ve found that include all three and are great for causing confusion when friends come over (small perk) or we go out to an event. The older they get, the more we dress them in matching outfits; far more than during infancy, probably due to the fact that Craig and I can easily tell them apart now through sounds, facial expressions, and actions. Their plump, little baby faces were much less distinguishable!

My mind is blank on how we originally decided who received what color when they were in the NICU. What I do remember is how helpful the color coordinating was for people who didn’t see them daily as well as for the overtired parents. Looking back at pictures of the first year, I’m not completely sure who is who other than through labels or colors.

Getting Emerie ready after bath time earlier this week, I had three footie pajamas laying next to the diaper changer. As I put her lotion on, she picked up the pink striped one, looked at me and said “Harpa;” I held up the teal with sheep one and she said “Ray Ray.” Holding up the pink and purple one with flowers, intended for her, the response was again “Harpa” and she pushed it away from her. So she ended up with wearing a whale themed one as she refused the partial pink one on her!

The next night I asked Harper the same questions after her bath. She looked at me as I held up the teal themed one and said “Daddy” (lol). When I held up the pink one she did say “Harpa”, but would not respond for the purple one. I fully support Craig wearing 2T footie pajamas to bed; after all, he is in a house of all girls!

Lastly, Reagan provided no participation in my questionnaire. As I held each outfit up, she just stared at me and tried to escape. The light switch at the other end of the dresser means she can play with the lights and turn the ceiling fan on and off. That was definitely a much higher priority in her playbook.

Everyone still does a bottle at bedtime (a habit we are hoping to break soon). Routine is much easier now than last year. One of us says “bottle time” while the other finishes prepping them; they all run downstairs and lay down on the couch cushion, against the pillows that are propped to limit jumping injuries. They often holler a few “babas!” at us until each is hand delivered. Sometimes they will down a whole bottle in one setting, sometimes it takes a good hour of play and bottles.

I’ve been letting them make random decisions lately, hopefully making my little toddlers feel empowered on some of the tiny stuff, like choosing which of the three bottles they want to drink, or which spoon they want with dinner, or which Bog boots to wear when we run an errand. One night this week I attempted to hand Reagan a purple rimmed bottle and she refused it, insisting she had to have the white capped one (since no bottles are teal). This is her first time avoiding the pink or purple one, and later in the evening it didn’t seem to matter anymore.

This is a brief look into what I believe is just around the corner on our toddler development roadmap. I’ve heard other triplet parents who color associated saying all kinds of wild, new things are on the way as they continue to mature, such as:

their kids will only wear their specific color and no one else’s
their kids become super possessive and don’t like their siblings to wear their colors
toys in those colors become more of a battleground when sharing
their kiddos grow up and hate the color they were given and want nothing to do with it
a combination of each kid acting one of these ways (seems like the hardest one to me)

Luckily I doubt we will stick to their colors forever, simply because they are easily recognizable to us at this point…you know…most of the time…

So…more multiple fun to look forward to.

One more lovely new issue that’s really taken off this week- the anti-clothing movement. The cold outdoor temperatures do not help, with our house feeling warm in comparison; but our main level, with vaulted ceilings, is still a little chilly to run around without clothes on.

Reagan, as the ringleader, now inspires her sisters to remove their shirts and pants on a frequent basis. How are we solving this? Well, everyone is wearing short sleeves in February, because long sleeves get pulled off at some point during the day and involves so much effort and time-outing to fix. We are also back to onesie shirts that are now snapped over the pants like leotards. Thank goodness the girls are skinny and have some time before they outgrow 24 month bodysuits or we’d be in trouble! Bigger sizes don’t make them and I’m not dressing them in swimsuits all day long.

We tried out overalls and they were unimpressed…I will try to tackle this one again this weekend because they would be so adorable in them. Ultimately I can’t blame the soft clothing preference, such as the jeggings, leggings, and stretchy tights they’ve worn most of their life, to the corduroy and jean type material. It’s much less comfortable! We also tried putting big-girl underwear over their pants. Hilarious…yes. Successful…somewhat! Plan to go out in public dressed this way? Not quite… Throw an 80s themed toddler party? Maybe.

The typical two-piece pajamas are on hold for a bit and we are back to one-piece footy pajamas and one-piece sleepers with feet free. Harper and Emerie don’t try to pull theirs off, but Reagan will easily unsnap the snap within two minutes, unzip the rest, and be running around entirely free to tackle the next step in her plan, diaper removal. This is currently solved by safety pinning the two sides of the zipper together, creating a less than thrilled toddler.

So for now, we’ll be over here hall monitoring the clothing situation until they LISTEN and leave them on. And who knows, maybe their clothing colors will be a mute point this summer…you know…IF NO ONE WILL WEAR THEIR CLOTHES.

#tripletlife

Feb 20

Routine Habits

As we approach the beginning of year TWO, I enjoy monitoring some of the cute, new habits the girls are learning and consistently starting to mimic. There are many everyday activities that an adult doesn’t think much about, but a kid will notice as they are repeated over time. This includes getting ready in the morning, mealtimes, or the mundane activities of laundry or cleaning up, which are constantly requiring effort to complete.

We now have a better routine when we leave the house, which happens far more often than it did a year ago and at a much quicker pace (quicker in triplet terms). Prior to the mobile stage, this routine involved constant preparation while the girls were in their swings or on a blanket- time for us to get the diaper bag ready, prepare milk and bottles, ensure all the essentials were ready, put the proper hats, coats, and booties on the girls, make sure to have a plethora of binkies available, that type of thing. All required things since the girls weren’t big enough to help yet. By the time we toted the infant car seats to the car, we were sweating!

Now, this process is 1000x easier and so wonderful after months of solid effort. If we say we are going “buh-bye” and “go get your shoes,” the girls will go get their Bog boots from the shoe bin by the front door and put them on without assistance! This goes much easier if socks are already on and it’s fun to see how often they put the right shoe on the correct foot. Most of the time each kiddo ends up wearing two different colors of bog boots and it becomes an eclectic triplet style between the three of them.

They will remind us about their coats if we don’t get them out quick enough. Of course, when we put them on too early, they usually remove them before we make it to the car. It’s a total timing game. Someone gave us puffy, red coats that have a bow that snaps and are amazing for fixing this issue. They haven’t figured out how to take them off yet even though they can unzip them. Those designers knew what they were doing!

The diaper bag contains sippy cups, now with water or the occasional juice, and is far quicker to prep. We don’t have to worry about forgetting something vital that will make our outing scale to disastrous; which happened a couple times when they were smaller. Once we forgot bottle parts and couldn’t do a feeding; they didn’t approve of that at all and were oh so vocal about it. Other times we’ve forgotten diapers or the whole diaper bag, but not very often.

If you leave the house, Emerie is very happy to slam the front door behind you. Better watch out though or she will slam it ON your backside or your face! You better move quick as she yells her instructions out at you. She takes no prisoners (haha).

Another routine the girls are picking up on is our shoes. If they know we are going somewhere they will deliver our shoes to us and sometimes try to assist us putting them on. And how dare we expect to wear them on the correct feet if they’ve already laid them out the opposite way!? Other things they see us doing and try themselves relate to hair and teeth brushing and dressing or undressing.

Getting dressed is both improving and getting more difficult. All three are wonderful at helping slide their legs and arms in the clothing (most of the time), especially as you say the body parts out loud (since they know most of the main ones). It makes getting dressed much easier than the infant stage, except you usually have to chase them across the room to start the process, about 100% of the time. The increased difficulty comes with keeping the clothing ON their bodies. Heaven forbid they would have to wear that shirt all day, or wear those pants when it’s zero degrees outside. Reagan is the ring leader of this revolution and generally the one to instigate removal, with the other two always following in step once they see her do it. I feel that with one kiddo this wouldn’t be a big deal, you would continually correct them until they learn to stop it. With three, you can correct and re-correct twenty times between the three and as soon as you walk away from one to fix the next, they are already repeating the process. The nanny suggested we safety pin the bedtime sleepers on and that works great for us; she is not amused by it. It is progressing to the point that Reagan will pull off her pants AND her diaper. The other night she did this with a poopy diaper and Craig chased her across the house to minimize that destruction. Toddlers…you just never know what you are in for, one moment to the next!

Another cute habit picked up from Craig and I involves the car keys. One of the most popular stocking stuffers and Christmas present are three car key fobs. Since auto start is a must in our house, and for living in Alaska, the girls will now “start” their cars using the keys, put them into their purses and bags and then turn around and tell you buh-bye.

They also help with the laundry. Our house floor plan boasts a staircase in connecting the main floor with the up and downstairs. We often throw their clothes over the railings, down to the laundry area, and they’ve picked up on this habit. Not only do they throw their dirty clothes down the stairs and into the pile waiting for washing, they are most insistent on putting that same pile into the washer. It definitely involves adult supervision, otherwise someones hand (or head) gets slammed in the door when the “shut!” discussion starts. I am excited for the day they are old enough to do actual laundry…but yes…that is a LONG time from now.

Remember back in the day when the main obsession in my household was the ceiling fan? Well, the nightlight sound machine is the newest trend worth obsessing over (apparently). Since this is part of bedtime routine every night, they’ve watched us flip it on for months. As we get lotioned and dressed after bath time, all the toddler chatter now relates to that darn machine…the “nigh-nigh” machine. In fact, if I don’t hide it before I bring the first one into the room, I can guarantee a future fight-to-the-death over it once everyone is freed or I’m getting number three ready. This usually involves climbing up the chair and end table to get it, by one or all. When we go down for nap or bedtime, everyone is extremely excited to push the on button and see the stars light up on the ceiling. They promptly remind us to turn it on every afternoon and evening.

A couple entertaining things this week. I caught them scooping water out of the toilet during bath time when we left the room for a moment. They like to slam the toilet lid, which is just reachable from the tub, and throw any and all bath toys in when no one is looking. Thank goodness the flushing concept is still unknown. Craig gives them baths or showers more than I do; I will do a quick scrub of the kitchen post dinner and get bottles warming while he scrubs them down and let’s them play. It is incredibly entertaining to listen to the dialog that occurs from downstairs. It involves a lot of yelling and “no, that’s too hot” or “no, stop turning it all the way cold” or “get down!” over and over again. It also involves Craig showering with them, even if he never gets in the actual water…

The girls’ second Valentine’s Day remained pretty laid back. We packed up and went to one of our favorite spots for dinner, Perfect Cup, with everyone all dressed up in matching dad valentine shirts and their fancy boots. Later in the weekend everyone received their first valentines from one of their friends; he even hand delivered each of them at the play date and signed the backs! While they were intrigued at first, the cards eventually became chew toys before being taken away. I can’t wait until next year when we can do miniature V-Day crafts for family and friends.

One last, entertaining story for your enjoyment this week. Craig and I are learning that all things on the kitchen counter are fair game. Emerie figured out the other day that if she pulls the cloth on the counter toward her, she can access things she couldn’t reach before. It’s not new that they will stand on something to reach new things, but getting even smarter about it is new. I was chasing Harper around the living room to dose her with Tylenol (she is not a fan of new teeth); when I turned around to get the next dose, the bottle was gone! Emerie, that sneaky baby, was attempted to take a big gulp of the medicine behind the veil of the curtain. Luckily she didn’t get much, but it proved to be a good lesson for me to 1) close the bottle each time I walk away or 2) make sure it is very out of reach. These girls are getting craftier!

And as of today, my babies will be TWO in one month!! ❤ ❤ ❤

Feb 08

Ice Ice Bab(ies)

This week’s word of the week (WOTW!)? ICE. That’s right…ice ice baby.

Temperatures finally warmed up over 30 degrees and it feels like a heat wave. Compared to the negative numbers we’ve seen for most of January, it really is and it feels so great.

The warmer temps opened the door for the girls to don their snowsuits and go outside and get some fresh air. Much overdue! Once outside, all they wanted to do was scoop snow with their spoons or measuring cups (stolen from the kitchen) and eat it. That’s good hydration right? It’s not yellow snow and untrampled by the pups…so it’s fresh?!

This activity inspires great enthusiasm and lasted about 45 minutes on my solo Friday off. it feels like forever since we’ve been able to go play outside and the stimulation encourages a good nap.

My Friday off turned out to be a pretty great day. The girls are clearly feeling better from their winter colds and ear infections. They ALL ate both breakfast and lunch like little ladies. I was able to give them cereal with spoons and milk and they devoured everything without assistance or destroying my dining room floor (or walls?). That may not sound impressive to you, but it is HUGE progress considering the past few months, through stuffy noses and teething babies.

In fact, yesterday ended up being one of the best solo days I’ve had in over six months. There are only a handful of my Fridays off that I felt were smooth days that didn’t increase my stress about one thing or another, with happy babies that play nicely, ate the food given to them, AND napped. It’s about damn time I had another one, and the whole day went by smoothly.

When playtime consists only indoors, we try to get creative on new, toddler friendly activities. For example, taking a single ice cube from the freezer and putting it in a tiny Tupperware container entertains each girl for a good 15 minutes. They like to stand there and impatiently yell “ice ice ice,” then trade them back-and-forth. The best part is even when it spills it doesn’t make a huge mess! This means “ice” is now quite the popular word around here…and snow once we reintroduced it outside. This excitement also extends to cups of snow brought in from outside. It’s quite the fun time!

Cabin fever is giving the girls opportunities and confidence to test boundaries, to attempt to climb new, unnoticed things around them for months. For example, Emerie and Reagan now climb up on the kitchen set from Papa Cliff. Harper observed a few times and now does it too. After the struggle to pull up their total body weight to something a little bit high for them, they will sit in the sink. I’d course, they can’t seem to figure out how to get back down, since their feet remain a good six inches off the ground. The kitchen set is definitely not intended for climbing and not sturdy enough to prevent tipping. They’ve also figured out, thanks to Emerie, how to climb the high chair with the tray attached. Another thing to keep an eye out on.

Everyone is now in the habit of clothing removal; it varies who starts it each time, but if one baby starts to remove a shirt, everyone jumps on the bandwagon. The last few days everyone wears short sleeved shirts or dresses because they haven’t mastered taking them off! I’ve also tried putting vests over their pajamas to encourage leaving things on, and greatly discourage anyone trying to remove pants. They do like to put pants on, although get frustrated when they can’t quite figure it out. We are also at the point that only diapers is not an option. Only diapers equals no diapers and as you all know, that doesn’t end well in this house.

I believe this might be a glimpse of what this summer will consist of; at least I hope so! Lots of outdoor fun and happy babies.

Oh, and last night all three slept through the entire night. A baby has slept, at least several hours on a rotation of all three girls, in our bed 100% of the nights since about September. Now I’m not silly enough to think it will repeat tonight, but at least we’ve had one good night so far in 2020.

❤

The Douglets

Triplets in Alaska

development