Bye Bye Cribs…Hello Big Girl Beds!

Well we’ve gone and done it now!

As usual, I am the parent that drags the feet on another change in the household, whether that relates to changing up bottle feeds, sleep training, or venturing off schedule (in my defense, I’m getting better). The latest shift in the Douglas household, which we are now a couple weeks into, is transitioning to toddler beds from cribs.

We hastily purchased toddler beds about fifteen months ago, right after the girls turned two, because they were climbing out on Nanny Chris during nap time or when they didn’t want to be left “alone” (alone with two siblings apparently) in their beds. We managed to nip this impending transition for over a year, and quite successfully I might add. The only caveat? It meant that bedtime routine included one parent chilling in the nursery chair until all parties drifted off to sleep. Some days this occurred in moments; other days it meant an hour or more arguing with one, two, or three tiny tots that refused to settle and sleep and trying to keep the unsettled souls from waking already asleep sisters.

While I fully recognize digging ourselves the hole of one parent needing to be very close by during the beginning of sleep times is not the optimal method, it resulted in over a year of really great naps and decent evening routines. I personally enjoy sitting in their room with my iPad many nights; once everyone settles it becomes relaxing and enjoyable, listening to the littles dream and talk in their sleep and getting some quiet time to myself. This method did not keep them in bed overnight, unfortunately, but we had a good six month burst of them complying so we could catch up on sleep (several years worth!). Allergy season in July appears to have ruined this beautiful trend and we’ve continue to slide backwards since then.

Since overnight sleep was already getting back to the normal LACK of sleep for the adults, we figured we might as well make the transition and just go for it. As summer rounds out and the “summer snow” cottonwood isn’t as widespread, everyone’s runny noses, ear infections and intense dry coughing fits eased up, but the battle of overnight sleep continued.

The girls helped Craig assemble the new beds on a sunny afternoon, running around the garage and making blankets with the boxes and protective packaging. After a driving nap to entice them to sleep, I managed to get the disassembled cribs down to the garage and the new beds upstairs and made by the time they returned, usually starting around midnight and off and on until morning.

That first night the girls excitedly checked out their beds and sat on them, commenting on pretty sheets and cuddly stuffed animals. Everyone picked out a book and sat under their blanket, flipping through and noting pictures on the pages. Then, much to my surprise, everyone went straight to sleep. It wasn’t a battle, with a ton of whining, crying, demands for water and to go potty again, they weren’t climbing out of beds and free-for-alling it around the room; they went to sleep!! Shocking, right? While the melatonin may deserve the majority of credit here, I also believe a few more months of maturity brought the benefit. All three slept the entire night through, which felt a-ma-zing, but also abruptly ended about ninety minutes earlier than normal routine the next morning.

I will also note that is the only night everyone slept in their bed all night since then, and it’s gone downhill from there…

Harper handled the transition the best by far; in fact, she immediately laid down in her bed and went to sleep, the first night and most after! I expected keeping her in the bed to be more difficult since she is more like me and doesn’t respond as easily to change, but she really took it well and enjoys choosing a book and reading it to herself. The past few weeks only resulted in a few abrupt midnight interruptions here and there and overall she’s our star bedtime routiner.

Reagan, on the other hand, never wants to sleep and has sung that tune for quite a while now, strongly resisting every night and fighting with every breath. She goes as far as throwing super tantrums and flat out screaming until we swap parents out, which seems to help. It doesn’t matter which adult is there; switching is the only way to first of all, not lose your sanity and emotional awareness and two, actually convince her to close her eyes. There are definitely many frustrating nights. Once asleep in her bed, since we refuse to cave to her demand of sleeping in daddy’s bed or her usual I don’t want to go to sleep, she snoozes about half the night and then hastily demands us to come get her. At least those demands originate from her bedside and not running across the house!

Overall Emerie adjusted to some well behaved bedtimes and some meltdown bedtimes and not much in between. Ever since Craig spent a few nights in Juneau last month for work, she is both feet into Team Daddy, reminding me on the regular that she wants dad at bedtime, cried for daddy after nap at school, and loves only daddy (her words, not mine!). Thanks, kiddo. While I’m not taking it too personally that she’s riding the dad train full time right now, it definitely makes bedtime less smooth when under no circumstance can I solve whatever thing she believes needs resolution prior to closing those sleepy, little eyes. Since this transition, she excelled greatly at not needing her overnight pull up. In fact, the last few days I’ve completely forgotten about putting one on and no accidents occurred. Good job, Em!

So yes, I wouldn’t say we’ve found the toddler bed groove yet, but at least we made it through the first few weeks, already gave up binkies last spring, and don’t even have to blockade (or empty) the bedroom to convince said toddlers to settle and snooze. I believe the girls know they can walk out of the room freely, although they don’t and I’m not pushing that, since the door is still cracked open at night and the gate isn’t shut, just propped closed so the animals don’t disrupt them. Through all the fits and arguing, everyone still eventually settles in their own room and I’m taking that as a win in itself. I’m excited for the day the animals begin to sleep with them without causing problems, assuming primarily the dog on their rug, and when they will get up to use the bathroom solo AND return to their beds.

All this new excitement essentially obliterated our nap time and we are rolling with the punches. Nearly three and a half isn’t too terrible for giving up naps, right? Since the first year of life they were non-existent, it was only fair we had least made it past age three! Weekends most toddler beds are usually spent with an encouraged driving nap if the day proves it’s essential (which sometimes work and sometimes doesn’t), but otherwise we are done with that phase and not pushing an afternoon snooze, which becomes quite the fight and not worth the added stress. One would think this would improve the ease of bedtime and cause more droopy eyelids, but that isn’t the case for the most part. Every once in a while they will request to go to bed if they are tired enough though!

I’m optimistic bedtime might improve and at some point in their lives, they must go to sleep without us so nearby, but not this week! And at some point in their lives…they will sleep through the whole night….right?!

❤

Dec 30

2020 in Review

This is a year for the books. Whether that is good or bad, I will let you decide.

Looking back at photos from this time last holiday season, right before our impending 2020, the girls look SO much tinier. They advanced so much in the past twelve months, from personalities to everyday skills to talking up a storm! By the end of 2019 they were saying single words and pointing when they wanted an action, were pros at walking and running around, still ate in the triplet table and threw food constantly, started trying to use their clippy pillows and learn to buckle things, and were very unhappy to be stuffy with a cold.

This time last year we were dealing with constant ear infections, a month of colds and less than optimal sleeping habits, but also good things like play date outings with friends to pass the long mornings, littles that (for the most part) slept in until eight AM (I miss that!), and quality time with visiting family.

By the end of 2020, coordination and running full force is now easy, they climb into their dinner seats and buckle when asked (which we don’t have to do every night anymore either!), drink out of big girl cups (with lids) and use silverware, turn light switches on and off and shut doors, and go sit on the potty themselves. Our park adventures are much easier and they love to go down the slides, climb on everything and swing. While we see a lot more daily tantrums, they are also learning to ask for help when they can’t do something, tell us when they need to potty, and tell us tidbits about their day from the perspective of a toddler.

The girls etch-a-sketches from last Christmas are now replaced with coloring boards, where they ask you to help draw shapes and words. The tiny doll strollers that brought hours of enjoyment over the past year are replaced with fancier ones that boast more functions they continue to discover. The Little People houses are still used every few days; if you listen you can hear them talk to one another about the person on the potty or sitting in the chair or whatever little story they’ve conceived. Arts and crafts time is expanding to include more than just crayon eating and markers are beloved, even though they seem to always venture onto arms and legs. Requests for specific drawings is constant for whatever mood hits each day. The girls specifically ask to Facetime with Papa cliff or Lon or Grandma Sue and Anne, often demand I send a new drawing to cousin Tyler or Uncle Will, request to have park dates with friends and Auntie Janelle, and are always excited to see Oaki and Kaden, or Paris, Sage or Luca, and other adults such as “Kimmie,” or Megan and Alyssa, as much as possible. Anytime we see Nanny and Pricey everyone gets so excited. It’s a blessing we are able to maintain a small group to socialize with throughout all the craziness of the year.

Here’s a rundown on the biggest highlights for our family during 2020 (in my opinion!):

Words!

Word explosion is putting it mildly. Since the first big phrases in September 2019, we now have sentence structure, adjectives and multiple words for the same meaning. Everyone sings songs, all their ABCs and can count to 10. Harper leads the charge on sentences and the other two are on her tail.

Daycare

This is a biggie. Shifting from at-home-all-day nanny care to a toddler classroom at daycare down the street was a scary mommy step for me. Luckily, the girls handled it so much better than I expected, are thriving every day, and love going to socialize and see their friends on a daily basis.

Potty Time

This is one of the major wins of the year! Credit is largely due to daycare initializing it and laying the foundation, since we weren’t quite ready to trigger it, and now Reagan is pretty much completely potty trained, Harper is very close to no accidents, and Emerie is getting there.

Activities

Over the past year the girls learned to color, build block towers, pretend play in their kitchen and with their dollies, go to the park without simply running off at every chance, walking to the car, swinging and going down the slides without help, swimming, driving powered cars, and putting on their own shoes and socks!

The shift to daycare was the largest routine interruption of the year, even more so than the initial pandemic shutdown last spring. While I readily admit I was NOT ready for it, overall it was a good change that allowed them out of the house when we are almost exclusively home and to socialize with a new group their age. We have made some new friends from the new experience and that must be treasured after a year like 2020! For the most part we’ve spent the past nine months without attending social engagements or mom/dad groups (that we really relied on the girls’ first year!), play dates or public kid spots like the jump park, library and recreational centers. It makes the year sound like a drag, but we made it work by testing out all the local elementary school playgrounds, finding new sledding hills, adventuring out into the wilderness and exploring creeks and trails.

Emerie had one eye surgery in June, the same week Craig was able to sneak off for two nights to have a little kid-free, much overdue four wheeling fun and we had a fun sleep over weekend with Aunt Janelle. We anticipate another surgery is right around the corner and will have an update for everyone on that in January. We survived all but the beginning and end month of the year without colds, which is impressive! We also managed to get the house and new shed painted, repaint the loft into more acceptable office colors, build a new garden bed filled with raspberries, and catch up on some minor, miscellaneous house to-dos. Hopefully a few new projects will expand in 2021; such as a kitchen update, more garden beds or a deck add-on, and maybe some new lighting. Can you tell we miss doing projects!!

It sounds silly, but my biggest change in 2020 was probably when I stopped pumping! After two years and GALLONS of milk later, it was a breath of fresh air to not have to continually worry about keeping supply up, when I could sneak in a glass of wine around my pumping schedule, and getting up earlier and staying up later to do it. I know I was very fortunate how well that whole process worked for us and the girls, but am very glad to be done. Craig’s major milestone of the year was probably getting a spot back at DPS, after several years spent in other departments. While we are both working from home a lot, it is wonderful to have job security, interesting work and coworkers we like!

Other highlights throughout the year that consist in the mind of a mother…the girls finally have HAIR!! Don’t laugh, it is a milestone after they went the first year with almost none! Looking back even a few months, it’s grown so quickly and braids are right around the corner. Another highlight is finding more time to cook meals we enjoy and bake goodies; this was on hold for 2018 and much of 2019. In fact, we (the adults anyway) skipped a lot of meals that involved any prep time when the girls were little, and it’s nice to have a little more time to commit to that. The girls are slowly starting to “help” with baking, although three sets of kid hands and an adult gets a bit cramped in the kitchen and usually ends in a fight. We will get there. The four wheeler now brings squeals of excitement rather than fear and the trashman, postman, plow and dump trucks and moose visitors are welcomed sights out the front window.

2020 has been a tough year for a variety of reasons, but then again, so was 2018 and 2019 (for us). There are plenty of parts to look back on and smile; it hasn’t all been a drag! I foresee 2021 giving us more FUN adventures, hopefully with more trips around the state to explore new activities with the girls, such as more camping, hiking, fishing, and everything in-between. It’s still going to be challenging with three in tow, but looks to be more doable than the past two years now that the girls are more grown up and occasionally listen to directions.

So happy new year to all of you who keep up to date on how we are doing! We look forward to being able to visit with many of you in-person next year…fingers crossed! And to everyone else near and far, feel free to Facetime us and let the girls see those faces and hear those voices. They love to socialize and if that is the best we can do for now…well then let’s do it!

Happy new year! ❤

Oct 06

Sh$t and Giggles

Want to know what potty training triplets is like?

It’s like helping your daughter in from the backyard because she announced she was pooping, taking her to the bathroom, and emptying the lovely contents of her big girl underwear into the toilet… And as it falls into the water, it splashes you in the face.

That, my friends, may or may not have happened to me this this evening. I guess you could say potty training… it is just shits and giggles…

This definitely ranks in my top five grossest experiences since having kids, right up there with my hair smelling like vomited breastmilk (even after showering) and having to buy a whole new outfit at the hospital because Reagan pooped through her diaper during our skin to skin time.

#momlife

I’ll end on a cute photo to get the other image out of your mind!

Sep 18

Triplet-tudes these Days

The past several weeks have been busy, full of outdoor adventures, “school” activities, grumpy evenings and toddler snuggles. While nothing incredibly interesting has occurred as we push into my favorite time of year (fall!), I have noted some silly things the girls do on a daily basis. Enjoy.

Harper

Harper is on a roll the past week, having two incident reports in two days. The first one involved her pointer finger and a bee sting, to which she proudly held up the band-aid to show us; the second a trip and fall face plant, resulting in a scratched up cheek, nose and forehead. The daycare teacher says she took the bee sting like a pro and patiently let them “fix” it; the face plant required a little more coddling and easing back into playtime, as expected. Luckily neither seem to be bothering her too much after a day or two.

Harper is getting really great at singing the ABCs and will randomly break out into song. She also joins in with her sisters for twinkle twinkle and will sing the full Jesus Loves Me song. She is also on a momma kick; everything is momma-do or ends with momma (it’s cute!). Things like sit down or help become sit down, momma or help, momma. She is certainly on the momma train this month.

That also includes evening movie time; the only time of day that we successfully get them to sit somewhat still and quietly. Pan! is still the favorite movie, followed by Moana and Llama Llama, but the most common request, ahem demand, is for Tangled. We’ve been watching it on repeat for a month now- while that does get old, I enjoy sitting on the couch and snuggling, especially since Harper will intently watch it and sit there for 30+ minutes, most of the time.

Lastly, the other morning I watched Harper put her coat on entirely by herself and was quite impressed. She laid it on the floor with the hood at the top, put both arms in the sleeves, stood up and pulled it over her head to her back. I imagine this must be something from daycare, but still. Genius right here! She is also the jewelry wearer and almost always has a bracelet (or five) on. This was Emerie for a time but has moved over to Harper enjoying the fancy style.

Harper likes the Little People Frozen sets and prefers the Kristoph and Ana (who she calls Elsa) figures. She is completely obsessed with every character in Tangled, especially the frying pan (which is considered a character in this house lol). She also often sleeps with the stuffed Hay Hay (chicken) from Moana.

Current favorite color: Emi color (purple)

Current favorite color to wear: Harper color (pink); unless it’s socks- she always picks blue socks- every single morning.

Emerie

The daycare teachers tell me Emerie is thriving in school. We were concerned about the separation of classrooms at first- instead of being detrimental or upsetting, her independence is thriving. She is very attached to her teacher, Miss Maddie, and I’m sure that is one of the reasons for excelling. I’m told she is the class helper when it comes to cleaning up, which is an accurate depiction at home as well. The monkey bars are one of her favorite activities out on the playground. Breakfast and recess time have all the toddlers together, which certainly helps the mood when she misses her sisters; it’s great to see her doing so well.

Emerie will be the kiddo that remembers everyone’s name (NOT one of my skills). It took us a little while to figure out classmates’ names at school, not knowing exactly what she was saying at first. We now know that she has friends in class named Kyle, Luca (Reagan’s buddy apparently), Elise, Reya, and Kia (who she tells us she sees everyday). We haven’t figured out the rest yet, although there is an Emi in the older classroom that likes to share with us their names match. That usually follows by a who is who question as we walk by to pickup the girls for the day haha.

One of Emerie’s latest pretend activities involves putting stuffed animals into time out. This is usually completely unprompted and not right after someone is in trouble. She will sit them in the corner or on the stairs and tell them no! timeout! The usual inquiry of what they did answers with climb on table. So good, we are getting somewhere! Of the three, Emerie requires timeout the least, so it’s funny that she’s the one that pretend plays it. When Reagan or Harper are in it, she often tries to bring them a toy or join them for it, even if they are in time out from being mean to her. She’s a gentle soul!

Lastly, Emerie loves a couple of books, especially one that sings the nursery rhymes. It’s sooo cute, she repeats dumpty dumpty when the song plays and gets a big smile on her face. She also likes to sing Jesus Loves Me when her sisters are humming it.

She loves to put her dollies to nap and give them a blanket and a bottle and she enjoys playing with the bathroom Little People set. The Little People Olaf figurine is one of her favorites to play with, as well as any of the babies from the bathroom set- she is constantly putting blankets, or towels as she says, on them and putting them to nap. She still brings Harper and Reagan stuffed animals and ensures they are content to snuggle them at night or first thing in the morning. If they forget one upstairs, she always grabs and delivers it for them. Of the three, she is also the only one that will hand over a favored toy to her sister if we ask her to; the other two takes a bit more convincing but we are getting better.

Current favorite color: yellow

Current favorite color to wear: Emi color (purple). She will not let me put her in sometime that is all pink (like pajamas).

Reagan

Right now Reagan is the rock star potty trainee. Daycare put her in underwear on day four- over the last month she’s had fewer and fewer accidents and pretty much spends the whole day using the big girl potty without diapers on. We aren’t quite as far along at home, generally because anytime we take Reagan to go, the other two majorly melt down if they don’t get to fully participate. We are still putting her in diapers when we go out for adventures, but yes, I know at some point we will have to take on the underwear 100% of the time. I optimistically think Reagan will be completely potty trained in the next month or so (other than nighttime and maybe nap), she can hold it and is doing so well. Hopefully the other two will be close behind and we can kick the diapers before the holidays!

Reagan loves to count and uses a different voice when she does it. I haven’t been able to capture it on video because she won’t do it when we ask; usually she just randomly starts counting in the car or while she’s playing with a toy. When all three participate, they always skip the number nine (we are working on that).

The Little People play sets and individual people are quite the hit right now. In fact, I am collecting new, small sets that seem to keep them entertained and less full meltdown when we get home for the evening. Reagan is completely obsessed with Little People potty set (sink/toilet/bathtub); so much that I actually ordered a second set so the toilet battles would become less frequent at the table. She is very attached to her Little People Elsa figure and carries it around the house all evening. I’ve found it clutched in her hand in the morning and in her coat pockets. So that it doesn’t get lost for school, she has to put Elsa to nap (much to her dismay), meaning in the doll crib in the living room with a blanket. The moment she gets home, she immediately gets her and holds her for the night. Thank goodness we haven’t lost it yet.

Reagan likes to be silly during book time and will laugh and ask you to read the monkey book. By read, I mean look at the first page of the book, where the sad monkey dropped its ice cream. She will then take the book from you and lick the ice cream on the page. Clearly this girl loves sweets like her father!

In the evening, Reagan always wants to cuddle with Craig and watch Tangled or Moana while laying under a blanket and on a pillow. Not any pillow, but the one with the white pillow case on it; if she can’t have that one then the world is just not okay. In the morning she is all about me, wanting me to get her dressed and do her hair, wanting me to walk her out to the car while Craig takes Harper and then Emerie. It’s fun to see how her minds works on the specific things she believes should be done by Mom while other things are Dad functions. For the most part we placate her wishes, letting her prefer both of us depending on the occasion!

Current favorite color: blue (sometimes green)

Current favorite color to wear: green, or Emerie’s purple tennis shoes

Triplet-tudes

A few other interesting things in our household this month.

If you are in the mood to watch Tangled, Moana, or every once in a while Frozen, well then you should come over and hang out. The house preference is movies with songs, but we haven’t convinced them yet that the old timey Disney movies like Aladdin and Jungle Book are amazing, so a few goodies remain on repeat.

Tangled, being the number one hit movie in our household, causes a lot of toddler discussion about 1) pan! (frying pan + movie weapon), 2) Max! (we are starting to get into horses, you are welcome, Tami!), 3) princesses (a very popular word in the house right now), and 4) excited shrieks to tell us that when Rapunzel is singing in the Ugly Ducking Saloon scene, she clearly should be in time-out for standing on the table.

We have entered the bows portion of toddler hood (finally!), both having enough hair for them to stay on AND cooperative, little girls. All three now allow “pretties” to go in their hair and Craig is becoming a pro at it! I bought a few more bow clip sets with lots of colors, allowing the girls to decide what color bows (and then socks) they want to wear for the day. Can you guess what colors they want in their hair? You would think it would be the one they wear the most (pink purple teal) right? So far if Emerie’s hair is last, Harper and Reagan always want at least one purple one. Emerie is into black and pink ones the past few days, no purple. Harper usually opts for a pink with her purple one; Reagan is the most consistent to want her own color, whether that is blue or green. It’s fun to see what colors they latch onto as they get older- especially since we are trying to stay consistent for the daycare teachers, until they can easily tell who is who. It probably didn’t help everyone wore each other’s coats to school the other day because no one wanted their own. Also, if they don’t match on outfits (say we have two matching coats and the third was left at school), that becomes a show stopper and everyone has to have something in their own colors.

We experienced our first fire alarm beep since the girls were born (I think), which doesn’t entirely count since it was two separate beeps and that’s all. I was always concerned when they were tiny that the alarm would go off (for whatever cooking reason) and we’d have a super meltdown by all three, or it would be in the middle of the night and wake everyone up quite unhappily. Luckily that never happened. Well, those two beeps made quite the impression on the little ones at this age; after five days, they are still reminding me about loud beep and making sure I remember it. After the first day of constant reminders, we told them the beeps went night night and are gone. So now they remind us the loud beep is night night / loud beep went buh-bye. Harper especially tells me loud beep no like. It’s interesting to see that their minds still remember it, even those it was only about five whole seconds of their lives!

Loud beep no like
Miss Harper Anne

I will end this blog with a chuckle…the children were driving me INSANE after spending the whole day doing activities, stripping off their clothes and not wanting to nap well- after dinner I just gave up in stopping them from the naked, toddler rage and just went with it. You can only fight so long when you are outnumbered. Their answer? They told me to shake it off momma, using hand gestures. At least they are putting their musical choices to good use. Sigh.

❤

Aug 19

First Day Jitters

It’s a little terrifying to give up control as a parent. What do I mean by control? So many things are controlled for our every day routine, something that has been incredibly detailed and stringent for the past two years, with pretty much every second planned out strategically ahead of time (and a lot of hoping for the best!). Control, as in what habits (or words/actions) your children will pick up because they’re only with you or people you’ve hand-picked to be a part of your lives. This may also be genetically from their DNA- yes, that part might be payback for Craig and I. Control, meaning knowledge of each detail of their daily lives, knowing they are completely safe from the craziness of the outside world, safely tucked away in your house, your safe place, the place you call home.

The past two years were controlled, spending the majority of time in this safe place.

It also means relinquishing control by placing your children in the hands of other people and having new experiences that you won’t be there to witness. This is a hard concept to deal with. Because we’ve been so blessed to have in home care, we have been involved in so much of the first times. In reality, it’s really not that different from me and Craig being at work and the girls being home with the nanny, but soon there will be more kids around we don’t yet know and less involvement in daily activities and experiences. Miss Chris was always great at sending pictures and videos and making us feel connected to the girls, even when we at the office. And the last four months with the COVID quarantine and working full time from home, while I was not directly with the girls every second of the day, I could still hear them downstairs or outside the window, laughing in the backyard and playing in the water, or chasing each other across the living room and giggling over a song. I still heard them screaming about the food they disliked, or when they settled down for a nap and chatted in their cribs, knowing from the other room that they are happy and snoozing away from a busy day.

The question is, is this life adjustment harder on the parents or on the kids?! We all know the truth of that answer; it’s harder on the parents and I daresay hardest on the moms. Whether your kid is three months old, two and a half years (like us), or headed off to the first day of kindergarten, separation anxiety is a thing, for both parents and kiddos! It’s hard to let go, change routine and take the next step. Am I ready for them to go to daycare? Not remotely. Did I want to put this off a lot longer? Yes. Do I think they can handle it and be okay? Yes. Do I think I can handle it and be okay? Yesss. I know the transition is tough, whether that is a quiet house for my workday or a few no-nap weeks for them to come home super grumpy and clingy. I am sure it will be quite the transition for them, exciting and scary, but also quite the transition for us as well as we step into this new phase of our lives. A phase with a little less control.

We’ve done a lot of daycare prep the past few weeks. After touring the preschool and talking with several of the staff and toddler teachers, we shifted our daily routine a little bit. No major changes, just small incremental things that encouraged how they would be at school and wouldn’t cause further stress while we juggled everything. This included unbuckling the girls for breakfast and lunch, something we’ve done at all meals their whole lives, using the constrained time to finish food prep, cleanup, throw another load of laundry in or start the dishwasher, and run around and quickly do fifty random chores before they ransacked everything again. The toddler classrooms have kid sized tables and chairs and expect the kiddos to eat respectfully without buckling in. This is going okay at home so far, often the taking away of a full plate of food convinces them to sit back down. It definitely shortens meal times and doesn’t allow for us to sit and eat for long, but the change is going better than I expected it to right away.

We are also leaving the dining chairs on the floor now, instead of putting them back on top of the table. This is soooo much nicer on the parents, not having to constantly remember to put them back up, but still certainly results in climbing toddlers, standing on the table, smacking the television and playing with the remote and DVD player. I won’t call this a win yet; at some point each day someone is on the table (or multiple someones more often), but yesterday I only had to put them (all) in timeout once for climbing up and that is MAJOR progress. Hopefully we aren’t too far from this being a non-issue.

Another bigger change at daycare involves splitting them up. They don’t put three new toddlers together, regardless of sibling status, so we opted for Harper and Reagan to stay together and Emerie to be on her own. No, it’s not because the two team up against their smaller sister more often; it is because Emerie is great at independent play and likes to take the time to figure things out. We are hoping she will thrive from this. They will still be together for breakfast and recess each day, but not for some activities and nap time. I’m hoping once everyone settles in they can go back together, unless Emerie absolutely loves being on her own.

We joked on our walkthrough that daycare staff has until their third birthday to figure out who is who, because we will then dress them all completely alike and make them work for it. They thought that was pretty funny. Kidding not kidding…

We had to do physicals (and shots!) before their first day, and since we didn’t get an official two year height/weight update because COVID hit, here are your updated numbers for the munchkins!

29 Month Update

Harper

Height: 38.75” (99%) / Weight: 29 lb., 8 oz. (71%)

Clothing size: 2T onesies/dresses, 3T everything else

Shoe Size: 8

Favorite Word: Pan! (meaning Tangled movie)

Favorite Food: dad’s Belgium waffle pancakes, bacon and blueberries

Favorite Song: Lola the Cow or Baby Shark

Favorite toy: she likes her pink bear or the singing bear

She is still ready to take the world on 100% of the time, is often the instigator for trouble making and encourages her sisters to join her, and is practically talking a mile a minute. She enjoys movies the most of the three and will sit and snuggle for 30+ minutes and watch one before bed time.

Emerie

Height: 37.75” (96%) / Weight: 27 lb., 4 oz. (47%)

Clothing size: 2T onesies/dresses, 3T everything else but it’s a little big

Shoe Size: 7 / 8

Favorite Word: lullo (yellow)

Favorite Food: mango or blueberries

Favorite Song: Tay Tay’s Shake It Off and Twinkle Twinkle

Favorite toy: any type of container, her Piggy, and her toddler “cell phone”

Emerie is the curious thinker of the group and loves to color and play with puzzles. She loves holding your hand and insists upon it quite often, especially when jumping off things or going down most slides. She likes the Pan movie and Moana and randomly singing her ABCs.

Reagan

Height: 38.25” (98%) / Weight: 30 lb., 1 oz. (76%)

Clothing size: 2T onesies/dresses, 3T everything else

Shoes Size: 8

Favorite Word: no!

Favorite Food: broccoli or potato chips

Favorite Song: Baby Shark

Favorite toy: any binkie she can get her hands on, her white bear or toddler “cell phone”

Reagan is still the most timid of the three and a little more emotional. She’s shy in new places but then opens up and wants to share toys with friends. She enjoys holding your hand, sitting on your lap under a blanket and watching her sisters get into trouble. She also likes dancing to all music.

Right now no one is a fan of wearing pants, or their diapers if given the opportunity to remove them, and everyone is obsessed with the potty. The current favorite color is “yellowblue”. No, that is not green; it is yellow-blue. As true Alaskan babies, they are now okay playing in hose water or the sprinkle out back, even with the multiple cold! comments.

First Day

The first day went even better than expected! Craig and I were still reeling from several nights of actual sleep, which felt weird, with Harper sleeping back in her own bed and not having anxiety episodes that result in me sleeping next to her in the guest room.

We got up a few minutes early and ate a breakfast snack on the couch, I did everyone’s hair really quick and dressed up in cute, first day outfits that matched the beautiful summer day.

Craig and I took them over together at about 8 AM, expecting some tears as we handed them off. Due to COVID-19 rules, we are not allowed into the daycare and have to leave them at the front door, after temperature checks. While I am not a fan of this at all, especially since this is my first time handing them off to new people, I think down the line they will be fine. Harper didn’t even shed a tear, albeit she wasn’t excited, but stuck out her jaw and went with it. Emerie and Reagan? Bloody murder, screaming rage. Yes, as expected. We just walked to the car as they screamed inside.

The coordinator texted us later that they only cried for a few moments and then were okay. I’m sure it helped to have breakfast time together and a whole new set of toys and activities to entertain.

Believe it or not, everyone did some form of a nap, which greatly surprised me! I was expecting very overstimulated and sleepy toddlers by the end of the day, but apparently they were worn out enough to sleep a little. What a good sign! Emerie, who napped in a different room than her sisters, did great according to her teacher, waking up a little upset but quickly calming down with one-on-one time and a book.

We picked them up out on the playground, everyone happy and running around, no one exactly ready to get in the car and go home. The evening was a little grumpy but overall not as bad as expected.

Thank you everyone for the prayers for a calm week!

❤

The Douglets

Triplets in Alaska

potty training

Bye Bye Cribs…Hello Big Girl Beds!

2020 in Review

Words!

Daycare

Potty Time

Activities

Sh$t and Giggles

Triplet-tudes these Days

Harper

Emerie

Reagan

Triplet-tudes

First Day Jitters

29 Month Update

Harper

Emerie

Reagan

First Day