Megan was in CA on Monday and Tuesday so I stayed home with Steven, Sammy and Amaya on Monday and Jason stayed home on Tuesday. We also had Grandma Sunshine with us from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning.

Our early intervention team brought a craft with them. (With glitter, omg!) We made cupcakes with thumbprints for the cherry on top!

The finished product!

Monday was also a chance to test out the awesome bean bags from Aunt Sara, Uncle David and cousins Chase & Charlie. We still have some growing to do before we can use them every day but these are going to be fun for a loooooooong time!

Steven’s a climby guy

Sammy’s a lounging guy

Amaya’s a nervous girl

Steven had physical therapy on Friday. He was measured for his ankle braces and should have them in a week or two. They’ll have dinosaurs on them! His physical therapist mostly worked on activities to build core strength while sitting, standing and kneeling.

And see this toy they’re working with? It has these colored pegs that fit in the little holes. Sammy was able to place the pegs in the holes and stack them on top of each other. Jeannette, our PT, said she usually doesn’t see that until age TWO! Clever Sammy!

This weekend, Amaya had adventures! She went to the grocery store with daddy and to Best Buy with me.

Amaya knows how to live. 🙂

In our continuing quest to master utensils, today we tried cottage cheese. Small curd. It was Megan’s idea and it was a good one. We’ve got a long way to go but we’re getting better and better at it!

This obviously isn’t a food blog but I’m pretty excited about this meal so I took photos. It’s baked mac & cheese muffins with ham! They look so tasty.

We also moved our kitchen set up around this weekend. Well, Jason did. 🙂 Our hope is that this will keep our walls from further distress. Flinging cups of milk and flying food takes its toll! It has a nice flow, too. Brings Steven, Sammy and Amaya into the mix a bit more than with them tucked in a corner and they can look outside while they eat.

Steven had crazy hair this week. This is his Flock of Seagulls look.

A mohawk with Cookie

A mohawk at mealtime

And a mohawk at bedtime!

Happy Steven

Steven working on milk at bedtime instead of a bottle

Steven looooooves sports balls!

Someone found the light switch!

Cutie in a cubby!

Sammy’s such a BIG kid!

He’s also a joker

But so is Amaya!

Amaya has pretty much mastered standing independently! And this week she actually took 3 steps! It was a one time thing, so far, but as she stands more and more I expect her to take off at any moment.

Amaya loves to say “uh, oh!”

We have daytime playtime!

And we have bedtime playtime!

This video is from last Sunday when the boys and I were playing catch.

Finally, everyone still loves cookie!

This week (Friday!) we’re excited to welcome my mom, Gene, Savta, Aunt Sara, Uncle David, Chase, Charlie, Uncle Austin, Aunt Dena and Lavinia to the Land of Cheltenham. We’ll be partying all weekend, into next week, so look for our next blog post after the festivities!

When we left off last week, we had moved Steven, Sammy and Amaya to the table. Well, it was short lived! We’ll try again soon but, for now, they need a bit more structure at meal time.

See what I mean?

I’m continuing the attempts at spoon feeding. It’s fun but soooooooo messy.

Today we took the triple wagon out for the first time. I think it’s a hit!

Before some more group photos from the week, here are everyone’s individual adventures.

Megan is in CA for a few days & I came home early on Friday so she could catch her flight. Steven woke from his nap first so we had some time together in my bed. Goodness, he was so happy to just lie there and look up at the ceiling fixture! I love these pictures of him!

Yesterday, Steven and I had a Mommy/Steven trip to the mall. (How do I pick who to take? Randomly. I assign a letter to everyone and Jason picks a letter for me. Otherwise I’d spend the whole afternoon trying to make the decision and feeling badly about whoever I left home.)

I didn’t have any specific objective so we ended up at the Build-A-Bear store where Steven created his new friend, Cookie! One paw roars. The the other paw says, “Steven, Sammy and Amaya… Mommy loves you!” He has to share Cookie with his brother and sister.

Two more of Steven from the week.

The Sam Man. Happy as a clam in a chair.

Sammy had the chance to go with Daddy on Daddy’s weekly grocery trip. So much to see!

This morning, I went into the nursery just after 7am and Sammy was faaaaaaast asleep. I got Steven and Amaya out of their cribs, turned on some lights and still… faaaaaaast asleep. Lucky boy!

We’re in the long process of weaning off night bottles. Steven, Sammy and Amaya still take almost full 8oz bottles at night so it’s not a fast process. On Thursday, we started offering a cup of milk before bottles to give them a chance to drink from the cup instead.

Last night, Sammy took a bit from his sippy cup and then held it while he drank his bottle.

Tonight, he drank 7.5oz of milk from his cup! BYE, BYE BOTTLES, SAMMY!!

I should mention, too, that today Amaya drank 24oz of milk! She still likes her bedtime bottle but she’s got the daytime milk routine down pat.

Finally, Sammy learned a new trick! He can climb on the furniture. Holy cow, are we in trouble!! Go, Sammy go!!

Amaya! Amaya likes Cookie a LOT. In fact, I think her brothers will have to fight hard for their time with Cookie.

Amaya loves to sit. Not on the floor, but on a chair or stool or ledge like a big girl.

So Jason had a great idea… we moved the shelf up so she can sit in her book nook more comfortably. Amaya approves!

Still sassy.

She can even be fancy in PJs.

This is what we live with, haha.

Sleeping babies

Holding hands while Steven tries to settle himself at bedtime.

Playtime with daddy!

Early Sunday morning fun.

And, finally, the first walk outside of the season! On Monday, my mom and Megan bundled up Sammy, Steven and Amaya and took them for a walk in the neighborhood. The cute coats are from cousins Spencer and Jamie and the gorgeous, hand knit hats are from Louise Mandelman.

I wasn’t there but, from their faces, you can tell that they are ready for spring. And so am I!!

*Today’s enthusiastic blog title brought to you courtesy of Daddy.
“I always get stuck on blog titles.”
“Call it The Super Duper Blog.”
Done.

Have a great week!

The weather is getting warmer so it was time to break out the triple play wagon, a Hanukkah present from Nana and Papa. I’m so excited to use the wagon for walks and other quick outings.

Similar to the pop beads, Amaya’s thumbs found the holes for the wagon canopy.

There was also time to play with the big, big box.

We finally gated our stairs, so now our landing can serve as another play space for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Sammy is like a little puppy. He was so excited. Go! Go! Go!

We discovered that Sammy can climb stairs! Who knew!?!? He loooooooves it.

Steven wasn’t quite as enthusiastic.

Sammy is so happy!

And Amaya’s goal is to terrify me. She’s totally safe but that doesn’t stop me from gasping.

Brushing teeth is a least favorite activity for me so we’re working on teaching Steven, Sammy and Amaya to brush their teeth on their own. Practice, practice, practice!

We’re practicing with spoons! Since they weren’t spoon fed purees, this is new for everyone. Once again… practice, practice, practice!

Aaaaaaand, we’re trying to see if Steven, Sammy and Amaya are ready to sit at the table and eat. Our high chairs adapt to toddler chairs with a secure harness so we’re giving it a shot. They sure are cute sitting there!

Here’s what the seat looks like. I hope they fit in it for a while. They’re a great height for the table.

Occasionally, I like to take photos of sleeping babies. When I visit at night, I start with Sammy, move on to Amaya and then Steven.

Sammy and Pickle

Amaya and Kacey

Steven

And Mortimer, who Steven evicts every night and every nap before he falls asleep

Steven!

Mr. Steven is getting his mommy’s curls.

The spikes are all his own, though.

Waving at his image while waiting for a FaceTime connection.

Hanging out in bed with me while I work.

Steven is so curious. He’s into everything and he wants to explore everything. Even a simple glass. He was so happy to just get to check it out.

And, for a brief, brief moment, standing!! He was so excited about the Mountain Dew bottle that he didn’t realize he wasn’t supported. 🙂

Sammy!

Amaya!

Where’s Amaya?

Peekaboo!!

Perched on a step stool. We couldn’t get her down!

Reading together

Hanging out with Nana

Making up her own table rules

The sight that greets me every morning.

As always, corners get crowded.

Everyone loves looking out the window. Even in the dark.

Playing together

Bedtime bottles

Visiting with Nana this weekend!

Nana makes us laugh!

Playtime with mommy & daddy

And mommy snuggles!!

I’ll leave you with more videos.

Today, Team Cline ventured out for our first family lunch out. We have all eaten out together, but we’ve never all dined together. So much fun and easy. EASY!! I packed up the car during morning nap & called ahead so they had a table set with 3 high chairs. We just took the double stroller and Jason carried Amaya. Easy peasy!!

Waiting for our food!

French toast and eggs!

Steven made friends.

Amaya made mincemeat of her placemat.

Sammy had quality time with daddy.

A woman who works at the restaurant remembered us from when we used to go there last spring & summer. She told us that she was hoping it would be our family when she heard they were setting up a table with 3 high chairs. How neat is that!?! What’s fun is that last summer I tried to imagine what it would be like to take Steven, Sammy and Amaya to Deadwood once they were old enough to sit at the table with us. Fun, fun, fun!

Due to random circumstances around an allegedly stuck drawer, everyone got to wear Amaya’s shirts on Monday. I think Steven and Sammy look great in pink! The exercise really highlighted how early clothes are gendered.

Steven isn’t sad about his shirt, I promise. He actually feels quite confident in trucks and flowers. Megan had to tell him “no” and it didn’t go over well. 🙂

Fortunately it just took a little redirection to get back on track.

We opened up the nursery bathroom to Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Previously, they only went inside for bath time and there was no free play. At 13 months, they’re stable standers and it seems like it’s time. Only supervised, for sure, but they love it in there! Sammy is getting good at flushing the toilet. And he quacks when he goes in because he associates the bathroom with his rubber duckies.

Since these photos were taken we’ve removed the humidifiers and the rest of the extraneous stuff to make the space just a touch safer.

These are just cute photos of everyone at snack time. I can’t get enough of their smiles.

Steven!

He really likes this drum.

Steven has curls

Sammy!

Amaya!

Pop beads!

ET Phone Home

Amaya is taking a very important call.

Story time!

Planning their great escape!

Fun with plastic bottles

<3 <3 <3

This week, have a peek into our activity garden. It was Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s first birthday present from Megan (and Mike!) and, despite the fact that they have an entire room to play in, they somehow all end up in this one corner crowded around and inside.

Is that funny or what?

I have a lot of individual photos this week. First up, Steven. Oh, this boy can smile. How can one person be this sweet?

He’s still doing great with his honey bear straw cup.

Steven still isn’t crawling on his hands and knees with regularity but he’s getting better and better. Also at planking! He said that if Savta can do it, so can he!

Steven’s first PT appoitment was on Friday. I was in Cleveland on a business trip but I was able to join his appointment via FaceTime. It felt great to be able to participate, even from a distance.

As soon as Steven heard my voice he came right over to the iPad!

Steven still doesn’t get into a sitting position by himself. He can sit and get out of sitting but not into sitting. The physical therapist isn’t really sure why that is because she thinks he should be able to. We’ll work on that.

Our PT also noticed that Steven rolls onto his right ankle, somewhat significantly. She thinks he’s going to need shoes with some kind of orthotics so we’ll talk about that in more detail at his next appointment.

But, overall, he’s doing great. These are all minor, correctable issues. I’m so grateful for early intervention services so that we can address them so early.

Now, the Sam Man!

I really love this picture of Sammy.

Legitimate bed head. He woke up from his nap about ninety seconds before I took this photo.

Someone’s a daredevil!

And a cuddle bug.

He never has his hands free when he crawls around.

Sammy thinks carrying 2 donuts is for babies. Big kids carry THREE.

Amaya!

Two things here. 1. She’s talking on the phone. 2. She loves wearing pop beads on her thumb. Both are adorable.

Amaya with her pop bead and Sammy with his 3 donuts.

Amaya has started playing peekaboo! The catch is that she’s still figuring out that you hide by covering your face. Often, she just puts her hands on her head.

No independent standers yet but Amaya’s close! She just needs a wall behind her for a bit of support.

Today, Amaya told me she wanted to play some hoops. And that she wanted to do it in a dress with a mohawk. I was happy to oblige!

Yesterday, Amaya and I took a mommy/Amaya time out and had some fun in front of our bedroom mirror. It was so cute. She was so fascinated by all of the reflections. At one point I was handing her something and she kept trying to grab it in the mirror.

Back to everyone…

A video of us wapping up dinner. Not glamorous. 🙂

I took a picture of what our playroom looks like when it’s cleaned up, and after Steven, Sammy and Amaya have been at it.

And here are some photos we took before I headed out of town on Tuesday.

Have a good week!