So how’s it going? Here in the Land of Cheltenham we’re still working through bedtime & sleep routines. For sure, the kids are falling asleep earlier. It’s 8:15ish at the latest rather than 9:15pm. I’m not sure if they’re getting more sleep in total, though, but part of that is also because I’m never quite sure when they wake up unless they’re asleep when I go in at 7:15am. Sammy woke me up 2 of the last 4 nights which is it’s on persistent issue. He gets so upset when he wakes up and is really hard to settle. It’s not ideal, but sleeping on the floor outside his room seems to help and at least I get some sleep, too. (I know. It sounds crazy. One of my colleagues was like, “you really need to stop doing that.” But he needs sleep and I need sleep and this has been the fastest way to make that happen for both of us. And I don’t see her offering to spend the night at our house so…)

Anyway, the week started off with Savta and Nana still visiting. They stayed home with Sammy and Amaya while Megan took Steven to PT. She kindly stopped by my office to drop something off (deodorant, ok?) and this quick visit with Steven was a highlight of my day!

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Out and about with Savta and Nana!

She’s so much cooler than the rest of us.

You can see how Sammy feels about shorter naps. I do love this photo of him, though.

Normally Nana and Savta stay until Tuesday but my mom needed to get back so off they went, with a waving fan gallery, on Monday night. Steven told me that a black taxi came to take them to the airport.

Jason was on overnight duty on Monday and, when I came in the boys’ room on Tuesday, Steven was covered in blood! He told me that daddy came in his room at night so I was sure Jason knew about the bloody nose but I couldn’t figure out why his stuff in his crib was such a mess. Turns out Steven tried to put his arm over the blood so Jason wouldn’t see it. “It’s my blood, not Daddy’s blood.”

We took this pictures so he could see what his face looked like.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had the pleasure of Baby Taco with us. She’s standing! I really don’t know where time is going. It’s so much fun to see SSA with her.

Jason was away Tuesday through Sunday evening so, Wednesday morning, Sammy and I sent him this good morning photo. <3

I see a little Sammy/Taco love affair brewing.

I was surprised to find that the kids have figured out how Lincoln Logs work. It’s so neat to see toys click that they previously struggled with. I mean, they could build with them, but now they really understand how the pieces interlock to form structures.

It was a Sammy Sleepover day so Grandma Sunshine came to collect him. When he woke up he asked me if Grandma was already there to take him to her house and, all morning, he wanted it to be lunch time so they could leave together.

See you soon, Sammy!

Dinner at a restaurant has become a fun Grandma Sunshine sleepover staple.

Amaya’s fever from last week never came back but she had a brutal cough that kept her home from camp on Tuesday. On Wednesday night she woke up crying that her ear hurt. I gave her some meds and took her to my bed until 3am when she seemed to have enough relief to sleep in her own bed. Ear aches are brutal. I’m so, so glad SSA are at an age where they can actually communicate what hurts.

It was off to the doctor first thing Monday morning. I was going to ask Megan to take Amaya but she really wanted me to go with her so Megan and Steven just met us there to take Amaya home so I could go straight to work. Amaya wanted to bring Baby Jenna to the doctor, too, because she thought something was wrong with Baby Jenna’s eye. The NP was kind enough to check out Amaya’s ear and Baby Jenna’s eye. The eye is fine but Amaya has an ear infection. Only her second and I’d never have taken her in if she hadn’t said her ear hurt so hooray for teamwork! Also, I learned that Amaya is 31.2lbs and 40.25″. She’s 87th percentile for height. Tall girl!

Steven playing with the lego table while I was in with Amaya, lol.

The student who’s been working with Steven at PT was saying goodbye on Thursday so Steven picked out these “flowers” for her while they picked up Amaya’s meds. He really liked Tatiana and it was super cute to hear him say her name.

Amaya seemed to perk up pretty quickly. She got down to the hard work of taking care of her baby. First washing blueberries for her and then feeding her lunch. Doctor’s orders. (The high chair came upstairs for Baby Taco but Steven, Sammy and Amaya absolutely love playing with it.)

Meanwhile, Sammy was having a blast at the playground with Grandma!

Friday was gorgeous. All three kids went to camp. I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to convince Amaya but she was happy to go and just sit out of swim. Though she’s since told me that she can go in the pool if she doesn’t get her head wet. Smart kid.

Chasing bubbles.

I had three helpers bringing the trash in. It’s good practice for a few years from now when they can do it allllllllllll the time.

Amaya recently earned a prize and picked a blue elephant. She waited so patiently for him to come. His name is Mac.

Ashley’s been awesome while Jason was away. She stayed a little later all week just to help and it was so appreciated. Here the kids are on Friday night watching her drive away. All those little legs!

That night, before Ashley left, Sammy was running around the house naked as a jaybird. Steven was in their bedroom closet which, at the time, was the “bumblebee store” and he was the proprietor. Sammy tried to go in the closet and Steven told him, “no nakey boys allowed” lol.

Saturday started so slowly. Everyone was up at the usual time but it was 9am before we were downstairs eating breakfast. Sammy’s kitty needed to eat, too.

It was a beautiful day so we headed to a new playground in downtown Northville. We had the whole place to ourselves! It was really cool for me to see Steven and Amaya on the slides. All 3 kids have always been so tentative on slides but they seem to have cracked the code! Sammy isn’t there yet but he’ll get there on his own time. (Steven was afraid to walk on the bridge, though, which Sammy loved.)

Dead bird!! There was a tunnel slide that went down to a lower level. I didn’t notice the bird until one of the kids mentioned they were going to feed it, lol. (Don’t worry. No one touched the dead bird.)

Walking to lunch! It wasn’t a long walk but it still feels like a milestone to be able to do stuff like this.

We tried for an outside table but it was a little breezy and Steven got upset. We were quite the parade behind our waitress walking to our 2nd table.

Here’s some of today’s conversation.

Me: When you turn four will we have to get you big kids beds?
Sammy: Yes. Because we will be even bigger after our [birthday] cupcakes.

Me: The name of this song is “don’t get around much anymore”.
Amaya:  But we have to walk around.

Steven: If it has one while, it’s a unicycle bicycle.

Sammy: Can I see Poppy’s stamp? When we turn 4, you will need to get a new stamp for us.

I was hoping we’d have some late sleepers today but Sammy was up at 6:30am crying for me. I should have just waited to go in but I thought I could convince him that it wasn’t wake up time yet. “But mommy, it’s light outside.” These kids are getting harder and harder to trick! I was able to convince them to give me a little more time with the promise that they could watch TV in bed with me once it was wake up time. Promise delivered! And just what I needed this morning.

Eventually Amaya got in on the fun, too. I loved this lazy morning cuddling with the kids. Sometimes a break from routine is just what we all need.

Look at how Sammy is lying on the bed. He looks huge! And so old. I know I’ve said this before but Sammy is really comfortable with his body. He takes up space so naturally and with such ease.

We wrapped up the morning with another playground visit. It was hot out! And I had to practically pry a fleece sweatshirt off Amaya. Such a stubborn kid.

I got another look into how they’re all evolving with play. Steven was very hesitant to climb on the play structure but was the one willing to have me push him (higher! higher!) on the big kid swings. Amaya was even more adventurous with her climbing today. They’re also playing together, which is so cute to watch. “Come spin me Amaya!” “Who wants to get on my train? I will stop it so you can get on board!”

We had a lazy afternoon before Jason came home to us.

Magnatile structures are getting more and more complex. We actually used them all up at one point.

A science experiment! We put water and oil in this milk jug to see how it separates. They loved shaking it up and watching the oil float to the top. (We did not cover density in detail. Maybe at 4 yo. :p )

We wrapped up the week with mommy with a post-dinner walk. Steven got hot so he sat down in the shade under a tree. If you look really closely, you can see him there. I found a fire hydrant that Sammy and Amaya could walk to without me and split the difference.

And now Jason is home to us! It was a great week and a loooooong week. Not sure there will be a blog next Sunday because I have three triplet mom friends coming to visit!

The bedtime sagas continued at the beginning of the week. Sammy woke up crying in the middle of the night. Crying, crying, crying for daddy. I was so tired and it was so easy to just take him in bed with me. Even in the moment I knew it probably wasn’t the best choice but I couldn’t bear the thought of staying awake and working him through it.

Here he is in the morning, fast asleep hogging the bed.

I was right about it not being a great idea. Here’s Jason, the next night, eating his dinner outside the boys’ cracked door because they kept insisting they needed to sleep with us.

I’ve started calling Monday “Miss You Monday” because I always really miss the kids at work on Monday mornings. To cheer me up, I got this photo of the kids and a video, too! (Amaya really wanted to wear The Brothers’ cargo shorts on Monday.)

A little light reading before Steven’s PT appointment. As you do.

About this photo Ashley said, “Sammy didn’t think he could make the first step and was very worried. Once he did it he had the cutest look on his face but I couldn’t take the photo fast enough.” I love their looks of accomplishment.

Hug fest!

Amaya has gotten very creative with her pajamas lately. She’s either wearing clothes over them or begging to wear her leggings and tank tops instead. This was the smile on her face when Megan told her she could wear this outfit since her blue cammo pjs were dirty.

We went through a big K’Nex phase this week. Amaya had two in her room and ran back to Steven and Sammy’s room to get a third so she could make this “A”. Such pride!

Amaya had been asking to see Baby Taco so, on Wednesday morning, Megan took SSA to a park near her mom’s house and then to see Baby Taco for some play time and lunch.

Taco kept trying to kiss Sammy!

They loved being in the baby jail. This was actually theirs once upon a time.

That night I had this conversation with Steven:

Steven: I was in the baby gate at May May’s Mommy’s Friend’s house. If they didn’t open the gate I would still be at May May’s Mommy’s Friend’s houses.
Me: If you were still in the gate I’d come and get you.
Steven: Then we’d have a mommy at May May’s Mommy’s Friend’s house instead of at our house!
[It was May May’s Mommy’s house. I don’t know where the friend came into the picture.]

Picnic lunch!

Steven also told me, “Baby Taco kept taking my toys. We don’t take toys!” lol From what I’ve seen, in general Steven has the hardest time sharing his toys with other kids so I’m not surprised to hear that.

The afternoon was nice enough for a walk with Ashley. We can’t quite take all 3 out on bikes with 1 adult but it’s so nice that walks with all three are totally doable. It feels like such a long time since we needed the wagon for walks in the neighborhood.

Steven continues to work on alternates to “w” sitting and he’s starting to get the hang of “criss cross applesauce”!

Favorite part of accompanying Steven to PT? The big chairs!

Thursday night I had my colleagues & their families over for a pizza party. This included our Chief Academic Officer, Susan, who was a magnet for Steven and Amaya. They loved her! They kept pretending to be animals who’d get her. And Steven wanted Susan to pretend her fingers were a spider. “Do it again!” “Don’t do that!” “Do it again!” He was laughing and laughing and laughing.

Friday, no one went to camp. Sammy woke up with a lingering cough and Amaya woke up with a fever. I asked Steven what he wanted to do and, not surprisingly, he said he wanted to say home with his brother and sister. Amaya was able to rally enough to go to the airport to pick up Nana and Savta for their weekend visit!

Amaya still had a high fever on Saturday and generally felt awful. Poor thing.

While she was recuperating at home with mommy & daddy (and watching lots of Team Umizoomi), Steven and Sammy hit up the mall with Nana and Savta.

“Cheese!”

Mommy & Daddy in our matching shirts! ♥

To help the kids with their awful sleep schedule (staying up until at least 9pm), we’re changing their schedule and cutting back nap time from 2 hrs to 1 hr. We’re also getting them in cribs at 7pm which is a touch earlier than it used to be. We’d like SSA to have at least 11 hrs of sleep per day, including naps, and we’re hoping this does the trick. The key will be seeing what happens with that hour nap. Amaya falls asleep right away most days so I think she’ll sleep the hour but the boys are going to be a crap shoot. I’m guessing some days they’ll get in 45 solid minutes and other days they won’t nap at all.

With the change, we’re also moving snack & tv time from 6pm to 2pm. Here are the boys eating watermelon & zoned out on some show.

Saturday afternoon fun on the deck, while Amaya napped off her fever. Fun, fun, fun with Savta! First there was hopscotch. Then Savta set up a service station for their little cars.

Later in the afternoon Amaya felt well enough to join us outside. She still had a high fever but her 3 hour nap seemed to help a bit.

Sammy was having a blast squirting water at everyone from a little rubber fish that’s part of their water table. I think his favorite part was soaking his grandmother and great grandmother. 🙂

Don’t worry, though! Savta was happy to return the favor!

Shortly after dinner, Steven took a turn and ended up with a low grade fever of his own. Poor kid just wilted.

With Amaya and Steven recovering, Sammy was up on his own this morning! When we got downstairs, Sammy looked almost overcome by the realization he had all of the space and toys to himself. It was really cute.

Amaya was still a little off this morning so she sat and colored while Steven and Sammy helped Nana prep dinner.

Savta, the boys and I also got outside for a walk. For the 2nd time, a neighbor (different one!) let us check out their RV.

We wrapped up the day painting, first rocks and then pictures.

Cleaning his rock.

Cleaning up!

And that’s our week! Everyone was asleep early, early, early today. Amaya napped for an hour, Sammy for about 5 minutes and Steven didn’t nap at all today. I’m not sure what time Amaya fell asleep but the boys were both asleep by 7:45pm which never, ever happens. Fingers crossed we’re on to something!

Have a great week!

It was back to normal after our holiday week and trip to Cleveland. Steven is still in 2x/week PT. One big change I notice is that, even though he still favors W sitting, he’s much more comfortable and willing to sit on his heels when we remind him.

I’m impressed with how well Sammy and Amaya do when they accompany Steven. They’re so well behaved and patient. Interestingly, no one has really questioned why only Steven has “appointments” with Meredith and Tatiana. They seen to just take it at face value.

Steven had such a good time in Cleveland last weekend and is making great connections. He brought the globe and asked me to show him where my friend Hannah lives. 🙂

Bedtime cuddle time with Mommy. Yes, Amaya is wearing a bathing suit over her pajamas.

Tuesday afternoon, Amaya got two braids after her bath and used them to make pizza. I’m curious to learn more about that, too!

Steven has gotten into a routine of climbing into their stuffed animal basket. It is purely a bedtime stall tactic but it’s still cute.

I’ll file this under “weird, but cute.”

Wednesday was dentist appointment number 3 for SSA and Megan took them for a quick trip to the mall. When I called to let Megan know I was on my way, Sammy told me, “Mommy. You have to go the mall and then go to the dentist.” It’s true! You do turn into the mall to go to the dentist!

The appointment was ok. Next time I think I need to go back with one at a time. Sammy got nervous off the bat and I think that set the stage for everyone else. Of course Sammy calmed down very quickly and it was Steven and Amaya who cried and cried and cried. Poor kiddos. Hopefully they are less distressed at their next appointment.

Kids teeth are fine. Sammy is in great shape with lots of space for his big teeth. Amaya is a wait and see patient. Steven, as we know, has a ton of crowding. He also has 2 two year molars that haven’t come in yet.

Wednesday night, Amaya had a sleepover with Grandma Sunshine!

While Amaya’s away, the boys will play. 😉

Amaya was excited about her trip to the restaurant and, if she’s reporting correctly, ice cream. That girl looooooooves ice cream.

We have Steven back in his basket.

Showing Daddy where he is!

We’ve been having a lot of trouble with bedtime with the boys since the 4th of July. There was night after night of thunderstorms which resulted in Steven waking up crying and us sleeping on their floor. Jason and I took turns on overnight duty. It sucked. But I do understand the fear of thunder when you’re three years old. Anyway, Thursday morning I woke up and went to Amaya’s room but she wasn’t in her crib. I assumed she was in bed with Jason but when I went into the boys’ room I found Jason on their floor. I had a momentary panic, thinking Amaya was missing, until I remembered that she was at Grandma Sunshine’s house.

Sure enough, moments later we got a good morning picture form our girl.

The boys sent one right back.

When I get ready for work in the morning, if it’s not a school day the kids like to watch me get ready. I don’t mind, entirely, but it slows me down and sometimes I try to say no. “Try” is the key word because it rarely works. There’s always some excuse like the one Steven used here – “I’m still really sleepy so I need to sleep outside your bathroom door.” Lame excuse but I bite every time.

The play kitchen, food and grocery cart are still a huge hit. It’s been well over 18 months and SSA still love to prepare food for everyone. In fact, tonight the toy they each have “watching them sleep” is a colander full of their food.

Fruit Salad ala Steven

Ashley and the kids built this fort. Amazing how forts will be a staple of childhood until the end of time.

Saturday morning Jason was sick in bed but it was gorgeous out so I took the kid to the Kensington Park Farm Center. This age is such a mix of highs and lows – for them and me! Overall, they were awesome. I couldn’t really have asked for more from three 3 year olds. They were patient and listened well with only a few near meltdowns. It’s so, so nice to be able to go places like this without the wagon.

The “farmers” brought horses in to prep for hay rides and Steven was enthralled. Sammy and Amaya spent a little time watching but Steven didn’t move from his spot until they took the horses away. The rest of us actually stepped back a bit to wait at a picnic table and he was 100% fine on his own just watching and watching and watching. In general, Steven was most interested in the animals. He was disappointed that none of the goats came close enough to pet.

See the little guy in the center of the fence? That’s our Steven.

Everyone else has moved on but he’s still busy watching.

There’s a little amphitheater area that the kids loved playing on. Amaya told me, “You need to go away mommy. This is for kids. Grown ups could get hurt.” At one point, Steven was nervous about climbing down the hill behind them and he asked Sammy to come hold his hand. (Sammy didn’t. 🙁 )

Lunch at the farm! Amaya is smiling so nicely because she’s angling for ice cream, lol.

Steven deconstructed his burger and ate his patty in his hand like that. Toddlers are so weird.

Very focused on ketchup.

Smiles for ice cream! Steven had 2 bites of his strawberry scoop. Sammy had 2 bites of his vanilla. Amaya ate all of her chocolate and 1 bite of everyone else’s.

In my effort to counter the ice cream with vegetables, I offered Amaya green beans as a post-nap snack. This is the face of one very disappointed little girl. It wasn’t quite the crunchy food she was hoping for.

Daddy got the kids a “kaprise” gift of little golf clubs and they spent a good part of the morning learning & practicing their swings. We had plans to go to a JCC pool party today but it was canceled due to weather so we made the most of the change with our own pool and some bike riding. It was a perfect family Sunday morning.

Steven insisted he was cold and wore his sweat shirt the entire time he was outside.

Amaya and Sammy made up a game together. I love watching SSA play with each other!

At lunch, the kids were playing a game where Sammy was the daddy, Amaya was the mommy and Steven was their baby. ♥

Wrapping it up for this week, when it was time to get Steven, Sammy & Amaya up from their naps I was exhausted. So tired. I feel asleep in their room, first with Amaya and then with Steven. Best way to nap.

Have a great week!

Happy Monday! Last night this mama was exhausted so the blog had to wait a night.

Even more so than usual, last Monday feels like ages and ages ago. It was the start of a partial vacation week for me and I made the most of it with the kids. Monday started with a trip to a splash pad and playground with Megan.

Amaya was ready!

We had the place to ourselves when we first arrived!

Very quickly, Steven decided he’d rather play on the train than at the splash pad. It’s always helpful to have 2 adults so we can split up.

Pretty soon, Amaya and Sammy joined us, too. Amaya did an exceptional job waiting her turn to drive the train when there was another child there.

The actual playground is new and it’s definitely one to visit again but not yet somewhere I think one adult can take the kids alone. There are just too many blind spots.

After a while, everyone was ready to go back to the splash pad. The other boy in the picture had a big bucket and some little sand toys. Amaya picked one up (a starfish) and wanted to use it. I asked the mom and she was fine with it. Then Steven decided he wanted one so we went to the little boy and asked to borrow one. I told him it was okay to say no but he happily offered up a toy. Then Sammy found one. This little kid (maybe 4) was so generous with his stuff, which I made a point to tell his mom. The toys were great because SSA are a little tentative at splash pads but having water toys engaged them in the water play. I’ll have to remember that for next time.

We had a picnic lunch that Amaya refused to eat because she “doesn’t like ham & cheese sandwiches.”

↓↓↓↓↓ Amaya crying because she doesn’t like ham & cheese sandwiches.

She eventually chilled out, lol.

Lazy afternoon after nap! Sammy is so comfortable in his body. He fills up space so naturally.

Amaya ways saying, “Hi Stevie! Hi Bobsies!” lol

Jason and I had a date night to see Wonder Woman and Steffie held down the fort. And, yes, Amaya has her bathing suit on over her pajamas. It’s a recurrent theme these days.

On the 4th, Team Cline went to a party at the JCC. So much fun! The kids have been nervous about swimming at camp and I think this time at the pool together really helped get them comfortable again. Jason took some great video that I’ll have to share next week.

We played in the big pool (one at a time) and they spent a long while in the kiddie pool. We also had tickets for lunch and ice cream. Oh boy, Amaya loves ice cream!

Jason got some wonderful pictures of me in the pool with Amaya and Sammy.

Monday night there were fireworks that woke Steven up in the middle of the night. Here he is bright and chipper the next morning. It always seems like it’s going to be so wonderful to have one of the kids in bed with me. It’s sweet, but not necessarily wonderful, lol.

Tuesday night, everyone was scared there would be more fireworks and we knew there would so we had Amaya sleep in “the brothers” room in a travel crib and I’d start the night sleeping on their floor.

As we got read for bed, Amaya held Steven’s hand so he wouldn’t be sad.

Mommy and Bobsies. ♥

Wednesday was a zoo day!!

This year / last year.

We made our first visit to the reptile house.

Brave girl!

Sammy and Steven really wanted to feed a giraffe. The tickets are $5 for two leaves which was perfect because there was only 1 ticket left for 11am and Amaya wasn’t interested. They got a little nervous when the moment came and had me feed the giraffes but they were right there and so proud afterward.

Amaya and May May watching the brothers.

A friend during lunch. “Go away duck!!”

In the afternoon we realized Amaya’s pink hair dye arrived so she had another visit to Mommy’s Hair Salon. I love the pink and think the placement is better than the blue, too.

Wednesday night, Steven remembered how I slept on their floor the night before and did the same for the stuffed gorilla we bought for Jason at the zoo. It was the sweetest thing.

Pretending to be asleep, holding the gorilla’s hand.

“Sometimes Mommy was sleeping with the blanket over her head.”

“Mommy looked this way sometimes but she still held my hand.”

Dear lord, my heart.

It turned out to be a good thing I was in their room because Steven got sick in the middle of the night. And then again. And again. He spent the rest of the night in my bed which isn’t a great way to sleep but is so, so sweet.

Steven spent the day recuperating and was back to his usual self by early afternoon.

Are you still with me? It’s Thursday evening and I was pretty sure we were in the clear but, go figure, we had crazy loud thunderstorms in the middle of the night and Steven woke up crying. I ended up back on the floor in the boys’ room which, once again, worked in our favor because Steven threw up at 5am. I have no idea where it came from but there I was, ready to catch it in a play bowl from their kitchen. And here he is, back in my bed after insisting that he needs to sleep in my bed when he’s sick. Fair enough.

Steven stayed home from camp on Friday but that early morning episode seemed to end it and he enjoyed crackers, sick water and a TON of TV while Amaya and Sammy were at camp.

At bath time, Steven was even energetic enough to be a monster who eats green markers.

Constable Amaya – “The hat has a hole for my braid!”

Funny-man Whamsicle.

Fire Chief Bobes

The kids and Jason played their first game of hide and seek on Saturday morning. According to Jason, there was a lot of hiding in plain sight until Sammy started to get the gist, lol!

It was an exciting weekend for Mommy & SSA when we set off to visit my friend Hannah and her triplets at her mom & dad’s house in Cleveland. Yay!!

“Who’s ready!?!”
“I am!!”

We had a blast with Hannah, Bonnie, Betsy and Abby! When we left on Sunday afternoon Steven asked, “Can we go to see your friend’s house again next week?” Not quite, but hopefully next year for a 3rd annual visit!

Before we headed home, we had the chance to meet up with my friend Ginny for lunch. Amaya asked, “Is that your friend from your workplace?” Good memory, Amaya!

Steven is balancing on Sammy’s legs.

Amaya walked inside and sat down at a random table. She thought it was hysterical.

And the ride home! It woudn’t be a three hour drive with three 3 year olds if there weren’t at least a couple of potty breaks.

The weekend ended with a quick visit from the Karsch family. Steven held court the whole time. 🙂

And that’s it for this week! This mom needs to get to bed. You never know when someone will wake you up in the middle of the night these days.

Nana was still visiting on Monday, which always seems weird the next Sunday. So much happens in a week that the prior Monday feels like a lifetime ago. Amaya was excited to help Nana prepare dinner.

She was cooking with leeks so, after naps, the kids painted with leek roots. Fun idea!!

Tuesday was the first day of camp, which also happened to be crazy hair day. Camp is at the JCC with many of the same teachers from the school year but it’s run through different people with a different director than their school. The good news is the kids have seen their counselors around school all year long so they didn’t have to acclimate to a totally new situation. They keep their stuff in a classroom but camp is entirely outside, except for days when they swim in the inside pool.

Amaya ran right to the sandbox on they playground but Sammy was anxious about Amaya leaving. Megan asked Steven if he could help Sammy and Steven put his arm on Sammy saying, “I will help keep Sammy happy.” Brothers!!

Here was the first day update from Megan:

“Drop off went okay. Sammy was sad, but he is able to be calmed down and distracted. Ms. Jodi is really helping Sammy and even told him he can go inside and see Penny and Lena too. Amaya and Steven just jumped right in. Steven said he would help keep Sammy happy.

Wednesday was a calm day at home. The boys built this together. I am seeing more and more cooperative play between all three kids. It’s amazing to see the play together and work together. Sure, they still fight a lot. But they’re also totally a team. I hope we can help them build on that. There’s nothing like being close to your siblings.

Here’s another example of SSA playing together.

Steven continues to work hard at PT. If you ask the kids about it, they’ll say it’s Steven’s appointment. It’s interesting to me that they’ve never asked why Steven goes to the appointment and they don’t – though most of they time they’re physically there. They seem to already accept that they’re completely different people. (Though the other day Sammy did ask why Steven wears orthotics in his sneakers. It was in the context of Steven wearing his shoes in the house when no one else does.)

Back in January, Megan got this Melissa & Doug calendar for Steven, Sammy and Amaya and we finally started using it. It has the weekly calendar written and we change the details every morning. It’s an opportunity to talk about the day of the week, the weather, the agenda for the day and the kids’ moods. It’s almost a certainty that someone will pick a mood other than “happy” just to have it up on the board. 🙂

I came home from my work trip on Thursday afternoon with presents in hand, fresh from Amazon. Thank you Prime! My goal has been to stock up on small toys from a dollar store but Steven was instant that I bring home a green airplane for him. I need to work on those expectations but, for now, I acquiesced and got him a green airplane. Amaya asked for a green container with a lid. (Sammy got one from Jason over the weekend and she was still jealous, even though she got one in red.) Sammy didn’t ask for anything but I tried think of something comparable to Steven’s airplane and landed on this helicopter.

A random cute photo of Ashley and Sammy from Thursday evening. <3

Randomly, Amaya got sick in the car on the way to camp on Friday and three times on the way home. It passed as quickly as it came so I’m still not sure what it was, but Amaya managed to milk it quite effectively! While “the brothers” were at camp, she watched about 3 hrs of tv and ate apple sauce on the couch. I came home from work to stay with her while Megan went to pick up the boys and she was very clear that she was still sick.

Sammy and Steven got a solo bath on Friday, just in case Amaya had anything she could pass on to them. All that space!

Same Bobo smile!

Friday afternoon I came home to two boys who were very excited to wear their Daddy’s shoes. <3 <3

Our Saturday morning tradition is Playroom Pancakes which is nothing more than frozen pancakes they’re allowed to eat in the playroom or living room instead of at the table. We were low, so the early part of the morning was spent negotiating breakfast options. (And also counting with Daddy.)

In the end, I took Steven and Amaya out to eat and Jason stayed home with Sammy, who didn’t want to join us. They were great. I mean there was some typical three yo stuff but overall they did so well in the restaurant plus, anytime I’m out with fewer than all 3, the experience just feels lighter. It was a lovely little breakfast!

Practicing with knives.

Bubbalicious and Daddy back at home watching golf.

I had the whim to spice up Amaya’s hair for summer and both she and Jason were game so, Saturday afternoon, we went for it! She was so cute through the process!

Patiently waiting with the bag on her head.

Ready to rinse.

BLUE!!

Meanwhile, Dr. Steven was ready for patients.

Checking Daddy’s numbers. (Jason had to run upstairs in the middle of this and Steven waited sooooooo patiently for him to come back. He stayed right by the scale the entire time Jason was gone and it could have been a good 10 minutes. Sweet boy.)

Can’t leave Sammy out! He has been so curious lately it’s amazing. He asked why our pee doesn’t come out of us as soon as we drink water. I was talking about my body aching as I grow older and he said, “But you are done growing”. We talked about the difference between growing older and growing bigger and he asked why time passes. He asked how poop gets in his tushy. I love his curiosity and the connections he’s making.

Did I mention this one?
Sammy: Why do you have a 3 on your tattoo? (My family tattoo.)
Me: How many kid do I have?
Sammy: Three
Me: That’s why.
Sammy: Why do you have to remember how many kids you have?

Three year olds are amazing.

This morning started early, as it always does. It’s interesting, though. I haaaaaaate getting out of bed but I’m always so happy once I’m with the kids. They’re awesome in the morning.

Megan suggested we start playing games and I polled the triplet moms for some suggestions. This Roll & Play game is awesome. You roll the big die and pick a card of a matching color. Then you do whatever the card says. “Meow like a cat.” “Blink three times.” “Find something orange.” There are no winners or losers (though Sammy said he wanted to win) and for the 10 minutes it lasted, everyone had fun. The biggest challenge was not wanting to pick a card that matched the color that came up (Amaya) and not wanting to do what was on the card (Steven) but we have to start somewhere!

Last morning we all go out for some time with the pool and bike rides.

I’ve been trying to keep Amaya in bathing suits with rash guards and shorts but she found this one and it was a lost cause. I’m setting the stage that we wear shorts and rash guards for camp and the beach. Aside from my desire to keep her skin covered in the sun, these suits are so impractical. They’re not as easy to play in and they’re a P-A-I-N for potty training. She loves it so much, though, that she wore it over her clothes all day and is sleeping in it right now.

Steven loved balancing in the pool, lol.

Daddy and Sammy

Steven heard fireworks last night when he was in bed and asked about the “thunder” when he woke up this morning. This lead to some YouTube viewings of fireworks. Soon enough they’ll be old enough that we’ll let them stay up past dark to watch but not quite yet.

The day ended with High Ho Cherry Oh and a taco dinner! I’m off work until Thursday and very much looking forward to the extra time with Steven, Sammy and Amaya (plus Jason on Tuesday)!

Happy 4th!!