Happy New Year’s Eve!!

It’s been a quiet week in the Land of Cheltenham with Steven, Sammy and Amaya on school break for two weeks. That’s a long time out of routine for little kids, especially when it’s cold, cold, COLD.

On Monday, Christmas Day, the kids really wanted to go out in the snow. It was 20 degrees and sunny so I bucked up and went outside with them. Amaya’s snow boots were too small, enough so that she couldn’t wear them, so Jason improvised with layers of socks, plastic bags, tape and her sneakers. She was happy as a clam out there!

Bobes and a whole lot of snow.

In the afternoon I pulled out some plain white t-shirts that were left over from the boys’ dance shirts and grabbed the puffy paint we used for Jason’s Father’s Day shirt back in June. It was so interesting to see how differently they all approached their shirts. Sammy was everywhere. I think the entire shirt would have been puffy paint if I’d let him. Amaya was somewhat in the middle and, maybe, the least interested in the project. Steven made a point to use each color only once which mean that he only decorated one side of his shirt.

With school out this week, Megan is working mornings with various sitters (Rosie, Anna and Ashley) coming in the afternoon. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Taco joined her!

Everyone ventured out in the cold to get Sammy new sneakers. He wanted high tops!

On Wednesday, Steven got on the pull-up bandwagon. Woo hoo!! One step closer! He started off the week doing even better than over the weekend. We pretty much gave up on the 30 minute timer and he started going whenever he needed to with semi-regular prompts. Yay!!

Since it was a quiet week at work, the whole gang came to visit me for lunch on Wednesay.

Steven: I’m a workplace man.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya decided this was the day they’d rule the roost and explore our entire second floor.

AND! On Wednesday night, Steven got comfortable in underwear. I’m so proud of this guy. He’s killing it.

On Thursday, Steven was ready to spend the day in underwear. I can’t explain how huge this was. He didn’t like any time spent out of a diaper. He was totally insecure. The fact that he was now asking to wear underwear is amazing.

He even left his underwear sitting at the bottom of the stairs to put back on after nap. So damn sweet.

On Friday, Anna spent the afternoon with SSA. They had so much fun playing! Amaya and Sammy were on a rocket ship and came across two bad guys in space – Steven and Anna!

“Go away, mommy. We’re on a rocket ship.”

Saturday, Ashley came over and gave the kids their Hanukkah present – a trip to Build-a-Bear! It was so thoughtful! And Steven, Sammy and Amaya were over the moon to see her.

Ready for a big girl bag. 🙂

Amaya wore this bathing suit over her clothing. Because of course she did. Apparently she rocks it because no one batted an eye.

Build-a-Bear! Sammy and Amaya found the bears they wanted right away. Steven looked at every single option before deciding. He’s his daddy’s son.

It’s really cute that the kids get to step on the pump to stuff their little friends.

Making a wish on their friends’ new hearts.

Giving his bear a heart!

A stop by the bath station was a must.

Happy, happy kids! Thank you, Ashley!

This trip was a huge deal because Steven went in underwear!!! I know I’m like a broken record but I really am so proud. All we need to do now is get him comfortable with #2 and we’ll be set! I’m so excited for him to show up at school on the 8th in underwear.

Loving his Captain America Olaf (who, right now, is also wearing an Olaf band-aid).

Sammy has a renewed interest in the doll house. I can’t get enough out of watching the kids imaginary play. They’re so creative. I need to read more about the differences between child and adult brains and why we lose this as we age.

Day number 2 in the bathing suit. She’s so much fun.

We celebrated New Year’s with the kids at 6pm, along with France, Germany, Italy and many other countries across the globe. We had noise makers, champagne for the adults and sparkling grape juice for the kids. Even now, Amaya is in bed saying, “Happy New Year!” So much fun! And great for me because I plan to be in bed by 10pm tonight.

One last video for this New Year’s Eve. Here’s Yoda-Bobes. 🙂

Happy New Year everyone!

On Sunday night Steven said he wanted to wear this tie dye tank top to school on Monday. We worked hard to pick a shirt that matched well enough to meet his fashion sensibilities. I love kids’ sense of style at this age, and the freedom of it.

We wrapped up Hanukkah on Monday and Tuesday. It’s a long 8 nights of gifts with three 3 year olds in the house! After they got these awesome gifts they started asking about “presents we don’t have to share.” I think they almost like the “getting” and “opening” more than the “having”.

They were in luck, though. All throughout 2017 my triplet mom Secret Sister has been spoiling us and Hanukkah was no different. We opened two different boxes full of treats for the kids, many of which were catered specifically to their interests. It was pretty amazing.

Tuesday night was the last night of Hanukkah. As much as the SSA love the gifts, I think they transitioned out of Hanukkah quite nicely. Better than I expected, actually.

The kids also gave Jason his present. Chief Daddy Man!

My Secret Sister, Ali, got us some new puzzles that are a huge hit. They’re perfectly skill appropriate – real jigsaw puzzles but they have the outline of the puzzle shapes on the board which gives extra clues. The kids love them and played them day after day this week.

 

How old does Amaya look in these two pictures!?! Tonight I told her that she could finish the puzzle while I sang her brothers songs but only if she put the puzzle on the ground when she was done and got under the covers. She promised and, sure enough, when I came back in the finished puzzle was sitting beside her bed and she was all tucked in. I could swear she was just taking bottles.

At school the kids made books in the vein of “Brown Bear, Brown Bear” with colors and shapes. They each got to pick an image for the last page and it was fun to see what they each chose.

Here’s a sample of the standardized pages.

Steven will tell you that the end of his book is “so funny”! He gets such a kick out of having picked a tree with a shark’s tail.

Sammy is loving their new stroller from Megan so this is timely.

Amaya went for a rainbow. 🙂

They’ve been “reading” their books, too, which is amazing for early literacy – just the connection between the words they’re saying and the words on the page. I love these books for that feature. We don’t have any other books that the kids have memorized to read so this was a first for me to see.

The little loves, waiting for dance class.

Check out Sammy in these photos! We were having a dance party yesterday and he was showing us some of his ballet moves. He can also shake his hips like no one’s business.

The Cline household is deep into a Star Wars right now and, on Thursday, Amaya insisted on wearing her Princess Leia dress to school. She decided so after she was already dressed but I suppose she could have ended up with this particular outfit regardless. Seems about her style. 🙂

On Friday, she asked to look like Princess Leia. I did my best!

It was a party hat kind of afternoon.

Crafts, crafts and more crafts.

This is Steven’s camel.

This is my camel. His might be better. Above it are rain clouds. Below is sand, and grass and dirt. Those are strawberries and grapes for the camel to eat. (Also by Steven.)

Another picture that makes me realize how far from babies these kids of our are. Something about them lying on the floor to do their drawing.

Steven showing Daddy his artwork.

Jason’s taking this weekend to do some projects in the house and he has three helpers everywhere he goes. Only slows him down by 200% or so. 😉 Sure is cute to see, though!

Amaya’s pregnant with an armadillo.

At the grocery store with daddy!

Sunday morning cuddles! I was watching this waiting for it to totally devolve lol. The kids really do look out for each other when they’re not fighting and beating each other up.

Holding hands going down the stairs.

Sometimes I can hear Steven and Sammy talking before I go into their room to get them up. Saturday, this was the conversation:

Sammy: Do you feel any skeletons in you.
Steven: Yep
Steven; I’m watching a video on the plane.
Sammy: What’s it called?
Steven: It’s called “cleaning the ground.”

The big news for the week is that Steven is potty training! We started Saturday and, on day two, the only time he peed in his diaper while awake was when we were out for lunch. Amazing, amazing job by this kid!! I’m excited that they’re off from school until 1/8 so he can really have some time to focus on this. Amaya told Steven she’s proud of him.

At bedtime I told him how proud I was for how hard he’s trying to go on the potty. He said, “thank you, mommy” and pulled me in to kiss my forehead. This boy. ♥ ♥ ♥

Every time he goes 30 minutes with a dry diaper he gets to play a Tiggly game on my iPad. I had to rotate Sammy and Amaya into the mix, too, or it would have been (understandable) mutiny in the Land of Cheltenham with how many turns Steven earned. Thanks Nana & Papa for the Hanukkah gift!

We’re enjoying a lazy, long weekend at home. (Well, Jason wouldn’t say it’s lazy because he’s been working his butt off.) We did get out today for lunch so Jason could get some uninterrupted work time. These kids can eat. It’s still not “easy” to take them out to eat alone but bit by bit it’s easier and easier.

Steven said, “This is where we came to eat the day we went back home and got our costumes on for Halloween.” And he’s right! He also told me, “This is the best waffle I ever had.”

We’re all looking forward to one more day home together and wish everyone celebrating a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah to everyone who’s celebrating! Steven, Sammy and Amaya are very much in the Hanukkah spirit. They loooooooove presents this year. I think they’re going to go into shock on Wednesday night when there are no more gifts. (Though Sammy is already telling everyone that their birthday comes after Hanukkah.)

On Monday morning we opened up some early gifts before school since Steven had opened presents in NY. Amaya was so excited to wear her new Elsa hat and sweatshirt.

I took SSA to school and got there after the class had already gathered. Here, Amaya and Steven are saying, “Come on, Sammy!!” They were ready to play!

Grandma Betsy arrived on Saturday night and was in the thick of things when I got home from work on Monday. Very early on she saw how much SSA love to craft.

Steven put on his Captain America costume to “caprise” Daddy. He was jumping-out-of-his-skin excited.

Tuesday night, Hanukkah was here! Steven, Sammy and Amaya all have their own menorahs that Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave got for them when they were born, given as gifts at their baby naming. It’s so special. I had no idea that they were learning the blessings over the candles at school but the boys surprised me but singing along for parts of the prayers. As the week goes on, they’re all getting better and better! It’s awesome. Fills up my heart.

After Hanukkah, presents!

Everyone was very busy working on their new puzzles. (Actually, in this picture, Amaya is working on Sammy’s.) Steven spent a few days highly focused on his puzzle and he’s pretty much mastered it now! He’s already looking at the back of his box to pick puzzles he wants for his birthday.

Everyone wore their new Hanukkah shirts to school on Wednesday.

Wookie!

Cap!

Elsa!

At bedtime the boys were “washing” their stuffed animals. “Don’t worry, Mommy. You can leave. We’re just pretending.”

Gratuitous photo of Sally! There was a major snow storm on Wednesday so I worked form home in the afternoon. Sally was thrilled. <3

Thursday, due to the snow, Steven, Sammy and Amaya stayed home from school. Fortunately, Grandma Betsy was there to hold down the fort until Megan arrived at 11:30am. She did the same the prior afternoon while I worked and Megan left early to beat the worst of the weather. Lucky kids!

Thursday afternoon, the whole gang went to the airport to pick-up Nana!! We have a full house!

Amaya was excited to try some of Nana’s sushi. 🙂

We lit the candles with Daddy, Nana, Grandma Betsy, Megan and, by phone, Savta!

Presents from  Aunt Sara & Uncle Dave. Vacuums! Happy kids!

Before bed, it’s always nice for Daddy to get to visit the SSA Salon.

Friday, it was the Nana and Grandma Betsy show all day long while Megan had a surprise spa day for her THIRTIETH birthday. They joined the kids at school for Shabbat at the JCC.

In the afternoon, everyone baked Hanukkah cookies! Nana even brought two rollers with her from NY so everyone could use one.

Nana and Grandma Betsy even ran the Hanukkah show on their own. Candles and gifts all around!

On Saturday, Grandma Sunshine and Aunt Annette came and joined the Hanukkah fun! More presents and happy, happy kids!

Saucer sleds were among the gifts from Grandma Sunshine and Steven and Sammy were eager to try them out! There was SO much snow.

Amaya did crafts all weekend long. It really is incredible to see her interest and focus.

Reading “The Monster at the End of the Street” with Grandma Sunshine.

Sammy, testing out one of his new gifts. It’s an interesting age for gifts. There are a lot of gifts that are to share but SSA are starting to get more gifts that are just for them individually. They are starting to walk a nice balance between wanting items for themselves and a willingness to let a sibling use the gift once the immediate novelty wears off. They never forget who owns what, though.

Three grandmothers and one aunt! So much fun!

On Saturday the kids also got their gifts from Savta. Everyone likes this police/fire station but I knew Steven would absolutely love it. I think he played with it for 2 hours straight. He was so cute creating adventures for the fire fighter and police officer – his little voice narrating events.

They also got these wooden semicircles of all different widths. I wasn’t 100% sure what they would do with them but they proved that kids imaginations are boundless.

A motorcycle ramp.

A pool.

A swing set.

They’re loving these new chairs from Grandpa Homey and Grandma Betsy.

We had a very lazy day at home today. I love getting out but it’s also nice to have these really, really lazy days at home. Amaya, Nana and I never even got dressed!

Steven so badly wants to pet Sally. He was just about there today before she got nervous. “But why does she run away if I’m a friend?”

While Sammy was at the grocery store with Jason and Amaya was crafting, Steven set up a train ride for Nana. He was the conductor attending to her every need before taking her on an elaborate trip. So much imagination! When Nana “fell” off her chair, conductor Steven immediately became Doctor Steven, ready to tend to Nana’s injuries.

Tomorrow, Grandma Betsy and Nana both head home. 🙁 It was a wonderful, wonderful week full of family. Steven, Sammy and Amaya are lucky, lucky kids.

I’ll wrap up with happy birthday wishes for Megan! We love you, May May!!

Have a great week!

Last Sunday, the kids told met that May May’s mommy was still sick and they’d see Taco again on Monday. I was pretty sure that wasn’t the case but they were right and I was wrong! Here’s Taco following the Big Kids up the stairs at nap time. Their relationship is so sweet. All weekend Steven has been telling me, “That’s too small for Baby Taco. We shouldn’t have that in our house if Baby Taco is there.” 🙂

Almost every night, when I get home from work, the kids are hiding behind the couch cushions waiting to “caprise” me. I’ve learned to enter slowly because there are meltdowns if they think I saw them before they had a chance to hide, especially from  my Sam Man.

Sammy is building patience with his cutting. I think he has the skills but he tends to run out of patience pretty quickly into the bigger projects.

Sammy asked Amaya to help him with the corners. How cute is that!?!? Leveraging their strengths!

Mommy, make me a crown!

“Don’t take my picture!”

Three kids in crowns, watching a show on the iPad while Sammy poops. I was home alone and they kind of hosed me with this one but Sammy insisted he needed a tv show because he was scared to poop.

Art projects!

Amaya continues to work on her cutting.

And her multi-media.

One from Steven, too.

Dance class Wednesday!

After dance class, Megan came to my office to drop off Steven so we could head to the airport for our trip to NY. Yay!! Amaya had a hard time saying goodbye. She held onto Steven for so long that we finally heard, “Can somebody help me?” 🙂

Our flight was delayed so we had time for a sit-down dinner at the airport. Steven is writing his order on the menu. Mac & cheese, please.

Ready to roll! Heading off for these trips is so much fun. The kids and I are always SO excited.

A late, but easy, flight and then into Nana’s arms.

Fast asleep in mommy’s childhood bed. It still can’t get over the sight of my child sleeping in this same bed I slept in for my entire childhood. Steven saw the fabric on the wall and said, “this is the same as Poppy Steven’s chair!” Yes, it sure is!

When you wake up before mommy and your pants are in her room, Nana improvises with her big, big socks.

On Thursday I had work in West Haven so Nana and Papa took Steven to the Long Island Children’s Museum. I remember going here with Chase way back when!

I even remember a photo of little Chase on this motorcycle. <3

Back at home, Megan took Amaya and Sammy out for lunch after school. A special treat while Steven was away. Sammy looks so old here, almost not even like himself!

Both boys have the same squinty forced smile right now. 🙂

We wrapped up our day with dinner at Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave’s house. Chase, Charlie and Steven were so excited to get to see each other. The big cousins are incredibly engaged and patient. It’s amazing to see.

During Thursday’s visit to the Children’s Museum, Steven saw the Firefighter Museum and was really excited about visiting so we made it our plan for Friday morning. He even had his rescue vehicle shirt to wear for the occasion.

He was a little nervous about the helicopter but worked up the nerve to climb inside. I had to reassure him that it would NOT go.

Talking to a pretend 911 dispatcher. (You should have seen me explaining the telephone to him. 🙂 )

Here he’s showing a real fire fighter the rescue vehicles that Nana and Papa bought for him.

The afternoon and evening was spent at Nana and Papa’s. I really can’t get over how well my kids and Sara’s kids play together. It’s awesome to see.

Back in MI, there were smiles all around!

That is until someone uses his scissors to cut something other than hair. Bound to happen? Right of passage? Hopefully this was the first and last time the Cline kids get creative with their scissors.

Back in NY, we wrapped up the evening showing Steven videos of my pregnancy and his birth and looking at photos in his first year blog book. “Why did I need to wear a helmet on my head when I was a baby?”

Saturday morning started eeeeeeearly for everyone after a sleepover where Chase and I were roommates and Steven and Charlie roomed together. It was so early, in fact, that after Charlie and Chase went home I was able to convince Steven to take a nap before 9am and he slept until just after 11am! He needed it, too, because we were heading to two Hanukkah parties that day.

Drawing stop signs.

The first party was at Aunt Sara’s house with Nana’s side of the family.

The great grandkids and Savta!

Joe, trying to convince Steven that he was an astronaut who walked on the moon.

Steven was very, very excited about his new Hulk action figure. It has a button you can press to make him talk and he walked around to everyone asking, “Would you like to push the button?” I don’t think he missed a single person there.

It snowed in NY on Saturday and all the kids wanted to go outside to play so, thanks to an old pair of Charlie’s snow boots, Steven was able to join the big kids and help build a snowman.

Our 2nd Hanukkah party was at Glori’s house with Poppy Steven’s side of the family.

Captain America!! Steven is so excited about this costume from the Engels. Out of his mind excited. It is amazing to see.

Steven has been talking about getting an ambulance for Hanukkah for months and Spencer and Jamie delivered! “This is just what I wanted!!”

We’re saving the rest of our gifts from our Hanukkah parties to open at home with Sammy and Amaya. <3

On the way home from the party Steven told me, ,”I’m funny but not as funny as Uncle Dave!”

All the cousins – minus Heidi, Sammy and Amaya who weren’t with us for the party. Such a great tradition!

Today was our last day in NY! We spent the morning at Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave’s house and then went out for brunch to celebrate Papa Gene’s birthday. Someone spent the whole morning dressed as Captain America.

In MI, Sammy and Amaya also had a chance to play in the snow!

Sammy showing off a bowl of play doh cookies.

And that’s it for our time in NY! Steven and I are up in the air right now, making our way back toward the Land of Cheltenham. We had the BEST time.

Have a great week!

This week started with the letter I and three days in a row where our kiddos were the class leaders. After a lot of deliberation, Iron Man, a book about Israel and an ice cream container were the items the kids brought for show and tell.

It was a quiet, simple week after sickness and holidays.

This is what Amaya looks like when she’s trying to get one by me. “Don’t look under the table mommy! There’s nothing to see under the table!” (It was glue that she was using to glue her gems to the paper.)

We took a break from cutting to play with play doh. It’s been a while, at least while I was there, and the skill level has definitely improved.

Steven loved making the numbers. It feels like just yesterday that he couldn’t possibly do these by himself.

Tuesday was gorgeous so Megan got Steven, Sammy and Amaya to a park. Every day outside at this time of year feels like a gift.

SSA like to hide from Daddy when he comes home. Where’s Amaya?

“I’m not laundry! I’m Amaya!”

Amaya is so careful with her clothing choices even down to how she lays them out at night. The pants and shirts are always so carefully placed.

Wednesday morning Steven and Amaya were getting ready to go to the car and I caught them holding hands while they were walking to the door. I grabbed my phone and Steven said, “Turn around to take a picture, Amaya!” They sure know their mom, lol.

After two weeks off (illness and Thanksgiving week), it was back to dance class!

I am trying to get Amaya to let me do her hair in the morning and I’m also trying to get better at braids. We’re a work in progress.

May May’s mommy was sick on Thursday so Baby Taco came to spend the afternoon with everyone. It was a bit of musical chairs to ensure that everyone got to sit by Taco. 🙂

Here, Steven is busy tying on his computer. Always imagining…

Friday afternoon, I had an impromptu lunch at Chili’s with Steven, Sammy, Amaya, Megan and Taco. I love the opportunity to meet up for lunch, especially spontaneously. We have a good arrangement where Megan texts me the orders when she picks up the kids and I arrive a few minutes early to put the orders in to cut down on wait time. The restaurant is less than a minute drive from my office so it’s very easy to be there and back in an hour and I think the kids love it as much as I do.

Taco likes Millie!

One day of play doh and back to cutting…

When everyone was sick and I was in Atlanta there was night that Steven and Sammy slept in Jason’s bed. The deal was that Amaya would have a sleepover of her own once everyone was healthy and Friday was the night. This girl was SO excited for a sleepover with her mommy. <3

Not so restful for me, but still 100% worth it.

At bedtime I sit outside the kids’ room for a bit, with Amaya’s door shut but the boys’ door cracked. Steven wanted to rearrange the room so he can see me, so Jason and the kids got to rearranging on Saturday.

This was the initial end result which has since changed because Sammy didn’t feel like he could see me well enough. One could argue that the best solution is for me to not sit outside their doors in the first place but I’m not there yet. That time will come.

Sammy is very excited that Anna (from Frozen) will be coming to see him for his birthday. He made her some art and really wanted to mail it from a post office so he and Jason set out to send some mail to Princess Anna. I love everything about this.

Another story about Sammy… On Tuesday on the way home from school Sammy told Megan that he wanted to have a picnic in a park for lunch. When Megan explained that it wasn’t warm enough yet and that the didn’t have lunch packed, Sammy said, “Don’t argue with me. I’m not here to argue.” Ha!

Saturday night was the annual child development center Hanukkah party at the JCC. Team Cline is ready for 8 Crazy Nights!!

(Someone asked what’s up with Amaya’s sleeves. She would only wear her Hanukkah shirt if she could wear another shirt underneath it with those sleeves showing.)

And here she is rocking a bathing suit bottom hat.

The party had crafts, a DJ with dancing, face painting, cookie decorating and dinner.

Decorating dreidles and making cards for residents of the senior center.

“Like a diamond in the sky”

Sammy and Amaya had cookies loaded with blue frosting. Steven opted for a plain sugar cookie. No surprise there on any front.

Dancing!! Last year, SSA were so shy and tentative on the dance floor. This year they loved it, especially the boys! It was so much fun!

Today was a 50 degree December day so the kids and I went to a playground. Two actually. Steven wanted to go to the playground “with the dead bird” and Amaya and Sammy wanted one with swings. We were able to negotiate going to the dead bird playground first and then walking down the block to the larger one. (We need a better name for the little playground but they saw a dead bird there over the summer and the name stuck like glue.)

Sammy and Amaya are really getting adventurous with their climbing! They wouldn’t have gone near this rock wall over the summer.

Happy, happy kids. <3

Steven was Jason’s shopping partner today and they brought home a pumelo. This fruit was new to me! Steven: “Mommy. It’s puMElo, not puMIlo.” After they ate it, Steven decided the rind was a drawbridge and had an elaborate scenario with cars and boats and the drawbridge.

We wrapped up the week with a haircut for Sammy. Family photos are in 6 weeks so hopefully this means it will be at a nice in-between space.

And that’s it for the week! Next up is a trip to NY for Mommy & Steven! Yay!! Have a great week!