I’m calling this “Year Four” even though it straddles SSA’s birthday week because, as of this moment, it is the start of their fourth year. Madness. Pure madness that we have three 3 year olds.

It feels like ages ago but the week started with Nana and Savta still visiting and three children who all wanted to wear dresses. Why not, right? We’d nudge the boys in another direction if it was a school day but, for home, let’s let kids be kids.

Right now, they’re all very into their chapstick. I need to remember to give Amaya hers before we go up to bed because she always tells me that her lips hurt after she’s already in her crib for the night.

We have this lovely scarf from Grandma Betsy that has made a reappearance in our dress up wardrobe and Steven loves it.

Working it!

Here he was spinning around alternately as a blueberry and an airplane. <3

Final day fun with Savta and Nana

The kids are loving their water wow books. I am definitely going to bring these on airplane trips.

Big kids.

On Tuesday morning I left for a 2 night trip to AZ. I’ve started telling SSA I’m leaving the night before, even if I’ll see them in the morning (which I didn’t this time), so there are no surprises. They seem to do well with the going but Steven might struggle a bit when I come back. He gets very attached at bedtime and asks over and over again if I’ll wake him up in the morning. I usually do, but when I’m away Rosie wakes the kids and I think the change in routine throws him.

The kids don’t miss a beat during the day, though. Here Amaya was at the doctor’s office getting a checkup from Doctor Steven.

Nighttime cuddles with Daddy.

On Wednesday, Rosie did me a favor and put the kids in their “Two” shirts one last time. Sadness and joy!

Awwwww. My little two year olds.

Ben and Sam came for a play date on Thursday which was another dress day for all three of my children. You’ve got to give it to kids who don’t skip a beat about these funny, arbitrary things we decided about who wears what.

I shared birthday pictures but here are a handful more of Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s 3rd birthday morning. First was Jason singing Happy Birthday to the kids and then some photos of them opening cards from Nana and Papa. Amaya was very excited to see an “astronaut” on her card.

Jason and I had a really nice, low key weekend at home with SSA. The kids have a cold and we’ve been going a million miles an hour so this lazy weekend was just what we all needed. On Saturday we didn’t even bother getting dressed.

We’re evolving from crayons to markers, too. Yikes! If you’re having triplets, consider an option other than flat paint. Cleans easier!

We’re also doing more and more with paint, which is reserved for the kitchen table. The smocks we used when they first started solid foods have come in handy for art projects!

Steven and Amaya sat for a long, long time painting.

Steven was so excited to stack his paint jars. I told him that he couldn’t stack them because they could fall and paint would fall but he insisted that he put the tops on and they were tight so nothing would spill. Got me with that one!

Most of the time they painted Amaya’s hands were practically spotless. Steven, not so much. Mr. Paint Hands!

For fun, Steven wrapped in ribbons compliments of Daddy.

Daniel Tiger cuddles with Daddy.

Today we opened up more birthday presents which included a princess dress for Amaya. I think the princess phase is officially upon us. Meet Princess Amaya – Chief Princess of the Castle Science Division.

A gift from Anna was this little critter hospital which has compartments that open with colored keys. Steven, Sammy and Amaya love it. It’s so neat watching them figure out how to work the locks.

Giving a shot to bunny.

We also got these dot things. (I’m sure there’s a more official name.) Another great way to make art. Megan had the fun idea of making bingo cards with numbers and letters and playing a game with the kids where they put a dot on the number or letter when we call the name. I love it!

AND, the kids have a science kit that includes binoculars and some other cool bug catching/tracking accessories. I ordered some plastic bugs for now but I can’t wait until we can get outside and catch some real bugs!

Sammy caring for Princess Cat.

Catching critters and putting them in the dump truck.

This morning we had a fun visit from Megan and Baby Taco!!

We opened the scissor activity pad that Megan got for the kids. They loooooove scissors.

We’re still unsure if Steven is a righty or a lefty. He holds crayons and markers in both hands and has done the same with scissors. I finally bought him a pair of lefty scissors after seeing him struggle a bit today. We’ll bring a pair to school, too.

We also played with this tape activity book from Megan. It was fun for the kids to open the gifts while Megan was actually there to play with them. And lucky for me I still have a boppy and some baby blankets for Taco!

Big kid helpers feeding their little friend.

The time has come! For the past two or three weeks Amaya has almost exclusively slept in the travel crib in her own room. Today at nap time we finally made the switch and Jason moved her real crib into her own room. My big girl! I’m glad we had the trial with Sammy back in October and that she’s been in there in the travel crib for a few weeks. It made the transition a lot easier for me. Sweet Amaya.

While I’m writing about bedtime, a cute nighttime story with the boys. The other night Sammy was crying and Jason went in to check on him. He asked Sammy what he needed and Steven said, “I don’t think he needs anything. I think he just wanted you.” <3 And tonight, when the boys were asking me to bring them tissues, they wanted to be certain I’d bring one to Amaya in her room. Early in the night Steven saw the travel crib in the boys’ room (which is where we’re keeping it for story time at night) and said, “Amaya’s sleeping in our room tonight?!?!” I hated to tell him that wasn’t the case. Definitely a transition for everyone.

We wrapped up the afternoon with more dress up clothing from Auntie and Dod Shuki.

Amaya – the construction worker princess.

Constable Steven wore this all night straight through dinner and put it back on over his PJs.

Blast off!

Sammy’s got some construction work to do!

This is a big week for Amaya. Now that she’s potty trained she can take swim lessons at school! I’m prepping her to make it an easier transition and she was very excited to try on her swim suit! It’s nice that I don’t have to worry about rash guards/coverage since it’s an indoor pool (and, of course, winter in MI).

Finally, momma and her boys.

And that’s it! Three is off to a great start!