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!