Megan took a much deserved vacation the 2nd half of the week. Jason and Grandpa Homey were in Chicago for the national sports card collector’s show and I wasn’t in an easy position to take time off work so Nana came in from NY to hold down the fort! Everyone always has so much fun with Nana, with lots and lots of cuddles and snuggles.

Sammy loves his selfies!

This picture is so Bobo. Always finding something interesting. I imagine, right about now, he was saying “ooh! ooh! ooh!”

More pictures of fun times on the deck with Nana. On Thursday, they were able to get out twice! Once in the morning, and then in the afternoon with the water table. The boys are wearing cool Under Armour shirts from their daddy.

I should mention that Steven has really taken off walking! It just clicked, and only about 2 weeks after Sammy. I’d say he’s walking about 80% of the time. I’d been hoping he’d be walking by 20 months so this is awesome. We’ve been very consistent about it, but now it’s even more important that we’re diligent about his ankle braces.

On Friday, Nana loaded up the kids and went to the zoo! Hooray! The zoo pass was a gift from Nana and Papa for their 1st birthday so it’s nice that Nana can enjoy the zoo with Steven, Sammy and Amaya. It was her second time this year, but her first solo outing with all the kids. There were a ton of animals out, including the giraffes, and SSA had their traditional zoo snack of peanut butter toast. It means so much to me that my mom gets to share these experiences with my kids.

Friday afternoon, there was more play time outside.

Notice how the edge of Steven’s nose is red? That’s because his nose is his favorite spot for his finger and it’s getting irritated. I will absolutely tease him about this some day.

On Saturday, one of my dreams came true! We went to the SPLASH PAD!! I needed 3 walkers to do this and, with Steven walking and walking and walking, it was time! I made a play date with a colleague and his 2 1/2 year old son and we adjusted the morning schedule for an 11am meet up. So much fun and so much work! I told some triplet moms that it was harder than I thought it would be and, when one mom asked me to elaborate, I said “I think I was living in some triplet dreamland where they’d all love it all the time and all want to play in exactly the same spot and no one would want me to pick them up.”

But it was a great experience and I can’t wait to go with Jason. Steven was the most daring. He walked right over to the water. Amaya stood frozen for a long time and was never entirely comfortable but did spend some time playing. Sammy was asleep when we arrived and I don’t think he ever fully settled in but he was very happy playing in the water if I was holding him.

Nana holding Sammy, before he joined in the fun.

Before we went home, everyone shared some blueberries. Sammy actually fed some to Steven. It was so cute. You can kind of see the start of it in the 2nd picture.

Since Jason was away, I had to do the grocery shopping for the week. Not a fan. Not a fan! But we made it a team outing which helped a bit. Everyone had food to hold and everyone was very patient. Even me.

This, to me, is a classic Amaya face. She thinks she’s getting away with something and she’s proud of herself.

In the evening, we headed back out to the deck. The best part of being on the deck in the early morning or evening is that you don’t have to apply sunscreen. Big, big win.

And then, today, Nana went home! Sad, sad mommy. We had such a nice time together! I soothed myself by going outside before morning naps. No sunscreen!

Sammy, talking on the phone, which is really a boat.

Cousin Charlie hand picked some books for SSA. I had happy kids! Thank you, Charlie!

Here’s more of group play time during the week. Amaya loooooves this puzzle and she does it very well. It seems to have become a regular group activity.

Sammy loves Nana’s slippers. This is a perfect Sammy picture – Whammy Puppy in his mouth and Nana’s slipper on his foot.

Some sleeping babies toddlers. I can’t stop taking pictures of them while they sleep. They’re so cute. Any time they’re covered is not their own doing.

Sammy!

Steven!

Amaya!

A few more photos of Steven this week.

Steven is a baller. He is small but mighty and he loves sports balls.

He loves to play lying on his belly. That little face.

Reading his book, holding his sports ball.

Finally, Steven needed a quick, evening trip to the doctor so we got a little unexpected Mommy/Steven time. (Nothing serious.) He looks so grown up sitting in that chair!

Sammy is back on zantac for what we think might be a resurgence of his reflux or GERD (or maybe they’re the same thing). He has a medicine dispenser for the zantac which he has taken to using as a fork because I didn’t give him one for his french toast. It’s so funny, and absolutely adorable. Though the kid really does need a fork at his meals so he doesn’t have to resort to his medicine dropper.

This here is Sam-u-rai. He rocks it.

Wrapping up with two photos from last week’s trip to NY that I forgot to put in the blog but don’t want to miss.

I don’t have as many bonus photos of Amaya so I’ll tell a story. She loves to chipmunk food in her cheeks at the end of meals. At lunch today, she tried to tell me she was all done while she still had a mouth full of food in her cheeks. I called her out on it so she chewed up what she still had and, when she was done, she said “All done!” and then opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue so I could see she wasn’t hiding any food. All done!

You can really see Steven walking in this video.

Have a great week!