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May 11, 2003
Wow, we're getting really bad at updating the website!.
The kids have enjoyed playing outside from time to time now that the weather
is nicer. They love looking at bugs. They will have an even better time
outside in a couple months when they have a nice big backyard to play in.
Yep, we're finally moving into a new house in West Des Moines. It's still
being built and we just can't wait until it's finished. We picked everything
out (cabinets, lighting, flooring, etc) so it will be exactly what we want,
mostly.
The kids' vocabulary is growing bigger and bigger all the time. The girls speak a little better than Adam and they can speak 5-6 word sentences.
We have not actively begun potty training although the girls are somewhat interested. They have each gone potty once on the potty chair. Adam is not interested at all.
Their current schedule is this: wake between 6:30 and 7am, lunch at 11:30, nap from 1-3:30, dinner around 5:00 and bedtime at 8pm. Their mealtimes have become annoying for mommy mainly because they just don't seem to want to eat anymore! I guess this is usual behavior when kids turn 2, and although they aren't starving, we wish they'd eat more. Foods they are guaranteed to eat are: macaroni and cheese, toast, yogurt, cheese, and crackers. And of course they always need to have a bite of whatever mommy and daddy are eating.
All of the kids love to read and sing. They love jumping in their cribs or on our bed. They usually have to pull all of our bedding off the bed before they jump on it. Then they like to slide off the bed hands first into the big pile of bedding. Their favorite shows to watch at this time are Madeline and Oswald.
Megan is the most affectionate child. She loves to gives hugs and kisses (even smacks her lips) and she really loves to give daddy hugs and kisses when he comes home from work.
Kaitlyn is very independent. She wants to do everything by herself now including climbing into her booster seat, buckling herself in her carseat, and fastening her shoes. She loves to draw and trace the ABC's on the Magna Doodle.
Adam loves to repeat everything you say - it's funny. He has an eagles eye and loves spotting airplanes, bugs, the downtown skyline, and water towers all from miles away (well, except for the bugs of course)
One funny thing they do now takes place during bathtime. They get their baths at the same time and when it comes time to get the first person out we'll say 'Ok, Megan are you ready to get out?" and she'll shake her head no and point to Kaitlyn and say 'No - Kaitlyn out, Kaitlyn out" So then we'll say "Kaitlyn are you ready to get out?" and she'll shake her head no and point to Megan and say "No - Megan out, Megan out" Then if we try to get Adam he'll point to one of the girls and ask that they get out. It's really funny and we just have to take turn with who we pull out first. They love bathtime!
We took the kids to Lori Nordstrom for their 2 year pictures. She did a fantastic job with them. She does
a lot of black and white's and the photos have a lot of character to them.
They turned out to be very special.
Well, that's about it from here! The next couple months will be busy for us trying to pack up the house, but we'll try to keep you updated with the kids.
October 21, 2003
Well, the summer has come and gone and what a busy one it's been! Our biggest news of all is that we finally moved into our new house in mid-July. We moved to West Des Moines and we absolutely love our house - and the kids love it too. We are on a cul-de-sac with 9 other homes. There are a lot of kids to play with and all the neighbors are so nice! There is an elementary school a block away so before school started we would walk up to the school and play on their playground equipment quite often. Chris was even able to do it by herself. Since school started we go to other parks in the morning or just go to the school in the evening. The kids love the park. Adam has grown to like the swing (the girls still don't like that) and the girls like to go down the double slide together while holding hands and saying 'weeeeeeeee!'.
We took a trip to Dallas this summer to visit Chris' parents. Chris' grandma turned 90 so there was a big party for her. The kids did great on the trip down and back. We couldn't have done it without the tv and videos! Chris' mom came back to stay with us for 2 weeks and her dad came back for the last 4 days of the visit. We also went to Cedar Rapids a couple times to visit Craig's family. He had his 20 year class reunion over Labor Day weekend which was a lot of fun.
We went to Adventureland this summer too. The kids weren't too excited about riding the rides. Adam rode the boat ride and Kaitlyn rode the ladybug ride. Megan didn't want anything to do with the rides. It turned out to be a big waste of time - fortunately we got into the park for free! I think it will be fun next year. The zoo however was a big hit! They loved all the animals. We were crazy enough to attempt this without the strollers and it actually went pretty good. No one tried to run away. During the first half everyone would hold hands but during the second half they wanted to walk on their own. The only problem is that Adam is a major slowpoke! He slowed us all down!
The kids are enjoying typical two and a half year old stuff such as: puzzles, books, coloring, stringing beads, play dough, playing outside, watching tv (some of their favorite shows are: DragonTales, The Magic School Bus, Scooby-Doo, and Cyberchase), wrestling with each other, and playing on the computer. They have all mastered the computer mouse and love playing different games. This is one time when we really have to make sure they share because they all want to have the mouse when we get on the computer. They continue to say new things and ask questions all the time. They are very, very independent and need to do everything by themselves. Many times we will have to repeat a task, such as closing the front door, because everyone wants to close it.
This fall we've been involved in toddler story time at the library a couple mornings a week. It's only 20-30 minutes long and they read, sing, and one library would to an art project. Then beginning on Halloween through mid-December they will be attending a Toddlertime playgroup at the West Des Moines Community Center. This class is 45 minutes long and involves a lot of the same things that will be done at the library class. We're thinking about getting the kids into a gymnastics/tumbling class later this fall too, but they aren't signed up for that yet.
We attempted to try and potty train Kaitlyn this summer. It was very overwhelming and we decided that she probably wasn't quite 100% ready. We want to make the potty training go as smoothly as possible so we want to wait until they are wanting to do it, rather than have us want them to do it. Over the last week the girls have been asking to go potty on it and they've used it. (They first used it around last Christmas, but obviously weren't ready) We've had 5 days in a row of someone using it (only once a day though). But that's a start and I think we can see the light way down at the end of the tunnel! Adam has yet to go on it but he likes to try when the girls try.
It's so funny to watch the kids interact with each other. In general, the girls play together a little more than they do with Adam. He doesn't seem to mind though as he loves his cars, trucks, and trains, and the girls aren't into those things as much. They talk back and forth to each other all the time. Although they occasionally fight over a toy, they are actually pretty good at being patient and waiting for their turn. The best part of watching them interact is when they give each other hugs and kisses. It's the cutest thing in the whole world and just melts our hearts when it happens!
January 25, 2004
Chris' parents were back in October and we all went out to a pumpkin patch before Halloween. We went on a tractor ride (Adam wasn't too excited about this), saw some animals at the little petting zoo, got the kids' face painted, and ate some apple pie with ice cream. The kids had fun.
They had their first real trick-or-treating adventure on Halloween. We all walked around the neighborhood for about 45 minutes then passed out candy at our house. They had a blast! Adam was batman and the girls (who wanted to be the same thing) were dalmations. They all looked really cute. It was hard to get them to stop eating their candy.
We went back to Cedar Rapids in November for Thanksgiving. Adam and Kaitlyn both had ear infections and a slight cold but Kaitlyn wasn't really getting better. She had diarrhea, a bad appetite, complaints of her tummy aches, and all around grogginess. This lasted for a few days, then we noticed she hadn't had a wet diaper in over 12 hours. We were afraid she might be dehydrated so we took her to the hospital. They said she was at the beginning stages of dehydration but not serious enough to put an IV in her. She was a very brave and patient girl for the doctors. She didn't even flinch when they pricked her finger for blood. However, she did receive a strong shot of antibiotics in each leg, which was very painful for her. She couldn't even stand up for the rest of the day - it was sad. The next day you never would have known she was sick. And that was that!
We hosted the Severson side of the family for Christmas - now that we finally have the space to do such a thing. On the Saturday before Christmas we had 27 of us here for dinner and gifts and a slumber party! It was a lot of fun and would love to do it again.
Chris' parents came back for Christmas for a week. Unfortunately, the five of us, along with Nick, Jake, and Steve, all caught the flu. So it wasn't as fun as we hoped the week would be. The kids got a lot of great gifts from Santa. They got the Loving Family dollhouse, Matchbox's Ice Mountain, dolls, games (they love Candy Land), books, and more! So far they haven't gotten bored with anything.
Well, believe it or not, the kids are signed up for preschool starting in September. We really can't believe that time has come! They are almost 3 now! Anyway, preschool will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for two and a half hours a day. Chris is really looking forward to it too!
Last week the kids went to the dentist for the first time. We had been talking about it for a while so they knew exactly what to expect. They all did a great job letting the dentist look at their teeth. It was a piece of cake. They loved getting their new toothbrushes too.
A couple nights ago Adam peed on the potty chair for the first time! We are so excited and he just loves going! He went 3 times the next day. Megan is still going a couple times a day too and we're still waiting for Kaitlyn. I think we traumatized Kaitlyn when we tried it with her last summer. We had put her on the potty so much when she probably wasn't totally ready for it, so now I guess she's still boycotting it and will go when she's ready.
I guess that's about it! This spring we'll be looking forward to the kids' birthday in March and then in April Craig and Chris will be taking a weeklong vacation to Phoenix to visit Chris' sister and a few of Craig's friends. Chris's sister Jenny and her husband Mike will be going at that time too.
March 16, 2004
Well, it's time again for what appears to have become a quarterly update.
Late January and February were pretty uneventful. There were some days where the kids were able to get out and play in the snow and they just loved that! Only problem was that it took forever to get everyone bundled up to get out there!
The kids participated in a 6 week library story time program again, which
they enjoyed. Sometime during this session the kids seemed to have suddenly
realized that there were cool books all around! Previously, they would
play more with the bead table, puppets, puzzles and toys that were there.
But now they go to their section of books and pull out all kinds to read.
Speaking of reading, Kaitlyn can really, truly read! It's amazing! Not
just a few words, but entire books such as Dr. Suess's 'Hop on Pop', 'Ten
Apples up on Top', and 'Are You My Mother?'. Megan can read pretty well
too, not as well as Kaitlyn, and Adam is nowhere near the level of the
girls - but he still likes to try to read.
Also during these 2 months Megan developed some sort of strange blinking thing. She would blink quickly and tick-like. Our pediatrician couldn't find anything wrong with her so she sent her to a children's eye doctor who also could not find anything wrong. She basically grew out of it a few weeks later and we haven't seen it since - strange.
Kaitlyn is finally binkie free, and yes, we realize it should have been
gone, like a couple years ago, but it just wasn't. We were so nervous about
breaking this habit of hers but it turned out to be a piece of cake! A
few weeks before she turned three we just decided to say that the binkies
were missing and she accepted that! She slept fine without it and that
was that! She has only asked for it a couple times and we just remind her
that they are still missing.
Sometime in February the kids were climbing in and out of their cribs pretty easily and we just decided that it was probably time to get rid of the cribs (another huge fear of ours!). We have 3 toddler beds that we bought from another triplet mom. We set them up and they actually slept in them well the first night - they didn't even get out once! (We had awful visions of them getting out and running around all over the place) And to this day they still have not gotten out of their beds at night at all! It's another miracle as far as we're concerned! They do know that they can get out on their own after naps and in the morning. (yes, they all still nap about 2 hours a day)
We did decide to put Adam into his own room - he seems to like having his own space.
On March 16th the kids turned 3!!! Hard to believe! We didn't do anything exciting - just decorated the house a little with streamers/balloons and had Mike, Jenny, Nick and Jake over for dinner/gifts/cake/ice cream. We went to Cedar Rapids the following weekend to celebrate with Craig's family. They received so many gifts from both parties that it was like Christmas all over again!
Their 3-year checkup turned out well too. All kids are right on track and are healthy as can be!
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