Triplet Cling-Ons
Gigi and Elsie hanging out
The little men sitting and watching a little Baby Einstein together
Ava and all her siblings
. . . adoring Ava and everything she has to show them
Little Vee Vee enjoying her morning cuppa milk
Poser Preston
Elsa is kicked back in her special chair for her morning milk
Elsa climbed up into Ava's lap for a snuggle and Ava was so happy
Look at these red heads on the field. They both look so enthusiasticabout the game
Ava dribbling. We are always happy when she isn't
So, in light of my very hectic and complicated life, I have decided to take measures to make things more convenient at least. I have decided NOT to drive the 30 minutes each way to take Violet to speech therapy, but instead pay the out of network cost to have a very nice speech therapist in my area drive to my house and do her visits with Violet. And instead of driving 25 minutes to My Gym with the babies I stopped my membership there and we just started going to Tumble Time Gymnastics about 5 minutes away from my house.
Ava dribbling. We are always happy when she isn'tplaying with grass or twiddling her hair during a game
It is Thursday night at 8:30pm and I am steaming a 16 oz. box of spinach batch by batch in order to make tofu nuggets for my kids for lunches over the next month. I make huge amounts and freeze some of them for later. I have to wonder what my life has come to as I am making tofu nuggets on a Thursday night. I am not impressed with myself but I do feel like at least I will be providing some healthy snacks for my kids which makes me feel somewhat satisfied.
Well, 19 months is not, I repeat, is not my favorite age. This stage with triplets is much harder than the infant stage for sure. My kids doctor told me today that 19 months -- the slide into the big "terrible twos" stage can be the worst of them all. The tantrums, the slamming doors repeatedly now that they learned how to do so, the slamming the toilet lids (yes, I know I need to do some additional childproofing), the refusing my dinners rudely by screaming crying and throwing their food across the room. The worst part of it all is that they have become unbearably clingy to me. Today when I got home I wanted so badly to just sit in the car and stare at the windshield, or maybe read the mail on the floor of my car; anything but go into my house where I would surely be attacked by triplets. The urge to be a good mom always wins over my urge to run away, thankfully for my kids.
Preston has always been a momma's boy, which I have felt was sweet and endearing up until now. Now he whines and cries and clings to my leg and has me walk around the house with his whole self attached to my leg. If I am holding him and another baby approaches he thrashes his body around and cries out and tries to hit his sisters to keep them away from me. I told my doctor today that I don't think Preston wanted to be a triplet. Preston would have been very happy and good as a single baby boy.
Elsa tends to act like a cling-on like her brother, while Violet is very independent and likes to sit herself down at a task and work it out. Violet sees the other two going crazy all over me and it is like she decides she isn't even going to bother. For that, I love her even more. Plus, Violet has her special relationship with Ava and they hang out and play a lot of the time. It is very sweet.
So, in light of my very hectic and complicated life, I have decided to take measures to make things more convenient at least. I have decided NOT to drive the 30 minutes each way to take Violet to speech therapy, but instead pay the out of network cost to have a very nice speech therapist in my area drive to my house and do her visits with Violet. And instead of driving 25 minutes to My Gym with the babies I stopped my membership there and we just started going to Tumble Time Gymnastics about 5 minutes away from my house.
The kids dropped their morning nap so we have one nap a day now which has also been a big adjustment for us all. It does give us the freedom to go out and play each morning but it also is a lot more work with half the naps during the day now - lots more entertaining.
Ava got her first Progress Report home and she exceeded all of the standards of what she needed to know at her stage in Kindergarten. It kind of makes up for all the grief she has given us over the years. The good report card: we have that going for us, which is nice.
Chris ran the Cowtown Half Marathon last weekend and Ava, Violet and I surprised him at the finish line. He did fantastic, running it in 2 hours! We are off to San Francisco for the full marathon on October 18th, which should be very exciting.
I am finding it very hard to muster up the energy to write this blog during this busy time in my life but I am determined to carry on. It makes me feel like I am actually doing something for myself and it will also be a great gift to my kids one day, even though they may not appreciate everything I have to say about them.
Until next time, the mothership is signing off.
I like the ways you are efficient -less driving and making lots of lunches at once. Your kids might not appreciate your writing soon but they will when they have kids. Your grandkids and other future generations will appriate it too. Did you like reading the story of Jims grandmother - your great grandmother? Besides that, your fans sure appreciate keeping us updated!
Oh girl. Ditto. The tantrums, the fighting over mother, the beating each other up. Just nuts. The mornings are exhausting going to a zoo or a park or a whatever to give them a place to use up their energy. The rest of the day I can't figure out. We're all bored with the afternoons but crafts just don't seem worth it for the mess and the little time it entertains them. I need something to do with them that doesn't exhaust me more!
This too we shall survive! Make sure you do stuff for yourself even if it's just a pedicure every other week or something. And definitely keep finding ways to cut down on wasted time!