Random Notes

No rhyme or reason to this post, just want to jot down some things about the boys at this particular age (roughly 13 months):

• They are becoming more interested in books every day. Their attention span is improving and they'll sometimes crawl into my lap while I read. Yesterday Griffin wanted me to read "Old MacDonald" to him about 8 times in a row. I'd finish it, put it down, and he would pick it right back up and put it in my hands. I love that they're starting to enjoy reading books!
• Will has started signing "more" to us (when prompted)- it's adorable.
• Cooper is in full-blown toddler mode now- he walks with ease everywhere these days. Griffin can take more and more steps each day, but isn't quite as steady as Cooper. Will isn't as interested in walking yet, though he will try to take steps every day.
• Will made us laugh last night as we were trying to get him to walk about 10 feet between me and Daddy. He took a few steps away from me...decided it was a bit too far to walk...got down on the floor and crawled until he was about 2 steps away, then stood up and walked the rest of the way. Smart kid.
• Cari and Sue made a ball pit for the boys using their inflatable pool while we were out of town last week. We hadn't opened the balls because I didn't want to let them play with them until they were older and less inclined to spend time throwing them out of the pit (and leaving us to clean them up!). They l-o-v-e playing in the ball pit, though, so I don't have the heart to take it away from them. They particularly love when there's an "earthquake" that shakes all the balls around. And (as expected) Will and I spend a lot of time putting balls back into the pit. :)
• All three boys love when we sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" lately- they also will often participate in the hand-clapping part.
• Griffin is especially fond of any kind of music these days and will wiggle around and dance if music is playing.
• They know our evening routine so well now that they will hand me their toothbrushes as soon as Will finishes reading "Night Night Pookie"- melt my heart...it's SO cute!
• Will loves playing with me in the evenings when I get home from work, but after dinner until he goes down for bed he pretty much wants nothing to do with me. He cries when I change him into his PJs, and he'll often cry when we all sit in the baby jail to brush teeth. He definitely cries as soon as the bedtime books are over. He'll stop crying and cuddle with Daddy while he says his goodnights and then screams when I take him away to put him down. And he'll cry when I put him in the crib for the night. It breaks my heart to see him so upset. Putting them in their cribs at night has been my "thing" since they were born, but the past couple nights I've made Dad put Will in his crib...and there are no tears. I won't lie- it kind of hurts my feelings that he doesn't like me at bedtime. But I'm trying not to be offended by his new preference for his Daddy. 
• We have biters in the house now- Griffin and Will are both biting these days. It's the worst...and it hurts!
• Favorite new activity for the boys: storing toys in various spots. They have quite a collection of balls sitting in the seat of the exersaucer. And under all the couches and chairs in the play room. And inside the glider. (Did I mention we have a lot of balls now?!) The other night we found "Goodnight Moon" and "Night Night Pookie" hiding in the storage seat of their elephant scoot around toy. 
• We have been letting the boys sleep with their BOCO blankets and a little teething stuffed toy at night. Will and Cooper throw both out of their crib pretty much the second we lay them down, but Griffin sleeps with his blanket all night. He just loves having something soft to cuddle with while he sucks his thumb!
• We tried to put shoes on the boys the other day. Molly gave us a big bag of Liam's old shoes so I just hunted through the pile to find a few pairs that would fit the boys. They loved to help me look through the bag and pick out shoes, but no one was particularly excited about actually wearing them. All three of them spent a lot more energy trying to get the shoes off their feet than keeping them on!
• Speaking of shoes...Cooper thinks the "stinky shoes and feet" game is hilarious. He laughs and laughs and laughs if you smell his feet and crinkle up your nose and tell him he's stinky!
• Speaking of nose crinkling, Cooper and Griffin both crinkle their noses a lot now.
• They all find it hilarious when you say "Ahhh" after taking a drink. Cooper especially loves to mimic the "ahh" sound.
• Griffin is still our little Bam Bam- he really enjoys banging things around. The louder the bang he can make, the more he enjoys banging.
• Will has two more teeth popping in up top- bringing his grand total to (almost) 6
• Griffin has started mimicking us when we say "Uh oh", though it sounds more like (ahhh uhhhh)
• Their radio flyer wagon has quickly become a favorite for us. We still love the triplet stroller, but the wagon is way more convenient to pack in the car, and the boys really enjoy being pulled around in it. I've been able to venture out of the house alone with the trio to run errands, and we've started doing runs to the grocery store or Sam's all together, which feels so incredibly freeing and normal. Granted, taking them with us to run errands makes everything take about 5 times longer than it would if we were alone- about 3x longer dealing with loading and unloading babies...and about 2x longer dealing with all the people who stop us to comment, talk, ask questions, point and stare, etc... I know it won't happen anytime soon, but I look forward to when we can somewhat fly under the radar when we go out and about.
• The boys start their ISR swim lessons next week. The lessons run 5 days a week, and each baby's individual lesson is 10 minutes long. The next 4 weeks, give or take, will be intense. Their lessons start at 10 am, and they can't eat for 1.5 hours prior (or have dairy 2 hours prior). That means Will will have to have them up and eating breakfast by 7:30 each morning so they have time to digest their food. For babies who are usually still fast asleep at that time, this will be an adjustment. They have dietary restrictions for the weeks that they're in "training"- among other things, they aren't allowed to have pineapple or spinach. For babies who eat spinach mixed with fruits or vegetables almost every day, this will be an adjustment. We have to keep "BUDS" documentation for each baby- tracking their bowel, urine, diet, and sleep patterns. For parents who just finished documenting all that for the first year of their life in our triplet book (and have enjoyed not having to keep such close track of it!), this will be an adjustment.  Then Will will need to get all 3 into swim diapers and their swim gear, collect 9(!) towels, their documentation, etc...and have them out the door no later than 9:30. Every. Single.Day. It is very overwhelming for me to think about, and I won't even really be dealing with it! I scheduled myself to take off the 1st morning of their lessons so I could help Will get everyone ready and out the door for the first lesson (they were supposed to start tomorrow.) However, the lesson start date was postponed by a week, and I have meetings scheduled at that time so I likely won't be able to go. It is so disappointing and definitely one of those moments where I feel like I'm "missing" out on one of their milestones. If I'm being honest, I think I'd be OK not watching the lessons as the Youtube videos I've seen TERRIFY me. But I feel for Will, who is going to have a rough 4 weeks, and wish I could be around to help him. Will isn't very excited about this new schedule, either, but we agree that these lessons are important and worth it. God willing we won't have to worry about it ever, but we want the boys to know what to do if they should fall into water.
• I've written quite a bit more than I intended to, so I think I'll leave this post with some pictures of the boys from today. I let them do some exploring downstairs (they very rarely get free reign on the 1st floor)...they traveled in a little herd and thoroughly enjoyed opening and closing kitchen cabinets and staring out the windows. :)
 

Must try out every door and cabinet

And help slam the doors shut, too!






Good night cuddles with Daddy