Water, Water Everywhere!

Well it is hard to believe that we are already half way through the summer.  We have done a lot in the last few weeks and the kids keep doing new things every day.  I tell everyone who asks "how are the kids doing" that whenever they are not screaming they are hilarious.

The biggest news is that Nadia is now walking full-time.  Julie and I dropped the trips off at my mom's back in June to enjoy a few kid free days to celebrate our anniversary.  At that time Nadia was walking a little bit but whenever she fell over she would revert back to crawling.  However, when we went back to pick the trips up after four days with Grandma Waskey and Grandma J, Nadia was walking like a pro.

Needless to say, Julie and I really enjoyed our anniversary break and we are extremely thankful that we have relatives (both real and adopted) who are willing to watch three crazy toddlers while we get a chance to relax and reconnect.  Our neighbor Jordan (or Grandma J as we call her) actually agreed to drive 5 hours in the car with us to my mom's so that she would help take care of the triplets while we were at the beach...that is some serious commitment!

The boys continue to amaze us with how much they have stored in their little brains.  While they are a bit behind on talking they are starting to get the hang of it.  Andrew certainly has the largest vocabulary and has added some new words/phrases like "light on", "light off" and "moon".  Andrew does try to speak to us in full sentences, unfortunately it is in his own language.  He also knows A LOT of hand movements for different songs.  For example, whenever he sees a star (I mean any star) he raises his hands up and does the motions for Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  He also likes to build things and is mesmorized by my guitar. 

Ryan's current fascination is numbers.  He LOVES numbers and picks them out everywhere (on TV, packaging, books, etc...)  While he does not say the numbers yet he knows 1-10 and can find them if asked.  Ryan is starting to say a few words but he is far enough behind now that he will be starting some speech therapy to try to get him caught up.  All 3 kids have also been going to a play group once a week at the center that provides speech and physical therapy for Nadia.  We have stayed to watch the play group a couple times and it is somewhat frustrating to see how well the kids behave when we are not around and all of the different activities that they participate in that they would never do with us at home. 


The triplets also recently had their 18 month checkup (for those that have lost track, they are about 19 1/2 months old now) and they are progressing well.  Nadia clocked in at 22 lbs, Andrew at 24 and Ryan at 30 (with his head contributing a solid 5-6 lbs).  There have been no major injuries or illnesses recently (thank you summertime!) and we have managed to avoid the Dr. and emergency room for the past couple months.

Over the 4th of July weekend we were again able to go to Maryland to visit family and see my mom's new house.  The new digs are awesome with both a huge yard and a swimming pool.  We spent a great deal of time in the pool and by the end Andrew was pretty much able to float around solo with water wings on.  Both Ryan and Andrew had fun jumping off the side and everyone got dunked underwater a few times with little objection.  While we were there we also had a chance to see a bunch of folks from my dad's side of the family who had not seen the triplets since before they could walk.

As you will see from the pictures we have a lot of different water related things for the kids to play with since they all love the water so much (especially Nadia).  There are a also a few videos at the end to give you an idea of what our life is like in real time.  Enjoy!

Where there is water, you will find Nadia

How many toddlers does it take to sink a ship?  One apparently.

Ryan shows off his trademarked sad face...I swear he practices in a mirror

Three sets of eyes, three different directions

Nadia displays her absolute joy at getting her first haircut

"I must admit, it is nice to be able to see again..."

Those are the smiles of triplet parents who left their kids with Grandma for a few days

Speaking of Grandma...Ryan works on his shapes with Grandma Waskey

It seems that Andrew already has his vocation picked out

"I has all thee muffin cups...mwuahahahahaha!"

We are an equal gender opportunity household

"Does this muffin cup clash with my eyes?"

Seriously...what is the fascination with the freakin muffin cups?

A rare moment caught on film...both boys in Daddy's lap while Mom is in the room

"So can you just bring me my food so that I don't have to get out of the water?"

Even a little pool can keep them entertained for a while

"These letters are both educational and delicious"

"Don't just sit there taking pictures...change me into a real bathing suit!"

"The shirt says it all"

A monkey that shoots water out of it's head...who thinks of this stuff?

"I am Princess Nadia and this will be my kingdom"

This is probably the best shot of all three of them together that we've gotten in a while...plus a bonus Grandpa!

This video should give you an idea of how grown up the trips are now.  If you watch closely you will see them push each other down the slide from the top of the ladder.

As soon as Nadia started walking she earned the nickname "Triple T" as in "Tiny Tower of Terror".  She gets into EVERYTHING and loves to pull stuff off of tables.  Her other favorite thing to do is pull all of the toilet paper off of the roll which would be hilarious if it wasn't so frustrating to clean up.  Also, please don't mind the fact that I took a phone call while shooting this video.

One bonus to living so close to Busch Gardens is that we can take the kids for a couple hours to play in the kiddie water area that they have.  This was Nadia's first experience there and since she is truly our water baby it would be slightly understated to say that she enjoyed it.  She was so enthralled with all the water and kids that she completely ignored any attempt at getting her to respond to her name.

In this video the triplets enjoy the age old sprinkler experience.  Why would they run through a sprinkler when there is a pool 10 feet away you might ask?  Good question...

This video starts a bit slow but stay with it to see the boys "jump" in the pool.