So I guess it is officially time that I quit starting blog posts with the "I'm really sorry it's been so long, I promise more frequent blog posts in the future" line as it is obviously not gonna happen. Despite all my best intentions the time keeps passing by and next thing I know it has been 2 months since the last blog post. And since I am getting quasi death threats from our friends and family about the lack of blog posts I figured that it was time to do a new blog post. I am going to warn everyone up front that this is a rather long post (I mean it has been 2 months) so if you just want pictures you should scroll to the bottom.
We have experienced 4 "Holidays" since the last blog post: the Trips birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Out of everything I think that the trips probably enjoyed their birthday the most. We spent a lot of time debating what we wanted to do for their 2nd birthday and ultimately we decided to let someone else handle the setup/cleanup and had the party at the local Bounce House. For those unfamiliar with the Bounce House franchise, it is basically a huge room with several dozen inflatables including mazes, obstacle courses and slides. While there was a separate toddler area for kids the size of ours, the trips quickly migrated to the "big kid" area, especially the slides. Ryan had the most fun and bravely climbed up a couple of the large slides all by himself. The party was also the first time that the kids actually participated in opening their presents which was fun to watch and was also a foreshadowing of what to expect at Christmas. We had several relatives come down including my parents and Julie's brother and sister-in-law.
With everyone down for the party, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday. We followed that up with an awesome dinner made and served by our neighbor "Grandma J" in what is becoming an annual tradition on the day of the triplets birthday party. GJ also made us a fabulous breakfast the next morning for which we were extremely grateful.
Christmas was a lot of fun this year although it was a little strange having 3 kids who still have no concept of Christmas is about (both the true meaning or the Santa and presents stuff). However they REALLY enjoyed all of the decorations. Our daily trek to the neighbor's house to look at Halloween decorations was replaced in December with a daily trek to look at the Christmas decorations. Between the lights, moving reindeer and life size candy canes, the boys didn't know what to do. Every time we drove out of the neighborhood the boys would say "bye candy canes". It was pretty funny.
December was a busy month with cookie making, playing music at multiple church services, shopping, wrapping, and playgroup parties, not to mention just the normal routine with triplets. We spent Christmas day at home as we plan to do going forward and the kids seemed to enjoy it more this year than last. The boys really got into the unwrapping this year and Nadia was overwhelmed by the amount of paper laying on the floor to be picked up and trekked through the house. The best part about this age is that the kids never noticed that most of their presents were used toys we got at consignment stores. Heaven help us when the Christmas lists start with video game systems, bikes, etc...
The day after Christmas we travelled to MD to visit my family and had another wonderful time. My family has always been a big Christmas family and this year was no different. My mom's new house was decorated to the max in the same way as my nostalgia recalls from my younger years. Surprisingly the kids were very good about not touching the huge Christmas tree in the family room and they really enjoyed receiving even more presents and being chased around the house by my brother. We got to see all of my immediate family and eat more food then anyone should, even on a holiday.
The biggest surprise of the trip was Andrew's escape from his pack n' play. After two years of solitary confinement in a crib or pack n' play, Andrew finally had enough. Our fears were ultimately confirmed when we got home and Andrew promptly climbed out of his crib on the first night back in about 15 seconds. Our current living situation does not lend itself well to toddler beds as we don't really have a room that can be completely toddler proofed so I quickly sought answers to the jailbreak dilemma. After finding out that crib tents have been basically banned in the U.S. (which I think is pretty funny since MANY products with far worse safety records are still in frequent use...but I digress), we settled on two final steps to take before accepting that it was time for Andrew to graduate to a big boy bed. First I spent an hour moving cribs around so that we could use the crib with the highest side in Andrew's room. I also lowered the mattress in Andrew's crib to the lowest possible height which involved completely disassembling the crib and drilling new screw holes for the mattress support. My sense of accomplishment was quickly squashed when Andrew climbed out of the crib in about 10 seconds despite the modification.
Not to be defeated, we tried one last thing, a sleep blanket. Basically a sleep blanket is a wearable blanket that zips up to enclose the legs of the child wearing it. It is generally meant to keep kids warm when they won't use a regular blanket but I also found numerous parents who recommended them for helping to prevent crib escapes. Basically the sleep blanket prevents the child from swinging one of their legs over the side of the crib because the legs are constricted to the blanket. It has also helped in our situation because it prevents Andrew from wedging his feet into the openings of the crib to climb out because the blanket is too slippery for him to get traction. We are going on two days of no escapes so hopefully the new precautions will keep Andrew in his crib a little longer. Thankfully Ryan loves his crib and actually asks to get IN his crib instead of trying to escape.
The pace of learning continues to accelerate as the boys are starting to say short sentences such as "I want milk" and "No touch the blinds/puddle/computer/whatever I told them not to touch that day". Andrew is the cutest as his comes out more like "No toucha da bum". Ryan can now count to 30 and can repeat the spelling of words that he has seen. We really think that he may have a photographic memory of which I would be very jealous. Only 19 more years until we can hit the blackjack tables! Nadia has also made a lot of progress over the past couple months. She learned to jump last week after watching her brother repeatedly jump on the bed and she has also been making lots of new sounds. It is only a matter of time before she starts to talk regularly.
Since the last blog post the triplets also had their 2 year check up at the doctor. Ryan continues to score in the upper 90% of height and weight for all kids (and is off the charts for preemies). At the checkup he was 32 lbs and actually used the big boy scale for the first time. Andrew and Nadia are also gaining weight and clocked in at 29 and 27 lbs respectively. Although we are finally looking forward to a year with no major medical procedures, there are a couple things that have been going on. Ryan has had and continues to have a couple tests to determine if he has a swallowing/esophagus problem as he occasionally throws up for no reason. He had an "upper GI" test last month and he has a "swallow study" this coming week. Nadia had her annual thyroid test done and it came out a little high which is a common issue with kids with Down Syndrome. She has to go back in six months for another test. Andrew thankfully has not had any major ongoing medical issues but he did have an accident that resulted in yet another call to 911. Everything is all right and in hindsight it was a bit of an overreaction to call 911. It is also probably not good that upon entering the house, the responding emergency paramedic said "wow they are much bigger than last time I was here". For those keeping score the current tally is:
Number of times 911 called pre-triplets = 0
Number of times 911 called since beginning of triplet pregnancy = 5.
Well if you actually read to this point, congratulations, here is your reward - pictures!
"This toddler area is great and all...but where are the serious slides..."
"My shirt says it all"
Nadia makes a new friend
How to lose 3 kids in 10 seconds...
Ryan shows off for the ladies...
Angela gets a B+ for this photobomb
Right...like we'll get them to look at a camera while they have cupcakes...
"We each had our own CAKE last year! What's with this carrot cupcake crap?"
Grandma Waskey has a lap full of toddlers
Aunt Annie with the wild things
"I thought Mommy said she wasn't going to make us wear matching outfits?"
"Who is this Santa guy and why am I training to be him?"
"Welcome to the gun show...admission is free..."
The boys play with their new toys while Daddy sets up the dinner (card) table
Ryan drops his first F-Bomb...
Mommy got her hair chopped off while Nadia's is getting pretty long
"Pass the 'nog pwease"
Andrew contemplates why it is that felt sticks so well to felt
Our final option to keep Andrew in his crib at night...
Seriously? We got five kids on a couch and everyone has their eyes open and no one is screaming? Do we get an award or something? (The other two are cousins Ally and Avery)
Lazy husbands in training
Nadia finds a comfy Uncle Mike to nap on
It's all fun and games until someone breaks an angel...
"So about that cookie..."
Andrew shows his serious side
Despite being bribed with animal crackers, the triplets had no interest in taking a nice Christmas picture
How is FAO Schwartz still in business?
Grandpa Waskey gives Ryan some advice about running a train
It's a tunnel of cuteness!
And finally...a typical afternoon at the Waskey household...
