The trio did really good with their grandparents compared to last year at this time. They were more open, loving, and willing to accept help although always wanting to "do it by myself" most of the time. They, of course, had their moments of weirdness and Leah refused to hug my Dad goodbye on their last night here. She kept saying she wanted to hug his leg but wouldn't even do that. Then her next suggestion was that she'd hide under her blanket in her bed and he could hug her that way. Whatever.
Other activities with Grandma 'Melsom' included lots of book reading, making cookies, doing chores, library story time, sewing rice bags, and playing at the splash park. It was really funny because the kids were totally enamored with the sewing machine, making it very apparent that I've never sewn in front of them. They were making me look really bad. :) Of course all my sewing is done while they're sleeping so hopefully Grandma believed me. With it being so hot, we put the rice bags in the freezer all day and the kids get them when they go to bed and they LOVE them. They each got to pick out their favorite (leftover) fabric so the bags are especially special. But after another hot Texas day, they are certainly nice and cold and fun to play with. Those bags have cut down on a lot of pre-bed drama for me because the kids are happy to jump up in their beds in order to get the bags.
Then Gramps came. The first thing the trio wanted to do with Gramps was have him bury them in blocks. So he accepted the challenge and did pretty good. With Gramps around we went on morning walks, played in the rain, jumped on the tramps at JumpStreet, and swam in the pool. He even had time to build me a curtain rod shelf to go over our french doors. I have yet to fill the shelf but I love love love the new look and how it adds so much to our family room.
My parents had quite the Texas experience this time around. Knowing they were coming I turned our AC down to 78 so it would be nice and cool for them. The house felt great the whole week my mom was here and a couple days into my Dad's' visit. Then one afternoon the house was just soooo hot. There was barely any air blowing through the ducts and the AC had been running for hours and hours. So I went outside and one of the hoses was completely frozen along with the inside of the unit. Yikes! We turned off the unit, sprayed it down with the hose, turned up the house temp, and waited a couple hours. That seemed to do the trick! Our 30+ year old AC just doesn't operate efficiently at anything below 80 degrees inside. So we went back to the normal 81 setting and everything was just fine. For us at least but I think Mom and Dad were hotter than normal. Then to top it off, power to the neighborhood went off one afternoon for about 4 1/2 hours! It was a toasty 100 degree day too. Horrible. We ended up at the mall for dinner (no power to cook and didn't want to open fridge) and luckily when we got back the AC was back up and running again. Needless to say, I think Grandma and Gramps were happy to go home to some cooler weather in Idaho. :) We did beat the heat that week by swimming at the friend's pool and everyone had a GREAT time. The trio even topped off their pool party with a little underwear party in the hammock. The nice thing about swimming in a friends pool is that we don't have to obey social standards of dress for the kids after getting out. Underwear only!
The fun just keeps on coming! I signed the trio up for a few recreation center classes. A sequencing/patterning class, an art class, and a tumbling class. Because their birthday falls at the first of September, they will be the oldest in their class when they eventually start Kindergarten in 2016. That feels forever away! I hate that they won't have anything structured until that point so this fall I wanted to start with something simple but hope to do some more academic based classes in the future through the rec center. For now I think it's just good for them to learn to listen to a teacher, follow instruction, take turns, sit quietly, etc... So we took a picture on the step of their first day of pre-pre-preschool.
The class was not what I expected and was pretty much a glorified play date but the trio had fun so I guess that's all that matters. I'll ask more questions next week. I just kept thinking the teacher was actually going to start doing things related to the theme of the class but it never happened. Oh well.
All the while my parents were here, Clark was actually out of the country. So although it was a bummer they couldn't spend more time with him, I was so happy to have help and company while he was away. It could not have worked out more perfectly. We sure were happy for him to come back though and with his return flight being delayed two hours, we were all getting anxious. So Grandma and Gramps kept the trio busy by burying them under all the pillows in the house.
Then finally Clark arrived and got to settle down back on his own couch and snuggle up with the kids. The trio was so giddy we decided to take some pics because they were actually all smiling on cue. My parents were flying out that next morning (the kids' birthday) so we planned to celebrate with dinner, rice krispies, and presents that night.
In true Rudd fashion, each child had their own letter-shaped krispie and this year we sang to each child individually. They loved that and we could tell they felt so special. However, I'm so disappointed because all the pictures are HORRIBLY lit.
Gramps bought some ice cream for the celebration and Zachary was over the moon about it. Loved it. Ate it right up. The others enjoyed it too but Zachary was just too funny. Then it was time for gifts and of course the trio disappeared to go play after that. It was a really fun evening which was topped off by a special framed Jesus collage that each child received once they were in bed. Zachary and Leah sleep with the frames under their pillows while Caleb's is on his book shelf. They love their pictures and talk about them several times a day. One day during nap Leah started screaming/crying so I ran in there and she had taken apart the whole back of the frame. She thought it was broken and was in tears. It was sweet. We fixed Jesus right up!
We started out the trio's actual birthday by sadly saying goodbye to Grandma and Gramps. I thoroughly enjoyed having them and appreciated all their help and company. We had a great time and I was just so glad to not be all by myself for two weeks. We were sad to see them go and reluctantly waved goodbye and blew kisses from the sidewalk.
Once they were out of sight, Clark busted out the trio's big birthday surprise. No bounce house this year (although I sold that to pay for this year's gift). BALANCE BIKES! Oh ya! What's not normal about coming around the corner with three identical bikes in your hands?
Let's just say the first ride was pretty painful, both for my back and also my sanity. It took an eternity to get to the end of the street and the kids were whining on the way back that they were tired. Apparently there is a steep learning curve with these bikes and if we stick with it daily, we'll start to see results about day 14. Improvements in balance, forward motion, and movement of the bike. We're on day six right now and although Leah seems to be making the slowest improvements, we have definitely seen changes and all the kids are way more confident than the first day. Confidence by itself helps the whole process. So we're excited to keep going with the bikes and the kids love going out each day.
The next fun outing for their birthday was a trip to Once Upon a Child for the Halloween sale. These are all used costumes I got for $4-$8 each and we came home with about six. I scored and found a Jessie outfit which looks hilarious on Leah because of her big belly. She LOOOOOOOVES it and wants to wear it all day even though it's made out of horribly hot fabric. The boys attached themselves to a spiderman, Captain America, and a Transformers costume. I did find a Buzz costume but surprisingly that has not been a hit. Not sure why. Leah also received a beautiful Princess dress from her cousin Ani. She walks around so carefully in it and talks about how Ani gave it to her. The boys like to dress up in their costumes and save Princess Leah from the fire-breathing dragons! The best is when Leah puts on the Princess shoes and the Jessie outfit. Can't beat it.
And just to really milk all the birthday fun we could, we skyped with Gram and Papa in California and opened up a gift (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) that arrived on the doorstep a couple hours earlier (perfect timing), opened up more cousin gifts from North Carolina (THANKS CALHOUNS), and had one last pizza party at a ward friend's house that night, Michael and Marisol Ellett. Pizza, silly string, balloons, etc... It was an awesome day. I hope the trio remembers some of this and remember how much they are loved by family and friends.
And closing up our conversation about fun, we've had LOTS of potty training fun around here (sarcastic tone). Grandma Nelson was probably glad not to talk about poop or have to look at poop again when she left. We had several poop celebrations while she and my Dad were here along with many accidents. The two boys are completely trained day and night. Caleb's learning was super slow but he transitioned to full-time underwear while Grandma was here. I think he liked the extra praise and wanted to show off. Leah.....I'm still working with her. She really really really struggles with the poop stuff. Holds it for days at a time, refuses to walk to the potty, screams when I try to make her, and cries that she's scared/nervous when it actually happens. Believe me. I've tried everything. I even recorded her right after she went poop one day to capture how excited she was. She said she felt so good and was so happy she did it (tears running down her cheeks at the same time). Watching that video hasn't even helped. Books, miralax, suppositories, bribery, taking away toys, etc... I figure it'll just snap one day and not be an issue but right now it is a HUGE issue. One that causes me a great deal of stress. I try not to get caught up in it and just let her do her thing but it's so hard. I get anxious and frustrated and feel like I have to watch her all the time. I'm going through 10+ pairs of underwear some days. Like I said, lots of fun. Having triplets in general has aged me but all this potty training stuff has definitely added some wrinkles and gray hairs.
Other than that, we are looking forward to year four and have lots of fun things planned. The kids are so much more mobile now and we can implement chores, discipline techniques, and new learning approaches. Clark LOVES this age with the kids so I'll try to soak up as much of the joy as I can without letting the other stressful stuff get in the way. Here's a little information about the kids right now so I can remember this time in our lives.
THREE YEAR OLD INTERVIEWSOther than that, we are looking forward to year four and have lots of fun things planned. The kids are so much more mobile now and we can implement chores, discipline techniques, and new learning approaches. Clark LOVES this age with the kids so I'll try to soak up as much of the joy as I can without letting the other stressful stuff get in the way. Here's a little information about the kids right now so I can remember this time in our lives.
Favorite Toy
Caleb: Planes
Zachary: Planes
(Caleb and Zachary were playing with planes prior so this might be a little biased)
Leah: Mom...she is special
Favorite Song
Caleb: Nephi's Courage
Zachary: Child of God, Come Little Leaf
Leah: My Heavenly Father Loves Me
Favorite Color
Caleb: Green
Zachary: Red
Leah: Pink
Favorite Thing About Mom
Caleb: She plays toys in my room with me
Zachary: When she doesn't yell and when she wrestles me
Leah: She watches movies with me
Favorite Thing About Dad
Caleb: Plays trucks with me
Zachary: Wrestles
Leah: Wrestles me
Why You Are Excited to be Three
Caleb: To play with my dump trucks more
Zachary: Getting marshmallows
Leah: Get to eat birthday treats
Favorite Place to Go
Caleb: Store
Zachary: Airport
Leah: JumpStreet
Favorite Movie
Caleb: Toy Story
Zachary: Nemo
Leah: Nemo
I started praying for myself in front of the kids that I wouldn't get angry or yell at them and that the Spirit would be in our home. Then they started saying it in their prayers and now it's apparently one of Zachary's favorite things about me....when I don't yell. In Leah's prayer she says, "please bless mom not to yell or scream or get mad...." Then I add, "please bless Caleb, Zachary, and Leah to obey." :) Pretty comical. For Clark they just pray he will wrestle them and drive home safe. Our
favorite family story time books right now are Franklin the turtle
books, Dr. Suess, Bearenstein Bears, and any books with lessons on how
to treat other people kindly (dealing with lots of
fighting/hitting/stealing as siblings and being scared of socializing
with new people). The kids especially like to watch their favorite
books animated on Netflix or DVD. I'm surprised none of them said Bolt
was their favorite movie because they have incorporated Bolt, Penny, and
Dr. Calico into their very beings. Some days Caleb will not allow us
to call him Caleb....only Penny. Whenever someone is in trouble or
hurt, calling them by their movie names always makes them feel better.
When they play pretend, they immediately fall into those characters. It
really is the cutest movie but surprisingly enough, they don't like to
sit and watch it. They just like the characters. Anyway, enough about
that. They've just discovered they love eating corn from the cob and
have a ball when I serve it for dinner. One day I walked out of the
kitchen to clean up because they were all eating so quietly, the next
thing I know cobs are being chucked all over the kitchen, kids are
laughing hysterically, and there is slimy wet corn EVERYWHERE. Doors,
walls, the fridge, chairs, the ceiling even. I was only gone a couple
minutes. Needless to say, they all had to sit against the wall and
watch me clean it up which took FOREVER. Whenever I cough, yawn, or
sneeze, Caleb is the first to respond making sure I'm ok and not feeling
sick or tired. Leah HATES to play alone which is why she mentioned me
as her favorite toy. Having quiet time in her room is the worst thing
EVER in her life. Zachary loves to make everything a game whether its
trying to punch numbers on my phone while I'm texting, or poking my
cheeks while we pray at night, or repeating everything I say while I'm
giving directions. It usually makes me frustrated but can turn into a
good laugh if I let it. This time in our lives is pretty chaotic and crazy. I do want to remember that part. But mainly when I look back at this time after the kids are grown, I just want to remember that it was FUN.
No comments:
Post a Comment