How Boys Do Ballet

Today was the boys' third ballet class. I'll bet it was the first time Miss Johanna had to tell any of her students to stop body slamming each other.

But that's how boys (at least MY boys) do ballet.

Last week they were having a competition to see who could do the best piroutte. Understand that this had nothing to do with form. It has to do with enthusiastically flinging oneself around as many times as possible before falling down giggling madly.

I heard them counting to see who was turning the most times and walked down the hallway to check it out. Since none of them can really count, the competition quickly turned into an argument which nearly came to blood before I broke it up.

It ended with all of them sitting in time out for hitting and all pouting about how they turned "eleventy times" and did the best.

Somehow when I had three boys I never envisioned refereeing ballet.

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Let's Ride The "Alligator"

I love, love, love hearing three-year olds talk, especially to each other when they don't know I'm listening. Amelia was funny at this age, and the boys are too.

The boys regularly have conversations that crack me up. And I often can't bring myself to correct things they mispronounce. It's just too cute right now.

The other day Isaac, Alex and Sam were playing in Amelia's room when she was off to school. I was putting towels away in the hall closet when they started talking about going to the childrens' museum.

First there was some negotiating over who would drive. Isaac won.

Then there was a lot of fast conversation about what they would see first when they got there. There was no agreement.

Then I heard Alex yell, "Time to get in the alligator!"

When I peeked in, all three of them were standing in the closet, facing out. They closed the door and chatted while they waited for the "alligator" to take them to "lebel four." (Or "lebel pour," if you're Alex.

Pretty soon someone binged like the elevator had reached the right floor. Then there was an argument about whether or not they were really there yet. Then they opened the door and came out ready to explore the museum.

It will be a sad day when they stop saying things like ""alligator"and "cimmanon" and "fwuit." So for now I'm enjoying it while I can!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

Are They Sisters?

Almost from the time the boys were born, Amelia has asked for a sister. In fact, more than once she has asked for three!

Well, as it turns out, she doesn't need to ask any more.

That's right.

Wait.

What?

You think I'm...?

Heavens, no!

Turns out these guys are happy to stand in:



P.S. I know they'll hate me for this one day, but I'm just documenting life around here. They are the ones making it up as we go along!

© Trippin' Mama 2012

The Dress-up Dilemma

If you've been reading the blog for any length of time, you know that we are big on pretending and dressing up around here.

My boys think nothing of wearing Amelia's princess dress-up clothes or even her everyday clothes and tights.

Lately, Alex has developed an obsession with a new blue knit dress Amelia got. It has ruffles around the bottom and he calls it his "Dora dress."

He's worn it every day for almost a week, and even fought with his sister over whose turn it was to wear it.

So the other day Alex was in that dress before breakfast. We were getting ready to go to the Y and he asked me if he could wear his dress. I hesitated.

That night at supper I posed the question to Jeff. "Would you let Alex wear his blue dress to the Y?" I waited for his answer before I would tell him how I had handled the situation.

Jeff thought about it a bit, and then said, "He's three. He can wear whatever he wants. It doesn't mean anything."

I thought that was very liberated of him, and I agreed 100 percent.

Which is why I told Alex he couldn't wear his dress to the Y.

Yep, that's right. I said "No."

I didn't explain my answer to Alex, but the reason I said no is because I was afraid that someone would look at him and say, "You're a boy. You shouldn't be wearing a dress."

And I didn't want anyone to take that away from him.

Alex is three, and he should have the joy of playing dress up without worrying about what others think.

How about you? What would you have done?

© Trippin' Mama 2011

I Do It Myself!

We are firmly in the classic three-year-old stage of wanting to do everything "by myself!" That's generally a good thing for me, since I can use all the help I can get.

It can also be exasperating. For example, when you're trying desperately to get everyone out the door and someone insists on doing something by himself, but is taking FOREVER to get it done. Then you try to help without him knowing you're helping and he realizes it and gets mad and starts all over again, so it takes even longer.

Well one of the big new skills they boys are trying to conquer is putting their underwear on all by themselves. (Underwear! Can you hear the angels singing? I'm so happy about this, even if it takes forever for them to do it themselves!)

If the underwear are inside out, it's a lost cause. They can't figure out how to right them. Usually they just choose another pair from the basket in the bathroom and leave the previous pair on the floor. Which leads to a lot of extra laundry. But I'll take it over poopy pants any day!

Anyway, the boys almost always put their undies on backwards. I understand why they do this: They want to see the picture of Lightning McQueen or Buzz Lightyear, and the big picture is always on the back, not the front. I keep telling them the picture goes on their bottom, but it's apparently not sinking in.

So today I tried a new technique. I pointed to the front of the undies and said, "See? Your winky goes in this little pocket."

As soon as I said "pocket" I knew I'd made a mistake. We love to put things in our pants pockets.

Not two minutes later I caught Alex trying to stuff something in the "pocket" of his undies.

I thought he had a car in his hand so I said, "That's not for cars, buddy."

He showed me what was in his hand and replied gleefully, "It's not for cars. It's for coins!"

That gives a whole new meaning to the term, "Family jewels."

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Three-Year-Old Version Of The Swirly

So I posted this story on Facebook the other day, but I have to capture it on the blog for posterity.

Yesterday I walked into the kitchen and found Alex standing there with a wet head. I said, "Buddy, what happened?"

Alex said, "Isaac was brushing my hair."

I didn't think much about it, since we usually use a detangling spray on Amelia's hair and the boys sometimes spray their own hair if we leave it lying around.

Then I walked into the bathroom and found Isaac holding the toilet brush which he was dipping in the toilet Alex had just peed in.

Then it dawned on me. Isaac BRUSHED Alex's hair.

Arrrgh!

I told my mom the story later and she wanted to know what I did when I found them. I told her I dried Alex's head, took the toilet brush away and put them down for their nap. She said, "Without washing his hair!?"

Yes, without washing his hair. Honestly, it never occurred to me to wash his hair BEFORE nap.

Because it's NAP TIME. And we don't mess with nap time in this house. Especially after an incident like that, because when one boy scrubs another's head with the toilet brush, it's mama who really needs nap time.

Besides, I can always wash the pillowcase.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

It's About Testicles

The other day Alex came down the hallway crying, "It hurts! It hurts!" When I reached him, I found him all upset with his hand in his pants.

"What hurts, buddy?" I asked.

"It hurts!" he repeated.

"Does your winky hurt?" I asked.

"The pig hurts!"

What? The pig? You're two and you've named it?

I took him into the bathroom and took off his shorts and underwear. I couldn't see anything, but then Alex lifted up his winky and said, "It hurts! Get it off."

And I found myself staring at a pig sticker stuck on his testicles. No parenting book in the world addresses that.

"How did this happen?" I had to ask.

"Isaac put it there," Alex responded. "Get it off!"

Really? It seemed like a good idea to pull your pants down and let your brother put a sticker there?!? Well, here comes a lesson in poor choices.

I didn't have time to soak the sticker off, so I decided to go the Band-Aid route: pull fast.

Alex roared, but having that sticker on must have hurt, because almost immediately he said, "Thanks, Mom." Then he pulled up his pants and headed back to play with his brothers.

But he has kept his pants on ever since.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Wedding: Let Them Eat Cake!

As much as Amelia was excited about being a flower girl and the boys were tickled to wear their handsome man clothes, the highlight of the wedding for them was the reception. Specifically, the sugar -- in the form of cupcakes AND cake pops.

When the kids laid eyes on the table full of goodies, I thought their heads were going to explode. Of course, they didn't want to eat anything else, and the bride, God bless her, told them they could have a cupcake right away.

So my kids ate sugar for supper and little else. What the heck. It was a special occasion, and they were happy!

First there were cupcakes:

Amelia

Sam

 Isaac

Alex

(You can see that we are big fans of frosting.)

And then there were cake pops!

 Sam

Isaac

 Alex & Mommy

The sugar high ended around 11 p.m. for the boys. And Alex woke up at 3:30 a.m. asking for breakfast We tried to persuade him that he didn't need to eat in the middle of the night, but nothing doing. I guess it's no surprise he was starving. I fed him a granola bar and a glass of milk and he went right back to sleep.

Cupcakes and cake pops. It just doesn't get any better than that!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

The Wedding: Three Handsome Boys

You may recall my struggles to find something dressy for the boys to wear to the wedding that A) came in the right sizes, and B) wouldn't break the bank.

Well, Sears delivered with these vest sets.

Sam, Alex and Isaac ~ Perhaps Isaac thinks they are the three tenors?

The boys got a kick out of their "handsome man clothes." I got a kick out of seeing them look so gosh darn cute. The black Converse sneakers were the perfect touch, and although I do love me some Velcro kids' shoes, it's almost worth it to tie these on all three pairs of feet. ADORABLE!

We didn't get a great picture of the trio, because as you can see, the boys were really hamming it up that day. I think (I hope!) the professional photographers had better luck than we did.

Sam gets in on the fun this time around!

More to come on our beautiful flower girl, as well as the highlight of the day: cupcakes!

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Pestilence and Floods

Yesterday Alex woke up and his face was so swollen he could hardly open his right eye.

Nope, his brothers didn't do this!

His whole face was swollen. Eyes, cheeks and across the bridge of his nose. It didn't seem to bother him, but it was severe enough to motivate me to drag him and the other kids to the doctor's office, in the pouring rain. Of course we had to park as far from the door as possible.

I wish I had video of the five of us trying to make our way to the door shuffling along under two umbrellas. A turtle could have beaten us by a mile. Umbrellas were of little use, especially the one Amelia was holding. We were soaked by the time we got there.

The doc thinks Alex had a severe reaction to some bug bites. We gave him a little Benadryl before nap and bedtime and the swelling was gone by this morning.

When we came home someone had an accident in their pants and when I went to toss the dirties downstairs I found water in the basement. Ugh.

Our crawl space flooded in the torrential downpours we've been having. Fortunately, it wasn't much water, but we still had to move everything out of our storage space to clean it up. And we've got someone coming out to dry out the crawl space tomorrow.

Seems there's a little too much truth in that adage: When it rains, it pours!

At least this time around Jeff didn't get electrocuted. But that's a story for another day.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

A Bedtime Conversation

One of the pluses of having to police bedtime for the boys is getting to hear their conversations with each other. This is what took place the other night when I was sitting quietly in the rocking chair to make sure they stayed in bed.

Alex: Tomorrow we'll get to go to another crade.

Isaac: Not "crade." Pah-rade. Say pah-rade.

Alex: (Very mater of factly) Crade.

Isaac: NO! PAH-rade. Say PAH-rade.

Alex: I said "crade."

Isaac: (Yelling impatiently) NOT CRADE! PAH-RADE!

I guess we know who isn't going to be the teacher around here!

The conversation continued.

Isaac: I like the race car dribers.

Alex: Yeah! We could dribe race cars.

Sam: Yeah! And we could be a marching band.

Alex: Yeah! I lub marching bands.

Then after a long pause, Isaac piped up: "I want to stand on a motorcycle."

I don't know what was said after that. I was too busy saying another "Hail Mary" to listen.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

OK, Maybe We Did Start The Fire

Whew! I didn't mean to keep you in suspense about our fire for nearly two days, but sometimes (OK, most of the time) things are a little crazy around here.

So about that fire...

Usually my stove looks like this:

See? No knobs at all. That's because the knob locks make it easy for little hands to pull the knobs completely off the stove. Ever since the day Jeff had to bring home pizza for supper after I spent more than an hour hunting unsuccessfully for a stove knob, I just keep the knobs in a drawer.

But the night before the fire, I made supper for the adults after the kids were in bed. I left a knob, in its lock, on the stove. 

It was a typical morning around here. I had gotten the newspaper and was standing at the stove, which is on a peninsula overlooking our kitchen table. I was reading the newspaper and chatting with the boys while they ate their breakfast.

Then I made the mistake of being human and having to pee.

I left the newspaper on the stove, and went to the half bath less than 10 feet away.

I heard the boys running around the kitchen jabbering. Then I heard them say, "Fire! Fire!"

I didn't think much about it. We're in a big imagination phase around here, and the boys are always talking about monsters, volcanos, flying robots and the like. And no one was screaming or sounded panicked.

Then I thought I smelled smoke. Honestly, I was sure I was imagining it, but I opened the door of the bathroom to check. I saw two-foot high flames on the stove. The burner was red hot and my newspaper was on fire.

I almost killed myself trying to get off the toilet and extricate myself from my pants.

Then I raced, bare-bottomed, to the cabinet with the fire extinguisher while yelling at the boys to move back and sit down.

Unfortunately, like every cabinet in my house, the cabinet with the kitchen fire extinguisher is locked. Those magnetic Tot Locks really work! I nearly tore the door off the hinges before I spied the kitchen tongs. I grabbed the tongs, picked up the flaming paper and threw it into the kitchen sink where I doused the fire with water.

News flambe, anyone?

The I turned around and said to my three very wide-eyed boys, "That is why we never EVER touch the stove."

The boys were all quick to tell me what happened. As it turns out, Alex can now open the stove knob locks. He happily demonstrated his new skill and told me, "I make fire, Mommy!"

That's great honey, but this isn't the Boy Scouts. We don't give badges for that.

Alex had a small blister on one of his fingers, so we headed to the hall bathroom for a stern lecture and a Band-Aid. As I was tending to his injury I suddenly heard sirens.

I panicked, thinking one of my neighbors had seen smoke and called the fire department, and I was about to greet them sans pants.

I scrambled out of the bathroom in a desperate bid to retrieve my pants before the firefighters arrived only to find Isaac and Sam playing with their very realistic-sounding toy ambulance and police car.

Since there was no harm to property or children, this story is one we can chuckle about, but I am very,very aware how lucky we were that no one was hurt. Though I may be traumatized for life. I even put all the boys in their cribs later that day when I had to use the bathroom again.

Alex, Sam and Isaac

I told Jeff later that the whole thing never would have happened if I were a man.

Because if I were a man, I would have taken the newspaper to the bathroom with me.

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Wordful Wednesday: Life with Three Toddlers

Here's a snapshot of what life with triplet toddlers is really like.

Today I had Isaac on the potty after he finished his lunch. Sam and Alex were still eating, safely contained in their highchairs where they couldn't get into any trouble.

Or so I thought.

In the two minutes we were in the bathroom, Alex decorated himself with his applesauce.

He was WAY more pleased about it than his mama.

Play along with Wordful Wednesday at:

© Trippin' Mama 2011

Warning: Helmets May Be Required

A couple weeks ago I heard the boys giggling and giggling as I unloaded the dishwasher, so I went to check it out. They were all sitting side-by-side on one of their little couches doing this:

Further proof that we should wear our bike helmets at ALL times...

Sam and Alex

Isaac

...even when we're hanging out in our jammies!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Sorry, The Kitchen Is Temporarily Closed

Sorry for the lack of a recipe post today friends. I know you'll all understand that with THREE birthday boys in the house today (and one tomorrow, too!) I'm too busy keeping up to get to the blog.

Today I took the four kiddos to the Children's Museum and we had a little birthday dinner with friends. We Skyped Grandma and Grandpa D. for gift opening, sugared the boys up, and then listened to them party for more than an hour after we put them to bed in their room.

I am tuckered. The museum trip alone was enough to do me in for the day...or the week. Throw in boys fighting over new toys (all of which make noise, by the way) and whew! The boys got police cars, ambulances and musical instruments. Our play room sounded like a twelve-car pileup involving a marching band.

I suppose could post the recipe for the boys' birthday dinner, but I don't think any of you really need instructions for making frozen peas and Kraft macaroni and cheese!

I promise I'll make it up to you once I've recovered.

Christy

© Trippin' Mama 2010

The Escape Artist Is at It Again

Remember Alex's Houdini act with his pajamas?

Well, it turns out he's perfected it.

This is what we found the other morning when we went to get the boys up. Alex was in the crib, and his pajamas were on the floor. Thankfully he left his diaper on.

Here was his explanation for what happened:

From now on we'll be using a safety pin on the zipper of Alex's pajamas before bedtime!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Getting Soaked in St. Louis

Yes, still more adventures from St. Louis. I told you you'd get the full scoop. It's just taking me a little time!

Sunday morning our early birds were awake at their usual time, which was 6:00 a.m. in St. Louis. So we fed the kids breakfast in the room and headed out at 8 a.m.

Unfortunately, there's very little open on a Sunday morning at 8 a.m. Fortunately, St. Louis has a great park, Forest Park, home of the St. Louis zoo. Since we were planning to go to the zoo Monday, we decided to explore the park instead. After all, it doesn't take much to make our campers happy. A playground with a few swings and slides will do.

We found a great playground. As my kids played on the slides I watched out of the corner of my eye as some other kids turned on the water fountain. The day was already getting hot and I knew we were headed for the water before we left. Luckily I had thrown a dry change of clothes in the van for everyone, just in case.

We started by getting a drink from the water fountains, which was as entertaining as it was messy. We had a few fights over "HIT DE BUTTON!" But within minutes they were getting soaked and laughing and loving every minute of it!

I just tried to keep myself and the camera dry!

After our fun in the water we had a picnic in the park before heading back to the hotel for naptime. All of the kids fell asleep in the car, which undoubtedly contributed to the less-than-stellar naptime and two boys escaping from their beds!

While the kids were "napping" Jeff joined my sister and her family for the Cubs vs. Cardinals baseball game. By the top of the 8th inning I was ready for a drink. The boys and Amelia had a blast running around the room and going in and out of the closets, but I got tired of trying to keep them out of trouble pretty fast! I couldn't really take them anywhere by myself, but we did OK, thanks to a few videos, some new-to-us toys and our color crayons.

Once Jeff got back we hit the hotel pool. I have no photos of that. To hold my camera would have been to endanger my children's lives. It was all the two of us could do to catch three boys (all wearing life jackets) who had no fear of jumping in the water. Once we got them to take turns, the job got a little easier.

We took the boys out of the pool so we could give them a bath before supper, and Amelia stayed to play a little longer with her cousins. Just about the time we got the boys out of their life jackets, they all made a break for the water. My brother-in-law Kyle was the only one on that end of the pool, and when he looked up and saw what was coming, a look of sheer panic crossed his face. He stretched his arms out as far as possible, but Jeff and I grabbed the boys before they could get back in.

I laughed out loud at Kyle's expression. I recognized that look of panic. I've had it off and on for three years, ever since we discovered we were expecting triplets!

After a bath, a LOT of pizza and time playing with their cousins, the boys went down to sleep without a peep. And they slept all night. I can't say the same for Jeff. Early in the morning I woke up to find he wasn't in the bed. I went out to the sitting area to find him curled up awkwardly on a four-foot sofa. He said he was too sore to sleep. That was no surprise, after he spent almost two hours lifting 26-pound boys plus their wet life jackets out of the pool over and over and over.

Just one more reason this was a trip, not a vacation. Fun, yes, but a lot of work, too!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

It's All About The Shoes

Amelia has a lot of shoes. To be fair, many of them come from a friend, and she is the only girl in the house.

But as it turns out, Amelia is not the only one who likes to wear her shoes.

Alex shows off a nice summer sandal.

In fact, Amelia's shoes are the most sought after in the house. 

Isaac takes Amelia's heels for a test drive.

Almost every day I have to break up a fight over who gets to wear the hot pink Crocs -- and that's just among the boys!

 Sam proves that pink Crocs don't detract from the bad boy look.

I suppose this goes hand-in-hand with the hair bows and finger nail polish. It's just another one of the hazards of being a little brother to a big sister!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Must Be The Y Chromosome

What is it about the Y chromosome and remote controls?

The boys have discovered the couch and the remote controls in the living room (usually a no-kids zone). In the morning they all make a beeline there shouting "Memote! Memote!" They each grab a remote and sit on the couch as happy as can be.

You would think we could make them happy with old remotes, but somehow they know the difference between a working remote and a non-working remote. Seriously, I think this knowledge might be embedded on the Y chromosome.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Twenty Months Old And Taking The World By Storm

Today Sam, Isaac and Alex are 20 months old. Ironically, today I got an Explanation of Benefits from our insurance company for Isaac's birth. Yes, his birth. Twenty months after the fact. Hello? Glad they handled the actual delivery in a more timely fashion than the insurance and billing or I would have exploded.

For the record, Isaac's birth was $15,550.73. I wish I had the EOB for Alex's birth (which came within a couple months) and Sam's, which came right around their first birthday. I'm just curious if each boy's total was the same or not.

Anyway...I thought it was time for a quick update on what the boys are doing these days. So here's a peek at life at 20 months old.

***WARNING: Long post ahead.***

Sam

Sam talks the most of the three boys, though they all talk so much that it's kind of a fine dice. Everyone has a vocabulary of easily a hundred words, and they've started talking routinely in three- and four-word sentences. Sam is the one who repeats everything we say though. When we read to the boys Sam will repeat words and phrases as we go along.

He also apparently is paying more attention than I thought. The other day Sam walked up to a picture of the sun that Amelia and I had drawn with sidewalk chalk. He bent down, put his hand in the middle of the sun and said, "Circle."

What?

I didn't know Sam knew any of his shapes! I didn't even know he knew the word "circle." The next morning he pointed to the dots on his diaper and told me again, "Circle." Well, OK. I guess it wasn't a fluke. I think maybe Baby Einstein gets credit for that one.

Sam is not our best eater. It's tough to get him to eat fruits and veggies. He will eat bananas, sweet potatoes, avocados, mandarin oranges and grapes pretty consistently. Sometimes he'll eat a few blueberries or a couple peas, but mostly under duress. But if you put a plate of noodles or bread and peanut butter in front of him, look out! Sam's also big on chicken, yogurt (an old favorite that's new again around here), applesauce, and eggs.

Grace is not Sam's strong suit. The boy could trip over his own shadow! He loves to play in the sprinkler, dig in the dirt, and play on the swing. He still loves his baby doll, and often co-opts Amelia's My Little Ponies and dolls when she's not here. (Shhh! Don't tell.) He has recently developed an affinity for her Strawberry Shortcake doll, which he calls "coocake." Perhaps he sees a kindred spirit in a fellow redhead?

Isaac

Isaac is still very much a daredevil. He swings on the big kid swing and hollers for "more push" until he's going almost as high as the swing can go. He has a penchant for going down the slide head first, despite being told over and over not to do that. And Isaac likes to climb: on the window sill, the slide, the picnic table, the benches on the deck -- pretty much anywhere. We're sure he's going to love roller coasters as he gets older.

While Isaac is not quite the parrot that Sam is, he hauled out a five-word sentence the other day. He said, "I want that toy, please." I gave him the toy. Isaac was the first to start saying Sam's name ("Shammy"), and recently starting calling himself "I-man," which is what Jeff calls him most of the time. 

He's the best sleeper, often asking to go "night-night" at naptime and bedtime. And Isaac is attached to his blankie. He'll take a paci, but it's the blankie that really matters to him. I think poor Isaac often would like a little more sleep, but his brothers keep him awake in the evening and wake him up in the morning. (Alex seems to be the Jay Leno of the nursery around here, and Sam's still got an early morning streak.)  

Isaac is a good eater and can really pack the carbs away. He's usually the one who drives our mealtimes, since he's usually the first to ask to eat. Isaac is pretty good about the variety he eats, but really loves bananas, Kix, noodles, blueberries and hot dogs. The kid can put away more than an entire hot dog in one sitting.

But we have learned that our daredevil isn't fearless. Recently we were outside and Isaac suddenly stopped short beside the driveway and started to cry. He turned around and walked the other way, then came back and cried again. He was clearly scared, but I couldn't figure out why. I finally realized that he was scared of his shadow. We talked about it and waved at ourselves, and he decided it was OK, maybe. But even a few weeks later he still looks at his shadow suspiciously.

Alex

Alex is such a good sleeper now. I almost hate to put that in black and white, lest I jinx it! He rarely wakes up at night anymore, though we have gotten smarter and now put him down with multiple pacis. He often hosts the party in the nursery when we put the boys down at night, then when he has the other two all worked up he just goes to sleep.

When Alex is awake, whew! That boy has only two settings: "Off" and "ALEX!" He is an exuberant little boy. His big thing these days is to hoard things. If there are three pacis in the room he wants all three. If there are 17 pieces of sidewalk chalk, he wants all 17. He loves to do puzzles, but gets furious at his brothers when they try to play with the same puzzle. Alex will yell, "Share!" at his brothers when they take puzzle pieces, even though he doesn't want to share with them. I'm pretty sure they know it makes him mad, and that's why they do it. You should see Isaac grab a piece and run for it.

Alex is the best eater of the group. I think I could put anything in front of him, and he would eat it. He loves peas, sweet potatoes, cheese, and, of course, blueberries. When Alex is done eating, he's done. You'd better get rid of his tray fast, because he tends to start throwing his leftovers if you don't get to him soon enough. We're working on that.

"Outshide!" is Alex's cry almost as soon as we get up in the morning. He loves to be outside digging in the dirt, playing in the sandbox, going down the slide, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and pedaling the car up and down the driveway.  He wails when it's time to come in, unless I tell him he can sit on the potty or watch Elmo. (All the boys are big into Elmo right now.)

We've only been potty training for about two weeks, but Alex gets it the best. Of course, the reward for going on the potty is M&Ms, so it's no surprise my big eater would be the most motivated by that! The second time he used the potty successfully, Alex held out his hand for his M&Ms immediately. Now he runs to the cabinet where I keep the M&Ms and yells, "Nee-nees!"  

In general, the boys are busy, busy, busy every day. They are beginning to get longer and leaner and are starting to lose their baby chub. (Well, Sam and Alex anyway. Isaac never had any chub on him.) They surprise me every day with the things they do and say.

And that's just the way it should be.

© Trippin' Mama 2010