Always feel like I should be writing more. These are supposed to be five minutes of writing but it always turns out to be more. Also we are much busier now that Avery has arrived. Our "routine" with the triplets has been altered.

Avery our third daughter was born 8-9-10, I chose that date, (her actual due date was 8-11-10), so once it was going to be a scheduled c-section, why not choose a fun date.

Avery is very cute and is progressing extremely quickly, now 3 months, as if she wants to catch up to the triplets and be a set of quadruplets. She is different than the triplets in that at her two month appointment she was at the 62% for height and the 90% for weight, while the triplets were on the small side. She interacts great with a huge smile when you look at her. She is also unique from our other girls in that she has two dimples. Sleep is not yet ideal, and she wakes once a night 3-5 AM.

Darcy is very funny. She is extremely mothering, to Cooper, to her stuffed animal dog, "Woof-woof" that she sleeps with. Woof-woof is included in the bedtime ritual of story time. She even includes Woof-woof when the book has an activity, like feel Daddy' scruffy beard. Darcy is by far our best eater, least fussy, likes food and eats what we serve. The other night after dinner I was eating sorbet which she had previously tried and given the"no-like" thumbs down verdict. When I then offered some to her brother and sister and she saw how much they were enjoying it, she decided to give it another try. Immediately she told me, "Daddy sit down", and pointed to the chair next to her to ensure she would get more.

Cooper is funny and has become mister chatty Cathy. He is constantly talking -to others and to himself. He likes doing numbers before bed and has memorized which number is associated with an animal or object. He is in love with his blue cow, the same one her has had for more than 2 years. He has sucked the ears so much that the ears are threads and he is now doing brain surgery, having sucked two ear holes in the cow's "skull". Cooper does not like to eat. He refuses help when we sit down to eat and has to do it by himself, but he rarely complains of hunger.

Bryce is still Bryce. She is funny funny, an dis a challenge. She knows between right and wrong and often chooses the "wrong" choice as she loves the attention. Any attention is good. She also loves massages/tickles. She she was an infant she would hold her arms straight out in the air from a lying position as long as she was receiving "an arm massage" . Her eyes would glass over in pleasure. That went away for a while but has come back and before bed she asks for "tickles" and holds her arms out, and remains still just as when she was a baby.

2 Years Old

Wow I feel it has been a long time since I have had the time to write. Much has happened and the kids are great. Disciple: The kids respond very uniquely to being disciplined. Bryce when told she can't do something looks at you with a smile as if to say, "you've got to be joking -that's my move". She immediately changes her tone when the "punishment" of time-out or wearing her pj's backwards comes into the picture when she then realizes we are serious and blurts out, "Sssoooorrryyyy!, I ssssorrrrryyyyy". She had a streak where an apology was demanded of her quite frequently and in that period she was often heard practicing her "I'm sorry" multiple times over and over after we had put her to to bed. Cooper is a funny kid. When told he is not allowed to do something he reinforces your negative statement by seriously looking at you and shaking his head in total agreement. He generally is laid back but ignores the pleas to stop throwing food. Darcy likes to please and it is very obvious she hates to be reprimanded. When spoken to in a firm voice Darcy bows her head solemnly, is silent, and does not move for minutes, until she breaks down and tears pour down her cheeks, it is heart-breaking. I can't remember Darcy ever being put in time out.

Sky, Bye and NO:

Cooper still loves balls and all love balloons and kites. In fact they are all also big fans of all things in the sky including stars and the moon, birds and planes. Cooper has a sharp eye and points out all the birds he sees with a "bberrrddds". He chases the birds on the ground and is disappointed when they fly off. All the kids point to planes as they fly overhead and yell, "bye-bye" and Cooper waves to the plane. We are not sure where the "bye"bye" came from but it is funny. Speaking of "bye", Cooper does not get the concept. We encourage a lot of "bye-byes" from people as they are leaving. Generally, after the people have left the room and the door closes we hear Cooper give an energetic "Bye-bye". The girls are more in tune with the concept and when I am leaving to work I do not even have to say "Bye", but only say, "I have to get to work" and the girls give me a "bye-bye" with such enthusiasm I have to think they are excited to see me leave so that the real mayhem can begin. Cooper is very emphatic when he does not want something, and he has to respond in the negative. When Cooper says, "no", it can go on for 10 seconds and has a musical quality which his pitch rising and falling rising and falling a few times, "nnnnnNNNNNNooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooo". It is hard to capture in words, and I am trying to catch the beauty of his no on video, currently I only have a short spinet. Darcy is also funny with the word, "no". When asked if she wants kisses she says no, but she does not move and when she gets kissed a lot she laughs and laughs and laughs. I guess it is a mini game of chase.

Bryce likes to repeat what she hears. For example when playing "catch" I ask her to put her hand together and then say, "Ready"? She repeats "Ready"? with the inflection of the question mark. It is funny to hear your own words repeated back to you as they sound to a child.

They all are in the habit of saying "hear you go" when they hand you anything, but it really comes out as one word, "heayougo". This one was hard to figure out when they all first started saying it, but they persisted and we did figure it out.

Darcy is currently our most empathetic child. When she sees her siblings unhappy she tells us, "crying", and she often runs over to the crying child, bending over at the waist and neck and saying the panacea, a robust" Hi". She has also take to hugging with her little arms as a means of consoling, all super cute. Darcy is also our best eater especially of deserts. Once she realizes there is desert to be had she drops everything that she is doing, runs over and shows that she is ready by sitting down waiting, ( it is our habit to feed desert seated on the kitchen floor). Bryce is also a lover of deserts and soon after we are sitting Bryce and Darcy vie for supreme positioning to try to nab the ice cream sooner, and more often. Cooper is unique in that though he likes ice cream and cake, he generally comes over for a bite and then runs off to play while his sisters stay focused on the food.

Cooper has turned into our best sleeper in that he goes to cleep right away and rarely gets up at night. When Darcy is awake and we point out that Cooper is still in his crib sleeping she says, "Baby".

We have color coded their sippy cups and without telling them they will bring the sippy cup to their correct sibling. They are happy to help bring the milk to their siblings and in generally are happy helpers all around. They all throw their diapers out in the diaper genie and bring dirty clothes to the laundry basket. Darcy is very proud and she can be seen running around the corner happy as can be with laundry in both hands.

We have had an issue with nudity. Bryce likes taking off her clothes particularly at nap time, and it does not work out so well when we are not yet potty trained and there are occasional accidents. Bryce has even take off her diaper without removing her clothes. Darcy occasionally will follow suit. Sometimes Cooper tries but he gets frustrated and falls asleep to quickly. We tried to dress Bryce in multiple layers, but she would persist until she had her clothes off. Our friend Liz gave us an idea to combat the problem, to put her onsie pj's with a zipper on backwards. The solution worked. Though the first time we dress Bryce in her pjs this way, Darcy was completely naked sleeping in her crib. Though it is hard to get the pjs on this way she has not yet been able to reach the zipper now in the middle of her back. Bryce does not like seeing these pjs and we are transitioning back to normal pj wear.

Our Triplets; 19 ½ Months; 2010; Odd Traits

I am a little frustrated with technology. Audrey and I are on a cruise and I am typing in WORD on the ship. Generally when I write my blog I type directly into the “blog space” which auto saves religiously. After writing for a while the program crashed and I was not able to recover my writing which I was happy with at the time. I will now try to recreate what I was working on though my momentum was stolen with the crash.
Bryce likes to look at people eye to eye, literally. When seated at her level, Bryce likes coming at you from the side in slow motion with her eyes as wide as they will open, and stops an inch in front of your face. (Presently, she is just a close “looker”, not a close “talker”).
Darcy lets us know when she is tired. All of our kids are good sleepers but Darcy overtly lets us know it is naptime or bedtime. She has developed a few hints for us. Initially, she let us know by putting her thumb in her mouth. (Darcy only sucks her thumb when tired or while asleep). When she is tired she also looks for a blanket or piece of clothing on the floor and lies down, (more or less plops herself down), on it. And finally her best hint is when we ask if she is tired and wants to go nite-nite, with total conviction and seriousness she gives us her full body nod.