Beach Baby

With the arrival of spring, Avery is practicing her beach pose. She is in the process of getting ready for summer and this includes the beach babe pose.

Choo Choo!!! All aboard!

Our search for a wagon is over. Grandpa Howatt was quite eager to get them a wagon so he could buzz around the neighborhood. But instead of buzzing he will be choo chooing all around. I found a triplet wagon at Mini Circuit Kids in Toronto and it looks like it is going to be a perfect strolling solution. Its called the Choo Choo wagon & trailer. Each kid has their own compartment with a drink holder. Grandpa couldn't wait to assemble it yesterday. Once all the assembly bugs were worked out, he had all 3 of them sitting in their respective compartment.

Well we definitely found out who is going to be our speed freak, and its not who you would expect. One would think Everett, being Jason's offspring, he would feel the need for speed, but it was actually Grace who was banging on the side for Grandpa to go faster. I don't think I have ever heard her giggle so much. She certainly enjoys to wind blowing through her hair.

The Podee

Well after months of anticipation, the Podee has finally arrived. The Podee is a hand-free feeding system that enables the kids to basically feed themselves (with minor supervision for the girls) One day I was watching Oprah, and this crazy woman was on there with her triplets. Now the reason she was crazy was the fact that she was a single mom raising triplets on her own with no assistance. One of the nifty things she had was this Podee. She would prop the kids up in their bouncy chairs and give them their bottle and off they would go. I knew I just had to have them.

They arrived on Friday and I was anxious to start the testing immediately. We tested on Saturday at lunch and things went pretty good I think. Everett immediately knew what to do with it. Grace started off well but kinda pettered in the middle so we ended up having to feed her the old fashioned way. And Avery was way to grabby to be effective.

We are still in the test phase, but are opimistic of its success.

With the future so bright, ya gotta wear shades!

With the weather finally coming around Grandpa Howatt, myself, Riley, Presley and the kiddies have been hitting the pavement to get some much needed exercise. Loaded up with all our gear we head out for at least an hour or so. My goal is to tire the dogs, the kids and the grandpa so everyone gets a good night sleep.

Included in our gear of course are the sunglasses, and nothing says summer better than a cool pair of shades. Even the kids are looking like they are ready to hit the beach, well minus the bathing suits.

Move over Bono, here comes Grace, Avery & Everett.

Will someone get that girl a bed.

Avery has been simply exhausted lately, with the fast-paced lifestyle she has been leading. Eating fruits and vegtables, learning to sit on your own, rolling over, learning to stand unassisted, and sometimes a girl just needs some down time. I think she is trying to tell me she is feeling over-worked. Have a look at her video.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Nothing is funnier than posting bath-time photos.

This is another way we deal with fussy babies. We take their pants off, sit in them in the Bumbo and put wash cloths on their heads. Works every time.

Eagerly awaiting spring

All 3 are eagerly anticipating spring. They are anxious to head into the great blue yonder and explore the unknown. No more so than Everett. Strapped to his head is his safari hat, not only stylish but sun-safe as well. He can hardly wait to put on the rest of the matching safari outfit.

The Teenage Syndrome

Well it looks like Grace may be suffering from the teenage syndrome according to the Hearing Screening Facility. And what is the teenage symdrome you may ask? Well those who have teenagers will know exactly what I am talking about.

Background:

Over the past few months Grace had not been responding to any sound on her right side. I noticed this one night when I was bouncing a ball behind her and she didn't even flinch. I kept an eye on it for a few weeks, testing her every so often but still nothing. I voiced my concern with the Infant Development nurse, and she promptly made an appointment for us with the Hearing Screening program.

On Tuesday of this week we attended our appointment. When we went into the testing office, Grace & daddy went into the sound proof room, or what we thought was sound-proof. The testing began and Grace was doing what she was suppose to be doing. Watching for the cartoon monkey on the screen. As part of the reward system for looking in the direction of the sound, a monkey would appear on the screen doing all sorts of funny things.

Just then when the room was completely silent Grace let our the loudest fart I have ever heard from a child that small. She is known for her 'trucker' burps but the bum burps are usually left to Avery.

I could barely contain myself and I think even the doctor wanted to laugh.

Results of her test has proved what I think I have known all along. She has Teenage Syndrome. It typically does not occur until the child has reached a pre-pubescent age, so this case is quite rare. What happens is when the child reaches a certain age, they essentially stop listening to what their parents tell them. So imagine my surprise when the doctor told us she was afflicted with this syndrome.

It will take me a few days to come to terms with this but I think in given time I will learn to accept this and move on. Your support is greatly appreciated.

HAPPY EASTER

The Easter Bunny managed to find us all the way in Burlington. Thanks to Nanny Di for the sweaters for the girls and the Winnie the Pooh outfit. Thanks to Grandpa Howatt for the outfits as well as the new toys. When Grandpa takes Everett out, they will certainly be indistinguishable with his little dress shirt and matching sweater vest, oh and the matching pants too. Thanks to Auntie Shannon, who manages to spoil them at every opportunity. Thanks to Jeff & Diane for the singing rabbit, at least it gives us a new tune to hum.

A great big thanks to the Burlington Howatts for their hospitality over the weekend, I hope we didn't scare you off from the upcoming summer visit.

Thanks again!

Easter Dinner at the Burlington Howatts

After our delightful visit with G.G. we made our way back to Jeff & Diane's for Easter dinner. Diane's parents Pat & Dean Wellwood, as well as Matthew's new gal pal/roommate Steph. As usual Diane outdid herself with a fine turkey feast. It was the first time in a long time I actually got to sit down and eat a meal at leisure. There were more than enough baby handlers, so it was a nice little vacation sorta.

GiGi meet G.G

Saturday morning everyone awoke in relatively good moods despite our frequent mid-night risings. After we got the kids dressed in their best fed, Jeff, Grandpa Howatt, Auntie Shannon and the Simpsons headed over to Tansley Woods to surprise G.G. Howatt. Jeff & Diane knew we were coming, but we wanted to keep it a secret from G.G.

Jeff & Grandpa Howatt went in first, flowers in hand hoping to surprise her. She seemed to be surprised but was kinda 'Oh hi Rick, this is a nice surprise.' But once we all strolled through her door I think it was well worth the secrecy. She was absolutely flabbergasted when she saw all the babies for the first time.

All 3 of them certainly made themselves at home on G.G.'s bed, especially Grace, who acted like she has been visiting right from the beginning. Everett was mesmerized with G.G. and wouldn't stop holding her hand. Avery was, well Avery. Smiling the whole time.

We went to the Main Library so we could have some more room, but I think it was more for G.G. so she could do a little showing off. It was so nice to see all of G.G.'s friends, including Helen (who celebrated her 99th birthday on Friday)

We visited for about 2 hours, and the smile on G.G.'s face made it all worth while.

The 2 Princesses, the Prince & the Pea

Well now its time to head to bed as we have been travelling for a better part of the day. Jason & I have designed our very own triplet sleep system, and I think we may have to patent it. After much thought of how and where are we going to sleep the 3 amigos, we finally decided to go with a home-made remedy. We purchased a kiddie swimming pool from our local Canadian Tire and cut out a 4 ft diameter piece of 4" foam and made our own bed. We did some preliminary testing and results were favourable.

The first night was a little rough (well for Jason anyway), they had a hard time sleeping. But mostly from waking up in the night and not knowing where the hell they were. I think they might have actually enjoyed sleeping together again.

The second night (my night) went much better only waking for soothers. Some how Grace had managed to worm her way into our bed both nights, so daddy & I didn't get a fully rested sleep. For a tiny little girl, she is quite the bed hog. It almost puts Riley to shame. Almost.

Long Day's Journey into Night

Well its official, we have finally made our first journey outside of Sudbury. Over the weekend, Jason, myself, Grandpa Howatt and of course the chilin's went to Burlington to surprise G.G. Howatt. We started out on Friday morning around 9:30, far ahead of my anticipated departure time, I was quite excited. I thought 'Man, kids are fed, cats have food & water, van is packed, we are ahead of schedule, this should be a breeze'. Little did I know that every other Northern Ontario family was thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time. Everything went relatively well for the first 2 hours. Grace was her typical cranky self in the car not wanting to spend a second more tied down.
We decided to make our stop at the McDonald's in Parry Sound, to feed & change the chilin's, Grandpa Howatt, myself and Jason. It took us about 20 minutes to feed the kids but another 70 minutes waiting to change babies and wait in line for food. Not only did every Northern Ontario family who incidently left their respesctive homes at the same time we did, all decided to make their rest stop the McDonald's in Parry Sound as well.
Once everyone was fed & changed we headed out for the LONGER part of the drive. The second half went smoothly up until we hit just north of Toronto, then it was Avery's turn to be annoyed with the fact she was STILL in her car seat. She, however was a little more vocal with her discontent. There was not a song, toy or silly noise that would please that child.
We arrived at Jeff & Diane's at 4:30, probably the longest trip to Toronto I have ever been on. All in all everything went rather well considering it was our very first long distance drive.

A few pics

Just a few pics for your viewing pleasure.