They grow up so fast

Today, before I brought the boys to Steve's jobsite, I had some work to do in the office. As I noticed it was rather quiet, I went through the house wondering why. There were all three boys in the master bathroom. Josiah had a razor and was putting it back in the toothbrush holder. So now I can say that my son, who is almost three, has started shaving. He has razorburn, and I have been applying cream to it all day... it really does hurt. But no cuts.

They grow up so fast, don't they?

And yesterday, Micah was hungry. By the time we were fixing dinner (spaghetti), and Micah found out what it was, he stuck to the stove and kept saying "faghei, faghei." Poor little guy. As soon as he knew the food was ready, he hurried to the table, started climbing into the high-chair, and awaited his next meal - EAGERLY! He ate more than I did.

Noah loves to pray at the end of the day. When it's bedtime, we all kneel around Micah's bed, put our hands together, and they try to recite along with me. (You don't know how hard it is to keep three little tykes focused enough to recite a simple prayer, but they're learning.) Noah says, "Now way, down wheep, down wheep, down wheep." Apparently, his favorite part of the prayer is down to sleep. I look forward to when they can say the whole thing. Then I'll have to figure out the next thing they can learn. It sure is cute to hear them mispronounce things. I must enjoy it while I can.

How to eat a donut

I knew there was a reason for that hole! Josiah, my oldest 2-and-11/12ths-year-old showed us the proper way to eat a donut. We had stopped at Krispy Kreme to get directions and other goodies. We got a dozen plain, glazed donuts that had recently come out of the oven. (We don't have a Krispy Kreme where we live, so they aren't as fresh.) Josiah puts his middle and index fingers in the center hole of the donut, takes a bite from the outside, and then turns it with the supporting fingers so that he can take the next bite. He continues until his donut looks like the cog of a gear. Then he shoves the rest in his mouth. (That's his second bite.) Amazingly he doesn't choke. We had a couple of leftovers to take home. He attacked the box, and when we took it away from him, he asked for "Mo circles".

The good news for Josiah is that he doesn't have any competition from Micah. Micah just doesn't like donuts, period. Noah, on the other hand, does... but not as much as Josiah.

Of course, as they usually do, the boys ran around the donut shop, having a good time, going up to every table and trying to give everyobody five. It didn't matter if they were just sitting down to a newspaper or to work, and just wanted to read in peace. These boys don't know anything about letting people have peace. They do know some things and are continually learning more. They have their own personalities and their likes and dislikes. So we know that Josiah is crazy about donuts. Noah likes anything sweet, but he just likes donuts, not LOVES 'em. Micah is particular about which sweets he likes - and for the most part, he doesn't like any bready, cakey kinds of sweets. And that includes donuts, no matter how they're eaten.

Chicklets at McDonalds

Yesterday was Saturday. We typically try to find something to do on Saturdays, but this Saturday we decided to hole up and stay home... until Josiah, Micah, and Noah started getting stir crazy. There's just something about being stuck in the house that you'd rather go someplace else. Well, it was around 6:30 in the evening, the sun was thinking about setting, and I mentioned to Steve, why don't we take the boys to the nice playground? The weather's cool, and there probably aren't too many people there. So I dressed the boys in a little sweatsuit each, we piled into the car and arrived at the playground at 6:50. The playground closes at 7:00. We kept driving, and the poor kids cried because they had seen that we intended to go to the playground but didn't. That was devastating to them. Micah and Noah cried, but Josiah was quiet. They settled down when we told them that we would go to McDonald's and they could play at the playground there. The nearer we got, the happier they were. When they saw the golden arches, they said "Fa fies!" and they were happy.

We parked the car, got them out and went into the play place. It was packed with kids. I had never seen so many children at that McDonald's at once. I went to place the order, and came back. The boys were busy at play. Some of the older children noticed that there were three of them, and started to try to round them up. They would tell Josiah and Micah to go here while some others got Noah. Then our boys would get tired of staying there and would go off to play. Then it was off to the hunt again for the other children. Their parents were in front of us and made light conversation for a while. In the mean time, most of the children that were there had left (with their parents), and there were just seven children there. (Three of them were ours.) Rounding up the triplets was a little easier then. We heard one of the girls holler through the holes, "Mommy, I got one of the chicklets!" (She was talking about Noah.) "Mommy," she said after Micah came into her compartment, "Now I have TWO chicklets!" We thought it was hilarious as she and her older sister kept calling the triplets - chicklets.

After a while, we took the boys home. They had fun, and were glad to be home. I read a story to Josiah, and he helped read it too. (It was called The Potty Train.) The boys seem to love anything with trains. I put the boys to bed shortly after that, and about a half hour later, Josiah woke up screaming. I jumped out of bed to get Josiah. He had a tummy ache (I still don't know why), so he spent the night with Mommy and Daddy. He did wake up feeling fine.

A day at the trains.

Ever since they learned how to say "Choo choo," Josiah, Micah and Noah love trains. They have been crazy about trains for two years now. They like Thomas and friends (an English television program about trains with faces), they like books about trains, and they love train sets. When we go to our local shopping village, the boys always want to go to Books-A-Million to play with the Thomas the Tank Engine set, which appears to be close to a complete set on a lovely train table.

A week ago, Steve had a job in Fort Meade, and while I came to visit him, we went to lunch and crossed a railroad track. There, by the crossing was a historic train that was donated to the historic society. It was an old diesel engine with a sleeper car, a dining car and a caboose. What a thrill for the boys! As soon as we said, "Let's go see the trains," they were off. It made a big enough impact that a little over a week later, when we told them this morning that we would go see the trains, they could hardly wait to get dressed. When we turned down the street where the train would soon appear, they started saying, "Choo choo! Choo choo!" before we could even see the trains. They knew where they were.

They climbed aboard the train and walked where they could. They walked along the tracks and used the loose railroad spikes to hammer loudly. They saw a local tabby cat and pet him. All in all, they had themselves a good time. We took plenty of pictures of the boys enjoying themselves, and here they are. (Well, some of them.)

Cartrip, A day making estimates

Yesterday, Steve and I had a few estimates we had to make for tree work and moss spraying. One of the estimates was in Lakeland, and the other two were in the Orlando area. Of course, we brought Josiah, Micah and Noah along with us. They love going out, exploring, meeting people, giving them five, and being curious.

At our first stop, Josiah kept telling the customer, "Wet my people go!" He had watched the Prince of Egypt, and he is ever the re-enacter. Now, any time he sees a movie that takes place in biblical times, the main character is Moses - even Jesus is Moses. To keep the boys out of Steve's hair, and to keep them from tearing up the customer's garden, I took the boys on a short walk. When we got back to the customer's house, we noticed that they had their front yard fully decorated for Halloween. There were tombstones, and coffin with a skeleton in it, black cats, floating ghosts, and more. The customer's wife was outside and offered to let the boys take a look at the Halloween stuff. Micah said "Devil bad" and pointed in the direction of the decorations. (I'm so proud of him.) When a lady asked what the boys would be for Halloween, I answered, "Triplets." When we got into the car, there was the awful stench of poop! We had to stop somewhere to change diapers. Steve suggested a place we knew the boys would enjoy... McDonald's. As soon as they saw the golden arches, here came the cries: "Fa Fies!" (french fries) Yes, they were excited. We parked the car, Steve ordered the food, and I brought the boys to the bathroom. Hmm, all three diapers were clean, but I still smelled poop. Well, it wasn't in the diapers, it was on the bottom of Noah's shoe and my boot. We both stepped in some doggy doo at the customer's house.

After the meal, we headed out for Orlando. We stopped for a minute at a friend of Steve's house. He had lost about 80 pounds since we had last seen him. He had his four-year-old granddaughter with him, and she immediately took charge of the triplets. She took Josiah by the hand and led him where she wanted. She brought the boys to the toy room (which they loved), and gave them crayons. (Word of advice - never let an army of children color without adult supervision.) Chloe came quickly and complained that the boys were coloring her room, so I hurried over to see Micah coloring inside a Tupperware box, and Josiah getting ready to color a storybook. I took the colors away from them, made sure they were not going to get into more trouble, and told the little girl to make sure she didn't let the boys get any more colors. Noah noticed the toy piano, and loved watching things light up on it.

After a short visit, we left, went to the next estimate, which was a quickie, and then went on to the last place. I called the customer to let him know we were almost to his place, and he told me that he would be about 40 minutes before he could get home, but he would call us in at the gate so we could go in. He told us about a playground by his house, which the boys were very glad for. We got into the playground and started on the merry-go-round, then the slides, then the swings. Micah calls the swing a "fing", and Noah calls it a "wing". They are getting more expressing, telling us that they want to get down, and Josiah loves telling his brothers to "come on" or "come here." For almost an hour, the boys played, and then we went to see the customer's house, which was on a lake. The boys had a ball running around, looking at sculptures, getting wet from the sprinklers, and throwing rocks from the garden into the lake. They had so much fun, they didn't want to leave. When it was time to leave, Noah whined, "peyoun, peyoun." (He wanted to go back to the playground.) The nice thing about almost-three-year-olds is that when they see something else they want to do, they don't mind not doing what they originally wanted to do.

Driving through Orlando to go back home, we stopped at a tourist souvenir shop to see if we could find any Lightning McQueen shirts for the boys, since that is one of their favorite characters. They also like Nemo, Tarzan and Mickey Mouse. We went inside, and it was like letting them loose in a toy store. Three different directions, they ran everywhere wanting to see this and touch that. We got them together at the t-shirts, and then took them to the stuffed animals. They liked the alligators, but Noah kept pointing out "Mighty Mouse" (He can't quite say Mickey). We couldn't find the shrits we wanted or liked at the price we were willing to pay, so we left, without too much incident. The boys are good about leaving a store without having to take something with them. We just tell them to say "Bye, Alligator," and they do!

Even though we did mostly driving, it did take a toll on us, and we were glad to be home finally and to relax. On to the next adventure!

My First Blog

I'm finally succumbing to the inevitable... blogging. I've always hated the word itself, but I realize that there is little I can do to stop it. You see I do want to remember what my boys have been doing as they grow up, and these days, years, are precious and will never return. I am Triplitmom, otherwise known as Claudia. My children, Josiah Levi, Micah Benjamin, and Noah Reuben were born in November 2006 and will be turning three next month. How time flies! I still remember being pregnant, though the memory truly is becoming more distant.

And what antics are they doing now that cause me to start blogging? They are learning to speak and respond to their world. They are exploring and finding out things and meeting people. As triplets who walk around in fluorescent green hats, they are instantly recognized or noticed, and have taken on the airs of very friendly celebrities. They go around wherever they go with their hand outstretched to give anyone who notices "five." Sometimes they run up to complete strangers that way. We always have to explain that they want to give them "five."

Steve and I have been teaching the boys that the Lord Jesus Christ created or made everything. He mad the dogs, the cats, the giraffes, the birds, the boys and girls, and you and me. Josiah is good about giving the Lord credit for everything. He will look at a car and say "A Kwist-a-car" (translation: The Lord Jesus Christ made the car). Then he'll look at a tree and say "A Kwist-a-twee." And so it often goes. We often ask the boys who made the whales and who made the lakes, and Josiah always responds the same way. Two days ago, the boys had played with their cars and left them scattered all over the floor. This is nothing unusual, but I like for them to start cleaning up after themselves. I asked Josiah "Who made this mess?" Josiah responded, "A Kwist-a-mess."

Micah loves his father. When Steve leaves for work, Micah is the first to notice and he often declares, "Daddy wuh-keen! Daddy wuh-keen! Twaktoo!" The boys are convinced that a manlift is a tractor. But if I tell him that he's not working with a tractor, they know that their dad is working with a truck. Smart kids. Micah has a hard time saying words with an "S" in it. For instance, (don't say this aloud) when Micah says sippy cup, he pronounces it "Fuh cup." He calls spaghetti "Fageh-ee" and spanking "fah-king." He is the one whose mispronunciations sound most like he is using foul language, though there is no way he would have heard it around here.

Noah is a very detail-oriented fellow who must have things just right in order for him to properly appreciate them. Yesterday we had the air-mattress up in the living room as an indoor trampoline. He would jump off a chair onto the mattress shouting "Buzz Lightyear!" Either Steve or I would have to shout the same thing back for him to actually make the departure. Then he would soar into the air to make a belly flop onto the mattress. A few weeks ago, we were at Sam's club picking up some fruit and supplies. There was a box of watermelons for sale, and the boys were all around the box staring at them. Finally, Noah looks up and says, "Dinoaur eggs."