Imitation

Every morning I put my coffee cup on the counter next to the sink when I'm done with it, just in case I want another cup a little later. This morning when I went over to the sink to wash my hands I noticed that KJ had picked up on my routine and is now imitating it. Just a little reminder that we influence our children with every little thing we do, whether we do it intentionally or not. They are always watching, and learning.

Cleveland Indians Social Media Deck

Yesterday Gretchen and I were invited to watch the Cleveland Indians play the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field from their new Social Media Deck. The deck is a group of ten seats that sits just above the left field wall, right next to the home run porch. The seats are comfortable, the area is spacious, there are electrical outlets to charge your laptop or phone, and a nice flatscreen TV to watch the broadcast of the game (nice for watching replays). Oh, and there's free wifi, too.

One of the groups sitting with us in the deck yesterday was a couple of guys who work for COED Magazine. These guys were going to 30 Stadiums to see 30 games in 30 days. After the game at Progressive Field they were off to Miller Park in Milwaukee, not a short drive by any stretch. If you want to follow their journey in real time, check out their twitter feed, or you can find them on facebook.

I did not take my good camera with me, but I did snap some shots with the new iPhone.

Gretch and I in our seats on the Social Media Deck.

Mustard came to visit us on the Deck.

I made Gretchen pose by the Progressive IRV.

We got to walk down onto the field after the game.

The guys from COED Magazine.

The Triplets Get Toddler Beds

This weekend I continued my efforts to give the triplets more freedom and converted their cribs to toddler beds. I have to admit that giving KJ, Juli and Elisha more freedom wasn't the only reason behind the switch. I'm also trying to save my back! Lifting three 30 pound kids into and out of their cribs four times a day (out in the morning, in at nap, out after nap, in at bed time) is rough on the vertebrae, back muscles, arm muscles and leg muscles. Heck, lets face it, taking care of multiples is rough on the body!

Of course I snapped a few pictures with the iPhone while we were making the conversion.

Cleveland Tweetup

Last night I had the chance to attend another Cleveland Tweetup, this time at the Treehouse in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood. The Dim and Den Sum Food Truck was there providing some delicious eats and Free Tater Tots! Thanks to Cleveland.com and the Cleveland Indians for hosting.

Of course I took the camera along and snapped a few shots.

Triplets at the Theater

When we first heard that there was going to be a third installment in the Toy Story franchise, I was really excited. I remember thinking how perfect it would be to have the triplets first movie in a big movie theater be Toy Story 3. When I found out it was going to be in 3D, I got even more excited.

We started to prepare the triplets by watching the first two Toy Story movies over and over, and over, and over... you get the idea. Kids this age can watch the same thing two million times and love it the same each time. I don't know how they do it.

We didn't go to see the movie on opening weekend, for a few reasons including the fact that we were out of town, and who wants to try to wrestle three toddlers in a crowded movie theater? Not me. We waited a few weeks and decided to go on a Wednesday afternoon. We figured the theater would be somewhat empty, and we were right.

My sister came up to help out, so that we had one adult per child. When the movie started, there was one other family in the theater with us. It was perfect. This way if the triplets started to get antsy or loud, it wouldn't bother a whole theater full of people.

Now, I had read some of the reviews and blog posts about other children getting upset and scared by the movie, especially the beginning. I decided not to worry about it. I've been realizing lately that we've been protecting out little ones a little too much. We need to let them fall a little so that they learn to pick themselves up, both figuratively and literally. Take the toddler swings that I recently replaced with big kid swings. I realized that I put recycled tire mulch down in the play set area so that when the kids fell, they wouldn't get hurt as bad. Problem is, I wasn't letting the kids fall. I was strapping them into toddler swings so that they would stay securely in place. And then there's the booster seats at the table. Same thing. I was strapping them into their seats so that they wouldn't try to get out of their seats and possibly fall and hurt themselves. But if we don't let them fall and get hurt a little, how do they learn not to do those things? How do they learn to pick themselves up and try again? If I don't take them to a movie that might scare them, how do they learn that sometimes scary things happen, and that it's okay to be scared?

My mother always says that "first we give our children roots, then we give them wings". This is so true. I just didn't realize how quickly we had to start giving them wings.

In the end, I was right to not worry about the movie. The kids didn't get scared at all. From what I could tell, they loved it. They were mesmerized. Juli even kept her 3D glasses on for most of the movie. KJ and Elisha, not so much. They got a little antsy towards the end, but that's to be expected.

And as for the end of the movie - if you've read any posts or reviews of the movie you probably know what happens to some adults who watch it - let's just say I was glad I had my 3D glasses on.

Here are a few pictures from the theater. I took them with my iPhone, so please excuse the quality.

Bye Bye Toddler Swings

In addition to getting rid of the triplets booster seats at the table, I've also opted to swap out the toddler swings for big kid swings. Juli has taken to the change quite well.

No More Booster Seats!

First meal without booster seats!!

Still Motion of Triplets on the Beach

It's no secret that I like to take pictures. LOTS of pictures. I decided to take some of those pictures of the triplets walking hand-in-hand on the beach and make a still motion movie from them.

KJ and the Garden Hose

One evening this week we were letting the kids play outside as I was watering the garden and flowers and I gave into the temptation to spray down my son. And he loved it. Gretch caught a little video with her phone.

Triplets Playing In The Sprinkler

Last weekend the kids got the chance to run through the sprinkler at my in-laws' house. KJ loved it, Juli was interested, and Elisha wanted nothing to do with it. Here's a few pics that Gretch grabbed with her phone:

Fourth Of July 2010

This Fourth of July we decided to meet up with some friends of ours to watch a fireworks display near our hometown. It was nice to just sit back and relax (as much as one can with four kids under four running around) and enjoy some downtime. Of course, I did take the camera along. Here are a few shots: