Breakfast with the Triplets - 2010

As promised, here is the new video of a typical morning with Juli, Elisha and KJ. Once again, I've sped up the video to make it bearable for the rest of you. This is just under an hour real time, condensed into less than ten minutes of video. Enjoy.

Looking Back

About a year ago I posted a video of our triplets eating breakfast. After viewing the video again this morning, it occurred to me just how much has changed in a year. The first thing I noticed, besides how much the kids have grown, is that we had to move Elisha's crib away from the window because she kept playing with the curtains. Next, we no longer have baby gates all over the house. Most days we only have one gate up to keep the dog in or out of the kitchen. Next high chairs, those are gone. Then I realized how much their diet has changed in a year and how well they feed themselves. It's wonderful to be able to look back and see how far we've come.

I'll be posting a new version of the 'Breakfast with the Trips" video in a few days. For now, take a look back at last year's video.

KJ Drawing

Recently we've noticed KJ has been taking breaks from the blocks and cars to sit by himself and draw or play with his Elmo Laptop. I caught just such an occasion on video a couple of days ago.

Smile!

I needed something to cheer me up today, so I went and looked for this image of KJ. This picture always makes me giggle.

Juli and the Apple Peels

Juli is quickly earning the title of anti-toddler. Why? Well, she likes only the crust from her sandwiches and eats only the peels from her apples. This is especially helpful when KJ or Elisha won't eat the crust or peels!!

Weekend With One

This past weekend the girls stayed with my parents allowing Gretch and I to have some one-on-one time with KJ. It has been a great experience for all of us. I should preface this post by saying that the pictures were taken with my iPhone, so they may not be up to the quality of some of my other posts.

Gretch started the weekend by letting KJ help make pizza for dinner Friday night. He had a great time kneading the dough and sprinkling cheese on top. When it came to the pepperoni, he didn't want to put it on the pizza, he just ate it.

That night, we brought out some new play-doh toys for him to play with. He had a great time making all sorts of new shapes and designs.

The next morning he got to help Gretch make pancakes. Daddy got to sleep in, so there are no pictures. He also enjoyed the cleanup, which involved bubbles in the sink!

After breakfast we headed outside for some fun in the snow. We learned that sand toys can make good snow toys, and can help make snowmen (small ones) when the snow is too light and fluffy to make one the traditional way. KJ also learned how to make snow angels and how to properly hit mama with a snowball!

That afternoon we took him to Toys 'R' Us to let him pick out his own new toy using a gift card he got for Christmas. He had a good time running around from isle to isle looking at all of the great toys. He finally decided on a lego tractor (with some suggestive help from mama and dada), and was very excited to get it home to play with. We spent most of that night playing with blocks and his new tractor.

Sunday KJ and mama played with play-doh again and we all just relaxed. That evening my parents brought the girls back and the chaos returned to our home.

All-in-all it was a great experience for everyone. We got to spend some quality time with our son. My parents, sister, and brother got to spend some quality time with the girls. And everyone had a good time playing in the snow!

Great Customer Service

Last November I had the honor of being a groomsman in the wedding of one of my college friends/after-college roommate/drinking buddy. The wedding was wonderful. We had beautiful weather (for November in Ohio), there was lots of dancing, drinking, and all of the general hoopla that goes along with a wedding. A good time was had by all.

We rented our tux's from Men's Warehouse. They all fit great, we got all of the pieces and parts we were supposed to, and the people there were nice enough to us. I don't think anyone had any complaints. The point of this story starts after the wedding.

The booze was flowing pretty freely that night, and there was also a small after-party. So when I got home and took off the tux, I failed to notice that I had left my sunglasses and a compact flash card in the jacket pocket. I also failed to notice this fact the next day when I took the tux back. And the gentleman who checked in the tux also failed to notice the items left in the pocket.

About a week later, when the sun came back out, I noticed that my glasses were missing. My $100 Maui Jim sunglasses. I was not happy. I stopped back at the store where I dropped off the tux and asked if there was any chance of getting my glasses back. The salesman basically told me that the tux had already been shipped back to the processing center and I was S.O.L.

Back at home, later that night, I decided to check out their website and maybe email customer service to see if anyone there could help me out. So, at around five o'clock on a Sunday, I found this page and sent them a message asking if there was any chance of getting my sunglasses back.

I never expected to hear from them.

Five minutes later, after five o'clock on a Sunday, my phone rang. It was a customer service representative from Men's Warehouse calling about my inquiry. She told me that I should contact their property returns department and gave me their phone number. She also let me know that they would not be in at that time, but that I could leave a message for them and they would most likely get back to me on Monday. I followed her directions, called, left the message, and wouldn't ya know it, they called me back on Monday morning. I gave them the necessary information, they told me that if they located the items they would ship them back to me via UPS.

Two days later the UPS truck stops in front of my house and a bag is left on my steps. My glasses and memory card were inside and undamaged.

Kudos to you, Men's Warehouse. I really did not expect to get my items back. But you came through. My only suggestion is to better inform your sales staff of your property returns department. The gentleman at your store that I first spoke to about my glasses obviously had no idea that the department even existed.

More New Pictures!

I'm on a roll here, people!!

With the Development of Language...

Juli, Elisha, and KJ seem to be right on track with their development. At times one may appear to be behind in one area or another, but before we know it, they seem to catch up with little or no intervention from the adults. Language is no exception. For a while it seemed that KJ was lagging behind in his communication skills. Until yesterday, that is.

The kids were upstairs playing with their kitchen set while mommy and I were getting each other caught up on the events of our perspective days. We heard some small sounds of plastic toys rolling and bouncing down the stairs, then some footsteps, and then KJ appeared in the kitchen doorway and announced that "Esha trowin toiees." That's right, ladies and gentlemen, we had our first tattle.

Then this morning, as I was getting KJ dressed, I had to tell Juli not to do something - what exactly escapes me at this moment, but it was something she should not have been doing. When I was done telling Juli that she needed to stop, KJ looked me right in the eyes and said, "nana timout", otherwise known as "Julianna needs to go to timeout."

So, in conclusion, KJ is not lagging behind at all when it comes to language or communication. In fact, I think he may have just leapfrogged his sisters.

Happy Brithday?

It's nobody's birthday, at least not in our family, but that didn't stop Elisha from breaking out into song!

Another Picture Day!

I had so much fun taking pictures of the kids that I continued the next day!