Uncle Lance, Aunt Kim, and The Olive Garden

Team Darnell loves when we have visitors.  The boys are learning to socialize once they get over a few moments of shyness.  Jared seems to be the most timid, but soon comes around once he sees his brothers getting all of the attention.  This weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Uncle Lance and Aunt Kim.  They arrived after the boys were in bed, but come morning time we were all up early, ready to kick off our weekend.  Lance and Kim brought the boys a gift: a bowling set complete with milk jug bowling pins, and a bowling ball that moos like a cow and plays a quick banjo song.  We had fun setting up the pins and teaching the boys to knock them down.  They all approached it with their own style, but all three were pretty good at knocking stuff over already.  Soon after, the party was moved to the back yard for some aquatic fun.

Hang on boys...Uncle Lance is about to launch the swings!

Andrew takes a plunge down the slide.

The beach ball attacks Jared yet again!

The boys are treated to an afternoon walk around the neighborhood.

That evening we went out for dinner at The Olive Garden.  The boys were perfect gentlemen, and of course we were the center of attention.  The boys have been eating with forks for a couple of weeks, so here was their chance to show off their skills.

Jared wants to know "How you doin'?"

Huh...just like the chicken and broccoli we get at home.

Andrew enjoying some "il pollo palpa"

Mama Mia!  Dat's a spicy meatball!

Andrew is immune to the paparazzi.

Forks!

The past weekend we decided to let the boys try a meal with forks. They have been doing great with the plates so thought we would give this a try. The boys were curious and surprisingly patient. While there was little success of using the fork to get food to their mouths, it was a great start!

It was a little painful to watch as they would try over and over and over again to stab a piece of food. But, it was great to see them try something new without getting too frustrated.

The following is a few minutes of their first attempt with me and then a few minutes with Daddy teaching. Warning - this is not the most exciting video but it is a great milestone that I want to remember. The funniest moment is about 45 seconds in when Wes succeeds in getting a banana on his fork and then it's gone!

My babies are growing up so very fast!!

Take care,

Super MoMs of Tallahassee

Tonight was a great night out with the Triplet Mom's of Tallahassee!! The group called MOTNO or Mother's Of Triplets Night Out is not a typical multiples club. There are no dues or meetings or other responsibilities. This is just a group of ladies that get together every other month for dinner. The common bond is that we all have triplets. Tonight we met at Olive Garden and had a great time visiting and sharing stories.

L-R: Rian (newest Mom with 10 week olds), Kimberly, Gina, can't remember her name, Julia, Lisa Margie (my mentor mom through the Tally Twins group) and me. This is a great group of ladies!!

Take care,

Mommy & Daddy's Little Helper

Wesley has long since been labeled our "dare devil." It is true that Wesley likes to do things higher and faster than his brothers. He seems to have no fear and is usually the first to try something. When he falls, he does not usually skip a beat even though my heart has skipped a few!

To my pleasant surprise, Wesley has taken on a new label of our little helper!!! It started one day when I was getting the boys ready for breakfast. The boys get their sippy cups when they wake up. Then, I collect them and refill them for breakfast. Sometimes it is a challenge to find the sippy cups so I will request assistance from the trio. Usually, this request goes unanswered. Then.... one great day, Wesley actually joined into the sippy search. He was looking high and low and actually found the last sippy underneath the couch.

Very proud moment!!! Now before breakfast, Wesley's "chore" is to collect all of the sippy cups. He is so cute picking these up and bringing them one by one to me.

He has also expanded his help to collecting the straps for the feeding table seats. The boys pull these out between meals and Wesley will collect them in preparation for a meal. His other helpful skills come during diaper changes and bedtime preparation. He will bring you diapers, the lotion and even jammies upon request. It is so wonderful to have a little helper!!!!

THANK YOU WESLEY!!!

Take care,

Triplet Potpourri

We seem to have a lot of photos that don't make it onto this blog.   There are thousands of candid, cute, or funny pics that just don't correspond with a specific post.  To date we have over 6,000 photos and videos taken with our little digital camera.  Daddy has taken some video with his digital camcorder, but that's another story.  So here are the boys in action!

The boys carefully head out the back door.

Andrew can almost wear Daddy's work boots.

Wes is working on his first million bucks.

Daddy's mess while painting the boy's room.

What does this lever on the side of the couch do?

Someday, Wes, you will have your own.

Andrew, deep in thought.

Veggin' out on the couch.

Another Sigh....

We change the boys' diapers on the floor or wherever we can grab a hold of them. To do this, we carry the diaper wipe box with us. The boys new favorite activity is to pull the wipes out of the box. While changing one, you have to play defense for the box so it does not fall victim to the tiny pulling hands of one of the other guys. On some days, we are more successful than others. Typically, Mike and I are getting the boys ready for bed by ourselves and then there is the rare occasion that we are actually together. Well, tonight we were together. Even though we were working together, we still let our guard down and Andrew was able to sneak off with the box!

Once we finished bedtime prep with the boys, we were sitting in the family room. We realized the Andrew was unaccounted for and he was very quiet... not like our dear Andrew. I got up to find this......

Oh Andrew! "Wait Mommy, I can explain...."

"See, this is not what you think! It wasn't me, I actually found them like this...."

"And, I am actually trying to pick them up....."

"Wes and Jared, you are making it worse..... she is already mad..... stop!!!"

A good box of wipes down the drain! I am not sure what is so exciting about diaper wipes but these boys love them. We have actually given them some empty boxes to play with but this still does not alleviate the allure of those cool wet wipes. Good times!

Take care,

Trip to Mommy's Office (R2b Conversion Weekend)

This weekend was a big weekend for Mommy at work. Over the past three years, I have working for a company that was designing and developing the Child Welfare information system in Florida. After the culmination of many long hours, this weekend was the weekend when the big and final release was introduced for all of the hard working child welfare professionals statewide. Over the weekend, our team was converting the information from the legacy system into the new system, Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN). Conversion is typically a long process. To entertain the guys at the office, I decided to bring my guys into the office for a little comic relief.

Here are the boys in my office. Just think, the four of us (Mommy + 3 boys) spent many long hours sitting at that desk while I was pregnant. Also, do you think I have enough pictures of the boys in my office???

Here is Wesley providing oversight to Mr. Kwabena, Mr. Bala, Mr. Ravi and Mr. Sanjay....

Mr. Brian (left) is my manager and he was entertaining the boys by giving them cookies, spinning them in the conference room chairs AND letting them wear his FSU helmet. The boys looked good in the helmet.... soon boys!

Mr. Jason is very good at analyzing data (and reanalyzing and then reanalyzing). Wesley is giving him some pointers about how we can still do a quality job without taking SOOOO long :-) just kidding Mr. Jason (well, not really)....

Mr. Andy is our Testing Manager and apparently uses chocolate chip cookies to fuel his testing team. Here he is sharing some of the cookies with Jared and Andrew...

Oh no.... one of the jobs is running very slow and putting everything behind schedule. The team does not know what to do so they call in the big guns. Move over gentleman, Andrew will get the job back on track....

The boys were just what the team needed. They had worked overnight the night previously and a little toddler fun helped pass the time. We were at the office for about 2 hours and the boys were very well behaved. At the end of the time, it was time to leave because all of those chocolate chip cookies were starting to kick in and the boys started running up and down the halls. I spend so much time at this office, it was great to see the boys at the office. Now when I am having a long meeting in that conference room, I can think about the boys spinning in the chairs. That will certainly bring a smile to my face!

Take care,

Time Out and Yo Gabba Gabba

A few months ago we implemented a "time out" policy for repeat offenders.  That meant that if one of the boys were caught in a compromising position, they were immediately placed in a playpen for a couple minutes.  This was meant to establish a cooling off period, and also show that bad actions have consequences.  This worked maybe three times before we realized that they enjoyed being put in the playpen.  Couple that with the fact that the two brothers not in time out would hurl toys over the gate and into the playpen for their incarcerated brother.  

We have since been using a wall in the living room for our time out area.  The boys are free to roam the living room, hallway, an empty bedroom, and the kitchen.  We have gated and baby proofed them into a pretty large area.  The only two things that would really get the boys in trouble are two pictures over the couch, and two end tables.  The pictures move when they bat at them, and they love to climb on the tables.  So if someone is caught in the act, they are moved to the time out wall for a period of 1 minute.  What we have found is that if one brother is in time out, the others like to join him. We can only hope that this solidarity carries on through the rest of their lives!

Andrew finds himself here more than he would like to admit.

Andrew uses his one phone call and quickly finds cellmates.

We appear before the judge in the morning.

Jared's defense was that he wasn't technically "on the table".

The boys haven't shown much interest in the television, except for the occasional commercial with bouncy music or certain sounds during a program.  We have watched all three stop in their tracks for the theme from "House", and then they resume whatever they were doing.  One day Daddy had the great idea of turning on Noggin, which is advertised as "preschool on television".  There are shows like Blues Clues and Dora the Explorer, so what would be the harm in this?  There is a program called Yo Gabba Gabba, and if you haven't seen it, it could best be likened to the old HR Puff and Stuff shows.  Its upbeat, breakneck, musical, and is meant to inspire children to get up and move.  The boys, Daddy included, absolutely LOVE IT! Unfortunately, the boys are transformed into these miniature zombies and will stand or sit and watch the whole show.  There has been more reaction recently, with someone dancing or clapping sporadically during the episode.  Other shows we enjoy are Toot and Puddle, and Pinky Dinky Do.  

What holds the attention of 3 toddlers?

What could they possibly be staring at?

It's DJ Lance Rock, the host of Yo Gabba Gabba!

 

Don't forget Toodee and Brobee!

Don't worry, folks, as we are limiting what they watch on TV.  They still don't pay much attention to most of the stuff we watch, but once they see that fuzzy orange hat...