Has it been two months?

Intermission at Sesame Street Live - we have a few Elmo books so the kids had an idea of who Elmo was, but they still sat frozen and wide eyed for the first 20 minutes trying to figure out what all those fuzzy animals were doing on the stage singing and dancing. Then they recognized Elmo and started dancing and clapping. They had a really good time and have a new found love for Elmo and Coo-coo (i.e. Cookie Monster).

Alex at intermission

Our wonderful nanny Heather who went with us since Cecil had to work

The first weekend in October we went up to Hilton Head for a family wedding. The wedding was on Sunday afternoon so right after the reception we loaded in the car (a bunch of sticky sandy kids) and drove home. They fell asleep in the car and Ella was the first one out.

On Saturday morning of this weekend, I did an Olympic distance triathon (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run). It was the longest race I have done since the kids were born. Thankfully the weather really cooled off (in the 70s) which made it bearable. Cecil went to the race with me and April stayed home with the kids. It was a good race but I am definitely not in the shape I used to be. As soon as the race was over, I went home, showered, and then loaded everyone in the car for the trip to Hilton Head. April went with me (bless her!) since Cecil had to work. I cannot decide if I am Super Mom or just super crazy.

At the wedding - it was on the beach and beautiful. I am pretty sure these are federally protected sand dunes that Ella is rolling around on.

Alex is hanging out

Ella, Alex, and Helen - my precious babies!

Ella playing chase on the beach

Ella got Aunt Wanda to chase after her

Our nanny Heather is having a baby in December. We were invited to her baby shower and I decided to bring Ella. I will share with you my selection process since people often ask me how I decide who I will take where. Cecil had to work that weekend so I knew it would be impossible to find someone to watch all three kids. Two is the most I have gotten anyone to agree to take. So then I had to decide if I wanted to make it easy on me or easy on the person watching the kids. My dear dear friend Chace agreed to watch two of them for me. The easiest for her would be to take Ella and Helen - they get along the best and were least likely to be anxious about being left with someone. But I did not think Alex would like going to a baby shower. And I knew he would be really shy. I could have easily taken Helen - she would have been fine at the shower but Ella and Alex tend to fight more. Helen and Alex don't fight (or bite each other) as much so I decided to bring Ella to the shower (who I knew would have no problem being social) and leave Alex and Helen with Chace. Everyone did great! Ella was in seventh heaven as the only kid at the shower, and I really enjoyed getting to spend some one on one time with her. And Alex and Helen did great with Chace. She said they were very easy and had a great time. It was cute when Ella and I walked in to pick up Helen and Alex. Ella walked in and saw them and got a big smile on her face and ran to greet them. How cute!

Random picture of naked Ella with a bowl on her head

Helen with her hair in two ponytails

Ella feeding Alex

It was a great game - until Ella realized all of her food was gone.

Hello potty training! Ella sits on the potty and everyone gathers in the bathroom with her for moral support (actually they just want to fight for the chance to flush)

Helen first waking up in the morning (I had planned to document a day in the life of triplets but these were the only pictures I actually took all day)

Ella is still waking up

Alex is all smiles and ready to go

Bath time for Helen!

Alex

Ella

The classic bath picture - Ella, Helen, and Alex

Ella practices her float

School has taught them to sit nicely in a circle to listen to books - here is Heather reading to them

One night while I was making dinner Ella very quiet and occupied sitting on the kitchen floor. Since she was not demanding any attention, I did not pay much attention to her until dinner was ready. Then I discovered that she had found a sheet of stickers and covered herself with them.

Ella is practicing her jumping

We had to go pick out our pumpkins for Halloween. Here's Helen

Ella tries to pick up the biggest one she can find

Alex found one he likes

It was time for another hair cut. We had to bribe Alex with two suckers to get him to sit still.

Helen sat quietly for her hair cut - she still does not have much hair but it was getting into her eyes. So she now has the standard toddler bowl cut - let's hope the back grows out soon.

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit - here's Grandpa reading to Alex

While Grandma reads to Ella and Helen

We attended our very first birthday party for a classmate - it was at Ollie Koala's which is like a Chuck E. Cheese. Alex never made it past the food. Here's Helen and I with Alex on my lap (and a plate of food in front of him that you cannot see). Ella is off with Cecil climbing on every jungle gym contraption that she can find.

Ella and Alex riding in the plane. Helen walked up, took one look at the moving rides and said "No" and shook her head and just walked away. That's my girl! We'll be sittting on the bench together at all the amusement parks reading our books while Ella, Alex, and Daddy ride all the rides!

Mommy is trying to figure out how to put more money in the ride to make it go again

Alex and Ella loved the Tonka Truck too

Helen had more fun with the games, especially when she learned that they spit out tickets. She hoarded all of the tickets and had them clutched in her hands in a tight fist - even though she had no idea what she could do with them.

Daddy helps Alex and Helen play a game

First Day of School!

Helen's newest craze is buckling all of the straps in the highchairs after we eat - after every time we eat. One night Cecil made her take a bath before she got them all buckled and she gave him the stink eye for the rest of the night. And then of course I forget to unbuckle them all before I put them back in their chairs.

Playing on the back porch in our pool - Ella is sizing me up

"Oh my mommy, did you know how many of these cups of water it takes to fill up one of these buckets??" - Helen


My beautiful girls - Ella and Helen

Helen getting ready to pour water over her sister's head

Ella gets her right back - and they both think it is hilarious

Helen seems to be getting more wet than Ella - but loves it just the same

Our new Gator shirts - which we wore for the Gators' season opener, and they won!

Helen and Alex read the paper with Daddy

Alex is making a run for the camera

Helen sqeals with delight as she destroys Daddy's Sunday paper

Ella is unhappy for some reason at breakfast on her first day of school

Alex is chowing down on his oatmeal

Helen has mastered her spoon

Ella poses for her first day of school picture (she is the only one I could get to sit still for a picture)

Our first day of school! (they are looking off in the distance because the only way I could get them to sit still was to put on Mickey Mouse and then stand in front of the TV)

Helen and her baby (I have to apologize to her for the pony tail but there is still not much to work with and that was the best I could do)

Helen, Alex, and Ella - heading off to school and breaking mommy's heart!

This week the kids started at a montessori school. There are 7 kids in their class (yes, my kids alone make up half of the class), and so far they are doing great. Last week we went for an open house so that they could see their room and meet their teachers. The big hit was the bunny - he was safely in a cage (to protect him from the kids, not the kids from him) and they loved getting to feed him carrots. When we came home, whenever I talked about school, Ella would say "hop, hop, hop?" "Yes Ella, we are going to go back and see the bunny."

The first day of school I got to stay with them for about an hour. When I left the girls barely gave me a second look. Alex got a little upset but then he was fine a few minutes after I left. They did great the rest of the morning and had a great time. They go five mornings a week, then our nanny Heather picks them up, brings them home, and gives them lunch and a nap.

The second day I only stayed for a few minutes. Again, the girls seemed more annoyed that I was interrupting their playtime but Alex started crying as soon as he say me saying goodbye to them. But he was fine after I left. However, he has not been fine at home. He has been having lots of meltdowns, biting his sisters a lot, and even refusing to eat! I knew the transition would be tough for him. He does not like anything to change. I know that once he gets used to the new routine, he will settle down and be fine, but it was a very rough week at home.

By the third and fourth day, Alex knew what was coming. In the car on the way to school he got really quiet and had this worried look on his face. As we pulled into the parking lot, his lip started to quiver. When I took him out of the car, he was clutching onto me for dear life and they had to pry him out of my arms. Talk about mother guilt. I wanted to take him back and tell him he never had to go there if he did not want to. But the school kept saying that the mom had to be confident and not draw out the goodbye so that the kids would know that I was not worried and they should not be either. Easier said than done. I managed to drive away with Alex sobbing in his teacher's arms with his arms outstretched reaching for me. And then he was fine a few minutes later.

By Friday, Ella was standing at the door after breakfast ready to go to school. She was not happy when I told her it was not time to leave yet. Alex would have happily stayed home all day. Poor guy. Then Friday morning when we got them up, we discovered that he had thrown up at some point during the night. He was not sick and seemed OK in the morning. Maybe it was nerves? That was enough for me to want to keep him home from school but Cecil insisted that he was fine and should still go. I reluctantly caved and took him to school - but kept checking my phone all morning in case the school called. They say he does a great job of playing and holding it together while he is at school, but he certainly lets his frustration out when he is home.

When I stop to think about it, I am a little sad that the girls would trot off and leave me so easily. But I convince myself that it is because they are so well adjusted - and not because they don't care if I am around! God Bless Alex for at least making me feel needed :)

Ella is certainly thriving in her new environment. She is a little busy body and is always excited when I talk about school. She definitely needed this. Helen likes it too - so many things to organize and line up. The possibilities are endless! And she has already comandeered the classroom babydoll that she picks up first thing in the morning and carries around with her all day. I wonder if Alex sees how easy it is for them. I wonder if they see what a hard time he is having. I wish I could get them to remember all of this so that they could tell me someday what is going on inside their heads.

They are all little chatterboxes now too. Helen and Alex were in speech therapy for about 3 months to help them increase their number of words. It worked really well - they are now beyond where they should be for their age. I think they all understand everything we say. And they love to call out the names of things that they know when they see them. The trick is decoding what they are saying. I am now one of those parents who when everyone else hears gibberish, I hear "I want some water." Today in the grocery store, Ella starting pointing and saying "du, du, du!" I'm trying to figure out what the heck she is saying when I look at where she is pointing and see a big picture of a dog hanging from the ceiling over the dog food. Yes, Ella, that is a dog. And then she is very proud of herself for correctly identifying it. That is progress too, because normally for a dog, they just pant (our dog pants more than he barks so that's what they think dogs do).

Helen is now becoming fashion conscious too. She likes to pick out her own shoes, and heaven forbid I try to change her mind. One morning this week she pulled tennis shoes out of the closet. Now mind you, it is still 90 degrees every day here and they play outside every day. I could not convince her to wear sandals. So I said, OK, if you are going to wear these shoes, then you need to wear these socks. She looked at the socks for the briefest of moments then threw herself on the floor in protest. After several minutes of unsuccessfully trying to put the socks on her (it's not hard for her to pull them off), I gave up in exasperation. Fine, wear the shoes without the socks if you want to. It is not worth the fight. About this time Ella walks up and sees the socks. She picks them up and first wants to know what they are; I tell her socks and she tries to say it a few times then tries to put them on. So now Ella wants to wear the socks - with her sandals. Then Helen trots over in her tennis shoes and fusses that Ella now has socks. So I ask her, Helen, do you want to wear socks. And she just looks at me like, of course, and says, Yeah. For the love.....

Never a dull day in toddler land. The stories are endless, and I need to write them down because I forget them so quickly. It seems like every day they are learning how to say new things and how to do new things. Helen can walk up and down the stairs by herself. She is also really great at putting puzzles together now. Ella keeps bringing me things so I can tell her what they are called (almost all of her words sound the same but at least she is trying!)

Let's hope the second week of school is a little easier for Alex. I'm sure after the weekend and the Labor Day holiday that he thought he was done with it. Poor little guy, I wish he were old enough for me to explain to him what is going on!