Growing Pains Run

This morning, I got everyone up and ready, and headed over to the Growing Pains Consignment sale.

I did so well, that I had time for a DVD player malfunction, time to rectify the problem, and still meander on over the bridge without having to hurry!

I actually was the first person to pull into the parking lot. I managed to snag the parking spot right next to the door, too!

I let the kids stay in their car seats until right before opening so that they could watch their cartoons and not be cold while I assembled the stroller and got everything ready to go inside.

We didn't go looking for anything specific, really. This time, all that I really KNEW that I wanted was something for the boys for their birthday.

I already have Vivienne's birthday presents stashed safely away in my closet, waiting for the big day.

When the doors opened and we rolled on inside, I immediately found the perfect thing for my baby boys.

There, right in front, was one of those really neat train tables with the drawers to stash everything inside.

Even better, when I asked about it, the lady said that the rest of the table set was on its way up!

It would come with a wooden train track and train set to go with it! It was perfect!

I also managed to run across a really nice baby doll for Vivienne to stash away for Christmas next year.

We assembled all of the parts to the Little People Amusement Park set as well as the Little People Doll House complete with furniture.

I found a Dora and twin siblings set, a set of 2 Thomas the Train Engines, and a really neat Humpty Dumpty embroidered pillow.

Easter outfits are all taken care of, as well as Vivienne's entire spring wardrobe!

The babies each were given their very first sucker by the sweet ladies who work the counter!

We did so well at this sale! Who knows, maybe I will even get to go back for 1/2 price day on Sunday!

Detention Doomsday

The phone rang Monday as I was upstairs trying to get the babies all up from their nap, changed and dressed and loaded into the van to head towards that WIC appointment of doom.

Being that I was UPSTAIRS, and the nearest phone was all the way DOWNSTAIRS and in my bathroom, I didn't have the time to try and grab it.

When I got home from the appointment, and finally remembered that the phone had rang, I discovered that the Caller I.D. revealed the caller to be from my son's school.

With much dread, I check my voicemail messages only to find out that my son had been tardy AGAIN.

It's always between his 2nd and 3rd hour classes. We've discussed it before, even.

I've talked to the school about the situation to no avail. Basically, we send our children to school with backpacks and the needed supplies.

However, there are many teachers that make their own rules regarding the use of backpacks and materials meant for other classes.

My son is running into a problem where he must go to his locker in between these two classes regardless of how he plans his day.

Apparently, his 3rd period class teacher REFUSES t0 allow backpacks in her classroom.

She also has mandated that they ONLY bring the materials needed for HER CLASS and leave everything else in their lockers, wherein lies his problem.

His locker is not centrally located to either of these classes. He must make a mad dash across the maze of hallways of the school to get to the locker.

Then, once he gets there, he must wait until the students around and above his locker actually decide to MOVE from in front of his.

Apparently, these students are rude, and refuse to move or rearrange themselves, even when asked.

They just ignore my child's request to MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, which I find unusually rude.

It would appear that the errant student's classes are just around the locker because they hang out in front of his until right before the bell rings many a day, leaving him late for class and with a huge sprint back across the grounds to even get there.

What's a guy to do? These kids actually get worse if you ask them to move, and pushing the issue could result in words, or worse, a fight of some sort.

My son wants neither, but he also would like to get to his class on time with the appropriate materials as mandated by teacher.

Tardiness is the result of all of this. He has many of them, too. I have explained to the school what is going on, and asked that they work with us on finding a solution.

I find the teacher's demanding only her materials and books be brought to class a little unrealistic myself.

Especially since she has banned backpacks from her room for whatever reason.

My child is trying to follow her rules, yet ends up inadvertently having to break others just to accommodate her.

He has worked all year to try and overcome this problem, only to get met with detention this past Monday.

The school doesn't even want to talk to me about it this time, either. He just left a nice message saying he was sending home paperwork regarding the situation that day and to please sign and return it.

That is just ducky. It's not that I mind the consequence, it's that I worry about my child.

He has a concentration and memory problem that is being treated with medication.

However, this problem can often result in his forgetting to stay after school for a function or forgetting that he has a doctor's appointment and riding the bus home instead.

I am extremely worried that he is going to forget his detention (even though we have discussed it at length and made a point to remind him) and that he will end up riding the bus home today.

If this happens, he will get into even MORE trouble, all over something as trivial as a tardy.

What's a Mum to do? I was going to try for IEP and get him classified as whatever it takes to get him that service, but that hope got dashed with the "Dear John" letter from that clinic that was supposed to be treating his ADHD.

Now we have an issue where his ADHD may get him into something that could go on his permanent record.

At least my child is taking it well. Yes he is perturbed about the tardies and the fact that he has worked to no avail for a solution to his problem.

But I did get a good laugh out of him the other evening. He said, "Mom? Can I watch that movie about detention now?"

He meant "The Breakfast Club" of course! I told him that he could, but that he would be in LOADS of trouble if he EVER actually emulated any of the characters from it!

So, here I sit, wondering if he will remember that he has detention today or if he will forget and ride the bus home.

Only time will tell, but until then, I am a nervous wreck!

Oh The Different Crayon Flavors!

Last Thursday, my tiny trio were introduced to the wonderful world of coloring.

Now, let me back up a bit and say that my trio, being preemies and such, are a bit more immature than most nearly 2 year olds.

This means that, although they did each receive one of those super cool roly-poly toddler crayons for Christmas, we had yet to actually give them a test run.

However, that was all about to change! I had a doctor's appointment last Thursday morning, and had to take the triplets along for the ride.

It was early, the kids were cranky, and it was raining out and looking positively British out, which did NOT help their mood any.

I managed to find the Doctor's office somehow in the maze of a compound where it was located, but not before Kaiden was done for the morning.

No matter what I gave him, he tossed it at anyone and everyone who walked past us.

Animal crackers, milk cups and even his most favorite toy truck were not immune to such treatment.

It wasn't even a very lengthy wait, really, but that didn't do much for triplet patience which wears quite thin after even the shortest while.

By the time we were called back, Kai was already in fuss-mode and had started wailing.

He stopped only long enough to say, "Hi" to my doctor and the nurses before starting back into his song.

By the time I made it to the lab, all three of them were wailing in unison. The poor nurses and techs were very grateful to discover that I was their subject and not the babies!

The ladies were so very kind. They took the stroller and bravely tried pushing them up and down the maze of corridors.

They all jumped right in to the idea that cookies may be the solution to our wailing problem.

It seemed no matter what they tried using to appease the babies, that nothing worked.

I was in the examination room when it all got very quiet suddenly. The doctor was even very speedy in his work after having met my tiny trio in the hallway initially.

After I was done, I even had time to check-out in peace before going on a tiny trio hunt.

I had figured that I would be able to just follow the noise, but they were STILL quiet.

I came upon them all in one of the back hallways. There was a lady for each baby, and each held a coloring book at an angle so that each of my children could color.

There they all sat, in their little limo, coloring away, each with their own coloring book.

They seemed so proud of themselves, too. Of course it was time to go, so Kaiden and Vivienne relinquished their books and were ready.

Kian just sat in his little seat in back, clutching his book as if it were gold. He just would not fork it over.

Luckily, the ladies didn't mind a bit and they said that he could keep it!

By the time I got everyone outside to the car to load up, I discovered that they had made away with no less than 3 crayons, 2 matchbox cars that apparently had been forgotten in all the noise, and that Shrek coloring book that Kian was STILL clutching.

After we got home and everyone took their nap, I realized that we were going to have a problem.

Kian had napped with his Shrek coloring book, and when he was brought down for lunch, he immediately ran to the sofa, and slid it ever so neatly underneath for safe keeping.

It was stashed SO safely, that he couldn't reach it to get it out. I had to help, but when I got it out, I was surrounded by eager babies, each thinking that they were going to have their turn with that book.

As soon as Husband got home from work, we had a discussion about coloring books and such.

He agreed to go to the grocery store and get us a new set and a new set of colors as well.

It was a good thing that he went, too, because Kaiden got up around 8 that night, and needed a bit of extra time downstairs.

Husband innocently set him up at the dining room table with his new coloring book, 2 crayons, a fresh sippy cup of milk, and a few teddy grahams.

He opened up his little book, picked out a set of pages, and started coloring.

It was a picture of a cat and a dog, so he pointed to each and barked and meowed respectively before going back to his coloring.

He sat like a good boy for a time, coloring, and munching on his teddy grahams, as I worked on my computer on the opposite side of the table.

The I realized that he was gagging. Whatever it was, it tasted very badly, but he very stoically kept on chewing til it went down.

Husband tried to get it out, but to no avail. He quickly discovered that the blue crayon was tip-less.

Not thinking, he replaced it with a nice red crayon and Kaiden took a sip of milk and went back to his coloring as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Maybe not even five minutes later, Kaiden was gagging yet AGAIN. Apparently red crayons do not taste any better than the blue flavored ones.

We missed getting that tip out of Kai, too. Luckily, crayons are non-toxic and apparently not a life-threatening substance as they seemed to taste funny, yet go down easily with a bit of milk.

Husband remarked that he once had a puppy that liked to eat crayons, too, as Kaiden had gone back to pointing at the picture of the doggie and barking again.

So, for the next few diapers, we were all on crayon watch. It only took maybe three diapers later, too, for the technicolor one to arrive.

It was purple swirled since Kaiden had sampled both the red and the blue crayon.

We haven't tried coloring since the incident, but it would appear that the babies now all know that crayons, while they may come in pretty colors, do not come in matching pleasant flavors!

Like Taking Candy From a Baby...

I've always heard the old saying, "Like taking candy from a baby," but I don't think that I have ever actually experienced it.

Something happened today that really defined the very nature of that saying. I would say it was a bad experience, but overall, it really turned out for the better.

Today was WIC day. We had our WIC appointment this morning, or at least as of Friday, I had THOUGHT that we did.

I came home Friday afternoon, to a letter in my mailbox that had rescheduled our appointment from before nap time to one that was smack dab in the middle of it.

Not only did I not have time to properly call and reschedule, but the appointment was at high noon.

I thought that I would be able to do this, so I planned all weekend for Monday.

The idea was that I would wake the kids up early, so that they would take their nap early, and at least be rested for the appointment.

I painstakingly packed the diaper bag full of juice and animal crackers, a variety of cars, and the three sets of baby leash backpacks for when they got antsy.

I broke open the new rechargeable battery that I had special ordered for the portable DVD player, charged it up, and stole one of husband's backpacks to store everything inside of.

I gathered up three of the babies favorite DVD's, and thought I was ready for a three or four hour stint at the Health Unit.

As Murphy's Law clearly states, nothing went as planned this morning. The kids did wake up early, but they just did not like going down for a nap early.

No matter what I did, I was just not on time. At 11:30, I found myself loading the van with all of our bags, and running upstairs armed with a set of diapers, wipes, and fresh clothes.

I did manage to get everyone dressed and loaded up with about 10 minutes left to spare.

I was forced to do fast food for lunch, but Wendy's was very fast and didn't even take three minutes from start to finish to get through their line.

We got to the Health Unit with a few minutes to spare, and I had time to unload the van and get the kids settled into the stroller.

Had it not been High Noon at the time, I would probably have been thinking a bit more clearly.

I'm not sure, though. The diaper bag was stuffed full and overflowing with juice, animal crackers and stuffed monkey baby leashes.

I had the backpack with the DVD player inside on my back, and it was full as well.

I found myself setting the bag with our picnic on top of the back of the stroller, which is where I am sure that it all went wrong.

If only I had thought to stash it underneath in the basket, or in the net hanging off the back.

That way it would have been concealed a bit better. I wasn't worried, though, because we had done this before and did just fine.

I never imagined that the Grinch would be working the door.

The babies were all excited to have been on a car ride, and they were equally as excited at the prospect of lunch.

There was a small chorus of "Chickie" coming from the stroller as we rolled into the first floor lobby.

That's when we were accosted by the Grinch himself. Apparently, there is some rule about no food or drinks inside the Health Unit.

However, in the many years that we have utilized the services there, I have never run into any problems with feeding my kids as needed.

After all, they are babies, and confined in a stroller. I have fed them in the middle of museums before and nobody has ever said a word about it, until now.

The security guard, actually came up to us, and confiscated the babies lunch. He took the juice bag, and the bag of animal cookies, too.

He was going to throw them away, but I gave him my name and told him he needed to place them on the table behind the receptionist desk and that I would be back down for them in a minute.

I knew I was going to be here for the long haul, so I wanted to go on upstairs, get signed in, and then we would just have our picnic outside while we waited for our names to be called and our turn to come.

The Security Guard did not like that idea and told us that we would be asked to leave if I didn't let him throw it all away.

I told him that there wasn't any problem with him leaving it on that table, as the elevator door opened, and I somehow fitted my limo inside.

Oddly enough, there were a few people sitting downstairs that were having their lunch, but they were adults and not children.

Well, needless to say, Kaiden saw his lunch going away, and immediately became very sad.

I know that I did not understand what made it okay for those folks to be eating in the lobby and not the babies, so I knew Kaiden and the other babies were super confused over the whole incident.

Poor baby Kai. He managed to hold it all inside him until we got upstairs to the sign-in desk, but then he lost it.

I waited at the desk to try and let them know where we were going to be and let them know that I needed to take the kids back downstairs and feed them.

The poor lady was on the phone, but Kaiden's howling got her attention pretty quick.

Then she realized that there were three of them, all in various states of becoming very sad, very fast.

I explained to her what had happened and how their snacks and lunch had been confiscated downstairs by the front desk security guard.

The poor lady tried to go and get it all back for them, but the guard refused to give it to even her.

Then another lady came over to see what the howling was all about, and they both decided to help us out and make our stay much shorter.

We were taken into a room where the lady gave my tiny trio juice and crackers from the secret stash inside the cupboard.

The ladies were all so very sweet and kind to us. She even made sure that our next appointment was scheduled AFTER nap time and lunch time so that this did not happen again.

What I had thought was going to be a 3 or 4 hour appointment magically turned into less than an hour, and I had the mean Grinch-like security guard to thank for it.

He was gone when we passed by the receptionist's desk to pick up the babies snacks and lunch.

I was going to thank him, too. I never would have imagined that his taking the babies food and juice away from them would result in us actually getting a shortened visit that day.

But, I am learning that everything really does happen for a reason.

He may have shown me what that old saying, "Like taking candy from a baby" really is like, but that man also helped me understand that everything happens for a reason.

We really found that silver lining today in that our appointment was expedited and shortened because of the incident.

So I suppose you could say that the Grinch who took our lunch inadvertently made our day better!

Playing Together

It's so cute. Right now, I am sitting in my room, listening to my boys playing together in the living room.

Bregon is playing the piano for his baby brothers and sister.

I would call it practicing, but he isn't really doing that because the song he is playing isn't from his school books.

In fact, he has taken to playing "Old Macdonald Had a Farm" for his baby brother, Kian.

It's the sweetest thing, because Bregon will play the first part, and then he will stop the music so that Kian can take over and sing his favorite part.

The funny part is, that it's really working. Bregon will stop, and Kian picks right up with the "EIEIEIEIEIEIO's" until he is ready to relinquish the song back to his big brother.

They are working together and it's absolutely adorable. I peeked down the hallway into the living room to watch them.

Kaiden is sitting on the edge of the piano bench, watching Bregon as he plays his part.

He is very observant and has taken to trying to play along, only a few octaves higher.

Oddly enough, Kai is getting most of the notes right as far as the melody is concerned.

Vivienne is sitting in the middle of the living room floor with Baby, quiety rocking her to sleep and singing softly.

I never realized that, in spite of the vast age difference, my children would all be able to get along and actually play together and have a good time.

Wow, this is seriously neat to watch!

The Further Adventures of Commando Cuddles

There is a reason Kaiden sleeps in his own bed, all alone.

Once upon a time, all three of my tiny trio shared a bed. Everything I had ever read about multiples always advised that this arrangement would result in optimal baby happiness.

Apparently, they didn't know Kaiden when they made such statements!

I kinda knew that we would be in trouble in the beginning. Kaiden was all sorts of happy sprawled in his own private isolette in the NICU.

He was quite happy to answer his sibling's cries from accross the room and amused all of the nurses with the way they would all communicate and answer each other.

They should have gotten a clue when the boys somehow developed that rivalry instinct on about day 2 when Kian had to have his cool shades and sun himself under the heat lamp for a day.

The very next day, Kaiden had to have his pair of cool shades and his turn under the lamp as well.

Nobody knows how they understood that this was happening, but the activity continued...well it really has never stopped, so to say!

Then someone got the bright idea to put the boys together. Immediatly there was fighting.

Kaiden ALWAYS had all of the pacifiers on his side of the bed. Little hands flew at little bodies and they acted worse than Laverne & Shirley in a cat-fight.

Soon, all three of the babies were together and Kaiden found new ways to amuse himself.

If he was cold, he snuggled with sister. If he got bored snuggling, he would try and remove her wiring and feeding tube for her.

It only got worse from there. Once they were home, Kaiden thought nothing of snuggling right up to his unsuspecting siblings.

He has become known as "Personal space invader number one" to both of his siblings.

In fact, it got so bad, that one day, when Vivie was about three months old, she had had enough.

She just rolled herself over after a diaper change, and insisted upon sleeping in her own bed (which was being used as a changing table at the time!)

Poor Kian would have to put up with Kaiden-torture until he was nearly a year old.

It was a very loud year, too, let me tell you. In his sleep, Kaiden would manage to basically shove his body up under his brother's in some attempt to cuddle with him and keep warm.

Kaiden is not gentle while snuggling, either. I know first hand, because there are days when he wakes up in the middle of the night screaming for whatever reason, and I very stupidly will bring him into my bed in an attempt to get some sleep.

Last night was one such night. Before I even was able to lay him fully down on the bed, he had managed to roll himself over and curl up into a ball.

Next, he attached himself to my side somehow. I don't know how he did it, since I was still trying to get in to my bed, but he had already assumed his favored sleeping position and attached himself to me.

Don't think that he was going to stay like that for very long, though! He spent the entire time getting comfortable...to the tune of about five hours worth.

He would snuggle with me, then snuggle with his Daddy. Then he would throw his body over to where I was and re-attach himself to me.

Then there is the Kaiden stretch. He has this way of melding his head & torso into his Daddy's shoulder, and stretching his legs all the way out to where he can count my ribs with his toes.

He then will continue to wiggle those little toes, and stretch, an action which makes husband and I want to turn over in our sleep.

Kaiden knows that if he works at it long enough, he just might be able to make one or both of us roll off of the bed.

This is actually an attempt at gaining one of the satin pillows for himself, though. He really likes those.

Yesterday, when he finally woke up completely, Kaiden was seriously upset because he was attached to his Daddy and not me.

He first tried to play with my hair in his sleep. He realized that the hair that he was playing with wasn't long, and that made him cry.

Then he decided that he wanted to sleep on my chest, only it wasn't soft like mine...so he cried even harder.

When I came back into the room to get him up for breakfast, he basically threw himself into my arms because he was so upset!

What a poor little guy! Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that there is a reason that the boys each have their own beds now.

Most importantly, there is a very good reason why Kaiden is nicknamed "Commando Cuddles" too!

Something Rather Amusing!

What happens when National Sovereignty . . .

. . . is given over to The One World Community.

http://www.thisistrue.com/weirdest2007.html

And the #1 Weirdest News Story of the Yearis also from January, and also related to "zero tolerance" (http://www.thisistrue.com/zt.html)

: The Public be *amned

Two convicted murderers are among 13 escapees from a prison in Sudbury, Derbyshire, England, in recent months. But most of the men, including the murderers, are still at large because police won't release their photos, since that could breach their human rights. "When making a decision to release any photograph, police forces must take into account numerous factors including the public interest test," lectured a police spokesman, "whether there is a strong local policing purpose and, of course, the Human Rights and Data Protection Acts." So now what? The spokesman said by escaping, the felons "abuse the trust we have placed in them," and "it's up to us to trace their whereabouts."

(PA)While it's up to the public to worry about how the police abuse the trust we have placed in them.

Oh the folly of our ways!

Finding Time For Work

It's been a week since I started working from the comforts of my very own home.

I never realized exactly how difficult working and taking care of my tiny trio could be.

Granted, most of us have had the flu over the course of the past week, so my day has been peppered with trips to the doctor and to the pharmacy to fetch medication.

That's not taking into account that I was one of the ones actually sick most of last week!

It's not been easy trying to juggle and balance everything. I do know that if I were actually working at a jobsite, that I would have had to call in all of last week, though.

I thought that it might get better now that we are not feeling as green as we had been last week, but today hasn't been much of an improvement.

It seems that anything that CAN go wrong, basically has. Even so, I did manage to get in a few phone calls for family business this morning.

I even managed to fax documents to one poor unsuspecting lady.

I do not have a good grasp on faxing from my son's laptop.

I was able to talk to the fax recipient, though, and I am proud to say that everything actually did go through!

And I only had to extract my son's from the sandbox that we normally call the fireplace upon three separate occasions.

I even managed to unearth the buried cars and wash and dry them in a decent timeframe to avoid too many tears being shed.

We only went through three sets of pajama's today. Adding in the two sets from yesterday, I need to remind myself to do laundry in anticipation of tomorrow's antics.

Somehow, Vivienne managed to stay clean, but that doesn't mean that she was by any means good!

She has somehow managed to screech the banshee howl all day long, almost nonstop.

I really have learned that there is something to be said for having an office to retreat to.

I suppose I could find a nook somewhere in my house for a home-office, but then I would have to sound proof it, and make it some sort of invisible door that only I can locate!

Thankfully, an incentive arrived in today's mail for me today. Getting paid is always a good thing!

Maybe I will get the hang of all this balancing tomorrow, who knows!

Weekend Woes

This weekend went fairly well, I suppose. Only a few minor mishaps occurred with the babies.

They still ADORE their Valentine's balloons. This means that we have breakfast, lunch and dinner with our balloons by our sides.

If they are not by our side, we cry incessantly. Should another of our siblings touch our balloon, we cry.

Kian has a nasty habit of being able to run through a room collecting balloons as he goes without having to even break stride.

This means that it has been very, very loud at my house since last Thursday. If you come within even a few feet of Kian, you will inspire him to reach out and casually bop you on the head.

Parental units are not exempt from such behaviour, either, which has opened up a whole new avenue of disciplinary measures.

While Kian is balloon gathering, and head bopping (he prefers to think of it as playing "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" which of course it is NOT,) Kaiden is busy taking advantage of the diversion.

Kaiden has discovered that if he makes his move while Vivienne is crying beautifully in the corner and Kian is getting put into time out for having hit her, that nobody really notices that he is scaling up the side of the piano.

Heck, it was so loud this past weekend, that we didn't even hear him stop to play us a lovely aria with his feet on his way up to the very top of the piano cabinet.

Since nobody really noticed as we were both busy with the other babies, Kaiden took the opportunity to explore a NEW avenue.

He has figured out that he can get his legs down behind the cabinet of the piano in between it and the wall.

Thankfully, his backside is much to big with its diaper on, to allow him to fit completely down into the crevice, otherwise we would ALL be in trouble.

Nope, he cannot fall behind the piano, but he can, however, get royally stuck.

He doesn't understand that the ground is no where near his toes which are dangling in mid-air behind the piano.

In fact, he is quite upset with the idea that he cannot fit into the crevice where so many of his toys have been fitting quite nicely (he has amassed quite the collection back there!)

I suppose there is something to be said for removing the other avenues of destruction that the babies normally would take during such times of diversion.

You see, I ran accross one of those lovely little stove locks at the store the other day, and have since managed to make it actually WORK on our double oven.

No longer are the babies able to tail-gate in the oven in the kitchen. They are royally mad about not being able to "Cook" their stuffed picnic foods.

They are even more mad about not having access to the fun shelve that they had become so adept at removing and scraping accross the kitchen floor.

The chandelier has been raised out of their reach as well, which has really forced them to get creative when getting into trouble.

Yesterday, husband had to remove no less than 5 cars, 3 rings, and several Backyardigan figures from the soot in the fireplace.

Two baby boys also had to be plucked from amongst the ashes, and they had to have their clothing changed and their little paws washed.

Husband very painstakingly swept everything back into the fireplace, closed the curtain, and re-assembled the fireplace fan and positioned it to where the babies would really have to work at it to get in there.

This did not deter them, however, it just encouraged a new form of play.

Kaiden and Kian immediately improvised and started tossing small train engines over the fan, and through the tiny gap in the curtain into the ashes.

Their new game rather resembles a carnival basket-toss game of sorts. I suppose the next big purchase will be something to try and keep them out of the fireplace with.

Needless to say, there have been many new games that have come out of the fact that the oven and chandelier are off limits.

Now it's the work-week, and I must find time to work. Today, Bregon is out of school, so he was able to keep an eye on the munchkins while I worked a bit.

Tomorrow, however, will be a different story entirely. Who knows what the babies will manage to come up with while I try and work!

The Wonders of Balloons!

Yesterday, my tiny trio each received a shiny, pretty, mylar balloon for Valentine's Day.

Who would have ever guessed that they would be so enraptured by something so simple.

They had to have them at dinner-time. Each baby sat in their little feeding chair with their respective balloon weighted and clipped to their trays.

In between bites of pizza, they discovered how balloons float and can be made to dance in the air when the ribbon attached to them is pulled.

After dinner, the babies found out how balloons can be clipped to the side of your britches so that it can follow you around while you play!

Kian discovered that it is even more fun to have two balloons and that if you bop your brother over the head from behind, the surprise will be enough to enable you to pilfer his right out from underneath him.

Balloons are pesky creatures, too. They can wrap their ribbons 'round your legs if you are not careful and mindful of them.

My babies played with their balloons for hours last night. They insisted on taking them to bed with them, too.

Everyone had to have their balloon clipped to their bed in some manner so that they knew it would be safe while they slept.

In the morning, I had a new dilemma. I had to figure out how to get all three of the babies, a blanket and three balloons downstairs all at the same time.

We somehow managed, but I am not sure how! They spent the entire day fighting over balloons, getting them tangled up, untangling them, then fighting over them some more.

The babies were so engrossed with their balloons, that Kaiden forgot to scale the piano today.

Neither of the boys even thought about rearranging the furniture, or climbing on top of any of the tables in the living room.

Who would ever have imagined that the solution to my adventurous babies might be as simple as a mylar balloon?

23 Months Ago...

23 months ago, I remember exactly what I was doing. I had just returned from yet another of the every-other-day doctor's appointments that I had scheduled to monitor my pregnancy.

For once, nobody gave the lab-tech any trouble. Each baby did exactly as they were supposed to, giving the tech absolutely no reason to threaten to hang me upside down in that silly arm-chair contraption and try and monitor anyone.

Nobody could figure out why I was still pregnant. I was measuring not only huge, but super huge on the richter scale, yet I could produce not one contraction for either of my doctors.

I was super worried about that night, too. It was February 13, 2006, and it was the LAST full moon hurdle before I would be allowed to deliver my tiny trio.

I dreaded each and every full moon, old wive's tale or not, and treated each one as a major feat to conquer.

The olympics were on television, and husband had given me my Valentine early. I got a dozen red roses and a pink elephant with very tired eyes.

I immediately named the elephant "Floyd" after Brad Pitt's character from "True Romance."

Little did I know, that a month later, I would give birth to three tiny babies that would actually turn out smaller than this little stuffed elephant!

That night, I started having the first contractions of my pregnancy. I was determined not to have more than the four per hour that both of my doctor's would allow.

Every time they got too close together for my comfort, I would get up, wander around the living room and drink more water.

My husband would stay on edge every evening for the next 30 days over what would become my new evening ritual!

That night, I learned how that I could manage my body and have some control over contractions, which gave me some hope that I could beat the logistics and odds that were basically against us.

Yes, I would be able to make it all the way through the entire month without having to go to the hospital, or without having to be medicated to stop those pesky contractions.

I did exactly as the doctor's said, and made sure that I carried my babies to exactly 34 weeks.

It's funny how I can remember exactly what was going on 23 months ago to the day.

I can't help but smile whenever I look at my tiny trio now. "Floyd," that pink elephant, sits on the chair in my bedroom still.

His cousin, a grey elephant lives in the living room and belongs to Kian. I gave it to him today for Valentine's Day.

Seeing Kian with that elephant today reminds me just how tiny he once was. It's hard to believe that when he was born, he was actually smaller than his stuffed elephant.

Then again, I have a hard time believing that it's actually been 23 months since my tiny trio was born. My how far they have come!

My New Day

Okay, so now that I have several jobs to accomplish on top of the usual triplet raising, I have discovered that the way my day works has changed.

Yesterday, I re-learned my old job and got so carried away, I think I must have worked applications until about midnight.

During the afternoon, the boys were their usual selves, and practiced climbing the piano and dancing on the dining room table.

Then Kaiden discovered a new thing. Apparently, he had never noticed that the piano bench can be opened.

He basically opened himself up a Pandora's box of surprises which of course got him into a bit of trouble.

Kaiden now knows that sheet music is often kept inside the piano bench.

Kian decided that sheet music books make really neat tearing noises when the covers are removed!

I managed to intercept and salvage most of the sheet music, thankfully. Luckily, they had only gotten into the teaching books and had yet to get to my good stuff.

So, I found myself taking a break from working to put away all of the sheet music that had previously resided in the piano benches.

I gave the kids some pretzels and decided it might be safe to try working some more.

Just as I settled back into my spot and had logged back into the system, I looked up and out of the corner of my eye saw a little brown blur racing down the street.

It happened to be MY little brown blur that normally resides in the backyard where little doggies are SAFE from the outside world.

My silly doggie apparently had come to the aid of the neighbor's dog who had also gotten out in time to greet the mail carrier and get maced.

My silly doggie missed the mail carrier, but had managed to make a new friend of my neighbor accross the street who had decided to take pity on the silly doggie and kept her occupied long enough for me to get her safely back inside.

I took another break and helped my eldest son fill in all the holes around the fence until husband could get home to fix the electric fence that usually keeps the animals in check.

Then, it was time for dinner, so I went ahead and took a break for that as well.

It was while I was putting babies into their chairs that I noticed that Baby Vivienne was unusually warm.

Yep, she has managed to finally catch the crud that we have all been trading back and forth for the past few weeks. Poor Baby Vivienne.

But over all, I have learned that the best time for me to actually work is going to be during naptime and AFTER the children are asleep.

Don't get me wrong, I will casually work applications during the day, but I probably will not be able to go full speed until after the kids have gone to bed.

But, I know that it takes time to find the right rhythm and means to balance out all of my obligations.

I just have to remember to make sure that I slow down enough so that I can pace myself and keep my sanity somehow!

Sick, Working, & Happy As Can Be!

I have somehow managed to be royally sick for the past three days. It got to be so bad, that I was inside my house with the heat on, wearing my coat.

I still managed to be freezing somehow, all Saturday night long! Luckily, I finally found a medicine that would work for me!

This morning, I woke up still a bit sick, but that's okay. Today, I get to start back working.

I have made about $2 so far this morning. I could have made more, but it's been almost three years since I have done this, so I am being painstakingly careful!

Right now, I am waiting with baited breath to see if my application that I have submitted goes all the way through.

If I am successful, I will have made some guy in Mississippi very happy. If all goes as planned, his phone should be online and working in just a few minutes!

Right now, the babies are all three asleep in their little beds in the nursery.

As for me, I am sitting in my bedroom actually working for the first time in quite a while!

To make it even better, I have been put back in touch with an old friend from work who is also doing the same thing from home.

As luck would have it, and coincidence that is much to uncanny, she has a beautiful set of twins that are nine months old! I think this is just the neatest thing!

I am so excited to be back doing something other than counting diapers or reading rhyming books.

You never really know how much you miss doing something more adult until you get the opportunity to spend some much needed time actually thinking and applying energy to a task other than that related to your home or babies.

Don't get me wrong, I adore staying home and raising my children. It's exactly what I want to do.

It's just that there are parts of your brain that go un-used when at home with the kids all day.

I hope to wake that part of me back up and get it moving and in shape again! It really does feel good to have to think on a different level than the norm!

I may be singing a different tune tomorrow, but for the moment, I am enjoying a bit of the outside adult world from the confines of my bedroom!

Things Are Looking Up

Things are really looking up. I refuse to be anything but optimistic about everything.

Yesterday, we suffered through an ill-scheduled doctor's appointment that fell right smack dab in the middle of the babies naptime.

Bregon got to witness the entire thing and listen to them scream and be fussy and sad.

He was able to feel that little twinge of guilt that crept in when we went to the baby gate at ten o'clock and the babies all joyfully ran with us, thinking that they were getting to go upstairs for a much-needed nap.

They were so sad and upset when they discovered that we wanted them to go outside and get into the van for a car-ride instead of going upstairs to the nursery for their much anticipated nap.

Bregon had a hard lesson of how his actions affect others for most of the day, starting with that incident.

We had a wonderful time at the doctor's office, however. We parties in the lobby with a dear friend of ours and his daughter.

We shared our goldfish snacks with her and made her smile a lot! She has such a beautiful smile!

Then we visited with our nurses and talked about how they haven't had to see us all winter long because we have been virtually in hiding from the sick people.

We visited with our doctor a bit, too. She opted to try Bregon on a medication that he had when he first was diagnosed with ADHD.

The medication basically deals in pretty much focus only, so maybe it will help.

He feels really positive about it and remembers it fondly as what helped him get his first ever super good report card.

Maybe it will be the motivation and help that he needs, who knows. If not, the doctor has a master plan that will hopefully help us out before we have wasted an entire school year.

Right now, we are only focusing on the positive with Bregon in hopes that he can turn things around and start going forward.

After the doctor's appointment, we ran through the drive-thru and got some lunch, and headed home to let the babies nap.

I didn't make him go back to school because he only would have been there for his elective courses and activity period and that seemed sort of silly.

Besides, our limo-sized stroller just does not fit into the office well at all. That door slams on them and we take up the entire room it seems.

We made a very uneventful Target run after naptime to get his new prescription filled.

There, I picked up a little of what I call, "Freedom in a box" in hopes of being able to get my kids out to do mundane things like taking a walk or going to the park without fear of danger.

Over all it was a pleasant day. I was feeling so good, in fact, that Bregon and I decided to mop the living and dining room floors.

Today of all things, my old employer from before I had the triplets called, and asked me if I would like to work from home for them.

I do not know if the program will work out as being permanent, but it will certainly help out.

Besides, it's good to feel loved and wanted and remembered after almost three years of not being around them.

I am excited about getting to work again. It's doing something that I really used to enjoy doing.

So, maybe things are looking up after all! We are only going to think positive thoughts and be optimistic from this point out!

Well, it does sound good, in theory anyways!

Freedom In A Box

Today, I finally broke down and did it. While we were waiting on my eldest's prescription to be filled at Target, I found my tiny trio what I have come to view as "Freedom in a box."

What it really is, is one of those leashes for children, cleverly disguised in the form of a cute fuzzy stuffed animal backpack with a tail.

I am not sure what caused me to finally break down and make the purchase today of all days, but I snagged three of them.

For once there were actually enough to make all of the babies happy with the critter choice.

Maybe it was because I am tired of being the only Mum on the block who cannot take her tiny toddlers out for a nice walk.

I don't know. But I do know that I am coming up with more and more ideas on the uses and application of our new gear!

I have wild notions of being able to finally attend one of those Mummy meetings at the park without having to worry about the very real possibility of any or all of my trio taking a nice plunge into the pond in some attempt at finding out what it's like to be a duck.

Maybe we might one day graduate to going grocery shopping incognito, leaving the oversized limo of a stroller in the van so that folks might not peg us as the triplet family that we really are and maybe avoid some less than friendly comments that way.

Ooooh, and maybe I could go to the mall and join the myriad crew of mall walkers (do we still have those here?) with my tiny trio in tow on those rainy or cold days.

We might be able to successfully go to Sci-port by ourselves without my having to worry about what Kai might try and climb next.

Who knows, we may even get adventurous enough to try out the cool fountains this summer!

Maybe we could check out the wonders of Norton's and even take a much needed romp in their garden when the azaleas bloom.

If we start practicing with our new toys now, maybe we will be ready in time for this year's bloom!

Don't get me wrong, I am not seeing this as a total remedy for my hermit ways, but I do have hopes.

I have been forwarned by another triplet mum about the woes of the kids getting entangled and ensnared and basically knotted in the tail department, but I have hopes.

My friend even has one for her little boy and they seem very happy with it and all of its uses, which is where we learned about them, of course!

I think I may even have a solution to keep them from getting tangled. It may look silly, but at least we will still have a bit more freedom!

What a sight we shall make of ourselves in public. We have two monkey backpacks like the picture above, and one teddy bear.

Hopefully, ours will be a much smaller spectacle that might even go unnoticed to the unsuspecting folk that have that uncanny ability to hone in on that super huge limo and make rude comments about us.

Maybe only nice folks with pleasant things to say will be drawn to our new look, who knows!

Will I be able to start retiring the stroller in the near future? Will the new "Freedom in a box" be enough to encourage me to step outside during "Sick" season?

Only time will tell if the master plan will work! Until then, I aspire to be a "Toddler walker!"

Failure To Focus

I just do not know what to say. Today, my son was to have that big doctor's appointment to discuss what is happening and why none of the treatment for his ADHD is working.

I was hoping for a re-evaluation of symptoms and a new diagnosis, but as you have probably guessed, we just did not get there.

I have talked with him about this appointment for the past week, reminded him yesterday before bedtime, had him write it in his planner for today, and even had Husband remind him this morning on the way to school.

I am so frustrated. I am literally at my wits end with him. I try to show him how much I care in hopes that it might motivate HIM to start caring.

Nothing works, absolutely nothing. I had to wake the babies up early from their nap today so that they could eat their lunch without having to hurry.

I managed to get all of my notes together for the appointment. I even remembered to grab the two medicine bottles showing the dosage and the type of medication that did not work for us and had such adverse affects.

I had everything ready to go on the entry-way table, waiting for the time to leave.

I was able to get the babies all dressed and ready, their juice cups assembled, the master juice bottle refilled and everyone and everything to the door on time.

Somehow, I managed to get it all loaded into the car, happy babies included, and pull away from the house with pleanty of time to spare.

On my way to the school, I ran by the drive-thru at the bank, grabbed some french fries for the babies to eat while at the appointment, and a root-beer for my eldest as a treat.

It was then that I realized that I had left his report card and most recent grade sheets at home.

In fact, I had even forgotten to print those grade sheets out from the big computer.

Oh well, I thought, at least I am on time. I managed to get to the school just in time for the final bell to ring.

I waited in the carpool line for everything to start moving, scanning the hoards of students pouring out of the buildings for my son.

As I rolled past the flag pole, a feeling of dread came over me. He was not standing there waiting for me.

I went on and pulled into a parking spot on the off chance that he was just running late.

The babies had long since lost their patience with each other. Traffic was just no longer the amusement that it had been.

Kaiden had tossed his truck and was not finding my peek-a-boo game any fun anymore.

Kian had started to scream over losing his cup, or so I originally had thought.

When I turned around, I noticed that he was screaming because his sister apparently thought it would be great fun to grab his arm and bite the heck out of the back of his hand.

I asked her to stop and say that she was sorry to her brother, but all she did was look at me and shrug as if to say, "What? You mean I am NOT supposed to act like this?"

It got to be about a quarter after three and I had been sitting there for almost thirty minutes.

I finally gave up and headed back home in hopes of catching the bus. I was about five minutes down the road when it dawned on me that he was almost forty five minutes late yesterday getting home from school because of a substitute bus driver.

I went on and drove all the way home so I could try and grab the missing report card and print the missing grade sheets off of the computer while we waited for him to get home.

Kian never did stop screaming, but at least the paperwork printed. I managed to get everyone resettled in the van, and headed back up the street to the bus stop.

I called the doctor's office to let them know that we were running late. I was told that there wasn't any way they could see him today because they were already backed up.

She asked me when I could get there. I didn't know what to tell the lady. I feel so stupid over the whole thing.

How do you relay the idea that you DO NOT HAVE A CLUE when you can get there because your child cannot remember to do as he should and he has chosen to ride a bus driven by a substitute who is later than late?

I tried my best, probably driving the poor lady nuts in the process. Her only solution for me?

I have to check my child out of school tomorrow for a 10:30 appointment. There was not any other available times so I have basically no choice.

The babies will be screaming because it is their naptime. Bregon will miss school tomorrow, probably in its entirety, because I cannot get the stroller into the office safely and still fit inside to be able to check him out.

Taking the babies up to the school is a HUGE distraction for the school children and I always feel like I am getting them in trouble whenever I try it.

If I try checking him back into school, it will only be for about an hour by the time it's all said and done.

So I just do not know. I haven't any clue how this is going to work out, especially since it is imperative that I be able to think enough to talk to the doctor about the problems we are having.

I am dreading the long anticipated appointment. I feel like I did when we were seeing that other doctor, even, and I hate that feeling.

We really need a solution to my son's problem. I worry that he will not be able to make up the school that he is going to miss tomorrow.

How can I expect him to remember to be savy enough to ask for his make-up work that he missed when he cannot even remember the appointment that we talked about for a week, reminded him the day of, and even had him write in his planner so he would see it every time he had to write down his homework?

I am going to have a time explaining the situation to the doctor. After all, I have a child who can sit in the same room as his siblings, yet not even notice when his baby brother decides to scale the piano.

He had to have made some noise doing this because the keyboard cover was open and he would have had to walk over it to get to the top.

My eldest only noticed when Kai was screaming because he managed to get his behind stuck in between the wall and the piano while squatting on the back of it.

Later in the same hour, Kaiden decided to crawl up into the second shelf of the bookcase. He had to move a bunch of things in order to fit up there, but my eldest was oblivous until stuck.

How can he go from such an attentive big brother to one who doesn't even notice things as glaring as these?

Tune in tomorrow for the continuing saga in our quest for a solution to my eldest's "Failure to focus."

Parade Day

Friday night I finally decided to take pity on my eldest child and decided that if the kids were in good shape on Saturday, that we would go try and catch the parade together.

I planned my entire Saturday schedule around the idea that we were going to head down to that parade.

I came up with several game plans and scenarios just in case I was able to convince someone to go with us or in the event the babies deviated from their usual schedule.

Saturday morning came and the weather looked good, the kids were on schedule, and everything seemed okay.

I even tried inviting my sister to take her kids along to the parade with us, but I couldn't get in touch with her (eliminated that plan B from the possibilities!)

When I got the babies up from their nap, I discovered that Kian was running a bit of a fever.

That thermometer read "102.3" so I found myself digging out the tylenol, motrin and kiddie clariton.

Luckily, his fever started going down super quick. He was in a good mood, so I opted to give the parade a shot anyways.

Then I realized that I was almost out of diapers. My father was supposed to pick some up for us, but when I called to check, he had yet to get out for the day.

It was three in the afternoon and I was planning on leaving for the parade by four. Hmm....

I went ahead and made sure that the babies were dressed and ready, had their dinner picnic packed and the juice bottles all filled with extra to boot, and headed to the grocery store a few blocks away.

I managed to get in and out of the grocery store fairly quickly armed with an emergency pack of diapers and a new tube of butte paste. I was good to go!

I somehow got back home just in time to load the kids up on my original schedule and was pulling out of the driveway as the clock turned over to four.

We were on a roll! We arrived at the general area with time to spare.

My original plan had been to park in the casino parking garage, but I ran accross a lot on Lake street itself, so I went ahead and pulled in there.

I thought we were doing so well, since we had fifteen minutes to spare. It never occurred to me that the sidewalk going down the hill would not exactly be accessible to folks with strollers.

When we got to the bottom of the hill, we were faced with a drop op and a huge curb to hop, all of which were on an incline.

The nearest ramp was a half block away down to our left. Luckily, a really super nice couple helped Bregon and I get the limo-stroller down that incline without an problem!

We ended up not being able to navigate our stroller throught the crowd at the corner by the museum, so we opted to park just on the other side of the reserved sign in front of the huge white tent.

This put us behind a police car with its lights flashing, which made Kian all sorts of excited.

I backed our limo up to the curb and out of the line of traffic and the time and put our brakes on to keep the stroller from rolling should the kids get too excited.

We were all okay, too, until the parade started. I handed out the babies picnic lunch to them a sliver of sandwich at a time, and this kept them distracted and pretty happy.

Once the parade started to roll, I made a deal with Bregon about how far he could go to get throws and showed him how to find us if he ended up leaving the area for whatever reason (which is easy to do in a parade as it rolls by.)

The babies did pretty well overall, too. Nobody really cried or was upset at the noises.

Vivienne learned to wave at the floats as they passed by. Kaiden decided that his stroller must be as big as a float, so when he was given his pair of beads, he thought that he should toss them at the people as they walked by him.

We were very lucky that most folks had thought that he had dropped his beads and they gave them back to him.

Then Kaiden got a bit too excited, and tossed his stuffed monkey that he had brought with him.

You would have thought that it was gold, the way the bigger kids swooped down on it.

All of my years of real New Orleans Mardi Gras experience kicked in at this point, and Super Mummie managed to beat the little hooligans to Kai's baby in time to prevent disaster.

Monkey then had to go and live in stroller net after that. I had started to put him in the basket underneath the babies, until I noticed this older kid trying to reach under the babies.

This was only the beginning, too. I really didn't try to catch anything on purpose. After all, my toddlers would only ever eat the beads anyways.

But poor Bregon had loads of trouble down in front where the crowd was.

I had warned him about wearing his special beads down there, but he wanted to have a place to wear them, so I had given in.

He had several pair that his GrandGary had brought him back from the Washington Mardi Gras.

He chose to wear the ones that lit up and played music down to the parade in spite of my warnings.

Sure enough, some very grown woman had thought that any and all beads were available to her and she actually had the audacity to try and remove them from around his neck.

He managed to run her off, but the whole incident really upset him. It was so bad with the adults, that when he finally did manage to catch something worth keeping, he ended up giving it to the very sad little boy standing next to him.

We did come home with a cup and a frisbee. The only beads we ended up with (other than what Bregon had worn down there) were the ones that a lady had given us before the parade had started and a set that this cute little man had given me who had been standing next to us.

After the parade, on the walk back to our van, Bregon noticed that lady who had tried to take the beads from around his neck and he started telling me the story about what had happened, not realizing (in typical child-manner) that everyone around us could hear him.

Some lady felt sorry for him and came over and tried to give us her beads for the babies.

I thanked her, but told her that they really didn't need any because they were really too young, but it was very sweet of her to offer.

Over all it was very pleasant, a few incidences withstanding. We didn't even have to worry about getting caught in parade traffic (which I am extremely afraid of.)

Unfortunately, we had to forgo the Highland parade on Sunday because both Bregon and Kian were too sick to go. Maybe next year!

A New Frontier

It finally happened. I have had a few weeks of Kaiden not being able to fly from the chandelier any more.

Now, both boys are getting bored with the doldrums of climbing up, on top of the dining room table, only to find it no longer any fun just to sit there and watch television from it.

Don't worry, they have found several other new and interesting things to do with their time.

First of all, they have renewed their interest in our fireplace. I used to catch them trying in vain to scoop out enough soot to make a sand castle of sorts.

This past week, however, I have discovered that apparently the boys had long been playing pirate whenever I leave the room.

I caught them both on either side of the fireplace fan, frantically digging in the fireplace.

It wasn't for soot castle fun, either. They had long since buried several of their Backyardigan's figures in the front up under the grate and apparently had just recently remembered that they were in there.

Note to self, when wanting a fire, I must rake through EVERYTHING very carefully first in order to avoid possible baby tragedy.

There were no less than three buried figures in there. Each figure was coated with soot and appeared to have been in there for some time, too.

Not to worry, the buried treasure has been recovered, all fires are now a go!

Then there is the small matter of the boys wanting to pretend to be mountain climbers.

I am not sure if it was that Snow-fort episode of "The Backyardigans" or the idea that the boys wanted the blocks which are kept mostly off limits unless I can closely supervise them.

But, regardless of the motive, I went to the bathroom (I know I have to stop doing that) and came back to find Kaiden in tears, trying desperately to get his footing back on the keyboard of the piano.

His little footed pajamas were preventing him from being able to get a good footing on the slippery ivories.

I found him dangling from the music rack which was poised at an angle normally meant for folding up into the back for storage.

Lucky for Kaiden, that stand hinged the OTHER way and he was able to stay up and on it.

It was quite a site, really. It was very surreal. While his brother dangled perilously from the music stand atop the piano, Kian sat very quietly and very correctly (as he has seen his big brother practice many an evening.)

Kian played the mood music for Kaiden's predicament. It was a very lovely song, especially for a one year old.

He was very serious, and using both of his tiny boy hands to plunk out the prettiest little diddy.

Nothing phased his song and composing, either, not even when his brother's toe would brush his hand in an effort to regain his footing.

It was super hard not to laugh at them both over this one, even if it was something that they should not have really been doing.

Then, my bladder got the better of me later on that same day. Undaunted by the earlier experience, they were at it AGAIN.

This time, they made sure to get the bench pulled all the way out. I found Kaiden perched and squatting up on the back of the piano this time.

He was busy passing blocks from the block container down to his brother, one by one.

I just shook it off this time, plucked him from his perch, and handed both boys the block container to play with.

Of course, that is the exact point where the team work stopped and that brother instinct kicked in.

This instinct is the one that says that all of the blocks in the container should belong to one boy for whatever reason and not the other.

This almost always results in Kaiden trying to grab as many blocks as possible while dodging being hit in the head with the ones that Kian has managed to procure for himself.

If Kaiden is successful in his quest, Kian will just resort to trying to slap him for good measure.

I do try and separate them and stop the flurry, but sometimes it's just not possible!

But, this week, both boys have forged ahead, exploring yet another new frontier in my living room.