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| Alexis |
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| Jack |
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| Faith |
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| Faith, Jack, Alexis |
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| Jack, Alexis, and Faith (Snoopy and Husky are still with the girls all of the time) |
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| Jack, Faith, Alexis |
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| Alexis, Faith, Jack |
When I look around the house and see toys strewn about, piles of drawings on the counters, and plastic plates and cups left on the table, I have to admit that I feel stressed and overwhelmed by the mess. Lately, though, I've been trying to remind myself that it won't be long before the kids only want to hang out in their bedrooms, they will soon outgrow the stage where they are super proud of every picture they draw, and they will graduate to real plates and glasses and maybe they'll even load them in the dishwasher. Yes, right now it's messy and I find that annoying, but it is real life, the kids are learning through their play and art, and they are growing from all of their meals and snacks. Although right now I often wish that they would move some toys to their bedrooms and play with them there instead of always making a mess in the living areas, I am trying to be thankful that they want to be around me and each other.
Alexis, Jack, and Faith still play together most of the time, but once in awhile one of them will branch off and they really seem to enjoy the alone time. Micah and I often talk about how tiring it must be to be a triplet because it seems like they are constantly in competition with each other since there isn't naturally an oldest to take the lead. But as much as they bicker and get frustrated with each other, they can also spend hours playing well together and they are as thick as thieves. Just in the past week I have witnessed several "I love yous" to one another followed by a kiss on the cheek. As much as I think it would be good for them to play apart more, I know that someday they probably won't want to be together this much. Their relationships with each other are so special and unique.
All three have grown up so much in the last six months and they are now starting to sound out words. I'm sure it won't be long before they are all reading, which to me will be a major milestone. Here are some other ways that they have grown:
Heights and Weights:
Alexis: 43.25" and 35 lbs (+1.25" and 2.5 lbs in the last six months)
Jack: 42.5" and 33.5 lbs (+1.5" and 3 lbs in the last six months)Faith: 45" and 36.5 lbs (+1" and 2 lbs in the last six months)
Jack wins the award for the most growth in the past six months, which makes us so happy since he is finally becoming less picky and he's starting to eat more. For awhile, every meal felt like a battle and it was really stressful. Lately, though, he is eating more quickly (we used to have to keep saying, "Jack, take a bite") and he is more willing to eat a variety of foods. Alexis, on the other hand, has become much more picky lately, so that probably explains why there is such a height difference between the girls.
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| They are growing, but Micah can still carry them all in from the car when they don't have shoes on |
Kindergarten: Alexis, Jack, and Faith started Kindergarten mid-August and they are all doing great. We are doing a part-time school / part-time homeschool program so they attend class on Mondays and Wednesdays and we have homeschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We decided to put them in separate classes on their school days, and I believe it was one of the best decisions we have made. Jack seems to miss being with the girls as he's mentioned it several times, but the girls both seem quite happy with the situation as I believe they need a break from each other since they are with each other 100% of the time otherwise. Being in separate classes has given them all a chance to be individuals without their siblings around. Jack seems to have made a few friends in his class and Faith talks about one girl that she enjoys, but Alexis is struggling a little with finding friends which is hard to hear her say even though it's 'just kindergarten.' They do see each other at recess and it sounds like they play with each other quite a bit during that time, but I'm glad they are starting to branch out a little as well.
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| Alexis |
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| Jack |
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| Faith |
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| Thanksgiving party at school |
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| Using our math manipulatives on a homeschool day |
Climbing: We have been trying to take the kids to the climbing gym more often, and they have been loving it. Jack now climbs to the top of the autobelay every time, and the girls get almost to the top before they get a little nervous and come down. All three are doing well with their climbing, and they now all have their own harnesses. We have one pair of kid shoes, but only Alexis is interested in wearing them. For Christmas we got them all chalk bags, which they were really excited about.
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| Chalk bags! |
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| Faith, Alexis, and Jack autobelaying at our climbing gym |
Skiing: Yesterday Micah took the kids skiing for the first time this season, and today they are at their first ski school lesson. Jack and Alexis are totally skiing on their own, and Faith will be there soon. Faith was not interested in skiing last winter so she has had less practice than the other two, but now that she has decided to do it I'm sure she won't have any trouble. (Edit: It is only one day later and Faith is skiing proficiently. She learned how to snowplow and stop in ski school yesterday, and today when Micah took the kids back to Wolf Creek she didn't need any help!).
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| Jack, Micah, Alexi at Wolf Creek |
Swimming: This summer all three began swimming independently! Of course we still need to be nearby as they aren't that strong yet, but the girls are able to swim the entire 25 yard length of the pool on their backs and Jack can do it on his belly. They were in swim lessons from last August through June, and then Micah worked with them a lot this summer to help them become more confident. It was a lot of fun seeing them swim in the summer.
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| Swimming at my family's cottage in July |
Pull-Ups: Years ago Micah put the idea in the kids heads that they should try to do pull ups. They have been working on it off and on using Jack's bunk bed, and about a month ago Jack started doing pull ups from a dead hang. The girls are a bit jealous, but I'm sure they will be doing them soon too with all of their climbing.
Sleep: The kids are starting to "sleep in" more, which means many days they don't get up until after 7:00, and some mornings Faith has even slept until 8:00. Right now I'm thankful that the kids only have school two mornings a week since I have to wake them up between 6:30 and 6:45 to get them there on time, which is a struggle. This Christmas break I have really been enjoying getting a little extra sleep in the morning since we don't have to rush off to school or wake up to start working on our homeschool.
Jack's thumb: Jack has sucked his thumb since he was a baby. When he turned 2 we almost had the habit broken, but when he ended up in the hospital with low platelets he started sucking his thumb again, which I was fine with at the time since it was such a traumatic year for him. Fast forward two + years later and he's still sucking his thumb during the night, despite the fact that we have tried using a fancy thumb guard to help him stop. I was also a thumb sucker until about age 6, and the method that was used to get me to stop was taping popsicle sticks onto my thumb and drawing a picture on the tape. If the picture was still there in the morning, I got a reward after a set number of days. We decided to use this same method with Jack and it worked great! Mid-December he went two weeks straight without sucking his thumb and after those two weeks he was given a Nerf gun, which is something he has wanted for years, but for a few reasons we hadn't given one to him yet. He is still wearing the popsicle sticks to bed at night so that he doesn't regress, and he reminds us when we forget to put them on. I'm so glad that he has decided that it is time to stop sucking his thumb as it has made this whole process fairly simple.
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| Jack with his thumbs taped up. Now we need to start this process with our finger sucking boy in the background! |
Big Sibs: Alexis, Jack, and Faith are great big siblings to Graham. Yes, they do they do get annoyed with him at times if he takes their toys or "ruins" their games, but overall they are super sweet with him and they get so excited when he learns new things or says new words. Graham seems to think he is one of the triplets, which means he tries to keep up with them. Someday I'm sure he will keep up with them more, and hopefully they continue to be as kind and loving to their baby brother.
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