Abuelitos

There is just nothing like a grandparent. They love their grand kids and spoil them rotten. They see the good in everything they do. They will rearrange their entire lives to spend time with their grand kids, and if you need them, they are there without even blinking. Well, I'm talking about the most amazing grandparents in the world...our children's grandparents. I just have no idea how we would manage without them.

My dad watches them all at least one day a week and usually takes a baby for a spend the night party weekly. Billy's dad comes several nights a week to help us get them to bed, and he also helps at least one day a week. Marmie comes by some evenings, and she has a full baby rotation schedule, where she will check out a different baby each weekend.

I often take for granted what amazing grandparents they all are. I will talk to a friend or colleague who asks if we have help, and I will tell her about the grandparents, and I always hear the same thing, "I wish my parents/my in-laws helped that much." Most of the time the grandparents come for birthday parties and help when something major is going on, but otherwise, they are not involved. I can't even imagine this!

Coming from my background, where my grandparents were like a second and third set of parents to me, I wouldn't have it any other way. I treasured the relationships I had with Nata, Ka, Nachi, and Go. They made me who I am today. I want our kids' grandparents to help shape their lives. It really does take a village! In our case, we could use 3 villages! I guess we'll take the one really big village we have.

Papa taking the kids for a spin on one of his babysitting days. Our neighbors always comment on how many different people they see with our kids cruising the streets.

Pop-pop Zeigler holding Will and Marie back so that they don't go playing in the street. It's really hard to control 3 toddlers when you set foot outside.

Marmie with Tiny, aka Marie. Marmie is especially happy because Miss Marie has warmed up to her a lot lately. Marie went through a rough period with separation anxiety. She wanted only mommy all the time. She's pretty over it now, but Abby has stepped up to the plate and wants more mommy-time. In fact, if she sits in my lap to read a book, and Will decides to join us, she pushes him off and screams at the top of her lungs. Nice. I can already feel the sibling love.

Just pics...no time

Sorry I haven't had much time to blog it out. I am super busy with work right now, and I'm heading into a very hectic travel season. However, I have so many cute pictures, and I wanted to at least get those up here for you all to enjoy!

Also, I wanted to give a weight and length update from their 15 month checkup:

Abby is 23 lbs, 5 ozs (55th percentile) and 32 1/4 inches (90th percentile).
Will is 22 lbs, 5 ozs (25th percentile) and 31 1/4 inches (50th percentile).
Marie is 21 lbs, 4 ozs (35th percentile) and 30 7/8 inches (55th percentile).


We went to Lily's birthday party, and it was cold out! Marie barfed in the car on the way there so we arrived in style...with a baby covered in vomit. Anyway, they had tons of fun at the party. They had a petting zoo and pony rides. We'll get some pics of the pony rides posted later.

Look at Abby's crazy hair. It's super curly, and when she wakes up from naps, it's all over the place.

Will and Abby crammed themselves into this tiny corner. Soon, a fight broke out, and we had to separate them. Alice wants me to post a video of baby's fighting. I'll have to instigate something and get out the recorder.

Is that a daycare center? No, it's our family room. Toys everywhere!

This was last month, but I forgot to get the picture up, and it's too cute not to post. Here is our trio, along with several of Billy's friends children. From right to left, we have the Sce Twins, The Zeigler trips, Ben Elliott, and Carina Magnus. So many adorable kids!

Our belly button bandit, Marie. She's totally obsessed with it. Always pokes at it. I have to clean it out every couple of days with an alcohol swab because I'm afraid she's going to get an infection from all the touching.

Abby decided she was not tired enough to take a morning nap in her bed, but she needed to rest her eyes when lunch time rolled around. We are working on trying to get them down to one nap a day, and it's not going so well. Can you tell?

Last resort

Last Sunday, Will was not feeling well. He was feverish, cranky, had a runny nose, and was just generally miserable. We went to my dad's house for lunch as usual, and Cooper took a special interest in Will's sickness.

I was walking around holding Will trying to soothe him, and Cooper was following me, trying to help. He first suggested we put him in the crib because he might be tired. We tried that...Will cried harder. Cooper said, "That didn't work." The next suggestion was that we rock him. I sat in the rocking chair, and Will kept crying. Cooper said that perhaps singing would help. Therefore, we sang a couple of rounds of "Happy Birthday" and then "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." Unsuccessful.

Finally, Cooper turned to me and said, "Leslie, I think he's going to need some teta milk." As I've mentioned in other posts, teta is the word for boob in Spanish. This was Cooper's last resort option. I told Cooper that I didn't have any teta milk; it was all dried up. His response was, "OH, BROTHER!" Then he said, "Well, I'll just ask my mom to warm him up a bottle." He looked very disappointed by this option...like he knew it was clearly not going to work. That kid cracks me up all the time.

We ended up at an after-hours clinic with Will that night because I couldn't get his fever down--it was over 102 after taking Tylenol. When we got to the clinic, it was 104! He had tonsillitis, double ear infection, and his molars were breaking through. Poor little man. I spent 2 or 3 sleepless nights caring for him, but he's better now. I'm just hoping the tonsillitis doesn't spread to the little ladies.

Well, back by popular demand, I have new baby videos. Check them out below. I have drafted my tributes to Will and Marie, but I'm still putting the finishing touches on them. Those are coming soon!

Will

Will is my little man. He's sometimes Willers or Mr. Willers or Wheel (that's what Carley calls him). He is just the goofiest little guy in the world.

He is quick to smile at us, but if you are a stranger, especially a male stranger, he will stare you down. It's like he's sizing men up to fight. You wouldn't believe how hysterical it is, and how many times people say, "My, he sure is serious," or "He sure can stare." He is the ultimate winner of all staring contests. It's really funny to see him do it.

It's funny to me how he's all boy already. How does that happen so fast? He whacks on everything, is super rough, beats on the girls, and just acts differently than they do. He just doesn't have all that girl drama. I think he's going to be the most easy-going.

Lately, he's gotten into this thing where he has to carry something around with him everywhere. It's like a security blanket, but it's not a blanket...it's usually his hair brush. If you take it away, he freaks out. Sometimes, he'll carry around a ball instead, but whatever it is, he has a death grip on it. He will hold it through meals, bottles, playing, etc. He does everything with only one hand so that he can hold on to his little item with the other. He even falls asleep with whatever it is at night, and I have to go in and fish it out of his crib. If I don't go get it, he'll grab it first thing in the morning, and when I go get him, he's sitting up, grinning, holding the ball, brush, whatever in his hand already.

Will is a total brat when it comes to falling asleep at night and at nap time. He just doesn't want to rest. He will cry until he gags, and if I didn't go get him then, he would barf his guts out. His preference is that I put him in the big bed and sleep next to him, but I can't go to sleep at 7:30...there is too much to do after they go down. Therefore, I have to slip him back into his crib after he falls asleep and hope that he doesn't wake up. It's hit or miss.

The boy is obsessed with cabinets, doors, drawers, and anything else you can open and close. He could spend all day opening and closing cabinets, but he also enjoys climbing into them and making a mess.

The latest thing he's been working on trying to open and shut is the gate in the playroom. He's been successful in his efforts to open that a couple of times. That is not good. I don't know how we will keep the little animals caged in if he figures out an escape plan. How can a 22 lb person who barely knows a few words already outsmart us? We are definitely in trouble in the future.

He loves to eat. He shovels handfuls of food in his mouth, and he does this funny thing where he holds his hand over his mouth while he chews to keep food from falling out. I think cheese is probably his favorite food, but he also loves vegetables and banana bread a lot.

When he wants to give you a kiss, he opens his mouth huge and comes running across the room at you. You have to prepare yourself because he's going to slobber all over you. Plus, you can never be sure if he's just going to kiss you, or if he's going to bite.

Here are some sweet pics of my little man:

In Marmie's big bed-just the way he likes to sleep, with his head on the pillow.

My silly man showing off his grin.

My cabinet man-playing peek-a-boo in the tupperware cabinet.

This is how big he opens his mouth when he comes to give you a kiss. As you can imagine, it's pretty sloppy.

Typical boy--playing with his weiner.

Marie

Look at this little smiley face!
Playing with the basketball post after knocking it down. Apparently, they think it's a see-saw.
She's in her big girl seat with a yellow bow in her hair. She only tolerates the bow for a little while, though. Then, she tries to eat it.

She has gotten into accessories lately. Marmie must be teaching her all about it. In this picture she has a faux purse-it's actually a bib on her arm.

These two pictures were taken in the morning when the light was coming in the family room. They make her look so serene...don't be fooled.

Oh, little Marie! She is so adorable...I just want to eat her up sometimes. We call her Bear and Oso/Osito (Bear/Little Bear in Spanish). Sometimes, it's Ree-ree or Reezers. I often call her Tiny because she was the tiniest one of the bunch at birth (in length and weight). She's still the shortest. What she lacks in height, however, she makes up for in personality.

She got the name Bear because of her sleeping habits. We always kid that she is like a little hibernating bear. She sleeps 12 hours a night, and she does not skip a nap. She's a thumb sucker, and as you take her up to her room for a nap or at night, you can gage how tired she is by when the thumb goes in the mouth. Some days, we are only on the second stair going up, and the thumb is in the mouth. If it's not in there by the time you get in the room, she'll definitely get it in once you put her in her crib. The girl is all about her beauty rest, and we are so grateful to have one baby who is a good sleeper!

Marie also has a secret obsession/eating disorder with paper and/or cardboard products. She likes to eat her books, little scraps of paper she finds, really anything that's made out of some sort of paper. She's incredibly sneaky about it. She'll confiscate her little piece of whatever, crawl (or lately walk) away to a corner, turn her back to the adult in the room, and munch away. Typically, whoever is with her thinks that she's being such a good baby playing in the corner alone. Then, when she is approached, and you say "Marie!," she quickly throws the item to the floor and moves away from it as quickly as possible. She obviously knows that paper eating is off limits, but it doesn't stop her from trying to get in little here and there.

Bear is quite the mama's girl. If I'm in the room, I have to be holding her or giving her attention. If someone else tries to hold her, she's reaching for me and crying bloody murder. However, if I'm out of sight, she'll tolerate others. The minute she sees me, though, her mommy-itis starts up.

Miss Ree is our best eater. The child gobbles down adult-sized mouthfuls of food. She shovels handfuls of food into her mouth, and I swear she doesn't chew some of it. In fact, I know she doesn't, because sometimes there are whole pieces of vegetables in her poop when I change her diaper.

Marie is knows how to play the innocent victim. She'll often start a fight with Will by stealing one of his toys. Then, he'll come over and hit or bite her, and she'll scream and cry and look at me like she has no idea what she did to deserve this. At first, I didn't notice that she was instigating the violence. I mentioned to my dad that Will was always torturing her, and he said, "Don't let her fool you-that little girl is sneaky. She's probably doing something to him before he does something to her." I started watching more closely, and I realized that he was right...Marie usually gets Will worked up.

I would have to say that out of all of them, Marie has the worst cry. It is so sad and heart-wrenching. It makes you just want to go pick her up and squeeze her.

That child got a mouth full of teeth before Abby had 2. It was crazy. She now has her molars. She's like a little shark with those teeth, too. When she bites down on something, she shakes her head back and forth viciously and giggles. It hurts!

Marie was the last to take steps, but once she got it, she got it. She quickly had a good sense of balance and was walking around taking tiny little steps, while holding her arms up in the air. She now walks 100% of the time-no crawling at all.

She is hilarious with her signs. Her favorite sign is "more," and she does it all the time. She'll just look at you and sign more, but most of the time, I have no clue what she wants more of. If I just start singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider when she signs more for no reason, that usually makes her happy.

Abby

Here is my tribute to my sweet Dabbers. We call her so many things....Abber-Dabbers, Daberoo, Daberoni, Dabs, and Abs. I think I'm leaving out a few, but you get the picture. I'm not sure why the "d" got added to her name, but it did, and her nicknames all became variations of that.

Abs is the most outgoing of all the babies. She smiles at strangers when Marie frowns, and Will stares and sometimes even cries. Abby is always showing off her four little teeth with her huge grin.

Abby is also the snuggliest of them all. She loves to hug and kiss. When I'm holding her, and I give her something she wants, she'll put her head down on my shoulder to give me a little thank you hug. When I ask her for a "besito" (little kiss), she opens her mouth wide and mauls me.

Dabbers is also the dog whisperer. She's amazing with Winnie. She points to her whenever she comes in the room and says, "Dog." She pets her, and she does this thing where she'll walk over to Winnie, sit in front of her, and then rest her head on Winnie's head. I do this to Winnie a lot so I'm sure she learned from seeing me, but she's just so gentle about it, and Winnie just licks her, or sits there quietly and lets Abby do whatever she wants. When Will or Marie even come close to Winnie, she growls. They have abused her enough. She knows that Abby is gentle and sweet, but the other two are somewhat unpredictable. Winnie never bites, but the growl is her warning to them to stay away. For Abby, though, she'll roll over on to her back, and let Abs love her.

Abby is our fastest learner. We practice a "trick" a few times, and she's got it, in 3 languages (sign, Spanish, and English). She was also the first to walk, and she was first to say "dog," which was pretty much everyone's first word. What can I say, the girl got her momma's brains!

Maybe she learns quickly because of her love of reading. When given a pile of her toys, she'll grab a few books, sit in the corner, and turn through the pages. She points at the pictures on each page and asks, "Dat?" I have to identify everything for her. She prefers to sit in my lap and have me read to her. Once the other two see this, they also fight for a spot on mommy's lap.

On the other hand, she's daring, like her daddy. She will do anything, and she's never scared. At Marmie's house, if we turn our backs for one second, she's at the top of the stairs looking down at us and laughing. She walks up to her baby pool, which is full of balls, and does belly flops straight into it. I'm afraid she's going to do this one day when the pool is empty. That's going to hurt. She always wants to be up on the couch and tries to jump off over the sides. This girl is going to have some injuries. I foresee many emergency room visits in her future.

She usually stays out of the major fights between the kids. I don't know if she is necessarily a peacemaker or if because she's bigger than the others, they simply don't engage her figuring they'll lose. Don't get me wrong, she'll fight for what she wants, but usually it's more in self-defense, whereas Will just bites or hits Marie because she's there.

Abby is our worst sleeper. Her naps are usually the shortest, and at night, she fights falling asleep for a long time. Typically, she wakes up at least a couple of times at night. Most of the time, it will only go on a few minutes, and she'll go back to sleep, but some nights, after hearing her scream for 30 minutes, I have to go in and rescue her. I don't know if she has ever slept more than 6 hours straight.

Abby is also our worst eater. She's super-picky. All she likes are carbs, much like her daddy. She loves crackers, cereal, bread, cereal bars, and cookies (especially Nilla Wafers). However, she does love cheese and veggie meatballs, which are not on her daddy's "faves" list...in fact, he despises both. I'm constantly trying to come up with different things to feed her, but if she doesn't want it, she carefully picks up each piece, and tosses it over the side of her tray.

The little animal lover-this is a bunny statue at Marmie's house. Of course, Abby doesn't know it's a statue. To her, it's just another animal to love.

Here's her silly grin.

Staying out of a fight-check out Will and Marie.

Covered in cheese after a meal and making one her silly faces.

Reading with mommy and sister (and Winnie).

Okay, I have to work on Marie and Will's tributes next. Look for those in the next few days....

Signing Time

We are teaching the babies sign language, and a couple of times a day, they watch videos to learn their signs. I don't know what kinds of subliminal messages they put in these videos, and I don't care because it keeps all 3 of them entertained for a few minutes. These pictures illustrate the trance-like state they slip into when "Signing Time" is on the screen. It's a little scary.