Terrible 2s? Or just Misunderstood Toddlers?

Apologies abound, this year has flown by, and once again I find the blog extremely out of date.

The triplets have grown so much since the last update and are doing everything you would expect of a toddler: Talking more, playing harder, more inquisitive "What's that", and INTO EVERYTHING!!! They are such a handful these days.

They love to go bye bye, and will often throw a tantrum first thing in the morning if we don't get them dressed to go somewhere. Gabbi and Nate will even claim "I'm poopy" to get you to take their pajamas off, and then they won't let you put them back on... clever.

They are very attached to each other... Jack and Gabbi are "Where's Nate" anytime that he is elsewhere, i.e. still in a nap, or not quite ready for bed.

They are good at sharing... most of the time. New toys still garner a fight now and then, but for the most part they are pretty good. They will get their sippy cups for each other, or get toys they think the others might like, it's quite precious.

We've been taking them outside a lot more lately, as the weather permits, and they LOVE that. Going to the park, or up to the cul-de-sac, or just playing in the driveway really gets them going. Now getting them back inside... that's the hard part.

Nate is not banging his head as much these days, I'd say only about 10% as much as he was before... very relieving for us. But every now and then Gabbi or Jack will try it to get something they want... but they don't have the touch and end up actually hurting themselves enough to bruise.

We went to Lake Chelan and had a lot of fun. We took Cori with us and she helped wrangle the kiddos as we tooled around the lake shore and all the accompanying parks and toys etc... They loved to throw rocks in the lake, but of course a duck's interest was peaked by the action of things being tossed into the water. Jack just kept throwing rocks in the water, and the duck kept looking to see if they were edible. Gabbi actually fell in the lake, it was only 12 inches deep, but in late March... it's very chilly.

Sophia is almost done with the first grade and is spelling and reading like a champ. She's always doing something, and in the rare chance she's not, of course she let's out a "I'm bored" even though she just finished up with 3 play dates. Sophia likes to play Rock Band 2 on the Xbox and does a pretty good rendition of "Eye of the Tiger" on the vocals.

We just celebrated Jack, Nate and Gabbi's birthday and that went pretty well. The weather held up so the kids played outside most of the time, and no one fell into the pool (relief). Jack of course wanted nothing to do with the "Happy Birthday" singing, and kind of freaked out... but then once he got a taste of the cake he cautiously enjoyed it.

I could write for hours about their antics, though I'm sure you question that with the lack of content I put up. I hope those of you that still check this out find it entertaining.

Seriously though... this year could be rough, they are into everything... Serenity Now!

Duvall White Christmas 2008/2009

2008 went out in a grand fashion... with record setting blizzards and flooding... I'm just waiting for the locusts to come ;)

Jack, Nate and Gabbi are getting much more vocal these days... not always a good thing :P

Jack likes to mimic noises he hears... the garbage disposal, the garbage truck, sounds on the TV. While Nate has picked up the ever familiary phrase from Dora "Backpack Backpack". Gabbi is asking for "movies" which sounds a lot like "mommy" and also wondering where her brother is "Where's Nate" which comes out more like "wess nt".

They are also becoming much more proficient at getting into things, a skill I am not so happy to see them develop further. We have to take some of their toys out of the room because they have been moving them around to use them to get up onto things (counters) or over things (gates) and get access to things they shouldn't, like gas stove tops. I've had to double all the child locks down on the cabinets, and nothing can be in arms reach, or they will have it.

They are also becoming more affectionate towards each other. When one of them is put in a timeout, i.e. Nate for hitting Jack, where they are put in a pack-n-play in another room, the other two will come up and pound on the door demanding Nate's freedom. It's really pretty cute to see how forgiving they are. They also will give each other hugs, and while it may not look like much of a hug when the one receiving isn't aware it's a hug, but instead a possible attack on whatever they may possess at the time, I can see the intent and it too is very cute.

Nate is starting to show quite the temper. Maybe it's after months of being the doormat, but something has made him a bit more moody lately. He's started to hit the others and throw himself around a bit more... hopefully it's short lived.

Sophia continues to be the best big sister ever, as she is constantly helping out and doing her best to be a good example. She wants to change diapers now, which is sweet, but I'm afraid of what poorly changed diapers may lead to (yikes) as I've seen a few over the past couple years.

In the video included you'll see some of our Christmas dinner with the family, as well as some of the tin foil ball they managed to create while our backs were turned. Also more of the snow we had and some of the kids reactions to it.

Thanks for still reading... if you are :)