Still can't believe that the little munchkins are one years old! Time is flying by and they are growing up so fast. We had a small celebration for the babies' first birthday at home - at first the munchkins were a bit overwhelmed with everyone (probably because they didn't sleep much the night before), but they seemed to warm up to their party after a bit of time.
Jaiden and Ariya cried while everyone sang happy birthday, while Kailen enjoyed the attention - he's such a people person!
This stage is so rewarding in so many ways - the kids are learning to do new things every day and we're both really enjoying the interaction with them. They are at such a cute stage. On the flip side, this stage does have its challenges. No doubt the sleep situation is improving - thank God...but one of the newest challenges as a parent of multiples is figuring out how to be fair with splitting attention and giving each child what they need. It has been really tough on me personally given that I have limited time with the kids on the weekdays (with work being so busy). It's quite overwhelming to come home after a long day at the office and have three babies crawling all over you demanding attention - it's even more overwhelming trying to time slice between them knowing that no one is getting what they deserve. I met another triplet dad at work this week (his triplets are 8 years old) and he was telling me how important it is to spend individual time with each kid as they start to get older. I think we're quickly getting to a stage where Geeta and I ought to start doing 1-1 outings and playtime to give them individual time. He was also telling me how his triplets don't get excited about their birthdays because they have to share it and it isn't a special day for them - so they decided to celebrate each child's birthday on a separate day (i.e. the day that each kid got home from the hospital; his kid were three months premature). It was really great talking to someone that has gone through it and really valuable learning a few tips!
What's New?
Kailen loves to play with the indoor plants - in fact if you take your eye off of him for a minute he is likely playing with the plant soil or ripping some leaves off :( He's going through this phase where he needs mommy and daddy to be around him a lot (i.e separation anxiety). He doesn't like sharing mommy and daddy with his siblings and we've had to be extra careful to ensure everyone is getting enough attention. Lately, he's become the more independent one while playing and often prefers to play on his own rather then with Jaiden and Ariya. We really want to encourage team work amongst the triplets and will have to encourage it as they get a bit older so that we don't have a duo forming with one sibling being left out.
Ariya is getting cuter and cuter by the day. She knows how to sucker daddy into doing what she wants :) Lately, she' become quite easy to put to bed and is full of smiles. She's really enjoying being able to crawl and is often exploring the house with her brothers. She's very patient - often waiting her turn to get time with mommy & daddy or waiting for her brothers to finish playing with a toy before going after it. No teeth for Ariya yet, and she's not standing yet but I'm sure she's not far from it as she often kneels and tries to lift herself upward. She also puts everything in her mouth - preffering paper or snow off people's shoes when they come in the door :-)
Jaiden is such a curious little boy. If you take your eye of him for a minute or two and happen to leave the bathroom door open, you can bet that he's in there playing with the toilet water - so gross! He also does not one enjoy sharing mommy & daddy's attention and tends to be a bit more aggressive then Ariya or Kailen when demanding it. These days, changing JJ's diaper is quite the challenge...he does not like to stay in one spot and it's pretty common to see us chasing him around the house while trying to secure his diaper or while trying to button up his sleeper.
Happy birthday!
