Wednesday 30 April 2014

Inedible treats!

We walked into the playroom a few days ago to the horrors of triplet teamwork.
Trouble, troublet and troublina had bashed a hole in the wall above the fireplace. They had broken through the plasterboard to the external brick wall on the extension. And they were sat eating the plaster. Eating. The. Plaster. Like it was crackers or something.
(This is not a reflection of my cooking skills)
The playroom was covered in dust, there were chalky coated handprints on the walls, floor, toys, beanbags. You name it the evidence was everywhere! 
It was clear troublet has at least some idea of what constitutes as food since he was covered in dust, but unlike the other two culprits his mouth was not also coated in chalky residue.
We scooped them out of the playroom with lots of scolding and tears, deposited them in highchairs and gave them cups of water to drink while we cleaned up alll the debris.... And there was so much debris. 
After tea we popped them back into the clean playroom, I went to feed Quinn and D was just getting himself a drink when... Oh yes they were pulling off and eating the plaster Again!
They were scolded once more (this time only trouble and troublina were at it) and sent to sit on the beanbags while we tried to figure out how to patch the hole up temporarily until we could get some supplies for a more permanent solution.
I have no idea why they enjoyed eating plaster so much, I do feed them actual tasty food at least three times a day! I'm starting to suspect our new house might actually be built from gingerbread....

Saturday 26 April 2014

Heather and Mesothelioma Awareness Week

I was contacted by a woman a few months ago about Mesothelioma and how it has affected her life, it's something I had never even heard about before so I wanted to share it;
I’m reaching out to you in hopes that you will help me with a cause that is very near and dear to my heart. At age 36, I was diagnosed with mesothelioma just 3 ½ months after my first and only child, Lily, was born. I was given just 15 months to live unless I underwent a drastic surgery to remove my left lung. Miraculously, I beat the odds and I’m still here eight years later.Asbestos is not banned in the US, yet it’s the only known cause of mesothelioma. I was exposed to asbestos through my fathers work jacket when I was just a little girl; my diagnosis came about 30 years later. Once diagnosed, most patients die within 2 years. I am one of few survivors who openly share their story and work to spread awareness regarding the dangers of asbestos.In honor of Asbestos Awareness Week (April 1-7), I created a webpage dedicated to raising awareness. Although this week has passed, I would love it if you would be willing to share it on your blog to help educate and protect your readers from this preventable disease!Here’s the link to my awareness page: mesothelioma.com/heather/awareness

Now I was a little tardy is getting in touch with Heather or we would probably have posted this in time for the awareness week and not (ahem) several weeks after, but better late than never.
In the UK Asbestos is banned now and to have it removed from a building requires a professional to come and do any and all work including the disposal of the asbestos once removed. I could not believe that is it still used in the US (D can, but then he is a big ol' know-it-all)! I was often warned as a child about the dangers of asbestos in old outbuildings and told to keep away just in case, but I never realised what serious harm it can do.

So please, please go click on the link, learn about Heather's amazing story and the challenges she has come up against, and use your voice to help build hope and awareness.

(Go and click that link!)

Friday 25 April 2014

Whose that girl...

There is someone I have been meaning to tell you all about!
Meet Quinn Ellory Rose.

Dressed in blue just to keep you all gender confused
 Born on the 28th of February 2014, a mere 14 days overdue and weighing a whopping 9lb 5oz Quinn joined our (not so little) family. She was fairly reluctant to arrive! I started off with a homebirth, ended up rushed in via ambulance due to some slight difficulties and how very overdue she was only to, many, many, many hours later be rushed in for an emergency c section.
The look on her face when she was born was very indignant, as if wondering what had taken so long!
Giant bow to help assert female gender for future reference
 She is a sweetheart, extremely good tempered both growing and feeding well. Having one baby is definitely different to having newborn triplets! Although having toddling triplets plus a newborn baby is a bit of a juggling act in itself!
The kids love her, giving her kisses and bringing her lots of chokeable toys or unsuitable foods to share, they love to shake her hand and try poke her eyes out, all out of love. And she is very patient with the whole thing too. I won't, however forget the look of disappointment on Ayla's face when she realised for the first time that Quinn wasn't a dolly and no, she couldn't pick her up.
So here we are now with 21 month old Triplets and a 8 week old baby, I might be a little bit more tired than I was, but boy am I happy!

Tuesday 8 April 2014

An open letter to my 20 month old triplets...

To my dear children, I am so sorry.

I know that once upon a time you could do anything you liked, (pretty much because you couldn't figure out how to move yet) and that everything you did accomplish, filled us with smiles and cheers.
I know you felt amazing.
But lately, I realise you've been hearing that "no" word quite a lot. In fact I'm pretty sure you feel like you can't do anything now that doesn't result in the 'no' word.

"No, you can't have everything, no, you can't get thrown in the air right now, no, you can't push your sister over, no, you can't eat that, no, don't touch that, no, we can't go outside, it's bedtime, no, stop trying to climb up that, no, don't snatch."

I bet you're getting as sick of the "no" word as I am.

I realise now that this change must have seemed so sudden to you, to me it seems like we went from laughing and playing one day, to constant adjustment the next. I'm sure you feel like you can't seem to do the right thing to make us smile or cheer again, no matter how hard you try it always seems to result in that pesky 'no' word doesn't it...
Sadly you're too young to understand full explanations, and I'm too busy putting out too many fires to come up with clever ways to teach you to overcome these issues and so we potter on.

I praise you for the silly things that really aren't that special, otherwise I don't think I'd have much left to praise at all. I spend time sitting and showing you how to unstick your carefully wedged toys from containers that are two sizes too small, how to open boxes you bring to me every few seconds because you've closed them...again. And I try to do this with a smile, with patience and without the word no getting involved.
But it's quite an addictive word really, always cropping up in the things we do together, always on the tip of our tongues.

I hate that you have learnt it.

I'm trying to remember that you're one.
Some days it's so easy to forget how little you are as you do so many things that make you seem so big now.

You can't say yes, but you can firmly tell me na,na,na,na,na when I try brush your hair, when a sibling takes a toy from you, or when you have to do anything that you've decided that you don't want to do.
I want you to know it's okay to tell someone 'NO' if they pull your hair, or steal your biscuit, but telling them no just because they stood on your shadow, sat where you didn't want them to or breathed in your general direction....well that get's me and that 'no' word involved again I'm afraid.

I'm trying to remember that you really aren't doing these things to rob us of our sanity. I'm trying to remember how happy you are when you do something deserving of praise, and not how sad you are (or how ridiculous your tantrums can be) when I have to tell you 'no'.
And I'm trying to remember how hard this is for you, when it seems like all the rules must constantly be changing, and how sad it makes you that not everything is and can be yours, and that what you want to do isn't always possible, and that you can't seem to do just the right thing to make this 'no' word go away.
It must be very, very hard to want to do so many exciting things, but to have someone always stopping you...
(but trust me, electrocuting yourself isn't as much fun as you seem to think it is)

Know we are just trying to keep you safe, kind, and fair to others and that we know you will manage to grasp all of these things one day. Know that we don't want you to never have any fun, but there are limits to the fun you can have safely. And most importantly, know we won't always hold you back from your mistakes, mistakes are only worth making when you can actually remember the results, so for now, we are doing the remembering for you...

So, even if our words are firm and our gestures quick, even if our smiles are few and ours frowns are many, know, that we love you all so very, very much, that they haven't even begun to find a word to describe it yet.