Happy . . .

one minute



sad the next.



And the next (maybe it was the outfits).





And that's the way we roll . . .


Seriously, who dresses you kid?

PJ Day

Kids, backpacks, shoes, toy cars, hair, and unread notes falling out of backpacks piling up on me this morning, and I realize, it's pajama day today for one the boys. Which one? From which backpack did this fall? No date, no teacher name, only the para's names (who remembers them?).

Bereket naked with junk


So after some clever sleuthing, we figure out it's Bereket. Bereket's class is doing PJ day. Undress, looking for a pair of PJs, do we have any bona fide sleeping clothes left? Off we send our son to school in his jammies. Hmmm, this is strange, is this right?

Anyway, now I am worried. Was the note for today?

Bre, come . . .

They all had, well, tummy problems. A bug we had not seen before. Preschool initiation. Gosh, guess they are potty trained; I mean, this many trips to the bathroom, no diaper, it dawns on me. Anyway, forget it. Let's go to Kansas City and spend the weekend over stimulating Uncle Bri (my bro)--all the way from California--and see the insides of public restrooms, a lot. This last year has been sometimes awful in public places where remaining reasonably quiet and still is required so restaurants have taken a vacation. Oh well, let's go!

And it was a blast. Thanks unc. Thank G for al fresco dining, good for triplets. The boyz wonder where you have gone, "Bre, come . . .come . . . " Out of ten, the triplets get an 8.5 for behavior and overall graciousness (I give Bri a 7.5) and really, any higher score and they probably need reviving. This is something good seeing that we've done 2.0s before. Make that negative 2.0. And when it was worse, like pouring a cosmo in my lap, as Tsega would say, "Maaake-up!" (Click for cartoon where T picked up this adorable shtick.)

This is what happens when three terrible toddlers unrestrained with energy and mobility finally (sort of, anyway) recognize boundaries. They become tolerable and presentable in public. Fun age. Still cute, not as crazy, but still crazy. Maybe big brother will share some KC shots as my hands were too full to steady a camera. So I share these instead, from few evenings ago. Boys tearing it up where the tree swing used to hang as sun fades. Summer's over baby.

School Day

6:30 a.m.
Wakie, wakie guys. Unravel your heap, time to get ready for school.  Look Jerry, aren't they cute, where's my camera  . . .

7:26 a.m.

Yay, school bus!

You ever get ready for work without a loud toddler or three holding your ankles?  Bliss.

What happens at school, do you have friends, do you get sad, happy, laugh, in trouble, can you follow directions, do your teachers like you, what do you dislike, love, do you wonder about your brothers? Me?  Such a mystery.

12:00 p.m.

Here come the squeals pulling down our driveway. There they are standing at the bus door before the bus stops rolling (better, inescapable, restraints are coming). There is the bus driver cutting up, shaking his head, slapping high fives. Here he is allowing the boys to open, close, open, close the door, calling to our dogs who make an entrance onto the bus every morning, every noon. There I am yelling at the dogs, scolding the boys, hands off the door, get in the gate, come on, come on, laughing.

12:10 p.m.
Woop it up. Filthy, forbidden, busy, screaming fun.

1:00-2:00 p.m. Sleep, go to sleep, part of going to school is sleeping, we get up so early, please sleep.

Tsega-Mega

Are they twins?
Well, actually they're triplets.
Triplets!? But this one is bigger.
Yeah, well, actually it's more like these two are smaller (by about 3 inches).
He has a more mature look on his face too.
Yeah. These two are still baby faced.
Triplets, boy, oh boy!
Oh, boy!


Tsega is his Ethiopian mother's image. They share almond eyes and I think when he grows up he will have her massive hands and feet. People often think more of Tsega, like more advanced relative to the "twins" or something, because he has this charm with people, a sort of maturity or wisdom on his face. And he's bigger. One lady used to tell me, I'm just drawn to him. In reality, he tests no higher than them in any subject so far and I notice no real differences in emotional and cognitive skills, just physical. He’s strong and intense. Like he's constantly cupping my face in both his hands and squeezes my cheeks together too hard. He does this to the dogs too. I watched him jump 10 steps down a loft--from the top of the highest step all the way to the floor--at preschool open house. The teachers gasped a little and admitted that they had never seen a kid do that before. Tsega went a little limp with embarrassment, or maybe he surprised himself, then grinned that coy way he has with his eyes still shut. Nice effect. The funny part of that story, about 5 minutes before he jumped, the staff asked about Tsega's talents and I said, "He's very good with his body."

He's powerful, still bangs sticks, tough boy, but he's a sensitive soul and he and I spend much time embracing. Sira and Bereket may look like baby brothers, but inside they are strong and excited about life like bigger brother. And Tsega is just as baby inside.

New Look of Love

Don't be alarmed, I mean it's not like Jerry shaved his beard or anything. I decided to go Jane, like Plain Jane, for a new blog look in Tripletland. Groovy.

Triplet-Speak

Made-up words, sounds, symbolic noise that one triplet originates and the rest agree upon to mean something. This is how the boys sometimes communicate outside Webster's.

Examples of Triplet-Speak:
Ah-new: orange, both color and fruit. (Sidenote: Tsega recognizes the color pink but instead of saying pink, he points and hums the Pink Panther tune.)

Bee-bee with an arm swirling around: let’s go somewhere in the van.

Ba-Ba: brother, Bereket, or Sira (Tsega cannot distinguish between his 2 identical brothers thus both are Baba).

Ma caw (i.e., my car): mine (doesn’t have to be a car).

N-guh: (1) all done; (2) give me that (ie, you’re all done); (3) hear ya go.

Annie: owie (as if every owie is a cat scratch but not necessarily from Annie, one of our many cats). Disclaimer: I don't believe Annie has ever harmed a hair.

Gn (difficult to put letters to--guttural and comes from the nasal passages): shoes, please find my shoes.

Abby-Abby: bunny, or Bugs Bunny.

Loo-loo-lala or just Loo-la: yet to be determined; a private joke of Sira's that always makes him laugh. When in doubt, Loo-la.

Oh, and Tsega tells tall ones. Apparently every day that I am not stay-at-home, either daddy or nanny take him to the zoo to watch the monkeys (they don't). And the dog ate his eyeball and at least part of his foot. And he will tell you, no no no, climb that fence and go near the river and you will be spanked. Yes, all that from about 3 words and lots of arm waving.

BTW, mama is dead. It's now Mommy and just plain Mom. And always respond to Mom! when it comes from Tsega because he is surely tattling on something naughty the "twins" are working on. Like climbing clear on top of the van. No, no, no!

To Bed

It was the end of spring and blog dryout was settling in as the days grew long. Posts were written, never published, then forgotten. Here is one still intact and begging to be seen. Picture this: footy jammies, bedtime, cats pouncing, boys (well, Sira and Bereket) jumping outside and running from the inevitable, gardens yet to be filled in.

I am grateful we don't experience Arctic suns or my boys would never sleep. The haze of the shallowest light shuts night sleep out so that since the time change bedtime is a late 9:30 or 10:00 (upside: 8:00 wakings). Waiting until a more natural crossing-over to take place makes for more relaxed home. Until late spring we suffered rarely from protest at bedtime, but the post-bedtime scene of late had grown wild and long. A night's example: bed jumping and bed exchanging; a gathering of three in one bed (sounds nice, ends bad); blanket stealing; the dislodging of all clothes and diapers; screaming. We even suffered from a little fear of the dark that seems to have moved on. (Note: The Bear, a movie about a bear cub, although sweet and adventurous (the boys love movies about animals, Born Free and Old Yellar among their faves), terrified Sira and instigated Tsega's insistence that a large stuffed lion be removed from the nursery--he, the lion, has since returned.)





Resignation . . .





August Update: late night parties, sleeping in, and easy enough bedtimes continue, until next time change. Too hot for footie jammies and no more fear of dark.