Keith's Big Moves

Taken tonight.  This is Keith's moment to shine, on his own two feet!  I hope the video camera reflects his sheer joy at being able to toddle to Edward, Phil and myself.  He was beaming.

I think he's finally decided that this whole walking thing is pretty cool.  We had him assessed about a month ago by an excellent pediatric physiotherapist who agreed that while he was experiencing a delay in his gross motor development - namely, in standing and walking unaided - it was likely temporary.  In addition to an obvious lack of interest in walking (why walk when you can crawl at supersonic speed?!), Keith has very loose ligaments around his joints, which means that it takes more effort and energy for him to initiate and sustain movement.  She gave us a long list of exercises to help build his core strength and to keep him on his feet as much as possible during the day.  Some of these activities were already things he enjoyed (climbing on furniture and standing at the window looking for Opa, cahs, buses and buppies!) and some were less popular (baby sit-ups), but we could see that he was getting stronger.

The last missing ingredient was confidence.  We knew he could walk, but he had to convince himself that he could pull it off.  As you can see, that's an on-going process, but he really started wanting to walk over the past few days.  He was thrilled by the response he got from Margaret and Alison when he showed off his skills for them at the library earlier this week.  In addition to lots of praise from Edward and myself, he gets effusive "Brabos" from Colin and Evelyn for his efforts.

Come to think of it, maybe he's been holding out for the accolades this whole time...

Sprocket

How does our hyperactive, epileptic, hypothyroid (now hyperthyroid, thanks to his medication), terrified-of-everything-that-moves (literally) dog handle living in a house-hold with three inquisitive, loud and pokey-fingered 19 month olds?

Well, he spends some amount of time like this:

Those who aren't familiar with this Evil Little Spirit (said with love...mostly) must think I'm joking when I tell them that the dog is harder to manage than the children.

The Benefit of Having Multiples...

One of the many up-sides to having triplets.  They do entertain each other, most often when I'm out of the room.  Keith loves to sing, as evidenced by this video, and the babies love "Row Row Row"ing their boats!

Rainy Day

Spring

I'd like to say that we've started Spring healthy - we've been sick solidly since mid February, apart from a brief respite at Easter - but Keith woke up with a fever this morning. We'll see where this takes us... he ended the day in fine spirits, so we're hopeful that we can chalk it up to teething, along with his chapped chin and gnawed hands.

However, it definitely puts a spring in my step to gaze out the kitchen window and admire the beautiful tulips and hyacinth the previous owner planted in the back garden. My last house came with a few sad looking green things, but this is the first house of the four I've owned that had an established, well tended and much loved garden when we bought it. I have a few areas to which I'm planning to add my own touch, but otherwise, I'm pleased (and relieved!) to enjoy the garden as it is.

In the back, you can see our raspberry canes. My father, uncle and aunt performed major surgery on these last fall, thinning, pruning and retying them to their stakes. I think we might get a bumper crop this year thanks to their efforts. 

Of course, I can't have a post without a picture of my - gasp - toddlers. This was taken on Tuesday morning at our last Babytime at our local library branch. We (including Nana) go every week for an hour of rhymes, songs and stories. We've now graduated to Thursday morning's Toddlertime, given that our trio turned 19 months old yesterday. I'm looking forward to meeting some new moms and kids (which include, incidentally, another set of triplets! Hi Geeta!) but we have such a nice group at the moment... I'm particularly wistful at the thought of leaving Margaret, the wonderful Babytime facilitator who took this picture. We hang out at the library two other mornings a week, so we'll still see "Mah-ha", as Evelyn calls her. But we'll very much miss doing our favourite rhymes with her.

As you can imagine, it was a bit of a challenge to get all three of them sitting together on a bench. This picture is courtesy of Margaret and Nana, who snagged an alligator puppet that was able to capture their attention for a nanosecond!

Keith's Hair

Sigh.  I think Keith is trying to tell me that he needs his hair cut... again.  With his natural rockabilly style, it is clear he is my child.  Nothing like styling with salmon - but I guess it's no worse than Knox.

It's worth watching the video again to see Evelyn as a curious epicurean.  Eating with toddlers is always entertaining, if you can stomach it!

Easter Pictures

We had a wonderful Easter with Edward parents and sisters, as well as my parents. A few days of warmish but windy weather meant quite a bit of time was spent at the park, roaming around. Keith has a bit of a cold, but hopefully his chest will be spared this time.

On to the pictures - Aunt Jane took a ton, and we all concur that it is nearly impossible to get one that isn't a blur of motion, but here are a few that were too good not to share!





Discovering their new tea set. Thanks Merri! Your timing was impeccable - I was thinking of getting one for them, as true to their roots, they already know (and I'd like to think, cherish) the word "tea"!




At the park





Dressed as M&Ms, courtesy of their Auntie Gillian (aka Aunt Benny)... these shirts were a hit at the Library on Saturday!




Before Church on Sunday...



... and after Church


Evelyn and her colourful tutu - perfect for dancing! Thanks Grammy and Auntie Jane (and Jessie)!

Last and certainly least, a gratuitous Drowned Rat (aka Sprocket, bathing beauty) picture:



Poor pup developed an awful skin infection which prompted a vet visit and a blood panel. Turns out, he has hypothyroidism in addition to his already-treated epilepsy. While we'd like to pretend that explains all of his bad habits, sadly, it does not. Now that he's on his new medication (+ a medicated bath every three days), he seems to be feeling better. And he's back to his, um, handsome self!