How much have they grown?

Here are two photos - the left one taken in August 2010, when the boys had just arrived home: they sleep inside the triplet-pram. The other photo is taken on last Sunday (20 November 2011), when, out of curiousity, I wanted to try if they still fit to the triplet-pram and if we could take a ride with it. But as you see - it was too tight for them!
Yes, I do not have babies at home anymore... I have 3 little men... :)

All over the house

Here's a list of 10 things what our boys have managed to do within the last few months... they certainly know how to get on mommy's and daddy's nerves. I wonder how long our house stays in one piece?!?

1. Fred found the baby-oil bottle, opened it and all his clothes were covered with oil.
2. One day I found Ralf with a big butcher knife in the kitchen... My heart stopped. I don't know where the hell did he get it?!?
3. Fred played in the toilet with the WC cleaning brush (this happened, though, when Erik was looking after the kids)
4. Fred broke our floor lamp in the living room. And it wasn't a cheap lamp...
5. Fred climbed to the baking oven, and the others tried to do the same - luckily I caught them in the act, otherwise the door of the baking oven would have collapsed.
6. Fred poured blackberry jam all over Sten's head and shoulders. Sten was very happy about it. :)
7. Fred threw the dog's food around the kitchen.
8. Sten decided that the spoon is the best tool to take out as much ash as possible from the fireplace. The ash was all over the 3 boys' clothes as well as the floor. They were very happy about this achievement and thought they helped their mom a lot.
9. Fred sneaked to the shower room, opened the shampoo and started to wash the floor with it. Besides the floor, he was all covered with the  shampoo as well. And he was crying very loudly when he realized, that it doesn't feel nice when the shampoo gets to the eyes.
10. One morning, Erik found Sten OUT of his crib, on the floor. How did he get out of the crib, remains a mystery.

Who's name do you see the most? Yes, FRED is the naughty-boy...

Autumn

Without noticing, Autumn has arrived long ago.
Today, I decided to take the boys to play with the maple leaves. It was not an easy task! First, just when I finally got them dressed, it started to rain (although it was sunny before). Then we had to wait for some time in our garden before the rain stopped. We took the pushchair and went to look for a maple... We were very surprised - we found only 1! Exactly next to the big road... But it didn't stop the boys playing with the leaves + watching the cars. They had fun!

Playing together

Recently, in a Triplet Mommy Forum, where I'm a member of, another triplet mommy posted a comment: 'Just can't believe some people say having triplets is easy because they "play together..." It's bloody hard work!!!'

This saying would certainly make me angry, too! Noone, who hadn't had triplets themselves, have a right to say that raising triplets is easy. Because it's not. It's MORE complicated and difficult than you can think of. Double more, at least!

But yes, sometimes triplets do play together. Nicely. And it's so lovely to watch it. Memorize it... You want this moment to last forever! But it stops quite quickly. And a real fight starts again.

From a negative point of you, to be a triplet is like that:
Someone is crabbing the toy, I just started to love, away.
Someone is hurting you when you just thought you were left alone.
Someone is climbing on top of you.
Someone is driving just the car which I want to drive.
Someone is crying next to me and this makes me cry, too.
Someone is there, always, to fight for mom's attention together with me.
And so on...

From a positive point of view, to be a triplet is like that:
Someone makes me laugh.
Some is as small as me, as old as me and as cute as me - it makes the life much safer.
Someone is there to follow. (At the same time - not knowing if the thing to follow is good or bad)
Someone is there to go in bed together, to make jokes together and to wake up together.

Most of the photos I take, I take of the boys together. I just feel this is the right thing to do - they are there with me, always together. And yes, sometimes they play nicely together... :)

Summer-end party

The last weekend before school starts again (which marks the start of Autumn, too - at least for the families who have schoolkids), we managed to go to Pille's place. It's a yearly tradition for some years now, but last August, we weren't able to do it because of our newborn triplets.
This time, we went there just two us - Erik and I. We have been out and travelling with the boys so much during the summer, that we decided we wanted to have one trip to friends, where we do not need to look after the kids, but just enjoy the party and take part of the sportsgames which are usually organized at Pille's place. Erik's mom looked after the kids and we could go! :)
As always, there were loads of delicious food and nice talks with our friends. The sports games weren't so active this time - only men drew the longbow and shot the target; for women it was moto-sports in schedule, but after 2 trial drives (by me and Pille), we decided it was too dangerous for us and this was cancelled. Maybe next year, we need to pick up safer sports again!
It was a lovely Saturday out in Käbiküla and hopefully, we all meet again... after some weeks already.
Some of the guests + Pille's family in front of Pille's house:

Our dinner with delicious food, wine and beer:

Marju, her son Märten and Pille's daughter Marit:

I managed to complete one circle with the motor-cycle and stayed on it till the end:

Men shooting:

Pille's new dog Peits (I think his name is written "Bates"):

At the doctor's

Today, we visited the doctor to see how the boys have grown and developed.

And here are the results at the age of 1:

RALF - 9940 gramms and 78.5 cm
FRED - 9480 gramms and 79.5 cm
STEN - 9420 gramms and 79.5 cm
Everything was fine with them, they got the vaccine shot and also the blood was taken, which meant quite angry boys in the end... but they were all happy when we were back at home.

Right now, we try to change the daily routine for the boys. With triplets, routine - similar day by day - is crucial. When you change something, you need to change it for all the boys: all 3 have to be ready for the change. So right now, I'm trying to see if they are ready to sleep 1 day-nap instead of 2. And it seems Sten is not completely ready for it, yet, especially when he wakes up early.

I have a choice now:

1. Keeping all the boys in 2 day-naps shedule and have some free time for my own during the day or
2. Keeping only Sten in 2 day-naps and Fred+Ralf in 1 day-nap shedule and have absolutely NO time for myself, because there's always someone awake...

Obviously, I choose alternative 1, until Sten is ready, too.

The very First Birthday!

On Thursday, August 4, RALF-FRED-STEN turned 1!
Yes, first BIG birthday arrived... Of course the boys didn't get a clue what's going on (except a lot of guests all day long), but for me, it was an important date: I realized that we have really survived the 1st year with triplets; I'm still alive, I'm still relatively normal and even have quite a good mood (most of the time). Wow! I have to say I'm proud of myself, Erik and Kert.
Looking back - no, I wouldn't want to repeat it. I'll be more than satisfied if those boys will be my last set of triplets. I wouldn't want to go through it again, especially the first six months, when it always felt like I'm functioning at the edge of human limits. On the other hand, in a million years, I wouldn't imagine life without those cute little boys! They are truly wonderful, I just can't stop thinking how lucky I am that they came to our family and that I'm their mommy. When I look at them, all the hard times are forgotten...
The boys had loads of guests for their 1st birthday party and I think everyone had fun. It was good to see all our relatives, friends, small kids... and we were blessed with absolutely wonderful weather in August 4!
Now, for the next birthday, "only" 1 year to wait... and then our boys will have their terrible twos! :)

*PS - the teeth-growing has progressed a lot within the last month. Sten, who was having 0 teeth at the age of 11 months, ended up leading when the boys turned 1! He has 4 teeth now! Fred, who had the first 2 teeth early, is now in the last place, having only those 2 also at the age of 1. Ralf, is in the middle, with 3 teeth. :)*

Some photos from the birthday party:

In the morning, we had small kids with their mommies visiting the boys. There were Marju and Märten, Aune and Glen, Birgit and Kaspar, Merje and Melissa:
In this photo, you can see 5 children, who were born premature (we all met in the NICU unit of birth hospital, all born on 32nd week of pregnancy), all of them are now healthy 1-year-old boys and girls:
Some of our "mid-day" guests (who luckily stayed also for the afternoon party) - our Nanny's daughters Matilde and Emmeline, I and Fred, Eda with her sons Mihkel and Märt:
THE BIRTHDAY CAKE (made by daddy):
Starting to sing for the boys "Happy Birthday" song:
Now, we prepare for blowing off the 1st candle on the cake, the boys are with grandma (Sten), uncle Martin (Fred) and daddy (Ralf):
Boys on the swing:
Grandparents with grandchildren:
Party place - our garden (as you see - perfect weather):