What happened?

I've come to realize that writing a blog while sick is the responsible grown up's equivalent of drunk dialing. It seems like a great idea and a lot of fun at the time, but you regret it the next day as everything starts to come back to you. I suppose it could have been worse; such as if I had written it before I had a chance to make myself some hot tea. Never underestimate the power of chamomile.
That I came to this conclusion should clue you in to the fact that I'm feeling much better today. Thank you all for your sympathy and e-flowers. It's nice to have some energy back to make up for some of the lost time yesterday...aha, another positive aspect...I'm actually enjoying being able to do some housework.

It's been a great morning so far. Zach showed me how great he is at standing up and that he doesn't even need a helping hand. Of course, when I took this picture, Elijah was sitting off camera to the right just in case the mighty tower of Zach should happen to topple. He seems to be feeling much better and was laughing and smiling all morning at Amelia's antics. We read a few books including "the Grouchy Ladybug" right before nap time which he really enjoyed. I think any book, such as this, containing a lot of repetition entertains even the youngest of the young.
















Likewise, Amelia is back to her spunky old self again, although she appears to have gone on potty strike since she got her cold. She was doing so well at going pee pee almost every time I would sit her down, but now I'm either not catching her in time, or she gets cold feet (literally) and wants to get back to playing... or maybe it's my hands. Perhaps I should start wearing warm wool on my hands to keep them warm. OK here we go....let's just put these comfy mittens on and...lkegsahbc qekkchg e kewhcb e jhgdec...um, yeah. Maybe after I'm done typing.

Hopefully we will get her back on track in the next few days.

Zach's off tomorrow to get his shots...I mean, to go to Disney. That's right Zach, no vaccinations to worry about, big guy. Shhhhhh, don't tell.

Sick days

I know it's been a while since you've heard from me but we've had a challenging couple of days on the home front. Practically everyone even loosely affiliated with Mr. Steve's daycare has come down with a nasty bug of sorts and have spent the better part of the week trying to recuperate. Although Zach and Amelia seem to be at the tail end of their colds and are in good spirits today, mine seems to have accelerated into full swing. My voice has dropped two octaves and sounds like a rusty door hinge. My body feels like it did some sky diving without a parachute while I slept last night (I'm not being negative here but I needed a way to set up my question for the day and it needed a demonstration of the complexity and difficulty of the problem).

So what, you ask, is my question for the day? Wait, how did you know I had a question for the day? Are you psychic or something? Oh, wait I see it...in parenthesis right there. That was just plain silly of me. I mean you are totally awesome and all, but psychic? Come on.

Come on, indeed.

I have often held that there is a positive side to everything and that with enough soul searching, one can establish what it is and grow from every experience. So what exactly is the positive side of being sick? All morning while I was running around trying to get the house in order this thought has crossed my mind and the answer simply eluded me. It was not until I finally got the babies down for a nap, wrapped myself in a warm fuzzy blanket and plopped myself down on the couch that I got my answer. THAT was my answer. On any normal day, I scramble like a mad man trying to meet the needs of the babies and my family and rarely take time to just lay down. Even if I did, my mind would be racing with all of the other things I could be doing with my time. I realized that days like today are pretty much the only time when I can lay on the couch and not feel completely guilty about doing so.

I'm feeling better already.

Now excuse me as I have some very important nothing to do.

Have a wise Wednesday.

Reading back on what I've written so far, it amazes me at how much these kids have grown in just a couple of short months. Fred barely crawls at all anymore since he started walking (Elijah calls it "the zombie walk" since he holds both hands directly in front of him as he ambles across the room) and he seems to understand the concept of speaking sentences even if the words aren't yet perfectly articulated. Zach can flip himself from back to front and vice versa, becoming a full fledged steam roller. Amelia is on the cusp of taking her first step any day now (last weekend she attempted a step but fell down immediately and started crawling, so I don't think that really counts)... and she has a much toothier grin.














But they're not the only ones who have grown. I myself have learned a much deeper patience than I ever thought possible. In addition, my skills of organization, time management, and prioritizing have increased ten fold. In my previous career within the insurance world, if people told me that they needed something right now, that usually meant within the next couple of hours, whereas in my current job, "right now" actually means you're too late. Without a system in place to accommodate the demand you can count on some serious misery coming your way. I'm not going to lie and say that taking care of three infants is easy but it is definitely not impossible. I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who has infants and small kids in the house full time, however, as it can be a little bit draining even for the most organized and patient person on Earth. The experience has caused me to ponder, what do people do when they have triplets? Well, if I were in their shoes, my advice would be to, first get three separate high chairs (they will get hungry at exactly the same time). The second piece of advice would be to get a support system of family and friends that can help you at the drop of a hat, as you can be certain a situation will eventually come up where you need them. I once saw the famous author, Kurt Vonnegut, give a speech at the University of Florida where he imparted these words of wisdom, "Get a gang".



It was great to see you again, Fred. I'm sure it won't be the last.

Have a freaky Friday.

Fred is back!!

We are all ecstatic to have our friend here again for the next few days.

Fred appeared a little confused as I opened the door this morning, as if expecting to see his new teacher standing there, but the moment he saw Amelia both of their eyes lit up. He finally knew exactly where he was. Fred walked right over to greet her and Amelia did her best to stand up and greet him (she's still not that great at it, but she's getting much better). After all, they hadn't seen each other in 30 baby days (10 big people days). I'd almost forgotten over the last week exactly how much time they occupy one another while I act only as referee and redirection specialist. It may possibly be the one aspect of taking care of three that is easier than watching the two. Their game of handing toys back to one another somehow never gets old and they both seem to love it. Ah, to be young and so easily pleased.

Elijah was delighted equally...or maybe frenzied is a better word. He ran right over to Fred to give him a hug and to put a Busy Ball into each hand. The Busy Balls were a Christmas present to Amelia from Grammy, but somehow they have become Elijah's favorite playthings. I suppose not being able to play Legos with the babies has forced him to adapt his toy taste.
When his ride arrived, we had to scramble to get Elijah's jacket, gloves, and hat on. He was just having too much fun and time got away from us. That's one thing we ex-Floridians have a hard time dealing with; the advanced preparation time necessary for cold weather gear.

Perhaps the only one who was not quite as excited to see all three babies again was the cat. Hagbard wailed at the door, immediately bolted out when I opened it, and I haven't seen him since. I would go looking for him, but there's a wind chill of 8 degrees out there. I don't think there's enough Vaseline in the world to keep Zach's face from looking like Boris Yeltsin on the Russian New Year's eve. Anyway, Hagbard is a resourceful cat. I'm sure he'll figure it out.

Is using MLK's famous "I Have a Dream" speech as an introductory segway to a blog entry tantamount to sacrilege?

The answer is yes and yet here I go.

I have a dream...and in that dream Auntie Stephanie still lives in our front bedroom and Aunt Pam, Uncle Chris and Holland still lives two miles down the road from us. Alas, Pam and Supa Steph had to venture back to their respective warmer and semi-lateral cold climates yesterday to carry on with grad school and teaching the third grade. Thanks for the wonderful visit and the celebratory Martin Luther King Jr. birthday fondant cake, gals. We are all eagerly looking forward to your next visits.
















As Murphy's law would have it, the ground is covered with beautiful snow and it is almost twice the temperature as the high on Saturday. Sorry, Pam. Here's a consolation picture.
















Zach and Amelia were happy to see each other this morning. It had been three long days since they last hung out, which translates to almost 9 days in baby time. Not to mention (but I guess I just did) last week laid claim to probably the most fun event we've had to date. Since aunt Pam was here and I had an extra two helping hands, we went to the COSI (Center of Science and Industry) on Friday for a field trip. Both of the kids were completely entranced by the Ocean and Space exhibits especially the astronaut potty...I was too scared to flush it while Zach was sitting on it, though, as he may have been sucked through the tubes and out into the stratosphere somewhere (Mr. Steve is all about safety). Even as tired as Zach and Amelia were by the end of the trip, they were way too entertained to complain about it.

Have an happy Tuesday.

Hiatus (sort of)

We are having some guests from far away for the last couple of days and we've been too busy catching up and generally just having fun for me to get anything written or posted here. Aunt Pam is visiting for an extended Martin Luther King Weekend to our utmost enjoyment. We call her "aunt" not because she is Nadine's sister nor is it because we are in the mafia, but rather she is much closer to our family than the word friend could even come close to capturing.

...but the fun doesn't stop there. Oh no. We are also incredibly excited to see Auntie Stephanie (notice the extra ie at the end which denotes blood relation) who will be arriving tomorrow as well. From the chatter I've been hearing, it sounds as though there may be some very exciting and fun things planned. It is sure to be the best time of 2008 so far by far.

Have a warm weekend everyone

The Mothership Connection

Being in the presence of a baby for long periods of time leads one develops a supernatural acuity of the senses but only if when such stimuli exude from said child. Much like the emperor penguin of Antarctic, the bond we as parents develop with our babies transcends the normal sensitivity of sensory perception ensuring their overall happiness and survival. I can be standing in the kitchen downstairs on the exact opposite side of the house and still hear a mere whimper from one of the tots. Inversely, when I hear absolutely nothing, I can be sure that one of them is holding something they are not supposed to be.

Of course, we are only human and humans are prone to error. I do have the occasional false alarm where I could swear that I hear one of them crying when they are in fact still fast asleep. This usually results from some type of instrument or vocal from the music I have playing for background noise all day long.

I thought it might be fun to let you know which singers/instruments I sometimes confuse for crying.

I hope that Zach's parents don't get angry at this first comparison, but at one time I swear I heard Zach upstairs when actually it was Michael Bolton singing Christmas carols. I think it has something to do with the way MB strains his high notes and results in this sort of trolling motor overtone to it. Otherwise, they could not be more different from one another (please don't fire me). At other times, I mistook blues chords for his cry. The raspiness of his voice gives just a hint of overdrive distortion. Not so much that he sounds like Metalica or anything, but just enough to make him sound like he's from the Mississippi delta area.

Amelia has a bit more brass to her voice ranging from Miles Davis's signature muted sound to the brassy brass of big band. What really gets me walking up the stairs and back down again shaking my head is the trombone of JJ Johnson. It's got just enough vocal intonation from the slide notes that I am convinced Amelia is sitting up in her crib singing.

Have a musical Tuesday.

Something about today...

Something is very different about today and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It's definitely not something as trivial as the light dusting of snow we're getting, or as joyous as Amelia becoming able to stand up now without holding onto props, and not quite as humorous as Zach practicing diligently to perfect his impression of R2D2 all morning.

Aha! Fred is not here!

Fred's absence has left an incredible void in the fundamental structure of Mr. Steve's Daycare. I haven't been able to shake the feeling that I'm forgetting something, as I'm sure most people experience upon having their responsibilities cut in half. Amelia has been searching high and low throughout the house to make sure that he isn't hiding under a pile of clothes somewhere and Zach is on keen lookout doing his version of a headstand (where he lays with his back on the floor and rolls his head back until his shoulders lift up. He gets a pretty decent vantage that way) to make sure Fred is not just sitting on one of the hall shelves or something. They haven't found him yet so they may perhaps be finally resigned to the fact that he not here.

We miss you Fred. At least we'll get to see you a few days next week.



In other news, Amelia can stand up now without holding onto props!! She's got great balance when she doesn't know she balancing. As soon as she realizes that both hands are clasped on her toy and not the couch, she topples like a vertigo viscacha. In my guestimation, it won't be but another month before she becomes a full fledged ambulator like ***sniff*** Fred.

Zach wants to be R2D2 for Halloween this year. The cute sounds that he is making these days are much more animated and conversational than those of just a couple weeks ago...oh and they're also very high pitched. I'm pretty sure that if I held a phone receiver up to his mouth when he squeals, someone somewhere would get a fax. He is definitely picking up on a lot of the words and sounds that Amelia is making. They should have a common working language between one another by weeks end. Ultimately they have no interest in learning my language when they are around each other, because, let's face it, their's is far more entertaining.

A difficult decision

I am not a little old lady. I am not the owner of a minivan. I am not an island.

I am going somewhere with this.

If perhaps I were any of these things, I may not have had to make the difficult decision I did...but if I was, well, then I really wouldn't be Mr.Steve would I?

Unfortunately the student body will be diminishing by a very special one today. Fred has found a new school that he will be attending in the coming weeks (he will be coming back for a few days following next week, so I'll be sure to post videos of him doing back flips, or whatever he's capable of doing at that point). We will definitely miss him around here, especially Amelia. She loves having him around to show her how to do new tricks and to help her decide which toys are the coolest and most coveted. I'm sure it will be a long time after he is gone that the dynamic of the daycare returns to normal. One thing I know for sure, Zach is about to get a lot of Amelia attention whether he likes it or not.

The best of luck to you, Weihan, in all of your future endeavors in academia and in life. Perhaps Michael and Olivia can convince his new teacher to start blogging her day so we can keep tabs on how he is doing.

The Wisdom of the Classics

I'm not sure when exactly it happened but it seems like just overnight Fred has become the star sleeper of the student body. He slept for almost three hours this morning and, amazingly, is down for another nap right now. I thought for sure that he and I would be spending the remainder of the afternoon with some quality one on one time but it wasn't long after I started playing my guitar for him that he began rubbing his eyes and yawning. Perhaps it was my playing?(Since I just bought myself a new guitar after not having one for quite some time, one of two things has happened. Either I got really bad at playing or I never really was all that good. If you know the answer to this question, please don't tell.)
This has been the trend for the last week or so. A couple of factors have contributed to Fred's restfulness. The first I can't take credit for at all, as it results from the Ohio winter being permanently overcast...or permacast as I refer to it, at least for the last few seconds anyway since I just made it up. The other factor is the radio I set next to his pack and play. He loves to listen to classical music while he sleeps, as does Zach.

Maybe I need to learn some classical on guitar. This may be where I've gone wrong with my audience. It's obvious their level of sophistication surpasses my trite little blues riffs. Tough crowd.

Oh, Zach just woke up. See ya.

Who's your favorite candidate?

The topic of the New Hampshire primary was being discussed at diner last night. Of course, I wanted to hear Elijah's take on the results and asked, "Who's your favorite candidate, Elijah?"

To which he replied, "Dad! I don't even know anyone from Canada."

Steve Irwin's Daycare

For the last week I have been determined to catch the tricks which Zach and Fred respectively had most recently acquired. It seemed that every time I would see Zach rolling over, I was in the process of feeding one of the other two, and every time I would see Fred walk, I couldn't get the camera rolling in time. As I've said before, Zach is a little camera shy and doesn't like being watched while performing. Fred similarly gets a little distracted by the camera and finds it difficult to balance while it's making cool beepy sounds.

These two obstacles had kept me from capturing the elusive behavior of these two in their natural element, that is, until today.

I figured since Zach would only roll over when I wasn't looking, I would set up the camera and leave the room for a moment. It worked. He watched me walk out and almost immediately started the legs a kicking.

As far as Fred, it was just a matter of keeping the camera on him and following him until he reached a situation when he was most inclined to walk. It really didn't take all that long, as he is pretty mobile by now, but I happen to have a penchant for effect driven over-dramatization... kinda like another Steve we all used to know and love.




And out of nowhere, here's Amelia...
















Have a totally terrific Tuesday.

January 7, '08

There have been times in my life as a writer when I've experience the inevitable tragic writer's block. It usually happens to me when there are limited events happening in my life and, ironically, that's also when I have the most time to write. On the contrary, I am currently experiencing writer's broken floodgate. There are so many new things happening around me that when I finally get a chance to sit down in front of my laptop, I just don't know where to start. Like most people of my age and onward, I often opt for the obvious; the weather.
Holy cheese, it's almost seventy degrees in Ohio right now and I'm pretty sure it's still January unless my name is Rip Van Winkle. The two tots who are present today, Zach and Amelia, (Fred is spending time with his dad trying to figure out why the fridge stopped working. Don't worry, Michael, the Murphy's law-like coincidence of the fridge breaking on a record high day in January will not be lost on us. I'm sure you will have a good laugh about it in a week or month.) and I will venture down to the park for some crazy swinging fun once they awake from their nap and get some brunch in them. It's days like these when I wish I would have sprung the extra cash for a jogging stroller, as I have some Thanksgiving and Christmas personal growth to undo, but since I usually have three babies with me, I'm not sure Zach would have appreciated me sprinting up the road carrying him in a baby Bjorn...I don't know about you, but it's making me a little nauseous just thinking about it.

Amelia and Fred are both teething in full force, so attempting to keep the drooling at bay is a bit like dabbing at Niagara falls with a flattened sponge. Fred goes through four or five bibs in a day, though he could easily soak six or seven. You can track Amelia anywhere in the house by a little trail of wet that resembles a Morse code scroll stretching for miles in zigzag patterns across the carpet. This morning while Zach and I were playing on the floor, Amelia crawled over to give him his usual kiss on the forehead . As she pulled away Zach's forehead looked like it had been slapped with a wet mop and he had the expression to match. As I understand, Zach hates baths and had no way of knowing that he was going to get one while laying there on my living room floor. Quicker than Supperman (who is actually faster than Superman, as he is powered by his super hunger skills), I leaped for a towel and came to his rescue. Da, da da daaaaahh. Zach then told me he wanted to stand up for a little while. I understood completely.

January 4, 2007 2008

Zach finally rolled himself over growing ever nearer to crawldom. That smirk on his face tells it all.

The job I blog sometimes keeps me from blogging my job. As such, the sleeps schedules were a bit off today and I didn't have much time to write. More Monday perhaps. In the meantime, enjoy some videos.







Have a wicked good weekend.

School's in!

I'm dreaming of a white new year.

It's hard to imagine that any year could top the one we just had. So many wonderful things happened to us in 2007, can we just let it go and say goodbye that easily? Never fret, the greatest thing about the events that change our lives is we always get to carry them with us well into the years to come, no matter what happens. Often times these things will grow into bigger joys, changing our lives even more than we had initially imagined they could. Look forward and face unafraid the unknown and unwritten future beholding. You'll be glad you did. I promise.

That being said, farewell 2007, I can't wait to see what 2008 brings.

School's back in session today! I feel like I have two brand new students. Fred has a brand new haircut and is walking better than ASIMO now... Zach is able to stand up without being held (for a moment or two) however doesn't have a new haircut. On top of that, both of the kids are still glowing from the fabulous festivities they had with their families on Christmas. I saw some pictures of Zach with his extended family and it looked like a merry old time. Cheers to all and everyone.

We spent the morning doing some Baby Einstein flash cards with Elijah who is home on the second week of his extended winter break. All the tots were excited about the pictures on the cards but even more so about Elijah, who is a human entertainment system in and of himself. He has more energy than the entire Mr. Steve daycare faculty and students combined and inherited a few of his dad's clown genes, so naturally I harness that power to provided meaningful edutainment for the younger. It would be a shame not to exploit harness an untapped resource such as this.

Even though all of the kids are a little bit sad to be away from at least one of their parents today, I can tell that they are happy to see one another and having a grand old time, thus.

Until then.