Falling Forward Towards 2!

The summer heat has faded away and we are left with our favorite time of year - fall. Drier air, lower temperatures and all the wonderful colors lead us to love this season. Not to mention football and Oktoberfest!

Despite our best attempts, the kids keep growing and changing into little humans. Many times this summer we encouraged them to 'grow up', but the magic of each child's developmental stage leads to the sentiment of 'Why do they have to grow up?'

The summer ended with the kids spending many waking hours outside, exploring our little backyard and the variety of toys we've accumulated. Some aren't immediately apparent as toys, such as cups, spatulas, shoes strollers, but to the kids it's all the same.

We have more words. More temper tantrums. More cooperation. More understanding. More vocabulary. More variety in foods. Fewer naps. Less peace and quiet.

August has taken to stacking blocks, organizing like objects and attempting to place various things on his parents' heads. It's tough to get a picture of him as he's always moving. Exploring. Climbing.

Our first born child loves to play a game unique to him. We'll call it 'See what I'm doing?' He's responsive to corrections, but loves to repeat his antics and laughs the whole time. He can really be a ham sandwich. We don't want to say he has mischief in his eyes, but he's always thinking.

We had to abandon our old TV stand because young August learned to leverage everyday items into climbing assistants. It became an old trick to summit the TV stand and, instead of planting his flag of origin as most mountaineers do, he attempts to claim his summit by clearing it of objects in his way. In this case, the TV.

In came the 5' high dresser, which is currently the Everest of the kids' play area. Some day, it will be conquered.

Olivia is our little girl to a g. Every parent thinks their kid is the cutest, and we're no exception! She knows how to work people already and unfortunately we're not immune to her charms. Her interest in the alphabet has exploded, and she loves to repeat the letters for mom and dad.

Content with her books, Livvy will sit for a half hour at a time paging through books in the play area. We're not sure what she understands, but it's encouraging to show interest at her age. Unfortunately, not all of our books are her friends. Olivia has gained notoriety and a nickname - The Ripper (say it like Steve Irwin ('Rippa') it's more fun) - for literally shredding books left in her crib. Have some personal documents you'd like disposed of? Bring them over. We filled a plastic grocery bag of her leftovers today. Yikes.

Her love of Elmo and Sesame Street has luckily led to some interesting vocabulary like 'purple'. Three syllables here we come!

Max is still the most active child in physical pursuits. Running full-speed into a parent/couch/sibling? Check. Chucking anything chuckable with absolutely no notice? Affirmative. Kicking plastic balls and toys with abandon? Uh huh. Giving a high five that actually stings? That's Max.

He's throwing with both hands at this point, and from what we can tell, he's got a gun. If you come over, watch out. Safety glasses recommended.

Max is probably the first child with both feet firmly in toddlerdom. Resistant at times and irresistible at others. He takes instructions extremely well, and earnestly attempts to help mom and dad vacuum, put toys away, etc.

He, along with the other two, have an interesting combination of oldest, youngest and middle sibling tendencies all at once.

In addition to wearing out the homestead, the kids have been to Muscatine, Sugar Bottom Rec Area (North Liberty), Iowa City/Coralville, Mount Pleasant and Wapello.

We've tried to get them out of the house more and into new surroundings with new people. Hopefully it's helping them develop, because we're tired.

Here are some pictures -

June 2010: Hesitant Nest Leavers

Ahhhhhhh...nice....deep.....breath. As little legs are moving, so is the summer. Seems like only a month ago we couldn't wait for the beginning of summer, oh yeah, that's right, it WAS only a month ago it was the beginning of summer. Now, my weekly Wal-Mart runs blast me with, Back to School! signs and supplies up every isle. Ahhhhhh...in the scared...NOOOOOO! NOT YET...way. Mike and I get to have lunch together sometimes, I get to see all my babies all the time (with help from Shana in the afternoons while they nap so I can go run errands..thank you!), the weather is somewhat good (darn rain), and everyone is happy and healthy. Summer...ahhhhh.

It's been a few months and as there are less blog posts, it means Team Norris is joining the real world a little more each day, moving and shaking all the way. Yes, ladies and gentleman, Olivia is walking! When she started leaving the nest (i.e. Dad's pantleg) she was very hesitant, but once she realized the freedom she had, she was gone! She's quite adventurous for her relatively short time pounding the pavement but the girl catches on quick!

In other news, as a family, we're also less hesitant to leave the nest. Now that bottles are no longer in the picture, & naps aren't quite as necessary, transportation is a little more manageable. We've gone to Ia City to see Cousins Schworris a few times already...waiting with baited breath for Schworris girl #3. We bet she's here already! (Sam went in this morning to be induced! Whoopie!) We've gone to Wapello for Brock's graduation party and had loads of fun running in church, (Congrats Brockie! Seems like just yesterday you were the triplets' age!) We've been to Pella to visit Grandma and Grandpa Norris, and have had numerous visits from numerous good buddies and relatives. Today we embark on one of our biggest trips yet, West Des Moines to visit the pool-I mean-Aunt Amanda, Uncle Jesse, and Payton's house, of course! They do have a pool though, and cousins, Tiffany and Matthew are there as well. Grandma & Grandpa Kooley and hopefully some more cousins will bring the Shagin Wagon to do some cannon balls for us to document and post!

Here are some post-school's out for summer pictures to enjoy while we make the trip up to WDSM.
Happy Summer! Pray for calm children and little traffic!

...Now Batting

Livy is at bat. She's facing a full count after fouling a few pitches into the dugout (sorry mom and dad!). Max and Augie, already on base, are looking for a hit.

I predict Livy will rap a triple into right (yes, she's unconventional) and start walking in a big way.

Yes, our little girl is the last of the crew to walk on her own. Is she up to it physically? Oh yes, she leans into the corners like a seasoned MotoGP rider.

Has she seen enough walking to catch on? Our floors have seen so many miles they're ready for an oil change. Does she have the desire? Well, she desires walking like a congressman desires an investigation.

We have seen progress lately - walking with only one hand holding mom or dad's hand is progress indeed. She seems to be saving up and waiting to unleash a tidy, balanced walk. I think she'll hit a triple.

Spring has brought wonderful weather to Burlington. The backyard has become our sanctuary, and the boys' obsession. There are rocks, grass, a slide, dirt, mulch, bugs, balls and little spots to hide. Their outside fun is epic.

We've gradually reduced our walks, and increased outside time. This is a little tougher on our schedule, as one parent no longer has time to clean up and cook supper. We make do. Cooking supper in front of the kids is actually a great distraction, and who knows, they may actually learn something from it.

Everyone is still sleeping well. 12 hours /night, two naps per day. How lucky are we to have this schedule? Very lucky, and thankful. It's amazing how much sleep the kids still need. And we've identified their 'I need sleep NOW' cues during the day.

Max: Yawns, constant whining, eye rubbing, trouble walking, strange attempts to get attention.

Augie: Leans down to do a head stand, strange attempts to get attention, trouble walking, stands in front of the stairs and looks up.

Livy: Constant eye rubbing, yawns, annoying whining, lays down to throw a fit.

They are all amazing communicators, if only you pay attention.

We have some words: this (dis), momma, dada, go

We also have some baby cursing, some attempts at our words and some singing imitation.

Team Norris' first haircuts were an event. August lost nearly all his hair and Max got a trim. Dad's trusty rusty electric clippers did the job just fine, leaving the boys with the classic 'buzz cut'.

August looks like a completely different little boy. He looks older, smarter and his hair loss seems to have triggered something that seems to have him be much more personable and outgoing (insert Dad jokes here).

His hair is unexpectedly thick, like a carpet. It takes considerable effort to mess it up.

Max, for better or worse, has his dad's hairline and thin wavy hair. Easy to mess up, it goes back in place sooner or later. Max doesn't really care about hair style, just about getting enough food in his hair for body.

Livy did not get a haircut, but now officially has the longest hair of the crew. When wet and straight, her hair easily reaches the bottom of her neck.

Team Norris has been putting the miles on the family van. Three trips to Iowa City for appointments and checkups, Easter and a visit to Wapello visiting great-grandma Webb, one overnight trip to Pella to see grandma and grandpa Norris (first overnight trip for dad) and an afternoon to Trenton to visit the Roths.

What's next for Team Norris? Adding solid foods, staying on the nap schedule, and waiting for Livy to hit her triple.

Pictures:

February and now March have been a little bit dull...if you can call raising triplets in winter and not being able to get outside EVER, dull.

We have found things to do though. A cool tent from Aunt Linda and Aunt AManda helped. Also, we dress up a lot and sing songs.

Here's an oldie but a goodie.

Everybody was Kung Foo fighting........

From February-March

Those kids were fast as lightning....

From February-March

In fact it was a little bit frightening!

From February-March

Shorty robes rule.

We did go out of town for cousin Josie's birthday in Iowa City at the Gymnest. The boys had a ball, but Livy is still a little hesitant and really likes her naps.

We 've had some visitors in February and finally finished the basement. We'll post some pics soon!

Happy March...it's almost spring...thank goodness!

Here is a slideshow to pass the time.

New Year, New Stuff

"Can you see the light?"

The Reverend Cleophus (James Brown) asks Jake and Elwood if they can see the light. Yes, Jake and Elwood saw the light and got the band back together.



After weeks of sick kids, sick parents, zero-degree temps, and having the blues we have seen the light. AMEN!

The kids healed, the sun came out, and lo and behold the snow melted!

The weeks between Christmas and until after New Year's tested our mettle. First, August was sick. Max followed two days later, and Livvy after that. Ear infections, sinus infections, our brains were infected by the second week the kids were sick. Then we caught it. We made it. We made through the low temps, the cabin fever, regular fever and get-me-the-heck-outta here fever.

And we saw the light. The sun came out, finally, and seemed to make everything all right.

What's happening? Max is walking by himself, Livvy is interested in moving and August is perfecting the hallway sprint.

It didn't take Max long to walk after he held our hands, but he had been crawling a long time and getting pointers from his big bro. Livvy takes our hands and practically makes us walk her all over the house. She needs to get a bit taller, though - our backs are killing us! August is pretty fast now and uses his speed to chase us around, until we threaten a tickle. Then he just falls down and laughs.

We have welcomed more teeth into the world and new attitudes (cue: Dr. Laura). Max has an even more welcoming attitude towards food than before (who knew he'd like curried rice AND kielbasa?), August likes to hang with Mom and Dad more and Livvy is getting more independent from Mom and Dad.

Sleep is still a favorite past time as everyone is still sleeping around 15 hours a day. It seems like their awake time is measured in dog-years, though. They just wear us out, but we love it.

Kelly has been super busy at work with testing and her regular Title I kids. Budget cuts are coming, so we are hopeful to escape unscathed.

I've been just as busy at work trying to get some projects off the ground and start new ones. Fortunately, the economy hasn't rattled regional planners yet - hopefully it will hold off.

We have been very busy in the basement the last few weeks. Each night we've chipped away at finishing the subfloor and finished floor. It's 95 percent done! All that's left is some tile around the sinks and shower. It feels great to see our progress and remember how far we've come on the project since it fell victim to the relentless groundwater attack.

The kids are just changing so much we can hardly keep up. And the fun never stops! Max has started impersonating us and our motions, and it's just priceless. Livvy has developed so many facial expressions and she knows just when to use them to make us laugh. And August has finally let his laugh out for everyone to hear.

Enjoy the pictures!