21 months old!

The kids are 21 months old now, and I'm looking into toddler boarding schools.  Just kidding!  They are entering the terrible twos (mostly Emily), having difficulty learning how to share, and pushing their boundaries (and each other), but they teach me something almost every day.  Emily thinks that she is in control, so there is a constant power struggle between us, Ella is feisty and does not like to share her toys, and Tripp is a little boy who likes to explore new things and listen to music!  I probably won't get to update this again until they're 2, or 16, so here is what they are up to these days!

21 months old and being bribed with Skittles to sit still

Emily

Emily rolls her eyes if you ask her to do something she doesn't want to do

Emily does not involve herself in the drama that her siblings create.

Emily loves Misha the cat

Emily loves Elsa and Ariel

Emily loves to play with and hug her siblings

Emily is afraid of elevators

Emily throws tantrums at a level that I did not know was possible in a toddler

Emily would rather sit in the living room and watch a movie with me than be in a room that her siblings are fighting in

Emily loves to give her brother hugs

Emily loves ducks

Emily does whatever she wants, whether you like it or not

If Emily hears the ice maker in the kitchen, she will run into the kitchen demanding ice (which she pronouces 'ass')

Emily can count to 13

Emily loves baths and playing in water

Emily does not think that plates are necessary when eating

Emily wears size 3T shirts

Emily takes her shoes off as soon as she is buckled into her car seat

Emily's favorite spot to hang out is on mommy and daddy's bed

Emily does not sit still for pictures unless you give her candy

Hugging Ella

Drinking water from the hose

This is Emily these days: On the move, covered in dirt that she's been digging in

When she was sick she got to hang out on my bed with the cat and Daniel Tiger.  She was in Heaven!

Emily loves to point to parts of your face and tell you want it is: "nose"

Emily and Mimi (my mom)

3T pajamas!

Under sissy's bed... just because

Emily doesn't like selfies, and she was sick!

Ella

(her shirt says Messy Hair Don't Care because well, look at her hair)

Ella is the smallest by 3 pounds and 2 inches

Ella is a little fireball

Ella does not share food or toys (she is starting to get better, but it's still a work in progress)

Ella screams at the top of her lungs if something is stolen from her, or if she sees a toy in someone else's hand that she might want

Ella only sings the word "door" at the top of her lungs when the song "Love is an Open Door" comes on Frozen

Ella loves our neighbor, who she has never actually met, but watches cut his grass out of our living room window

Ella loves to play with their toy trains and tracks, but not the trains that actually fit on the tracks, and ONLY the engines, don't try to hand her Bertie the Bus!

Ella is warming up to water, but still does not like it to be in her face

Ella loves these little plastic Disney princesses and knows their names, although she has only ever seen Frozen and The Little Mermaid

Ella dances like no one is watching.  She has music in her head and she just goes with it!

Ella will eat until you stop her.  She loves food, but she especially loves dessert!

Ella tries to sing the ABCs.  You can tell what she's singing, and she hits a few of the letters, but she's working on it!

Ella does not cooperate for pictures

Ella always has a random object in her hand when she is outside

Ella likes to play alone

Ella doesn't really like TV

Ella likes to have 3 babies.  I assume she wants to be just like Mark and me.  It's funny to watch her struggle trying to hold 3 babies and to see what I probably look like to strangers!

Ella says "Up Please" all day long because she loves being held

Ella loves her mama!

Fixing Aunt Laina's hair... with tongs

"Hello Daddy.  Fix tent."

Pushing cars down the slope at the Children's Museum

I have lots of selfies with Ella because I'm usually holding her

Bubba's hat and an oven mit

Waving the Italian flag (she is 1/4 Italian!)

This is how I get her to smile: "show me your teeth"

This is her singing "Dooooooor" during Love in an Open Door on Frozen.  Her face shows so much emotion when she sings!

Going to sleep with all of her babies, her elephant ("enant") and her glow worm!

Tripp

Tripp loves to be tickled

Tripp loves to take a bath if you're in the tub with him

Tripp loves to watch Elsa and Ariel (Wariel)

Tripp loves his puppy lovie and asks for it during the day, even though he knows he only gets it at bedtime!

Tripp loves to be held.  If you sit on the floor, he will gladly sit on your lap

Tripp loves music

Tripp is the neatest eater and loves to use his utensils

Tripp is a Sunday stroller any time you have to be somewhere.  He likes to walk very slowly and just look at everything that he passes

Tripp got to ride in a fire truck for the 4th of July parade!

Tripp loves to mess with his sisters and make them cry

Tripp loves to sit on the little black recliner and watch TV

Tripp will do almost anything if his sisters do it first

Tripp does not like to get dirty

Tripp likes to color

Tripp likes to "fix" things with his toy hammer (he bangs on objects and giggles)

Tripp loves cars

Tripp likes to put toys on his head and make us laugh

Tripp has striking blue eyes that get me every time!

Tripp says "no" to everything.  He doesn't even absorb what you're saying, he just immediately says no!

Tripp is saying new words every single day.  I'm so proud of him and how far he's come in just a few weeks.  There are still words that he just can't say, and he gets so frustrated, but he is communicating using speech and it's so fun to hear his little voice!

Tripp has gone from being picked on by his sister's, to being the one who does the picking.  He steals toys and runs away squealing with delight, or pushes his sisters.  He has been sitting in time out a lot recently because of hitting and pushing! (he's still the sweetest boy I've ever met)

Doing crossfit at the park with Aunt Laina and Aunt Taylor!

Buzzcut and his first lollipop!

Maverick and Goose :)

Pulling Daddy and Emily

So tired of Emily hugs!

Tripp loves selfies

He saw a slug, so got into this position to examine it closer

Tripp is quite the copy cat.  This is him copying his Nonna while walking

Car wash

Group pictures

Emily got ahold of the water hose and loved watching Mark jump around as she sprayed him

The girls walking and holding hands.  They can be so sweet sometimes!

Mark and I got them these shirts when we visited Alcatraz Penitentiary.  The girls are inmates and Tripp is on the baseball team

We made the mistake of letting them walk when we went to Academy.  Poor Mark was chasing the girls (holding their purses)

They love the Children's Museum!  We recently discovered that there is an outdoor water area.  They love it!

Daddy hugs

Ella was being so sweet when Tripp was sick!

I give them butter croissants from Starbucks any time we go grocery shopping.  It's the only thing other than jelly beans that keeps them quiet!  On this trip, the girls brought Anna and Elsa, and Ella insisted on feeding Anna some bread

I have a friend named Anne who had triplets exactly 10 months after I did.  This was the first time our kids met.  It was a mess!

They love ice

Waiting for the doctor when Tripp and Emily were sick, one of my former coworkers let them color!

Sisters in skorts!

Just like Daddy

Mark's dad, Mark Sr., was in Iraq for 7 months, but came home for a month before heading back.  The kids made him a sign and stood in the front yard with it as he arrived at our house.  It was fun!

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, I wanted to take them to the beach for the first time.  My mom joined us so there was an even adult:kid ratio, and because I wanted to spend the day with my own mom!  The girls loved it, and Tripp hated it!

We got this family photo

And this one of me with the babies, just like we took last year!

4th of July

Tripp was sick on July 4th, and we didn't want him sitting in the heat watching the parade, so instead, he rode in the fire truck with Mark and Berna.  Mark's dad works for the fire department, so they an in, and they sat in the air conditioned cab.  He still got to enjoy the parade, but not in the scorching heat!

The girls and I sat in the heat with my mom and watched the parade.  Emily ran around the tents for awhile to see what people were selling.

We had to get slushies for the girls, it was so hot!

Port Aransas

Since floods wiped out the Wimberly cabin that we usually visit with Mark's family in the summer, we went to stay with Mark's Aunt Lori in Aransas Pass.  During the day, we would cross the ferry and hang out at the beach with my in laws.  The kids loved it!

Ella and Daddy

This time, Tripp loved the beach!

Ella finds random things and brings them to you.  She found this string wrapped up in seaweed and thought it was a treasure!

Mark's Aunt Lori has an awesome pirate ship tree house complete with a rope bridge.  My friend Lauren, her husband and twins, Jim and Hudson were staying with us and the kids had so much fun!