The Miles' Trio: Exasperating days...

Our girls are geniuses (says every mom of a 2-year old)... they are also hilarious, spunky, feisty, whiny, loving, naughty, opinionated, independent one minute and dependent the next, sweet, exasperating little people. Every day I'm amazed at how worn out I am by 9 AM - and they often don't get up much before 7:30!

To be fair, it's the mealtimes that I find tiresome... they're exhausting these days. EVERY meal is full of decisions most people don't think about - least of which is about the food that is served. In fact, the food is the only thing that DOESN'T seem to be a source of contention. First there's the debate on who should be seated first - they all elect one another (similar to diaper changes and daily dressing). Next there's the Bib Decision. Yes, they still wear bibs - we use them as napkins. However, to eliminate the point of contention I have tried to skip the Bib Decision - they do NOT let things go. So, there's the argument over who gets which bib - either fighting over the animal (they all want the Owl) or the color (they all want the 'pink' or 'wellow' one). As a sidenote - if you've ever noticed, when you buy packs of things like bibs or plates, typically there are 3 or 4 different animals or colors... As such, I have chosen NOT to purchase 3 packs of bibs/plates/etc. and therefore we do NOT have 3 Owl or 3 Yellow bibs, and while we may have 3 Pink bibs - they are slightly different and the girls NOTICE. So - getting back to the Bib Decision, there are days when it has taken 5-10 minutes to get this figured out and everyone happy (did I mention exasperating?). Next comes the food, which is not typically an issues, HOWEVER, what the food is served ON is a point of contention. Let's go back to that sidenote, when you purchase toddler plates or bowls they come in a package of assorted colors. Awesome idea at first - until you realize that two of your children DEMAND the "Geen" (aka Green) Plate, and you only have one "Geen" Plate. This makes for a very fun time. Last week Hadley refused to eat for about 20 minutes because she did NOT get the green plate. Seriously, 20 minutes. It took a time out (for her to "think" about why she was crying) and a diversion technique to get her to finally overcome the color of the plate. There are also arguments over their silverware - but by the time we get to this decision the girls are likely famished. This doesn't even take into account the general messiness of meal times... EXASPERATING and EXHAUSTING.

However, let me backup and talk about their smarts, because these girls are smart! Maybe not genius material (maybe), but toddlers are smart! I can't get over how much they learn on a daily basis - the words and expressions they pick up alone are impressive. Then there's all this stuff that they know that we can't figure out when, where, or how they learned it! We ask them to do something offhand and they do it! I know that they pick up on stuff we say and do - we probably need to start watching exactly what we're saying/doing a little more closely! Their puzzle skills are one of their more impressive skills - we bought them these shape puzzles for their birthday. I thought they were fabulous, although a little advanced for now - but they can do them (maybe geniuses?). Seriously though - this is one puzzle set worth buying, you can play games (fewest pieces/most pieces/etc.) as they get older - check it out: puzzle fun. Travis and I both find ourselves playing with these puzzles!

Hadley has been in the best of moods as of late. But we have also figured out why she lost TWO POUNDS since their last visit... the girl NEVER STOPS MOVING! She runs everywhere she goes, and from the moment she's up - she is on the go. Brynley is our picker-upper. She will chase down her sisters in an effort to put things away... sometimes this does result in timeouts. Hadley & Bryn are both queens of timeouts - boy are they into testing us... constantly. Ryann is perhaps the best snuggler in the world. That girl knows how to cozy up and relax. She's been going through a bit of a rough patch - a little sensitive and crabby these days... but what can we say, she was (and is) more than due! Her sisters have gone through a funk a dozen times each, but it's weird (to us) to have Ryann whining and wanting to be held for no apparent reason! So out of the norm for her. However, she has a pretty special bond with her daddy - although he may be finding her a bit exasperating these days. Her new favorite game is to battle daddy - she's all about tackling ("tackle me") and if Travis says "Tigers" she retorts back "Hawkeyes" (mama's girl). She finds this game particularly hilarious! We'll see how long Travis finds it humorous.

Regardless of their moods these days, it's so fun to see the girls play with each other and interact. They've started having conversations - some of which we can understand and others where we have no idea what is being said! They pretty much chat non-stop, or perhaps it just seems that way since there's so many of them (I swear, sometimes I think they've multiplied!) They talk to each other, to us, to themselves, to their babies, to the dogs... oye - our house is LOUD.

Every day I'm reminded how blessed we are to have these three crazy, beautiful, opinionated little angels in our lives. I could not imagine our lives any other way - and while I often find myself exasperated these days, the humor and light they bring into our days is worth every deep sigh. A friend posted a link to a blog post that I've gone back to more times than I can count - I'm pretty sure he talked to our trio before writing this. Definitely worth a read: 46 Reasons My Three Year Old Might be Freaking Out. I can't wait to see what this month brings...