The Kleins: 14 months old

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for the lack of blog posts lately. I've been meaning to sit down at the computer and upload pictures and update everyone on the kiddos, but somehow never get the chance to lately. Although everything has been great here recently, we did experience our first sickness with all three babies, and let me say, it was ROUGH! A few weeks ago Caleb started vomiting and having diarrhea, then Mischa started with the same symptoms, though milder, and finally Madeline got it. All of the babies had poor appetites, were really fussy, and overall, did not feel good. My mom and I were so busy that week with cleaning up throw up, changing numerous diapers, and changing the babies' clothes several times a day, not to mention all the laundry, that we could barely keep up. It was definitely one of the hardest weeks we've experienced with the babies thus far. To top it off, my mom and I both got whatever stomach bug they had even though we tried so hard to wash our hands thoroughly and frequently. I think we went through an entire bottle of hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes that week. Both of us only had a 24 hour version but after experiencing the same symptoms the babies had, I can definitely understand why they didn't feel good. I not only had a poor appetite myself, but I felt generally weak and ached all over. The poor babies would just lay in our arms and they didn't want to eat, drink or play which is so unlike them. Although it's inevitable that they will get sick, I am definitely dreading future illnesses because having three sick kids was really hard. However, looking on the bright side, I've seen babies get hospitalized with severe vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration, so fortunately, no one was that severely sick. In fact, we didn't even need to see the doctor that week, so we truly are lucky considering that things could have been a lot worse. Seth and I are so happy that everyone is back to normal here. Our house has returned to it's loud, chaotic, normal state which we love.

The latest obsession with the babies has been climbing up on the couches now that all three can do it independently. There's something they find SO exciting about climbing up and jumping on the couch that it's actually quite funny until someone falls off, which happens almost daily. Seth and I have had lengthy discussions on what to do about this - let them climb up, not let them climb up, put pillows around the couches on the floor to cushion their falls, turn the couches around all together, teach them how to get down properly, etc. I think our answer to this latest phase of theirs changes everyday but we are trying to teach them not to climb up on the couches altogether because they don't quite get the concept of getting down safely nor do they understand that if they stand near the sides or the edges, they will fall down. Either way, it's almost a full time job just preventing them from all climbing up lately! We have done a pretty thorough job of padding every inch of floor around the couches just in case and we've both learned that this is just another phase that will pass eventually.

Since it's still been chilly outside, we've been taking advantage of the Discovery Children's museum downtown.They have a big playroom for one year olds which the babies love. They can walk around and explore different toys, go down a slide and take rides in their wagon all throughout the museum. There's even a mini coffee bar that Seth and I always stop at to get coffee and treats. The museum workers are so nice and know our three babies when we walk in since we tend to stand out! We've also taken the babies to the mall a few times to also keep them entertained. They love riding in the wagon even at the mall. Whenever we walk around the mall, we always stop and get chow mein noodles for the babies and they love them!

I think in the last post, only Caleb was officially walking. Well, now Mischa is walking up a storm too. It's pretty cute because she looks like she's got one wooden leg. So funny and adorable! Madeline is the last to start walking and is taking 5-10 steps and then falls down. If she's in a hurry, she'll revert to crawling, especially if she needs to get to a toy before her brother and sister. In the teeth department, now Caleb has the most teeth and has beat Mischa's ten teeth. He's got 4 molars coming in and Mischa has two. I haven't seen any molars yet for Madeline but she did finally get all four top front teeth. She's got a little gap between her two front top teeth...I guess that's the trend lately...(Michael Strahan, ha ha). So, overall, everything has been fantastic. We are so thankful the babies are over their sickness and doing so much better! Here are pictures from the past few weeks.