The Kleins: March 2014

Hi everyone! I am so sorry about the lack of posts lately. Seems like we have been busier than normal the past few weeks. I have been working three days a week instead of my usual two days, so that has definitely contributed to my lack of time for posts! Unfortunately, Seth and I got hit hard on taxes this year (thanks, Uncle Sam) so I've been working a little extra to prepare for our big upcoming tax bill.

We also recently made a trip to San Francisco to attend our niece's 5th birthday party and to hang out with family. I've noticed that the trips gets a little easier each time we do it and we seem to know what items to bring, where to make pit stops, and what hotels can accommodate triplets the best. However, this particular trip was a bit harder than past trips in that on the very first night there, all three kiddos decided to climb out of their pack-n-plays multiple times ALL night! Caleb was the first to try it and next thing we knew Madeline and Mischa were out of their pack-n-plays too, running around the hotel room screaming and laughing, picking up the telephone, opening cabinets and looking out the window. Needless to say, it made for some long nights there! I guess the time has come when they are transitioning into big kids and don't necessary need to be in pack-n-plays anymore, but I'm not quite sure Seth and I were prepared for this. These little munchkins would not go to sleep each night until about 10 or 11 pm and they wouldn't nap during their usual nap time either. So, Seth and I made the best of it and tried to really wear them out during the daytime going for long walks throughout the city and along Pier 39. For those of you who have Fit-bits, I got my all-time record of 33,500 steps one of the days we were in San Francisco (that's 17 miles! :). Besides the kids climbing out of their pack-n-plays, we had a wonderful trip. It was so nice seeing the family and attending Amelia's birthday party.

Now that we have been back at home for a week, the climbing out of bed madness and continued...in fact, the very first night we were back in Reno, the three of them decided to climb out of their cribs at home multiple times at night and during their nap. Madeline is the only one that can open doorknobs since she is the tallest, so Seth and I would be watching TV in the living room, and the next thing we know we hear giggling and squealing coming from their nursery and then they're out in the living room with us laughing up a storm. We've discussed transitioning them to their toddler beds, however, Seth doesn't think it's the right time for this since they will not go to sleep once they are out of their cribs. They are climbing on top of their dresser, pulling out clothes from the drawers, slamming the closet door and basically having a party in there. So, after a little online research, Seth ordered these toddler tents called "Pea pods" which basically can be put inside of a crib or used alone as a tent on the floor for traveling. When they arrived in the mail, the kids loved playing with them and climbing in and out of them. However, when nap time came around, Caleb did not like being inside his tent and basically cried for about 30 minutes until falling asleep. Madeline and Mischa did okay and fell asleep in theirs. We have kind of alternated using the pea pods and not using them this past week. We put them in their normal cribs for naps and bedtime and tell them not to climb out of their cribs...then we give them a few chances and if they continue to climb out, they go inside their pea pod. The past few nights we have not needed the pea pods but Caleb has needed it for nap time. Fortunately, he doesn't cry anymore and does pretty good overall as long as he has his blanket. Goodness...these little stinkers!

Other than the crib escaping saga, everything else is going good here. The kids are all talking up a storm and learning so much in terms of animals, shapes, colors, letters, numbers and objects in general. Madeline has recently started referring to herself as Maia or Maia Claire. Maia is her aunt or Seth's sister and Maia Claire is her one year old cousin. It's pretty cute and funny to hear Madeline call herself a different name! Out of the three, Madeline definitely acts like the big sister. If she see Caleb or Mischa doing something they're not supposed to be doing, she shakes her finger and says, "No, no!" Caleb is still obsessed with his trains and cars and he loves to be chased throughout the house. I can be hiding behind a corner waiting to get him and he just cracks up laughing and sometimes forgets to breathe because he is laughing so hard. Too funny! Mischa has recently become especially attached to me and follows me around everywhere. She wants to be with me no matter what I'm doing and if I'm not near her, she comes looking for me. She is definitely a mama's girl! Seth is doing great and has been traveling for work quite a bit instead of being in the office in SF but also has been at home a little more when he's not traveling. In fact, last week was his first time working from home the entire week without traveling to SF or anywhere else. I worked three days last week so he was on daddy duty. Not to embarrass him but we had two near fire incidents. The first one occurred when he didn't notice the kids and left a pillow in front of one of our space heaters. He smelled burning but didn't know where it was coming from until he finally noticed the black pillow case! The second incident occurred last weekend when I was grocery shopping and he accidentally placed a rubber bib on top of a lit candle on the stove. Oops! That caught on fire and melted rubber was all over one of the high chair trays. But, overall, all the kids were safe and the house was still in one piece, so I guess that was a successful week!

Here are some pictures and videos from the past month!