Baby Crockett

Grandma and Papa bought the boys some sweet hats today! We called them their "hunting hats" and went outside hunting for wild strawberries.

Drew sporting his new cap!

Evan's hunting hat worked - he found some strawberries!

Here is Isaac reflecting on what he just ate. Isaac recently learned how to pick and eat his own strawberries and although we are working on learning our colors he will eat red OR green strawberries...and the leaves, and the flowers..........

Only A Father

In honor of Father's Day...

And I wonder why the boys are always asking for Dada! Because he is so much fun!

The sweet smell of victory!

WARNING: THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS INFORMATION REGARDING POOP

Today was a very exciting day at the Egger house. Drew went poo-poo and pee-pee on the toilet!
Drew was grunting while the boys were eating their lunch so Casey asked him if he was pooping and Drew said "yes." I told Casey not to bother because Drew was grunting and then laughing earlier at breakfast. But apparently Casey believes in the "give every grunt a chance" method and took Drew into the bathroom (must be a guy thing). We had recently bought a little seat for the toilet on a whim in case they began to show any interest. Casey showed Drew how to hold onto the handles and most importantly... to keep your feet and legs down:)

Drew sat there while we cheered him on. We even brought in his Elmo Likes To Potty book for him to look at - one of several ideas to introduce the concept and begin the daunting task of potty training three boys. After several pushes and a few noises Drew surprised us both! Needless to say a HOORAY of tremendous proportions was in order and Drew got to call Grandma and Papa to tell them of his triumph.

Don't think that I am foolish enough to believe he is potty trained now or even close, but let's hope it will happen again before he is 3 years old. Casey is giddy and sees a light at the end of the diaper tunnel however he continues to do the math of how much money we waste on diapers (.35 x 5 changes on average per day x 3 boys = $5.25 per day = 157.50 a month).

Today we are very proud parents!

Drew showing us how he grunts!

Oh yes I did take a picture! Way to go Drew!!!

Big Day For Isaac

Isaac had his last developmental follow-up appointment at Children's Everett Clinic today! Isaac has been seen there every 6 months since his extended stay in the NICU (an entire month of getting better and waiting for surgery) when he was just 8 weeks old as part of standard procedures. Today's appointment was his "18 month" follow-up visit and I say "18 month" because that is his adjusted age for prematurity.

We are so fortunate that despite Isaac's rough start in life he is totally healthy and we have never had any concerns regarding his development. At each appointment he has met or exceeded his developmental goals and today was no different. Actually, it was a little different because he blew the therapist's socks off with all of his tricks (if I may toot Ikie's horn a little)!

Did I mention that Isaac and I went to the appointment alone? Just mommy and 1 baby!!! What a nice morning we had. Evan and Drew got to hang out with Grandma and Papa while Isaac and I went to his appointment. I can only imagine life with a singleton! We were on time. I didn't have to unload a wagon or stroller. I didn't have to put on 6 socks and 6 shoes once we got there (we have a small issue keeping our socks and shoes on in the car). Isaac and I were able to hold hands and leisurely walk into the office. While we walked he pointed out cars (which there were a lot as we strolled by the parking lot) and trees. It was really nice spending some time alone with him!

It was really interesting to see Isaac in action without his brothers. Although he is probably our most dominant little guy he sure was shy all by himself. While in the waiting room Isaac just stood between my legs and checked everyone out. When we got into our therapy room he was still pretty shy with the two therapists but warmed up quickly once they got started with the blocks. Once he warmed up there was no stopping him! He completed all of his tests quickly and then would stand up and look out the window or put the testing materials away for the gals - as if he owned the place! One of the things that impressed them the most about Isaac was his coordinated run for his age! I just thought to myself, you should see him run when he is naked and you want to put a diaper on! He was even talking a lot and said "thank you" and "clock" among other things while we were there. Just when he couldn't get any more impressive (and I turned my back for a second) he started digging in the garbage can trying to fish out some old cheerios!

Our moment of brilliance was short lived but it was great while it lasted! Way to go Isaac!!!

Here is Isaac as Indiana Jones and his sidekick Evan.

Isaac in his perch - the window.

Pictures

I keep beating myself up about not being better about getting the boys' pictures taken regularly. I started out really good by getting them at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year. Then it just sort of stopped. I was looking through there old 6 and 9 month pictures that actually got copied to the computer and had a wonderful time laughing at the 400 bad pictures taken just to get 1 good one! I also remembered WHY I have been reluctant to head back to a studio again. Here are some of my favorite awful pictures!!!

Lets start with the obvious. How do you get 3 kids to look in the same direction and look happy all at the same time. You don't. So it should be said that I don't blame the photographer...entirely.

At 6 months the boys were just starting to sit up on their own and naturally all of them couldn't sit up for 3 seconds, look at the camera, and smile all at the same time so you have to improvise. Here are the boys laying down. Just kind of haphazardly laid on a sheet...love the photographer's foot in the bottom corner.

This was the 19 year old photographer's (we were at Sears) attempt at an artistic picture. I think the boys are very confused and so am I! Which way should I hang this picture? Again, notice they are laying down.

Ok. Lets try some with them sitting up. Ah, the memories...3 boys and their parents' arms. We have several pictures like this!

Another obstacle to face when photographing multiples is dealing with the well intentioned SLOW photographer. They try to get you to do a million poses, purchase a million photos, do a million add-ons. Enough already!!! They are just doing their job but cannot fathom what is going on in your head..."stop talking, doesn't she know they needed to eat 15 minutes ago?" Unless you have multiples you have no idea the anxiety of being OFF SCHEDULE!

9 month pictures were a nightmare. The boys were mobile but not steady enough to stand on their own...but mobile enough to refuse to sit still. If I remember correctly, one of the photographers called in sick so one poor girl was taking all of the pictures. We waited in the lobby for over an hour before we got in to take these beauties.

The chair isn't working lady. Let's move on.

Although Evan may have a future as a weather man...the green background and goofy rock aren't working. Keep moving....
Ah ha, some finished collages to look at. These look pretty good...oh wait, there are 2 pictures of the same baby in the bucket. That's Isaac in the top and bottom corner, poor little Evan got left out of this one! Needless to say we stay away from the collages they put together for us:)