Spring

Our little monkey

Tighe and Clara swinging together

Michael and Cian swinging together

Daddy and Clara after planting their pumpkin patch

Michael and Cian

Daddy and Tighe

Coloring Easter eggs at the Oliva's (Gigi's cousin Cheryl's family)

Anna and Cian

Playing at Gramma's

Tighe and Gramma on Easter

Clara and Gramma composting

Easter Egg Hunt at Gramma's

Little Bunny Cian

Tighe, Michael and Cian at Gramma's

Cian, Michael and Tighe on Easter

Opa with Michael and Tighe

My sous-chef, Michael.

Papa Don and his buddy Michael

Michael and the fishies

First weekend away, Monterey, CA

Cian, Clara, Tighe & Michael

Our first family meal at a restaurant, Bubba Gump's in Monterey

Cian at 9 months

No more chemo!!

Tighe with his oncologists, Dr. Fritz Tan and Dr. Clare Twist

At the end of March, on a Friday night, Clara brought the stomach bug home from school. By early Sunday morning, it had passed to Bryan and then each of the boys throughout the day. I spent the day taking care of everyone. We tried to separate the kids, by having a sick room and a healthy play room, but it was only a matter of hours before we realize our efforts were futile. Once the last child was put to bed, it was then my turn to "pray to the porcelain god". Unfortunately, Clara had the bug for several days, Michael and Cian for about a week and Tighe for longer. Due to the treatments he's been going through, it took Tighe quite a while to recover and he ended up losing quite a bit of weight. He went to the hospital a couple times for hydration and his 6th round of chemo was delayed a week until April 6th. Thankfully, our neighbor Robin, who used to work at LPCH as an oncology nurse, was willing to come watch Michael and Cian, while Clara and I took Tighe up to the hospital for hydration. As she said, she's trained to take care of sick children, so she wasn't concerned about getting sick herself or bringing it home to her family. Otherwise, we told all other helpers to stay away. This bug was so contagious. Over a week after Clara came home sick, my mom came to help for a day and ended up catching the bug herself.

Tighe had an MRI on April 21st and a few days later we met with the oncologists to discuss the progress and the next steps of treatment. Bryan will be making a separate post to the blog with a detailed update related to Tighe.

Spring Break provided us with a great opportunity to see extended family and to have a family get-away. The day before Easter, I took the kid's up to Sausalito to see my cousin Cheryl's family. This was their first time meeting the boys and our first time meeting their new puppy Trevor. Clara had a blast coloring Easter eggs and having an egg hunt with Anna, Henry and Grace. Rick spent some time on the floor, reading and playing with the boys. Anna was great holding and playing with Cian. It was nice to see the Oliva's, as well as my Aunt Shirley and Uncle Frank. That evening, we drove up to Novato to my mom's house. Clara was very excited to go to Gramma's. This was my first time up there since the boys were born. It was quite challenging getting out of the house that morning. It's pretty overwhelming trying to pack everything that's needed for an overnighter with a preschooler and three infants. The overnight part proved to be quite challenging. The boys weren't too happy about sleeping in the pack-n-plays. Fortunately, Bryan brought up the "magic swing" that night, which appeased one of them at a time.

We had a nice relaxing day at Gramma's house for Easter. Jay and Rachel came with Sarah, Jack and Joe and some neighbors came over as well. The kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt on the hillside and opening up their eggs on the blanket on Gramma's lawn. Of course, the Master's was on the tv the whole time and Daddy spent lots of time showing his boys the golf tournament. After Easter, Clara went up to Tahoe for a couple days with her cousins. As always, she had a blast playing with Sarah, Jack and Joe.

We spent the following weekend in Monterey. We rented a house for 3 nights. Gramma Marge and Papa Don came with us. This was our first real get-away weekend with the whole family. The weather was gorgeous. The house was walking distance to the aquarium. It was very nice to have a change of scenery. Needless to say, after spending the majority of the past 9 months confined to my house, it was like a breath of fresh air to be in a house in Monterey. There's something about the slower pace of a seaside town, hearing the seagulls and being able to walk down to Cannery Row. Of course, when you're away from your home, you also don't feel the pull to do laundry, check email and sort through piles of mail. It was really enjoyable.

So, you're wondering what a day in the life of a triplet mom is like, well here's what mine's like. Boys wake up between 6-7am. Get their diapers changed and get a bottle. Clara gets up at 7am and Bryan takes her to school around 8am. After bottle, boys play for a couple hours, then it's time for breakfast. I spoon feed them rice cereal with fruit. This takes about an hour. Then they get diapers changed and changed into day clothes. Naptime for 1-3 hours, varies by child and by day. Bottle after nap. More playtime. Spoon fed dinner at around 4:30. Then, it's off to pick up Clara around 5:30, with all the boys. Back by 6 or 6:30. Usually we hang out with some of the other moms and kids on the playground at the preschool. Give Clara her dinner. Bryan gets home around 7-7:30. Boys get final bottle at this time and then off to bed between 7-8. Clara goes to bed around 8-8:30. During the boys' nap or playtime, I wash bottles, dishes, do laundry, shower, eat, check email, sort mail, pay bills, prepare dinner, tidy house. Occasionally we get out for a walk but not often enough. Often times, the boys are on a similar schedule throughout the day but there are times that one is off from the other two and rarely when they are all on their own schedule.

Overall, the boys are doing great developmentally. They are eating and sleeping well. Michael and Cian eat a large bowl of cereal twice a day. Tighe was focused on drinking high-calorie (26 cal vs 20 cal norm) formula due to weight-loss but is now getting back to eating cereal. They are all sitting well. Cian can sit for long stretches (10-15 mins) without falling. Michael can sit for about 5-10 minutes and Tighe for a few minutes. Due to the PICC line that Tighe had in his left arm for a couple months, his left arm is a little weaker than his right and a little slower to respond when he loses his balance to his left. They are all rolling a lot, several times over in each direction. When we leave them to play together on the floor, they often end up in each others' space, with either their legs entangled or one kicking another in the face or pulling hair or grabbing faces. When they are left to play with toys, Cian always ends up with everyone else's toys. He is very strong and can easily pull a toy out of the other's hands. I guess Tighe and Michael are going to have to learn to fight back. They are all saying lots of Da Da's. Tighe is good at saying MMMMMA MMMMMA. They are definately interacting with each other now and enjoying each others company. As for teeth, Tighe has 3 (1st one on Valentine's Day, 2nd soon thereafter and 3rd pretty recently). Cian has 1 that he got around Easter and Michael has none, although they must be coming soon because he's been doing lots of drooling.

Happy Spring to everyone!