CELEBRATING THIRD BIRTHDAY TODAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DARLINGS...muaaahh...
It is fun to observe the triplets’ relationship with each other, their
love for each other, and jealousy with each other. Also the way triplets have
developed their own individualities and preferences. I will try to analyse one by one. Raman- is
the most babyish among them, even though he is the eldest. His development in
terms of motor skills is a bit less than the others- meaning he can't climb on
top of the cupboard as easily as Balu, and also (which concerns me somewhat) he
can't tie his shoes on his own. His speech was a bit delayed, but now he is the
one who speaks poetically about the sky and the sun and moon and the rain, and
dramatically about elephants and trains. He likes to play all the time, run
around, and mostly he likes to play with the other two. He has deep and
special love for Balu and Kutty, expressed in many ways, but his love for
Balu is also coated with intense jealousy. He is also a bit lazy at times
(surprisingly he maintains that characteristic from his 'within womb' days). He
has a tendency to fall down, I mean all three will be running around and if you
hear someone falling, it is invariably Raman. He also has deep love for us and
his grandparents, and he is quite easy, relaxed and confident in his social
relationships- with both relatives and strangers. He has affinity for all toys,
trains and other vehicles, and animals (not at all frightened of anything), and
does all boys plays. His main talent is in drumming and dancing with a rhythm.
He is the most artistic of the three.
Kutty is just the
girl that she is. She loves stories, asking me to tell stories all the time.
She loves books too, and whenever we go shopping, Kutty makes sure to get her
favorite children's books. She memorizes all characters in these stories- their
names, even the ones I can't seem to memorize. (But she doesn't know names of
vegetables or doesn't know to count properly). Nowadays she likes to go
upstairs and sit alone with her toys, playing and telling stories, and she can
do this for up to an hour. She keeps asking questions- sometimes getting on my
nerves, like 'why do we take a bath?', 'to clean ourselves', 'why do we have to
clean ourselves?', 'so that we are healthy', 'why do we have to be healthy/',
'so we can go out', 'why do we have to go out/', 'to play', 'why do we play?'
and so on and on and on. She loves both brothers and pretends that Raman is her
son(loves to hug and kiss him), and Balu is her husband. She loves to
goody-goody, and advise her brothers, and while playing she keeps telling
stories. She has a taste for music, I think, but can be just a passing
interest. She has sense of humor, finds something to laugh about in almost
everything, which is a blessing most of the time. She passes wisecracks, and
jokes, and laughs at her own jokes. She is happy to be with us, but is reserved
with others, relatives or strangers, and takes her own time to mingle.
Balu undoubtedly has the most IQ, and best motor skills. He can climb
anywhere, and can fix any toy, and can operate all electronic equipment if
once-just once-we show him how to. He loves to dress well, shoes and all, and
imitate adults. He knows to do things, and knows that he knows, which makes
situations difficult for us because many things we cannot permit him to have a
go at, like say, operating the remote control or mobile phone (both of which he
loves), even though we feel bad about it because we know he can do it in the
correct way. He does all chores too, and does everything in a perfectionist
way- like if someone keeps the toothpaste on shelf two instead of one, he gets
agitated. He loves both Kutty and Raman and loves to play with them, but his
love is intensely intertwined with jealousy. He simply cannot stand if they get
to use a toy before him, and will start crying. He also has a deeper affection
for his father and my mother, and somewhat keeps a distance from me, mostly
because I scold him for taking things he is not supposed to take. He has
mechanical skills and we think he will develop culinary skills from the way he
likes food and observes how it is cooked, and tries to imitate it with his
toys. He does not have any liking for toys that simply are toys, and do not
run, or make sounds or other stuff. He likes pets, but is very, very frightened
of dark rooms, being alone etc.- he cannot even imagine sitting alone upstairs,
the way Kutty does. He is also not very confident in his social relationships,
and is a bit insecure, but can nevertheless easily develop relations if he
wants to, with his charming smile and mannerisms.
My triplets are three years old today. On their third birthday I am
thinking of how much they have grown, and changed, from the babies we saw at
birth. Not in terms of physical development or motor skills or speech, which
they have acquired more or less in the same way as other babies (Thank God for
that, there usually is a development delay for multiples), but in terms of
their relationships with us, with each other, the talents they have developed,
their individuality becoming clearer by day. Also about how much we have
changed, from being carefree and career oriented to parenting triplets, that
too parenting triplets in Kerala, where parenting multiples is mostly fun,
whole family and relatives taking part in the process, and at the same time
parenting multiples is difficult, due to unavailability of supportive mechanism
in terms of available products for intended for multiples in the market.
It is fun to observe the triplets’ relationship with each other, their
love for each other, and jealousy with each other. Also the way triplets have
developed their own individualities and preferences. I will try to analyse one by one. Raman- is
the most babyish among them, even though he is the eldest. His development in
terms of motor skills is a bit less than the others- meaning he can't climb on
top of the cupboard as easily as Balu, and also (which concerns me somewhat) he
can't tie his shoes on his own. His speech was a bit delayed, but now he is the
one who speaks poetically about the sky and the sun and moon and the rain, and
dramatically about elephants and trains. He likes to play all the time, run
around, and mostly he likes to play with the other two. He has deep and
special love for Balu and Kutty, expressed in many ways, but his love for
Balu is also coated with intense jealousy. He is also a bit lazy at times
(surprisingly he maintains that characteristic from his 'within womb' days). He
has a tendency to fall down, I mean all three will be running around and if you
hear someone falling, it is invariably Raman. He also has deep love for us and
his grandparents, and he is quite easy, relaxed and confident in his social
relationships- with both relatives and strangers. He has affinity for all toys,
trains and other vehicles, and animals (not at all frightened of anything), and
does all boys plays. His main talent is in drumming and dancing with a rhythm.
He is the most artistic of the three.Kutty is just the
girl that she is. She loves stories, asking me to tell stories all the time.
She loves books too, and whenever we go shopping, Kutty makes sure to get her
favorite children's books. She memorizes all characters in these stories- their
names, even the ones I can't seem to memorize. (But she doesn't know names of
vegetables or doesn't know to count properly). Nowadays she likes to go
upstairs and sit alone with her toys, playing and telling stories, and she can
do this for up to an hour. She keeps asking questions- sometimes getting on my
nerves, like 'why do we take a bath?', 'to clean ourselves', 'why do we have to
clean ourselves?', 'so that we are healthy', 'why do we have to be healthy/',
'so we can go out', 'why do we have to go out/', 'to play', 'why do we play?'
and so on and on and on. She loves both brothers and pretends that Raman is her
son(loves to hug and kiss him), and Balu is her husband. She loves to
goody-goody, and advise her brothers, and while playing she keeps telling
stories. She has a taste for music, I think, but can be just a passing
interest. She has sense of humor, finds something to laugh about in almost
everything, which is a blessing most of the time. She passes wisecracks, and
jokes, and laughs at her own jokes. She is happy to be with us, but is reserved
with others, relatives or strangers, and takes her own time to mingle. Balu undoubtedly has the most IQ, and best motor skills. He can climb
anywhere, and can fix any toy, and can operate all electronic equipment if
once-just once-we show him how to. He loves to dress well, shoes and all, and
imitate adults. He knows to do things, and knows that he knows, which makes
situations difficult for us because many things we cannot permit him to have a
go at, like say, operating the remote control or mobile phone (both of which he
loves), even though we feel bad about it because we know he can do it in the
correct way. He does all chores too, and does everything in a perfectionist
way- like if someone keeps the toothpaste on shelf two instead of one, he gets
agitated. He loves both Kutty and Raman and loves to play with them, but his
love is intensely intertwined with jealousy. He simply cannot stand if they get
to use a toy before him, and will start crying. He also has a deeper affection
for his father and my mother, and somewhat keeps a distance from me, mostly
because I scold him for taking things he is not supposed to take. He has
mechanical skills and we think he will develop culinary skills from the way he
likes food and observes how it is cooked, and tries to imitate it with his
toys. He does not have any liking for toys that simply are toys, and do not
run, or make sounds or other stuff. He likes pets, but is very, very frightened
of dark rooms, being alone etc.- he cannot even imagine sitting alone upstairs,
the way Kutty does. He is also not very confident in his social relationships,
and is a bit insecure, but can nevertheless easily develop relations if he
wants to, with his charming smile and mannerisms.
If we adults are not present, they play without any fights. But we
always watch over them to prevent accidents, and these results in them craving
for our attention causing jealousy with each other and fights. But usually they
are together, and if something happens to one, the other two are extremely
concerned. We also find it quite easy to travel with all three, especially to
temples, parks and zoo and close by places, as they are very, very adjusting
during these trips.
To conclude, the trio
has grown to become real individuals in the three years!
