In some respects, things are definitely getting easier---the babies are getting a bit more independent and are able to do more things for themselves. Their vocabulary is expanding and they can understand more which means they can use words to tell me what they want, rather than just crying.
On the other hand, all these feelings of independence mean that the babies are doing all kinds of things, not all of which are good. They are curious about everything and now they are tall enough and smart enough to actually act on their curiosities. They have no concept of things being dangerous, which is a little scary. They interact more with each other, but don’t understand the concept of sharing, so there is a lot of fighting going on. In a nutshell, they act like typical two-year-olds.
Some days I feel like I run from one problem to the next. Fortunately, there are many cute moments to make up for the mischief and mayhem. Yesterday we had one of those moments. It was Monday, and all of us were a little grumpier than usual. (It seems like it always takes a day or two to recover from the weekend when the schedule is thrown off.) The morning was filled with fights and tantrums. Things improved a little bit after their naps, but it was still a pretty rough day. At one point, everyone looked fairly safe for the moment, so I decided to make a quick trip to the restroom. When I left, Rustin and Kassidy were fighting over a book in one corner of the room, and Kyndall, Kaydence and Ryder were playing with toys in different parts of the family room. When I returned, this is what I found:
Kassidy, Rustin, Kyndall, Kaydence and Ryder
Total Cuteness! I raced for the camera and took a few pictures. To my surprise, they got mad when I stopped taking pictures and they asked for more! They are so funny sometimes!
Where's your nose???
Where's your head???
Here are a few more cute and not so cute moments that I managed to get pictures of:
NOT SO CUTE: Somebody left my bedroom door open, and within minutes my entire wrapping paper collection was spread all over the room.
CUTE: Virginia leading the quint train (minus Kyndall) around the house
NOT SO CUTE: Kaydence got into one of Kaiya's bags and had a great time with the markers. Rustin (not pictured) was a willing accomplice, only he decided to see if the marker was as fun to eat as it was to color with.
CUTE: The babies love books and Kaiya loves to read to them.
NOT SO CUTE: Our entryway has a table surrounded by a gate. It is supposed to be a place where people can put things like shoes, bags, keys, etc, to protect them from the babies. Somehow, Kyndall not only got past the gate barrier, but she managed to climb into the table. Kyndall is also the first one to climb out of her crib (it was at nap-time, so it was a pack-n-play in Kaiya's room, not a regular crib). I went to get her up, and found her asleep in the middle of Kaiya's floor, surrounded by all of Kaiya's CD's, CD cases, dolls, and stuffed animals. (I wish I would have gotten a picture of that one!)
CUTE: Kyndall can squeeze herself into the smallest spaces.
NOT AS CUTE: Kaydence turned a small crack in the TV into a gaping hole.
CUTE: I was trying to take a picture of Riley on the last day of school, and all five babies ran over and wanted to be a part of the picture too.
NOT AS CUTE: Ryder climbed up onto the desk in the kitchen (which he knows is a no-no) and tried to close the laptop so he could reach the phone (also a no-no). At the time, the mouse was sitting on the computer keyboard, so the result was a broken computer screen.
CUTE: Five babies all dressed up for church! The girls especially love to get dressed up on Sunday. They get really excited when I bring out the dresses, and they fight over who gets to have their clothes put on first. When they get their dress on, they spin around and say "so pretty!"Fortunately, the "cute" moments outweigh the "not as cute" moments at our house. Life with (nearly) 2-year-old quintuplets and two older kids might not be "easy", but at least it isn't boring!
The highlight of the day was the Shamu Show
The park had a huge playscape for the older kids, and an enclosed playplace for kids 3 and under. The quints had a great time playing with the big soft blocks.
There was a little pond at the park with a duck family swimming around. The baby ducklings kept climbing on the mother's back. If there wasn't enough room, they would just shove somebody else off. The daddy duck was swimming around too, and even though he had a perfectly lovely back with plenty of room, the ducklings just wanted to fight over the mother's limited back space. I could REALLY relate!!!
After our Sea World adventure, we went to Rudy's BBQ. By this point, the babies were hot, tired, and past their bedtime, so they were quite a handful. While we were at Rudy's, a lady came up to me and said, "I just have to ask, What do your shirts say?....Oh, 'Be like a Vega'----so you're all VEGETARIANS, isn't that nice!" I thought her comment was particularly funny since we were at Rudy's, with a table full of ribs, brisket and turkey.
Next we tried to beat the heat by going to the splash park. The boys jumped right in, but the girls, Kassidy especially, were a little bit more timid. (Pictured: Kyndall, Ryder, Kassidy, Kaydence and Rustin)
Kaydence
The kids worked hard to come up with their LEGO creations.
The 
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