A few days ago when I posted about Harry hiding in the hall closet, I mentioned that he might have been hiding from Spencer . This is because Spencer is kind of bossy. OK...really, really bossy! I suppose all multiples have a leader and followers.
In our case with triplets, Spencer the 2nd born and smallest baby, has always
been in charge! Before they were born and getting too big to really do much
moving around, I could tell who was who. Harry, a single baby (and
probably wondering what a set of twins was doing along for the ride!)
was in the head down position. Alex was breech along my left side, and
Spencer was laying horizontally. And yes, it was just as uncomfortable as it
sounds! LOL! Since they really couldn't change positions, I could tell a bit about
them. Spencer was the most active. He would stretch a lot. Back then I thought
the poor little guy was just crowded. But knowing what I know now, I think
he was being nosey, checking on what his brothers were doing!
I snapped this photo because it was the first time any of the boys raised
their head. And of course it was Spencer! And look what he's doing!
He's saying, "Hey, what's going on over there?"
******
Of course he hasn't changed at all. Even without speaking to each other,
he puts his hands on a brother's shoulders and guides them around the house.
He puts them where he wants them, whether it's on the couch or in front
of a computer. He has been known to reach over someone and take the
computer mouse away to point and click for them! Very rarely do they
complain. I guess they've never known anything else.
Sometimes they are compliant until Spencer looks away, then they
sneak out of the room...(or hide in a closet). LOL!
Spencer constantly makes his rounds through the house,
supervising his brothers. He's been known to do this at school, too!
When we say, "Spencer, stop being so bossy!"
He smiles. He knows exactly what we are saying!
******
In case anyone was wondering their birth order and weights were
Harry 6.6, Spencer 5.1 and Alex 6.2.
And born at 37 weeks.
I love this post! The picture is cute too.
ReplyDeleteThey were big babies, for being triplets - you were carrying around a lot of baby!
Mari ~ they WERE big! I was HUGE! ha.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know how you did it...you are a mighty woman for sure! They sure were cute babies! :D
ReplyDeleteYou must be like a super pregnant woman. You carried them until 37 weeks and they were that big!! Wow!! My husband is an identical twin and he and his brother have such different personalities. His brother is the bossy one.
ReplyDeleteI love flash back posts. You carried three healthy babies to almost full term? Wow. Wonder woman.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to see everyone's lot in life, isn't it? Spencer certainly plays his role very well. :)
It's like Fiel and his two brothers. Fiel was the boss. His middle brother was the master mind. And the youngest brother got the job done.
It is fascinating that their personalities are still so distinguishable even being non-verbal and autistic. Are their doctors interested in their development more so because of those issues? You might have said before, but where they verbal before you noticed the symptoms of autism? Hope you don't mind me being curious.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to your comment on my blog, I hope you have lots of granddaughters too. Since I had 3 boys and one girl, I can understand how you feel. My poor son with his five daughters....when the last was born, he said he guessed he would have to buy his own Tonka truck.
Stevie ~ I don't mind the questions at all. :) The doctors are always curious at the personalities and levels of autism, but haven't connected them in any way.
ReplyDeleteThey were just beginning to say a few words at 18-22 months when we started seeing some autistic symptoms. Then they lost what they had begun to say, along with eye contact, social skills, etc. It's a fairly typical rate of regression.
I always tell moms-to-be,that they are born with their personalities. This is a cute post.
ReplyDeleteThey must have been in the 90% on the charts.
You are truly amazing!!
what wonderful boys! great story
ReplyDeletexoxo
sweet story. School in my town started today and I wondered if yours had too, I see on your sidebar that it is just 2 more days. Hope the boys all have a great start.
ReplyDeleteThe boys look so cute lined up and tucked in so nicely in their crib. Sweet photo. I've always thought bossy could actually turn out to be a good quality.
ReplyDeleteI love how they all slept in one crib, and didn't you say they still prefer to sleep in one bed?
ReplyDeleteI find it fun to look at the personalities of my grown children and compare that to when they were babies. I think having triplets sounds like fun, aside from the exhaustion that must accompany multiples.
Oh my Betsy... that was the size of my single chidren....
ReplyDeleteI love that you knew and understood your boys before they were born.
This was so interesting to read, and I love the picture.
Another amazing story.
I wonder if Spencer had the ol' Napoleon Complex from birth, since he was the smallest of the three when they were born.
ReplyDeleteThe "all sons, no daughters" thing reminds me of a joke:
A husband and wife wanted a child. They both hoped for a boy, but loved their first child even though she was a girl.
Sometime later, they tried again, and they hoped for a little brother for their daughter. Another girl.
The third child was a daughter.
The fourth child was another girl.
On their fifth try, they had a son! Finally!
Two or three weeks after the son was born, a friend called the child's dad and asked, "So, who does he look like? You, or your wife?"
The proud papa thought for a bit, and replied, "I don't know. We haven't looked at his face yet!"
oh betsy i love this photo and also the stories of their "pecking order". i'm trying to imagine how you walked around upright carrying a belly full of boys!
ReplyDeleteJulie ~ oh no, I wasn't walking around! ha...in bed, just growing! haha.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet post. Since my kids are adopted I never got to experience pregnancy like that. I can't even imagine what it was like with 3!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is pretty bossy too. Even the janitors at school tell me that! She likes to make sure everything is done right...as long as no one is telling her how to do things!
Oh this is just so darling and sweet. I am smiling hugely here. Love this line in particular, in light of the earlier post:
ReplyDelete"Sometimes they are compliant until Spencer looks away, then they
sneak out of the room...(or hide in a closet). LOL!"
the part about Spencer in the womb was so fascinating too. Love this picture. Adorable.
Lovely post Betsy. Three dear boys.
ReplyDeleteWe have identical twin granddaughters. One is marginally smaller than the other - not so noticeable at 17 months - and she is definitely the one in charge. What fascinates us most of all, is the way they communicate with each other in the absence of developed speech. Sometimes they just exchange glances and connect.
Such a gorgeous post to finish off my day Betsy! MOTH & I are both eldest children, yet when our eldest child is around we turn into servile, acquiescent followers. He just assumes the position of being the boss of the bosses so naturally! I love this trait of Spencer's, it will serve him & his brothers well in the coming years.
ReplyDeleteMillie ^_^
Their weights were amazing! Bless your heart! That ia an adorable photo... with wonderful memories and observations. What a wonderful Mom you are.
ReplyDeleteawww, they are so cute Betsy!! babies just cracks me ... :-) awwww!
ReplyDeleteAnd my goodness that must have been something to carry 3 in 1, big applaud to you!! :-) happy day!
When you posted about Spence I wondered if you would follow up with a "bossy" post! He is SOOOO funny and I love it that rather than fight back or buck Spencer that H and A simply wait until he goes on to the next thing to do what THEY want!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the photo! How well I remember them at this age!
Rhonda ~ thank you! Yes, one more day now! yippee!
ReplyDeleteMartin ~ our boys do that still...the communication with just a glance. One time, when they were about 3 years old, the whole family was in the familyroom and the three of them did a little glance at each other and them simultaneously got up and left the room! It was a little creepy! ha.
ReplyDeleteJill ~ so true! I think it's amazing that they don't fight. I only remember one time a physical altercation between them where I pulled them apart. Pretty amazing, really. Now Alex has gone after other people (ugh!) but never a brother! :)
ReplyDeleteI love this picture, Betsy! It truly says it all doesn't it? That Spencer is so funny, keeping them lined out.
ReplyDeleteYou poor girl, carrying that many extra pounds around...
I always new you had so much strength....I was thinking mental...but now I know it is physical too.....
I love the posts about the boys....
I love this - they are soooo cute.
ReplyDeletecute post Besty... and isnt it wonderful that God makes us all so different.. how boring it would be if we were all the same..
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you..
ha. smiles. my oldest is the bossy one as well...when we are playing action figures he likes to tell us how they should act and what they should be doing...maybe i have a director on my hands....
ReplyDeleteI love the way you differentiate between their personalities, even before birth. Congratulations on carrying such a combined weight so far along...
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this!! That Spencer is hysterical!! I just love the thought of him bossing his brothers around in the womb and making sure he knew what was going on:-) It is amazing to me how much a non-verbal person can be bossy. We call Davin bossy, too. He is always pointing and telling us to do one thing or another or reminding us that we are not doing something right. All with a tiny little pointer. I just love getting to know your boys more and more and seeing their personalities!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog through Farm chick and I have enjoyed reading your posts. Your triplets were so big when they were born...my singles were that size. I loved reading your stories...
ReplyDeleteI love the pic as well To sweet.They were big for three of them woow.My oldest was 6 pounds.You must have such patience Betsy,God bless!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda ~ thanks for stopping by! Farmchicky is a sweetheart! :)
ReplyDeleteI find this post fascinating! Now I know why Harry was in the closet. From now on I'll always think of Spencer "supervising" his brothers. Adorable!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading the story and hearing more about the boys' personalities. Spencer was considerably smaller, wasn't he? I'm still surprised at how much they look like identical triplets though.
ReplyDeleteHow unique they each are. There's always one in every crowd! :)
ReplyDeleteLove the picture! And carrying 3 babies at once sounds uncomfortable no matter how they were laying, especially at 37 weeks!
ReplyDeleteAmyLK ~ yep..it was awful, actually! ha.
ReplyDelete37 weeks!!! Wow, Betsy, that is an accomplishment. Hard to believe that two of your triplets were bigger than Baby Sister at birth!
ReplyDeleteThat photo is precious!
Someday I would love to hear about the day that you learned that you were carrying triplets.
Christian ~ well, that day once we saw the sonogram and were in shock ourselves, we couldn't get anyone in the family to believe us! haha...all the phone calls we made to them and they just laughed and said, "Yea, right!" :)
ReplyDeleteI'm 36 weeks today with probably about 5-6 lbs of baby inside my stomach. She's kicking and floating across my tummy as I type. I just took one maalox as I do almost every night to fight the inevitable. Reading this post, right now, I cannot even imagine how you felt! My gracious!
ReplyDeleteJillybean ~ well, you know, they say the baby gains 1 pound a week during the last month! You could have a pretty big baby! :) I know you're excited!
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of the boys! They were really good size for triplets.
ReplyDelete