Quintuplets keep life lively as they turn 3

Rayleigh and Gracie Seals, two of the Seals quintuplets, have learned to make faces. "That's the way they greet everybody now," Michelle Seals said. "It's their new move," Steven added.
Rayleigh and Gracie Seals, two of the Seals quintuplets, have learned to make faces. "That's the way they greet everybody now," Michelle Seals said. "It's their new move," Steven added.

They are talking up a storm now, still climbing everything in their path and they are so smart they have figured out that a hair barrette will open locked doors.

They are the Fab Five quintuplets of Maud and they just celebrated their third birthday. Older brother Brady turned 5 last week. To call their house glorious chaos is pretty well spot on.

"We have one who's 5 and five who are 3," Michelle Seals, mother of the famed Six Sweet Seals, said.

"This was a big year. They're definitely out of the baby stage. No more bottles and no more diapers."

Three years ago on March 18, the quints were born three months early at Baylor University Medical Center Dallas, the first set of quintuplets born at the hospital in its more than 110 years of existence.

Ever so slowly, they each grew, overcame medical problems and was allowed to go home.

Today, they are all thriving.

"It goes so fast," Michelle said. "That's what I think about with all of them. Yesterday, I was looking at pictures of the day Brady was born. It just doesn't seem possible that was five years ago now."

The quintuplets, in their birth order, are Mia Danielle, Tessa Suzanne, Brant Lee, Gracie Lou and Rayleigh Ann.

They know one another's names. They talk quickly and in animated fashion. They say "hello" a lot. And "lemme see," "tank you" and "bye bye." And they do carry on conversations with one anther but mom and dad aren't sure what they're talking about.

They are developing good speech patterns and learning social skills by attending preschool for three hours a day, three days a week, at Walnut Hill Church of Christ in Texarkana.

"Going to preschool this year has been good for them," Michelle said. "They've really come a long way. They have friends and they love their teachers. Plus it gives me time to run errands. And they love it.

"They learn songs at school and they sing those all the time.

"I think it's wonderful for them. It's good for them to interact with other people and to learn to follow rules. It's been good for all of us, because we were here all day, every day."

They eat lunch at home and they all share the same favoritesmacaroni and cheese, oatmeal, fruits, apples, oranges, bananas, pizza, Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets and chocolate chip pancakes.

After lunch, it's nap time.

"I've got to where I don't let them go over an hour and a half to two hours, but some days they don't take a nap and some days they do," Michelle said. "If they'll just lay down and be quiet, I'm OK with it.

"They're about to be to the point where they're not going to want to take a nap. We just need quiet time when everyone is still and I can get some stuff done.

"I can't get anything done when they're up. They want to be right underneath me or on top of me."

Michelle said they are much more independent now than they were this time last year. In fact, they are all pretty much potty-trained now.

"You would think that would make life easier, but it actually made it a bit harder," she said. "We have to be close to a bathroom at all times. There's no warning. 'I've got to go' means right now. Times six."

So, what are their favorite things to do?

"They love to play outside. They love to go to Chick-fil-A, that's their favorite place to eat. They love going to the mall and the play area. And they love going to (their four) grandma's or aunt's houses. Their big thing is to get away from the house and go to someone else's."

Considering they are home most days, all day long, that makes sense.

Their four grandmothersSteven's mom is Mimi, his grandmother is Gigi, Michelle's mom is Nana and her stepmother is Grandmalive close and are involved with all six of the children, sharing time with them sometimes two at a time.

Older brother Brady seems to have adjusted well to having five siblings. He still likes to keep his own toys and things separate. He doesn't like them to get into his things.

"I can understand because when they get in there, they just tear everything apart," McCall Norton, their nurse, said. "They take the sheets off the bed, pour all of his toys out. And Brady is a very XYZ kind of kid. He wants his stuff put in its place.

"He's got to where he and Brant play really good together now." 

McCall's nickname is Tom. For some odd reason, when she first joined the family at the time the quints came home, Brady decided he would call her Tom. The name has stuck, and now, even her family and friends call her by her new name. And it's every kind of adorable.

"Brady has really come around," Steven, the children's father, said. "He and Brant sleep together in the same room in the same bed now. And they depend on each other to be there. If one's gone with one of the grandparents, the other one is going to wait up until the other one gets here. They're not going to sleep without each other."

And apparently Brady has stepped into the shoes of big brother.

"They all adore Brady," Michelle said. "Every single one of them. That's why they want in his room. Because they want to be around him and be like him."

They love wearing shoes. They love Band-Aids.

"Band-Aids fix everything, even for little bumps we don't even have," Michelle said.

They fight with one another. One of them will get a toy, then everyone wants the same toy.

"They even fight over me," Michelle said.

They are genuinely good children, very loving, very involved with their surroundings, easily amused and basically very well-behaved.

"Whenever we go in public, they get so many compliments because they act really good," Michelle said. "Now, that's not to say we don't have our occasional fits and meltdowns. But they're really good kids."

Probably their favorite thing to do is play outside. They don't like being stuck in the house. And now that the weather is changing, Michelle said they will have plenty of time outside in their backyard.

Steven, along with being the father of six toddlers works a full-time job at Red River Army Depot as deputy director of logistics. He also has taken on the challenge of going to graduate school pursuing a degree in business administration. And he's doing it for his family.

"I've got five classes left," he said. "A lot of times at work, education can be a tie-breaker for a job. Job comes up, I just want to make sure I don't have education to kick me out (of the running). It could work out really well over the next few years with people retiring. It kind of puts me in a better position."

Now, about the Fab Five opening those locks.

"We put locks on all the doors, but they figured they can use their hair barrettes to unlock them," Michelle said. "We had to put big locks (installed up high) on all the outside doors so they couldn't get outside. They can unlock all the doors now."

"Anything they think they can get in that little slot, they'll open that door," Steven said. "Can't keep them locked out of anything anymore."

Times six.

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