Apples, Baseball, and Some New Stuff

We went on our first apple trip of the season on last Saturday. It's absolutely one of my favorite things to do, partly because I just love to be outside in the fall. So this was sort of a trial run. There weren't many apples, and we didn't in fact go pick them - - we just drove up there, fed the girls, and bought a couple of bags of already picked apples. Hopefully we'll give it another try in a few weeks.

Greg and Emma


Julie and I


The girls in the car: Becca, Emma, and Julie. Yes, Sophie came with us, too.


In the end, Greg and I did got to the baseball game - but without kids. We were planning to take them, but some co-workers got wind of this crazy idea, and 2 of them offered to babysit for us (yes, it really takes 2). So we got out of the house and had a great time. The weather was just perfect and very un-August-like: not too hot, not humid. Just about perfect.

We took some photos of the girls with their preemie onesies. I pulled them out recently and was just in shock by how small they were.


And some more photos from afterwards ... just playing on our bed.

Becca


Julie


Emma


I went to my first consignment sale this weekend and got lots of good stuff for the girls. I swear, they have outgrown all of their clothes all of a sudden. At daycare on Monday, they sent home our bag of "spare" clothes and said "these are all too small." And I didn't have anything bigger to send in! I did finally find some bigger stuff, hopefully enough to get us through the rest of the summer. Every couple of months, I have to go through their clothes and just replace everything. Anyhow, I found some fall/winter clothes, some coats, and a high chair. I'm still looking for one more high chair, but a friend at work let me know about another consignment sale in a few weeks. We aren't desperate for high chairs yet, as the girls aren't completely sitting up unassisted. We are still using the Bumbos for feeding (solids), but the girls are close to being able to get out of them when they want to.

Greg took a vacation day on Thursday to do some work around the house. He said, "I didn't realize how relaxing cleaning out the garage could be." Yes, it has come to that.

Greg reading Tootle to the girls (Emma, Julie, Rebecca). Note how intently Sophie is listening.


I returned the breast pump to the hospital this week. This was kind of a big deal to me. It's been such a HUGE part of my life for the last 7 months.

We are getting ready to start baby-proofing. I bought a bunch of outlet covers and cabinet locks this weekend. I also ordered a gate - we're basically going to block off the living room and let the girls have it.

The ladies


Julie has not quite been herself this past weekend, and they mentioned it at daycare today, too. At first I was thinking she was working on an ear infection, but then she got hold of my finger and I felt a sharp tooth poking through on the top. So I'm pretty sure it all points to teething.

Emma is starting to get clingy, and has started screaming when either of us leave the room.


Becca and Emma


Becca's been happy for the most part, but no one likes being the last to eat at night. Lots of happy pictures of her lately, though.

Becca disobeying the bib...


... and obeying.


Working on sitting up with Sophie


Double fisting Sophies


Enjoying being on her belly now that she can roll.




Feeling kind of blah around here these days. We're both just worn so thin right now.

Things We Love

Just a list of things we love right now...

Bumbos.
The food processor.
Sophie.
Teething rings.
Exersaucers.
Dr. Brown's bottles.
Bumkin bibs.
Belle baby carrier.
Mobiles.
Dr. Brown's formula mixing pitcher.
Baby food storage containers. (We use these for daycare.)
Mirrors.
Flowers.
Playmats - This one and this one.
Keys.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things...

Delays

So, the girls have some developmental delays. For the most part, I wasn't worried about it. They're preemies, and aren't really expected to completely catch up until they are 2. And, we see progress. But at their 6 month checkup, the pediatrician recommended a state program called Baby Net, "just in case." So on Monday of last week, a physical therapist came out to the house to asses the girls, and basically determine whether we qualify for services (most likely physical or occupational therapy), by working with each of them and asking us a ton of questions, and then comparing them to other 5 month olds (their developmental age).

I talked to her again today, and all of the girls will qualify for services. So we're in the process now of trying to find someone to coordinate their care. They will come to our home or to daycare, assess them again (this IS a government run program), and then determine what sort of regimen of physical/occupational therapy they each need. She said that their fine motor skills and communication (as in, how they respond to us) need the most help. She did point out, again, that none of them have glaring developmental delays - - they all just need a little bit of help in different areas.

And, if one more person says, "Oh, 7 months? They must be crawling all over!" "So, they're sitting up now, right?" - - I might lose it. I've just become hypersensitive. For a while, it didn't bother me, but it's starting to eat away at me. It's so hard to not compare them to other babies, even though I KNOW I shouldn't. I have these moments of weakness where I just feel like a failure. And of course the working mom guilt never ends.

The girls are fine. They are healthy, happy, and smart. I just have to keep telling myself that and tuning everyone else out.

To password, or not?

I'm thinking about putting a password on the blog. What do you think? I've debated this for a while now. I've lost track of who is reading this, and for the most part I don't have a problem with it. I'm just thinking about trying to protect our privacy.

Nothing in particular prompted this ... just something I've been considering.

This last week or two...

We felt Julie's first tooth last Monday night. So, all three of them cut their first tooth within a week of each other. How's that for genetics? And we've seen the 2nd bottom tooth starting to come through on all of them now.

Uncle Steve from Massachusetts came to visit us last Monday. He was traveling for business, and had an early dinner, so he got to meet Julie and Rebecca. (Emma went to sleep early that night.)

We tried carrots. Everyone ate them. They made faces every night, but Julie was still grabbing for the spoon, and actually Rebecca started doing that last Friday, too. Emma got a pretty good taste of them. I think the only thing she completely refuses is the peas.

Rebecca + carrots

Fighting with Julie for the spoon.

Emma.  So, we finally wised up and started using the wipeable bibs.  Seriously, it didn't occur to us for like a month, after I got fed up with soaking and stain-removing on a million bibs.  These wipeable ones are the best thing since pureed sweet potatoes.
Julie.  You wouldn't believe she's the smallest by the way she eats.
We also started pears, and everybody seemed to like those. Sweet potatoes seem to be the big favorite at the moment.

I took Thursday and Friday off from work last week to try to get some things done around the house. Of course, I got much less done than I had planned, but it was so nice to have some time to myself. My brain really needs that sometimes. I made lasagna for dinner - - real food! That happens SO rarely around here.

We agreed to go to a (minor league) baseball game. With 3 infants. On a week night. In the end of August. It's for Greg's group at work. I want to make the effort, but can't quite get my head around the logistics. (How many seats do we need? How do we get 3 babies into the stadium? Are strollers allowed? Even if they are, what do we do when we have to go down the stairs to our seats?) Wish me luck. Or, at least convince me not to back out...

We made it to a birthday party for our friends' daughter last Saturday. It's quite an accomplishment to get us all out of the house.

The girls all decked out and ready to party.


I'm surprised how well they tolerated the sunglasses. They kept them on the whole time.

Julie


Emma


Rebecca


Partying wears Emma out.

Rebecca was wide awake after the party, though, and full of the most adorable smiles.

We cleaned up the 2nd exersaucer (that someone gave us) last week, and got the 3rd one out of the box over the weekend, so we now have our own custom kitchen island.

Rebecca's favorite toy on the exersaucer.  They try to put every single thing on the exersaucer in their mouths.  "What's that?  Can I grab it?  How can I get it in my mouth?  I can't get it in my mouth?  Well, then I'll just scream."

Emma, eating the sun

Julie hanging out with her daddy.

She has feet!

It's been hot, so we went swimming on Sunday.  Julie had a blast splashing.  She mostly got herself... and Rebecca, who wasn't quite so amused.

Julie with water all over her face.

Rebecca wasn't too sure.

Emma having fun.

Rebecca eventually gave us some smiles.

Chillin' at the pool

Greg, Rebecca and Julie hanging out in the kitchen.

6 months

The girls celebrated 6 months over two weeks ago now. And yes, they partied like rock stars.

Julie shows off the rock star look.


We got pictures done again for their 6 month half birthday. Rebecca's in red, Emma's in yellow, and Julie's in pink.



My parents were here to visit us for a while. I'm pretty sure we wore them out. :) The girls of course love all of the extra attention (lots of stroller rides!) and not having to wait for bottles. My dad (and Greg) got lots of yard work done - trimmed a bunch of branches on the trees, and started making progress toward eliminating the big leaf pile in the corner of the yard (been there since we bought the house). It looks so much better.

Emma and Grandma


Julie and Grandpa going for a walk


The girls seem to have gotten so big lately. We took them for their 6 month checkup and everything looked good. Emma's up to 18 lb 8 oz, Rebecca's at 15 lb 15 oz, and Julie was 15 lb 13 oz. They're all right on target for weight, height, and head circumference. What's really strange to Greg and I is that they're not the smallest babies at daycare anymore (and haven't been for a while), but there's only 1 or 2 in the room that are bigger than them. They just seemed so tiny when we started!

We've moved on to solids (Round 2) and started sweet potatoes about 2 weeks ago, with mixed results. Julie and Rebecca are definitely interested in whatever we feed them, but Emma is just not into it. She's much happier with a bottle. We just started sending food with them to daycare this week, and they said that Emma will eat the sweet potatoes, but not the apples. We've also tried peas, bananas, and avocado (which no one liked) at home, and she makes these awful faces. Rebecca will eat just about anything, and has been doing better sitting up in the Bumbo (which we use for feedings; not ready for high chairs yet). If Julie's feeling particularly enthusiastic, she will grab the spoon and try to feed herself. We just started the bananas last week, and Emma seems to be warming to them.

We started with sweet potatoes. Becca tries them.


Julie can't get enough.



Emma doesn't *hate* them.


Apples were pretty well received. If you look closely, I think you can see them in Becca's eyelash.


Julie wants more apples, please!


I just love the looks on both of their faces in this one.


We tried peas. Julie and her legs liked them, eventually.


Becca thought they were ok, for a vegetable.

Becca likes bananas.

Julie's a little hesitant...

But then decides she likes the bananas...

and would like to feed herself...

and lick the spoon clean.

Emma gives bananas a try.

A little concerned.

But they're not so bad.

Happy Emma!


Rebecca cut her first tooth this week. We were completely shocked, as she seems to complain the least these days. But sure enough, it's there. They found it at daycare, and nicknamed her Jaws. :) Poor kid. She's definitely been running her tongue over it a lot, surely contemplating whether to use her new powers for good or evil.

We felt Emma's first tooth on Friday. So far, Julie is crankier than either Emma or Rebecca, so maybe all of hers are coming in at once. Man, I hope so.

We have a great local network of triplet families, and I was able to find someone selling a triplet jogging stroller (!). We got the strollers where the car seats snap into to the stroller, so once the girls outgrow their car seats, we need to find new strollers. (It was the only option that allowed us to snap car seats into a stroller.) Anyhow, the jogging stroller won't fit through doorways, but I've heard that the strollers that are 3 long are really hard to steer anyway. But the jogging stroller is great for going around the neighborhood, or our future trips to the zoo, apple picking, etc. We cleaned it up, filled the tires, and took the girls on its maiden voyage yesterday morning. Julie christened it with spit up. (I think she just wanted dibs on an aisle seat.)





Some random pictures...

Emma


Rebecca


Emma


Sisters (J, E, R)


Becca found her feet.


Emma


Julie pulled the bee off of the bee chair - - it used to be velcroed on hanging above her. The girls all have hanging toys on their car seats, where, when you pull them and let go, they retract and rattle. This picture was soon after she figured out the toy on her car seat, so I think she was expecting a different result.


Becca using Julie as a foot rest.


Emma in her RPI onesie.


Bumbo x3 (We borrowed a third one.)