Small Successes -- a Multiples and More post

A while back, I became a follower of Multiples and More and while I don't think I've ever commented on any of their posts, I felt their call for 'small successes' was a way I could help myself feel a bit better about everything that is on my plate these days. So, MoM, here's my 5 small successes from the last week (in no particular order):

1) Took our 3 boys to the pediatrician on Tuesday. Owen hadn't been well all weekend and the little boys *still* aren't sleeping very well. The little ones checked out just fine, but O had an ear infection and pink eye. Those, in combination with a 24 hour tummy bug, had really hit him hard over the weekend. Here's a pick of him on Monday sitting in daddy's lap. He didn't even get terribly excited over his daddy's birthday celebration. Thankfully, after 1 day's worth of antibiotics, he was back to his old self again.

For their trip to the pediatrician, I also dressed Grant and Mason in 2 of Owen's really cute outfits. I had been meaning to put them in them for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it. I'm so happy I did. Grant looked adorable, albeit, a bit gansta-ish. haha. And Mason looked mighty cute in his puppy sweater vest. The puppy sweater vest outfit (thanks, Meg!) was the outfit Owen wore on his first day to daycare when he was 4 months old. It fits Mason and he'll be 9 months at the end of next week.

2) Celebrated Aaron's 34th birthday. I'm embarrassed to say that I neither cooked his dinner nor made his cake for the special event (Nana did all that for him -- she's great, ain't she?). I did, however, pre-order him a Nook for his birthday and he previously also got a new handheld video recorder for his birthday gift.

3) I worked. I don't think I should have to give many more details than that. I consider it a pretty big success that I can get there looking halfway decent on any day of the week considering I haven't more than 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep in the last 3 months. (I'll spare everyone any pictures of this....)

4) Aaron and I (with MAJOR help from Nana and Papa) created an amazing playroom for the babies and Owen. We ripped up carpet in two rooms in our house, laid laminate flooring down, painted the walls in one room, painted and put down quarter-round, made a trip to Ikea, practically overloaded the van with stuff from Ikea, put together furniture and laid rugs, and we're working on the finishing touches. It looks darn good, if I do say so myself, and the babies and Owen (and Lilly, our nanny's little girl) are loving it. Here are a couple of pics (only one pic of before -- and that's just of the color on the walls since I didn't think to take good 'before' pics)

pretty darn cool playroom, huh? still needs some finishing touches, though...

5) I blogged and I took pictures of my babies. These are things I don't do nearly as much as I'd like to do. I haven't even yet posted pictures of halloween. But, here are some pictures from last week. I'm starting to get a bit more comfortable with the camera, but still need more time to perfect everything. Would love to have time to be able to take a class, but I don't see that happening very soon.

Honestly, have you ever seen a cuter set a big brown eyes????

Hmmm....what shall I play with next?

I'm in love with this next picture of Mason. He's so sweet.

Grant -- looks a little confused, but still cute.

Silly Mayleah faces -

what are you sayin'?

You wanna see my tongue? sure!

Are you talking about how cute I am? awww shucks...

Naw, really? me? yeah, I guess I am pretty cute.

Gooooo Colts!

And last, but certainly not least....here is the babies' new triplet table that Nana and Papa put together for us. We found the table used from another mom of triplets, bought the chairs to go in it from here and Papa cut the holes for the seats. It's it great? What's that? Who's that big baby in the seat? No, Mason didn't grow that big overnight....I honestly didn't think Owen would fit in there so I told him we would put him in just to see if he fit. He was sure that he would. Guess who was right. Too bad the table wasn't big enough for 4 seats. Owen had a hard time giving up his place at the table when Mason woke up from his nap.

May enjoying her first biter biscuit

Grant enjoying his 3rd biter biscuit....he loves them! And Owen snacking on Veggie Straws.

Mason with his biter biscuit

Me feeding the babies their first (of many, I'm sure) dinner at their new table. Thanks, Nana and Papa!!!!

To Aunt 'Wizzy'

A few months ago, my mom's good friend, Liz, came for a visit. She doted on Owen and the babies and we had a blast spending time with her. She was also a huge help in getting good pictures of the babies during their 6 month photo shoot. This post is dedicated to Aunt Jill, aka Aunt Wizzy, aka Liz. We hope to see you again, soon, Liz!!!

Lots of catching up to do

I don't even know where to begin, it's been so long since I've posted. Lots of things have been happening here. Nana and Papa left for a few weeks to visit their home in Florida and Grandma and Grandpa and Cousin Sue (who I failed to get a picture of while she was here! so very sorry, Sue!!!) came to cover childcare while they were gone. Shortly before Nana and Papa left, we interviewed and hired a nanny. We're enjoying getting to know Brittny (our nanny) and her little girl Lilly. Since I'm not quite sure where to start, I'm going to let the pictures guide me. If you make it through all the pictures and words, there's a video treat for you at the end of this post. ;o) Please forgive the lack of a theme or an easy to follow thought process -- remember, I'm a sleep-deprived, working, mom of 4 under the age of 3. I deserve a little break and I'm sticking to that as an excuse for my lack of organization.

Owen feeding Mayleah -- such a big helper!

Mason tasting cereal for the first time. Take note of how little he looks here. This picture was taken on September 19, just over a month ago. You can see by the more recent pictures later in the blog just how much he loves his solids.

Grant's first taste of cereal. He too is a fan and still outweighs both his siblings even though he is the youngest.

Mayleah's first taste of cereal. Her face pretty much sums up her feelings -- she's not too fond of it and still spits a lot of it out, but that's ok. She's got a long time to figure it out.

Owen in his cool hat that Grandma and Grandpa brought him. I honestly can't believe Owen will be 3 in less than 2 months. He's growing up so fast and his personality is coming out more and more everyday. We get a lot of 'NO, I don't wanna do that' these days but we also get more stories and we have some imaginary friends in our house as well. Ming Ming (the duckling from the Wonder Pets) often tags along with Owen and one night he informed us that Ming Ming was mowing the lawn. If only......we could find lots of things for Ming Ming to do. Too bad she doesn't actually do them! Owen is still obsessed with fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars but is also getting more interested in his babies and often requests to help feed or hold them. I'm continually amazed at how well he's doing adjusting to being a big brother.

Mayleah, thinking for a moment that she might like cereal after a few tries, but she wavers on a daily basis.

Just thought this was a cute shot of the 3 of them. They're watching their favorite Baby Einstein video. This was right after they all started sitting up well on their own.

Sweet Mayleah. She's still the best sleeper of the group and Mommy and Daddy appreciate that very much. She's a very happy little girl, doesn't complain much, stays healthier than her brothers (just more evidence that we girls are the stronger sex), and isn't shy to bully them back when they come to try and take her toys from her (see video below as well). I weighed her yesterday and she was a mere 14lbs 6oz. Still a pip-squeak, but a strong and happy one. She loves lay on her back on the floor and kick and she often plays the piano with her feet. She's very very vocal and smiley. All you have to do is say her name and she'll turn and give you a smile. Still no teeth and she's only had 1 ear infection (yay!)

Grant. Oh Grant. I believe this picture was taken the same day we discovered that he had 2 teeth coming in (2 days after we discovered that his 2nd ear infection didn't clear up with one round of antibiotics). He's the only baby with teeth (2 on the bottom) and he continues to out-perform his siblings in developing his motor skills. Grant is crawling and is just trying to perfect his form and improve his speed. Having no fear, he can spy a toy across the room that one of his siblings has and is actively playing with. He'll stop what he's doing, crawl over, and snatch it right out of their hands. Grant is the only one of the babies who can get himself from a crawling position to a sit and, with some nudging from Papa, even pulled himself up to a stand the other day. He's the biggest at over 17 lbs and now more than ever, the difference of nearly 3 pounds between Grant and Mayleah is evident when you pick up one and then the other. Grant is taking after his oldest brother, Owen (Grant also watches Owen's every move when he's playing nearby), in not the best ways, however. He was diagnosed with his 3rd ear infection (first 2 were doubles, this one is only in his left) on Tuesday and will be going for an ENT consult soon. Tubes are definitely in his future. He also started wheezing with this cold that has gotten all 6 of us (Mommy and Daddy included), and so, like his older brother Owen, has started neb treatments. :o( But he's taking it all in stride and doesn't let it slow him down for a minute.

Sweet Mason. He's trying to keep up with his siblings and is improving every day. He also has an ear infection and will give his brother company at the ENT consult in a few weeks. He has a rough time dealing with pain, and so hasn't slept very well in the last couple of weeks. But, during the day he's happy and really enjoys music, like his sister. He also LOVES his rattles and has discovered that it's even more fun to bang a rattle on another toy. He's still seeing a physical therapist twice a month, but grows stronger every day. Mason has also started to discover his voice and he and Grant often have grunting/screaming matches. They're so loud together that you can hardly tell if they're happy or mad. Mason loves getting kisses and snuggles -- and believe me, we love giving them too him as well. He weighed in at 16.5 lbs at the doctor's office yesterday, so he officially weighs more than his sister and is gaining on his younger, but bigger brother. Like I said earlier, he LOVES his cereal and would eat and eat and eat until he popped if we'd let him.

They like to sit and look at each other while playing with their toys. It's fun to sit them this close and watch all exchanges that go on between them.

While Nana and Papa were away for a brief visit back to Florida, Grandma and Grandpa came to watch the babies. During their stay, we took the babies on their first trip to the Zoo. We figured it was a good opportunity since we were 4 parents to 4 kids. We stayed busy, but the babies and Owen were (pretty much) on good behavior.

First family zoo pic -- not the best of all of us, but at least we got one. It was a bright, shiny day, and we all apparently forgot our shades. ;o)

Grandma and Grandpa with all the kids at the zoo.

Grandma's cousin Sue also came to help with the babies when Grandpa had to leave to go back to work. I can't believe I failed to get a picture of Sue with the babies (so very sorry, Sue!!!!). I intended to, but somehow, it never happened. Thank you so much, Sue, Grandma and Grandpa for everything!

They look surprised that I'm taking a picture of them...you'd think they would have gotten used to it by now....

Grant, Mayleah, Mason, and Aaron as a baby -- who do you think resembles their daddy?

The babies' first Colt's rally. :o)

Bath time! Nana helped me give the babies a bath so I could actually get some bath time pictures of them -- hard to do when you're by yourself.

Mason in the sink

Grant

Owen -- he saw the babies in the sink and decided he had to take a bath, too. We couldn't believe he actually fit in there!

Mayleah -- already starting with a cup. She's so advanced. ;o)

Bailey -- So, as if we don't have enough going in our lives, Bailey decided a few weeks ago that he needed some extra special attention. We found out earlier this year that he had lost quite a bit of weight (he should be around 72-74lbs and in late May was only at 61lbs) but after his blood work came back normal, we switched his food and he ate a bit more and gained back 3 pounds in about a month so we thought he was on the mend. Then, a couple of weeks ago, Aaron noticed that Bailey wasn't finishing his dinner and after a couple of days he hadn't finished one bowl of food. We started offering him rice, yogurt, and cheese and he just wasn't interested but would take a bite or 2. Since he had recently eaten a few odd things (a paci or 3, but who's counting, a diaper, just to name a few) we decided to take him into the vet to get checked out. To make a long story short, Bailey was in the midst of a mild Addisonian crisis and was diagnosed with Addison's disease. Basically his adrenal glands aren't functioning properly and his body doesn't know how to deal with stress. So, he'll be on meds the rest of his life and we'll have to watch him for signs of stress. Good news, however, his repeat blood work came back great and his appetite has improved but he lost another pound and is down to 58lbs. Hopefully we can turn that around soon. We love him, he's great with Owen and the babies and hope that he can return to his normal self soon.

The last few weeks Owen has had 3 birthday parties to go to -- here are some pics of him at his buddy Josh's big bash at Monkey Joe's. He had a blast! And Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it as well since we were able to go with him together. Nana and Papa and Great Aunt Carla stayed home to watch the babies -- this was a special treat for me, Aaron and Owen since we rarely get to go anywhere just the 3 of us anymore.

Owen and Josh at Monkey Joe's for Josh's 3rd birthday

Mayleah at 14lbs 4oz -- just a couple ounces bigger than all 3 babies' combined birth weight

I love this picture of her.

Grant -- he often carries this 'deer in the headlights' look. haha

Grant and Mayleah playing with a sock --- so many toys to choose from and they're most interested in a sock. See the video below...

Just some more of my favorite random pictures...

Compare this picture of Mason, taken last week, to the first picture posted.

Owen sifting through his booty during a treasure hunt at his friend Malcolm's birthday party. He had a great time!

Grant finally escaping from the gate --- it took him a while to figure out how to get over the threshold and he was pretty proud of himself when he finally did it.

Owen playing in the jumparoo--he had to test it out.

This video was taking just a day shy of the anniversary (10/17/08) of us finding out that we were expecting 2 boys and a girl. I can honestly say that I had no idea of the fun, exhaustion, joy, sweetness, and love that would fill our lives in the year following. It's hard work, but I wouldn't give it up for the world.

Quick update -- Sitting pretty

Lots more than this to update on...and I hope to do that soon, but I just thought I'd log in quick and upload a pic to show how well all the babies are sitting.

More to come, soon!

Lots of 'Firsts'

1) Last weekend, Owen stripped while we were at the zoo.

Yes, you read that right. I took Owen on a 'Mommy and Owen' outing to the zoo last weekend. We were having a great time and Owen was being very well behaved. After riding the train (always our first order of business at the zoo), seeing the giraffes, and playing on the playground, Owen decided he wanted to go to "the other playground". I had no idea what he was talking about so I told him to just take me to where he wanted to go. He led me to the splash area. There was no one else there and the sprinklers weren't even on, but Owen decided he wanted to take his shoes off and splash in the puddles. I said ok, and off he went:

and then,

he fell. Not hard, and he didn't hurt himself, but he was NOT happy that his clothes were wet.

so, he decided to fix the problem.

And in order to make things right, the only thing to do was to remove the wet clothes.....

This is when I stopped taking pictures. He got his shirt off and then pulled off his pants (including his big boy pants). Remember, thankfully, there was no one else around, so no one saw my very naked Owen standing in the splash park in the very public zoo. All I could do was laugh. And try to convince him to put his clothes back on, of course. But he would have nothing to do with putting his wet clothes back on. Thankfully, I had a dry pair of underwear and shorts for him, but no dry shirt. I basically had to pin him down to get the dry clothes back on him, but he was clothed again in less than 2 minutes (seemed like a long time but I'm sure it wasn't long at all) and so, he wasn't successfully at sharing his nakedness with any one else at the zoo (thank God!). I reminded him again that we keep our clothes on in public --- that it's only appropriate to be naked at home. Let's hope he remembers this next time!

2) We had another first at the zoo -- Owen rode the carosel (I'm not spelling that right, but am too tired to look up the correct spelling...). He might have ridden it once before, a long time ago but I can't remember. At any rate, on his recent trips to the zoo, he explicitly stated that he did NOT want to ride it. In his words, 'it's scary'. But this time, he up and decided that it would be 'A good idea' (again, his words). He chose the lion and had a blast. :o)

3) Mason hasn't had a first in a while, but is doing very well with his physical therapy and is still as sweet and cute as ever. He's very quick with his smiles these days, even though he (and the other 2 babies) were diagnosed with their second ear infections last weekend. Mason's left ear, Mayleah's right ear, and Grant had both ears infected. Call me psychic; I see tubes in our future. Times three. :o( When I weighed Mason last night, he was 13lbs, 11.5oz. He's definitely growing up!

4) Mayleah is now sitting up for short periods of time all on her own -- doesn't she look cute? She's great and even with another ear infection continues to sleep like a champ. Takes after her mommy in the sleeping department. :o) She loves to do her inward laugh continues to work on her babbling -- she's getting pretty good at 'da da da'. I've been working with her on 'ma ma ma', but she's not paying any attention to me. During her weight check last night, she was 13lbs, 4.5oz. Definitely the peanut of the group.

4) Grant's first -- he's not only been sitting for short periods of time by himself, he's also crawling (not perfect form yet, he gets on all fours, lunges onto his face, and then gets back up on all fours, but he's definitely mobile!) and this week he also started working on getting himself from a crawling and/or side-lying position to a sitting position. I haven't seen him do this yet, but both Nana and Papa have witnessed it. I'll try to get it on video this weekend. For now, here's a pic of him sitting from last weekend. Last night, Grant weighed a whopping 14lbs 11.5oz. A full pound more than Mason and nearly a pound and a half more than Mayleah. He's definitely the bruiser of the group!!!

Fair Trucks and 6 months

Lots to catch up on, so here goes!

Aaron and I were able to get away together with Owen for a trip to the state fair a couple of weeks ago. He had a great time, despite not having taken a nap that day (only one meltdown and one potty accident...not so bad for a 2 year old). He didn't care much about the animals, but loved the semi-truck ride (he rode it 3 times) and enjoyed the goats, the school bus, and of course, the ice cream and funnel cake. Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

In other big news - the triplets turned 6 months old on the 20th. I've tried to write this post several times in the last week and a half, but either feel asleep while doing it or got distracted in another way. It is very hard for me to believe that the babies are already more than half a year old. I can't believe we've been doing this for a 6 months and that it's been more than a year now since our lives were changed after finding out that we were expecting triplets. While it definitely hasn't been an easy 6 months, I can certainly say that it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be but I'm sure the next challenge is just around the corner. They are all starting to teeth (I think) --- they've been drooling like crazy and starting to mouth everything. They're so much fun -- laughing, smiling, rolling over like crazy (and Grant is even trying to crawl!) and they're starting to enjoy their big brother more and more every day.

Last Friday, I took them along with Owen (and my mom and her friend Liz) to get their pictures taken. They did surprisingly well -- and here are some of the results....

Mason is such a sweet little baby (when he's not screaming from reflux pain, or teething pain, or something else that's bothering him that we're not sure of...). He loves music and will often stop fussing when you sing 'Old MacDonald' or 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' or really any number of other songs. He especially likes when I give him eskimo kisses --- he giggles when my hair brushes his cheeks. He also loves when Nana moos at him while singing 'Old MacDonald'. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's how we got this cute smile out of him on Friday. But most of all, I think he's a Daddy's boy. When he's upset for whatever reason, Daddy can always get him calmed down in a matter of seconds where it would take the rest of us a good 5 -10 minutes to stop his screaming. He definitely has the magic touch. Mason started PT last Monday, but the physical therapist only stayed for 15 minutes. Mason was not a happy camper.... his little thigh had swollen quite a bit from the vaccines he received during his 6 month check up earlier that day. He was a mess, so we didn't even entertain the idea of putting him through the stretching exercises that we'll start with him. At his 6 month check up, Mason weighed in at 13.2oz, was 23.75 inches long, and was otherwise given a perfect bill of health. We rescheduled his PT appointment to last Saturday and the therapist was very encouraging and overall felt he is showing minimal delay, if any, at this point. Mason didn't seem to mind the stretching exercises for his neck and the therapist was impressed with his strength. We're hoping that with a few stretching exercises and a bit more tummy time, he'll catch up to his siblings in no time.

Mayleah is continuing to be the happiest and sweetest baby ever. While the teething has caused her to be a little fussier than normal, she's still the champion sleeper of the babies. She continues to wake up happy, often cooing and laughing in her crib. If she fusses, you know there's a reason for it because she's just generally so happy. She also loves her music and stares intently at you when you sing to her. She gives huge smiles when she sees us or her brothers (I wonder how long her happy attitude towards her brothers will last! ;o) ). Though we try to restrict their exposure to TV, she also loves her TV and will twist her neck and contort her body to see what's on. She's rolling all over the place, but hasn't yet figured out how to get up on her hands and knees. So far, however, she's the best sitter and can sit fairly well on her own for a couple of seconds. At their 6 month appointment, Mayleah weighed the least at just under 13 pounds. She's also still the shortest at 23 inches but she finally made the growth charts! Her weight and height are less than the 5th percentile, but at least she's on the charts!

Grant has lost his old nickname 'Grumpy Grant' -- he's now pretty darn happy most of the time. He LOVES to be on his tummy on the floor and has figured out how to get up on all fours and rock. He's very close to crawling and I have a feeling that once he figures that out, we're in for lots and lots of trouble. He's definitely a more of a momma's boy and has started to show a little bit of stranger anxiety. Grant has recently taken up eating more so than his siblings and it showed at their 6 month appointment -- he weighed the most at 13.5 pounds and was also the longest at 24 inches. When I weighed him again over the weekend (not even a week after the 6 month appointment) he was already over 14 pounds.

Here are some more pictures from our professional photo shoot and from their actual 6 month birthday (pictures that I took).

And here is one of my favorite pictures from the photo shoot on Friday -- me with all the kids, and they're all unhappy, but it was a funny moment and I'm glad the photographer captured this moment for me.

And on a final note, a shout out to my friend Jennifer. Thanks, Jennifer for everything you've done for us and for the babies. The scrapbook is beautiful and the babies will always know that their Aunt Jennifer made it for them with love. :o)

And happy birthday, Trevor!!! :o) Thanks for having us over celebrate your big day.