Boy, are they teething! Julia is leading the pack with 8 teeth, 6 of which are cutting simultaneously (2 top front, 2 top eyeteeth and the bottom two next to her bottom front teeth). Emma is cutting her two top front teeth and 3rd and 4th bottom tooth simultaneously. Ada is taking it slower, with her 3rd cutting now.
Suffice it to say we haven't slept much in this household. They've been taking turns waking up at all hours. We are as exhausted as we were those first five months.
Emma sitting up from crawling position as of yesterday. Saying, "mama, tata." Ada is making "bwa bwa" sounds. Julia is saying "mama" (she has been saying this the longest) and making these funny Spanish-sounding rrr sounds. She talks more when she's tired and then it becomes a whiny "mwa mwa mwa mwa" sound interspersed with "rrrrs."
Emma started crawling last week and has become more coordinated and faster with every passing day. Julia started commando crawling the same day Emma figured it out. Julia gets from point A to point B faster than Emma. She is stronger on one side and places her right hand over her left hand and then pulls with both arms. She loves it when we have the Superyard gate down and she can slide from the foam mat onto the hardwood floor. Whoa, is she fast! She's constantly crawling towards the forced air grates over the vents and towards the dog.
Trying to take a photo with all 3 in the same position ended up feeling like I was herding cats. It's quite the adjustment for me that they're no longer staying where I put them. Scary!
Miss Ada is sitting and watching, but is just not motivated to follow suit yet. I'm sure she'll get there. She is taking her sweet time to do things, but is such a content, happy baby. I suspect she'll be our little day dreamer. I can already picture her sitting with a book somewhere, lost in thought.
They are snagging toys from one another left right and center. Yesterday I observed Ada taking a toy from Julia and Julia promptly snatching it back. Oh boy. I'm sure triplets will learn sharing before singleton babies, by necessity. I don't suspect it will be any easier, though. Fortunately, there's equal opportunity snatching of toys. Although Ada isn't crawling to get toys, she certainly benefits from her sisters crawling and dropping toys near her.
It's too cute when Julia and Emma pick toys up, make a "run" for it (sometimes with the toy in their mouth like a little puppy), sit and play with it for awhile, and then when they're done with it, drop it behind them. It looks like they're hiding it! It cracks me up every time.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
A mother's lament
The girls are starting to crawl. I'm trying hard to embrace their newfound independence, but we are utterly unprepared for this next phase. Of course we knew it was coming, but it still feels like it happened overnight.
We rushed out and bought an extra tall gate for the stairs that lead to the basement, hastily plugged all of the electrical sockets, and have the XT Superyard up around their play area.
Suddenly, our entire house seems like a danger zone - a choking, pinching, toppling over hazard. They crawl towards the dog, the camera, grab at my coffee cup while I'm drinking it, poke one another in the eye, want to crawl inside the exersaucers and underneath the bouncy seats. They demand constant vigilance now and I realize it will only get worse.
They are growing and developing so fast. I choke up when people comment that they've lost their infant-look, when I pack away clothes they've outgrown, or when I think about their first birthday just three months away. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited by their progress, proud of how far we've come, but I can't shake the sadness that I'll never get to experience this particular kind of baby magic again.
I feel like I've hardly had a chance to enjoy their babydom. It has consumed almost every minute of every day, but having triplets immerses you so fully and completely in the experience that you rarely have a chance to step back and recognize time has past.
I force myself to come to a standstill sometimes and just breathe. I watch them sleep, or linger a minute to snuggle their necks and steal kisses before I lay them down after a middle-of-the-night feeding. I play peekaboo, tickle games, and blow raspberries on their tummies, but there's never enough time between everything else that needs to happen to just enjoy being with them. It always feels like stolen moments.
It's almost with a shock that I realized I've stopped burping them, or that they no longer wail for every little thing.
Mostly their cries are now related to frustration at not being able to get into a specific position or reach a specific toy. Even though they don't have separation anxiety, they often let out a quick displeased cry when I dare walk away.
They crack us up when they talk to one another, giggle at one another's antics, or mimic one another. When they're in the exersaucers and one starts to jump, it causes such a ruckus when the others join in and it leads to lots of belly laughter. They really do amuse one another. It's adorable to watch.
I often sneak a peek into their bedroom when they've woken up to see them "chatting" with and cooing at one another. Sometimes they'd coo a bit before falling asleep too. There are lots of conversations happening in their nursery that we're not privy to.
Their personalities are really starting to show. They're such little people now.
We rushed out and bought an extra tall gate for the stairs that lead to the basement, hastily plugged all of the electrical sockets, and have the XT Superyard up around their play area.
Suddenly, our entire house seems like a danger zone - a choking, pinching, toppling over hazard. They crawl towards the dog, the camera, grab at my coffee cup while I'm drinking it, poke one another in the eye, want to crawl inside the exersaucers and underneath the bouncy seats. They demand constant vigilance now and I realize it will only get worse.
They are growing and developing so fast. I choke up when people comment that they've lost their infant-look, when I pack away clothes they've outgrown, or when I think about their first birthday just three months away. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited by their progress, proud of how far we've come, but I can't shake the sadness that I'll never get to experience this particular kind of baby magic again.
I feel like I've hardly had a chance to enjoy their babydom. It has consumed almost every minute of every day, but having triplets immerses you so fully and completely in the experience that you rarely have a chance to step back and recognize time has past.
I force myself to come to a standstill sometimes and just breathe. I watch them sleep, or linger a minute to snuggle their necks and steal kisses before I lay them down after a middle-of-the-night feeding. I play peekaboo, tickle games, and blow raspberries on their tummies, but there's never enough time between everything else that needs to happen to just enjoy being with them. It always feels like stolen moments.
It's almost with a shock that I realized I've stopped burping them, or that they no longer wail for every little thing.
Mostly their cries are now related to frustration at not being able to get into a specific position or reach a specific toy. Even though they don't have separation anxiety, they often let out a quick displeased cry when I dare walk away.
They crack us up when they talk to one another, giggle at one another's antics, or mimic one another. When they're in the exersaucers and one starts to jump, it causes such a ruckus when the others join in and it leads to lots of belly laughter. They really do amuse one another. It's adorable to watch.
I often sneak a peek into their bedroom when they've woken up to see them "chatting" with and cooing at one another. Sometimes they'd coo a bit before falling asleep too. There are lots of conversations happening in their nursery that we're not privy to.
Their personalities are really starting to show. They're such little people now.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Eight Months - Sitting!
Ada has been sitting up unassisted since June 29. She's not comfortable on her belly and doesn't roll as frequently as her sisters. It'll take some time before she starts crawling, I think. She still falls backwards sometimes, and struggles to go from a seated position to a crawling position, so we still have a Boppy pillow behind her, just in case.
For a few weeks now, Emma has been rocking back and forth in an attempt to start crawling. A couple of days ago she finally managed to free her hands one at a time and scootch her knees forward. She's so darn close now. Be afraid!
She started cutting her first top front tooth last week, and a 3rd bottom tooth cut yesterday. Our littlest peanut, who struggled the most in the NICU, is blazing a trail. The past two weeks eating cereal has finally clicked for her as well and she now anticipates the spoon coming towards her and opens her mouth. I'm sure they think I'm a riot because there's lots of bee buzzing and chucka chucka toot-toot train sounds as the spoon approaches them. It's so much faster to feed her now than it was in the beginning. Emma and Julia both have a pretty significant gag reflex. When I tried peas and sweet potato (different feedings), she gagged and barfed.
Julia is close to sitting unassisted and can get herself into a crawling position, but hasn't been able to move forward yet. Her first top tooth is just under the surface. She doesn't particularly care for solids and clams shut if it's anything but cereal and fruit.
They're clinging on to us when we pick them up. Just like little monkeys. They're not stretching out their arms to be picked up yet, but I noticed Ada reaching somewhat when her dad bent down to pick her up yesterday.
We've been teaching them basic sign language and yesterday Julia made the sign for milk. She opened and closed her hand several times in a very deliberate way. It was an approximation of the sign, but I'll take it.
I suddenly realized last week that we're no longer burping them. They tend to take care of it themselves when they start moving around. It's the best. With them sitting a bit better, I suddenly have my arms free while playing with them and it's so much easier!
For a few weeks now, Emma has been rocking back and forth in an attempt to start crawling. A couple of days ago she finally managed to free her hands one at a time and scootch her knees forward. She's so darn close now. Be afraid!
She started cutting her first top front tooth last week, and a 3rd bottom tooth cut yesterday. Our littlest peanut, who struggled the most in the NICU, is blazing a trail. The past two weeks eating cereal has finally clicked for her as well and she now anticipates the spoon coming towards her and opens her mouth. I'm sure they think I'm a riot because there's lots of bee buzzing and chucka chucka toot-toot train sounds as the spoon approaches them. It's so much faster to feed her now than it was in the beginning. Emma and Julia both have a pretty significant gag reflex. When I tried peas and sweet potato (different feedings), she gagged and barfed.
Julia is close to sitting unassisted and can get herself into a crawling position, but hasn't been able to move forward yet. Her first top tooth is just under the surface. She doesn't particularly care for solids and clams shut if it's anything but cereal and fruit.
They're clinging on to us when we pick them up. Just like little monkeys. They're not stretching out their arms to be picked up yet, but I noticed Ada reaching somewhat when her dad bent down to pick her up yesterday.
We've been teaching them basic sign language and yesterday Julia made the sign for milk. She opened and closed her hand several times in a very deliberate way. It was an approximation of the sign, but I'll take it.
I suddenly realized last week that we're no longer burping them. They tend to take care of it themselves when they start moving around. It's the best. With them sitting a bit better, I suddenly have my arms free while playing with them and it's so much easier!
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