10.31.09: Happy Halloween

The girls are stoplights for Halloween this year (thanks again to Kelly and Catherine). We went to a Halloween party yesterday at Brant's work where the girls got to test out their costumes. As it is Halloween I think it is appropriate to share what scares the girls the most. No, not ambulance sirens or the sound of their sister screaming - nope what scares them the most is VELCRO. They will wake up from a sound sleep and jump at the sound of velcro separating even when it is several feet away. It always cracks me up when I forget and accidentally scare them. No trick or treating this year, but hopefully next year when they will be walking.

10.25.09: Daphne rolls

Just when I thought she had no interest in rolling, Daphne proves me wrong. Instead of lifting her legs and wiggling for a while and then eventually rolling over (as Stella and Fiona did when learning) - she does it all at once. If you look away for five seconds, she has completed her roll and is already on her belly. It is as though she has been secretly practicing - or everything just finally clicked after seeing Fiona go crazy with this trick yesterday.


Stella on the left, Fiona on the right and Daphne with Brant

Today for our weekly adventure we went to a pumpkin patch. Ok, I totally admit it was just for the photo, but we still went and it got us out of the house. It wasn't even a real pumpkin patch as all the pumpkins were already loose, but the closest 'real' pumpkin patch was over an hour away and no picture is worth that. Did I mention it was 90 degrees today? So the girls were not loving the heat or the sun - so the pictures aren't too good, but we did what we could got our photo and headed home.

10.24.09: Rolling machine

Today we caught Fiona rolling all over the place. I set her down for three minutes to wash out bottles and she moved at least two feet in that time. As I have been warned several times, my days of leaving the kids for just a minute are over. Now I must 'secure the scene' before I do anything because these kids are on the move.

Daphne has yet to roll over, but she really loves to dance (lay on her back and wiggle her limbs). If I loved to dance like that I would wonder why my silly sisters were wasting time getting to their bellies at all - you can't dance when you are on your belly. Daphne has mastered breakdancing however. She lifts up her feet and flings them to the side. Using this technique over and over again, she has rotated herself over 180 degrees and managed to lick her sisters toes - perhaps the toes were the incentive - I'm not sure. I gotta say Daphne sure loves to lick - EVERYTHING.

10.21.09: Mouth full of fingers

When feeding Daphne her bottle she decided to cram her fingers into her mouth while continuing to eat - it was hilarious. Later she decided to spit up on me, but I didn't even realize it had happened until my shoulder started getting cold. I can't believe I didn't notice the spit up was there. It makes me wonder how long I would have walked around with it down my sleeve had I not gotten a chill from the wetness.



Also today, Fiona has begun pushing up while on her belly and smiling - so adorable. Stella and Daphne are still working on this skill ;)

10.20.09: Newbie

Tonight I went to the newbie meeting for the M.O.M.s group. Brant and I already know that we are SO lucky to have healthy kids but after hearing some of the stories these women experienced with just twins - we are SO lucky that our triplets turned out so well. It was great to meet new people and I learned all about the upcoming events (including breakfast with Santa - hopefully a good photo op there).

10.19.09: Fiona rolls

Again, just captured the faceplant but this time Fiona completed the roll from back to front.

10.18.09: Kicking for entertainment

short video coming soon

Today we caught the girls kicking the toys on their astronomy themed playmat. It is so fun to see them beginning to entertain themselves.

10.16.09: Paranoia

For the past couple of days when eating during the daytime, Fiona would eat an ounce and then hysterically (and I do mean hysterically) scream for at least a half hour then be ready to eat the remainder three ounces of food. This was pretty alarming and didn't seem to be getting better. So before the weekend set in I called our pediatrician to ask for suggestions. Fiona was happy the rest of the day except when eating so we knew it wasn't anything too serious. However, my call into the pediatrician set off a chain of worrisome events. Another doctor called us back and only heard me say that my four month old was having trouble eating and screaming (she ignored the other details). Just based on that she demanded that I bring her into Urgent Care to be examined. After an hour of traffic and only 15 miles, Brant and I arrived about 5 minutes before Urgent Care closed for the day. The doctor assured us that everything looked fine and we were sent home. The other girls stayed at home with Grandma Bonnie who was here one last night before heading back to Indianapolis.

I guess there are several good parts to this story.
1. Brant and I now have some idea where Urgent Care is (a different place than our normal medical office)
2. Because Bonnie was here, we were able to go together for this first experience
and mostly importantly
3. Fiona is fine (already eating better) so we are hopefully this is just a phase.

10.13.09: M.O.M.

So I did it, I joined a mothers of multiples group. The first meeting was about 'living green' lasting only a couple hours in a nearby suburb. I was glad that I went but the topic was only 'so so' since our apartment complex doesn't seem to recycle and the speakers discussed things such as repurposing your laundry water and having a hen. At this time in my life, those things are not practical, but who knows in the future.

The highlights of the meeting for me was the fact that I:
1. interacted with adults
2. was surrounded by people with twins and therefore felt a little less abnormal by having triplets.
3. reminisced about my college days in super 'green' bellingham, wa.
4. got out of the house without the kids (sounds mean, but it is necessary sometimes - mama's gotta keep sane after all)
5. was reminded of how lucky Brant and I are that our kids were born so late (for multiples) and healthy.

10.12.09: Rolling

Today Stella decided to roll over from back to front. She has been the most active in working on this skill and finally figured out this one time what to do with her inner arm (which had been blocking her successful completion of this task for some time now). The other girls continue to hoist their legs into the air and fling them to one side or another. This roll is only stopped by the kickstand (known as their inner arm) that they can't quite figure out what to do with. Stella has successfully rolled over a couple times but definitely still struggles with that darn inner arm. It is only a matter of time until everyone is rolling. I will continue to work on getting a synchronized rolling photo or video but for now all I have is the picture of the successful roll via face plant done by Stella.

10.11.09: Four months old

Today we celebrated the girls four month birthday. Grandma Bonnie is visiting and helping with the girls 'expressions' (code word for occasional screaming). For some reason, Fiona and Stella have taken a liking to screaming after they eat about an ounce of food, wanting to rest for a good 30 minutes and then deciding they are ready to eat the remaining 3 ounces. Daphne who loves to lick everything (including freckles) continues to down her milk just like her daddy downs his beer ;)

The girls are smiling all the time and talking (cooing) in a way that already makes me fear what our phone bill will look like once these girls can actually talk. They love standing up (with some adult assistance under their armpits) and sitting (with some assistance from pillows). They have also started seriously trying to roll over - something I have not been encouraging - but the grandmas were. Selfishly, I was hoping for them to stay still a bit longer, but the girls are ready. With a lifting of their legs and an enthusiastic toss to the side, the girls are starting to roll over. As of today, no one has made it all the way to their belly - they keep getting stuck on their inner arm, but once they figure out what to do with that arm - they are going to start doing somersaults, I just know it.

10.6.09: Sweaters

Daphne (blue), Stella (orange), Fiona (purple)

The girls finally fit into the beautiful sweaters that Keren made for them (perfect timing seasonally). I guess it really is fall as the temperature barely reached 70. This was our first walk with them. Thanks Keren!

10.3.09: Long and lean

During our move out to LA in mid-August, I realized when packing that the girls newborn clothes didn't fit them anymore, especially their sleepers. The girls seem to be long and lean with huge feet. When you look at their bellies in the newborn attire, there is plenty of room, however when you look at the length - things were awfully snug. Brant actually pointed out to me that the girls toes were curled up inside their sleeper feet - what a bad mom - I totally didn't realize this and promptly put them into their 3 month clothes.

So here is my rant - why on earth are the clothes for babies between 8-12lbs called 3 month clothes? Even our girls (who started off extremely small) are beyond 8lbs at three months. So I guess I have learned that 3 month clothes are really for babies 0-3 and six month clothes are for babies 3-6 months. Why not just label this way?

Needless to say this same issue repeated itself (ALREADY). While both grandmas were here, they teamed up to show me that the girls were ready for the 6 month clothes. I feel silly putting the girls into 6 month clothes when they are still less than four months, but I guess this is just the ridiculous labeling that children's clothing manufacturers use. Don't we have enough to worry about when raising children, must we really worry about confusing clothing labels too?

10.1.09: What season is it?

Finally today, we decided it was time to use blankets when taking the girls for their daily walk. Until now, the girls had just worn their onesie and coordinated (usually) pants, no socks, shoes or blankets as it has been pretty warm (mid 80s most evenings). It is crazy to talk to people in Boston and Chicago and realize that they are already experiencing 'sweater weather' while I am here in CA just experiencing a continuation of the summer with many days in the 90s - is it really October?

While on this walk, the grandmas decided to spoil me. They each took turns wearing the Baby Bjorn and the other pushed the stroller - I didn't carry anyone! As I enjoyed the free hands, I found myself walking quicker than normal and even bouncing unnecessarily at crosswalks - apparently trying to sooth the phantom baby that I was holding.

9.30.09: Grandmas

Today the girls are officially spoiled - both grandmas are here and finally the number of adults outnumbers the number of babies. This is wonderful! Everyone can be held and get the attention that they deserve. I only wonder how it will be when everyone leaves, but for now I am going to totally embrace that both of our moms are here. I know the girls are thrilled and love the constant attention. I got some time to run errands (and nap!) without feeling guilty about leaving three babies with one person. Heaven!

9.25.09: DMV

Have you ever had an idea in your head that later you realize was totally ridiculous? Well here was one of mine. Brant and I needed to register the car and get new CA licenses. My first thought was that we would just bring the girls to the DMV and then take turns taking the written driver's test and dealing with the process - seems reasonable right? We are in the suburbs after all. In the Seattle suburbs this wouldn't have been a problem. Well thankfully my mom was coming into town so we saved our DMV visit until she arrived. Wow - that was a lucky thing. The DMV here is crazy! People everywhere, 25+ windows to which you visit at least 5 just to get a license and chaos, udder chaos. There was no room for a stroller, let alone a twin stroller, let alone infants, let alone all the germs and of course don't forget the hours it took to complete these simple tasks. I definitely didn't think that through very well - it would have been a disaster if we brought the girls. Again, this was an idea that thankfully didn't occur - I really need to think through the environment I bring the girls into a little more - sometimes I just forget how simple tasks can become very complicated with three infants.

Also today Brant and I went on our first (I think) adult outing since having the girls. A colleague at Brant's work had a gathering and we were able to travel to his house and socialize with other adults - without babies. (Again, thanks to the babysitting of my mom) Little did my mom realize that her visit would be full of babysitting within the first 24 hours after her arrival - I wonder if she would have come had she known this... It was nice to get away, of course we missed the girls, but it was nice to remember that we are humans first and parents second. Sometimes I feel like I am just an entity to feed, change and get spit up on :)

9.24.09: Fitting the curve

Today was our first appointment with a pediatrician in LA. Turns out we were really lucky and ended up with a great new pediatrician. Are all pediatricians great? maybe. The girls are growing well; Daphne 12lbs 3oz, Fiona 11lbs 10oz, and Stella 11lbs 2oz. The most exciting news is that all the girls are now on the growth chart - we are in the normal range! Of course all the girls are below the 35th percentile, but we will take it - remember we started under 5 lbs. Finally we are on the growth chart. Success!

After some immunizations and therefore screaming, we made it home and did pretty well the rest of the day. The one thing missing for me as I am learning my role as a stay at home parent is a good book (or website) about the development of infants - what to do with them to stimulate their minds and development, any recommendations? (please leave suggestions in the comments section - now open to everyone).

In the final development of the day, we now have three cribs set up. Fiona and Stella were found headbutting each other several times during the night and it was decided that we had to cave in and finally set up the third crib. Turns out after some debating with the room layout, the nursery doesn't look too bad with three cribs. The girls seem to sleep in their own cribs just fine too - so that is a huge relief.

Auntie Kelly left yesterday, I caught this cute picture of her with the girls napping in the morning.

9.20.09: Atlanta in the house

My dear friend Kelly from Atlanta was in the LA area for a wedding and was able to finagle a visit to the Robertson household to meet the three newest members. Upon arrival she was promptly given Daphne to hold and feed (we save diaper changing for the second visit as we want people to return). Stella took a serious liking to Kelly and would not stop staring at her during the photos. It was so wonderful to see her as it had been way too long (over two years) - we vowed not to let it be this long again before we see each other.

Today also brought over my sister-in-law Catherine. Well I guess she is my sister's sister-in-law, but our family is so small we are willing to stretch the family tree a little further to include all those who are willing. My sister and I had decided previously on Halloween costumes for the girls and while Catherine was over (taking a break from dorm life at USC) we put her to work on the costumes. A group effort by all, these costumes are adorable and creative. She even gave us an idea for costumes next Halloween. Can't say what the outfits are yet, you will have to wait for the picture on Halloween. I will give you one clue - it involved onesies, felt and cost less than $8 for all three outfits.

I adjusted the blog so everyone can leave comments if you'd like (no gmail account required) but please include your name if you do.

9.18.09: In loving memory

In loving memory of
C. Edward Robertson
Beloved father and grandfather

Although too short, we are thankful for the time we had together and wonderful memories we will cherish forever.

9.17.09: Photo shoot - take two

Fiona (pink), Daphne (blue), Stella (yellow)

My mom and sister decided to replicate the attempted photo shoot as well as they could while I was running errands. It was a wonderful surprise to come home to several adorable pictures of the girls who were happy participants this time.

9.15.09: Photo shoot

So I got this idea into my head (suggested by several people) that I should get 'professional' three month photos taken of the girls. Please keep in mind that Brant and I take several group and individual shots on the 11th of each month. The idea of these photos would be to have pictures that are more refined than those that we take at home with the children wedged into the couch or a boppy. So I made an appointment for the photo department at a nearby Target. Kim has done really well at her Target with these milestone pictures so I thought I'd give it a try (of course the lack of a sitting fee was also rather enticing).

My mom and I arrived at Target. The girls dressed, recently fed and napping comfortably in their stroller or wrap - what could go wrong? A whole lot. The room was really cold, dark and had bright shining lights. The photographer decided it was a good idea to rattle and make loud noises and of course the repetitive flash did not help either. She also suggested that the girls sit up on their own, something they can't do yet. After a solid 15 minutes, I couldn't take the screaming anymore and we ceased the photo shoot. The photographer suggested I come back in a couple months and with three adults instead of two. I tried to explain that the idea of a three month photo shoot at five months wasn't as novel. Once I recovered from my near breakdown, we left Target with no photos and totally exhausted. I am so thankful that we take the photos ourselves each month - screaming or not at least they are at home where they are more comfortable. Maybe we will try again at six months, but definitely not before.