3.27.10: Lazy parents

We had two events today, a photo shoot and a bbq - a very busy day for us. Needless to say, we had to keep our outfits clean as we didn't have time to change before or after our feedings....hence the topless feeding session :) When raising triplets, there are times you just have to cut corners and this was one of them.

3.26.10: Dance card

As my grandma would have said, our dance card was very full this week. We had four (yes, four!) play dates. On Monday we DROVE to a new park and attempted to play nicely in the grass (without eating leaves) with a twin mom and singleton mom. Wednesday we walked to the nearby park for a weekly play date organized by a group affiliated with Brant's employer. Thursday we met up with my neighbor and played in her house consuming all of her son's toys. Friday we DROVE to another park and went for a walk with a twin mom. It was a crazy week. Yes, that's right - we drove to two separate play dates and ended up going to three different parks. The girls are still pretty young for play dates, they just kind of sit there and crawl around trying to escape from the confines of the blanket. I figure right now, the play dates are more for me, to get out of the house and attempt to talk to other adults. Usually the talking is limited to ten words and then interrupted by chasing after a baby (repeat several times). They usually only last about an hour before the girls get fussy, but an hour is an hour. I am getting a bit quicker at getting places in the car by myself but am still pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I imagine I will always be exhausted after taking care of triplets all day.

The girls have also started eating melts, puffs, yummies or whatever you call them. I am trying to get the girls to feed themselves these cheerio-like objects. I know they can put leaves in their mouths, so I figure perhaps they would be willing to put actual food in their mouths. We are getting close. I put a puff in front of them after having lunch. Stella and Daphne both tried to get in into their mouths right away. Daphne was pretty successful getting it onto her tongue - of course her tongue is always sticking out so she had a bigger target. Stella was struggling to figure out how to get the puff from her closed fist in her mouth as her entire fist didn't fit in her mouth - but she gets the idea. Fiona had to study the puff for a bit and then got it stuck to her chin. The below picture was my attempt to capture everyone grabbing their own puff, oyyy.


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)
notice that daphne already has a puff in her hand, but is still trying to steal fiona's.

3.21.10: Drugs and alcohol

(warning this posting will border on 'TMI' for most)

Today was my first day without pumping in over nine months. That's right, I have decided to stop pumping and been cutting back since the girls' nine month birthday on March 11th. First a little history. When the girls were born, they were so small and premature that they were fed with a NG tube for at least a week so nursing wasn't an option. Once they were done with the tube their milk had to be fortified therefore nursing was not an option again. Eventually when nursing finally became an option, the girls had grown a huge preference to a bottle and treated nursing as a nice appetizer. As I was trying to feed three kids, this meant that after I nursed everyone I then had to go and pump in order to keep up my supply. Once I had completed pumping, I usually had to then nurse again - it was nonstop. Eventually I just gave up on nursing in lieu of sanity but continued pumping.

For the first three months, I pumped for four hours a day (30 min x 8 times) and the girls each got 5/6 milk and 1/6 formula (we kept them always with at least one formula feeding a day to maintain a tolerance to the taste, etc). Months 4 and 5 I was able to pump for 3 hours a day (30 min x 6 times) while still maintaining the same level of milk for everyone. Then in November I thought I was going to quit and got down to pumping one hour a day (20 min x 3 times). The girls were getting half fresh milk, one feeding of frozen milk and two feedings of formula - but I was getting much more sleep (and sanity - probably closely related). I was able to maintain pumping three times a day (thanks to the new establishment of naps) up until I stopped. Remember, I am home by myself with the girls weekdays, so before naps (which started at about six months) I had to keep three babies happy while pumping several times a day, not an easy task to juggle. So for the first nine months, the girls got at least half milk - which I consider a huge accomplishment. I estimate to have pumped in total ~16,500 oz, phew that makes me tired. To put some perspective on it, that is enough to fill up a car 12 times!

So now I am in the painful process of stopping. I suppose they don't tell you how bad 'stopping' is when the child doesn't ween naturally, probably for fear that people would decide never to pump at all. It was worth it for me. The kids got a good start which was important to me given that they were born so early.

Besides getting the time from pumping back into my day, I also get another good hour just from washing/preparing bottles. Time is precious and rare these days so I am still trying to figure out what to do with myself. I am trying NOT to eat as much as I have grown accustomed to in the past 18 months. I look back fondly on those days of sitting down with some Ben & Jerry's and not worrying about the quantity consumed. Of course this also meant 18 months of no caffeine, pain/cold medicine and limiting myself on alcoholic consumption (none while pregnant and an occasional glass when pumping).

Who knows what final form my body will take it has been through a lot. Who knows if 'everything' will go back to where it should be - or if I will have new built in knee pads (I guess I could take up volleyball again?) Honestly, it really doesn't matter. I have a wonderful family and that is the most important thing to me.

(What I do know, is that now I can drink caffeine, alcohol and take medicine as needed. Pardon me, gotta run - I have a hang nail...where is that pain medicine at?)

3.20.10: Pick, strip and cuddle

Fiona has acquired a new skill...she is now able to pick her nose. (Think about the hand/eye coordination that this requires.) Most notably, she loves to do this when she is getting fed. She will stick her hands in her mouth full of food and then immediately shove her finger up her nose. It is pretty funny to watch, but less fun to clean out various foods from her nose for the rest of the day. Thankfully she hasn't discovered her ears just yet.


I believe this is the third time that Stella has gotten her pants off on her own. I know she is the smallest, but keep in mind we are in 6 month size pants here (range 12.5-16.5lbs) and the girl weighs about 16lbs. I figure if she works that hard to get her pants off, then she has earned some pants-free time for the remainder of the day.


Daphne (our munchkin who will do anything but stay still) got a bit of a cold today. She will rarely cuddle these days and instead prefers to jump around and hang upside down. It is rare to catch Daphne cuddling, which is how we knew she really wasn't feeling well. I just thought this picture of her and Brant was priceless. She napped on him for a while and I think I even caught Brant sneaking in a small nap too.

3.16.10: Earthquake

This morning at 4:04am the girls experienced their first earthquake which had a magnitude of 4.4. The epicenter was less than 30 miles away. Brant and I got up at 4am to say goodbye to Bonnie and within a couple minutes of getting downstairs we felt the ground shake. All three of us booked it upstairs faster than I have ever gone up those stairs to be with the girls. Fiona was awake and upset, Stella was awake and just disoriented and Daphne was still asleep. I imagine Daphne just thought she was dreaming about daddy playing with her since she loves to jump and wiggle the most. It was a pretty scary reminder that we live in southern california, but everything seems sturdy and we are hopeful that will be the first and last earthquake here for a very long time.

3.15.10: Bonus Nana day

(left to right: fiona, nana, daphne, stella)

Nana was supposed to head back home this morning, but her flight got cancelled due to the weather in the midwest. It is really hard to remember that the rest of the country is still experiencing winter-like conditions while we are in the 70s. Regardless, this means we got a bonus day with Nana. We decided to walk to the nearby park and play a little - it happened to be a beautiful day in the 80s. We only lasted about 45 minutes before we got fussy, but I think it was more of a tooth issue than a boredom issue.


Daphne and I adventured over to the swing to give it a try but she wasn't really into it. She usually loves swinging in the house, but seemed pretty horrified of this swing. Of course it could also have been the ~20 kids running around that made her uncomfortable. We will give Fiona and Stella a try on the swing one day when there are fewer people running around.

3.14.10: Jeans

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Today we had a photo shoot at a park nearby. We will see how the pictures turn out, but it was great to get the girls to a park. As part of the photo shoot we got the girls their first pair of jeans. Well actually they have jeans in bigger sizes, but we are still sporting the six month clothes and even those were pretty big on Stella. Regardless, I couldn't believe how much older the girls look when wearing jeans. I just had to capture a picture of this 'big girl' accomplishment while Nana was put to work feeding the girls. I just love how their feet are always moving.

3.11.10: Nine months old

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Nine months old, the time has really flown by. These girls have now been in this world longer than they were in my belly - hard to believe as I felt like I was pregnant forever. There have been so many changes in the past month. All the girls are crawling (and fast!) making it tough for me to keep up with them. Everyone can now sit up on their own, but most frequently they choose to crawl or stand. I have given up trying to sit down when they are mobile.


Today Stella decided to pull herself up to stand. It was as though she was secretly practicing this act in her crib because she did it once and then wouldn't stop the rest of the day. All the girls are now pulling up to standing which means we are getting closer to walking (ahhhhh - I am not ready yet). Daphne has (finally) learned to fall down. She was great at standing up but got very scared to fall down. After lots of practice with Nana showing her how to fall, she is now an expert and can get herself up and down with ease. Yesterday Fiona pulled herself onto our walker (thanks Santa) and took a couple steps and then fell down. Bonnie and I both stared at each other - did that really just happen? I was too slow for a video, but hopefully next time.

The cutest thing happened today during nap time. Stella seemed pretty upset, so I went to check on her. Upon my arrival I noticed that she had taken off her pants. I put her pants back on her and she fell right to sleep. I am guessing that she was climbing on her crib and stepping on her pant legs and then fell over. Regardless it was adorable but I am still hopeful that we do not have a little exhibitionist on our hands.

Teeth - oh boy do we have teeth. Here is the current tooth count:
Daphne - four, two on top and bottom
Stella - four, two on bottom and two on top (but not the front two like Daphne, instead the two on the right side - we lovingly call her snaggletooth for the time being).
Fiona - six, two on bottom and four on top

We have gotten to be experts on eating level two foods and even tried a sippy cup a bit. We are working on enjoying 'melts' but for now they just make the girls drool like crazy and bring on some amazingly disgusted faces. If nothing else, it makes Brant and I smile when they finally realize that they do like the flavor.

It probably goes without saying that the past month has been fairly intense. Besides all the teeth - which can lead to some tougher days (I would be moody too if I had bone coming through my gums), the girls are 100% mobile and loving to pull up on things which leads to a lot of falling. Thankfully both grandmas visited in the past month which helped me prepare for this new 'mobile' experience.

At the end of the day, I caught this cute picture of the girls....who all pulled themselves up onto the couch and were standing while I was preparing dinner. I guess they were hungry.


(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)

3.8.10: Testers

(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne)

In my life b.k. (before kids) I spent many a days testing software - I loved testing. I loved the challenge to see if I could break the system or perform an unpredictable combination of steps thereby exposing a bug. It probably stems from that part of my personality that appears when someone tells me I can't do something and I do all I can to prove them wrong. Go ahead, tell me something is bug free, I dare you.

I think the girls love testing too. We have an activity table and the girls love to hit as many objects as possible at the same time. I assume this table was made for one child to attack....but not here. Here it endures six little hands, thirty fingers, and fourteen teeth. So far, the table has survived. The poor table has a song it plays with each button selected, however it rarely gets more than one or two notes out before another song begins. We shall see how long it lasts before it gives up - because I know the girls will not.

As you can see in this picture everyone is now standing up. Stella isn't pulling up on her own yet, but she will hang onto things and remain standing up once you get her into the correct position. Today was the first day all the girls were standing at the activity table together. As you can also see Nana was ready to catch anyone trying to topple over. I didn't say we were all stable standers, I just said we were all standing :)

3.5.10: Yum...plastic

While the girls have not exactly taken to drinking from their sippy cup yet, they have enjoyed gnawing on the rubbery end. Every once in a while when chewing they accidentally get a sip of water. Then they give a look of 'what the heck was that?!?' It is pretty cute. So far we are just glad the girls aren't fearing this new cup. I even caught Daphne and Stella (above) enjoying the cup that they randomly found amongst their other toys. At least they get the idea of the cup and drinking (even if they are still practicing with air).

3.2.10: Standing x2

Daphne is now able to pull herself up to her feet although she seems to prefer being on her knees. Fiona is all over the place pulling up on everything and even walking along the side of the couch while holding onto the cushions. Fiona has lessened the number of big falls and now seems to fall to her butt instead of her head - which means less crying. Daphne is still working on her stability when standing and still falls over pretty often. Occasionally Daphne starts crying because she is stuck standing up and not sure how to get down without falling - it is pretty cute. I get to come to her rescue and I always get a gigantic smile upon getting her 'unstuck.' Stella has been doing a great job sitting and is crawling like crazy. The house has changed a ton in the past week. The girls are everywhere and constantly in motion - there is no keeping these ladies still. Even during nap times, I have caught both Daphne and Fiona standing up in their cribs.

Most notably, Daphne says daddadad all the time - I'm not sure she knows exactly who dada is, but she loves to say it. I think she realizes that Brant responds to dada but I think she believes that her binkie, diaper and sisters are also dadas. We think she says hi or at least has the voice fluctuation to mock the sound. Perhaps we are reading into the babbling thing a bit much, but it keeps up smiling, so why not? The closest thing to a mama that I have heard is a mmmmmmummm in the middle of crying, which I have decided will not count as a mama (only happy mmmmm sounds will be mamas).

2.28.10: Sippy cups

Today we started sippy cups. I'm not sure the girls actually drank anything from the cups (you have to suck on them pretty hard) but they definitely learned that the sippy cup is just one more item that they can stick in their mouths. Yay, something new to chew on.

Poor Stella (while just trying to crawl to her bottle), Fiona decided to crawl over her - just one more thing to conqueror I guess. Can you see the annoyance in Stella's eyes? She is very patient with her rambunctious sisters.


Daphne only stays still these days while sitting (although her arms flail all over the place). We thought we should capture Daphne still - since it rarely happens anymore.

2.25.10: Conquerors

During Grandy's short visit the girls changed a ton. They are all crawling like crazy even making it hard for two people to contain them. Fiona is pulling up (to stand) on anything she can and loves to climb up the steps. Daphne is still trying to figure out the stairs but likes to pull up onto her knees, not standing up on her own quite yet. Stella seems to be enjoying watching her sisters crash when trying to conquer the various toys and obstacles in the house. She is improving her sitting and now just seems to fall over when she gets distracted. The girls are definitely learning to interact with each other, usually in a playful manner. Although, there has been the occasional incident of stealing binkies and hair pulling.

The calm moments are few and far between these days, but Grandy was able to capture there attention briefly with a book.


(left to right: Fiona, Stella, Daphne)

We also started our level two foods today. These foods typically combine fruit/veggie flavors and are a bit thicker. I will keep the list of progress as we try out all these new flavors in the right hand column.