5.5.10: Spontaneity

Feeding three little ones is a big task, so we have been on a very strict schedule for the past five months. In early December (with our pediatricians ok) we dropped the 3am feeding. We continued to put the girls down for bed around 7:30pm and then woke them up at 11pm for a final feeding before the long stretch of sleep through the night. Brant and I usually go to bed just after 11pm, so we didn't mind feeding the girls since we were still up. More importantly, we really valued the eight hours of sleep we got each night when the girls were well fed. Sleep training was not a fun time and it was not something we were looking forward to doing again. With some coaxing from our play date friends, we decided it was time to drop the 11pm feeding and have the girls sleep from 7:30pm-7am. For the past week we have been reducing their food at the 11pm feeding by an ounce each night and finally, last night, we didn't feed them at all. Of course there was a tiny bit of noise, but nothing substantial. The transitioning went really well and now our little ladies are sleeping almost twelve straight hours. Of course you'd think we go to bed earlier now that we can, but that hasn't occurred just yet.

On a whim, Brant's cousin Mette invited us over to Joan and Doug's house for a night of tacos and drinks (nicely coordinated with cinco de mayo). Normally we would never attempt such a spontaneous adventure especially in the middle of the week - but we did it. Less than an hour after the invitation, we were on our way. We had the girls take half their afternoon nap at home and then threw them in the car for the remainder (nicely timed with our arrival at our destination). We stayed, played and visited until bedtime and then began driving the girls home. The car rides went really well. The girls got pretty fussy during their normal 'strolling' time 5:30-6:30 but thankfully we had many willing hands to distract them. Here are some cute photos from our adventure. Who says a family with ten month old triplets can't be spontaneous?


daphne and great aunt joan (who is trying to steer daphne away from the newly found garbage can)


daphne and aunt mette (who is trying to increase daphne's palate to include limes)


(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)

When no other toy will do, playing on 'jungle gym daddy' does the trick. It is always interesting to see who gives in first, the girls wanting to explore something else or brant needing a break from the drool, gnawing, and climbing.