8.11.09: Two months old

As of today, the girls are two months old. I can't believe they have already been here for two months. It feels like just the other day I was in the hospital as giant as a whale just waiting for them to arrive. Everyone is healthy and doing well so we are very thankful for that.

8.8.09: Grandy escapes

L->R Daphne, Stella, Fiona note: all the girls outfits were selected by Uncle Evan ;)

After a long visit, it was time for Grandy to go back to Seattle. We realized my mom had been gone from her own home since mid-June with only a short visit to Arizona in the middle of two stays in Chicago to help us take care of the girls. Everyone was sad to have her go. I know she was sad to go too, but I think the idea of a real bed rather than a blowup air mattress was rather exciting to her.

Uncle Evan was in town to help us take apart some furniture in preparation for our move next week. I spent the day watching the girls while the two of them took apart anything and everything they could. Since the girls never really took a liking to the crib, even that was able to be taken apart. The weekend ended with the realization that we were really leaving Chicago :(

8.7.09: Adventures x2

Today was a big day for us - with two outings from the house. The girls had their two month doctor visit (our final visit with the pediatrician in Chicago). Everything was going well and the girls are growing perfectly (Fiona 9lbs 1oz, Daphne 9lbs 5oz, Stella 8lbs 7oz) each almost doubling their birth weights. Due to this appropriate weight gain, I no longer need to supplement the girls breast milk with special formula to add calories - the girls get the pure stuff now. BUT one of the moments I had feared since becoming a mom had finally occurred....it was time for immunizations.

Now as I have mentioned previously, I am no trooper when it comes to shots, blood draws - really anything with needles, but I have learned I am even more of a mess when it happens to my children. Another key difficulty is that we had to go through this three times (one for each kid). So just when I recovered from one child hysterically screaming over the shots, it was time for another round. This was very traumatic for me, but thankfully Brant handled it as well as possible while I curled in the corner crying and covering my ears - you would think I was the one getting all the shots.

After turning our daughters into pin cushions, we realized that immunizations usually make kids irritable for the next couple of days - perhaps poor timing given our plans for the evening. Upon arriving home from the seemingly calm car ride (the first time I drove the girls by myself) everything seemed fine - until we had been home about one hour - when all hell broke loose. The girls (all three) starting screaming like I have never heard before (except from Daphne who really enjoys using her vocal cords). Our night adventure was at serious risk.

After some Tylenol (I hate giving the kids medicine - I feel like a drug pusher) and some serious determination from mom (and Uncle Evan) we put the girls in the car seats and somehow - for some reason - they started to calm down. We raced to put them into the car to meet Dad at Andrey and Alyona's house for a goodbye gathering. This would be the first time most of our friends met the girls. After the car ride the girls remained really calm - a wonderful treat. They were definitely on their best behavior napping most of the evening. They awoke just in time to be held by all those who were willing. Uncle Evan and I brought the girls home in time for their 10pm feeding while Brant continued to enjoy the evenings festivities.

Overall a successful day that could have been a disaster - we were really lucky.

8.4.09: Army crawl

All three girls have officially begun to army crawl. When laying on their tummies and having a barrier behind their feet, each girl will push themselves forward. If the barrier moves with them, they will keep going, even off the play mat. Of course, they haven't yet learned how to crawl (they aren't even two months old) but they do enjoy sliding their bodies and faces on the play mat using this technique. It is hilarious to watch with their butts in the air and faces smashed into the ground.

8.3.09: Whack-a-mole

Total chaos has erupted in the Robertson household. We have been desperately trying to pack our home while still adjusting to parenthood. Thankfully Grandy has been around to help watch the girls. One evening, Brant pointed out that watching the girls is sort of like whack-a-mole. Instead of bashing the mole with a mallet, you hold the baby until the next one starts scream louder and pickup/put down/insert binkie as necessary never knowing which baby will be next - it is a constant coordinated task to keep three babies happy at once. You are almost never free of a baby and when you are, the silence is amazing. Things are really crazy here (hence the delayed blog entries) but wonderful. The girls are starting to stare at things and even starting to touch each other - although I suppose the 'touching' could just be random arm movements, but for now I will declare them touching - it makes me feel better :)

7.31.09: Premies no more

Auntie Kelly got each of the girls a premie outfit which was worn when each girl came home from the NICU. Less than a month after all the girls came home, the outfits are too small. This is the first thing they have outgrown. The girls have long thin legs and arms but the bellies are bulking up. I thought it was hilarious to see their legs popping out of the pants and their bellies filling out the onesies. I am proud to say, they are premies no more. The girls have officially outgrown their first outfits and I couldn't be more proud.

ps - I promptly removed the girls from these outfits after the picture as I was worried Daphne would bust the seams :)

7.27.09: Robertson clan

Today was a special day for the girls. They met their great grandma Nana from Kentucky and Uncle Ragan and Christina who live in New York. They also got to see Uncle Evan and Melissa from Indiana who met the girls previously while they were in the NICU. It was wonderful to have so much of the Robertson clan around and the girls definitely had plenty of willing arms to hold them. The girls also got to celebrate Grandy's birthday (my mom) who celebrated with a late shift of watching the girls (2-6am) - lucky Grandy!

7.25.09: Custom attire

Nicole made these adorable onesies for the girls. One set specifies their birth order (notice that Daphne is trying to eat Fiona's head) while the other specifies the gestational name (alpha, beta, gamma) - a hit with all astronomers :) The final set shows their names with a cute coordinated decoration (see 8.11.09 posting for pic). I feel so lucky to have these customized outfits for the girls - especially with new visitors who struggle to identify who is who. For those who are crafty, you should totally steal her idea with the iron-on photo transfer paper and for those of you less crafty, I believe Nicole works on commission.

7.22.09: Daddy style

So I awoke from a nap to discover that all of the kids had changed outfits due to various spit ups and drooling. Brant had taken great care of them and immediately changed them into new attire as needed. I must admit that sometimes I pretend not to notice that the bibs did not actually prevent the milk from soaking their clothing (parent note: why do bibs even exist if they don't eliminate clothing absorption? - I am such a sucker to assume bibs have a purpose). Of course, I continue to use the bibs as I am still trying to convince myself that they do eliminate some wetness. I digress - I awoke to all the kids in new attire. Although, upon further examination - I noticed they were all wearing the same attire - plain white onesies - they looked like a jail house gang (minus the I heart Mom tattoos). I immediately questioned their father as to their fashion statement or lack there of. Of all the adorable clothes we have, he decided it was easiest to just put them all in the plain onesies - ones we typically use to put on the girls under their sleepers to keep them extra warm. Maybe he was secretly testing me to make sure I could tell Fiona and Stella apart - they do look awfully similar - but I have my ways. Needless to say, now I am trying to layout new outfits before napping - so if someone needs to be changed, they remain fashionable. :)

7.18.09: Schedule

We finally realized we were feeding three kids 'on demand' and therefore always feeding someone, we noticed we had trouble tracking who ate how much and when (insert parent guilt here). We decided that it was time for a schedule. Now we feed the girls every four hours which actually allows some downtime during the day to catch up on chores around the house - and maybe even a nap if we are lucky. Of course near feeding time, there typically is some crying and including the actual eating, this process can take about 2 hours. I am hopeful that after a couple more days the crying will even be eliminated and everyone will just learn to eat a lot of food fewer times a day rather than a little bit of food all day long - this will help to keep mom and dad sane too.