2.2.10: Playground

(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)

Another triplet mom suggested we meet at an indoor playground to get all the kids together for a playdate. I was hesitant but decided to give it a try. I figured if anyone would understand if I had to cancel at the last minute or leave five minutes after arriving, she would. I spent a good week thinking (and rehearsing in my head) how the day would go.

Here is a breakdown of our adventure:

Wake up from afternoon nap 15 minutes early
Feed everyone
Change everyone
Bring everyone downstairs
Put shoes and socks on (six feet takes time)
Put daphne and fiona into stroller
Put stella into bjorn (she is the smallest and therefore easiest to carry)
Get downstairs into the garage with stroller and kids
Load stella into her car seat
Remove bjorn
Load daphne and fiona into their car seats
Collapse stroller and load into trunk
Get me into the car and prepared to drive
Drive (get slightly lost, maybe)
Arrive at destination
Find perfect street parking right in front of playground
Parellel park
Avoid traffic and get out of car
Put on bjorn
Get stroller out of the trunk
Load daphne and fiona into the stroller
Strategically load stella into the bjorn when there was a break in traffic
Go inside the playground
Take off shoes
Push stroller into the play area
Unload stella, daphne and fiona into play castle (yes total time in stroller upon arrival was less than the time it took to get them all into place)
Attempt to play
Attempt to chat with other parents and kids
Attempt to chat with other triplet mom

After about an hour, I decided we were done. I confirmed this was a reasonable first showing for the girls with the other triplet mom. The girls did pretty well. There was a little bit of whimpering but you could tell they were just in an unfamiliar environment. Of course, many of the kids/parents were leaning over the castle watching the girls. I think all of the new faces were a little much for them. But we did it and that was the important part.

Now it was time to prepare to go home:

Find everything I took out of the diaper bag
Put daphne and fiona into stroller
Put stella into bjorn
Push stroller into play area entrance
Put on shoes (this is a tough one with bjorn on - mental note, need slip-on shoes)
Load daphne and fiona into car seats
Load stella into car seat (again avoiding traffic)
Collapse stroller and load into trunk
Remove bjorn
Get me into the car and prepared to drive
Drive (take scenic route as kids were pretty calm)
Arrive at home
Put on bjorn
Get stroller out of the trunk
Load daphne and fiona into the stroller
Load stella into the bjorn
Get from the garage into the house
Unload kids from stroller
Pass out!

This was the first time I took the girls out in the car to a location, spent time at a location and then took them home all on my own. A seemingly simple task for most, but for me - a huge accomplishment. I have conquered the daily walks, next up - adventures in the car. Man, I am glad we live where we do and I have plenty of places to walk to, I was exhausted!

1.29.10: My little artist

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

As you can see from this picture, Stella has become a little artist. She has decided that she likes to stick her hands in her mouth when eating her food and then use those same hands to paint on the wall. Of course she decided to have her first artistic creation using prunes as the contrast to the white wall is the greatest. Perhaps we need to move the table further from the wall :) I intend to use this table for arts/crafts as well as eating but for now, it is for eating only. At least until we can eat a bit better and distinguish food from paint, although I'm sure both are equally yummy.

1.25.10: Peas and squash

Perhaps I need to work a little more on my aim when feeding the kids. Regardless the girls enjoyed peas, pears and squash lately (see up to date list in the right panel). Oddly enough, they weren't really into pears (too sweet? is it possible as my child to find something too sweet?) Squash seems to be the favorite so far.

I am a sucker for adorable food-on-face photos. Here is a fix, if you are too:

Peas (Fiona/left, Daphne/middle, Stella/right):


Squash (Fiona/left, Daphne/middle, Stella/right):

1.23.10: Layers

(Stella/back, Fiona/middle, Daphne/front)

Today was SO cold (which is relative of course) but it finally stopped raining so we were going for a walk no matter what. The girls each had on a onesie, pants, socks, shoes, sweater, two blankets, and a hat. Now just imagine how long that would take to put on one child and multiple it by three. Can you tell I was determined to go for a walk no matter what?

The girls were even patient enough to remain calm while getting everyone ready and let me take a picture. I think they knew it was finally time for a walk.

1.21.10: What is rain?

(Stella/sitting, Fiona/tan pants, Daphne/crawling)

Adding to my list of things I take for granted, the constant sunshine in southern California. Today was the fourth day of rain (in a row!). We aren't talking about the mild drizzle of Seattle but crazy downpour, streets flooding, national news sort of rain. Needless to say we haven't been able to go for a walk lately due to the rain. I realized how much the girls and I enjoy those daily walks now that we haven't been able to go on them. Often they take a nap while we are strolling, but with no walk - that means no nap.

I even resorted to putting the girls in their stroller and pushing them around our 8'x10' tile floor trying to convince them we were on a walk (terrible, I know). It worked, sort of. They stayed quiet but rarely napped. This made for some crankier evenings, which is understandable.

I did find it adorable how the girls would just stare at the rain instead of playing for the first day or two. They haven't really seen heavy rain much if at all. Although, even they found it uninteresting by the third day.

Also notable is the development of a jagged gum for Daphne in the bottom front (I would estimate a tooth actually showing in the next week). Fiona and Stella each have two bottom teeth showing that stick out more and more each day.

1.16.10: Entertainment

Today Brant and I had some fun videotaping the girls. Hope you enjoy the videos:

Stella was pretending to be a motorcycle


Fiona was first exhibiting her desire to crawl


Daphne was playing peek-a-boo

1.15.10: Push-ups

Stella (blue pants), Fiona (red pants), Daphne (pink pants)

You know the song "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"? Well Fiona and Stella have gotten their wish (a couple weeks late) with their two bottom teeth fully visible. It is so adorable to see these toothy grins. Daphne is not even showing jagged gums just yet. Of course this means anything and everything they can put into their mouths to chew on gets devoured - beware fingers and toes.

Everyone now gets into the crawling (push-up) position and wiggles around. Fiona is the first to obtain forward motion. She is able to get her left leg forward and crawl one step but hasn't yet figured out what to do with her right leg. After pushing this left leg forward and 'getting stuck' she then just thrusts her whole body and does an energetic face plant. I try hard not to laugh when this happens.

Yesterday the girls had their first non-relative, LA playdate. This nice (very friendly) woman in our complex has a son about a month older than the girls. She and her son came over and played for about an hour. It was pretty funny to watch the girls reactions. After warming up to the visitors, Fiona just stared/examined the little boy, Stella wanted to be held and just ignored him while Daphne wanted to show off her jumping skills. I suppose only time will tell if this is a preview of their budding personalities.

1.12.10: Where did everyone go?

Today was the first day without company in almost a month. I think the girls and I are both in shock. The house is so quiet during the day, thankfully we have music going most of the time. The girls had gotten used to being held and I had gotten used to help feeding, changing and of course playing during the day. All the sudden I am back to my multiple trips up and down stairs due to my missing third arm (I really should have grown a third arm upon having triplets). Thankfully we have fully established nap times which helps me to keep up the familiar routine. The girls seem to be much happier now that they have nap times - which I never would have thought. I realize (now) that the lack of 'nap structure' from the first five months did generate some of the fussiness due to over exhaustion. Now, I just make sure that our awake time is very active play time (to wear them out).

Adding to my ongoing list of things I took for granted; poop - or lack of poop. That's right, when the girls first arrived we had poop a couple times a week from each girl at the most, usually just once a week. Around six months, we started getting this special delivery every two to three days - still manageable. Then, as though timed exactly with the disappearance of company, we have started receiving these special treats EVERYDAY. I guess this way I get more exercise hauling everyone up and down stairs several more times a day. I realize this means that the girls are growing well and digesting, but I did enjoy the occasional poop-free day. Again, just something I took for granted.

1.11.10: Seven months old

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Wow, seven months old already!?! The girls are doing great. We are fully embracing our nap schedule and sleeping well through the night - which means Brant and I are getting sleep (yay sleep!). The girls are rolling like crazy to get to toys, binkies, each other's toes or whatever they desire. The love to stand and jump. Daphne doesn't like to just stand, she insists on jumping whenever she is in the upright position. Stella will actually walk taking steps moving forward when held up - it is amazing. Fiona is definitely going to be the first crawler as she loves to get into the crawling position and wiggle in place. Stella and Fiona have started getting teeth while Daphne is still in the early stages with massive drooling.

We are working on eating solids still and haven't moved from rice cereal just yet. This is more my fault as I am still working on my own technique for feeding everyone at the same time and am especially enjoying this stain-free food. After getting seriously spoiled during the holidays, the girls are now holding their own bottles and pretty much feeding themselves. Of course there is the occasional distraction where someone will lose their bottle, but for the most part feeding has gotten a million times easier. Just thinking about the days of balancing two babies on a boppy and one in a bouncer while burping and holding three bottles - I can't believe how far we have come!


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Also, notice the wonderful (washable!) new blanket. We use this on the floor in the girls room as we have decided that the quantity of spit up is not good for the carpet or our security deposit. My sister made it for us when she found the same pattern in fleece fabric that we have for the girls curtains - such coordination! Once I finally get the dresser painted and a couple other finishing touches added I will post a picture of the nursery.

1.8.10: Just in time

(Stella/green, Fiona/red, Daphne/Blue)

With the girls being born in June then moving to LA in August - there was no need for stroller blankets during the summer months. Once the fall temps hit, we just used receiving blankets to keep the girls warm on our daily walks - especially since the temperature was in the 80's most days. In early December a box arrived with three Baby's First Christmas blankets - perfect timing as the temperature during the nightly walks was getting into the low 70's and high 60's. Then, as though she knew exactly when we needed them all along, Nicole completed these adorable stroller blankets. I retired the baby's first christmas blankets (probably until next xmas when I change the 1st into a 2nd) and now we get to use these awesome (and perfectly sized) blankets for our daily walks. I love my crafty friends!