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.

2.18.10: Trying to escape

Fiona has surpassed normal crawling and now begun trying to escape from our sunken living room. She can push up on the first stair into an almost standing position. Most importantly, she doesn't seem to might the countless times she falls down when trying to conquer this step. It is adorable to watch and fascinating to see her persistence. First thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is to go to the steps and try to climb them. I guess we will be in need of some more baby proofing very soon.

Since the girls are still in their six month day clothes, I started getting worked up about there tiny size. I think it is fairly normal when you have preemie babies to always be worked up about their weights and whether or not they are growing appropriately. (Of course it probably doesn't help that some of my friends have gigantic - but ridiculously adorable - babies very similar in age :) After weighing them earlier this week and consulting their growth charts I was pretty concerned. Our girls will always be on the smaller size, but according to our scale Fiona and Stella had gained less than a pound in two and a half months. So I emailed our pediatrician and we went in three weeks early for our nine month checkup. Turns out the girls are doing great and tracking wonderfully to their original trajectories on the growth chart. Our scale on the other hand, is not fairing so well these days as it was off by more than one pound. Now my goal is to not worry about their weight until their one year appointment - we will see how that goes :)

Fiona: 27.5 inches (65%), 15lbs 14oz (15%)
Daphne: 27.5 inches (65%), 17lbs 8oz (40%)
Stella: 27 inches (50%), 15lbs 6oz (7%)

2.16.10: Sitting???

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

While the girls are more than willing to crawl, for some reason sitting isn't of interest. Daphne can sit on her own and will do so for up to ten minutes now. Fiona loves to sit in her leaning tripod position but is typically less interested in sitting upright - she can do it for about two minutes or so before toppling over. Stella is still struggling with balance a bit and needs a little more assistance (and fewer distractions) to sit on her own. I thought this picture was cute because it captured all the girls at their various stages of sitting. Daphne - on her own, Fiona - with mild assistance, and Stella - with more support.

2.14.10: Valentine's day

(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne)

This weekend was amazing. Saturday was in the mid-70's and Sunday was even warmer. We escaped for two walks each day and even went to the botanic gardens. The girls wore their new sunhats (their heads got too big for the others) on our midday walks.

Note: the blankets were removed promptly upon actually getting outside. I just had a really hard time believing the weather would be SO warm in mid-February no matter what the forecasters said.

2.11.10: Eight months old

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

This has been an exciting month. While we are still wearing our six month day clothes, we have finally broken into the nine month sleepers (our little ladies are long and lean). The girls have learned to army and bear crawl - they are still working on 'traditional' crawling but they can definitely get anywhere they want to - and fast. They love to steal binkies from each other and are beginning to really interact with one another (most commonly to steal a toy they are interested in).

The girls have been hard at work learning to eat and have indulged in the following foods:
12.12.09: Carrots
12.19.09: Rice cereal
1.16.10: Sweet Potatoes
1.19.10: Peas
1.22.10: Pears
1.25.10: Squash
1.28.10: Prunes
2.1.10: Bananas
2.4.10: Apples
2.7.10: Peaches
2.10.10: Green beans
2.13.10: Oatmeal
Thankfully, no allergies so far :)

Everyone now has two bottom teeth making their grins even more adorable. Fiona and Stella are working on some top teeth, but nothing showing just yet. Daphne is still pushing up her bottom teeth but they are definitely showing.

So I guess that sums up our big month. Learning to eat, crawl and getting six teeth (two each). I guess they do grow up fast.

2.9.10: Teeth

Stella's two bottom teeth are now in full view whenever she smiles. She even has some white spots of teeth-to-come on the top of her mouth.


Fiona's two bottom teeth are sticking out the most of all the girls. In this picture, you can even see her teeth-to-come in the top of her mouth...I would give it one week (at the most) until these new arrivals break through her gums.


Daphne has one good solid tooth in the bottom of her mouth and one on the way. However, Daphne also LOVES to stick out her tongue so getting a picture of the tooth is nearly impossible. So instead of a tooth picture, you get the face that I get whenever I try to take a tooth picture :)


The girls are fully mobile now. They can get anywhere they want and can do so rather quickly. They use a variety of methods: crawling, army crawling, bear crawling, rolling and very creative wiggling. The girls have been less interested in sitting up. Daphne can sit up on her own and only tips over occasionally. Fiona can sit up on her own sometimes but usually is protected by some pillowy surrounding as she will inevitably fall over within a couple minutes (primarily due to distractions). Stella will sit for a minute or so and then fall over. I think the girls seem to be more interested in crawling. I suppose, I too, would rather explore all of my surroundings than sit still. Regardless, Fiona has begun getting herself into this tripod position (usually with just one arm). She is getting so close to sitting herself up - but has not successfully gotten into the sitting position on her own. (yet!)

2.6.10: Mama's day off

(left to right: daphne, stella, fiona)

Due to her short visit, Nicole and I needed to make the most of her time here before she went to 'earn' her trip by attending a conference nearby. In order to do so, my fantastically wonderful husband took the day off of work to watch the girls yesterday so Nicole and I could out. I have finally retired my maternity clothes (those remaining t-shirts I was wearing were primarily due to the shirt length and laziness). In order to retire said clothes, I clearly needed to go shopping. Of course while out shopping we needed to have a yummy breakfast and lunch...and what is a day off without some pampering (we had to get our nails done too). It was wonderful to have some serious girlieness and we definitely made the most of our time together.


(left to right: daphne, stella, fiona)

Brant had a wonderful time with the girls too. For some reason, he got them to eat at least six more ounces of food than they eat with me. Hmmm, the girls and I are going to have to talk about this - no fair eating more with daddy than me.

2.4.10: Mesmerized

(daphne/headband, stella/hearts, fiona/pink)

Within about three minutes upon arrival, the girls all gravitated towards Nicole. While we may not be specifically crawling; they can army crawl, bear crawl and wiggle their way to their desired destination with ease....and clearly Nicole was that destination. I don't know if it was her or her bright red sweater, but she was a hit. I'm so glad the girls warm up to new people quickly, it makes it so much easier to have visitors.


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Shortly after her arrival, it was time to feed the girls. As with all willing company, we put her to work right away feeding the girls apples. After some more playtime, we continued with our routine and went for a walk, picked up Brant from work and then returned home in time for another feeding and baths.