12.30.09: Yum auntie

(Kelly and Fiona - Kelly's face in the mirror cracks me up, trying to convince Fiona to open her mouth is a big task).

Auntie Kelly tried feeding all the girls some rice cereal. The girls still aren't really interested in swallowing the food. Fiona is starting to think about it and at least gets the cereal into her mouth. Daphne usually blows raspberries into the spoon upon it getting close enough to her lips (I am now questioning if teaching this trick to them was smart - I should have done a little more cost/benefit analysis first). Stella likes to open her mouth, pretend she is going to take a bite and then once the cereal is in her mouth, she lets it all drip/drool out of her mouth. The girls seem to be doing better sitting up (assisted) and don't mind the feeding table. I think we are getting closer each day to actual consumption.

12.29.09: A baby for everyone

(Brant/Daphne, Christina/Stella, Ragan/Fiona)

Many times during the holidays I found myself baby-less - ie not holding a baby. I'm still not quite sure what to do when this happens and typically find some baby related chore to do instead. Regardless, you can tell the girls love having so many people around and everyone seems to love holding them. I thought this was an adorable unstaged photo taken just before Ragan and Christina headed back to NY. (I think both Brant and Daphne are blowing coordinating raspberries) Did I say it was great to have everyone here - it really was! Kelly and Rob arrived just in time to overlap with Ragan and Christina allowing the girls to be spoiled even longer :)

12.25.09: First Christmas

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

After posing for some photos the girls watched as many of their presents were opened. They wore their Christmas dresses but for some reason I don't have any pictures from that early in the day - perhaps because we were all opening presents.

We didn't think napping in Christmas dresses would be too comfortable, so they wore their pjs the rest of the day. Soren and Mona stopped by (with Ian and Devin). Here are some cute pictures of the kids all together (all Nana's great grandkids).

(left to right: Devin, Ian, Stella, Daphne, Fiona)

Who could resist a big group picture? I don't think our home has ever had so many people in it - it was wonderful!



(Evan, Bonnie, Daphne, Melissa, Ian, Ragan, Mona, Devin, Christina, Fiona, Soren, Kari, Stella, Brant)

12.24.09: First Christmas eve

In my family, Christmas is really held Christmas Eve - not exactly sure where that started from, but that is the way it has always been. Brant's family always celebrated Christmas on Christmas. It actually worked out really well when everyone was located in Seattle as we got to celebrate with both families on 'their' Christmas. Brant and I aren't exactly sure how we are going to handle Christmas once the kids get bigger but this year they didn't understand what is going on so we decided we could postpone any establishment of traditions until next Christmas. Since all of Brant's family was here for the holidays we decided to spread the festivities from Christmas eve until the new year when my family was arriving - why not celebrate more?

We skyped with my sister and Rob on Christmas eve while they were in Houston. This is a picture of the girls looking at the computer waiting for their Uncle and Aunt to talk to them....seems like they know what is about to happen when the computer gets put on the floor. Yay skype!


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Then we had all the Uncles, Aunt and Aunts-to-be pose with the girls. (Melissa/Daphne, Evan/Rob/Kelly, Ragan/Fiona, Christina/Stella)


Santa brought each girl a stuffed animal that they opened with mommy. Thoughtfully, Santa wrapped these presents in tissue paper so the girls could more easily open it. Stella was definitely into pulling the paper off to find her pig. Fiona sure loved the alligator and immediately started chewing on its nose. Daphne wasn't so sure about the whole thing but seemed to like her aardvark.

12.23.09: Tasty toes

Toes are an exciting thing here in the Robertson household. Thankfully there are thirty baby toes to choose from. Daphne has been the most interested in her toes as many mornings she whines until her toes are released from her sleeper so that she can grab them more easily. Given her love of toes and love of licking it was only a matter of time until the two worlds combined...and today they did. It took me a while to capture a shot of this tasty nibbling but it was totally worth it. Fiona loves playing with her toes but isn't in to licking them just yet - currently she is more excited about pulling hair and ears. Stella tries to grab her toes, but then ends up rolling onto her side and gets into barrel roll - one of her favorite things. Stella is drooling like crazy and puts anything into her mouth she can find. Fiona is enjoying chewing on things as well, but somehow manages to drool quite a bit less. I anticipate teeth in the next month.

12.19.09: Rice cereal

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

After several days with little success 'eating' carrots (but tons of success getting them on everything), we decided to step back and try rice cereal. Apparently, this is the normal first food as it is heavily diluted with milk and basically tastes like nothing (although Brant nor I have tried it). I am happy to report that rice cereal is white and leaves no orange residue - which I am still finding throughout the house. This left me to ponder, is it bad if they just eat rice cereal forever? We put Grandma to work shortly upon arrival.



I am happy to report that I completed the girls' stockings just in time for Christmas. I'm not sure that anything will really fit into them, but they coordinate with the ones my sister made Brant and I back in 2003. This is a picture of our mantel decorated for the holidays. We actually have a fireplace for the first time. Yes, that's right - we didn't have one in Boston or Chicago (where it would have been used all the time) but instead we have one in LA - where the sun always shines and the winter temperatures are in the 60s.

12.17.09: Lunch date

(front to back: daphne, fiona, stella)

Today was so beautiful out you would never know it was December. It was in the 70's so the girls and I went to have lunch with Brant. For all those experiencing that thing they call 'winter' I just wanted to let you know that I wore a short sleeve shirt and the girls needed their sunhats (which MAY be a bit too small). I didn't know December could ever feel this way.

12.12.09: Carrots?!?

Today was a special day for the girls full of firsts. After our morning nap (yes, that's right we are still successfully taking naps - insert my big grin here) we got the girls all dressed up in the holiday attire and into the car. Then we drove directly to the.........pediatrician's office. I know, mean huh. Well the girls are now over the six month minimum to get the flu shots and we were not about to wait any longer. At least wearing a dress made it easier to get the shots, no undressing needed.


(fiona/green, daphne/blue, stella/red)

After this painful excursion, we headed straight to Santa. My MOMs group hosts a breakfast with Santa where families of multiples can get pictures. It was wonderful. While I didn't really anticipate being in the picture, reflecting later I realized that it was probably unrealistic for Santa to hold our trio alone. It was wonderful to get an entire family portrait as those are harder to come by in the chaos that is our home most days.


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

After returning home and another nap (yes, time for our afternoon nap) we awoke to our first food attempt. I say 'attempt' very intentionally. After much debate about which food to attempt first, we decided on carrots. Our pediatrician said to start with the orange/yellow foods (contrary to most people who advise to start with veggies over fruit). Since we have heard both philosophies on the best food to start with we decided that an orange veggie (carrots) met both schools of thought. I anticipated feeding taking a while, but instead we were done in about five minutes. The girls still aren't super into sitting up for very long and were not digging the carrots or eating idea at all. It was hilarious to watch but probably a bit traumatic for them. Oh well, we keep trying and eventually they will catch on. For now we know that they like to blow raspberries when we try to feed them.

12.11.09: Six months old

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Today the girls turned six months old. This month they are wearing some of my favorite sleepers that probably won't fit next month (Fiona/flowers, Daphne/green stripes, Stella/strawberries). They continue to roll all over the place and army crawl a bit. They have learned to grab toys with both hands and LOVE to stand up and jump when held. They are also working on holding their own bottles now that they have significantly better hand/eye coordination.

When taking photos everyone was very calm which was a welcome surprise. After the photo shoot ended I left the girls in the walkway for some more mirror time while I cleaned up the bottles. I heard a crazy scream and turned to see that Fiona had gotten a hold of Daphne's hair and was not letting go. Since I had the camera right there, I just had to capture this shot before separating the girls and comforting Daphne. What a terrible mother, wanting to take a picture while my daughter is in pain. I know, I know - insert guilt here. Poor Daphne, Fiona and Stella don't even have enough hair yet to get her revenge, I guess she will have to settle for licking them for now.


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Brant suggested that Fiona looks like she is pointing to the camera/me and saying 'You're next'. Uh oh.

As an attempt to show their independence on their half-birthday, Fiona (purple) and Daphne (hearts) decided to feed themselves - we don't need you anymore mom. Thankfully Stella (brown) still needs some help.







Now, your reward for reading to the end of this post. I THINK Daphne was playing peek-a-boo with me. She would cover her face with a blanket and then pull it down. You be the judge.

12.8.09: Practice sitting

(left to right: Stella, Daphne, Fiona)

Our triplet feeding table arrived. The girls aren't really into sitting yet, so before we start food this weekend we 'practiced' sitting at the table with some toys. The result, about a 5 minute tolerance. Hmmm feeding could be difficult.