Free to a Good Home

The weather has been great this week. We have been able to take the boys out for numerous walks in their triplet stroller. We've even met more of our neighbors than ever before. It's so nice to be able to put them in onesies and not the sleepers. Their little legs and feet are so cute!

Monday night we took the boys out on the front porch to just enjoy the weather. It's so great to hear them laugh!
Not much new to share. We continue to feed them cereal once a day. Logan prefers the cereal to the bottle but the other two aren't so sure. They continue to be more mobile. They can all now roll over in both directions - although they sometimes forget they can. They also roll and skooch more for their toys. Of course, if one has the ball the other one wants to play with, he grabs it and takes it. It's kinda cute, until he realizes his brother just took the ball. They do interact well together. They laugh at each other and grab for each other. You can see a little of that in the video too.

Happy Birthday Grandma Carol!

Last weekend we went down to Decatur to celebrate Grandma Carol’s birthday. It was one year ago that we surprised our families with the news of our impending triplets. I'll have to post the video again... too funny!

This year for mom's birthday we decided to walk with her in the Heartwalk. Decatur Memorial Hospital (DMH) encourages their employees to walk and provides t-shirts to the walkers. It was a sea of red t-shirts! Mom even got shirts for the boys. I tried to take their picture in the shirts ahead of time, figuring it would be a good visual to get folks to donate. Unfortunately they weren't excited to have their picture taken.

What do you mean you're not going to donate to the Heartwalk?!

The weather was not very welcoming for a walk, but we bundled the boys up in their strollers and went to the park anyway. Just as the walkers were lining up to start, it started to rain. We choose to hang out under the pavilion instead of walk! It actually turned out better. Alex slept through most of the morning, but Logan and Nick were awake. They got their pictures taken with the DMH mascot (Ted E. Barnes) and Miss Illinois!

Who wants to walk when there's a pretty girl here?!

Can you tell they were happier to be in a pretty girl's arms than with a big bear?! Typical boys!

After the Heartwalk we met up with the family for lunch to celebrate mom's birthday. Everyone seemed to have a good time (they had pitcher margarita specials). I added some additional pictures from the day to the slide show in the right column of the blog. Enjoy!!

1st Cereal Moments

This past weekend we started feeding the boys cereal. Since then, they've all done pretty good with it. Their facial expressions are priceless! Even though they scrunch up their faces, they still eat it. I've tasted it and I don't blame them for the funny faces!

Dad put together the following video which is clips from their first feeding on Saturday. Thanks dad for the editing! Who knows when I would have gotten to it. (I'm still working on videos from February!) It's kinda long, but enjoy!

6 Month Checkup

We had our 6 month doctor appointment today. Dawn and I packed up the boys and were there right before 8:30. Our pediatrician had moved offices so I figured I'd need to fill out new paperwork (in triplicate) so I wanted to make sure we were on time. When checking in at the desk, they told me that we weren't on their schedule for the day. It seems when the receptionist from the old office called to tell me the doctor was moving, she was supposed to tell me to call the new office and reschedule our appointment. Instead, she said everything was transferred. Never really liked that lady. Anyway, they were able to see us at 10:30, so we went home, the boys napped for a while and then went back later.

Everything checked out great. The boys are all growing well with nothing exciting to report. Nick has a lot of ear wax, Alex's cheeks are dry and red. Nick's hip doesn't pop anymore and she didn't hear murmers in Alex or Logan. They gave us advice on feeding (only introduce one item at a time to check for allergies, etc.) and said keep up the good work. Alex did give himself a hickey on his wrist while we were there. Not sure if he was nervous or bored. Then again, they do like to chew/suck on themselves like crazy.

Our little babies aren't as little anymore! They have almost tripled in weight since birth!
Alex: 17 lbs 9 oz (50 %ile); 27 inches (75 %ile)
Logan: 14 lbs 14 oz (15 %ile); 26.5 inches (50 %ile)
Nick: 17 lbs 10 oz (50 %ile); 27.25 inches (75 %ile)

6 Months Old!

Today the boys are 6 months old!! I can't believe it's been that long already and yet it seems like they've always been with us. This weekend we started adding cereal at our 5 pm feeding. We finally got their high chairs out and set them up. They looks so cute in their little man chairs!

They have been getting better with the cereal each day. Alex is all about it, you can't feed him fast enough. But then he's tired of you being so slow and just wants his bottle. Logan actually eats the most (which is unusual for him), but doesn't necessarily like it. Nick definitely started out hating it and now only looks disgusted as you feed him... but he eats it. And it is getting better each day.

They are changing so much and learning so many new things every day. Their hair is growing thicker each day, they are learning more sounds and like to talk more. Which is great until they learn they can squeal at very high frequencies. Logan has been doing this each morning when he wakes up - lays in bed and squeals. They are all pretty good at going to bed at night. If we put them in their cribs, they usually go to sleep on their own... eventually. In the mornings, they wake up and talk to themselves in their cribs until we come and get them. We do still feed them around 4-5 am, but we're hoping this will be the last week for that - cross your fingers!

Tomorrow is our 6 month doctor appointment. I'll update the blog tomorrow with their new stats and any other developments. I also have some video of their first meal with cereal. I'll try to edit and post it too. For now, here's a quick look at each of the boys...

Alex: starting to crawl, likes to gurgle and smile, loves to roll from his back to his front - but not interested in rolling back onto his back, likes his cereal, holds his bottle, wiggled out of his bouncy seat, strong grip, loves to be lifted over-head and free-falling feeling, laughs at the giraffe, doesn't like to bend when you try to have him sit up - would rather stand, loves to splash during bath time (ends up with more water outside the tub than in)

Logan: finally rolling over, loves to squeal, hates to sleep, loves to watch TV, always wide eyed and looking around, not interested in eating, smallest of the group, likes to explore things with his mouth, gets frustrated when he can't get the ball in his mouth, squirmy, laughs when you change his diaper, very wide smile

Nick: Loves to giggle and smile - sometimes for no reason, "tall, dark and hansom", likes to sleep with his hand over his face, seems to go with the flow, only likes mom or dad when he's tired, stares at his hand, deeper voice and fuller laugh, lots of dark hair, not real excited about cereal, always in a different position in bed from the last time we check on him, can roll both directions - but doesn't like to be on his tummy and forgets he can roll back over.

Oh yeah, and they all love, love, love to chew on their hands!!!

Seems Nick was reaching for the PBR - no wonder he doesn't like his cereal!

Almost 24 whole hours!

Last weekend we spent almost 24 hours apart from the boys! We took the boys to Decatur to spend the day with Grandma and Grandpa while Adam and I gamed with some friends. I met mom half way between Decatur and Bloomington for the switch off. Again, we had the van packed very full with any toy combination the boys might want/need. It seems I over-pack as a habit! The boys had a good time in Decatur. My aunt Barb was there to help out since mom was technically on-call for work. They also had visits from Vickie and Chloe and Grandpa Brandy and Ruth. The video of Alex and the Giraffe (from the previous post) was from their time in Decatur.

The plan was for the boys to eat at 5:00 as usual and then pack up and head back home. Unfortunately, when I called to confirm the drop-off time, mom had just got a call from the hospital and had to go in. Plans changed to pick them up after the 8:30 feeding. Of course, the whole time, mom kept hinting that if the boys were to stay down there, we could get a whole night of sleep without listening for babies - or the morning feeding. At first we were resistant to her temptations. But, we finally gave in to the dark side and agreed to let the boys stay overnight.

Of course, they did fine. We weren't too bad either. (We actually got sleep - straight-through-the-night sleep without pacifier checks!) It was just like life before kids... Adam fell asleep and I stayed up late catching up on TV. But, we missed the boys. The plan was to meet mom again half way after their 9 am feeding (then she got me to agree to let them go to church with her). I surprised them and showed up at church. I got there after mass had started and had a hard time finding them. Didn't figure it should be that hard. We take up a whole row with the three car seats. Plus, Brandon went with her to help and he's usually tall enough to see in a crowd. I never thought to look in the very first pew! Seems it was all that was available when they got there. The boys were very good through church, so it was all fine.

When I finally got them home, both Adam and I were very happy to have them back. The universe seemed to be back to normal again. All was well. It was nice to have a night "away", but it's nice to have the boys back too.

Here's a picture from last week and a picture from when they were first born (their first picture together). Nick is along the top and Alex and Logan are on bottom (from left to right)...

Alex and the Giraffe

Okay, I've been trying to blog for the last few nights but haven't had a chance. Here is something to tide you over for another day (or so)!

Alex loves a new Giraffe rattle we have. Take a look at the video!

Random Stories: Frustration

At about five months old, the boys are reaching for items. As is common for babies, they are exploring their world and one of the ways they do that is to pop everything in their mouths. Logan is especially fond of this method of exploration.

We have a plastic, mesh ball that is easy for the boys to grasp. It’s brightly colored and they love it. But Logan is bound and determined to push that ball in his mouth. He licks it and twists it. He scrunches it up against his face. But it just won’t go in. So he grunts for a while and those grunts gradually increase in intensity and volume as he continues to find some method of getting the ball in his mouth. Finally he just bursts into tears and screams out of frustration. It’s amazingly cute that he gets so frustrated with this… until he starts screaming.