Thomas Makes Tortillas (9 mo!)

Just a month ago nobody could sit up by themselves, go to the sitting position by themselves, crawl or stand up. What a month!

As if they didn't spend enough time all squished together!

Thomas makes tortillas, Eli makes them too but haven't caught him on camera yet : )

M.O.M. secret revealed

What do you do when all three are crying at once? That's the big question, everyone asks and wonders. My short answer is, it has never happened! At least not when I've been all alone with the trio. I chock this up to the boys being so good natured and my tactics : ) My secret you ask?

It's a combination of things but basically the best way to stay in control of things is to KEEP THE BABIES AS HAPPY AS POSSIBLE! I never test their limits when I don't have another adult around to bail me out. This includes not letting them get too tired, too hungry, too overstimulated, etc, you get the point. When they were little and couldn't crawl or sit up by them selves I created stations to keep them entertained. This included our Baby Einstein (activity play mat), Bumbo sitting time, bouncy chair lounging, jumping in the jumparoo, and mama one on one time. I would rotate babies through the stations as they got bored. Now it's soooo much easier, they pretty much keep themselves entertained, I just keep them corralled in a relatively safe area were they play to their hearts content.

A Standing Ovation

I think this outfit is a little big for him (Caleb)

Caleb

It started with Caleb and now all the boys are experimenting with pulling themselves up and standing. So the head bonking continues, I almost start to laugh as I console them time after time. It's hard to take them serious when the minute I get them happy they go off and bonk their heads again. It's never ending...

It's so funny to see the dynamic of diaper changes through out a babies life. The stages we've gone through:

preemie/newborn: they scream bloody murder while you change them, but you can get through it fast enough since they don't have a lot of strength.

young infant: it's like a switch goes off and they instantly LOVE diaper changes.

older infant: it's a power struggle, the minute I put them on the changing table they do the death roll and I can't flip them over to save my life. I get as far as putting the diaper on and then finish buttoning them up on my lap other wise it's a very strong baby screaming bloody murder.

toddler: can any one give me a heads up? scared to even think about it

Hanging out with cousin Molly

Bad picture of snotty Eli (we've ALL been sick) but you can see their crazy eye color well

Caleb

this morning, Eli, Thomas, Caleb

The Subtleties

Caleb

Eli

Thomas

Where's Lankston's plaid bandana?

Caleb

Eli

Thomas showing off his new chompers

big eyes! (Caleb)

The Subtleties

I see each boy as being very different from one another even though they are so similar. I can't say they have stark differences (remember they are identical) and I can't completely put it in words but I can share some of the subtleties that make me feel this way. Even though they came as a package deal, three for the price of one, they are distinct individuals and I couldn't imagine being without any one of them.

Caleb: He looks the most different with his round head that's always made us think he looks like a bear. He started off being our "singleton" requiring the most attention and crying a lot but he's really become the most easy going of the trio. I'm not labeling him as the shy one but when he gets your attention he shyly buries his head. He really is a sweet boy. They all have different smiles, typically Caleb will smile with his mouth closed ear to ear.

Eli: Our singleton at the moment, I call him the monkey on my back, he seems to need the most attention which is why I think he wakes up at least once and many times twice at night. His smile is a little crooked and has a slight under-bite which makes him super cute. He loves doing his little dance were he sways from side to side.

Thomas: Mr. Confidence, the most independent of the triplets, everything he does for the first time it's like he's done it a million times before. The first time in the Bumbo he looked so relaxed and even rested his arms on it like he was sitting in a lazy-boy. The first time on a playground swing he hardly looked phased by it while his brothers were a little apprehensive. He seems to always come up with new things and keeps me cracking up with laughter, like his hand gestures and his latest were he breaths in and out quickly while puckering up his lips. He smiles with his mouth wide open making him look very mischievous now that he has teeth.

The Latest

I feel the need to blog more often now. Not because I suddenly have more time on my hands but because these guys are changing so fast and I need to capture the memories. In fact I have less time these days now that I finally settled into a routine of 3 meals of solids a day (this is on top of their 5 milk feedings during the day). I was able to fit in two no problem but was stressing out about adding in the third. It was a rough transition but I think I have the hang of it now. Everything I've read says they are technically supposed to drink the same amount of milk and solids are supposed to just add more to what they are consuming. Unfortunately this is not what is happening, I have definitely seen a decline in milk consumption. Caleb and Thomas are always offered formula after nursing and lately they hardly touch the stuff, except for the last boy to nurse at the end of the day. Not sure if it's common the see this decline but I'm hoping it's not too terrible.

So the new developments. Eli does a hand "thing" now too only it's less pronounced than his brothers. Eli has caught up with Caleb and is crawling forward now. They've left poor Thomas in the dust and they are constantly taking his toys away, I'm trying not to intervene much and just letting them 'figure' things out on their own (I've been reading and it's a tricky area with multiples, I'm trying to make sense of it). Thomas on the other hand has figured out how to sit up all by himself starting from the crawling position. I'm not sure I love this one because he sits up just fine but after a while he sometimes looses his balance and takes bad bonks to the head. He sits up were he chooses and I can't be chasing him around with a protective Boppy.

The Latest Latest

I started writing this post a week ago and had not gotten around to adding pictures and posting it. So Thomas is now crawling forward only he doesn't zip around like his brothers but prefers sitting up to play (he has better balance control now and is not bonking his head as much). Caleb and Eli zoom around the living room, which I have now fenced off for their protection, like mud sculpins and they can now sit up just like Thomas but would rather play in the crawling position.


Now Eli's hand gesture, a lot more toned down than his brothers'

T on bumbo from Janet Pittsenbarger on Vimeo.

Thomas' silly breathing thing which all the boys do now.

T sits up from Janet Pittsenbarger on Vimeo.

This is kind of old news now Thomas can sit up and end up with both legs in front of him.

Baby Babble from Janet Pittsenbarger on Vimeo.

Professional Pics take 2

Rebecca Davis of Catchlights NW did another photo shoot for us. We can't thank her enough since we could never afford to hire such a talented photographer that she is. These pictures and the newborn pics are priceless to us!

The photoshoot was about four weeks ago. This was the first time the boys wore these super cute Gap outfits (thank you Michael & Rebecca P!). I've been making the boys wear them a lot since the weather is getting warmer and they'll have outgrown them once cold weather returns.

I might send a couple of these off to a talent agent to see if the boys get hired for a commercial or something. It's a long shot but it might be a good way to exploit the triplets and have them pay for my tummy tuck! Hehehe, just kidding, but not really : )

I'm not sending pics out this time but if there is a particular one you want just shoot me an email and I'll print one out and send it to you : )

At the Beach (We Sleep Now!)

We sleep now!
Philip and I have been feeling more adventurous lately. I think it's because we have been so well rested this last month or so. The boys have been sleeping like champs. Our typical night goes like this. Caleb sleeps through the whole night 7pm-7am, the boy needs his beauty sleep! Thomas wakes up once at night but many nights he won't wake at all. Eli wakes up once or twice. They use to ALL wake up 2 or 3 times at night! Now it's really no big deal, I just nurse them back to sleep while in bed. They all start off in cribs or pack n plays and I usually wake up with two next to me. I am finally reaping MY reward for breastfeeding. No fumbling around with stupid bottles and rocking them back to sleep in the middle of the night. The best thing about them sleeping so well is that we haven't had to resort to any crying it out methods they did this all on their own!

So our latest adventure was taking the brood to the coast about 1.5hrs from Portland. We first stopped at the Blue Heron Cheese place which has a really nice shop, animals to pet, and old tractors to explore. We were tempted to do a little wine tasting but Caleb insisted we move on.

20 minutes into trying to settle into our spot on the beach made me think we had made a huge mistake coming here. Babies were crying, sand was everywhere, and we were getting mean looks from people (or maybe they were just checking out the triplets). But our good natured boys quickly adapted and were pretty much happy the rest of the time. There were lots of face plants into the sand and sand eating. Thomas alone probably ate like 4 tablespoonfuls of sand. The forecast said it was going to be 59F and overcast but it ended up being in the upper 60's and sunny, a gorgeous day. We were ill prepared no sun hats for the babies, no sunglasses for me and we all overdressed. I wasn't even going to bring the sunscreen but Phil requested it just before we left the house. The boys ended up covered head to toe in sand and no amount of dusting would be enough. When we got home the boys went straight from their car seats to the bath tub but I'm still picking out sand from their ears!

All by myself!
I went to a WIC appointment all on my own last week. I fed, changed, and loaded everyone into the car. This is no easy task since we don't have an attached garage and our drive way is too steep to bring the car any closer to the house. We were certainly not thinking 'triplets' when we were house shopping. We fell in love with our 1902 bungalow (I LOVE old houses, the older the better) mostly because of aesthetics, but I vow our next house will be purely functional and I don't care what it looks like! Ok back from that tangent. So I drove to the clinic unloaded two boys into our double stroller and I carried the third boy in a carrier. The appointment went quickly and there was not a lot of waiting around. Best of all nobody cried or got cranky.

There is definitely a sense of empowerment when a M.O.M. gets through her first day by herself with the babies and realizes "wow I CAN do this all by myself and it's not that bad!" This was another empowering moment.

They got weighed and measured:
Caleb 15lbs 15oz 25.5in
Eli 15lbs 13oz 25.25in
Thomas 16lbs 5oz 25in




Eli is practicing some ballet moves. BTW they got ripped off if they think that's a horse!

Thank God for eyelashes

That's a thumbs up for sand : P

We are prepping for our Cali trip, swim trunks (thank you Groupon) and some shirts so you can tell them apart : )

What the what!?

Onward Forward!

Urban Hiking
We had a day of 80 degree weather or as the boys call it "onesie weather." We decided to try a new park about a 1.5mile walk from our house. It's a great park with lots of playground equipment that over looks the beautiful west hills, the river and downtown. The boys, Phil and I almost melted. On the way home the only thing that kept me going was the prospect of a slurpie which by the way never happened. Curse the Plaid Pantry for removing slurpies from their selection of goodies!

Pre-kids we could have cared less for parks, playgrounds, ADA acceptable side walks (think triple stroller) and kid friendly restaurants. Now that we have the triplets we are rediscovering our neighborhood via urban hiking. Thankfully Portland is a pretty kid friendly place and very very walkable and yes real Oregonians get wet, the rain does not stop us from enjoying life although I'm very glad we are getting a break from it : )

Now that the boys are sitting up and crawling I hope that silly bald spot on the back of their heads fills in.

The boys at the park got to show off their shoulders.

The triple swing!

Onward Forward!

Caleb figured out how to crawl forward, he looks like a salamander scooting across the play mat. Eli sprouted a tooth on the bottom right just like Thomas, they all got their first teeth within 10 days of each other, boy are they identical or what?! Thomas is now trying to lift himself up (see picture below).




Caleb lunging deeper into the toy basket


Caleb making Eli laugh. Their interactions with each other include smacking each other, pulling each others hair, taking toys from each other, and now they make each other laugh.



Thomas has a one handed gesture but Caleb one up'ed him and does a two handed gesture. Sorry for the singing but it seems to encourage Caleb's ridiculous hand gestures.


Eli's signature dance he does it to all the girls he meets and it drives them crazy!


Janet and Chance framed the newspaper article about the boys when they were just born (thanks! we have it hanging on a wall already). They made it to the front page of the Metro section in the Oregonian. It will be so cool to tell them when they are older what a fuss everyone made over them. Three times on the news and one newspaper article!