What a Blessed Family We Are

Today was the girl's 11 month follow up with Dr. Bear for the developmental evaluation. I have to say the report overall was extremely good. All three girls are doing quite well and the doctor has no concern at all that any of them have any major delays that are commonly seen with preemies! WHEW!!!! We sure are blessed to have three wonderful and healthy little girls. With all the risks that we faced throughout my pregnancy, Brooke and Taylor's cords being tangled, the girls coming earlier than we expected, etc...it is a miracle they are as perfect as they are!

It gets a little confusing because the evaluation clinic at Children's uses adjusted age, while our Pediatrician uses chronological age. The percentiles are based on their adjusted age, so as if they are 8 months old Here are the stats:

Taylor:

Weight- 17.5 lbs 40th percentile
Length- 27.5 inches 70th percentile
Head Size- 17.5 inches 75th percentile


Brooke:

Weight- 17.5 lbs 40th percentile
Length- 27.25 inches 60th percentile
Head Size- 17.25 inches 75th percentile


Sydney:

Weight- 18 lbs 4 oz 55th percentile
Length- 29 inches 96th percentile
Head Size- 18.5 inches >97th percentile

Sydney will be going to Physical Therapy starting soon to get help strengthen her core muscles. These are all the muscles that need to become stronger before she can get mobile. Again, Dr. Bear is not at all concerned and thinks much of it can be chalked up to personality. Huh, that is what we thought, and now it has been confirmed. Sydney is pretty happy having things done for her, she would much rather have someone else put food in her mouth than feed herself, she would much rather scream when she is on her tummy and wait until someone comes to rescue her, than to roll on over, which we know she can do! Silly little girl!

The girls were also evaluated on five main areas of development: Cognitive (play skills), Fine Motor (control of small muscles, like in hands to pick things us), Gross Motor (control of larger muscles, like in arm and legs used to crawl and walk), Receptive Language (understanding) and Expressive Language (talking). Overall they fell in the range from 6 months(a tad behind what would be "normal" development)and 10 months, which is quite a bit ahead of where they should be adjusting for prematurity. It is really weird for me, because I see how they progress from week to week and day to day and it is hard for me to remember how tiny they were. I really don't think about the fact that they were soooooo early and so much of their health was uncertain. My goodness are we a truly blessed family!!!

The girls are definitely becoming more and more aware of each other. In the morning, Brooke and Taylor are often standing looking into each others crib. When they are all in the playroom, they always want the toy that the other one has. For example, I will put a few toys in front of Sydney and she is playing happily, then Taylor hears the music the toy makes and darts over to it and pulls it out of Sydney's reach. Of course this makes Sydney angry and she will start screaming. No sooner she starts Brooke is taking the toy from Taylor. Ugh, it is never ending. A few minutes ago I pulled out a bunch of favorite toys I had put away for a few days. All three girls happened to be hanging out together when I put all the toys down. It was so funny to watch, one would pick up a toy and then another would steal the toy, but that was okay because there were many others to grab. It was hilarious because slowly they went through all the toys, took them from one and other and then each found one that they kept for themselves, and they were occupied for five whole minutes. Yeah! It was pretty cute to see them all interact and noone got upset!!! That is what I like to see!!! I love you babes!!!

Grandma's Up North Pictures

I can not believe I forgot to include this in the my first post of our Up North vacation! One afternoon Chris and I had gone out for a little while, Grandma was at the store and Grandpa was left to fend for himself with the babies during nap time. Usually it is not a big deal because overall they are really good nappers. This particular afternoon all three girls decided to fill their diapers and wake up early. So, something I really never thought would happen, happened. Grandpa got all three up and changed their nasty little diapers!!! Now, the only reason that it was such a big deal is that Chris, Grandma, Busia and I gave the grandpa's a free pass when it come to changing the babies. So, this was huge and we have to give a big ole KUDOS to Grandpa!!! Turns out he didn't mind at all, he continued to help with the changing the rest of the trip, AWESOME!!!



We always so a lot of fun things when we are up North. We rented wave runners on day and it was a total blast!!!



Grandma and Grandpa recently bought kayaks for the lake, which is just one more enjoyable activity available at their beautiful get away.



Here is a great view of the back of the house and yard!

What a Cool Daddy!!!

I love it when Chris breaks out the guitar, and so do the girls!!! I really hope they get at least a little bit of their Father's musical talent. We already know Sydney show a definite interest in music!

I imagine playing the guitar with little ones climbing all over you is not easy! He makes it look like it is nothing!

Baby(ies) Get a New Pair of Shoes

Now that we have two almost three girls pulling themselves up I had to get some shoes on those little feet. I bought a pair for Brooke and Taylor and decided to wait for Sydney only because her feet are significantly bigger and since she is still a bit further away from pulling up and actually walking I didn't want her to grow out of them before she even needed them.

The first time I put the shoes on Brooke and Taylor it was hilarious. I think they thought they were toys and kept staring at them and grabbing them and trying to put them in their mouth. It was really cute, check it out:

Taylor:



Brooke: (for whatever reason, she was making the cutest faces ever, so I had to include them all)

It Feels Like a Little Vacation...

Monday morning we met up with Shelly and her almost three year old gals. We were laughing about how we felt like we were in CA on a vacation to the beach! It was another strange, but good, at-home-mom moment for me. It was a HOT HOT gorgeous Summer day in Milwaukee. We really are lucky to have such a beautiful lake so close to us. When I lived downtown I would drive along the lake in the morning to work and I would always call Lake Michigan "my little ocean". I do miss being on the East side and so close to the lake front!

I feel very fortunate to have met Shelly and her beautiful girls. She is so super energetic and encouraging to me. It is strange that I have only known her for about six months and it feels like soooooo much longer. She is so awesome to spend time with and chat about the whole "triplet experience"!!! I find a lot of comfort in talking with her and realizing that things I think and feel are so normal for a Mom of triplet girls. I still can't get over how much we have in common. She has motivated me to join a Mom's group called MOPS, it stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. They meet every other week and the girls will get to play with other kids. The Moms get to chat about being Moms, listen to speakers, learn creative things to do with their kids, etc...

Taylor, Hailey, Brooke, Emily, Sydney and Addison (left to right)



Poor Taylor, got a handful of sand and naturally took it right to her mouth. She was not happy having me attempt to get it out and of course a picture too.


By the way, pushing a 90ish pound jogger through the sand is one heck of a workout. It was soooooo hot out and I was soaked by the time I got the girls to the van!!!

Our First Trip to the Zoo!

With Auntie Ang in town we were looking for something fun to do for her last day. We (Busia, Papa, Ang and I) decided a trip to the Zoo was the perfect activity on a perfect Summer day. Even though the girls are not old enough to really enjoy the animals, being out and about with a lot of activity and things to look at, can't hurt a bit! When Ang took Taylor out of the stroller because she was a bit fussy, she was in heaven. She didn't stop smiling the entire time, she loves seeing people and giving them big smiles. Auntie Ang knew just what she needed!!! It was also really cute to hear her talk to Taylor about the animals:) All the girls did amazing being out and missing the afternoon nap. I can't wait to bring them when they are old enough to talk and learn about the animals!!!

Great times with Auntie Ang

Auntie Ang spent four days with us this past weekend. She had business in MN and hopped a plane to WI for a long weekend. It was a great time!!! We had a blast playing around with the girls, showing Auntie all the things they have learned to do and to top off the weekend we took them to Zoo a la carte on her last day in town!!! We are so excited that she, Uncle Eric and their other Auntie Beth will be here in a few short weeks for the girls baptism!!!

Auntie having fun with Syd:




A whole lot of blue eyes here...


Auntie Ang always brings the girls very unique gifts from her travels around the world and US. She bought these adorable kimono type outfits in Japan:

She bought these sweet dresses in Philly, one has turtles, one has crabs and one has butterflies:

She has also brought back a crib toy from Paris, jumpers with onesies from somewhere in Europe ( I can't remember which country)and the angel tee shirts from Florida. I think the dresses the girls wore out to dinner for Busia's B-day were from Minneapolis. I am sure there are things I am forgetting, but she always does too much for them, but we really appreciate her generosity!!!

Thanks so much for making the trip to see us, we love spending time with you!!! Oh, and you are AMAZING with your nieces!!!

Everyday is Something New...

Lately it seems like everyday there is something new and exciting going on here. I guess that is a function of having three babies the same age doing new things at different times. It is soooooo much fun to be with these beautiful little girls!!! They are so sweet and each have such a great demeanor! We are blessed!!!

SYDNEY:

She has been such a delight, she had a few rough days a few weeks ago that I attribute to her two front teeth coming in. She is super smiley and has even been happy when placed on her tummy. It was such a struggle for awhile to get her good tummy time because she would cry immediately. That has changed, and she is wiggling around and trying to get her legs in the crawling position. She moves around in circles and backwards, she sure is making great progress.

She is also doing really well when we put her in the kneeling position, she tries to get her feet under herself as if to pull up, but is not quite strong enough to do it on her own just yet. With a little help she pops up to the standing position and does quite well. The thing we worry most about with this is that since she is not crawling around finding things to pull herself up on, she is not learning how to catch herself when she looses her balance and falls(it is amazing to see how B and T have really learned how to fall without hurting themselves over the course of a day or two). At this point if Syd were to fall from the standing position she would do a massive face plant which we obviously do not want to happen. One of her favorite things to do is the sit stand game where she pulls herself up using our hands, get a kiss on the nose and then plops back down into the sitting position. She laughs and likes to do it over and over.

Also, today for the first time, when Busia and Papa went upstairs to get her from her afternoon nap she was on her tummy!!! AND she was not screaming. I would have loved to see exactly how that happened because she does not typically do a lot of rolling around. She is also doing much better with strengthening her core muscles, she is able to stay on her stomach longer and pulls up higher and higher. Way to go sweetie you have come sooooooo far and we are very proud of you!!!

You may have heard me mention this before but it amazes me how much Sydney responds to music!!! Chris downloaded a piano keyboard on his iPad and she absolutely goes crazy banging on the keys. We may have a little musician on our hands. It is very entertaining to watch her when the music starts she reacts immediately with a bounce, a head bob or stretches her arms out as if she wants to dance. Music really seems to make this little one happy!!!



I have to note that Sydney has four teeth, two top and two bottom!!! Well, let's make that five, I just today noticed she has her left eye tooth almost half in. I swear they are dropping overnight around here.


TAYLOR:

This little lady has come a long way in the past week! She started pulling up on her own and like her older sister is all over the place pulling on onto everything. She sometimes crawls on all fours, but she gets around faster dragging her tummy across the floor.


I think she has been having a little trouble the past few days with her teething. It looks like one of her front teeth is about to cut through. She seems a little off and a little more tired, but still is her sweet smiley little self whose smile is contagious!!! She is totally our social butterfly. She loves seeing new people and always gives huge smiles!!! When we were at the Zoo she had a permanent grin on her face the entire time Auntie Ang was carrying her around and she could see all the people!

Taylor also has been a rock star eater lately!!! She does a great job feeding herself, especially the little pancakes I have been giving her. She makes quite a soggy mess, but manages to get the pieces into her mouth and ends up eating by far the most compared to her sisters! I love a healthy appetite.

A few days ago, Taylor started doing this thing with her hands that is really hard to explain, so I am going to have to try my hardest to get it on video. I describe it as if she is playing the drums, she moves her fists up and down really fast. She seems to do it when she is happy, so quite often, or when she seems excited, like if she sees food coming her way. Or, sometimes she does it when I am changing her diaper, it really is the cutest thing ever.

Taylor still picks up things with her feet and tries to hold things too!!! It is so cute to see and it really doesn't matter what it is, her sippy cup, a toy or a ball she is always putting her tootsies to good use!!!



BROOKE:

This little child has a desire for adventure, she is all over the place!!! She has now mastered how to catch herself, so when she looses her balance she does not plant her face into the ground. I love to see how she learned to prevent the falls. Now, that said when she is getting tired, toward the end of the day she has more mishaps. She has let go completely a few times to test the waters, and wobbles her way down to the floor, but she is getting so strong and is well on her way to being a walker.

She never takes the easy route, obstacles are no challenge to her. Whether it be our legs, her sisters, a pillow or the new rocking cow toy (pictured here) she would rather go over than around, way to take the rough road baby girl!


In the last week she has also started talking, A LOT!!! Auntie Ang pretty much taught her to say DADA and now that is her favorite thing to say. She has an adorable sweet little voice.

For some reason Brooke has become more and more pf a snuggle big lately. I am not really sure why, but throughout the day she crawls over to me and climbs up on me and just wants to sit and chill with me. I absolutely love this, it really is sweet. Sometimes, I know she has a motive...to get to my lap top, or to use me to get to the remote, or camera or something else she shouldn't have on the sofa. Why is it that kiddos always want these things???

This picture is the look I get a lot from her and I just love, she a nice full set of lips on her, aren't they beautiful??!!

Sydney Being Very Silly

I am not really sure what got into Sydney today, but when I saw her making these funny faces and acting silly, I started totally egged her on. I really should have taken video because it was hilarious. I did not because I don't know how to disable the sound and if anyone heard the silly stuff I was doing to keep her having such a blast, I would be quite embarrassed. (Sort of like the video of Taylor rolling over for the first time and I freaked out in excitement and it really was just a fluke, she didn't really roll over for a month or so later.) I can't help myself including all the pictures, but it was so fun to see her so into whatever it was that she was into. I guess it was her cup, who knew, $1 at the dollar store well spent!










By the way all of these shots were taken in less than one minute!