15-Month Check-Up

Today we had the babies' 15-month check-up. We woke up to a surprisingly cool morning. Luckily, I had already picked up a few long-sleeve outfits for the babies, and had just yesterday gotten in some winter shoes (sometime last week I realized that it was almost October and the girls only had sandals). I was excited to get everyone dressed up in some new clothes. Of course, I took some pictures of the kids in their new digs.

Here is Piper, not very happy (someone must have told her it was pediatrician day):



She did take some time away from her crying to be nosey and look over Henry's shoulder to see what he was doing. . . .



And here's Henry all dressed up and ready to go:



SweetLittleRosemary really looked her nickname this morning:



The pediatrician appointment went well. Here are the babies' stats (based on actual, not adjusted, age):

Piper: 20 lbs. 0.5 oz. (10-25th percentile), 29 inches tall (10-25th percentile), 17.75 inch head circumference (10-25th percentile)

Henry: 20 lbs. 14 oz. (5-10th percentile), 30 inches tall (10-25th percentile), 19.25 inch head circumference (90-95th percentile)

Rosemary: 17 lbs. 8 oz. (<5th percentile), 27.25 inches tall (<5th percentile), 17.25 inch head circumference (5-10th percentile)

After the pediatrician appointment, we decided that the babies needed some Happy Meals (and yes, we did get Piper a chocolate milkshake to make up for the last spilled one, which put her in a much better mood than earlier today):





Best of all, this time the Happy Meals came with age-appropriate toys (they were out of the under 3 toys the last time) which the babies LOVE -- maybe because the toys are similar to the hammer. They are little magnifying glasses that show a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Piper grabbed her toy and took off:






After lunch the babies went to bed and took an unusually long nap. Too bad I had to go to work and couldn't join them. . . .

Fifteen Months Old

Today the babies are 15 months old.

For the longest time, I would think about what was happening a year ago -- if I was pregnant, if the babies were in the NICU, if the babies were home, etc. Now, we've had 3 kids in our home for well over a year and really just now seem to be settling into it. . . It's amazing how fast time has gone by. I thought I would be a huge baby person, but I've learned that maybe I'm not. I am LOVING seeing the babies become individuals and their own people. I'm not sorry to see the nighttime feedings, bottles, reflux, and other things go. I do miss the little cuddliness of a new baby and I would never want to skip that experience, but not so much the other things that go with it. What does alarm me about how fast everything has gone by is that it will not slow down. I don't want the next few years to go by as fast as the past year has, but everyone tells me that it will. I really wish that I could just freeze where we are now and enjoy it for a very long time.

It's been a while since I've done an update on what the babies have been doing, so here goes:

Teeth: Rosemary is leading the teeth battle. She has 12 teeth, and all 4 of her one-year molars are fully in. She is such a good teether that we were SHOCKED one day to see ALL FOUR molars had come in with pretty much no warning to us, except that Rosemary had not been eating as much as usual. Piper has 10 teeth, with only 2 of her one-year molars. Piper is not nearly the good teether that Rosemary is, and we all felt the pain of those 2 molars. Henry, well, Henry is Henry -- alway just a little bit behind. He has 6 teeth. The very tips of 2 one-year molars are starting to poke through, but have not come through yet. So far, he has been a surprisingly good teether, so I hope we keep that up.

Weight: The babies 15-month Well Baby Check-Up is on Tuesday, so we will have to wait a little while on the weights. I'm expecting Henry and Piper to pass the 20 pound mark, and Rosemary to be closing in on 18 pounds -- but we'll see soon enough.

Napping and Sleeping: We now only have one nap a day! That works so much better for us and gives us time to actually do something in the morning rather than just rush around for the nap. That started about a month ago when all of the sudden the kids were taking really long morning naps and being incredibly fussy for their afternoon nap. We decided to just stretch out the morning nap until after lunch, and after about a week it was a great success. The afternoon nap ranges from 2 to 3.5 hours. At night, the babies sleep from around 7:15 p.m. at night until 7:30 a.m.

Mobility: We have two walkers!! Piper has been walking (and running) for a while, and Rosemary really mastered the walking skill over the last weekend and rarely crawls now. Both can stand up without pulling up on anything. It looks so funny to see two kids walking around!! Henry is being Henry, but he is actually showing signs of becoming a walker. One day I swear that I could see him thinking about walking to me (he didn't). But, yesterday morning he actually took a few steps toward me and this morning, when he didn't think we were watching, we saw him take two steps. Maybe he's not far behind on walking.

Eating: We quit formula on July 7!!! The babies LOVE their organic, whole milk. They drink more milk than they did formula, and to the point where we have to give them food first so that they don't fill up on milk. We also dropped bottles on July 7, and only use straw sippy cups. Breakfast is at around 8:00 a.m., lunch around 11:30 a.m., a snack at 4:00 p.m., then the whole family sits down for a dinner at about 6:45 p.m., followed by the babies going to bed. The kids are still on table food (and play with a spoon when we remember to give one to them) and eat whatever we eat. Well, actually, they eat better than we eat sometimes. Last night, I was handling a work emergency so Gary whipped up a dinner fit for a king (wild Alaskan salmon and tator tots) for the kids, and then later Gary and I ended up snacking on whatever we could find. . . .

Words: Piper can say "Mama" and "Dada," Henry can say "Dada" and still just smiles when I try to get him to say "Mama," and Rosemary can say "Mama" and "Dada." All three of them say "mmmmmmmmmmmmm" when they want their milk. There is a lot of babbling and laughing going on, but not many other words. I love hearing the babies talk to each other when Gary and I aren't around. The best way to wake up in the morning is to hear our babies laughing and talking with each other. I have no idea what they're saying, but it must be good.

We are really having a blast with these kids. They are amazing little people.

"That Kid" in the Grocery Store

Whenever Gary and I go run errands on the weekend, we try to take one baby with us. It gives us a little one-on-one time with whoever goes, and it also gets the kids out to experience "normal" kid stuff. Usually the kids are great when we're out. They just enjoy being out and with mommy or daddy by themselves, and seeing something different.

Until this weekend.

You know that kid in the grocery store? The one who has an all-out meltdown. That was the Hammer yesterday.

I was taking a picture of Henry in the cart because I am very short on blog material for this week (maybe due to being stuck inside with the rain), so I thought it would be cute to have a picture of Henry in the grocery cart. I got one picture then he started yanking things off the conveyor belt. . . .



I told him no, took everything he had pulled off away from him and returned it, and then pushed him where he couldn't reach anything, and this happened:



Full-on meltdown. The picture cannot accurately portray what I witnessed. I just hope it didn't last for as long as it felt to me. . . .

I hope this is not the beginning of a trend. I'll definitely be taking one of the girls out with me next weekend and I can only hope that they can hold it together better than the Hammer.

Playing Outside at Nana and Papa's House

While we were at Nana and Papa's house this past weekend, Nana and Papa had lots of fun things for the kids to do outside to burn off some energy.

First, Nana and Papa pulled out a car that Sydney used to play with when she was little. The girls were HUGE fans of the car. They couldn't necessarily make the car move since their little legs are so short, but luckily they had Uncle Zac to push them all around the yard. . . .




Even though the girls liked riding in the car together, both of their little bottoms were a little wide for the seat. Rosemary solved that problem by holding the door closed as they drove around:





We're going to have to work on getting out of the car, though. . . .


Henry didn't seem to care too much for the car -- perhaps because it is pink and purple. He was a good brother, though, and made sure there was plenty of gas in it for his sisters:






And Henry also was a good brother when he decided to help Uncle Zac push Rosemary around in the car. . . .




Henry mostly just had a good time being carried around, and Uncle Zac was happy to oblige when Papa didn't have Henry.



Piper and Rosemary even tried out Sydney's old tricycle, but it's going to be a while before they get it (especially Piper).




Nana even pulled out some bubbles for the babies -- but Piper was the only one who seemed very interested in them:




After playtime in the yard, the babies had lunch then I loaded them up in the car to drive back home. They were worn out. I didn't hear a peep from anyone from about the time I pulled out of Mom and Dad's driveway until I pulled into my driveway.

P.S. Yes, the kids are wearing pajamas in these pictures. I forgot to pack enough play clothes, so the pajamas had to do!!

Ice Cream Sandwiches

While we were at Nana and Papa's house, Nana fed the babies very well. On Saturday after their snack, she gave them some (mini) ice cream sandwiches. This is the first time that the babies have had an ice cream sandwich, and it was definitely a hit!

Piper, my chocolate lover, really liked her ice cream sandwich:





Henry has turned into a huge eater these last couple of weeks, and he loves ice cream anyway, so this was a good treat for him:





Rosemary probably has the biggest sweet tooth of all three babies. She devoured her ice cream sandwich. And then she went after another one. . . .





I seriously don't understand how Rosemary is still the smallest baby. She can eat the other two under the table!!

Visiting (Great) Grandma

This past weekend I took the kids to visit my mom and dad (Nana and Papa). While we were there, we went to see my grandma (the kids' great grandma) and took some pictures.

Here I am with my dad, Grandma, and the babies:




And here is my dad, Grandma, Aunt Jack (Grandma's sister), and the babies:



And the rest of the pictures are with the whole group, Dad, Aunt Jack, Grandma, my two brothers Seth and Zac, Seth's daughter Sydney, Zac's daughter Laramy, the babies, and me (in no particular order):

Hot (well, really Mild) Wings!

Just so that that the football experience would be complete, the kids had their first taste of hot (they were really mild) wings this past Saturday night for dinner. Here's Piper:




Henry:




And Rosemary:





Overall, the kids were not as impressed with the wings as we had expected. We'll have to see how it goes the next time. . . .