Saturday, April 28, 2012

SIX month olds!

Many people have said the first year with multiples is about survival, and, yes there have been a couple of days like that, but I'm pretty determined that this first year is going to be about enjoying my boys and our adventures, too. So far, I think we are doing pretty well. Of course, we've been blessed with good sleepers which I'm guessing makes all the difference. All three of the boys have been sleeping through the night for the last 3ish weeks and before that they've only really had one wake up for a couple of months. We have a rough night here and there, but the vast majority of time the boys go down at around 8:30 and we don't hear a peep until 6 and often then I have to wake them up to feed them before work. So I would say, with it half way behind us, we are more than surviving our first year and can't believe how fast it's going! Happy 6 months boys, we LOVE you sooo much.



This week, we had our 6 month visit and the boys are all doing really well. Victor is still our little bug weighing in at 10 lbs 14 oz, still growing just not quite as fast as his brothers who both weighed 12 lbs 2 oz today. They got their 6 months vaccines and are such little troopers, I think they handle the trauma better than mom. The doctor gave us the ok to stop fortifying my breast milk to make it higher calorie for both Oscar and Mylo and all three boys get to start eating solids! This is great news since I've been able to keep up with them breastfeeding so far and have been really happy that I've made it this far, but the freezer stash that we had built up when they were really little is starting to dwindle and I was hoping to keep going for a year since that will help them stave off illness and given what I get exposed to everyday through school I feel so much better if I'm giving them that little barrier. With solid food, their volumes should level off a bit so I can continue to keep up!


We also met with the Birth to 3 teachers from our district so that we can begin services for the boys to make sure they are able to keep up with their friends who weren't preemies. They all qualify for these services because of their low birth weights, but based on their testing, only Victor would qualify for this based on testing alone! More great news as this means our boys are not delayed when you take into account their adjusted age. We are well aware that they are higher risk for developmental and motor delays so we are excited to continue working with our friends from the birth to three program to be certain that if anything comes up we identify it early so we can continue to give the boys all the advantages they deserve. As a teacher in the community I live in, it's been fun seeing our district from a parent perspective and I'm enjoying looking at education from a whole new point of view!

Here at home the boys are more and more fun by the minute, which makes going to work each morning harder and harder. We're very lucky that Grandma Pat (my mom) is able to stay with us so that we have her amazing child care experience and loving arms caring for the boys while we're at work, but it's still very hard for me to walk out the door each day. The boys are all laughing and smiling and are having a lot of fun playing with toys and checking out the world around them. They are paying more attention to each other which is fun when they are studying each other during play time and a challenge when they are trying to get rid of the other one when I'm tandem feeding them. We also had our first big family outing to Grandma Monica and Grandpa Norm's for Easter at Aunt Margaret's so the adventures are just beginning!



Mylo's laugh is a full on giggle and today he just couldn't hold back when watching Jovian play fetch, of course every time I got the camera out he got serious and studied the camera instead so I finally got his giggle on camera a little later, but the video doesn't do justice to the rolls of laughter that we had earlier!





All the boys like their baths (well Oscar and Victor like it, Mylo tolerates which is a step in the right direction) and Oscar breaks out his frog legs and kicks like crazy.






Our first food was squash from Grandpa and Grandma's garden and it was pretty yummy. Oscar still isn't sure about it, Mylo wanted nothing to do with it the first day, but then went to town the second and Victor took to it right from the start! None of them are eating much yet, but it sure is fun to watch their silly faces and I can't wait to see them getting new tastes as time goes on!



So you can see we are growing up fast and mommy and daddy can barely keep up, but we are enjoying (almost) every minute of it!


Monday, April 2, 2012

FIVE MONTHS?! Really?!


Time has surely flown and I can't believe I have 5 month old babies. We're having a blast as they grow and interact more and more each day! It's fun to hear them jabber away even if their most common word is "Ahgoo". I love the sound of all of their voices and we are lucky enough to have very happy babies all around. Don't get me wrong, they let us know when they are ready to eat or tired and ready for bed, but for the most part they enjoy smiling and talking and playing when they aren't sleeping. Here are my sweet 5 month old boys:


Oscar is our man on the move (if you remember back to our isolette days, this is nothing new). He will squirm and wiggle from morning until night and when you're ready to put him down for a nap he likes to squirm while rocking and after a bit of squirming and rocking he has this very resigned sigh that says "I suppose I have to sleep now, fine" and then the eyes finally get glassy and out he goes. He's full of smiles especially when he's wailed bloody murder to get you to come in and check on him during nap or night time and then the minute you head to pick him up out of his crib--GIANT smile (you know, the "I got you" smile). Oscar's blue eyes will capture your heart a thousand times over.
Mylo is our chunky monkey and rarely will he be the last to eat and when he's done he loves to play! Mylo is a HUGE fan of the playmat and loves batting at the hanging toys, his arms just go and go and go! When he's not hungry, Mylo is pretty mellow and just likes to lay and play. Mylo has a great smile complete with a perfect dimple on his right cheek, it used to be a rare treat to catch that smile, but he shares it freely now and it's so fun to watch. He also loves to tell stories. Mylo's super cheeks continue to win my heart and reassure me when I'm worried whether they are getting enough to eat! 
Victor is our most patient little man and still loves to just sit back and observe the world around. He is getting more and more vocal by the minute though and I believe that every noise that comes out of his mouth is a carefully chosen word full of meaning. Even his cries sound like words, complaining words, but words nonetheless. That said, those cries aren't very common and his smiles are whole body smiles. Today, I was reading a story that I read to him every day we were in the hospital. It had been a while and I didn't look down at him until a couple of pages in and he was just beaming, I guess he missed hearing that familiar story because he certainly enjoyed it today! There's no way you can miss a Victor smile because it beams with every muscle in his body.