Happy 11 months!

I know I haven't really done anything for the other months, but I thought yesterday that maybe I could put them in some cute outfit and at least take a picture.  I'm starting to realize that I may never get a good picture of the three of them where they're all looking, smiling, etc..  Olivia was the best at sitting and staying put today,  Tony was good at staying put, but was not the happiest.   (We later discovered that he has a 100 degree temperature and was basically miserable throughout the rest of the day/evening until he went to bed.)
Amelia was the happiest, but kept trying to crawl off the couch.  We kept putting her back but then it became a game to her - crawling forward for us to push her back.  She was really giving us some good smiles/laughs.  Too bad the others weren't smiling.  Here's how the photo shoot went.

This was probably the best one - but the shot was only gotten because Tony was playing a song on his phone to distract them.

Amelia on the move...

Amelia about to go again after being put back...

Nice smiles, but no one's looking at the camera!

Amelia about to take off!

Tony falling over - Amelia ready to go again and Olivia just wondering what's going on.

The end of the session.  I love Amelia's look - what's wrong Tony?

 The rest of the afternoon/evening was terrible.  I thought that by taking them for a dip in the kiddie pool, it would calm them down or at least burn off some energy, or cool little Tony down despite the 100 degree weather we've been having, but it did none of those things.  After we came back inside, it was just all crying screaming and yelling  - and that was just all from Tony and I.  Well no, but we did do some yelling because we had to try and talk over the crying and screaming of the babies!  Amelia has such a high pitched scream - I swear she could break glass!  I won't go into any details, but I'm just glad their in bed and sleeping (who knows for how long, but for now they are!)  I will share the laugh I did have for the evening amongst all the chaos.  After they finished eating, I brought each baby upstairs and put them in their cribs.  I had to give Olivia and Amelia baths because Olivia had given herself an oatmeal facial and hair treatment and Amelia choked on a multi-grain Cheerio and threw up a little.  I removed Amelia's onesie when I put her into her crib and then went to give Olivia her bath.  When I returned, Amelia was standing in her crib totally nude!  She had pulled her diaper completely off and all I could do at that point was laugh - and right after look around for any poop in her crib!  All clear (thankfully), but after I finished with her, I heard the sound of ripping velcro again, but this time from little Tony's crib!  He got his off too, but his wasn't off for very long, thankfully!
On a side note, we were able to figure out how much little Tony weighs.  We had called the pediatrician's office and spoke with Dr. Booker - the ped on call.  He suggested that we give him a higher dose of the medication to help reduce the fever, but only if he's more than 18 lbs.  Now I know that trying to weigh a baby shouldn't be that difficult - but our digital scale's batteries were shot and I don't normally keep extras of these small round flat batteries around.  We thought about using the food scale, but it only goes up to 15 lbs so we eventually used the Wii balance board.  He was too light to register on his own, but we basically had to weigh one of ourselves and then again holding him.  By the way, he weighs exactly 20lbs.  On another side note, Amelia weighs 17.1 lbs as of last week.  I guess we'll have to weigh Olivia - just so we have all of their weights around this time.
One last picture - of Olivia with her sippy cup.  She's a pro with it at this point.  Basically, she's only drinking from the sippy cup (apple juice highly watered down) because she doesn't want her bottle!

Well, I'm off to bed before someone wakes up!

Mutiny!

For about the past week, the trio has started boycotting their bottles.  I'm not sure if it's the hot humid weather or just a natural change that was bound to happen, but we actually had all three of them not wanting their bottles starting on the 4th! Normally they each drink about 24 oz each day - broken up into 4 feedings, but lately Olivia and Tony have only been drinking 2/4 bottles.  Amelia has been drinking her bottles really well and eating her solids as well, but not sure what's going on with the other two.  They eat their solids easily, but worried about them getting dehydrated.  The past two days, Olivia's diaper smells so badly of ammonia, I know she's not getting enough water.  She's been getting her sippy cup with some apple juice and water.  Actually, they've all been getting sippy cups, because if they don't all get one, they fight over them.  Who am I kidding, I saw Amelia try to take Olivia's from her, even though she had her own!  Olivia and Tony are the best with the sippy cups - Amelia still needs to work at it. 

We had a nice 4th of July - we spent the afternoon with Beth, her husband Jay and Melanie - their daughter and our three day a week baby sitter/helper.  We had some hot dogs and hamburgers that they brought and Tony grilled.  The trio had some great pool time and the rest of us didn't even mind getting splashed because it was pretty hot outside.  We didn't go to see any fireworks - it was after their bedtime and figured they'd be scared by the noise if we did keep them up.  I was worried that they'd wake up because of the noise, but they didn't and all was well.  I'm thinking for the years to come I might as well purchase hearing protection for them - for occasions such as this that I want to protect their little ears. 
We didn't actually have 'matching' outfits for the 4th, so no real photo op, but we did receive a cute little outfit for little Tony from Uncle Kevin and Aunt Natalie.

                                                           check out that pose!!! Mr. Independent!

Just a few pictures of the other 'mutiny' that I witnessed this morning as I entered their room to get started for the day.  All three of them work up early this morning, but neither Tony or I was ready to get up at 6:30 when they awoke, so they just played (mostly quietly) in their cribs until I went in their room at 7am. 

So basically what I saw is all of their stuffed animals and pacifiers on the floor in  front of each of their cribs.  I just started laughing out loud and then eventually picked everything up and tossed it back into their crib. 

Not much else this week - that I can remember but here are a few other pictures from the week.

                                                          Olivia in a really pretty dress we got from Nancy in my MoM's club.

                                                           Little Tony inside baby jail

Figuring out ways to escape baby jail - hopefully not very soon!

Olivia standing on the bowl to get a little higher and closer to getting out!

       

Amelia playing nicely - her cuts and scrapes from the incident with the dog are healing nicely.

                                         

Another weekend ends...

I notice that the video from the last post never loaded so I'm working on that now, but wanted to jot down some updates on the trio.
Everyone is able to feed themselves - puffs, cheerios, etc.  and it's so cute to watch them do it.  Tony stuffs a bunch into his palm and just smushes his hand to his face.  Amelia seems to prefer eating O's and puffs over anything else sometimes and Olivia seems to swallow the foods whole - she's so fast eating.  Tony now, along with Olivia is starting to hold his own bottle, but he still likes us to hold him sometimes.  Olivia can now stand on her own!  She can have something in each hand and just stand in the middle of her crib or the play yard - and she can stand for quite a while before getting back down.  Amelia is just starting to stand on her own, but can only do it for a second or two, while Olivia can stand for probably at least 30 seconds. They all can maneuver in the walkers pretty well now and create a traffic jam in the kitchen almost every day.  Tony is tarting to get the baby gates ready to be installed or at least they're out of the box - it's a start!  They've been going in the pool alot lately too - Amelia seems to be the one that likes it the most - she's the one that splashes around most.  She loves her bath too - I'm thinking she's going to be my swimmer! 
Speaking of Amelia - something unfortunate happened this weekend that I debated on even posting about, but decided to do it.  Tony set her down on the floor and she of course went crawling over to the dog.  We heard him growl and then the next thing we know she's crying and the dog is scurrying away.  I didn't even know what exactly happened, but we're thinking that she got scratched on her face in several spots from the dogs paw/claws because he was trying to protect his bone.  He thought she was a threat because she was on all fours crawling toward him.  I felt and still feel terrible that this happened and that I wasn't able to protect her better.  I'm ready to get rid of the dog, but Tony says no.  I'm not understanding why he won't even consider it - the dog obviously has some issues with food aggression - not necessarily with me or Tony but with other animals - we've seen it before with him and I don't want this to happen again.  We did take her to the pediatrician and he said that all the scratches are superficial and will heal up, but my poor baby looks terrible.  I feel horrible and like the worst parent around because this happened with both of us sitting right there.  I asked the doctor if he would consider getting rid of the dog and he stayed neutral and didn't really give his opinion other than saying it's your decision and this scenario is not black and white.  If the situation was different - like she got mauled by the dog or we couldn't separate the two of them, it would be different - there wouldn't be any question about not keeping the dog.  I just don't know - and not sure if I'll be able to trust the dog again - especially with food in the equation.  The dog was fine today - no problems whatsoever, but again, I keep thinking he could snap at any time. 

Pool Party!

I've been meaning to post this all week long, but never got the chance until now and well, I really should be sleeping like Tony is right now - on the couch to my left - but this will mostly be pictures and a video because the pictures really say it all.
Last weekend we decided to pull out the kiddie pool that we bought a few weeks ago.  Actually, Tony had bought a bigger blow up pool, but as soon as I saw it, I knew that it wouldn't last very long so we haven't even tried it.  The dog LOVES going in the water and getting sprayed by the hose and there's no way we're going to keep him out of the pool and his claws would most certainly rip a hole in the blow up pool the first time he got in it.  I'm still trying to convince T to return it... So anyways, we ended up getting a hard plastic purple pool that has an elephant's head and trunk that comes into the middle that shoots a spray of water from the hose.  The weather has been pretty hot around here and thought that the water would be warm enough for them.  T's mom had also bought matching bathing suites for the girls with cover ups and some swim trunks and a hat for little T.  So after lunch, we lathered them up with sunscreen and put them in the swim diapers we got from Aunt Lori and dressed in their swim gear.  Tony set up a 'baby staging area' using the four extra pieces of the super play yard fencing so we had a place to put them before we got all of them outside.  One by one they were sat in the pool and it didn't take them very long to start splashing around and exploring the fountain or the many bath toys that they really don't get to play with in the bathtub.  They had a blast!  Here are a few pictures of them playing...

                                         and here's one of Olivia in the 'holding/staging area' afterwards

                                       and finally one of little Tony in his super cute hat!

We have a couple videos of the pool party - but here's one...

Happy Father's Day... a little late

I actually feel terrible that I didn't do more for Tony for Father's Day.  I had a bunch of ideas but because I wasn't feeling well the whole week before, none of them actually happened.  I ordered a cute t-shirt for him from Cafe Press, but it hasn't come yet.  I also had a great idea to make him a card that would be from the babies.  We had some onesies that were actually from Thanksgiving last year that were 6 month size, but were more like 9 month so they all still fit into them!  I was able to get the trio dressed and out the door while Tony was taking a break in the basement.  I wanted to see if I could find a good photo spot and ended up over at his parents house using a few of their many potted flowers they had for the background.  What I've learned is that it will never be easy to get them all smiling and looking at the camera at the same time.  I tried 'morphing' two of the best pictures to get one good one, but then something happened and when I went to print it out to make the card, I only ended up with 2 of the 3 babies!  I was so annoyed and tired as it was about 11pm when I was able to get around to doing this that I just gave up.  Here are a few of the pictures I was able to get.

The Baptistm (overdue)

I realized after writing the last post that I never did post any pictures or info on the baptism.  We finally got the babies 'exorcised' on May 27th.  I use this term because it was used during the video that we watched at the church a few weeks beforehand and I found it funny.  It was at St. James Catholic Church right in our little town of Jamesburg.  We arrived on time, but the priest was a little tardy so everyone, including the babies were getting a little antsy waiting. 

Well, Olivia was getting bit antsy.  She actually got a hold of a church program and started to eat it.  Amelia was good as long she was being held.

For little Tony, the whole thing was just a bit tiring...

Once the priest arrived, everything moved very quickly... I feel bad at this point that I wasn't paying as much attention to the proceedings that I probably should have, but I wanted to get at least a few pictures because I knew everyone else was occupied holding the babies so they couldn't take any!  Amelia was looking beautiful in her dress and also having fun with her Godfather - Uncle Steve.

Olivia also looked beautiful during the mass.  Here she is being held by her God mother - Aunt Natalie.

Little Tony was a handsome little man in his shorts suit, but he was too tired to care... Here he is being held by his Godmother - 'Aunt' Beth.

He woke up while the water was being poured over his head.  I have to mention that each of them did very well, we had no crying whatsoever.  Here's a few pictures of them each being 'cleansed'

Everything was over and done before we knew it and we didn't have a chance to take any pictures afterwards because we needed to leave the church because they needed to set up for the afternoon mass.  I guess if we had thought about it, we would have taken our trio pictures before but there was a bit of tension in the air for a lot of reasons that I won't get into in this blog.  I actually didn't get pictures of the party afterwards either but everyone had a good time.  The food was great thanks to Aunt Beth and Cafe Napoli and Amici Bakery.  The first bit of excitement/commotion was the dog getting out the front door and running down the street - and then watching a bunch of other people start running after him.  A special thanks to cousin Zachary for actually catching up with Buddy and bringing him back home.
All of the kids had fun with the bubbles that Aunt Natalie brought over and baby jail (the play yard) was a big hit.  We brought it out to help corral the babies but all of the kids wanted to get inside! 
Since we didn't get any pictures of the three of them that day, we dressed them up in their dresses/suit so we could get a good shot to send as thank you cards.  We actually didn't get any with them all looking in the same direction, but luckily because I took so many in a row, the photo editor on this computer was able to morph two of the best shots into one and we got this one. 

I have one final picture that I had to take and post because it's hilarious, but I'm probably going to HE double hockey sticks for it - but it speaks for itself.  My little Amelia :)

Big weekend!

I've been very lax lately, and know there are alot of things I should write about, and hopefully I'll remember most.  This past week, my trio hit their 10 month birthday.  I can't believe where the time has gone.  I look at pictures of when I first brought them home and look at them now and am amazed at how far we've all come. 

Amelia is still our smallest - weighing between 15-16 lbs as of a few weeks ago.  She can crawl pretty fast now and easily pull herself up from sitting and can cruise along the inside of the baby cage.  She still has her good/bad times with eating but we're keeping a food log to see if there's any sort of pattern to her not wanting to eat.  It doesn't seem like there is, but I can tell that if she's forced to finish her bottle, she will no doubt throw it up.  We go back to the pediatrician on Tuesday as a follow up from her being sick a few weeks ago and to see if she's putting back on the weight she had lost while being sick.  She's still our most 'sensitive' baby and will cry when she falls over whereas the other other two seem to take their lumps a little better.  She can also be the most smiley baby at times - so you never know!  She's got 3 teeth (two bottom and one on top) in and the other top tooth is appearing.  She's mostly wearing 9 month clothes, but can still fit into some 6 month stuff.  She continues to be a good sleeper/good nap taker and everyone says she looks just like me. 

Little Tony is my sweet little man.  He's such a happy baby and has mastered the ability to pull himself up on anything and everything like his sisters.  He is a great eater (he weighs between 18-19 lbs) but not such a great sleeper.  I've learned that he likes to stay up later after he eats his dinner.  If he gets put to bed right after he eats, he'll just cry in his crib.  Lately, I'll just pick him up and sit with him for about 10 minutes on my bed quietly and then put him back in bed.  He seems to go right to sleep after that.  Tony doesn't want me to get him into this 'habit' but I honestly don't mind doing it most nights because I don't usually get to spend alot of time with each baby (individually).  So this is my time with him and I enjoy every second of it.  He will also be seeing the pediatrician on Tuesday as a follow up from his ear infection.  Sometimes when he cries at night, I'm thinking that the infection is coming back and I really don't want that - those were some bad sleepless nights.  Despite him being a great eater, he's terrible at taking medicine.  He HATES it - not sure if it's the flavor or texture, but either way, it's a struggle to have him drink it.  He's got his two bottom teeth, but the two top ones will be emerging very soon and he's fitting into 9 month clothes these days.

Olivia continues to amaze me with everything I see her doing.  We were at my cousin's house today for a visit and we didn't have the baby gates up and I was able to watch how fast she can crawl!  She's can really get around.  She's able to stand up without assistance for about 30 seconds at a time (not holding onto anything) and I love to watch her as she figures out new toys.  What I don't love to watch is her being a bully.  She's the one who steals the toys away from her brother or sister.  They'll be playing with something and the next thing you know - she has it.  She also is the biggest hair puller.  She'll even tug on the hair of whomever is getting their diapers changed (because her crib is right there.)   I just hope she doesn't do what I've heard from other people about their multiples - bite each other.  She's got 7 teeth and more are coming in.  She's still the one with the most drool, but the tooth cutting doesn't seem to bother her too much.  She's around the same weight as Tony, but doesn't have an appt with the pediatrician although she'll becoming along with the gang.  I'd actually like her to be seen because she still has a cough.  It's one of those loud rough wet coughs, but we're not able to give her any meds to clear her out so we just continue to use the humidifier.  She's not as congested (snotty) as she was but still has the cough - poor baby!

So this weekend marked our first baby hair cut.  Little Tony's hair was getting pretty shaggy and we decided to get it done because Tony had to get his done too.  Here's a few pictures of the experience.  Tony's mom came and saw what a good little boy he was.  He didn't cry at all and both ears are still intact!  Olivia and Amelia were also good babies while they waited for their brother's hair to be done.

                                                          his before picture....

                                         Little Tony watching as his daddy got his hair cut!

                                         Amelia and Olivia waiting patiently...

                                                          during the cut...

                                                          and the after!

Today we took a short road trip to my cousin Tracy's house.  A little back story on what prompted this visit.  I belong to a triplet mom facebook page and noted that someone had posted that she'd like to donate her unused Alimentum formula to someone who has triplets.  The only problem is that she lives in Connecticut.  I emailed her a few times and we were able to work something out to get me the formula for my little peanut, Amelia.  This MoM got the formula through her insurance to didn't feel bad just giving it away.  This was really cool of her and can't believe others' generosity and makes we want to help others when I can.  Well, the pick up of the formula included my Uncle who lives very close to where this MoM's father works in Tarrytown.  It all worked out and I came home after a nice visit with about 60 bottles of the ready to feed formula.  This should likely get us to a year old when she may not have to drink too much more formula.

This past week, I also got together for my MoM club's 'instillation' dinner.  The best part of the whole thing other than the food was the kindness of a fellow MoM.  She had brought me 3 huge bags of clothes for the babies.  Speaking of other MoM's - I met a fellow triplet mom - she started the local consignment shop in town (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Rascals-Consignment-Shop/144569045657227).  There isn't anything I need right now, but I'm sure this place will come in very handy in the near future!

I think that's about all for tonight, I'm beat!

Wait one more really cute picture !  I took this today.  So fun to watch them in their walkers!  This was the traffic jam that was created by Olivia!

                                                          Hilarious!  Olivia is the one looking back to see the chaos she's created and Amelia is crying cause she's stuck and Tony - well, he's just chillin'!