Bumbos, Swaddles, & Solids

We just keep changing things around here and there have been a lot of changes just this week.  The babies are growing and getting stronger every day.  Now they can sit in their Bumbos!  Yes, we are still using our Bumbos despite the recall.  Bumbos are great as long as you use them with some common sense. They love to sit up and look around.

We no longer have to swaddle the babies before they go down for nap or bedtime.  We have swaddled them since day one.  They sleep so good when they are swaddled.  At first, we used blankets and when they got too big and strong for regular blankets we used the SwaddleMe blankets with velcro closures.  The velcro made it harder for them to bust out. They were getting too big for the SwaddleMe blankets so I worked them out of them by first only swaddling one arm, then swaddling them with both arms out, and then we moved to the zip up sleeper blankets at night.  I am so glad because it cuts down on my laundry and I don't have to swaddle babies 15-20+ times a day.

We started solids.  For now, we are only eating rice cereal.  They definitely aren't crazy about it, but who would be happy about eating bland rice cereal.  I can't wait to start adding in more foods.  I plan to make baby food for the boys because buying baby food for three would be quite costly. More to come on that later.

Meeting Santa

After a great Thanksgiving day out of town, Derek and I were feeling brave and confident about taking the babies out.  Derek was asked to help take Santa pictures at a local tree lighting celebration in town. I did not want to pass up the opportunity to get the boys picture taken with Santa, especially if Daddy was the one taking the pictures.  Derek's parents came to help me with all the boys while we were there.  It was great to get the boys out and do something fun.  They had their picture taken with Santa.  He was awesome.  He didn't even blink at the idea of holding three babies all at once.  He said he had experience with triplets.  The best thing was no one cried.  This is a big deal because Ben has cried the past two years.  This year Ben was all business.  He climbed up next to Santa and was on his best behavior.  After the picture with all the boys, Santa took Ben in his lap and talked to him.  He asked him what he wanted for Christmas and Ben told him a blue bike.  It was so sweet!

We had a great time at the tree lighting festivities.  Still feeling courageous, we decided to take the babies out to eat for the first time after the tree lighting.  I'm not sure what the hostesses thought when we walked in with two double strollers, a single stroller, two toddlers, and 4 infants.  It took us a few minutes to get everyone situated around the table, but we managed it.  The babies were on their best behavior at dinner.  We had great time eating dinner with our friends and it was nice to feel normal again.  Another successful first!

Thanksgiving- The First Out of Town Trip

My little turkeys
Tyler, Chase, Ryan

 I have been mentally preparing for this day for months.  Just the thought of loading all four children up in the car, travelling two hours in the car to Chattanooga, visiting both of our families and then loading back up and driving two hours home was exhausting.  We were determined to have Thanksgiving with our family.  I packed everything the night before.  The babies had two large diaper bags to hold everything they would need plus extra (I did not want to run out of anything) and one small backpack for Ben.  We woke up around 6:00 am, fed the babies, got everyone ready and were out the door by 7:30 am.  Luckily, we had an extra set of hands because my sister had spent the week with us. The babies were amazing in the car.  We barely heard a peep from any of them.  Ben watched a movie during the drive.  He loves mommy's new van.  Derek and I were able to enjoy a two hour car ride together like we were the only ones in the car.  Derek even joked that we forgot to put the kids in the car.

The entire day was wonderful.  It was so great to visit with family.  I enjoyed all the extra help.  I don't think I fed a baby all day!  The babies did awesome away from home.  I think they enjoyed the change of scenery and all the special attention.  They could hardly eat for wanting to see everything around them.

Ben, watching a movie in the van.

Playing at Uncle Jason's and Aunt Jen Jen's house

Tyler checking out cousin Cooper

Uncle Scott and Aunt Chrissi

Ben and Uncle Scott

Nana Bell and Chase

Cousin Sarah and Tyler

Chase, playing at Pops and Nanny Jeffery's house

Ryan, hanging out at Pops and Nanny Jeffery's house

Nannie Daniel and Tyler

So, from the pictures it looks as though Tyler was held all day while the other two played on the floor.  I can assure you this was not the case.    They all received attention.  Tyler must be more photogenic than the other two.  We are going to have to make it a point to make sure we get pictures of each of them.

Pops Jeffery and Tyler

Ben pretending to talk to Santa at Pops' house.
He knows Christmas is coming...

The car ride home was just as peaceful.  All four boys slept the entire way home.  When we got home we put Ben in his bed and left the babies in their car seats and placed them in the nursery.  We didn't hear a peep until 6:30 am the next morning.  If out of town trips are this easy, we can do this a lot more!

4 Month Check-up

The babies' four month check up went great today.  They are all growing and healthy!  Since we haven't been out in public a whole lot, it still makes me laugh to see other peoples reactions when we come strolling in with three babies.  I just smile back my proudest mommy smile.

Stats:   (Percentiles are based on a full term baby and remember my little guys were 5 weeks early!)

Chase: 14 lbs. 13oz   50th percentile!!!
            25.5 inches    75th percentile!!!!

Ryan:  13 lbs.            15th percentile
           25 inches        50th percentile

Tyler: 13 lbs. 5 oz    15th percentile
           25 inches        50th percentile

4 Months

Wow!  Whoever said it gets easier after the first three months is right.  It has been so much easier and a lot of fun.  Their little personalities are really coming out now.  They all love to smile, coo, and laugh.  They are so ticklish, especially on their necks.  Ben has become a great source of entertainment for the boys.  They love to watch him.  It's fun to watch them as their eyes follow him around the room.  They grin from ear to ear when he gives them attention. All of the boys are now rolling over from front to back.  Chase mastered this skill last month. Ryan about a week before they were four months. Tyler mastered it about a week after they turned four months old.  Chase is already trying to roll from back to front, but has not been able to master it yet.

The best news is the boys are now sleeping through the night!!!!!! It took some encouragement on my part in the beginning to get them to sleep 8 straight hours.  I was hoping they would start sleeping through the night on their own, just as Ben did, but it became clear that one of the babies (who shall remain unnamed) was waking the other two up.  On the weekend of the time change, I decided it was time to cut out the middle of the night feeding.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...no more than 15 minutes of fussing and everyone was back to sleep.  Then a few weeks later, Derek and I were sooo tired one night that we couldn't find the energy to do the 11:00 pm feeding.  This feeding had become very tough.  We were having to wake them up to feed them and they did not like it.  They were very grouchy, but we were scared to cut out the feeding and have them waking up in the middle of the night to eat again.  Our exhaustion gave us courage to see what would happen if we didn't feed them at 11:00.    
Can you believe they didn't wake up until the next morning?  This has been the biggest relief to us.  Now Derek and I can get all the kids in bed by 8:00 pm and enjoy our evening.  I am starting to feel human again!  The other bonus to cutting out 2 feedings a day means 6 less bottles to make and 6 less diapers to change.  That's over 40 diapers a week that I no longer have to change.

 4 Month Weights
Chase: 14 lbs. 9 oz.
Ryan: 12 lbs. 11 oz.
Tyler: 13 lbs. 1 oz.

There are not any 4 month pictures for this month.  :( We got busy and never found the time.  We will do better next month.  Here is the family picture that we did take.  This will have to count for this month's picture.

The Daniel Family
From left to right: Ryan, Chase, Tyler, and Ben

Typical Day

At any given time, on any given day this is a typical sight you might see at our house.  One of the easiest ways to feed all three at the same time is to lay them in their boppies and prop their bottles with blankets.  After they eat we stay on the floor to play.  I try my best to take turns holding them.  I love watching them smile, wiggle, and coo.  Maynard likes to supervise.  Derek happen to come home for lunch today and this is what he found when he walked through the door.

The Week of Firsts

Everyone loaded up in the van

This week was a big week of firsts for us.  The week started with  our first overnight trip away from the babies.  We went to Chattanooga for the UTC game.  It was great to get back and see my friends after not being able to go to Chattanooga for 7 months due to bed rest and 3 newborn babies.  I missed the babies terribly and was ready to be back on Sunday.  We also had our first outing as an entire family on Halloween.  We loaded the entire family in the van for the first time and went to our friends' house for dinner before going trick-or-treating.  It was so nice to get out of the house with the whole family and have some fun.  It felt so normal.  It was also the triplets first holiday.

Our First Holiday, Happy Halloween!

This week was our first week at home with no help.  I am so proud of myself for being able to take care of all four children without any outside help all week. Derek even worked late one night so I had all four children from the time they woke up until they went to bed.  Our routine helps to keep everything orderly and under control.  Don't get me wrong though, I love when I have help.  I am always up for someone to stop by and hold/feed a baby or for adult conversation during the day.

Our First Walk as a New Family

Our week ended with our first walk as a new family.  It was nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather.  Ben has been looking forward to riding in the new stroller and this was his chance.  We walked around the neighborhood and stopped at a nearby playground for Ben to play before heading home.  We hope to do this a lot more in the future.