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.

Happy Halloween

I love dressing up the kids for Halloween.  This year I wanted to do a group theme while I still can.  I'm sure they will all have a mind of their own in a few short years and want to pick their own costumes.  Ben loves fire trucks, so I took the idea and ran with it.  Ben's costume is a fire chief raincoat and rain boots, black pants with duck tape stripes, and a fireman's hat.  The babies costumes were made from white onesies and hats with felt for the details.  Thanks to G-mama, Nannie Daniel, and cousin Ashley for putting the fire puppy costumes together and making my idea a reality.  There is no way I could have done all that by myself.  We are looking forward to going trick-or-treating with friends tonight.

The Daniel Fire Department at it's finest.

Fire Fighter, Ben

Chase, the Fire Puppy

Ryan, the Fire Puppy

Tyler, the Fire Puppy

The Joys of Potty Training

Yes, I know I'm probably crazy for trying to potty train Ben while taking care of three infants, but it has to happen sometime.  Four children in diapers is not easy on the pocket book.  Ben is now two and a half years old and ready.  Had it not been for everything that has gone on in our house the last eight months he might have been potty trained well before now.  Potty training takes a lot of time and energy, something I haven't had a lot of lately.  We have had the little potties out in our house for months.  Ben has used them from time to time when he gets the urge to go, but nothing consistent.  We have tried several times to wear underwear for the day or just go bare bottom to help him potty train.  The trouble is he usually loses interest after several hours or begs to have his diaper put back on him.  At school, they put him on the potty and he is happy to sit, but he hasn't actually used it.  So I had to figure out a way to get him interested and keep him interested.

Ben and I went to the store to get some bribes.  We bought Toy Story underwear and lots of snacks and juice to give him for using the potty and staying dry and clean.  Last Tuesday, when Ben woke up we began.  He got up took his diaper off, went potty, and put on his new Buzz Lightyear underwear.  All day I rewarded him not only for going to the potty, but randomly for staying clean and dry.  He only had one accident the entire day.  That night he was upset that he had to wear a diaper to bed, so we compromised and put the underwear over the diaper.  The next morning, he got up and wanted to go potty and put his underwear back on.  He also insisted on wearing underwear to school.  I didn't want to dampen his spirit so he went to school with it on. It didn't end well.  He came home with a bag of dirty clothes.  He was so disappointed.  Luckily his teachers were very good sports about it.  Now, he wears pull ups while he is at school, but I don't think he can tell the difference between them and a diaper.  When he is at home he wears underwear.  He is doing great.  He knows when he has to go and sometimes he goes potty without telling me he has to go.  He has had very few accidents.  Today, just a week later he was able to keep the same pair of underwear on all morning before nap time.  Not one single accident!  I put a diaper on him to take a nap. However, I just found his diaper in the bathroom floor.  He decided he had to go potty, took his diaper off, went potty, and got back in bed with no diaper.  I will have to wait to see if he makes it the entire nap time dry or if I will be cleaning up a mess when he wakes up.  I am so proud of him and the progress he has made in a week!

Update:  He woke up dry and brought underwear out so I could help him put it on. :)

Outing

The boys and I made it out of the house today!!!  We went to visit the Bible study group I have been involved in for the past year and a half.  It was so good to get out and spend time with some great ladies.  The boys enjoyed it too.  They were very well behaved.  

Aren't they cute in their matching overalls?  I wish you could see the
cute little lions on them.  Very appropriate for the Daniel's Den.

3 Months

Another month has passed and the boys are now 3 months old.  As with any baby, the first three months are usually the hardest and the same is said to be true about multiples.  Hopefully, things will continue to get "easier".  We now have a good routine and schedule down.  The boys eat at the same times every day starting a 7:00 am.   During the day they eat every three hours and they usually start waking up right around feeding time.  We also have the eat, play, sleep routine down now.  They were so sleepy at first they would eat and usually go right back to sleep.  Now after each feeding they like to "play" before going down for a nap.  The only feeding that varies in time is the middle of the night feeding when I wait for them to wake me up.  Derek feeds them around 11:00 pm before he goes to bed and they are now sleeping a 5-6 hour stretch before waking up to eat again.  I can't wait for the day when they start sleeping eight hours straight.  Hopefully, it won't be much longer.  We follow the Babywise plan.  It helps you to set a routine for your baby's day and teach them how to sleep.  I used this with Ben and absolutely loved it.  This time I actually read the chapter for multiples.  I skipped it the first time I read it thinking that doesn't apply to me...ha ha!  Goes to show you never know what God has planned for you.

I can't believe how they have grown over the last 3 months.  They have all doubled their birth weights!

                    Chase               Ryan               Tyler

Birth:           5 lbs 12 oz       5 lbs 0 oz        5 lbs 7 oz

1 month:       7 lbs 2 oz         6 lbs 5 oz        6 lbs 12 oz

2 months:     9 lbs 14 oz       8 lbs 14 oz      9 lbs 2 oz

3 months:     11 lbs 14oz      10 lbs 7 oz      10 lbs 13 oz

Here are our 3 month pictures.  Look at all those smiles!  

3 months old: Chase, Ryan, and Tyler

Chase

Ryan

Tyler