I woke up on their 6 month birthday and I was so excited to wake them up, feed them and take their pictures. It turns out, Mark was more excited than I was. He had gone to the grocery store after I went to sleep the night before (that's when he likes to grocery shop) and when I woke up that morning there were flowers on the dresser. There was a tiny balloon in the flowers.
He got the babies a Happy Birthday balloon. I thought it was the sweetest thing! When we went in to wake the babies up he brought the video camera to record them waking up. He opened the blinds to let the sun in and told them each "Happy Half Birthday!" They weren't thrilled about all the light, but they got over it and gave him some cute smiles! Then he made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Seriously, not trying to brag, but he's amazing.
Here they all are on their half birthday. We took their individual pictures first and by the time we got to the group picture, Mr. Trippster had ripped his tie in half and was chewing it, so he is just wearing a plain white onesie here!
All 3 at their check up!
Emily
Emily is now the biggest! She weighs 18 pounds 15 ounces (89th percentile) and is 26.25 inches long (59th percentile). She is turning into quite a funny baby. She giggles so loud and is just happy. She loves her brother and sister and gets so excited when she sees them first thing in the morning! She has this big smile that makes me want to eat her little cheeks. Her daddy is her favorite. I joke with him that during the day she loves me so much but once he comes home she turns her nose up at me because she just wants her daddy. She cries the least and is just a good baby! She has been sleeping through the night again but usually wakes up around 7, which isn't too bad since we wake them up at 7:30 anyway. She sleeps with 1 arm swaddled. She has 1 tooth that I have not gotten a picture of. She is very aggressive when you offer her your finger to chew on and honestly, she hurts me! So I'm waiting for it to get higher so I can get a picture of it when she smiles. She rolled from her back to her belly the day after she turned 5 months but can't figure out how to do it again. She tries so hard and just sits there on her side grunting trying to roll over. She can't get over her chubby little arm! She can roll from her tummy to her back but she likes being on her tummy so she doesn't do it very often. She eats 6 ounces 5 times a day and a total of about 4.5 ounces of solid foods per day. She is getting so funny! She gets in these moods and everything makes her giggle. Having her diaper changed, hearing Ella yelling at a toy, seeing Bella walk past her, watching me grab the remote control, everything makes her giggle so loud. It's hilarious. When she gets upset I sing her the Winnie the Pooh song but change it to "Emmie the Pooh" and she stops and laughs. She's just a cute baby who loves to laugh and talk.
Giggling while chewing on both hands
Hanging out with Gwen
If Emily wakes up from her nap first, she will watch the other babies on the monitor like she's in charge and she's making sure they are still sleeping. She will play with her toys but every few seconds she'll look back at the monitor to check on them.
She loves walks and her sunglasses
If the babies wake up from their evening nap and I'm not done preparing their bottles for the next day, I set them up in exersaucers in the kitchen, turn music on, and sing and dance for them while I finish the bottles. One day I did that, finished bottles, took Ella and Tripp in their exersaucers back into the living room, then realized Emily didn't even know we were gone. She sat there playing all alone in the kitchen for 10 minutes! She was so quiet I didn't want to disturb her so I left her playing there until she figured it out and started to whine. It was funny!
She tries to hold her own bottle! If you hold it in front of her she will grab it and put it into her mouth. She just needs to figure out how to lift it up and she will be an independent bottle drinker!
Helping daddy at Lowe's
Emily right after she rolled onto her tummy!
Tummy time with Aunt Laina
Just staring at herself in the mirror
Emily is such a messy eater! She is determined to put the spoon in her own mouth and wants the whole bowl in her hand. One night I left the bowl too close to her when I went to give Ella a few bites and before I knew it there was a whole bowl of squash all over the table and Emily. She looked proud of herself for finally grabbing it! I didn't have anymore baby food thawed out but luckily the week before, a nice woman in my Mothers of Multiples group was giving away a bag of jarred baby foods that she didn't need anymore and I took it, so I had a can of prunes that we gave her. She liked them and had a nice little goatee to go along with her squash tummy.
Ella
Ella is still the tiniest baby. She weighs 17 pounds 5 ounces (69th percentile) and is 25.5 inches long (27th percentile). She is very funny, but since she's teething now, there are lots of screams in between all of her funny faces. She is the most fun to feed solids. Every time you put the spoon in her mouth she gives you a dramatic "mmmmmmmm," like it's the best thing she's ever tasted. It's pretty funny! We are pretty sure she'll be the first to say a word. When she cries she says "mama" in between her cries. She doesn't know what it means, of course, but the fact that she says it is kind of cool! Her patch of hair right on top of her head is so thick that Mark started styling it into a mohawk after her baths. It's very cute and it doesn't fall down! Once she has a mohawk, it's there until her next bath! She recently rolled over onto her tummy and then looked scared and rolled right back onto her back. She hasn't tried to roll since then! She giggles when I roll her over so I think she enjoys it, just not on her own yet. Although she is the tiniest, she eats the same amount that Emily eats. She has 5 bottles a day that are each 6 ounces and a total of 4.5 ounces of solid foods. Ella is the best sleeper! She doesn't ever wake up at night and she takes the best naps :) She sleeps with 1 arm swaddled. She does not have any teeth yet but with her level of fussiness and drooling, I'm pretty sure she will have one soon!
Watching Mickey with Mickey and Minnie
A washcloth is her favorite teether
Her hair is getting so thick that we tried her cousin Ainsley's bow on her. It was a LITTLE too big.
My mom bought her one that fit just right!
Her first mohawk was actually styled with her daddy's spit...
About an hour after one of her baths I tried to flatten her mohawk and it didn't work. Instead, her hair looked like this for 2 days.
Trying to convince Mark that she didn't really need to go to sleep. She does this. As soon as she's done with her nighttime bottle she turns on the charm and starts to smile really big at whoever just fed her. I have to tell myself I can't endulge her, I have to put her to bed!
Hanging out with Edward
Tripp
Tripp is no longer the biggest! He is 18 pounds 10 ounces (68th percentile) and is 27.25 inches long (70th percentile). We could tell he's been thinning out. He isn't as chubby as he used to be and he is getting longer! He eats the smallest amount. He has 5 bottles a day, 2 of them are 6 ounces and 3 of them are 5 ounces. He also eats about 4.5 ounces of solids but most of it ends up on his bib because he tends to spit everything out. We are still working on his solid food feedings! He loves to roll over! As soon as you put him down on his back he rolls onto his tummy. He can roll back to his back but he seems to like being on his tummy. He tries to move and can actually scoot himself a few feet while on his tummy but he isn't crawling, just scooting! We haven't swaddled him in a while but we would still wrap the swaddle around his body under his arms so that it was more like a blanket that wouldn't come off. Then he started rolling over in his sleep and since he couldn't move his legs much in the swaddle, he would get stuck and start crying so we would have to go and roll him back over. That got old pretty quick with quite a few wake ups every night so I decided to let him sleep with no swaddle and now he sleeps on his tummy and rolls back onto his back if he wants to. He has 2 adorable teeth that are starting to show more and more when he smiles! I think he has another coming in because he is so fussy lately! Luckily Tylenol works really well along with me holding him for about 20 minutes after giving him the Tylenol. Other than his teeth pain, he is an adorable little boy who loves to flirt with his big blue eyes and touch our faces while he makes a cooing sound!
Dressed like a tiny gentleman
He really likes books
That was pretty much his whole bowl of sweet potatoes on his bib
He chews on everything, including Gwen's fingers (this was before his teeth had come through)
Tripp in this adorable hat that my mother in law made
I have a slight obsession with putting his hands in his pockets when he has them.
We got a new activity jumper!
So cool!
Whenever I drink coffee he just stares at the cup or if he's close enough, tries to reach for it!
Since he chews on my fingers so much, sometimes he lets me borrow his.
His teeth!
We were taking the girls' pictures, so he was doing this...
He had a fun half birthday and cuddled with daddy that evening
This picture makes me laugh. I was trying to take a picture of Ella and Edward but Tripp rolled into the picture. It looks like he's taking a selfie :)
Our schedule
7:30 am- wake up, Tripp gets Zantac, change diapers
8:00 am- bottles
9:00-9:30- go down for naps
Around 10:30- wake up from naps
11:00 am- bottles. Each baby gets 2 ounces of solid food.
Around 12:30- go down for naps
Around 1:30- wake up from naps
2:00 pm- bottles
3:00 pm- go down for naps
Around 3:45 or 4:00 pm- wake up from naps. If weather is ok, we go for a walk.
5:00 pm- bottles
5:30 pm- go down for naps. During this nap I prepare bottles for the next day.
6:00-6:15 pm- wake up from naps
7:00 pm- each baby gets 2.5 ounces of solid food. If it's bath night, they bathe right after they eat
7:30 pm- TV is turned off, start putting pajamas on, Tripp gets Zantac
8:00 pm- bottles
8:30ish- babies are asleep!
This schedule is working great for us. Tripp is waking up after 30 minutes of napping each time but I can put him in the pack n play and he usually goes right back to sleep. I've learned to be flexible with the schedule. There are times when one baby wakes up sooner than expected so I give the others 15 minutes to wake up or I wake them up so that they all keep the same schedule. This is how most days go but there are definitely some off days with 3 babies! Nighttime is not consistent. Some nights Tripp wakes up but Tylenol and the bouncer usually get him back to sleep. Some nights Emily wakes up and a bottle gets her back to sleep. Ella doesn't wake up at all :)
Cowboy hats!
Mark and I were able to go to the rodeo this year! My grandpa gave us tickets to see Easton Corbin and although we didn't know who Easton Corbin was, we went! Mark called him Austin Corbin the whole time. Mark has been saying for years that he wants a cowboy hat so that was what we were looking for. Of course, we needed to get Tripp a matching hat, and we couldn't get him one and not the girls! So we left the rodeo with 4 new cowboy hats.
Ella
Emily
Trippster
Then we sat outside and watched daddy do yardwork while they wore their hats.
Ear piercings
We got the girls' ears pierced on March 26! I was counting down the days, I was so excited. Mark was not so excited, but he came with us! My mom met us there after she got off of work to help since we had all 3 babies with us. First we got the emla cream put on their ears. Tripp was there for moral support.
Me and my big girls with their earrings!
Group photos
I took a picture with them on their 5 month birthday!
And another a few days before they turned 6 months
Mark playing with the babies!
I LOVE this picture!
My mom's Aunt Patty sent Tripp a Mickey Mouse and each of the girls a Minnie Mouse. They love them!
I bought these bottle slings to help with feedings and they are amazing! Ella is the best with it. She just sits there and drinks her bottle. Tripp turns his head too much so the bottle falls out of his mouth and Emily pushes it out of her mouth so that she can see the monkey on the top.
We met a great group of ladies who all have twins and we get together with them once a week. This was when we met them at a park for a walk!
Sitting in our triplet table
This is what it's like feeding Emily. She wants to do everything herself, including hold the spoon!
Tripp, Gwen, Ella and Emily
Emily and Tripp were both trying to roll and they ran into each other. At first they got upset but then they saw each other, stopped, and started touching each other's faces!
This is what Ella did while Emily and Tripp were playing
We got the jumpers that you hang on the door frame and they love them! Only 1 is low enough for their feet to touch so they other 2 are more like swings. Luckily, they love swinging!
Ella and Tripp holding hands
One morning they all woke up very early so they got to see Mark before he left for work. As they woke up, Mark would go get them and bring them in the bed with me. We might need a bigger bed!
I don't know what Mickey did that Ella was so shocked about
Tripp rolls onto his sisters
We've started letting them play at the table before meals. Emily steals toys from Ella, then Tripp steals them from Emily. I'm sure this will be the cause of lots of fights in the future!
Mark wanted to play Baby Jenga. Ella did not.
Going for a walk!
When Tripp rolls onto Emily she is sweet and hugs him.
When Tripp rolls onto Ella, she scratches his face until he rolls back over.
6 months of growth
I took pictures of each baby in their car seats coming home from the hospital and then a picture of them in their car seats at 6 months old. We've had to adjust their pads and straps but you can definitely see how big they have gotten!
If you look at the leg pads on the girls' you can see the difference!
Look at the little white circular sticker on the right side of Tripp's head. It was way higher than him when he was 11 days old and now it's right next to his head.
Was searching for my GF's blog and came to your interesting one. Saw your post about having your daughters ears pierced at six months. I think you're a smart and thoughtful mommy for doing the girls at this age. I have twin G/G's and did them at this age too.
ReplyDeleteSome say to wait at this age to pierce their ears, but our ped encouraged me to do it when mom could care for
them. She gave me some " Tips for moms having their dd's ears pierced and " Care for Newly Pierced Ears" since she had so many moms ask about having their infants and little girls ears pierced.
I know cerebrally, as mothers of girls of all ages, we know it celebrates their femaleness and femininity. After
all, they are little girls, right?
Promise they will thank you later for the "gift of pierced ears" as infants. If any other moms would like any of our ped’s tips for piercing, then don’t hesitate to write me an e-mail. They include OTC meds to minimize any discomfort as well as how to find the most experienced person to pierce her ears.
amyswor1765@gmail.com