Now that there's more space in their room for them to roam, I've been letting the boys play on the floor while I change diapers. I decided the other day that there was no sense in me bringing each baby out to the family room individually for their bottles when they are perfectly capable of getting there themselves, so I opened the door up and let them go!
About as good as it gets when trying to wrangle 3 squirmy babies in a chair
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Visit from Auntie Ann and Julie
Hanging in Griffin's crib
We love yogurt!!
Dinner time!
Holy cow. Our babies have now hit double digit months. 10 whole months in this world?!?! They are changing so much these days- it feels like they're always learning a new trick or starting something new every couple days. Here's a quick update on everyone:
Will
Will- 10 months
I've already shared on here that Will is now pulling himself up. That's the good news. The bad news? He gets "stuck" once he's up and will cry until one of us helps him down. Cooper did this, too, when he first started pulling up so I'm sure Will will figure out how to get down in no time. He has a bottom tooth that is just popping through- his first! He still loves to give kisses and is often the first baby to attack me when I get home from work. If one of us are sitting on the floor, it's almost guaranteed that he will be trying to sit in our laps or crawl all over us. They all have a bit of separation anxiety lately, but Will's is the most pronounced. He is the least likely of the three boys to go to a stranger willingly. He's recently started blowing spit bubbles (again) and will imitate you when you blow them at him. He also loves to growl and thinks it's hilarious if you growl at him first so he can mimic the noise back at you. In the last week or so we've started giving at least one bottle of milk to Will via a sippy cup instead of a bottle. He is really hard to feed in the rock n play these days as he just won't hold still. He constantly tries to sit up and look around and he's long enough now that he can shimmy out of the buckled strap when he sticks his legs out in front of him. So we're trying to get him good with a sippy cup so we can eventually move him to his high chair (so he'll hold still while he eats!). So far he's done really well, though he can't tip his head back and drink from a sitting position yet. I still stand by my thought that he knows how to sign milk!
Ready to EAT!!
Now that he can stand on his own its all he wants to do!
Dressed up for a meeting with Mama at her office
Matchy-Matchy with Dad
Griffin
Griffin- 10 months
Griffin's personality is really starting to shine, and man- he keeps us laughing! He's recently gotten into music and will slap his legs and bounce around when a song comes on that he likes. His newest trick involves sticking his tongue out and wagging it back and forth. Like Will and his raspberry blowing, if you stick your tongue out at Griffin he will often mimic you. Griffin is the least affectionate of the group- he doesn't give up kisses as freely as Cooper and Will, but he does give good hugs. And he's also quite happy to attack you the second you sit down on the floor to play with them. He's not quite as reserved as Will when it comes to meeting new faces, but he is definitely not as outgoing as Cooper. His two bottom teeth are almost fully grown in and he looks like a little bulldog when he smiles. He L-O-V-E-S to eat, but can be particular about opening up for foods he doesn't like (but admittedly- there are very few things he won't eat). He has become a screamer- he will scream at the top of his lungs with an ear-piercing yell a lot now. He screams when he's happy or excited, when he wants attention, when he's frustrated or irritated with one of his brothers, and definitely when he's mad! It's so loud! We've tried giving him milk in a sippy cup during bottle time and he won't have it. He protests and cries until we give him his bottle back. He can pull himself up easily now, but doesn't have a graceful dismount yet- he'll just sort of fall back on his butt with a thud when he's done with standing.
His hair is so crazy these days- he's growing wings!
Little lumberjack
Trying a new combed hair look- and showing off his 2 bottom teeth
Sweet little face
Cooper
Cooper- 10 months
Little guy has his first two teeth coming in simultaneously- one up top and one on the bottom. He is still our small and mighty little man who is the first to do so many things ahead of his brothers. This time was no exception as he was the first to start pulling himself up and he's now the first to figure out how to get himself back down. He is still Mr. Popular and is rarely unhappy when he's got folks to keep him company. He doesn't know a stranger and will happily hang out with anyone willing to hold him. This makes him a favorite among many of my coworkers when the boys come to visit. Cooper is also our little garbage disposal- the kid will eat anything and everything. It amazes me how much they can eat in one sitting. He still loves to give us zerberts and has started playing with his tongue to make different noises (most recently he is clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth). He will also mimic us when we blow our lips together like a motorboat. We often walk into their room in the morning and find Cooper standing up in his crib. It's so cute to see his little face peeking over the top! Like Griffin he has zero interest in taking milk from a sippy cup, so he's still on bottles for now. He is definitely our calmest baby at feed times and we rarely have to encourage him to finish his bottle. He's started testing his balance by holding onto the play pen or his crib with only one hand, and he'll even let go briefly to grab onto another stable object. I still think he'll be our first walker and it won't surprise me if that happens before their first birthday!
His top tooth is making its way down!
Business casual for a trip to Mama's office
So cute in his Easter hat!
Big boy sitting at the table
At 10 months we:
Have 4 bottles a day- 32 ounces/each
Pump 4 times a day, and produce anywhere from 90-100 ounces a day
Eat solids twice a day
Love pretty much any food we offer them, but especially enjoy fruit, cheese, pasta, and bread (just like their mom!)
Enjoy sitting at the "big people" table in their high chairs when we have taken them out to eat
Reach for Mom or Dad to pick us up
Get upset easily when one of their brothers is picked up instead of them
Go through more outfit changes than before thanks to lots of spit up, messy eating, and bigger blow out diapers
Love bubbles! Sue introduced them to the boys in Hilton Head a couple weeks ago and they love watching them pop
Love music: a new favorite song is "The Farmer in The Dell"
Love to use Mom and Dad as our own personal jungle gyms anytime they're on the floor with us
Are wearing some 6 months clothes still, but pretty much completely moved up to 9 months
Have a newly re-arranged room, thanks to grabby hands. The boys enjoy reaching through their crib slats and pulling on the curtains so for awhile all 3 of their cribs were set up in the middle of the room. We finally took the chair out of their room last weekend, and rearranged the cribs to get them away from the curtains. It took Griffin and Cooper a couple days to get used to the new arrangement!
The options for decent triplet strollers are pretty limited (and pretty pricey) but also a necessity so that we can get out of the house on our own when we're solo with the babies. This is especially important to Will, who has been going a little stir crazy being stuck inside all day, every day while I'm at work.
There aren't many triple strollers on the market, but the two that we debated between were the Adventure Buggy triple stroller or the Valco tri mode twin stroller with a Joey seat attachment. In the end we decided to go with the Adventure Buggy option and placed our order. The stroller is only sold in New Zealand so it took a couple weeks to get to us but it has been well worth the wait! We took it on its maiden voyage last Friday morning and we've literally taken the boys on a walk in it everyday since.
Will is grateful to have the freedom to escape the four walls of our home during the day (and get some exercise and fresh air!) and the boys seem to enjoy the change of scenery, too. With any luck this is the last stroller we'll need to purchase as this one should grow with us (until they're 40 lbs!)
I think Cooper will likely ride "up top" most of the time as he seems to enjoy it the most
Our boys seem to hit the same milestones within the same time frame. Griffin pulled himself up once while we were in Hilton Head a couple weeks ago, but we hadn't seen him do it again so assumed he wasn't interested and/or not ready to take that leap. Maybe watching his brothers have fun hanging on to the side of the play pen encouraged him to try again, or maybe he's just ready, but all three boys are pulling themselves up now!
So happy he can eat his crib now
I am admittedly a little nervous as I know that the next big milestone means we will have 3 walkers terrorizing the house. But I'll enjoy this standing phase for now. Because is this not the sweetest thing to see when you put them in a crib together?!
This pic was taken on the boys' first trip to Hilton Head back in October:
October 2015
Yesterday, almost exactly 6 months later we took an updated shot:
April 2016
I can't stop staring at these pictures side-by-side. They have changed so much in the past 6 months! Our babies are looking more like little boys every day!
We're in Hilton Head again this week for another round of operation get-the-condo-ready-for-rental-season. Our to-do list isn't quite as long as last time, which has been nice. And as an added bonus we had company this week- Will's sister Sue and her two girls were on Spring Break and drove down for part of the week to help watch the boys while Will and I worked on our projects. The boys were treated to lots of walks and play time from their aunts and cousins which freed up our day to focus on stripping wallpaper and painting. While the boys spent their days doing this:
We were able to transform the master bedroom from this:
To this in about 2 days:
This trip marks the boys' first time "dining" with us at restaurants. We stopped at a Zaxbys on or drive down and they sat up in high chairs and split a kids meal between them. Big boys!!
They did great on Sunday night when we took them out to dinner as well. Most unfortunately I woke up Monday morning with a bad stomach bug, which took me down for 3 days straight. I'm fairly sure it's a case of food poisoning as no one else in the condo had the same problem, but I have been miserable. And even more thankful that Sue and the girls were here to help watch the boys because I was pretty worthless! Such a bummer to be sick on vacation but I'm glad Will had company and was still able to enjoy his time here with his sister. I'm not 100% yet but feeling much better and look forward to enjoying our last couple days at the beach!
