Poor babies, poor mama

I was sick this whole week my mother-in-law was in town and Jeff was on a business trip. I felt horrible, especially knowing I'd be passing along my germs to my kids. I was dreading the 'when' they would get sick, not 'if.' Adele came down with it first. She was lethargic the first day, had a horrible runny nose and small fever the second day, and is just congested today. I hope she gets over it soon! She's such a sweetheart, even sick. Gordon came down with it yesterday and he seems so far to have a more mild case. He's congested but nowhere near as snotty.

Walter hasn't gotten sick yet. However, he has a tooth! Right now I can only feel (and barely see) the ridges, but it has broken through. He has been the happiest, most interactive baby the last couple of days and squeals in joy with the slightest provocation.



Gordon is also really chatty.



The kids are starting to touch more often and will roll and scoot towards each other to make contact (usually feet to face) but I managed to catch a pic of Adele and Gordon touching hands.

I mentioned my mother-in-law has been in town. The babies have grown so much since she was here last that she's having a blast interacting and playing with them. Last time she was here all they did was sleep, eat, poop, and cry.
Speaking of eating, we have the kids taking solids 3x a day. Cereal in the morning, a veggie at lunch, and then cereal again in the evening. We do add fruit or veggies to the cereal. They also take between 24 and 30 oz of formula depending on how they are feeling that day. Here's Gordon enjoying some squash-flavored cereal.
In the evening and sometimes during the day, the babies watch a Baby Einstein video. Right now their favorites are "Baby's First Moves" which teaches through babies, animals, and puppets how to roll, sit up, reach, crawl, walk, etc and "My First Signs" which teaches sign language for milk, mommy, cereal, etc. I can't wait to see them use some of these signs. I think they are really close!
The weather is slowly turning warmer and the grandparents have helped us stock up on shorts and rompers. Here's a cute outfit my parents sent for Adele.
Wish me luck through the next week! I'm hoping the babies start to feel better and no one gets too sick.

Little people

My mother-in-law is in town helping with the kids while Jeff is out of town for the week on business. She hasn't seen the kids since they were 3 months old and she said they really seem like they are turning into 'little people' with their own personalities. I have to agree!

We weighed the kids at home a couple of days ago, so these numbers aren't the most accurate, but here they are:

Walter - 16lb 3oz
Gordon - 18lb 6oz
Adele - 16lb

The kids like to play around a play yard I got them and they are all rolling and just ready to scoot..
Here's a close-up of Walt.

Gordon is the first one to sit up. Not well and not long, but he did stay when I put him up.
Here's Earl in his spot in front of the kids in their highchairs, where he can keep watch. That's Adele in her chair.
And here are all 3 of my boys lounging on their sides.
Jeff's holding the boys when they were in the PJs. They are all ready to form a baseball team!


The kids are starting to really love their kitty-cat. Here's Gordon trying so hard to get to Earl.


Gordon does this cute thing when he tried to scratch his head, which I finally caught on camera. Adele was sitting next to him and as soon as the iPhone came out, she started hamming it up.

The Easter Bunny

My friend, Ledda, and I took the kids to see the Easter Bunny. Jeff didn't come because I decided to do the trip on a weekday to avoid the crowds. They were fantastic and the picture turned out adorable.

The outfits they are wearing came from Jeff's mom. They are summer rompers and the kids look too cute in them. Here's Walter:

Here's Gordon:

And here's Adele:

I got a great shot of my boys interacting. They are starting to play, touch, and talk to each other a little more now, but all three kids are still very independent.

A fancy photo session

To celebrate the kids hitting the six month milestone and the upcoming Easter holidays, we decided to do a family portrait. Rather than go to a studio, I set up at our house and had our neighbor shoot the photos. I'm so happy with how they turned out. First, the family:


Then we did just the boys:

And the girls:

The kids:

This was at the end of the session. Adele let us know it was nap time:

Gordon finally has grown some hair. He has an awesome 'do right now:

Gordon also has teeth. Two bottom teeth have broken through:

Gordon also loves to play with his socks. Actually, all 3 kids do this now, but Gordon manages to pull them off. It is pretty funny to see him hanging out with one sock on, one sock off since his daddy does this all the time, too.

Walt has become quite the people magnet. Whenever we go out, people flock to him and his big eyes and long eyelashes. I managed to catch a photo that captures his eyes.


I hum to the kids when putting them to sleep. Each has their own 'night-night' song. Adele has taken over the duties and now hums herself to sleep.



Adele was very chatty the other day, so I sent this video to Jeff at work. He goes into an office every day now (he previously worked from an office upstairs) so he misses a lot of moments with the kids.

Six months and counting

The kiddos turned 6 months old on April 4th. Happy 1/2 birthday, Walter, Gordon, and Adele! I look back on how far we've come and it is hard to believe they were barely specs a year ago. They have such distinct personalities and characteristics already. Overall, they are pretty easygoing kids and I hope that continues to be the case as they grow.

We had our six month check-up on the 5th and the kids all looked great. They are all on the growth charts for their real age (6 mos) vs their adjusted age (4mos, this is based on their real due date). They are also meeting all the milestones asked by the pediatrician. They roll over, back to tummy and vice versa. They know their names and are making the consonant sounds (g-g-g for Gordon, m-m-m and d-d-d for Walter, and Adele makes a ton of very complex sounds I can't even describe). They are reaching and raking toys towards them.

And Adele's eye looks fantastic! The pediatrician couldn't believe the difference. We have an follow-up with the dermatologist next week and we're going to ask how soon we can get her off the medication because it is having a very negative effect on her reflux.

Here are the stats:
Walter - 14lb 10 oz, 26.5 inches long
Gordon - 16lb 15oz, 27inches long
Adele - 15lb 9 oz, 26inches long

The kids are eating cereal plus a veggie or fruit twice a day. Their favorites are sweet potatoes, green beans, pears, and bananas. Here they are, waiting for their bananas:
We tried sippy cups for the first time on April 7th to varying degrees of success. I put a tiny amount of diluted apple juice in the cups and just let them play. Walt seemed to get the hang of it quick.
Gordon got the gist, but wasn't terribly interested.
Adele wasn't interested at all. But we'll keep at it!
We've not been taking as many walks because my knee has been giving me trouble. Instead, I've been taking the kids to the park (about 2 blocks away) and we've been hanging out on a bench in the shade. It is nice to be outside and I also like that it is helping them learn to be in the stroller for long periods of time without movement. This will help when Jeff and I want to take them out with us on the weekends!
Not everything is rosy and easy. For example, I had a mini-meltdown today during a feeding because babies weren't eating, were fussing, etc. Luckily, Jeff was here to rush to the rescue and give me a much needed break. And we've had a lot of whining lately due to teething -- Gordon has two teeth that have broken through, Adele & Walter aren't far behind. So, we have our moments, but as I look at the big picture, we are doing really well. All five of us!