Laughter (Shutter Love Tuesday)

This is my first entry for Shutter Love Tuesday. This week's theme is laughter, and I think this one of Katherine is perfect.

Check out other entries at:

Miss Personality

I love watching the girls' personalities emerge.  I have been making predictions for awhile now, but they have yet again changed.  My original predictions were:  Katherine: drama queen; Margaret: chill; Isabella: whiner.

I have always thought that Isabella has some motion issues.  She doesn't mind being in the car, but I don't think she'll enjoy amusement park rides.  This morning, as I was getting them up, I was raising Katherine and Isabella (Margaret was too tired for this) up in the air and then dropping them down quickly.  Katherine was loving it - laughing and laughing.  Isabella - not so much.  She put her arms and legs out and had a horrified look on her face (kinda like when she saw Alex) - then she burst into tears.  Poor girl.  I'll try to get it on video tonight when Robin is home.

Katherine has turned into a really calm baby.  She is the best sleeper and rarely cries or fusses unless she really needs something.  She is very alert and observant.  I'm not a fan of the thumb-sucking, but it definitely soothes her.

Margaret is still pretty calm, but she has really learned to use her new rolling ability.  She always manages to end up on the opposite end of where I leave her.

Current predictions:  Katherine: Miss Independent (cue Kelly Clarkson song); Margaret: Miss Adventurer; Isabella: Miss Needy/Clingy (not too dissimilar from whiner).

We'll see.....

Isabella's Past Life Experience?

I am the commissioner of my fantasy football league, so today we hosted the draft at our house.  We were in the detached garage - of course with the baby monitor.  The girls all slept quietly for the 2.5 hour draft. 

After the draft, one of my friends came in the house to see the girls.  The girls have met many people in their short lives, and have loved everyone.  Alex was with me when I got Isabella up.  She was already awake, and was happy to see me.  But, she took one look at Alex and got a horrified look on her face (huge eyes), lower lip out and she screamed bloody murder.  It was the strangest and funniest thing I've ever seen.  I couldn't believe it.  I suppose her fear could have stemmed from the fact that Alex recently shaved his head to support a friend with cancer, and he does have a nice tan line where his hair used to be.  He was able to hold Katherine without incident.  When Robin came in with two other friends, I told him what happened.  He didn't seem to believe me, so I got Isabella up and pointed her in Alex's direction.  Exact same reaction.  It was hilarious, and I really wish we would have gotten it on video, but I felt bad torturing her. 

I think we need to have Alex over again when his hair grows back to see if that was the problem. 

Maybe she had a bad experience with a bald man in her past life.  Who knows....

Favorite Things

I thought I'd do a quick post about some of my favorite things.  Mostly baby things.

The latest one is definitely (and I'm not even getting paid for this) Clouds and Stars crib sheets.  www.cloudsandstars.com  For all you mommies out there, these are a life saver.  I absolutely HATE changing crib sheets.  I'd rather change diapers all day than change one crib sheet.  At Clouds and Stars they make crib sheets that zip on.  They're amazing - both the sheets and the company.  I ordered the sheets at 4:50pm on Thursday the 19th.  I was not given any shipping choices except free shipping via FedEx Ground.  Free shipping, no complaints here.  The sheets arrived at my house on the morning of Saturday the 21st.  FedEx Ground does not deliver on Saturdays, and it usually costs more to have a Saturday delivery.  I could not be more pleased with the quality of the product and the company.

I also just got Breathable Bumpers for the girls' cribs.  They are pretty great too.

Pampers diapers.  They are so soft and absorbent.  Too bad they're so expensive.  Costco brand is a good second choice.

Sweet potatoes - ok these are not necessarily a favorite thing.  But I fed them to the girls this morning.  They definitely liked sweet potatoes better than carrots, but I think I'll go back to rice cereal for awhile.  I think I'm pushing them too hard on the veggies.  I need to get Margaret and Isabella more excited about eating off a spoon before I move ahead with more veggies. 

Tommee Tippee bibs.  They have a roll at the top that is absorbent and keeps the formula from running down the girls' necks.  These are only sold at Babies r Us.

Ben and Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream.  Seriously, there is nothing better except creme brulee from Maggianos.  

Hmmmm - I'm sure there are more things, but this list will have to suffice for now. 

6 month check-up

Yesterday, the girls had their 6 month check up.

Katherine:
     13lbs 5.6oz - 5%
     24.5in - 10%
     41.2cm - 15%

Margaret:
     12lbs 14.6oz - 4%
     24.75in - 10%
     40.9cm - 10%

Isabella:
     12lbs 7.2oz - 3%
     24.25in - 6%
     40.9cm - 10%

The percentiles are all for actual, not adjusted, age.  The girls' pediatrician, who is also a neonatologist, does not believe in using adjusted age.  He encourages them to meet all actual age milestones, which I like.  Isabella was the largest at birth and now she is the smallest - by almost a pound! 

Isn't it strange how they measure height in inches and head circumference in centimeters?  I just don't get it.

In other news - all of the girls are off pacifiers!  In a previous post, I talked about how Margaret was sucking her thumb.  She really only did it that one time.  Now, she sucks on the first and middle fingers of her left hand.  Katherine consistently sucks her left thumb.  Right now, it is very cute, but it won't be cute for long.

The girls are scheduled to go back for a check in 6 weeks, then they will have their 9 month check in November.

Running Water

Running water: a necessity and a luxury.  Until you have none, you don't realize how important it is.  At 7:30 this morning, I was awakened by the doorbell.  A warm thank you goes out to the City of Englewood Utilities Department for giving me a heads-up that we will be without water from at 9am to 3pm today.  This gave me to chance to gather jugs of water for the day ahead.  The water main break is in front of my house.

Things you need water for: toilet, showering, bathing babies, tooth brushing, HAND WASHING, drinking, making formula, warming formula, laundry, dishes including washing bottles, cooking and running the swamp cooler.  I can't even imagine living without running water.  Just the mere thought of being without it for 6 hours is difficult - don't forget I have three infants at home!  If the electricity were to go out as well, I don't know what I would do.  How would I warm the bottles?  Luckily we happen to have a gas stove in the kitchen in our basement, which can be handy when the electricity is out. 

Now it's time to get on my soap box about hand washing.  So many people use hand sanitizer as a substitute for hand washing.  This is NOT ok!  While it is ok to use hand sanitizer, it is not a substitute for hand washing.  And when I say hand washing, I mean with SOAP and water for at least 20 seconds.  The fact that I cannot wash my hands today is making me crazy.

I feel so lucky to have been born in a place where such "modern conveniences" as running water and electricity are readily available. 

As a side note - Isabella finally grabbed her foot yesterday! 

Feet

Katherine has discovered both of her feet.  She loves to grab them.  Margaret finally found one of her feet today.  Previously, she has seen them and stared at them, but has been unable to actually grab them.  Today = success.  Isabella still doesn't seem to realize that she has feet. 

I started the girls on rice cereal via a spoon again.  I gave up after the last attempt since they really didn't seem ready.  Now, Katherine loves it.  She opens her mouth for the spoon, and she actually eats it.  Margaret is close to getting it.  She seems excited about the spoon.  She opens her mouth, but then she spits a lot of it out.  Isabella really doesn't like it at all.  She spits it all out. 

Six Months - A Day Late

The last six months have been the most amazing six months of my life.  I can't believe that I brought three beautiful girls into this world.  They light of my life, and they make me a better person.  I have enjoyed watching them grow and change.  Each day brings something new.

I have been so busy these last couple of weeks.  I think I have over-committed myself, but I'm enjoying it.  Last week, I officially resigned from my job.  I am now a stay-at-home mom.  Yikes - never in a million years did I think I would say that.

Katherine:

Margaret:

Isabella:

Notice how Isabella is sucking on Margarget's hand.

Quick Update

Today Katherine discovered her feet.  She grabbed and held on to them twice!  She also passed a rattle from one hand to the other.  I'm so happy that she met that milestone.  It's a big one for a preemie.

Margaret likes to look at her feet.  She stares at them like she wants to grab them, but she just can't quite do it yet.  It's so cute.

Isabella is doing well too.  She almost passed the rattle from one hand to the other, but she has no interest in her feet yet.

That's all for now.

Phases

It's amazing how quickly things change.  I see the girls every day, which generally means I wouldn't notice the changes as much.  But, I can see it!  They are more alert and interactive.  They love to hold their toys and play on the play gym.  Chronologically they are 5.5 months old, but their adjusted age is 3 months.  Some of their development is at a 3 month level (like their size) and some at a 5 month level.  It's really interesting to me, but it makes it hard to be signed up for development emails - like Baby Center - because they just don't fit in. 

They are all rolling over now, and they all prefer to sleep on their bellies.  This has been a problem for Katherine because she tends to spit-up and then put her face in it.  Sometimes it gets up her nose and in her eyes, and she generally has a rash on her face in the mornings.  I'm just not sure what to do about it.  I just keep reminding myself - Everything is a phase.  It might be a long phase (like the terrible 2's/3's), but it is nonetheless a phase.  Hopefully the spittiness will be a short lived phase. 

We moved all of the furniture out of our dining room yesterday to make a play area for the girls.  It's so nice to have them in a safe area.  Now I don't have to worry about them rolling around their room and under their cribs. 

Katherine has been trying to hold her bottle.  She always has her hands on it like she wants to hold it, but it's too heavy for her.  Tonight she held it for about 30 seconds when it was nearly empty.  Hopefully she'll master it soon, so I can feed all three of them at once.

I changed their feeding schedule again.  They're down to 4 feedings a day at 5 hour intervals - 6am, 11am, 4pm and 9pm.  They've been sleeping about 8.5 hours. 

We're so blessed.