Do I Have a Biter? And Other Updates.

I think Maggie has a bite mark on her arm:

The funny thing is, I would think she would be the biter.  Of Izzy-B and Katie, I think it might be Izzy-B.  I can't really tell how many teeth are involved.  Maybe someone can help me.  Izzy-B has 2 on top and 2 on bottom while Katie has 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.  Looks more like 2 and 2 to me - what do you think?  Now, I just have to catch her in the act.  I'm going to assume Maggie didn't bite herself, but anything's possible.  With the way Maggie has been acting lately though, I really can't blame Izzy-B for biting her.  Izzy-B will be standing somewhere and Maggie comes over and pushes her way into the situation and causes Izzy-B to fall or pushes her back so she can't see what's going on. 

These days Maggie is a serious handful.  By lunch time, I'm ready to throw in the towel.  She is going through a - hopefully short lived - phase where all she wants is to be in my lap.  This sounds like such a joy.  Who doesn't want a loving little one to cuddle in your lap?  HA!  If only she were a cuddler.  She cannot sit still; she arches her back and bangs her head on my chest; she kicks me.  I have permanent bruises on my ankles (I'm normally sitting on the floor with her).  It is a down right awful and painful situation.  When I've finally had enough and I leave, she cries and cries and cries and cries.  It's not easy to deal with.  I don't understand why she doesn't like to be cuddled.  It's impossible to hold her in a "rocking baby in your arms" way.  It's even difficult to hold her facing you.  She always tries to turn away.  Soooooo frustrating.  Even when Robin is around, she doesn't want to be with him.  Only me.  There will come a day when I will look back on this and wish I could have these moments of her only wanting to be with me back - maybe in 11 years or so when she wants nothing to do with her mom.

Izzy-B throws temper tantrums.  She hates to be told no, but hey - who does?  She cries and gets really upset when I tell her no.  She folds herself in half and pushes her face in the carpet and cries.  I think the best way to describe her is sensitive.  Her new favorite thing to do is to throw all of her blankets, lovey and pacifier out of her crib.  This normally only happens during naptime (and then sometimes she cries because she doesn't have her pacifier anymore).  Sometimes she can reach one of the blankes and she tries to pull it back into her crib and she sucks on the blanket stuck in between the crib rails while still crying for her pacifer.  When we put her down at night, she doesn't throw everything out.  I do find all of her stuff on the floor by morning though. 

Right now, Katie is my model baby.  She is so independent and can play alone without crying for awhile.  She likes to cuddle and sit on my lap. 

The girls have all FINALLY learned how to wave.  I love how they wave at themselves.  Katie and Izzy-B are the best at it.  Maggie has only done it a couple of times.  Both Katie and Izzy-B can wave and clap on command.  It's so cute.  Sometimes when I say "good job," Katie will start clapping.  When I went to get the girls up from their nap today, I opened the door and Izzy-B was sitting in her *empty* crib clapping away. 

Katie and Izzy-B are doing really well with the push toys.  This afternoon, we took them outside and let them push the toys up the sidewalk.  It was the first time they walked in shoes.  Izzy-B really liked it and went a long way.  Katie did well too.  Maggie is having a lot of balance issues.  I had to hold her hands on the toy and walk with her (I was pushing the toy so she had to walk).  She can't really keep her feet straight.  I really worry about her.  She is frequently standing on her toes (like she's a point ballerina - on the tips of her toes).  She will put weight back on her heels though.  The OT doesn't really know what to think except that Maggie just needs more practice cruising.  If I had to guess, I think Katie will be the first to walk.  She likes to stand independently a lot, and she *almost* took a step today.

Their language skills seem delayed to me.  They don't really say anything.  They finally say mama and mom, but I'm not sure if it's directed toward me or not.  Mama, mom and dada are all they say right now, and I'm not convinced that any of those words mean something to them.  Katie frequently says "da."

That's about it for now.  I'm excited Spring is finally here.  Just in time.  The girls are seriously getting bored with being in the house all day.  And I'm starting to lose my mind.

The Many Faces of Maggie

Maggie is moody. 

When she cries, it sounds like she's in pain.  She can really break your heart (particularly Robin's).  But, she has my favorite laugh of them all.  Here's a clip of her crying (notice how Izzy-B is standing independently for a moment).  The crying seems to be for attention, no?

Here's one of her laugh.  Her hair is a mess because she just got out of the bath.

Learning to Adapt

Life with triplets is all about adapting.  From the moment I was told I was pregnant with triplets, I've been adapting - starting with my birth plan.  I'm most certainly someone who doesn't like change.  I like to know what's going to happen, and I like schedules. 

I'm proud of myself for embracing the change and adapting so easily.  Every month or so, the girls' schedule changes.  I have to learn to do things differently.  For example, now that they are almost off formula, I have to prepare meals and learn to serve them.  I generally hate the whole process.  I've never been someone who likes to cook, and I certainly don't like to clean up afterward.  Washing the highchair trays after every meal is such a tedious chore for me.  For a long time (um - up until this week), I was only feeding them one solid meal per day for the simple reason that I didn't want to clean up after more than one meal.  The time has come - I must, once again, adapt.

Today, the girls got to ride in their Choo Choo wagon for the first time!  I didn't go out with Robin on their walk this morning, but he said that they really enjoyed it.  We're now ready for the warm weather to arrive so we can go to the zoo and the Botanic Gardens. 

Push Toys, Time Outs and Sleep

Katie is so close to walking.  She'll stand independently for a couple of minutes.  She'll even eat her entire snack standing, but she just won't take that first step.  I've had this toy in the play area for awhile now, but it was in the "infant" position.  I changed it so it can be pushed.  Katie took to it immediately.  She actually walked with it first, but by the time I got out my iPhone, she wasn't into it anymore.  I guess she was being lazy:

After a few more tries, I got her to walk again. 

Maggie was in the downstairs play area, so she didn't get to try it today. Izzy-B would only do the knee-walking with it.  I wish we had more space in the play area. I'll take her outside to do this at some point.

Katie really likes to clap now.  She'll even do it when I ask her to (most of the time).  I finally feel like I have a connection with them.  They definitely understand what I'm saying.  Katie and Izzy-B definitely know what "no" means.  Izzy-B will get REALLY upset when you tell her no.  I'm not so sure about Maggie.  She's really good at just ignoring us.  She thinks "no" is funny, and she just keeps doing it.  I'm going to have a REALLY hard time with timeouts with her because she will not stay in one place.  I gave Izzy-B a mini-timeout today.  It was her and my first.  She stayed where I put her, and she was upset about it, but I think she knew exactly what was going on.  She was kicking me, and I warned her to stop.  She didn't, so she went right into timeout. 

For the first time in a really long time (like 6-8 months long), Katie wouldn't go to sleep.  She kept crying and crying.  I so wish she could just tell me what's wrong.  We each went in and rocked her once.  Then we let her cry it out.  It took about 20 minutes, but she finally went to sleep.  She doesn't have a temperature, so I wonder if she's getting another tooth.  None of them was fussy with the first "set" of teeth, so I just don't know what to expect as molars start coming in.

Fun Day

Today the girls had their last synagis shot.  I've been following the RSV stats with the CDC, and it looks like it finally might be on the downturn.  We'll have to see. 

Before we went to the doctor's office, we stopped by a lady's house who posted a triple jogger on craigslist.  I'm seriously looking for one, but I can't find one that I'm happy with.  My criteria is simple, I want the brand new $1000 Baby Jogger Summit XC.  Haha.  Maybe if our house sells.  Anyway, my main criteria is that the front two wheels swivel.  We went to see a Mountain Buggy this morning, and all of my research showed that the front two wheels do swivel.  She said they didn't, but I went to see it anyway.  A better picture or a better description would have saved me some time.  It was the Terrain model, not the Urban model.  UGH!  There was an axel between the two front wheels preventing them from swiveling.  I check craigslist at least 20 times a day to see if a new one is posted.  I'm not a patient person....  The only other option I can think of is using a friend's REI 20% discount.  Anyone, anyone...

After the girls' doctor appointment, we decided to go check out the children's section of the Botanic Gardens. We got a year membership (thank you Groupon!). The girls looked so stylin'. My only gripe is that there is no way a triple jogger will fit in the elevator. How am I supposed to take them there by myself? Today we used a double stroller and an umbrella stroller (we were hopeful that we'd have the triple jogger that we went to look at). After we left the Botanic Gardens, I decided to do something crazy. We went out to eat with the girls! I knew that the Chipotle near our house has at least 3 high chairs, so that's where we went. The girls loved their rice, beans and cheese quesadilla. Sorry Grandpa Jack, it appears the girls love cilantro!

Teasing

Every day I see changes in the girls' cognitive development.  Katie can now clap, and she can point to my nose when asked to do so.  When the OT was here today, Maggie clapped for the first time.  Over the last two weeks, I've noticed an amazing difference in the girls' awareness and interest in learning.  It's like a light bulb went off.  They love looking at books and listening to me read them or describe the animals and the sounds they make.  Katie was even trying to say duck yesterday.  I still cannot say that they have said their first true word.  I do not think they are saying any sounds to which they have assigned a specific meaning.  They say da da a lot, but I don't think they know who "da da" is.  Izzy-B was trying to say ball a few weeks ago though.

The interactions they have between one another are fascinating.  Tonight after they had their bottle, Robin had already taken Katie upstairs after her bath and I was preparing Maggie's bath (in the kitchen sink).  Izzy-B and Maggie were still in their high chairs.  Izzy-B took her bib off and was leaning over handing it to Maggie.  Finally Maggie reached over to grab it and Izzy-B pulled it away from her and started laughing.  Then she showed it to her again and then pulled it back and laughed.  This went on for a couple of minutes.  It was so adorable, and I really wanted to get a video of Izzy-B teasing Maggie, but I knew if I got the camera out, they would stop.  I wonder if they have their own language.  I'm sure they do, but I haven't figured it out yet. 

Now What?

I'm so lucky that the girls are able to play quietly in their cribs after they wake up in the morning or after their nap.  I have previously blogged about the wonderful Clouds and Stars sheets that I use and love (I have not received anything free from them).  In the past, the girls have found the zipper and pulled on it every so slightly (mainly Katie).  Well, this is what I found after nap today!  Now what?

Seriously, is it safe to put a safety pin in their cribs to secure the zipper?  How do I deal with this?