Eight/Nine Months

Eight/Nine Months

Yes, I know that the babies are TEN months old but here is your eight/nine month update. In keeping with tradition (apparently its tradition now), my monthly-ish update is ridiculously late. I am NOTHING if not consistent!
Because its so late, this is a long one. So bear with me.

As you probably know, its been an intense time with the passing of Brian’s Mom. As I suspected, things seemed to get much more difficult for Brian as the days got further away from the funeral and all the commotion quieted. Brian and his sister spent many evenings, before her baby was born, sorting through Mom’s things and getting stuff taken care of. He would come home after an emotional evening of going through his mom’s things EXAUSTED and yet managed to keep moving. I honestly don’t know how he did it. I do know it has been really tough on him. I imagine the process of going through a loved one’s things after they die, although necessary, is incredibly painful. There are so many things to trigger memories and emotions. Every day presents opportunities to be hit over the head with a memory and a wave of emotion. He’s doing a great job coping and working through the grief. I can see the deep sadness in his eyes and it breaks my heart.
In just a little over a month’s time, the family has experienced great loss and then the great joy of welcoming a new life. Brian’s sister and her husband welcomed their gorgeous son, Luke Patrick, about two weeks ago. He is absolutely perfect and so healthy! Holding him blew me away and reminded me how much my babies have grown. My babies are giants compared to their newborn cousin.

Otherwise, the past couple of months have been a very busy time for Brian and me. Since the fog lifted a few months ago, we had to start chipping away at everything we pushed aside during the first few months of the babies’ life. Things from the back burner have been moved to the front burner and I have felt a bit overwhelmed by it all. But, as anything else, we have to take it one thing at a time. I can’t waste this precious time being stressed out about things that really won’t matter later. I am trying to be aware and enjoy every moment and to stay in a place of gratitude. Even with the recent loss and deep sadness, there is much to be grateful for.
One thing to be grateful for is that the babies sleep so well. It was worth every stinking second in the first six months to get here. They still sleep twelve hours at night (7am-7pm) and take two 2-hour naps during the day (sometimes they take a short third nap). I am almost ready to post more about sleep/scheduling/etc. The last post about the evolution of the schedule was a while ago – I know, sorry. More to come soon, I promise!

Another thing to be grateful for is that I got to get “out” recently! Wednesday night, my sister took me to see Gavin DeGraw at the House of Blues in Hollywood. I had SUCH a great time! I love to see live music and I am so thankful to Pam for treating me with a much needed night of good music! Check out some photos I took:

Not the best photos ever, but you get the idea!

Fall is here! The smell of the evening is different already and the color of the light has changed. I love this time! The start of football season kicks off my favorite time of year. I didn’t really get to enjoy it much last year because I was on bedrest, in and out of the hospital and getting MISERABLE. This year I can’t wait to experience it all with the babies! Halloween, Thanksgiving, their birthday, Christmas…I am so looking forward to it all!

There have been so many big changes with the babies. They have become B I G babies. Big, squirmy, sticky, loud babies. No more little bundles. They play together and make each other laugh…and cry. And I mean CRY. They not only entertain each other, they antagonize each other already! When all three of them get going, its LOUD.
Two words…DRA. MA. OK, that is one word, but they are SOOOO dramatic that they’re special level of drama is worth TWO WHOLE WORDS.
And the constant motion…holy crap! They quickly moved from rocking back and forth on their knees to crawling – overnight! Its difficult to get good pictures of them all together now because they are in constant motion. Gone are the days that I could just lay them all on one blanket and do a mini-photo shoot. Now, they don’t stop moving. Ever. Changing a diaper is like a hog tying contest. I have to get in and out of there as fast as possible before someone gets away. And, NO, I’ve never actually had any experience with hog tying (don’t call PETA) but I’d be willing to bet that its similar to changing the diapers of 9 month old triplets.
Another thing they never seem to stop doing (unless there are strangers around) is babbling. Its SO CUTE! They will all indiscriminately say dada, mama, baba…all the livelong day. I love how the house sounds now!

I have finally been able to feed them all together at the feeding table. If you remember my last montly update, I had a rough time feeding them all together in the feeding table, since they were so close together and would constantly grab each other. I have (mostly) successfully trained them to keep their hands to themselves. At least, they now know they are not supposed to be touching each other during meals. I am, however, still having a hard time in this area when it comes to their self-feeding/finger foods. They basically grab at each others’ food, which causes some drama. I get a lot of frustrated, “he/she swiped my food mommy and I am SO mad about it” kind of business. NOW I understand why so many of you parents of multiples have/had several different types of high chairs. Some styles work better for some types of feeding when you have a herd of babies eating together. I have learned so much!
The babies love cheerios and practicing drinking water from their sippy cups. The also enjoy yogurt with their oatmeal in the morning. I am also introducing more finger foods including soft cooked veggies, pasta springs and tofu. You might be thinking, “YUCK, TOFU???” But I grew up with Korean food and with lots of tofu dishes, so this is normal for me. I have not yet introduced meats. Honestly, I am scared…about their poops. I have been warned that even though I think their poops are bad now, I haven’t seen/smelled anything until I introduce meat. I bought the chicken to cook a couple of weeks ago but then I froze it because I chickened out (pun NOT intended). I just got my courage again and stuck it in the fridge to thaw…I MUST cook it this week. I don’t know why I am so afraid. Its not like I haven’t mastered breathing through my nose while changing diapers anyway. STINKY!

Here are some shots from our recent doctor's appointment:

Cindy, Alexis, and Jackson on the way to the Dr.

The Babies fell asleep in the truck on the way home from the Dr.'s Appt.

This one is great! If you look close enough you can see Zachary kick daddy in the "area".

The babies continue to grown and thrive. They have (knock on wood) stayed healthy this whole time, since coming home from NICU. I am so grateful for their continued good health and wonderful growth and development. My little preemies are big ol’ babies now. Walking and all that business is just around the corner. How will I keep up with them then???

Are you ready for some football?!? Jackson, Daddy, and Zachary

The boys in their outfits that Vianey bought for them :)

Hey, its me, Alexis. Did you forget about me? I hope not! I know it took Mommy a long time to get this one out. She and Daddy have been really busy. We really keep her moving!

I am such a big girl now. I just had my 9 month appointment and here are my stats:

Weight: 15.2lbs
Height: 26 ¾ in
Head Circumference: 42 ¼ cm

I am still a tiny peanut compared to my brothers…but only in size. My personality makes up for any difference in size!

I was the first to pull myself up to a standing position and now all I want to do is stand. The problem is that I haven’t yet learned how to sit from a standing position. So I get really mad because I get tired of standing. I still love to do it though. Its seriously my favorite thing to do right now. If I am awake, I am standing. Unless of course I am eating, silly! Speaking of eating, I am still the least enthusiastic solids eater. I am very picky. I like to purse my lips tightly when Mommy tries to give me something I don’t like. Mommy tries a couple of times and if I continue to resist, she just says, “OK, see you at the next meal.” I thought maybe she would give me something I like everytime I resist something, but no such luck. She doesn’t mess around. My eating habits have improved though. I love my oatmeal in the morning and I love when mommy mixes fruit or plain yogurt into it. I also really love cheerios. I don’t seem to get them all in my mouth, but the ones I do eventually get into my mouth, I really enjoy. I don’t, however, enjoy when my brothers take my cheerios from me. I get REALLY mad and make sure to let Mommy know! The worst part about eating, for me, is getting my face cleaned off after each meal. I really don’t like getting my face wiped. I resist and whine every time, but mommy doesn’t seem to stop doing it.
I am such a Mommy’s girl. I love being on Mommy’s lap or hip. She carries me around when she is getting the laundry or the mail and I love to be right there with her. However, I don’t like to see mommy with her hair down. I especially don’t like to see her right after her shower because her hair is all wet and dark and it looks weird to me. I scream at her hair and stare at it until she puts it up. It makes mommy and daddy laugh, but I don’t think its too funny. My hair, on the other hand is getting pretty cute. I have what mommy calls a fluffy tuft of hair on the top of my head. I don’t know what that means but all I do know is that I’ve got a lot of hair growing fast on the top of my head. Pretty soon I’ll be able to go to the salon and get it styled, like the lady girl I am.
I am still the best sleeper. But now, I have to be the very last baby that Mommy touches before leaving the room. And I watch…I KNOW when she’s trying to sneak a quick snuggle with one of my brothers without coming back to me. I must be the last one snuggled before she leaves the room. Period. Even if I am the first one put into my crib, Mommy has to come back over to my crib before leaving and hold me tight. She is fine with it because she loves to snuggle me, but it makes her laugh. I like to sleep on top of a pile of blankets. No matter how mommy leaves me at bedtime, when she comes in later to check on me, I am sleeping on top of a mound of blankets, nine times out of ten. I guess its just comfortable.
I also really love to play. Mommy calls me the stunt woman because I LOVE being up in the air and turned upside-down. I’ll climb anything. I am not scared of anything!

Hey everyone, its me Zachary! I’ve grown so much since the last time we talked. Check out my latest stats:

Weight: 20lbs
Height: 30 inches
Head Circumference: 45 1/2cm

The doctor says I am right on track for my age and above average for my adjusted age! Its like I wasn’t ever a preemie as far as size is concerned. Developmentally, I’m right on track too. I have soared past any feeding issues I may have had in the beginning. Remember when I didn’t know how to suck and there were problems with my tongue? That was the whole reason I spent two whole weeks longer in the NICU than my siblings but now I am blowing them away with feedings! I LOVE to eat everything. And this whole self feeding gig…no problem! I am doing great with the pincer grasp which makes picking up little pieces, like cheerios, a breeze for me. This opens up the door to so many more foods! YUMMY!

I have really been moving around lately. I was doing this army man crawl thing for a while but one day I figured out crawling on my hands and knees and I haven’t stopped moving since. My sister and I cruise all over the place. Like my sister, I hate mommy’s hair down. I cry and freak out when I see her with wet hair especially. I am scared of her hair. That tells you how often she wears it down.

I am always talking. I love to make sounds like, “mamama…”, “dadadada…” and “babababa…”. Mommy and daddy think its so cute. They tell me that they love hearing my voice.

I am a straight up daddy’s boy. I make no bones about it. I get SO EXCITED when daddy comes home. Its like I can’t get to him fast enough. Luckily, he comes straight for us as soon as he comes home, before he even changes his clothes. I think he is just as excited to see me as I am to see him. Maybe I knew that daddy was really sad recently, because I’ve been extra love-y and snuggly towards him. I love to give my daddy lots of hugs and giggles. Although Daddy is my favorite, I love to be held close by mommy and others too. Just don’t put me down when I’m not ready because I will whine the whiny-est whine you have ever heard. I like being held that much! And if you hold me real close, sometimes I’ll just look right into your eyes. Mommy swears that I am reading her mind when I look at her sometimes.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of me. I am the first to cut any teeth! I have four teeth already! Two on top and two on the bottom. When Mommy and Daddy told their friend Sandy about my teeth, she called me “Zach-o-lantern” which Mommy and Daddy loved because its so cute! I am SO super drooly. Everything is soaking wet and mommy has to wash my hands and face several times a day because of all my stinky drool. It’s a lot of work cutting these teeth!

I am super ticklish on my tummy and I love when daddy tickles me. He tickles me and I go NUTS! I can’t stop the giggles when I am being tickled!

Hey guys! Its Jackson! I have grown lots in the past couple of months. Check out the measurements from my 9 month appointment this week:

Weight: 22.3lbs
Height: 30 ½ inches

Head Circumference: 45 ½ cm

I am still the biggest of the three of us. The doctor said that that my weight, not adjusted is in the 95th percentile and that my adjusted weight isn’t even on the charts! I am so healthy! Mommy and Daddy are so happy!

I am the dominant of the three when it comes to playtime. I am a bulldozer and a toy thief. I like to grab faces and yank, which really make my brother and sister unhappy. I like to suck on Alexis’s head, which makes her really mad. I don’t understand the problem…I am just trying to play. Mommy tries to tell me that sucking on people’s heads is not nice. I don’t get why, but whatever.
I have learned DRAMA. I have joined my sister and brother in the art of fake crying. But my fake crying is so much louder than theirs. I mean really loud.
I really enjoy riding in the car and going ‘bye-bye’. I am perfectly content to ride in the car or the stroller for as long as needed. I really enjoy the adventure.

Let’s talk about what I don’t like. I don’t like cold formula. I hate it. Don’t even try and give it to me.
I also don’t like to hold my own bottle. I mean, why on earth would I want to hold my own bottle if someone else will do it for me? Doesn’t make sense to you either, now does it?
Mommy jokes sometimes that I think I am the only baby around. I get pretty wrapped up in my own thing and I think that all of the toys belong to me. Especially any toy that someone else is playing with. Mommy is trying to teach me otherwise.
She really likes to squeezy my thighs and sniff and kiss the swirly on the back of my head. I love the attention, so fine with me.

I get so excited when my Daddy comes home from work. I kick my legs so hard that my mommy is afraid that I’ll hurt myself, or someone else. She’ll usually try to put me in the jumperoo at that time of day so at least I am in a good place for it. I LOVE seeing my Daddy. He is my favorite person in the whole world. He loves seeing me too because I am so cute. No, really…I am.
I go down really well for naps, BUT, I am almost always the first one awake. And I am LOUD when I get up. If I am up, everyone else has to be up. I like to sleep with my butt straight up in the air. I think mommy pats or squeezes my buns when she comes in to check on me. I’m not so sure. It would make sense since she is always squeezing something on me.
When I am in the mood, I love to snuggle and lay me head on my Mommy’s shoulder, which she loves. She is a sucker for my hugs. :)