Tripletville Adventures : Let me tell you about our boys...

Brothers holding hands

Firstly let me say Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. So many of you have helped me since I first got pregnant whether it was through your advice or emotional support that I wanted to make sure you were acknowledged on this very special day. There are too many of you to name but you know who you are.

I wanted to take some time to talk about my boys individually as they are growing their very own little personality very quickly...

Let's talk about my "oldest" first... Zachary:

Zachary is my serious little guy. Getting a smile out of him is like winning the lottery, exciting and amazing. He's got a beautiful smile and when he does, he does it almost slyly. He loves to dance and loves to be walked around faced out. When he's in a bad mood, all you have to do is get up, swing him around and walk around and his mood normally turns around. He's been smiling more and more lately and that's wonderful to see. He's also been my most particular eater and thankfully we've been able to figure out something that "somewhat" works for him. He's still having a rough go of it at night and today was awful as far as eating was concerned (it was bad with all three today though). We had been rocking him to sleep every night and I told Gab that I wanted to let him cry it out to see what would happen. The doctor had said that he was old enough to cry for a while as long as he was ok so we decided to try. The first night (Tuesday) he cried for about 20 minutes, slept for 15, woke up and cried for under 10 minutes and slept through the night. The next night, he didn't cry at all and he hasn't given much of a fuss since. The books say that to break a bad habit it can take up to 7 days but with him, it only took the one night! I left the second time he woke up because I really wanted to go pick him up but when I got back Gabe said he didn't even cry the 10 minutes we were going to give him. What's cute about Zachary is that when he cries (or even laughs) he sounds like a little cat. We think it's cute but I was telling Gabe that I hope it's not a sign for what his voice might sound like! I would really rather my son not sound like he's got someone holding on to his you know what when he talks. His favorite playtime activity right now is holding on to rings on his mat and looking at himself in the mirror. I've also discovered this week that he likes the vibrating bouncy chair which is great because I can bounce him in there with my foot while I hold another crying baby if the need arises. The only way I can get him to fall asleep when he's overtired and crying uncontrollably is pressing my cheek against his while rocking him in our new rocker recliner and shushing (that's a word right?) very loudly in his ears. He has the most gorgeous dark grey eyes (I hope they stay that way!!) and I'm told he looks just like his daddy so he must be pretty gorgeous indeed! I don't see the resemblance though...

Next is my "middle" child Samuel:

Samuel has normally been my happy go lucky easy going little guy but lately he's been teething so he's been pretty needy. I think I actually felt a tooth this week! His favorite position is standing (or sitting) on you facing you so he can study & touch your face. He also likes when you hold him in your arms as long as he can see your face. He's my most observant little guy. He can stare at your face forever and if he can touch it, it's even better. He's also the one who'll look at his brothers the most even when they refuse to look at him and he gives such a great big smile when they return his look. He slobbers A LOT (due to his teething) and LOVES putting his hands in his mouth so when he's observing you and touching your face, your face often ends up full of slobber. He's our "talker" so when he's standing on our lap, he likes to give us a piece of his mind by series of grunts. He's never been a fussy eater and he'll even help you out from time to time. He gets pretty upset between the time you put on his bib and the time the bottle goes in his mouth because it's like he knows it's coming and just wants to eat NOW! He'll get pretty angry. His sounds are more like grunts, loud angry grunts or "gna" (like the last syllable in lasagna) sounds. We can always tell who's crying even when we can't see them. He'll sometimes "laugh-cry" where he's crying and laughing at the same time and we sometimes can't figure out what his actual mood is. The cry normally wins out at this point. It's as if he's sad but he wants to laugh so badly anyway that he'll throw us a bone! His favorite playtime activity is on his playmat just moving around and kicking his legs like he's trying to run a marathon and grabbing at whatever toy is hanging above and putting it in his mouth. Favorite toy? Anything he can put in/near his mouth...haha! Lately it's been the ball with all the holes or even Papa's beard. He loves looking at his hands (again, observing) and then quickly putting them in his mouth like they're the tastiest things he's ever seen. He'll go to sleep pretty easily at night and for his morning nap but he HATES sleeping in his crib at any other time. They still need about a two hour nap in the afternoon but Sam will yell and grunt and cry until I go get him. There's no letting him cry it out because they actually wake each other up during nap times...

Lastly is my "youngest" son Jacob:

He's our little guy, weighing in, at almost 6 months of age, at a whomping 11lbs 11oz. He's about 2lbs less than Samuel, our biggest at the moment and has been about 2lbs less for about 4 months now. I still call him my little monkey as he's as funny as a little monkey. He makes the cutest little faces all the time. He's just goofy! He'll smile even if you're not talking to him, he thinks pretty much anything is funny. I'd say he's our most emotional little man because when he's hungry, HE'S HUNGRY... like FEED ME NOW hungry. The moment his bib is on, we have like 2.1 seconds to put the bottle in his mouth before all hell breaks loose. He also doesn't like his feet being against anything because he'll push until he's literally pushing himself almost off the couch! When he laughs he sometimes sounds like he's coughing so we're never quite sure if he's laughing or coughing... He loves to fall asleep on the bottle and we've had to wake him up many times with a cold wet facecloth so that he'll finish his bottle. I don't like putting him to bed asleep because when I do, he wakes up scared because he's waking up in a different place than the one he fell asleep in. Imagine falling asleep surrounded by the people you love after drinking a nice warm milk and waking up alone in the dark... pretty scary for a baby! Speaking of sleeping... I've never met a child so confused about how he likes to sleep! One night he'll want to be put to sleep on his tummy, the next night he'll scream bloody murder if I do the same. He sometimes wants to sleep on his side, but we need to rub his back or tap him on the bottom before he settles. Sometimes he'll roll himself on his back and be super satisfied and other times he'll wake up on his back and it's like we laid him down on a bed of nails. When other people go put him to bed and they ask me what position to put him in, I always pick one at random or just say "sure" to their suggestion because we never know what he'll like. Mostly he likes his tummy or side, particularly for his naps and he'll normally end up on his back during his night sleep and sleep fine. He loves TV. We'll put him down on his playmat and if I happen to have a show on (normally it's just music), we'll find him all twisted up just so he can see the TV. His new move is putting his arms out as if he needs to balance himself when he's standing on our lap. He also loves putting his fingers in his mouth (or his brothers' fingers sometimes if they're close enough). He's our best tummy time guy, probably because he's been sleeping on his stomach since a very early age so he was also the first one to turn from tummy to back.

What they have in common...

We were going to visit Mamie, hence the onesies

They don't particularly love the car rides, Sam's the best at them. Jacob and Zachary do pretty good until there's a red light, then they're not fans. Jacob is getting better at them as I've been taking them to the chiropractor and he seemed to think that Jacob's pelvic bone was a little off. They love going for walks or our shopping, as long as we're moving, they're satisfied. They seem to be pretty ok being held by strangers (or newcomers in their lives). Samuel is pretty scared of my step-father but that'll get better. I've started reading to them after their nighttime bottle and they seem to enjoy that. They all love their play mats and will play on them for about an hour straight in the morning after their bottle while I clean up a bit around the house and get them ready for the day. They love their morning ritual with me. I take one at a time and wash their faces, talk to them, dress them for the day and do a few morning exercises. That may be my favorite time of the day, I get to spend about 10 minutes with them alone while the other two continue playing and aren't asking for my attention. The rest of the day (after their nap) is pretty hectic. They are very particular about the warmth of their bottle... they will NOT drink their bottle if it's not heated to what they're used to. I'm sure there are many other things they all love to do but I wanted to focus on them individually this week so I'll leave it at that.

We're contemplating going to my cousin's wedding on the weekend in Campbelton which is about a four drive... We were going for sure up until about a couple of days ago when the boys starting being more cranky and needy than usual. I also started thinking about all the logistics with feeding and napping and play time and the long hours of driving (they've never gone longer than 20 minutes of a car ride). They eat every four hours so the drive alone would be difficult to time the feedings. Doing any type of routine change can screw up a baby for a while and I've got three to think about... We're finally starting to have some kind of routine and messing with that and trying to get them to sleep in pack and plays (parks), which they've never slept in before, would be interesting to say the least. I know some of you are thinking: "Go, you can't let them stop you from living your life" but when you have three babies that you're still working on creating a normal routine, they ARE my life. I really want all my family to meet them (as 90% of my family lives there) and I really want to see everyone but I don't want to have a week from hell getting them back to routine when we come home... I really don't know, we're still thinking about it. I'm normally the girl who'll say, "F it, let's do it and we'll deal with it later" but I've changed a bit since I now have to think about three babies. If we had just one baby, we'd go for sure. I don't mean to say that messing up one baby's routine is easy but it'd be easier than three...

We've also decided to actively try to give Roxy away... this breaks my heart because she's been my baby girl for 5 years. The house is getting smaller and smaller and she's in the way and just not getting the love and attention she deserves and craves. It's getting sadder and sadder... Sure, I take her for walks but even on walks, I'm constantly concentrating on her when I should be focusing on the babies. Also, one hour of attention when the other hours in the day, she's constantly being told to go lay down... it's just not enough and it's just sad. Maybe one day when the boys are older we'll consider getting another dog but right now, it's just not working. Of course, if no one good comes along to offer to love her and take care of her (to my standards), we'll keep her. There's no way I'm letting her go to some stranger off the street with no credentials!!

Alright... I've blabbed enough... here are the weekly pics: