Us Plus Three

Ah yes, another post right on schedule. As always.

It’s seriously been a full year and some change. It feels like both an eternity and like it barely happened. That’s probably because things kind of blur together these days. But hey, that’s having triplets during a once-in-a-century pandemic.

So, yeah. How are things? Great question. Good, I guess? I get asked versions of this a lot. Honestly, I tend to fumble on the response. The girls are bigger, they’re kind of mobile, and are starting to communicate. Thanks to all that developing, they’re better at just kicking it, which makes things easier. Of course, they also get bored pretty quickly, which makes things harder. Overall, I think I can say things get better near the one-year mark. They reliably sleep—big win. Well, except when we got to experience one-year sleep regression with three babies at once. They also have a bit of a personality. Also fun, except when it’s not. It’s different but better.

There’s a lot more to say about the goings-on, but I assume if you’re actually reading this, you’re really just interested in looking at babies. So, with that, let’s look at some babies.

Mallory

Mallory has proven to be the most chill and friendly of the girls. She doesn’t have the same stranger danger thing going like her sisters. I can’t possibly imagine how that could backfire. But hey, it’s fun for now. One big highlight is she’ll bop her tiny head to music which is adorable. She’s also by far the most mobile which is a lot less adorable and more of a liability. She’s real close to walking and can briefly stand on her own.

Taylor

Taylor continues to miss the part where she’s not an only child. At least she’s pretty precious about it now. She’ll cycle through all the gestures she knows to get attention. This is typically deployed around bedtime, which is a super blast. She is also our first talker. Her word? “No!” I’m sure that’s a strong indicator of how things are going.

Hannah

Real talk Hannah is pulling ahead in the figuring shit out game. She was the first to learn how to hand you a toy on request or put them in a box. It only takes her a few attempts to learn how to do something. Prime example, she learned that pushing buttons on certain toys makes them play music over and over and over and over. Luckily those toys have on/off switches. This all makes up for the fact that she is the tiniest by far. She’s just so little.

Lots of pictures below:

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New skills thanks to being one.

Here’s the thing, thanks to being pretty dang early, milestones are gonna be hit and miss compared to a full-term baby. Also, I have no idea what’s normal by month either, considering this is both the first and last time I’ll experience life with 14(ish)-month-old babies. Caveats out of the way here we go!

• They can all stand themselves up when holding onto something. I assume this is a precursor to walking. Mallory was again the first to get this but the others followed quickly. The return to earth from standing is basically to just drop on their butts. They’re getting there.
• They all have a few teeth coming in. I realize this isn’t a skill so much as a catalyst for crying always. But hey, it’s a milestone.
• Like I said, Taylor figured out the word “no” the others are on their way with babbling always. We’re trying but they just haven’t nailed it. They are starting to figure out some hand gestures though.
• Other skills they’ve learned is to hand you whatever they’re holding on request. I hope drilling that one in pays off. So far the only outcome is the girls eagerly handing you things at random hoping for some praise.
• Mallory is slowly learning to high-five.
• Taylor will pat the closest sister’s head or back if you say “there there there.”
• I’m supremely confident I’m missing a whole lot, but it all kind of blurs together. Let’s move on.

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Eating.

Bottles are over. I was given the impression that weening them would make life so very easy. This was a lie. It’s a whole process.

The first challenge is finding things they’ll actually eat. And by that, I mean they all will eat. There are so many things that one baby (who will remain nameless, but she’s very extra) doesn’t like but the others are into. Sorry, buds. I’m not preparing special meals to cater to preferences when there are three of you.

Next, you have to find something you can make in bulk and reheat. Because, you know, three meals x three babies. It adds up fast.

With all that in mind, I’m convinced they would happily eat nothing but sweet potatoes and bananas for the rest of their lives.

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Their way of letting you know they’re full is to start flinging food around. I feel like there are more subtle ways to let us know it’s time to wrap, but whatever.

Oh, an egg allergy popped up too. That’s fun.

Attempting a trip with the girls.

We made the misguided call to try and brave a trip to Fredricksburg with the sisters and the girls. It was a total disaster. They were generally ok during the morning, but once the fuss set in, there was no going back. While I knew small kids thrived on routine, I never fully internalized how important it is, especially when they can’t exactly communicate or receive communication. My advice is, don’t travel with triplets until they’re at least two. I’m just picking that number, by the way. It remains to be seen if it actually counts.

The positives? They got to splash in a pool which they love.

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Other wins? I managed to score a bunch of Whataburger condiments at HEB. There are zero HEBs up on the Northside of Dallas.

Other stuff so I can finally wrap this and stop putting it off.

At this point, we’ve pretty much ceded control of the house to the girls, with a few areas strategically blocked with baby fences. Basically, it’s just the places that are far too much of an undertaking to baby-proof right now. Their determination with overcoming obstacles is impressive. Newly acquired climbing skills are in direct response to, say, putting a box in the way of a forbidden zone. We tried blocking off a playroom, but they just get bored too fast and want to wander.

A super cool bonus benefit to letting them wander more is having to switch to all-natural cleaners. No more almond-scented floor cleaner. Goodbye bleach. Now it’s just a world full of vinegar. If a cleaner is non-toxic and actually going to clean, brace yourself for some vinegar.

Finally some quick hits:

If something happens that startles Hannah (for example, pulling down the diaper bin for the fourth time), she’ll scurry off before working through her emotions. It’s pretty funny to watch her rapidly crawl away.

Apparently, a “fun game” is dropping something out of reach so you can pick it up for them, then repeating forever.

They love climbing into things. Like boxes, or toy bins, or the dog’s crate if you forget to close it.

Somehow we got lucky, and they never got into pacifiers. I’m ok with this.

There are bite marks on just about anything within a tiny arm’s reach. Including another sister’s arm.

They are exclusively interested in whatever toy or object a sister or you are holding. I really had high hopes they’d be excellent at sharing since they have never known anything else. But nope. Not the case. Did I drop my bottle? No worries, my sister has one I can take. Is my sister literally holding an identical toy to the one I’m being offered? Better pull that one out of her hands. Should I grab a snack from the cup in my hand or pull it out of my sister’s mouth? You get the picture.

They do seem to get along pretty well, though. Especially in the mornings, they’ll just babble to each other and laugh as they try to get in each other’s cribs.

Kay, that’s all I’ve got. See you in probably too long again!

Yeppers. The headline gives a lot away. The girls are getting older and, as a result, aren’t quite as riddled with preemie challenges. In fact, a couple of them are such raging chunks that they’re hanging just fine on the growth charts for their age. What age, by the way? They’re almost 8 months, which feels like an eternity, honestly. Let’s take a look at some of the key improvements.

Recent quality of life improvements thanks to advancing age:

• Gone are the feeds every three hours. They’re spaced out!
• They can almost self-feed. Hand them a bottle, and they’ll make awkward attempts at drinking from them. Hitting their target as often as once a day.
• They’re all about playing, grabbing, and babbling at each other. This means you can plop them in some bouncers or on a mat, and they’ll entertain themselves. Kind of. It’s short-lived, but it’s something.
• They’re napping consistently every afternoon, which means a nice long chunk of quiet.
• Speaking of sleep, here comes the big one. Sleeping through the freaking night. Yep, it finally happened. Is it reliable? No. But more often than not, when you put them to bed, you’re done.

Oh, man. Sunshine and roses, right? Not quite. It’s better but still pretty intense. A certain baby named Hannah likes to get up just before five, very interested in being held and looking at things. Still, it’s an upgrade from three am. Other fun changes are things like the shocking amount of drool they all produce at all times. I seriously don’t know how they don’t get dehydrated drooling that much. I keep hearing it’s a precursor to teething, which I also hear is both easy and by no means stressful.

Since it’s been like four months since I posted anything, we might as well look at some baby pictures.

Baby pictures.

Ah yes, baby pictures. The currency of all baby-related talk. I haven’t been the best at taking them since keeping them alive is already a full-time job. You know, on top of the other full-time job that’s bankrolling this operation. I say that to say these are both heavy on the seven to eight-month side and probably not in any order. Deal with it. Let’s start by taking a look at each of them.

Mallory

Originally “Baby A,” Mallory is now super fat and derpy. She’s also by far the most chill. Which, unfortunately, means she gets the least attention—more on that in Taylor’s section.

Taylor

No longer living up to her old “Baby B” title, Taylor is both the biggest of the girls and off the rails. She wants all of the attention at all times. This can be problematic considering there are two other infants that require care. Luckily, she can also be quite fun. She’s my sister’s favorite, mainly because she’s so extra.

Tiny Hannah

“Baby C” is still little bitty. I mean, really, she’s just a few pounds behind her sisters, but when you’re not even 20 pounds, a few is a lot.

Annnnd more pictures:

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As you can see they’re way better at grabbing at things. Unfortunately, sometimes those “things” are their sister’s face. Many a baby has been kicked by her sister resulting in meltdowns.

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Yeah, they suck at staying awake. I often find myself marveling at the ways they’ll fall asleep. Enjoy it while it lasts, nerds!

Self-feeding is a game-changer. You can reliably feed Mallory and Taylor at the same time with limited intervention. Hannah remains a hot mess.

Since we’re on the topic of pictures…

We may have gone ahead and done the Christmas card thing, even though I’m strongly opposed to anything cute or cute adjacent. Don’t you worry. I’m fully aware that there’s likely to be an overabundance of cute in my world having three little girls. Reminding me is not necessary. Anyway, behind the scenes making the card was a bit of a mess, mega shocker, I know. Let’s look at some failed shots!

I was getting worried I’d have to photoshop in a better face for Hannah. But luckily, she kind of smiled while the other two looked in the right direction, and we got to call it a day.

Wrapping it up.

We’ll close with some odds, ends, and updates that I didn’t feel like working in.

• They’re starting to figure out what things are. Such as bottles. Recently I was feeding a pissed Hannah to chill her out. Mallory decided to be hungry too. Then saw Hannah’s bottle and came undone. I made the mistake of trying to hold Mallory to calm her; instead, she just tried to take Hannah’s bottle from her.
• They make guest appearances in my work meetings and love looking at all the faces on Zoom.
• They pretty much only crap their pants in the morning when I’m on solo duty. Typically, just as my workday is starting. Super fun times.
• My hair might be so long that I’m rocking a man bun.

Ok, that’s all I’ve got. See you in like, several months, knowing how much I love to procrastinate.

The girls are coming right up on four months, which is less a milestone and more of an in-between for the interesting numbers. When better to dish out another fun-filled update? I feel like I heard that it all goes by so fast and to cherish it or whatever. That has not been my experience. Maybe it’s the lockdown talking, but four months feels like a lifetime.

The good news is we’ve fallen into something that almost looks like a routine. Of course, the options are pretty limited with them right now. You’ve got change them, feed them, and get stared at. I’ve come to realize that individually; they’re pretty lowkey (except for Hannah, sorry bud). Unfortunately, with the volume of babies, it does feel like someone is losing their mind always. Well and, one specific bundle of joy is basically on the edge of coming undone at all times. Otherwise, things are swell!

Baby picture time.

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Overall it seems like everyone is healthy and doing well. We had some hiccups with little Hannah on weight gain, but she finally got the hang of eating. She’ll be a raging chunk like her sisters in no time.

Right now, it’s a lot of the same with them. The only new features are them smiling more, making less than effective attempts at babbling and staring. I was not prepared for the staring. It’s kind of trippy having three tiny sets of eyes locked on you at all times. Though, I guess considering their day to day is on the repetitive side, we probably seem very interesting. Even though we aren’t these days.

Speaking of being un-interesting.

Yeah, roping you in with a compelling headline there. If you’re wondering how we’re holding up these days, we’re fine, I guess. It’s hard to do anything when your life only happens in quick little bursts, and you’re tethered to the house at all times.

One of the highlights is looking out the window and people watching. We’re on a culdesac, so you wouldn’t think there’s much action. But, for whatever reason, it’s a hot spot for walkers and some annoying neighbors.

Once the sun comes up, most feeds happen here. It’s nice to sit there and imagine what it’d be like to get outside at your leisure again. We have tried feeding them outside now that it’s getting nicer. Unfortunately, they don’t like how bright it is, and the slightest breeze freaks them out for some reason. It was funny at first, but once a feed gets ruined by it a few times, it gets old.

Anyway, here are a few highlights.

• Our neighbor to the left of this image is kind of a shit show. One of their go-tos is leaving things. Like leaving their lawn unmowed for months, leaving piles of branches on the sidewalk, or leaving their always unleashed dogs’ turds in my grass. The one enjoyable part of this is that when people round the culdesac, they always ditch the sidewalk for the road at their house—something I also would love to do.
• There’s this one lady that stops at my mailbox almost every day to adjust her shoes before giving my neighbors house a wide birth. This also involves staring around as if looking for something. I assume my neighbor’s dogs. But, if you’re worried about that, why come down this way?
• And then there’s this other lady that cuts through my yard to get from the alley to the road. This happens most days, and shocker, with unleashed dogs in tow. I’ve run into her a couple of times while taking out the trash, just cutting through my yard, dogs wandering. The exchange is usually giving her an annoyed look because I’m sick of picking up dog crap, her vaguely saying sorry, and making a half-hearted effort at beckoning her dogs. One time she felt the need to point out that I was barefoot. She hit me with “no shoes?” yeah, no shoes. Who are you? Why are you in my yard?

Man, who would have thought my thirties would be so cool? Blessed times.

Yeah, I’m coming in hot with the hard-hitting revelations. It’s been a minute since I’ve updated this and the title is a neat clue as to why. Speaking of titles, it kind of covers the gist of this one. If you’re not much of a reader, you can either bail, since you already know all I have to offer, or scroll through and look at baby pictures. You know, everyone’s favorite thing ever.

I had a feeling adding one more baby on top of Taylor and Mallory would be an exponential increase in difficulty, not an incremental one. It turns out that was true and then some. Let’s take a quick look at all the mini blessings we encounter every day! (In no particular order)

• Trying to grab a wipe before your baby kicks their foot into their poop when every wipe in the container comes along for the ride.
• Guessing who’s going to meltdown first at feed time. Of course, getting it wrong, which means you’ll be listening to a baby scream their head off while the one you’re feeding decides to really dig in and savor the moment.
• The smell of baby formula. It’s nasty.
• Also, the smell of Hannah’s extra sensitive formula. Shortly after her first serving, I’m hit with the vague smell of cheap, fast food fries. Truly a mystery since all I’ve eaten at that point is a banana, and Rachel is still asleep. Of course, weird is the new normal now, so I just ignored it. It wasn’t until I was cleaning bottles later that I caught the smell of fries again. From Hannah’s bottle. Not the good part of fries, though. It’s that weird smell lingering in the background. Luckily that sensitive formula was retired since it wasn’t helping, and Hannah is no longer called “french fries.”
• Dressing babies sucks. I’m pretty sure anyone that has gone on about how fun it is to dress them up is gaslighting me. Because changing their little outfits is super low down on my favorite things to do list. They squirm so much. Also, what’s with them deciding to practice jazz hands when you’re trying to put a sleeve on?
• The once adorably-bad-at-everything pacifier spitting out that the girls did in the hospital kind of lost the adorable. Especially when each baby is melting down because they accidentally spit their pacifier out, again. They’ll usually wait to do this until you’re tied up feeding one of their sisters.
• Multiple randos pointing out that “you’re gonna have your hands full” at every doctor’s visit. Thanks for the insight, bud.
• Mommy blogs. God help you if you’re trying to decode something and turn to the internet. One I stumbled on (which is more of a forum, but whatever) does this thing where they call all daughters “DD”, sons are “DS”, and husbands are “DH.” Now, what the heck do those stand for? Dear Daughter, Dear Son, Dear Husband. This is always denoted in parenthesis immediately after the acronym spelling it out. While I assume it’s some bot that is adding a translation, I can’t get over the irony of it adding a lot more characters than if they had just said “my dear daughter” or hell, maybe explore being direct and just say “my daughter.”
• Speaking of mommy blogs. Like, I get I’m not the audience for a lot of reasons. But boy is it frustrating when you have a problem you’re trying to solve, and all the SEO winners have to offer is “get your hubby to help out for a while and take a break!”

It’s not all bad. This is just a tough stage since all the preemie baby problems are on full display—specifically, reflux. If I were to tell parents of triplets one thing, it’s that the first few months will be feeding babies always and forever while doing a ton of laundry.

A weird challenge we’ll have is dealing with other people. Because everyone feels compelled to make comments, supportive comments to be sure, ones I would probably make myself. It’s just going to be an adjustment having the same conversations everywhere we go. Over and over. So, if you say “triple the blessing!” and get a flat response, I’m sorry. I’m just adjusting to a lot all at once.

Baby Stats!

Ok, let’s take a look at some babies.

Taylor is our big chunk at 11 pounds. She’s typically the easiest outside of the daily total-feed evacuation. She is also extra clingy loves to be held all the time.

Mallory is just behind Taylor in size at 10.5 pounds. Her entire existence is staring at things. She’s also the loudest crier by far.

Hannah is still doing her best. She’s a little behind her sisters, but it’s not her fault. Hannah was the smallest, and still is at 8 pounds. She’s got some catching up to do.

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They are starting to smile now, which is fun. Taylor is the most reliable with it, but they’ll all throw a big grin your way at times. It’s nice to add something other than crying to their self-expression options. Sneezing is also a big part of their lives. They’re so dramatic with them too; it’s a full-body effort for every sneeze. Holy crap, do they love to stare. Any moment a baby is awake, you better believe she’s staring at you. Also, all the freaking baby farts. Who would have thought they’d fart so much?

Us?

We’re ok, I guess, just worn out. Considering we both just went back to work, I have a feeling we’ll find a new definition for “worn out.” We’re still rocking sleeping in shifts. It’s that, or neither of us sleeps ever. In exchange for some longer sleep blocks, we have to do a lot of solo triplet care. Even when you win, you lose, right?

Kay that’s all I’ve got, I’m going to wrap this otherwise I sit on it for another week.