Getting to know you...

The babies are starting to interact more and more with each other. They think it is so funny to see another baby, laughing and giggling when they are on the floor together.

Yesterday, Evan was reaching out trying to grab Memo's head and ears. From early on, Evan has seemed very in tune with his siblings.

Evan Catnap

Evan crashes out on the floor with his frog after a fun afternoon playing with Papa and Grammy. It's Papa's 60th birthday!

Developmental Therapist Visit

Good news, we passed all of our developmental tests. The babies are all doing great and they LOVED the one on one attention, all laughing and smiling w/ Mary Elizabeth, the therapist. Bad news, they don't qualify for therapy. Would have loved to have her visit them and work with them on a regular basis. But she can visit again in two months to check their progression.

Will was a big flirt, Evan was very talkative and Lily was smiley and happy.

We were instructed to buy more toys and interesting rattles to encourage 'mid-line' grabbing. The way we prop the babies on the boppies is good as it encourages them to hold their bottles too.

She also said it is good that they show preference for toys, as that shows ability to self soothe. Will loved some crazy rattle she had w/ lots of colors and textures. Evan loves puppy and grabs both ears and puts them in his mouth.

Let's see, what else, Lily showed off her gracefull rolling skills. You go strong girl!

Here is a group shot we took after the session.

Update: All babies scored at their real age level on the developmental tests (18-19), horray! So, even though they were almost four weeks premature, they are performing at a normal four month level rather than their adjusted age of about three months.

Pajama Time

The moon is up, its getting late. Let's get ready to celebrate. It's pajama time! Grandpa and Dad read Trucks to Evan before bedtime. He was very 'talkative' having lots to say about the different trucks.

Bubbles

Nanny Mayela is always coming up with new fun things to do. She brought bubbles from gymboree the other day. They love it!

She also brought us some lively new music that the babies enjoy, a kids version of some Spanish songs. Ahh...finally some new music to listen to! We are getting pretty tired of the few CDs we have in the baby room Baby Mozart, Nora Jones, Gypsy Kings and Yoga relaxation.

We are so lucky to have Mayela, the babies adore her and she loves them too.

Back to the park with Dad and Jason

Dad and Jason wanted to get in on the park fun...here are a few more pics of the gang. Will is starting to see what all the fun is about. Smiley Lily enjoyed a push from Jason.

First Time at the Swings

Finally, some sunny weather. We were able to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. We decided to try out the swings in the park across from our house for the first time.

Babies seemed curious, not too excited but not protesting either. We did get a big smile from Evan - weee!

The boys shared a bucket swing. This swing is huge mom! (Will and Evan)






Lily prefers to ride solo.

Rolly Polly Lily

Here is Lily about to roll over, now that she has discovered how fun it can be she rolls over all the time. Unfortunately, she has decided that she likes to roll over in her crib, but doesn't like to sleep on her back. Now mom and dad take turns, rolling her back on her tummy at night.

4 month checkup

It snowed in Austin! We had lots of ice, and even snow, the park was covered in white. It was a beautiful sight. We took the babies out side just long enough to catch a few snowflakes on their faces.

Most of Austin was shut down for half of the week, but that also meant no nanny. It was nice to have the family all home together but it was also pretty tiring. We were very happy to have Mayela return on Thursday.















Friday, the babies had their 4 month doctor appointment. It wasn't the best timing, in the middle of their nap time and overlapping into meal time. So our normally happy easy going babies were a bit rough around the edges. That plus shots made for an interesting time. We were all tuckered out by the end of it.















The good news is that everyone is growing, slowly catching up and doing well developmentally. They seem so big to me, I thought they would be higher percentile on the growth charts. Lily, who we thought was so petite turned out to be the highest percentile, so she's not that tiny afterall. The growth curves for boy and girl babies are just very different. She measured as long as Evan, which I find hard to believe. They were pretty wiggly so these measurements are probably not too accurate. Here's our latest stats:

Will
13lb 3 oz (25%)
22 1/2 in (<5%)

Evan
12 lb 13 oz (10%)
23 1/2 in (8%)

Lily
11 lb 13 oz (20%)
23 1/2 in (25%)

Evan is rolling over consistantly, he gets up on his arms and slowly 'tumps' over to his left. So brave! Lily and Will have eached rolled over a couple times in their cribs but we haven't seen it yet.

Evan and Lily are very vocal with lots of ah goos, gees, oohs. Lily also likes to make hmmm-mmm-mm sounds and is testing out the volume of her voice with high pitched squeals. It looks like she is going to be a bit demanding, our little firecracker. But also, very happy, she smiled and laughed for the staff. Will is still growling, very cute, but generally more quiet and low key and not making many other sounds. The doctor said not to be concerned, that his nature is probably more calm and he is taking it all in. One day he should jump right in. We are to practice talking to him when the other two are not around, give him one on one time.

Evan was showing some signs of prematurity with his arms held out and wasn't interested in grabbing toys for the doctor. But at home he holds his frog paci and reaches out to the book during reading time so I'm not concerned. They all are are not very interested in reaching for toys yet, but do at times when they are in the mood. They have all been batting at toys on the activity mat for a while now.

So now we are practicing our fine motor skills, holding toys out to grab, doing more tummy time to practice rolling over and beginning to crawl. Also, spending more talking time with Will, less growling :)

Grandma G's Birthday

What better present than a pile of grandbabies. Here a few pics from Grandma's birthday trip with the trio.

Visiting the Volcanoes in Hawaii.

Egyptian Pyramids with Evan and Max

White water rafting in Colorado.

Routine

Wow, the babies are growing so fast. Over the last couple weeks the babies have started eating more (~ 7oz per feeding) and we were able to drop another feeding (down to five feedings). Horray!

Check out the boys in their 'big boy' camo pants (to the right).

As they approach their 4th month birthday and I return to work, we are working on getting them on a 'by the clock' schedule, rather than starting each day at a different time. They now have a regular bedtime at almost 6:30pm and morning wake up time around 7:30am. It is nice to finally have a consistent routine. I think it is also good for the babies to know what to expect.

We also started our night time ritual: bath/pjs, botttle, book, bed. Of course they only have 'real' baths a couple times a week. I'm looking forward to the day that we can put everyone in the tub together. It will either be really fun or really crazy or more likely both.

Their favorite book is Pajama Time. It is so much fun, they are really engaged and love to look at the colorful drawings. Evan was helping me 'turn' the pages yesterday! He is still singing along with the ooh yeahs, saying ooh oooh :)

Here is the routine we try to follow these days (more or less):

Morning
7:15 AM Quiet Awake
7:30 AM Feeding and diaper change, open shades and play music
8:00 AM Awake Time (read books, play music, sing songs, etc)
9:00 AM Morning nap time (~1hr 45 min)

Afternoon
10:45 AM Feeding and diaper change, play music
11:15 AM Awake Time
12:15 PM Afternoon nap time (~1 hr 45 min)

Late Afternoon
2:00 PM Feeding and diaper change, play music
2:30 PM Awake Time
3:30 PM Late afternoon nap Time (~1hr)
4:30 PM Awake Time (good time for walk/jog w/ babies)

Early Evening
5:00 PM Bath/PJs
5:20 PM Feeding and diaper change, play relaxing music, lights low
6:30 PM Bedtime

Middle of Night
3:00 AM Feeding, diaper change

Nights are getting easier and easier. Babies all sleep soundly from 6:30ish until at least 1:30am. I'm often up to give Evan or Lily a paci at this time but they go back to sleep until the middle of the night feeding. But occasionally, I won't hear a peep from anyone until after 3am. Will is still a champion sleeper, seems like I'm always having to wake him up at night to eat. We consider ourselves very lucky that everyone is sleeping so well. And I'm starting to get used to going to bed earlier myself.

We still have a night nanny once a week to ensure that we have a least one solid night of sleep. This week we had Marah two nights because Daddy was in Las Vegas for CES. Grandma is also getting more comfortable with taking the night shift and has been able to help out a few nights.

Back to Work

This is my second week back at work. It is tough to leave in the morning. Mornings are the best time, everyone is rested and happy, talking and smiling. It's good to know that they are in great hands with their nanny Mayela. Also, both grandmas have been helping nanny out so everyone is still getting lots of good cuddling time and attention.

Work has been fun so far, I'm managing online marketing campaigns and only working MTW. So far it seems like it will be a good balance of work and still lots of family time.

Emerging Personalities

It is extraordinary to see Will, Evan and Lily's personalities emerge. They are each already so unique.

Will has a laid back smile, it slowly unwraps like you are sharing a special secret with him. He has just started to chuckle which is a lot of fun. Will's favorite sound is growling. We discovered a couple of weeks ago that if we growled, he will growl back. He got big smiles and laughs and now he growls all the time. When I walk in his room in the morning and get him out of bed, first thing he greats me with a growl and a big smile.

Evan is very vocal and has been making lots of coo and ah gee sounds for the past month. He seems to carry on full conversations and seems very happy to be communicating. When we read pajammy time at bedtime there is a part of the song that goes - oh yeah. Evan will respond oooh, oooh. It is so darn cute. In the morning he howls happy ooohs - my cute little hound dog. Evan is such a happy baby but screams when we put him in the tub. I've been trying to figure out a way to make him more comfortable with bathtime.

Lily has a spectacular grin with a cute curved upper lip. It makes you feel like a million bucks. She also loves to coo and her eyes sparkle when she talks to you. She is a sweetie but when she wants her milk she will really let you know. She is going to be a little firecracker. She seems so tiny next to the boys. It will be interesting to see how she is growing at her 4 mo. appointment next Friday.

Babies First Christmas

Merry Christmas with three times the blessings! What a great Christmas present, three happy healthy babies. We are looking forward to many fun holidays to come and starting our own family traditions.

I was so excited to hang our Christmas stockings this year, we filled up the mantel. Here are Will, Evan and Lily with their new frog dolls that Rick and Susan gave them. They are almost as big as the babies :)

Freas Family Photo

We got together today to take some pics for the Family Calendar that Clare's brother Ben puts together every year. We added four to the family photo this year - our trio and Christy's boyfriend Chris. Mom was the photographer but we managed to get a good one with her as well.

Daddy's Girl

David has turned out to be a terrific father. He has had to help out more than most dads and is a natural at parenting. It is a great feeling to see him interact with the babies. They already have a strong bond.

Dr. Cowan and Team

Here are some photos of Dr. Cowan and his team. They took excellent care of us during the pregancy and delivery and were beyond supportive throughout the entire journey. I couldn't have gone so long with my pregnancy without them. Thanks guys!

Ho Ho Ho!

Photos for our christmas card. Precioso! Evan, Lily and Will in their Baby's first Christmas hats. I like these photos because it really shows their personalities.

Schedule

Here's a peak into our daily routine.

During the Day:
The babies eat every 3 hours during the day just like in the NICU. We try to finish the bottles in 30 mins, but it usually takes 40 mins or more.

In the morning we open the shades, turn on the lights and play music to help let them know it is daytime.

Then we have 'awake time' for ~30 mins. Holding, rocking, singing, activity mat, going for a walk, reading books. It's exciting to see them starting to look at the pages.

Then everyone is back to bed for the last 2 hours. The exeption is walk time where they crash out pretty quickly in their strollers and I walk for much of the nap time.

We have met tons of our neighbors by walking everyday. It has been nice that the weather has been so pleasant.


At night:
We let them sleep until the first one wakes up. If one wakes up a bit before 4 hours I may rock them and try to hold them off for 15-30 mins. Then feed all and back to bed.They are eating about 3-5oz per feeding these days.

Babies are great with the schedule. Staying asleep during nap time is another matter. Most of the time they are great sleepers but other times they take turns crying usually for their paci or they just need another burp or new diaper.

Happy Halloween

Will, Evan and Lily in the pumpkin patch in Terry Town. This was one of our first outings a couple weeks ago. It took Grandma Gloria, Nanny Mayela and Mom to get them packed up and to the patch.

We are looking forward to watching the trick or treaters tonight w/ our little pumpkins.