Pulling up and temper tantrums (already?)

Hannah managed to squeeze in between the side table and the sofa. They love to migrate over toward the kitchen where the gate is. Their other all-time favorite place to play is in the bucket and window. They now drag toys out on their own!

Whitney and Lacy playing together. Since this picture was taken, I took the foam mats up off the floor because they hardly ever play over there anyway. The whole purpose of them was to catch spit up and help pad their falls. I am sure I will pull them out again in the future.

Whitney and Hannah playing in the bucket again!

A new feeding method! :) Just kidding! I was being silly and tried this because they kept trying to roll over in their boppies.

Hannah, my little stretcher. She has always loved to stretch a lot, but doesn't do it as much anymore. She was doing it a lot right before this feeding (with my assistance).

Tyler is climbing on top of Whitney... poor girl is getting squished.

The babies usually play together in the same area - except Whitney is usually the one playing by herself if anybody is. If one migrates to the other side of the room, the other two will usually follow. They also follow me around now when I go in to the kitchen or nursery if I don't close the gates.

Here they have migrated to Craig's shoes. They love to untie his shoe laces.

Tyler is pulling up on everything!

Tyler pulling up on the basket of diapers I just filled.

Whitney and Tyler are learning how to throw fits. They kick their feet, arch their backs, shake their heads no and cry and scream. Fun times! And I wasn't thinking fit-throwing started this early! I haven't gotten any tantrums from Hannah yet.

A few other quick updates... we are working on self-feeding with finger foods and sippy cups and we are slowly making progress. Whitney's one tooth is much more visible now... I'll try to get a picture. Hannah still has zero teeth. Tyler's two middle bottom teeth are it for him.

I am getting super excited about the holidays with the babies. I have been remembering what my life was like last year at this time and reflecting on all the things I have to be thankful for. I will try to do a separate post on this soon!

Halloween, 9 month weigh-in, Arboretum and much more!

Another long post...so get ready. A lot has been happening!



Halloween night we went over to Jennifer's and we took the kids to the park for swinging, hotdogs and a parade. Then, we took the kids trick or treating. Of course, mine didn't get any candy - we just went along for the ride. Then, we stayed over for a while, had chili, caught up with friends and played Wii.

Here is Samantha, Jennifer's baby. She was a poodle for Halloween.

Tyler, Whitney, Hannah and Sam shared swings while we waited for the parade to start. Tyler said, "Get me out of this thing already."

Whitney was the lobster for Halloween night since Hannah got to be the lobster for their 9 month pictures earlier in the day. Actually, Whitney was the crab...goes better with her crabby mood all afternoon. :)

Sam swinging with Hannah.

Hannah getting ready to chew on the back of the swing. Gross!

My little crab....

Hannah always chewing on whatever is in her reach...this time, the glow necklaces.

Tyler always hamming it up. Poor thing was a little warm in the fleece superman costume.

Tyler is continuing to be more and more interested in Lacy. Lacy just lays there while he crawls on top of her. She does so well with them, but yes, in case you are wondering, I do watch her very closely with them.

Hannah is reading to Whitney.

Craig has been on vacation this week and we have been enjoying our time together doing lots of things this week! Look at Hannah...she adores her Daddy! Monday, we took the babies to their 9 month well visit at the pediatrician.

Whitney my sweet little girl. She weighs 14 pounds 13.8 ounces and is in the 1 percentile for her weight. She is doing great on the length. She is 27 3/4 inches long and in the 54th percentile for length. The little stinker is about to fall off the charts but good thing I am not too worried about charts! She is perfectly healthy anyway! We are just going to have to try to get a little more milk down her. I sure hope she will take more milk on a daily basis and gain a little weight because otherwise it looks like she is going to be on formula past one year.

Whitney also got her first tooth Monday. I don't have a picture of it because it is barely coming through and very hard to see by opening her mouth with my finger in her mouth. I can't imagine trying to get a picture of it.

Whitney can crawl now as of this week. She doesn't get around too much but she does crawl/drag across the floor when she sees something she wants. She is also holding her own bottle all the time now! Yay! All the babies can now hold their bottles.

Tyler my BIG boy baseball player (don't you just love the hat??? Pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.) weighs 19 pounds 1 ounce and is in the 23rd percentile for weight. He is 28 1/4 inches long and is in the 47th percentile for length.

Tyler is crawling around like nobody's business. I can see the excitement in his body language that he knows how to get around now. He is pulling up in his crib, but that is about it.

Tyler (as well as Hannah and Whitney) have suddenly starting drinking their bottles in a much quicker time period. They have ALWAYS taken 30 minutes or more to drink their bottles with the exception of a few times of taking it in 15 or 20 minutes. Well, this week and last week, they have started a new trend of taking them in 10 or 15 minutes on a regular basis! HALLELUJAH! FINALLY!

Hannah, my other little squirt. Hannah is in the same boat as Whitney in regards to weight. She weighs 14 pounds 12.7 ounces and is in the 1 percentile on weight. She is 27 1/4 inches long and is in the 36th percentile on length. Even though she looks like a wino here (HA!) don't let that fool you. She, like her sister, doesn't have much of an interest in drinking her bottle. I personally think they are just going to be small, petite girls. But, it sure would be nice if they will eat more, otherwise they may never turn forward facing in their car seats.

She is also crawling about the same as Whitney. She has some very interesting ways of getting around these days.

She likes to sit up in bed and has just started playing peek-a-boo.

Hannah still has zero teeth.

This is our "Joe the plumber"! Gotta have a little political humor!

Earlier this week, we went to the Arboretum together. I actually got the babies out of their stroller for a few pictures this time. (Whitney, Tyler, Hannah)

Whitney was not liking the hay at all!

Whitney and Daddy at the froggy fountains.

Tyler hamming it up again. This was our first picnic together.

What a cute picture and we loved the view. Impossible to get everybody smiling. :)

What is everybody looking at??? Impossible to get all three smiling. :)

Ignore the feet in this picture but look at the beautiful babies, and sky! Tyler crawling away of course. He is too busy for pictures. Impossible to get all three looking. :)

The babies and their hero! Impossible to get any looking. :)

Our beautiful family! Impossible to get any looking. :)

The babies finally fell asleep so Craig and I took some shots together. Yes, I am feeding a baby in the back of the car and yes the door is shut! I am trying to see how limber I can get and how skinny I can get.

I found Hannah like this this morning. She either took her diaper off, somebody else helped her or it came un-velcroed. Isn't she a mess? So, I thought I had enough time to grab a camera and snap a shot of her without her diaper on, but actually, I didn't. Notice she is laying on top of a book??? When I picked her up, she had just peed on the book! Nice!

We have been wearing these babies out this week with doctor's appointments, the Arboretum, house hunting (nothing serious yet, just scoping out neighborhoods for next year), Christmas shopping (before Craig's shoulder surgery), eating out and we have a few more fun family things planned for the remainder of the week (like attempting an early matinee') as well as some "me time" without the babies. We just wanted to get out and enjoy our time together and we have!

Also, we have been hoping the babies would get more accustomed to being out and would learn to sleep more in their stroller.... Not so much. You wouldn't believe how much running we've been doing and they still seem to sleep very little, but surprisingly, they do very well and cry very little. I guess next week will be back to normal - staying home most of the time feeding babies and letting them get normal naps. I don't get out much and feel very confined at home, so this has been nice.

9 Months - Happy Halloween

Tyler is currently the most vocal baby right now. He is starting to say "dadadada" among a few other baby babbling words.

Tyler got his second tooth earlier this week. It is growing in much faster than the first tooth. The first tooth came in a month ago and already the second tooth is almost as big as the first. Thankfully, teething doesn't seem to bother him like it does Whitney (the girls still don't have any teeth). This is what you get when the babies hold their bottles themselves. They are either taking them in and out of their mouths because they can't breathe (due to the colds) or they are just playing. Tyler has recently become so mesmerized by Lacy. He pets her, pulls her dog tags, pulls her ears, chases her (crawling or dragging himself), laughs at her, squeals at her...poor Lacy and she handles it so well.

Tyler is by far my busiest baby. He started getting around by dragging himself last week, now this week he is mastering a true crawl. Now, Tyler has also started pulling up on his knees using this blue toy bucket. He is getting into EVERYTHING! This boy is keeping me busy. He couldn't care less about his toys right now. He just wants to roam and explore. I am using this blue bucket as a temporary barrier to keep him from crawling behind the chair and getting into things he shouldn't be in. Also, notice the blinds are raised...Tyler discovered those too. I've also had to move the magazine racks, close the baby gates, move lamps, raise the curtains, keep dog toys off the floor as well as shoes and anything else he doesn't need. He has an eye for things that he doesn't need... If he isn't supposed to be playing with it, he will find it!

Tyler is getting into the magazines I put under the table on the inside by the sofa and he still managed to find them.

"Let me out!"

Tyler wanted to be Superman for his first Halloween.He is pretending to fly... Actually just getting ready to crawl away - picture-taking was not easy. He is too busy.

Whitney has mastered moving from laying to sitting which is causing a problem with naps. She constantly pulls herself up and then cries and cries because she can't sleep. She is somewhat mobile; she can drag herself around some but usually doesn't have much interest in doing that. She likes to bounce on her bottom while sitting - I think she is going to be my little dancer (hopefully and Hannah too). Whitney is starting to hold her bottle a little, but isn't quite there yet.

Whitney loves to chew on everything - burp clothes, books, toys... everything!

Is that burp cloth good, Whitney?

Whitney was big bird for her first Halloween. Those darn feet will not stay on!

There it goes... Whitney is going to get it.

Let's just take em' off... much easier.

I cannot believe how long she looks here. And there are those darn feet again coming off.

Hannah has her own individual crawl - she likes to throw herself forward until she gets to her destination. Sometimes, although not very often, I will see her drag herself or actually crawl a tiny bit, but it is usually the throwing method she uses to get from point A to point B.

Hannah has become a little less easy-going. She cries more now if someone picks up one of her siblings first out of their beds and not her. Not sure if it is a teething thing or if she is developing the separation anxiety.

Just like Tyler, Hannah makes a mess with her milk. Hannah wanted to be a crab for her first Halloween. She was not digging picture time this afternoon. Can you see the teary eyes? "Seriously Mom! I am not liking this!"Now she is happy...for a moment...Please excuse my toes in this picture. This is the only one I got of her stretched all out without any hands in her face or trying to roll over. See... this is the next shot. This poor, unhappy crab loves to suck her fingers for comfort.

Some group shots...

I thought this was a sweet picture... Hannah had her arm around Whitney but when I snapped the picture, she had moved it. Still sweet though to see them sitting side by side together.

Anyone want to play twister? Or wrestle?

Good thing Hannah doesn't mind you crawling over her, Tyler. Of course, Tyler being so busy, putting Hannah next to him with her antenna things isn't going to work. Let's switch them.Whitney said, "I don't want to sit next to a boy!" And poor Hannah's antenna's are droopy just like her mood. I guess that is why Tyler wanted to 'fix' them.

Poor babies were tired and hungry. Their nap was too short (their choice, not mine) and they hadn't eaten yet.


On that note... they are all doing well with their solids. They have three meals a day and they tolerate most foods I give them fairly well. We are working on sippy cups, but mainly they just chew on the spout.

We have their 9 month check-up next week, so be sure and check back soon because I will give their current weights/lengths/percentiles etc.

Until next time...