Our floors are really clean now . . .

Tonight was a doozy. I may or may not have mentioned this in the past, but diaper rash is a pain in the butt, and yes, i did mean the pun. We have been battling diaper rashES (yes, X3) for over a month now. it's BRUTAL. we have been to the dr 3 different times, had naked time, gotten a special wash that we use twice a day on everyone, have about 10 creams and lubes we use, and while we can ALMOST heal them on the weekend, after a few days with us at work, they are coming back. We are doing some investigative work about diapers and bums while we are gone for the day, but this at least gives you backdrop as to HOW annoyed we are with our current routine.

Usually we get everyone ready for bed in the living room. Plenty of room to climb on all kinds of stuff, fairly safe, not too much tile floor for people to conk themselves on and i will admit, we often play scooby doo for them to zone out to while we are doing our butt wash, then butt ready-ing routine. TOnight we decided to lock them in their bedroom with us since the bathroom is closer and we have to bring everything away from the diaper changing station and then bring it back in the morning - also annoying. We also decided to do more naked time in between the washing and the cream-ing to help dry these butts OUT! usually we put the diaper on for our safety and to avoid any clean up, but we were feeling daring i guess. fools.

I was washing baby #3 and Curt looks over to see Aidan standing in between 2 of the cribs completely still. that kid doesn't sit still FOR ANYTHING. except when he is pooping apparently. on the floor no less. Curt immediately goes to make sure he won't sit in it, play with it, etc and i look to see the ginormous puddle under Gavin's crib - courtesy of Aidan. Of course, I am LAUGHING my head off while i'm trying to wash Gavin and hand Curt a towel to clean aidan on, some wipes for the floor clean up, etc. Brady and Aidan are now interested in whatever Curt does NOT want them to do - mainly crawl near the poop or under the crib. it's pandemonium (i love that word).

we have then moved on to the second part of the routine - the creams. Keep in mind we have to wash our hands thoroughly in between each diaper area contact - so i am washing my hands 6 TIMES in the span of about 20 minutes. I come back from the bathroom (we had the door to their room closed) and Curt says, "is there something by the door?" I just see a couple of damp spots and assume it is from their soapy little behinds and say, "no, i think . . . (gasp) oh NO!" yes, someone else had peed (Aidan was diapered by now, so this is an accusatory look directed at Brady and Gavin!) and then proceeded to crawl through it and all over the general area. It looked like marks from a monster truck derby - only with pee on the wood floor. Out come the clorox wipes again, then of course keeping everyone away from the area - the ONLY place they want to be now. then wiping away the clorox so they don't eat that . . . it was EXHAUSTING.

We have now dubbed our long hallway the "Trail of Tears". Nightly it seems the boys cry their way down the hallway as we are bringing them from baths to eating, or just as they cry up and down the hallway before they eat their last bottle.

Gavin has begun whistleing. It is adorable. He will be concentrating on a toy, or standing while holding something and you will see him purse his lips and whistle for a little bit. It's almost like he doesn't know he does it, but it is happening more and more often, so maybe he is putting on a show for us. He is also doing the BEST at standing unassisted! Tonight he pulled up on the side of the loveseat and grabbed a small blanket sitting on the arm. He then let go of the couch as he examines the blanket for about 15 seconds! It wasn't until I said "Good boy Gavin!" that he then looked at me and plopped on his bottom. Aidan and Brady will play the game where they will stand between our legs and then when we let go of them they will fall in a direction and we will catch them. They LOVE it (Aidan has adopted the Austin Powers style of falling - "It's turbulance baby!" with his arms up by his head and falling on his tummy) but I think they love the being caught more than the standing for the 3 seconds.

Things I Thought Would Digest . . .

Gavin, Aidan, Brady

Grapes.

Strawberries.

Squash.

But, no. they come out almost like they went in. For those of you who are parents, I do not need to go into any more details about how i know this. For those of you with more sensitive natures, you do not WANT me to go into any more details about how I know this. :)

Tonight was a complete meltdown night. It started off innocently enough - bath time with a few spats of crying from Gavin when he was not in the tub and as he was being taken out. Otherwise, even Aidan was pretty chill. Then as I was finishing lubing Aidan up and getting him into PJs, all hell broke loose as Curt made bottles. It sounded like Gavin was being tortured. Apparently sitting in the kitchen and watching dad make bottles is akin to torture when you are a hungry boy. Brady can hear Gavin shreiking from the kitchen and he decides he will now show empathy and he begins to cry - and of course Aidan joins in. Aidan and Brady are crying all the way down the hall (did I mention tile has a low co-efficient for sound absorption - i.e. it magnifies rather than silences?) like I just told them we weren't going to feed them tonight.

Until tonight we have still needed to feed two while one waits (usually Brady - his brothers better appreciate his patience!). Sometimes they will hold their bottles, but it has been hit and miss. After the spectacle down the hall i told curt i would feed two. He said, "Nope - if they are hungry they can hold their own damn bottle tonight!" and sure enough ALL THREE DID! I guess when you are hungry/distressed enough you will make it happen for yourself. :)

In case you are wondering what parents of triplets do for fun, I will tell you. We impersonate our kids. Yes, every once in awhile one of us will turn to the other and say, "hey, who am I?" and proceed to ham it up for the other person. It pretty much leaves us both in stitches since 1) our kids are pretty funny and 2) we have a low threshold for humor with our current lives. The good news is it's almost always their more endearing qualities we are impersonating - no one wants to relive nights like tonight. :)

Aidan says, "How YOU doin'?"

Today Aidan discovered the drapes and the sheers (one is a black out shade and one allows light in but so it's not so bright/hot). He was LOVING swishing them around himself and playing "Where's Aidan?". He actually had wrapped one of the drapes all the way around himself so you could only see part of his little bottom and then would unveil himself with a SWOOSH. too cute. He then of course lost his balance briefly and fell straight back from the drape, landing on the rug under the dining room table. Not the softest of spots, but better than the tile floor lurking underneath. He kept his eyes on me while I talked him through it - but he never cried. it was a breakthrough for him! He pretty much always lets you know when he has fallen/hurts himself, however mild.

Dad and Gavin

GAVIN UPDATE: We had more extensive hearing tests for Gavin on Thursday and he passed all of them with flying colors. He was SUCH a good boy - in some ways I love taking the boys to the Dr. because they are usually pretty chill (Gavin just hung out in my lap in the waiting room for 20 minutes and watched people - no toy or anything!) and it's a chance to see what it's like for singleton parents (seriously - ONE to chase? heaven).

Anyway, the Dr. recommended we do another hearing test to test the brain stem response (basically, he is hearing, but to make sure it is sending the correct signals to the brain - or something like that). We are waiting to see if a speech pathologist friend thinks we should do this test (it will involve him missing a nap AND a meal, and then an hour and a half long test where he is supposed to be put into a deep sleep - not sure if we want to put him OR us through this), or if we should just keep using his name 100X more than anyone would in ordinary conversation . . . and wait for his development to kick in. More later . . .

Bye, Bye Baby Bottles

Brady looks for his brothers

Now that the boys are 11 months old (TODAY!) we have dropped down to just one bottle at night. That means they are eating loads of solid food at least 3 times a day and whatever they can beg from Curt or I as we snack. :) They had their first all finger-food meal this weekend with some chicken, green beans and shredded apples. It took them at least 30 FULL minutes to eat, but they were happy and content the whole time and were willing to eat whatever strays we helped get into their mouths.

Gavin and Aidan are little beggars for my apple

Pretty much everyone is now standing to greet us when we come in their room in the morning which is pretty fun. The down side is without 2 bottles a day, it's going to be hard to get the snuggles I need since they no one likes sitting still for very long! Aidan has started a very loving game where he will sit on your lap with his back to you and then bob back and forth and bounce off of your body. Every once in awhile he will look back at you to make sure you are paying attention and he'll giggle as he continues to bounce off of you. This morning I was reading a couple of books to Gavin and had a leg stretched out on either side of him. Aidan crawled right over and took a book we weren't reading (surprise surprise!) and proceeded to lay with his head on my thigh and leaf through the book himself. Pretty adorable. It's so funny to see "adult" behaviors from these little ones.

Mom reads to Gavin and Aidan

I can't believe a year ago today I was 1) pregnant and hot as hell and 2) Curt and I still had so much freedom! One year later I am 1) NOT pregnant, but it's still hot as hell and 2) Curt and I have much less freedom. We went to a friend's pool party this weekend with the boys and in order to enjoy ourelves a little bit, we pushed their bedtime back. I don't know how often we will do that (we do pay for it with a pound of flesh), but it was good to get in a pool and to hang out with some friends, even if we were a little distracted the whole time. All 3 decided they did NOT want to be held by anyone else while we were in the pool. At least they don't weigh as much in the water, but it was still kind of a pain - and WAY too hot for any one to be out of the water. Hopefully that was just due to lots of new people and a new place, otherwise, i don't know if I can handle that clinginess for too long! :)

Sleepy time Brady . . .

Speaking of weight we have Aidan weighing in at 20+ lbs, Brady at 21.5 lbs and Gavin at 23 lbs! Gavin is 75% for his head size (giant head, like sputnik), between 50 and 75% for his weight and (don't laugh) 25% for his height! No wonder the PJs for 12 - 18 months are so long on him! We will get everyone's 411 in a month, but i think it's funny we have so much variation in one kid!

Brady and Daddy snuggle

They have also begun playing together more. Sometimes this results in giggles and good photo opportunities and sometimes this results in tears. Gavin and Aidan pretty much try to run Brady over if he is standing somewhere they would like to go, resulting in tears. However yesterday Curt watched Gavin repeatedly push on Brady while they were both on the floor and the two of them got to giggling at themselves like crazy. Gavin also went in for Aidan's pacifier, lost his balance and landed on top of the kid! yep, you guessed it - tears.

The boys love their toy from Grandma and Grandpa V!