As always, it was a busy week! I worked from home on Tuesday so Megan could take Steven for a helmet adjustment without having to drag Sammy and Amaya along.

Steven was excited about his solo adventure.

In the afternoon, Amaya decided that she (and Sophie) wanted to help me work. She’s a fantastic helper! Very motivational.

We bought a baby jail for our living room and decided to test it out. It’s a reasonable size and will work in a number of situations. It’s going to be particularly helpful as we get babies in and out of the car once we transition to our convertible car seats.

On Tuesday night I filmed this time lapse video, inspired by another triplet mom. These 26 seconds took place over the course of ~20 minutes. I need to do more of these!

We had a big milestone this week! Our first photos of all 3 babies sitting up! Sammy can sit for quite a while now. Steven isn’t as adept but he’s sitting better and better every day.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya love to watch their Big Sister Sally Cat. This was a big anniversary for us. Sally and I celebrated our TEN year Sallyversary. As I said elsewhere, she’s the best. We met shortly before I moved from NY to FL and she has been right by my side ever since. She’s moved from NY to FL and then up to MI and we’ve lived in 7 homes together. Sally embraced Jason and now she’s a protector of Steven, Sammy and Amaya, sitting outside their nursery when they cry and letting them gently pet her. I was worried that I’d feel differently about Sally after I had human babies but I love her as much as I ever did. Maybe more.

And daddy had this playtime, too!

This weekend, Papa Gene and Uncle Austin came to visit from NY and Pittsburgh, respectively. What fun!! And what good timing. I did something to my back yesterday morning and they were so helpful getting us through the weekend. Steven, Sammy and Amaya love their Papa and uncle!

We set up some baby gates this weekend. We need to be one step ahead of these babies. Literally!

So, we don’t watch TV with the babies (and they don’t watch it without us) but the Lions were playing in London this morning at 9am. Ordinarily, I’d have just fed them in the playroom but I’m out of commission because of my back so Jason made this set up. Worked like a charm. 🙂

Today we tried eggs! Our pediatrician told us to go for it at 9 months actual so we went for it. I was super nervous because it’s the first food we served that could be an allergen but they did great! No rashes or other symptoms of any kind. I know these things can develop but I’ll breathe a little more easily the next time they get a tasty morning scramble.

Steven and Amaya seemed to like the eggs. Jury may still be out for Sammy. We also gave them broccoli with this meal which is the start of serving multiple foods at one time.

Here are just a few more pictures from the week.

Amaya, making her happy monster sound.

A Megan and Sammy selfie.

Sammy enjoying a foot appetizer before his evening bottle.

A chaotic photo with all 3 of my wonderful babies. Have a great week!

This blog post is packed full of jam! 9 month photos and lots of videos and all the usual who’s who and what’s what and how’s how!

But, first, we’re NINE MONTHS OLD. Holy cow, batman! It was a little too cold outside for a pumpkin patch shoot so we improvised.

My little pumpkins!

Amaya Papaya

Amaya is sassy and determined. When she sets her sights on something she’s going to conquer it. She plays independently exceptionally well but, when she wants your attention, you’ll know it! Amaya doesn’t baby babble, she screams – loud, happy, infectious screams. She’s so close to crawling and has been sitting independently for a while now. In fact, Amaya can transition from sitting to her tummy. She’s also the first to get a tooth! We have a tooth, folks! If Jason had to describe Amaya in one word it would be “leader.”

Steven / Bobo/ Monkey Boy Bobo

Steven is sweet and tender. His cries sound like a wounded animal and he’s the one I rush to pick up when I hear his cry. Steven is focused. He can sit and play with a tag or a string for the longest time. He notices the details. When Steven eats, he picks up a piece of food and just works at it until it’s gone. He’s got the sweetest little smile and he just melts in your arms. My mom calls him a mush ball. Right now, Steven is starting to sit independently and, just once, got up on his hands and knees. If Jason had to describe Steven in one word it would be “loving.”

Sammy / Whammy/ Samscicle / Whamscicle

Our Sammy is the first to laugh and the first to cry. Sammy’s the one who’s most likely to sob when Megan leaves him alone in the play room but he’s also got an incredible, infectious laugh. He’s always moving. We can put him in the jumparoo and he will just jump, jump, jump, jump for the longest time. He’s got huge eyes and a great sense of humor. Sammy is easily distracted (or bored). So much so that we often put a toy in his hands while he’s drinking his bottle so he has something to divert his attention from the boring task of eating. Sammy is starting to sit independently and shows no interest in crawling yet. He’s the first to clap! If Jason had to describe Sammy in one word it would be “charming.”

They are pure joy.

Here we have some collages of Steven, Sammy and Amaya eating, which they’re all doing really well. We have avocado, sweet potato and broccoli.

Jason had some fun time with his boys.

And then some one on one time with Sammy.

Me, too. 🙂

The kids are completely enamoured with their Big Sister Cat Sally. (Which is a good time to mention that Friday is our TEN YEAR Sallyversary. She’s the best feline companion a girl could have.)

With a ton of supervision, we let them pet Sally’s back. We have to be careful though or they’ll go for her tail.

They’ll just sit and stare at her for ages.

See?

Here, Amaya’s working on crawling and Steve is working on sitting.

First time for Steven in any sort of crawling prep position!

Nana and Savta are here this weekend. They were tremendously helpful as I took 1,000 pictures of Steven, Sammy and Amaya for their 9 month photo shoot. And they play well, too.

Is this darn near the best picture you’ve ever seen?

Lots of loving from Megan!

We took our new kinderhop duo stroller for a spin! It’s awesome. Lightweight and inconspicuous and a perfect complement to the single stroller my mom got me. Bonus of our walk was we got to try out some wintery clothing.

Favorite picture of Amaya.

This week, I got some photos of sleeping babies. Check out Amaya sleeping in child’s pose.

Finally, some individual photos that I love.

Sammy.

Steven.

Amaya

Doing Sammy face!

And in a basket. 🙂

Have a great week! Happy 9 months, babies!!

This weekend Amaya and I had our first ever girls’ weekend!! On Friday afternoon we jetted off to NY, just the two of us, while Steven and Sammy held down the fort in the Land of Cheltenham with their daddy and grandma. This is the first of the semi-regular trips I’ll take to NY with one baby at a time and it was the perfect start.

Here we are setting off on our journey!

Amaya was very excited.

The security line didn’t impress Amaya but she did great.

And off we went!

We boarded the plane and I took a LOT of selfies with Amaya. Because it was our girls’ getaway!!

And, the next thing we knew, we were in NY! Amaya did great on the flight. She polished off a bottle when we first got on the plane, dozed a bit, but mostly sat quietly and played with Lamby and a bag of pretzels. I had strategically placed my AmEx in my pocket so I could get myself a glass of wine.

It was about 6:30pm by the time we got to my mom’s house so we delayed our bedtime bottle just a bit so Amaya could have time to visit with everyone.

And play a bit. Charlie was very helpful bringing this toy to Amaya and it was a hit.

We said our goodnights and were up bright and early on Saturday for play time and food time and love time.

Trying butternut squash for the first time.

Meanwhile, back in the Land of Cheltenham, Grandma Sunshine made sure I was up to speed on boys’ activities.

And here’s that “love time” I referenced. First with Papa Gene and then with Aunt Sara and big cousin Charlie. (Not pictured over the weekend is Auntie Anita who spent Saturday morning with us, too!)

We had more play time. This series is 100% Amaya. She’s so curious, adventurous & sassy.

After Amaya’s 12:30 – 2:30pm nap, we headed off to see the Goldbergs’ new house!!!

Amaya was excited to see the new digs but first she wanted to chow down on some avocado.

And play some more. 🙂

We were so lucky! Aunt Dale came to visit, too!

Before we left for the night, Nana took some pictures with her daughters and 3 of her 5 grandchildren. I love these. A lot.

Especially this one.

While Amaya was eating her dinner, so were her brothers.

Sunday morning started with more mommy/Amaya selfies.

Sara, Chase and Charlie were at my mom’s house by 7am so they could get in some quality time with Amaya before her 9:15am nap. Lucky Aunt Jo got a fun photo with Chase.

And more photos with Miss Amaya.

Amaya got in some play time.

And, back home, so did her brothers!

Then it was time for some squash and more photo ops!

And then it was time to go home. The only thing that made this okay was knowing my boys were on the flip side of the flight.

Check out my mom’s creative idea for carting around Amaya’s car seat! (We swapped strollers on this trip. I left behind the snap & go stroller and took this new one my mom had for me. Much better for a growing infant!)

Amaya had her first visit to the Delta Sky Club. I hoped she’d nap here but she was too taken by the sights and sounds.

Then we got ready to board the flight home – Amaya’s 1st first class upgrade!

It was a busy flight. There were bananas and naps and bottles!

And then, finally, I was home to my boys!!! (Only 2 pictured. 🙂 )

YAY! A perfect, wonderful trip. Next up, Thanksgiving!

Here are more photos from the week.

Brothers!

Megan had fun spiking the boys’ hair. <3 <3

She also has fun putting books on babies’ heads. 🙂

Some photos of Steven. First, with cauliflower.

Bobo in a Basket.

Sammy!

And more of Amaya. Here she is, enjoying a touch & feel book.

The fashion shoot. “Kitty in Lace”

Amaya has a new place she likes to hang out. She’s very proud of her mobility.

Fashion shoot #2. “Sparkly Polka Dots” The 2nd photo is a new top 5 favorite of Megan’s!

“Bunny with Bows”

Amaya’s final fashion shot of the week!

Finally, Megan hard at work and Jason at the pediatrician’s office for Steven, Sammy and Amaya’s first flu shots.

It was a wonderful, wonderful week.

This weekend we did our first art project! I saw another triplet mom do this project with her trio and loved the idea so I hopped on Amazon to find canvases and some non-toxic paint. It would be doable with one adult there but it was definitely easier with two, particularly because I wanted to take pictures. Jason was on standby with a towel to wipe their hands while I positioned them with the paint.

If we’re assigning colors, Amaya is pink, Sammy is green and Steven is blue so we kept with that theme. We stripped them down, placed their hands in some paint and gave them the canvas to go to town. It definitely helped that our new playmats arrived. I had to do some deep cleaning but it was easier than trying to get the paint out of a quilt or carpet.

Here’s the art in action!

And the finished product! We’ll frame it, along with photos of Steven, Sammy and Amaya in action.

I had a workplace visit on Thursday! It was the first visit to my new office building. On Wednesday, I took my stroller to work to be sure it would fit through the doors and in the elevator. Fortunately, with some help from a freight elevator, we can make it work!

Here Amaya is hanging with her buddy Ginny. (There’s a TV on that’s transfixing her. We don’t watch TV with the kids yet so it’s an immediate attention grabber when they see a TV on.)

The dream team. 🙂 Amaya and her buddy, Ginny. Megan with Sammy (who’s smitten with Ginny) and I’ve got Steven who’s hanging on to the stroller handle bars.

Steven, looking like SUCH a big boy.

And the ride back to the parking garage in the freight elevator. You gotta do what you gotta do!

A sort of segue from the trip in the freight elevator with our triple jogger…

The thing triplets makes me think about more than anything else is STROLLERS. You wouldn’t believe how much time I spend thinking about strollers.

We started with 3 for the infant carriers: a single, a double and a triple (all in a row front to back). A few months ago I added our triple jogger which doesn’t use infant carriers and is awesome outside but doesn’t fit through standard doors. It’s also 63 pounds. Now that we’re graduating from infant carriers, I need to bite the bullet on the next round. I got the Kinderwagon hop double umbrella stroller and my mom picked me up a single stroller (which I need to bring back from NY somehow). Those options are important & helpful for any time we’re not out with all 3 babies.

I also need a triple stroller to use indoors and options are limited. We’re going with the Valco double with Joey seat but somewhat reluctantly because the Joey seat doesn’t recline. But it’s really light, easy to maneuver, and folds easily so I think it’s better than the Foundations triple. Plus, our babies will nap in their strollers less and less frequently and the Valco comes highly, highly recommended from other triplet moms. I don’t hear moms with the Foundations triple raving about it. So, yes, STROLLERS. I think about them. A lot.

Did you make it through all that?

For your trouble, here’s a little evening mayhem.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya are starting to interact more and more. Today, they were grabbing at each other and rolling on each other. I’m not sure what kind of real intention or awareness is there but it’s still fun to watch.

And Amaya, I give you permission to payback your brother for using you as a footrest!

The photo is a little dark but our playroom is pretty much set! Thanks to a recommendation from another triplet mom, we added these playmats to replace the quilt we’d been using. They cover more ground, they’re interesting to look at, double sided and you can wipe up messes. Love them!

See? Who needs toys when you have a farm land play mat? 😉

I wake up every weekday at 6:15am and get ready by 7am to head into the nursery. Without fail, 1, 2 or 3 babies are up well before 7am, fussing in their cribs. On Friday morning, Sammy was full on crying so I decided to grab him and let him play in front of my mirror. Steven and Amaya are no fools, though. The minute they saw me leave with Sammy their cries started. So we had a little party in my bedroom while I finished getting ready for work and, still, they were changed and eating on their normal schedule. Nice to know this is an option (for a hot minute until they’re all crawling everywhere).

Time for some pictures of each of my wonderful babies!

Steven is a BOSS at meal time. He could be a poster child for baby led weaning. He has the perfect combination of focus and fine motor skills. It’s not unusual for Steven to be eating long after Amaya and Sammy have finished. It’s amazing to watch in action.

Sometimes he wants to eat without my camera in his face.

Sometimes it gets messy.

Happy, silly Steven in the playroom.

Sammy is a mixed bag at mealtime. As I mentioned last week, we started offering him food on a spoon but he’s also getting better about feeding himself. The plan is to let him start on his own and offer him some food if he seems like he’s either not eating on his own or not eating as much as he might like. So far, so good!

The Sammy face continues.

Sammy is fastest to laugh but also fastest to cry. In fact, sometimes when he’s laughing I’m watching for him to burst into tears. Emotions are tricky, especially when you have a lot of them. They just come with his wonderful, big, bold personality.

Sammy on the verge of tears.

And resting in Megan’s arms after a fit of hysterics. (I was not home for this but I can truly rest easier knowing Megan is there.)

But don’t worry. Sammy comes back in full form!

Amaya’s turn!

Here’s Amays is wearing one of big cousin Charlie’s hand me downs. I’m glad we tried it on because it’s almost too small. Sooooo cute!

Amaya at 8 months and Charlie at 7 months!

Amaya is a bit more “blunt force” with the eating than Steven but she’s also got the hang of it.

Except for when she’s a little unsure of her broccoli. Eventually she dove in!

Some of Amaya’s fun outfits and FUN faces! She’s got so much personality!

And, finally for photos, a mommy and her boys! <3

I’ll leave you with 2 videos. One of meal time and another of playtime.

At least once a week, Jason and I look at each other in disbelief. We have three babies. Joanna and Jason Cline fell in love, got married, and then had 3 babies. At one time. Incredible.

It’s a lot of work and it’s ALWAYS an adventure.

Here are some videos of our life at home. First up, are 2 videos of Steven, Sammy and Amaya eating carrots. The first video is the kick-off and the 2nd one has them chowing down. Well, Steven and Amaya, at least. We’re going to try to work one on one with Sammy a bit but, if he doesn’t get it soon, we might get him started on purees.

Amaya is on the verge of crawling. She’s up on her hands and knees regularly, rocking back and forth. Three days later she’s even better than in this video! We’ve just about got a girl on the move! (Unless army crawling is in their immediate future, Steven and Sammy have a way to go. But Sammy continues to improve his sitting skills and Steven manages to get across a room on his belly.)

Finally, here’s a snapshot of this morning after bottles. We have very content little babies. (Except for right now. Right now, they’re all fussing in their cribs because they don’t want to nap. Sorry babies!)

Steven, Sammy and Amaya are starting to pay attention to each other more and more. Especially if there’s a toy they want. The observant among you might notice that one child is always in the center of the ruckus, though I’ll be the first to acknowledge that she’s not always the one to start it.

Yesterday, Jason and I went to Ann Arbor for the afternoon. We sat outside at the Grizzly Peak brewery (which happens to be an important place in the history of us) and fed the babies their 3pm bottles over beers and a late lunch.

We started off holding their bottles…

But then we got smarter. Jason’s mastered the art of balancing a bottle on an odd shaped object.

We wandered around downtown. Here, we’re waiting outside while daddy shops at Life is good. (This stroller is not meant for indoor shopping.)

Afterward, Amaya and Sammy were excited to help their daddy carry his shopping bag.

Outside Literati bookstore.

And cruising down the street. As always, there are lots of stares and lots of comments. I think it bothers me more than it bothers Jason which is interesting because I’m the more social between us. It just gets tiring and a little overwhelming after a while. My biggest issue is with strangers who want to take pictures. Who does that? But I know it’s just the way it goes when we go out, so out we’ll go!

Today, I went to a mini NICU reunion at St. Joe’s. It was arranged by another mom who was there when we were and was all families who had babies in the NICU at the same time.

How we roll.

Back in our own stomping grounds. (With bonus Sammy face.)

The lovely Amaya.

Chelsea, the mom who arranged the reunion, also hired a photographer to take some photos. We tried to get a shot of all of the babies together. All but 3 cooperated. 🙂

To be fair, Steven, Sammy and Amaya did great until I took them out of their stroller. I set them down and they just lost it. I had to rely on two other parents to help me out because I wanted them all up off the blanket at the same time. The boys never quite recovered for the rest of the time we were there but Amaya ended up happily sitting on the blanket for some more photos. We tried to get a shot of me with the babies but Sammy was still pretty unhappy at the time so I’m not sure how well it turned out. We’ll find out!

I’m still glad I went but it was hard. Everyone else had one baby to worry about and, comparatively, it seemed so easy. I realize it’s not that simple but I felt badly that all the other babies were in their mothers’ arms and I couldn’t hold mine because I’m so out numbered. Hopefully the wonderful parts of being triplets more than make up for these limitations.

Here are some pictures of each of the kiddos.

Steven

Playing with a tag. As usual.

In his rocker jeans. (3 mo size, by the way. But he’ll tell you he’s no shrimpy! He’s BIG and STRONG! Grrrrr, argh!)

Sweet and smiley.

Eating squash

Sammy

Starting with The Sammy Face.

All smiles

A selfie with mommy

Bath time. I have no explanation. It’s just our Sammy – as expressive as it gets.

Amaya

High fashion and all smiles.

Fooling around with Megan

This shirt used to be a dress!

Eating squash

These kids spend a LOT of time looking at the front end of my camera and the back side of phones.

Happy to be master of the exersaucer.

And another then and now with big cousin Charlie.

Finally, some photos of everyone together.

Out for a walk on Rosh Hashana

Facetime with family in NY on Rosh Hashana. I spy Nana!

And my first photo with all my babies! Big Sister Sally Cat takes wonderful care of her little brothers and sister. She’s adapted to the change exceptionally well. <3

I don’t know how it’s possible but Steven, Sammy and Amaya are 8 months old today! Holy cow!!

So, first up, are our 8 month photos.

Steven

Sammy

Amaya

I’m definitely seeing progress on the food front. Amaya continues to eat pretty much anything we offer. Steven is pickier but he knows how to eat when he wants to. Sammy isn’t bringing much food to his mouth but he’s starting to eat a bit off his fingers after he makes a big, big MESS.

Amaya eating

Sammy, proud of his mess.

After our 6 month appointment my pediatrician suggested we start playing around with water in cups. It’s two months later but we’re finally getting there. Not surprisingly, Amaya picked up on it right away. She’s not sucking on the straw, yet, but she’s close. Steven also played around with the straw a bit. Sammy mostly liked the sound the cup made when it hit the floor.

I took this next set of photos on Thursday. I worked from home because we had an Early On (early intervention) evaluation. They sent 5 people and I’m pretty sure that’s because people wanted to see triplets. Two people could have easily completed the eval. I’m really glad I did it, though. By and large, Steven, Sammy and Amaya are right on track. Even where they lag, they’re mostly in line with their adjusted ages. (For example, Steven is slightly behind with gross motor skills. Amaya is slightly behind with communication.) Since they were premature, we qualify for monthly sessions at our house where we’ll primarily learn about activities we should be doing with the babies to address any particular area where they lag.

Amaya regularly sits independently now. It’s amazing to see the improvement in just one week! Sammy’s getting more comfortable and Steven’s also showing improvement. It’s mostly about duration with the boys. They tend to flop over fairly quickly, especially Steven, but Amaya can sit around for 30 minutes.

We have readers on our hands! Or, at the very least, babies who like to eat books. They really do love to hold the books we’re reading. It’s a fine balance between actually getting through the content of the book and playtime with the pages.

Time for the Amaya fashion show!

Amaya and Charlie in the same outfit, about 3 years apart.

This is a personal favorite. My sassy little girl.

Amaya let her brothers in on the action.

Steven insisted on a few more selfies with mommy this week.

Last but most certainly not least, we had a surprise guest this weekend! Ames was in the area for work so she drove 3 hours to see us and changed her flight out of Detroit so we could all spend the day together. I came home from work last night to this scene.

Ames helped Amaya with today’s fashion show.

And, the 5 of us packed up and went to a huuuuuuuuge party hosted by a former Borders colleague. It’s an annual event that includes hundreds of people, tons of food, live music and 240 gallons of beer. We planned their nap time so we could leave for the party at 2pm and feed the babies there. I was nervous about the change in routine but it all went really well! Steven, Sammy and Amaya were great. They ate fairly well despite the chaos and were so calm for the 3 hours I was there. Ames had to leave half way through to catch her flight but I hung out and caught up with former colleagues.

The BIG surprise was that a local triplet mom was there, too. Nina works with my friend’s sister-in-law. She and her husband weren’t there with their kids which made things even more interesting because people who know her obviously assumed my babies were her triplets when they saw her standing by my stroller. Such a small world!

Ames and Steven taking a bottle break.

The girls!

It was a perfect weekend day. Thank you Ames for the visit, the help and for sharing our 8 month birthday with us!

It’s National NICU Nurses Day today. Looking back, I don’t think I shared much about our three week nicu stay. It was an overwhelming time that seemed to stretch on forever even though I know, now, how much harder our stay could have been. Our NICU nurses at St. Joe’s were amazing. In those critical weeks, I can’t imagine anyone else caring for Steven, Sammy and Amaya if it couldn’t be us.

These photos I’m sharing are the icing on the cake. I had vertigo issues that prevented me from going to visit the babies in the NICU even 24 hrs after they were born. It was devastating to have to get back into that hospital bed. But Steven, Sammy and Amaya were stable enough that the NICU nurses arranged a one time surprise visit in my hospital room.

For months, I’d seen photos of other triplet moms holding their trios for the first time. It was an image that got me through a tough pregnancy. And these incredible nurses didn’t make me wait one extra day. With great care for the babies, they brought them to see me in my hospital room and gave me the moment I’d been dreaming about. Holding all 3 of my babies together, for the first time.

For so, so many reasons, I’m forever indebted to these incredible, caring, talented nurses.

It’s been a busy week, but I suppose it always is. For some reason, I’m having a difficult time remembering anything before Thursday except that Sammy had a tough time eating this week. He was super fussy during the day and ate 3 out of 5 nights which hasn’t happened in about 2 months. I was concerned enough to take him to the doctor on Thursday and we think it might be a reflux issue so we upped his meds. The weekend was rough but it’s possible he turned a corner this afternoon & evening. Fingers crossed!

Steven had his first follow-up with the craniofacial doc on Friday and he’s in great shape (which we knew from the regular visits to the orthotist). The doctor wants us to keep him in his helmet for 2 more months because his head is still growing rapidly and she doesn’t want any issues to (re)surface.

We also had grandmother overlap for 10 minutes on Friday! Grandma Sunshine came to help out during our dr appointments and my mom is visiting for the weekend. I think it was the first time both grandmothers were together since February but I’m pretty sure my mom was texting Sherry updates all weekend so it doesn’t appear distance matters. 🙂

I swear, every day there’s something new and exciting with these three. Here is our week in pictures!

We’re starting to sit up!! Sammy and Amaya are doing really well with it. They can’t sit for long but I can see them figuring out how to balance. (Steven’s still a bit too floppy to catch in action but he’ll catch up soon!)

We have readers! Jason and I read a book to Steven, Sammy and Amaya every night and they LOVE holding books. If we have them out, they’ll end up in their hands. See?

And then it devolved. Steven decided he wanted to eat his book and hold Sammy’s.

This week we ate pears, peaches and, for the first time, MANGO! Steven did a good job trying it, Sammy couldn’t be bothered and Amaya loooooooved it. Though, she tends to love most food we offer so this wasn’t anything unusual.

There’s nothing like a rousing rendition of “The Wheels on the Bus” after some mango.

What used to be an orderly morning routine has devolved. Into this:

Miss Amaya simply doesn’t like to be contained in her boppy.

She’s not crawling yet but we’re close. A few times this weekend she had her belly up off the ground and her knees starting to move underneath. This girl is ready to GO!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Steven from the week.

Driving his car.

I love his little tongue.

Focused on the boy in the mirror.

Keeping busy at his dr appointment.

Hanging with Monkey, a gift from my sister’s in-laws, Allen and Syvia.

Cuddling with Nana.

My favorite photos of Amaya. There are a LOT of them this week.

Playing with Nana.

Bouncing

Smiling for Megan

Two new outfits (thanks cousin Charlie)!

Just being cute!

Sammy’s turn!

Heading home from his dr appointment. She thinks he’s going to be social chair of his fraternity.

Napping on Daddy

Such the man, out on our walk today.

And here’s everyone together. As it should be.

Oh! And we bought SIX convertible car seats this weekend. We need 3 for 2 cars, mine and the minivan which equals six. Amazing. Just one more footnote in life with triplets.

Have a great week!

Steven, Sammy and Amaya have officially been out as long as they’d been in! Those first 33 weeks were stressful and uncomfortable and 100% worth it for the joy and gift of the last 33.

Amaya isn’t crawling yet but she can certainly roll her way wherever she’d like to go so this weekend we made the necessary decision to set up the playroom and, in the process, took back our living room.

See? I am happy and sad. The first year is just one transition after another.

As a reminder, here’s what it used to look like!

Here’s a before shot of the playroom. Frankly, this is one of the better looking iterations. This room was packed.

And here we are now!!

We added french doors and will get a baby gate. Everything in here is baby proofed and pretty much set for crawling babies! The bonus is that there’s also a bathroom attached to the playroom which will come in handy.

We do plan to get a baby jail for the living room so we can bring the babies in there but, for now, it’s great to have a safe space and, frankly, awesome to check this off our list.

Here’s Jason holding court with Amaya, Steven and Sammy.

The rest of the week was equally eventful. Megan (Super Megan) took all 3 babies to see the orthotist (helmet tech) on Friday because I had concerns about some changes with Steven’s head shape. It was certainly an adventure for Megan which included sitting on the floor in the waiting area to feed all 3 babies in their car seats in advance of Steven’s appointment.

There was no major issue but they made some adjustments to the helmet and we have our first follow-up with the actual cranio-facial doc on Friday. Excited to hear more about when Steven’s helmet days will be through. He’s made amazing progress so far! He started with 11mm of asymmetry, was down to 8mm in mid-August and was down to 5mm on Friday!

We also tried out another new set of triplet onesies! (Someday Sammy is going to ask why he was the goose. It’s because he’s our Silly Goose!!)

Megan had fun coordinating everyone.

And Steven had fun with Amaya’s leg.

New for us, are battles over toys. The first of maaaaaaaany, I expect. Amaya tends to want to play with whatever one of her brothers have. Their interest seems to make the toy much more interesting!

But there are also moments where everyone is playing together quite nicely!

This week we had apples, broccoli, pears and avocado. The kids like avocado best because it’s easiest to eat but it’s also the messiest. I wish they’d stick with broccoli. Even the little pieces they rip apart can’t compare with avocado everywhere.

During the week, I got this photo from Megan. I immediately knew what she was telling me. Steven was standing flat footed! It’s a developmental milestone and one that Steven hasn’t been too excited about. As I’ve told it, Steven prefers to stand on his toes in fourth position and then curtsy. It’s adorable and I’ll miss it if he’s got the hang of supported standing but it’s also great to see each new progression. (Sammy is now babbling consonants. The first one to do it! Da-da-da-da-da.) And, for the record, everything Steven’s lacked in gross motor skill is more than made up for with his amazing fine motor skills.

I had my fair share of mommy adventures this week.

Yesterday was a trip to the mall. People were so nice. Sometimes strangers are really annoying but yesterday they were kind and generous and pretty much made me feel like a hero.

Here we are at a jewelry store. I had patient, patient babies.

Today, I met up with my colleague Joe and his wife Gina. I’m bummed I didn’t think to take a photo but we sat outdoors in downtown Northville and had frozen yogurt. It was beautiful out and Steven, Sammy and Amaya were so calm and happy the entire time. Joe and Gina kept mentioning how easy they were. Thank you, babies!!

But the big one is that I’ve mastered the solo bath time. I gave Steven, Sammy and Amaya a bath on Wednesday before work and again on Saturday night. It’s all about the staging to make sure no one is left alone in a tub full of water. Thanks to my triplet mom buddies for helping me figure it out!

Sammy’s got swagger.

Steven’s got smiles.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Steven, Sammy and Amaya are ready for a GREAT season of football and basketball. GO GREEN!

Finally, I’ll leave you with a happy Steven, Sammy and Amaya.