I’m home from our unforgettable trip to NY. We did it! I was so nervous about flying with three infants and, frankly, also worried that they wouldn’t adapt well to a new place and tons of new people. But Steven, Sammy and Amaya were amazing and now I know it can be done, even understanding that the challenges will change as they get older.

Here’s a look at the rest of our trip…

We made it back to the beach! This was Thursday. I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting inside all day (which is an easy decision to make with 3 babies) so my mom, aunt, grandmother and I took an afternoon trip back to my mom’s cabana.

Finishing (short) afternoon naps.

Steven, busy as always.

Savta and happy Sammy.

My mom and a sleepy, serious Sammy.

Our 2nd trip to the pool! (Thank you, Aunt Anita, for not worrying about your wet clothing!)

Sammy loved to splash!

After a swim and a bottle, Steven zonked out on his Auntie’s lap.

We also had a lot of fun at home!

Here’s Papa getting some quality time.

Nana, too!

Even Uncle Josh came back for a visit.

Thank you for all of your help during our visit, Aunt Anita!

Nana with her girls.

Amaya and Charlie, playing together. 🙂

We tried to get some family photos. Not so easy with 5 kids, 6 and under!

But I did have some time to relax. Sammy needed some mommy time.

And that was our trip! Since Jason left on Sunday, my mom made the Friday flight back with me. We even made it through security just the two of us! Here are some photos from the flight.

We landed just past time for their 3pm bottles so we fed Steven, Sammy and Amaya in baggage claim. Perfect plan!

And everyone got diaper changes. Only my 2nd time using the changing table in a public bathroom. I took one baby at a time. There were some people sitting on chairs by the women’s room who were doing double takes by the time I walked by with the 3rd baby.

And we’re home! My mom did an incredible job preparing for us so we were able to stay as close to our routine as possible. THANK YOU to the many people who loaned supplies including Laney, Joyce and Louise.

Back home, there’s nothing like a photo shoot! These are new onesies that sum it up perfectly but not as perfectly as Amaya’s reaction to her brothers.

Steven looks sad and repentant. Sammy looks surprised to be caught. Amaya’s not having it!

And our newest food is peaches! It’s still slow going as everyone tries to get the hang of holding their food but we’re making progress. Steven and Amaya loved peaches. Sammy wasn’t the slightest bit interested.

Now we’re ALMOST back to routine. Tomorrow, Jason is having surgery on his broken wrist. My poor guy. But by this time tomorrow night it will be all over. Thanks to everyone who checked in with us to send good wishes!

I swear the months are moving faster and faster. Steven, Samuel and Amaya are seven months old today!

They are wearing some special 7 month onesies in honor of their current, and first ever, trip to New York.

Not sure Amaya is thrilled that Steven has decided to snack on her arm. But he’s sure enjoying it!

But she does love the attention from her older brothers.

Sweet Steven. Love that little tongue of his.

Handsome, funny man Sammy.

Sassy Amaya

Poor daddy had a mishap this week and has a broken wrist (plus some stitches) that might require surgery. 🙁 Steven, Sammy and Amaya are so sad that their daddy is hurt. They want to be just like him so they wrapped up their wrists in casts, too, and wore their special “I have people in Detroit” onesies that their daddy bought for them.

And now, our adventures in NY continue!

So, here we are in New York! We’ve been busy with baby namings, beach time and, most important, family time. Here’s what Steven, Samuel and Amaya have been up to for the past few days.

A long awaited moment was seeing Charlie with her baby cousin, Amaya, and it didn’t disappoint. She calls Amaya Papaya, “Amaya Capaya” and is generally enthralled with her baby girl cousin. Charlie doesn’t have much use for the boys yet though she did tell us that she likes boys in helmets.

<3 x infinity.

Here are my kids lined up to eat but do you notice the 4th baby (doll) that Charlie is diligently feeding? I’m pretty sure this is the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.

Chase got into the action, too. Right now, Sammy is his favorite because Sammy has big, big smiles for Chase.

The main event of our visit home was the Jewish baby naming ceremony for Steven, Sammy and Amaya. Here are some highlights.

Family photo before the party got started.

Team Goldberg (minus Chase, plus Amaya)

Great Uncle Josh (aka Dod Shuki) with Sammy

(Great grandma) Savta Kerry with Steven

Great Uncle Bob meeting Amaya

Back in middle school when we met, I’m pretty sure Vidya and I never pictured this moment.

The babies were AMAZING all day. Amaya was happy to be held by anyone interested as long as they didn’t make her sit down. Steven and Sammy were also total champs. Sammy was so charming he wore himself out.

The actual ceremony was conducted by Dr. Dorothy Greenbaum, who also did Chase’s bris. She was very thoughtful about holding a ceremony in line with our family values and beliefs.

Uncle Austin was Amaya’s caretaker. Best buds!

Chase got in on the action, too.

Savta kicked everything off with a moving sentiment about my grandfather, Saba Bob. It really is amazing to think about the generations of individuals who were responsible for helping us get to this exact moment.

Nana and Papa doing a reading.

Lighting a candle for each baby.

Great Uncles Arnie and Bob doing the blessing over the wine.

The actual giving of the Hebrew names.

And they are:

And with my sweet Amaya.

A highlight of the day was the opportunity to get a photo of Savta Kerry with her grandchildren and NINE great grandchildren. What an incredible moment.

And that was the baby naming. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day so special! Now we’re on to every day visiting! Jason went back to Detroit on Sunday and I’m staying here through Friday. (We miss you, daddy!)

Here is the setup in my CHILDHOOD BEDROOM. (My dad did all of that upholstery.)

This was my room from the time I was about 2 years old until I left for college. (Hahaha. Kidding. It’s still my room. Other people just use it while I’m not there.)

Sammy. Because he was being adorable.

Here’s Nana with her 2 granddaughters.

Hanging out with the Goldbergs, just days before they move out of this house that I visited so frequently for 5+ years.

Nana cuddling with Steven. (Those digits by his mouth are his feet. OMG he’s a flexible mush ball.)

Sara and I, hanging out with our kids!

So, last night, we heard Sammy scream in his crib. My mom went up and found this. Poor Sammy!

So he got some on the spot new PJs. Dinosaurs and Amaya’s pink leggings are a perfect combo.

Today we planned a beach day. Auntie (Anita) came over early and helped feed the kiddos.

And then we were off! It was a gorgeous day and Steven, Samuel and Amaya’s first trip to the beach! Again, they did great. They ate well and played well. (Though, they didn’t nap as well as I’d have liked. I think we did too good a job teaching them to nap in their cribs. 🙂 )

Snuggle time with Steven.

Amaya is first in a pool! Our little adventurer loved it.

Those are our NY adventures so far! I’ll leave you with one more photo of a tired but beach satisfied Sammy.

We’re in New York!!

I pretty much started thinking about this first trip back (home?) when I first found out I was pregnant with triplets and now it’s here!

The travel was great. I’m going to say that 50% of it is attributable to our preparation and 50% to AMAZING babies.

Steven and Sammy were so excited about the trip that they insisted Megan put them in their airplane t-shirts!

Jason met us at the airport after a 1/2 day at work so Megan and I drove to the airport in 2 cars and made it inside with 3 babies, 2 suitcases and 2 diaper bags. It was actually pretty manageable.

I had heard about someone getting a gate pass for a grandparent to help get babies through security so I asked if we could get one for Megan and the wonderful Delta agent took pity on us. It was a huge help because the babies needed to be out of their car seats to go through security. I’m really not sure how we’d have done it on our own (but I’ll have to think that through before I leave in case we’re in that situation)!

Here’s Megan with Steven, Sammy and Amaya at the gate. We miss you, Megan!

And here’s Team Cline getting ready for our grand adventure!

To board, I wore Steven and, once we gate checked the strollers and car seats, I also carried Sammy. Jason took both diaper bags and Amaya and strapped her car seat into the airplane seat.

Amaya did great! She was in the window seat (airline requirement) and Steven and I were next to her in a 2 seater row with Jason right across the aisle. She was happy, happy, happy. No fussing at all. She even ate reasonably well given the circumstances and napped for 30- 45 minutes of the flight.

Here she is in all her airplane glory, earning her first frequent flyer miles.

(The boys don’t have boarding passes b/c they were “infant in arms” lap babies but they’ll get their turn, too!)

Steven also did great. He ate pretty well, napped in my arms for a while and was as content as I could hope for!

I was even able to drink some wine!

Sammy and Jason had their fun, too. Sammy didn’t want to eat much but he napped in Jason’s arms and, as always, was endlessly entertained by his daddy!

We landed on time, grabbed our luggage and Nana and Papa were outside waiting for us in the 2 cars needed to get everyone home to Glenwood Rd.! Savta, Sara and Charlie were already waiting for us when we arrived with David and Chase not far behind. It was the first time Charlie met her cousins and it was incredible to see!

The babies were a little overwhelmed at first by all the attention but they settled in and were all asleep IN MY CHILDHOOD BEDROOM within about half an hour of their usual time.

My highlight of the night, though, was seeing Chase and Charlie. It’s been a too long ten months since I’ve seen Charlie (thank goodness for FaceTime) and still too long since I’ve seen Chase who remains my best big guy in the world.

Jason took the monitor last night and, all told, Steven, Sammy and Amaya did great. We had a wonderful morning which included bottles, play time and first tastes of banana.

Amaya wasn’t interested in solids today. Sammy only mildly so. But Steven couldn’t get enough! He screamed when I first took it away. It’s a bit too slimy for him to hold on his own so we worked together and he gummed and sucked that banana for a good 10 – 15 minutes!

Sammy trying out his banana with support from Nana so it didn’t slip out of his hands.

Steven, going to town!

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Sammy loooooved his sweet potatoes this week! Hooray Sammy!

Now I’m going to try to nap for 20 minutes and gear up for the big party this afternoon!

Our adventures in eating continue! We moved on from avocado to carrots and, despite my thinking Steven was least ready for solid food, his championship fine motor skills are coming in handy. Amaya likes to smush food and eat it off her fingers. Samuel’s not really interested at all. But Steven has actually figured out how to pick up the food and put it in his mouth. Go Bobo!!

Some video of the carrot experience. 2 of just Steven and one of the group.

Next we moved on to cucumber! Probably furstrating for Amaya because there’s no smashing it up and licking off her fingers. It’s only been one day but, so far, more ended up on the floor than in their mouths. And most of that was what was on Amaya’s tray.

We started taking Steven’s helmet off when he eats to create fewer distractions.

Like a boss.

Amaya’s not sure what to do with it.

And Sammy is Sammy.

Here are some other adventures we had during the week.

Steven, Sammy, Amaya and Megan came for their weekly lunch visit and Amaya’s pal Ginny joined us, as well!

The babies went to war over this soft, crinkly book. Amaya won, and then played independently for nearly an HOUR. Thank you, Amaya!

The boys are chillin’ with their daddy.

I interrupted a secret triplet meeting. Again. (Or, a triplet secrets meeting.) I can’t wait until this happens for real. “Mooooooom. We need priiiiiivacy.”

And three favorites from today.

Sweet, sweet Steven

Sammy after a faceplant in his spit up. Sorry Sammy!

And Amaya scooting off to Albuquerque.

This week, we’re off to NY! I can’t believe it’s finally here. I’m looking forward to surviving the flight and seeing everyone in New York AT LONG LAST. In preparation, I sent Jason some thoughts about traveling with the babies. This is what our planning looks like:

“Here are details and things to consider. It’s a lot but I want to be prepared to try to avoid chaos.

Our flight leaves at 3:40pm and arrives in NY at 5:30pm.

Megan and I will get to the airport at 1:45pm to check bags. Please plan to meet us inside by 2:15pm to go through security.

We will have the double and single strollers to use in the airport. (We will also have at least one baby carrier which comes into play later.)

We will each have a diaper bag so that we each have supplies under our seats. I will make sure these are packed for us. We can use your Tumi backpack if you prefer. I won’t have any carry-ons besides the diaper bag and my pocket book.

We will need to be at the gate for pre-boarding because we have to do a few things:
* gate check both strollers
* gate check 2 car seats
* strap Amaya’s car seat into her seat.

To board the plane, I recommend the following:
I wear one baby and carry one. You carry the infant car seat with Amaya in it. I am suggesting this because I’ll be with my mom on the way home and I can’t rely on you to wear one baby and carry one on the way home. This will help trouble shoot while we’re together.

You’ll strap in the car seat (which I’ll also train my mom to do). I’ll then give you one baby to hold in your lap on the plane.

I am in a two seater row. Car seat needs to be at the window. You are right across the aisle from me.

We will hopefully board around 3pm. I am hoping to push their bottles back a little bit so we can feed them closer to 3:30pm rather than right when we sit down b/c it might help their ears during takeoff. We’ll have to play that by ear, though. We’ll also have suckies to help with that.

I will have extra formula and empty bottles on hand to cover us in case of a delay.

When we land, my mom will be there in 2 cars. We’re putting car seats in Gene’s car and a rental because using 2 cars saves us $500 on car rental fees. (Renting a van is crazy expensive.) Hopefully we land on time, get our bags and go home. My sister will be there will bottles ready and warmed.

If we do land late, we can always feed the babies at the airport in NY before going home. My mom and Gene will park cars, in that case, and wait for us.

I think that covers it. PHEW! Any other thoughts or ideas? Anything I’m missing?”

Wish us luck!! And keep your fingers crossed for happy, quiet babies!

It’s been a BIG week for Team Cline!! We finally started SOLID FOOD. I will admit I teared up. Slow down babies, slow down!

But first…

Jason was away in Cleveland with his dad from Wednesday until this morning for the National Sports Collectors Show. (How many of you have held a Babe Ruth game used bat???) While he was away, Nana came to visit and help me hold down the fort. And we got down to business! By piercing Amaya’s ears! Hooray!

Amaya did great. She didn’t have the anticipation I did so, in the end, Amaya cried for about 30 seconds while I fussed and fretted for about 30 minutes. As a bonus, her ears were pierced by Princes Mallory. How many little girls can say that?

Before it all went down.

Posing with Princess Mallory.

Mommy is nervous. Amaya is clueless.

It’s time!

The aftermath. From tears to smiles in no time at all!

The next morning, showing off her new bling.

But the biggest news of the week is that we started solid food. (Sloooooow dooooooown, babies!!) Amaya is definitely ready so we’re following her lead (and our pediatrician’s recommendation). We’re doing baby led weaning and their first food was avocado. No purees for these babies!

It was a great start! As expected, Amaya was the most interested in the food, and frustrated that she couldn’t quite figure it out. But she’ll get it! We’ll try avocado for a few more days and then move on to sweet potato or carrots. Everything I’ve read said that it will take some time for them to get the hang of it but now’s the time for that experimentation.

Here are some pictures and video of day 1. Steven is on your far left and Sammy is on your far right.

Today we also lowered the cribs to the 2nd level. Have I said “slow down” yet???

Here are some other highlights from the week.

So, we’re not watching tv with the babies at this point but we do put sporting events on mute. Amaya could not tear herself away from the Tigers game. Even when we tried to adjust the jumparoo, she found a way to watch the screen.

Attempt 1

Attempt 2

Grandpa Homey had some quality time with Steven, Samuel and Amaya before heading to Cleveland with Jason.

And then a quick visit on the return trip.

Nana had lots of one on one time this weekend. And even more one on three time!

But I got in my snuggles, too. In this pictures, it’s Sammy’s turn.

Feet in the stroller!

Steven blissed out in a Mommy Basket

Second to last but not least, we have big kids in the bath. I can’t get over how big he looks!

Finally, two more videos.

Sammy in the jumparoo:

And Amaya chatting it up:

It was another wonderful week in the Land of Cheltenham.