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.

I’m writing this blog post on the tail end of the 7th annual weekend spent with some of the best women I know. I’m so grateful to have friends that would choose to spend a weekend loving up on my kids when it would have been totally understandable to choose a totally kid free weekend adventure.

Erica loving on Steven. (And vice versa.)

Deena cracking Amaya’s defenses.

Ames holding down the fort.

Erin getting in some Sammy time.

Erica discovered that Steven is totally entranced by his reflection (and the toys on the mirror).

Erica also discovered that it’s a lot of work to hold up a toy mirror for minutes on end.

So she called in reinforcements.

Ames hung out with an alert Sammy.

And a sleepy Sammy.

And also had a bit of fun with Amaya.

Steven flirted with the ladies.

And everyone gave me breaks!

If Steven’s smile for Erin means anything, I don’t think the babies minded one bit! 🙂

We even tested out our awesome new bath seats. I’m so excited about these! Steven, Sammy and Amaya really seemed to like them vs. the infant bath tub and it’s definitely more relaxing for me vs. trying to rotate them through one by one. We’ll see if I have what it takes to do this on my own. Our first attempt included support from Deena, Ames and Jason.

My friends were so helpful all weekend long. At one point last night, when I was stressed because Amaya was crying and wouldn’t eat, Deena said to me, “how about it we just take care of bedtime for you tonight.” Truer friends you’ll never find. LNVE to all you ladies. <3

Oh, and a mommy bonus, I saw a movie for the first time since June 2013!! Many thanks to Megan for working on Saturday and Grandma Sunshine for coming over on Sunday so that I could get out and about with my friends.

(Jason is conspicuously absent from these photos but he was around, too. See…)

Oh! And Jason’s surgery went really well on Monday. He’s on the mend! Thanks to everyone who sent love and good wishes.

We’re still working on solid food. Some days are better than others. I think it depends on their moods, the food and any distractions. (Sally is quite the distraction for Steven when she sits at the backdoor while he eats. Apparently she’s more interesting than steamed apples.) I’m also still figuring out what foods work well for them. Amaya devoured a banana but I had to help her hold it. Peaches are great if they’re ripe. They’re getting the hang of carrots.

Steven’s fine motor skill still give him an edge.

Sammy remains unsure about the whole thing.

And Amaya is as determined as ever!

Here are some apples I steamed yesterday. I can’t get them quite right. They’re still too hard and break off in big pieces when the kids bite them. Maybe Megan will have a suggestion.

I’ll be honest. I never envisioned making food for my babies. When they got older, sure, but not this. I barely prepare food for myself! I’m not sure I enjoy the food prep but I do like that they’re learning to eat real food, themselves, and there’s definitely a level of satisfaction in preparing it for them. Some of that might be because, most days, I’m not there to feed it to them. Hopefully they’ll get the hang of it soon!

Here are some other pictures from the week that I love.

Sassy Amaya

Sitting! She’s getting there!

A fancy dress from Daddy. Very Jackie O, if you ask me.

A spring dress, before it gets too cold.

Cool kicks!

Sweetness

Sammy! We turned our head for 1 second. He’s taking after his sister with his houdini act. I’m really, really not ready for mobile babies. Fortunately, Jason went to Babies R Us this weekend to stock up on baby proofing supplies.

His new favorite face!

Another independent sitter! They’re not doing it regularly but it’s just a matter of time. Days, maybe.

Contemplating – but not drinking – his bottle.

Steven, rocking his Alfalfa hair!

Sweet, sweet boy.

A selfie with Mommy. He insisted and I can’t say no.

Steven, Amaya and Sammy – Tic, Tac & Toe!

Feet, from my vantage point.

And my favorites.

Amaya, hard at work with her mommy.

Last but not least – a pile on! I think these are the first pictures I’ve taken with all 3 kiddos since Mother’s Day.<3 <3 <3

I’ve spent an incredible amount of time with Steven, Sammy and Amaya over the past 2 1/2 weeks. I’m going to miss them tremendously when I get back into the regular routine this week!