But back to this week.
After our jaunt to the new house, we came home and put up our Christmas tree.
After our jaunt to the new house, we came home and put up our Christmas tree. As a child, we always went to my grandparents' house and put up a tree there. I never had a tree in my own home and didn't expect that I ever would. But when my grandmother passed away in October of 2004, I realized that all of the ornaments on the tree were things that had been made by me or my brother, or had been purchased on a trip or with some special though or memory, or had been given to us by friends. So Joe and I got a tree and started collecting our own ornaments to add to my family's stash. This year we are adding ornaments for the babies as well, which means a lot of the duplicate or generic ornaments stayed in the box this year.
You may notice there is a popcorn garland on the tree. One year, when I was about nine years old, we decided to string popcorn and cranberries for garlands on the tree. We spray-shellacked the popcorn and, you guessed it, that's the same popcorn on our tree nearly thirty years later. Maybe in five or six years we'll replace it with one the Salvateenies make (by then the string will probably be so bare we'll need one!)
Tuesday we took the babies over the San Mateo Bridge for their first time on our way to Union City to visit with our friend Sam and her new baby Mikey. Mikey was born almost exactly four weeks after the Salvateenies, at 35.4 weeks (just about the same gestational age as the babies), and was almost the same size as our babies. It was amazing to look at Mikey, now 7 weeks old and just about 7 pounds, and realize that our babies were actually once that small. And it was only a few weeks ago that they were! It's true that time flies when you're changing diapers!
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| Sam holding Caroline, the smallest Salvateenie, and Mikey |
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| Four little babies, all in a row |
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| We couldn't get over how much hair he has! |
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| Caroline had so much fun, she tried to call to set up another play date. |
After our short visit (during which we used Sam's water to make our bottles, used and drooled on her changing table to change our diapers, messed up three washcloths and a towel of hers because we forgot burp cloths for feeding time, and received a big bag of diapers and formula - some role model mom I am!), we journeyed back to the Peninsula to meet up with friends at Serramonte.
What friends? Why, Santa, of course! (And Jayanthi, Anjali, and Ajay) We got there about ten minutes before the other visitors so we parked the strollers right next to Santa's Village. Interestingly, the triplets seemed to be more of an attraction than Santa himself. The way we were positioned, many people saw the boys' double stroller and commented to each other on twins, then turned the corner, saw Caroline's stroller and said versions of, "Holy $%!#, it's triplets!" Some people asked permission to come over and look at the babies. Other people reached out to touch them (always without asking permission). We are considering installing a price list for these encounters to try to start funding college tuitions. A group of gawkers actually caught the eye of one of our friends who would've walked right by, missing her chance to meet the 'teenies, had there not been a crowd. (BTW, she made the following pricing suggestions: "A tip jar should be attached to each stroller. Suggested donations: Baby talk - 25 cents, touching their cheeks - 50 cents or $5 if they didn't sanitize first, cuddling - $1, cooing - 25 cents, photos - $1")
And then it was time for Santa. He was a very friendly Santa and was game to hold all three babies on his lap. We planned to put them in age order, Daniel-Max-Caroline, but Max was a little squirmy so we traded him for Caroline. Daniel
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| Caroline is wearing a dress for her visit |
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| Santa had to deal with Max's squirming while balancing Caroline. |
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| Daniel seemed calm about it all and you can see Santa is smiling here |
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| But not after Daniel punched him in the gut |
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| But there were no hard feelings. |
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| And here's the final result. Daniel looks contemplative, Caroline has her little ankles crossed, but Max is not happy. Well, what would you expect from a boy whose Hebrew name is Macabee, posing with Santa during Chanukah? |
Tuesday night we were visited by Carmela (who shares her name with Caroline - Hebrew name, at least) and Kenna, two season-ticket-holders from my old section at the Giants. They came with warm arms to hold the babies and warm food to feed their parents. Yu-um!
On Wednesday it was POURING, but there was a schedule to keep! First off to Day One for a class in "developmental play" - blocks and trucks and things that make noise are good, tv is bad - and then a few blocks further down the street to visit Phil, Tamara, and baby Jonah (aka Sir Tinyfro)! Jonah is only 5 weeks old, but as a full-term baby, he was about the same size as the 'teenies' other new friend. Sadly, we forgot to take any pictures with him, so we'll have to schedule another visit very soon! It was wonderful to see how comfortable Phil and Tamara seem with their new addition, even as they were asking tons of questions and flattering us by thinking we might have any of the answers. It's funny, I always questioned the compliment that Joe and I looked comfortable with the babies when people mentioned it to us, but it was the first thing that came to mind when we visited. I also remembered how tired I was at five weeks when I looked at poor Tamara. Boy - babies sleeping through the night really makes a big difference! Hopefully seeing me look a little rested and wearing actual make-up and clothes gave her a little hope for a light at the end of the tunnel!
After all that we had the 8th Night of Chanukah with Uncle Kelly (who was here for the 1st night as well) and Grandma and Grandpa, who were in Israel for the first seven nights. We lit candles and the babies got some very cute little Israeli outfits (but with shorts, since it's so warm there, so we'll have to find some little leggings to go with them), but the traditions stopped there as we all enjoyed bacon cheeseburgers for dinner.
Today is a relaxing day for them. Just some eating and playing and napping at home. Mommy is running off to book club tonight so they'll have some time with Daddy and the master baby wranglers. Tomorrow it's off to the East Bay again to visit the other grandparents, now that Grandpa's gotten the all clear from his doctors to entertain tiny guests again. And then two more baby workshops over the weekend!
Whew! Who knew the holiday season could be just as tiring for a two month old as it is for grown-ups?
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