Da-Da-Da-Da-Da!

Auntie Lee Ann caught Caroline talking!

And of Max laughing (even though she held the camera the wrong way so we see him sideways!):

New skills and developments

OK, this is terrifying....DANIEL HAS TEETH.  At dinner time, Daniel did not have teeth.  A few hours later, after a brief nap, he had teeth.

You have to look carefully - maybe click on the image so it displays at its full size and look right in his lower gum, and there they are - two little teeth!  ACK!

And while we're on terrifying developments - now that Max has learned to roll, he's doing it like crazy....little barrel rolls all over the living room!

Not to be outdone by her brothers, Caroline is talking up a storm.  Her most recent syllable is "da"...leading to her saying, repeatedly "da-da-da", about which Joe is quite proud.  Of course, shy and retiring flower that she is, she wouldn't do it for the camera, so we'll have to catch her at a later date!

Visitors and more feeding exploits

On Saturday, the 'teenies got a lot of visitors.  First, Grandma stopped by with her friend Julia and Julia's grandson, who are in town for a few days to celebrate his bar mitzvah.  They were suitably adorable, but Daniel and Caroline were napping.  After their naps, they were met by Kate, who hadn't seen them since they were 2 weeks old or so, and Kate's friend Natalie:

Kate and Max

Kate and Caroline

Daniel and Natalie

 Then Eileen and Laurel came by to see them:

Daniel and Eileen

Laurel and Caroline

Playing coy

But making serious eye contact a moment later

 Everyone stayed around to help with feeding:

And following up:

We have been continuing with the attempts at solid food.  Caroline has taken to it quite a bit and drains at least a table spoon and a half of rice cereal (a good 3-3.5Tbsp with the formula mixed in - about an ounce), but the boys really are not into it.  In fact, they make such a mess, I kind of regretted giving them baths BEFORE meal time today.  So I dressed them up in their robes to rest and then to eat, putting on their pjs after dinner time.

Daniel:

Max:

Caroline:

Caroline has developed a little habit when she gets bored.  She takes whatever toy is in her hands (or her pacifier if it's handy) and proceeds to try to rip it apart.  Sometimes it seems like she just can't figure out how to put it down.  Max has learned how to roll from his back to his front and he does it often - getting his legs caught up in the supports of the activity mats and screaming hysterically while trying to extricate himself with little motions that look terrifyingly like pre-crawling.   And all the while, Daniel just sits in the jumperoo bouncing from side to side and cracking himself up.

Last night, I'm a little ashamed to say, as I was putting the babies into their cribs (yes, Caroline has her OWN crib now), I apparently put Max in Daniel's crib and Daniel in Max's.  Even more comically, Joe didn't pay attention to the color of their swaddles when he got them up (and, admittedly, they are light and pastel and not that different) and was shocked to unwrap who he though was Daniel and find Max's PJs underneath!  It's a good thing we don't dress them alike all the time!

This time I think I'll double check on my way in to make sure who is sleeping where.

Max's Literary Allusions

Ever since I bought Max his little frog PJs way back in his newborn sized days, I've been planning the following photo shoot.  

Funny thing about the frog pjs - they seem to all be a size too small!  I bought them back in those NB days and they fit him for ONE DAY before we had to send them off to his friend Junior who is a month younger and smaller than Max.  This past Thursday, Max had a blowout in his clothes and had to be changed, so Joe chose the 9-month sized frog pjs, expecting them to be a little big. Surprisingly they fit perfectly.  His other 9-month pjs are still pretty huge on him.  Oh well - no time to lose with the photo shoot!

Many years ago, sitting in the new Bookshop Santa Cruz in the "R" section of fiction, I happened upon a Tom Robbins novel called "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas".  Pulled in by the title, I scanned a few pages, bought it, read it, and became a fan (though, I admit, Robbins is hit or miss for me - loved Frog PJs, Jitterbug Perfume, and Invalids Home from Hot Climates; couldn't get into or through Still Life of the Woodpecker or Even Cowgirls Get the Blues).  

And so, without further chatter, I give you Max,

Mostly awake in Frog Pajamas:

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas:

Mostly Asleep in Frog Pajamas:

Totally Asleep in Frog Pajamas:

Food Update - now with Video!

Video proof (highly edited) that we started the babies on their solid foods today.

And proof that Daniel, at least, was still in good spirits later that day:

Week 27 and FOOD!

When last we spoke, the babies had been to the doctor and received a whole host of vaccinations.  In previous visits, the vaccinations have not been too traumatic, but this time there were some after-effects.  No fever or real sickness, but Miss Caroline was not enjoying life on Tuesday.  It was wall-to-wall screaming with red eyes overflowing with tears.  And the saddest part was the absence of that trademark Caroline smile.  When she wasn't crying, she had a vacant, faraway stare in her eyes.  (To be fair, the stare came after we remembered she might be in pain and we should give her a little Tylenol, so maybe that was a side effect of the drugs).  

Wednesday was slightly better, which was good because we had a big day planned.  In addition to the normal excitement of diaper changes and feedings, all the babies got baths as soon as Mommy got home! (Yes, I admit, the babies often go a full week between baths.  This is not to say that they don't get frequent wipedowns, but the whole tub/towel thing is a little much to manage on a daily basis, and the hours after I get home are often filled.)  After baths, they got dressed in "outdoor clothes" to go to their first interview.

That's right, an interview.  As six month olds.  I should've had Caroline wear her little suit from Cousin Paula ... next time.

Enough people told us that we ought to sign the babies up with a talent agency that we though, what the heck? we'll give it a try.  What could it hurt, right?  Well, the first agency we submitted pictures to called us back within a week and a half of getting the babies' pictures and scheduled an "interview".  This consisted of taking some "test" pictures of all three babies to see how they deal with a photos-by-a-stranger environment.  The agent/photographer wants us to come back in a few weeks with the boys dressed identically, as that is apparently likely to get them a little more work.  Caroline perked up with that big smile and the agent got some cute pictures of her.  

And that's that - the Salvateenies have been offered representation contracts.  Let's hope Joe doesn't become a stage father! I wonder if we can put anything they might actually earn in a tax-deferred college fund account.  Any financial experts out there who can advise us?

When we got home, we took advantage of their good moods and nice clothes for their Week 27 pictures.

Caroline wants you to notice how much longer her legs are now than Myrtle's

There's that smile we were missing!

Caroline pushed Myrtle out of the way

But Max saved her

And provided a little TLC

Three smiling babies (I'm sure Myrtle is smiling too)

Caroline's on-and-off behavior continued all week.  She woke up screaming a few mornings, and wouldn't quiet down until she was held and cuddled - not convenient when it's time to feed one of the other babies.  To be fair, the boys were amazingly good natured about putting up with her meltdowns and waiting while Daddy attended to her.  Today she hung out in the Jumperoo for a few HOURS - not taking any chances once she found something she liked!

Speaking of the Jumperoo - Daniel is really the master of it - his are the feet that actually touch the bottom.

(See that phone book behind him?  That's what we use when Caroline's in the Jumperoo)

 Friday afternoon it was finally time to start feeding "solid" foods.  We were instructed to start with rice cereal, which is not really what I would classify as "solid" - 1 part cereal flakes to 3 parts formula makes for thicker formula, delivered on a spoon.

Max was having a bad patch, yelling, but we persevered.

Daniel did slightly better:

Though from these pictures it does kind of look like he's not sure about what we're doing to him.

Caroline didn't seem to take to it too well at first, but after a while she got the hang of it and even seemed to like it a little:

(and in case you're wondering, I fed them during the video portion of the evening!)

A Week in the Life...

A few highlights from the past week:

Caroline took a bath.  OK, it's nothing new - she takes a bath at least every week.  So do the others.  I just happened to find this cute post-bath picture on my camera.  I think I took it to highlight her cute little curls up top.  My grandmother Caroline used to tell me stories of giving my aunt a bath, plastering her wet hair down to her head, and watching as it went "ping! ping! ping!" and curled up off her head as it dried.  These little curls reminded me of that story - and of Caroline's namesake.

While we're working with cute pictures of Caroline, the St. Patrick's Day photos didn't catch her in her bib:

There weren't many shots of Daniel this time around - but this one showing off his milk goatee (some people just go for the milk mustache, but Daniel goes for the full chin) was worth sharing:

Then there was Max's evening watching the NCAA Tournament (which we, of course, refer to as "Max Madness"), inspiring his spot-on Jerry Tarkanian impression:

This is what the boys look like when they've just woken up:

Sunday's big adventure was setting up the "jumperoo".  These are pictures of Max trying it out:

As you may be able to tell, his feet do not quite touch the ground, seriously limiting the "jump" portion of the activities.  Unfortunately, the "eroo" part can only entertain him for so long.  Caroline's feet dangle an inch higher in the air, and her patience for the contraption seems to be in direct correlation.  Daniel's toes do touch just enough that he really seems to like the jumperoo, which makes me feel less silly for rushing to set it up.

Since Daniel's feet touch and Max's don't, I suspected that Daniel was a tiny bit taller than Max.  But at today's doctor's appointment, that turned out to not be the case.  Both boys measured at 25 3/4 inches long (in the 25th percentile for 6 month old boys), with heads that are 45cm in circumference (in the 75th percentile).  The only difference is the 4 ounce advantage Daniel has been maintaining the past few months (he is 16 lbs. 4 oz to Max's straight 16 lbs. - also putting them in the 25th percentile for weight).  The doctor commented that she often sees preemies whose head growth catches up a little faster than their body growth does, but we know it's really because they're taking after their Daddy and his big head. :)

Caroline is still bringing up the rear at 25 inches long and 14 lbs 9 oz (with a head circumference of 42cm).  But since girls tend to be a little smaller than boys, this puts her in the 25th percentile too, though her head is only in the 50th percentile.  The doctor was pleased with their symmetrical proportions.

While the doctor is not concerned at all with their growth, she does want to see them again in 3 months to check on their developmental milestones.  They're doing all sorts of impressive things - rolling from back to front (except Max), grabbing things with their hands and passing them hand to hand, pushing up on their hands when they're on their bellies  - but they can't really sit up without someone (or something) propping them up.  Apparently, "most" babies by 6 months are sitting up with some sort of support on their arms/hands.  Our babies topple over when they try.  So that (along with the introduction of solid foods, which is for some reason terrifying me) will be something to practice with them in the next few weeks.

After the appointment, we went to get their shots.  Now that they're used to taking a nap in the afternoon, they were really feeling not having it and were fussy.  But after a brief bit of crying as each got his (or her) shots, they settled back down and were fine.  Later in the evening they all three had little meltdowns and needed about an hour of cuddling before their final feeding, but that might've been because I forgot to give them their tylenol when we got home.

The most surprising thing about the day happened when we were at the pharmacy waiting for Daniel and Caroline's eczema prescription.  Joe was in the waiting area with the babies and I was in line.  A lady stopped to see them and Max, the only one awake at the time, turned on the charm, smiling at her in his flirty little baby way.  She was so impressed, and felt, in her words, "so blessed" to have gotten to meet the babies, that she sent her daughter in to me to give me a $100 bill.  She said she'd won at "the casinos" yesterday and, since we were blessed with triplets, and she'd been blessed to meet them, she thought she should share the good luck.  Definitely a strange encounter!

Let's see what this next week holds for us!