1 Year Doctor Visit

We survived.  It was a harrowing day, but we all made it through.

We got to the doctor's office about an hour early, planning to feed the babies a little lunch, then get called back to the exam room to do their measurements, etc. before the appointment.  Only this time they didn't really want to sit in their strollers and eat.  And we didn't get called back early for measurements.  And the waiting room was PACKED.

Just because you have three babies does not mean you get a larger exam room, in case you were wondering.  So we had three babies, who are now mobile, and three adults all crammed into one tiny space.  With not so much ventilation.  I undressed the babies and took them down the hall for measurements.  Max went first, and then Caroline was itching to go, so she jumped ahead of Daniel (who was already stripped down to his diaper), and then Daniel.  When Daniel and I got back to the exam room, we saw that Caroline and Max had teamed up on Daddy and tried to make a break for it.  Daddy had Caroline restrained with an arm around her waist and was holding Max down with the other hand.  I put Daniel down and tried to figure out what we should do next when Caroline voted that it was time for diapers.  Which is to say that she peed all over the exam table from her spot about a foot and a half above the table.  Luckily she avoided hitting anything (or anyone) but the exam table and the floor and a lovely lady came and wiped up after her while we secured a diaper around her little tush (much like closing the barn door after the horses have gotten out, but we felt it was worth the effort, just in case).

And now the part you've been waiting for:  All the babies are "catching up" on the growth chart. Princess Caroline is still the most petite, weighing in at 18lb 11oz and 28.5" long.  This puts her in just the 11.5th percentile for weight and the 27th percentile for length.  Her head circumference is 17.3", which is 18th percentile - at least she takes after Mommy there!  Daniel now weighs 21lbs12oz, which is 31st percentile and is  30.5" long which bumps him all the way up to the seventieth percentile.  That's right, 70 not 17!  Tall boy!  He still has a massive noggin - 19" in diameter, or 94th percentile.  The big news of the day was Max.  He is just a quarter inch shorter than Daniel (30.25", 67th percentile), but he weighs 4 ounces more!  He is 22 pounds exactly, putting him in the 35th percentile.  The extra four ounces must come from his head, which measured 19.3" (97th percentile!!!).

The doctor talked with us about milestones.  While she's not worried about the babies' progress at all (all crawling, two "cruising", one standing), she does want us to give her a call if they're not all taking steps by 15 months, just to make sure there's no intervention needed.  We get to wean them off formula and onto cow's milk now (big step) and we've been advised to also get them off their bed-time bottle to prevent cavities and start laying the groundwork for potty training.  I think this means we will also have to start adjusting dinner time so that they've got some food in their bellies for bedtime!

Next came the shots.  The injection nurse came into the room, which was nice, and they sent a medical assistant to be an extra set of arms.  They each got four shots - Hep A, Chicken Pox, Measles/Mumps/Rubella, and Flu.  And Joe and I got our flu shots at the same time.  14 shots.  And only three of us cried.  I'll let you decide which three. Caroline was a little sad because she thought the MMR shot was going to guard against Muppets...and she would be so sad if she couldn't do her muppet dance!

Then everyone got dressed and we headed down to the lab.  Things would have gone smoothly but for the poor communicator behind the registration desk.  It took us 10 minutes to get everyone's paperwork lined up.  Grrrr.  Then each baby had to come out, sit in my lap, and get prepped for their blood draws.  Caroline went first and screamed her head off but was brave and made it through.  Then went Max, followed by Daniel.  Interestingly, both Daniel and Max had to be stuck on their right arms because the phlebotomist couldn't find a good vein on the left, which is the same thing that happens to me when I give blood.

We got home and decided to give the babies a treat for dinner for being so good at the doctor....smoothies for dinner!  We blended frozen strawberries, mangos, and pineapple with banana, yogurt, and milk.  And then we couldn't figure out how they were going to drink them.  The mixture was too thick for the nipples in their bottles and it barely eked out of the dreaded sippy cups.  Aha!  I have three straw cups from WAY back when the Kaiser nutritionist suggested that we skip sippy cups entirely, since it was a skill the babies will never need again, and go straight to straws.  At the time, the babies showed no interest.  But tonight, with YUMMY smoothie inside, they sucked away!  We might be a step close to getting rid of the bottles!

Be Careful What You Wish For

I was playing with Caroline on the couch when that car commercial came on where the dad is running through a driving safety checklist with his five year old, who turns into a sixteen year old at the end. As Caroline giggled, I said, "but you'll never do that, right? You're not going to grow up - you're going to be my tiny baby forever!"
And then I thought about it.

"But maybe you could learn to feed yourself. And walk down the stairs. And maybe wipe your own butt."

She just laughed.

And then, five minutes later, Max did this:

Things are going to get a little more exciting around here now!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

As we all know, the Salvateenies are first and foremost baseball fans, being responsible as they were for the Giants' late season surge and ultimate World Series victory in 2010.  But as the weather has taken a turn for the autumnal (which, in San Francisco, means it's finally gotten hot), they thought it might be time to explore some other sports.

In their bath tonight (and BOY did they need one - sweaty little babies!), I gave them some new bath toys - a little rubber baseball, soccer ball, and football.  Max and Daniel fought over the baseball, but Caroline grabbed both the soccer and the football and refused to let either go.  I guess she's covering all her "football" bases.  In fact, she liked the football so much, she carried it with her when she got out of the bath and insisted on playing with it in the living room, too.

There may be a genetic history to this.  My whole life I have heard the story of my first baby girl photo shoot, all dolled up in a pretty, frilly dress.  The studio had a bunch of cute, girly toys to play with, but apparently I refused to settle down until I got to pose with...you guessed it...a football:

When I saw Caroline playing with the football in the living room, I realized I should try for a similar shot.  But first, the boys tried their hands at it.

A lefty?  He already scrambles like Steve Young

Practicing for his TD spike

Daniel is examining the ball

"Pigskin? This doesn't taste like bacon!"

Working up to throwing a screwball -- wait, wrong sport!

It was actually quite hard to get pictures of Caroline with the ball because every time we tossed it to her, she'd pick it up and lob it back at us.  But we know she is really working on being a running back.

Gotta keep that ball tucked!

That's better

Good, try it on both sides

Practicing for the reverse hand-off

Oh no! Fumble!

Making House Calls!

There were a couple of folks who couldn't make it to the birthday party last week because they have a little trouble getting out of the house these days.  Our friend Jan, who has followed the babies faithfully here on the blog, and her 90-year old mother who live up in San Anselmo, and my 91-year old Great Aunt Liz (whose sister was my grandmother, Caroline), who just had knee surgery and lives in St. Helena.  So we took the Salvateenies on the road to visit friends and family!

First stop was San Anselmo.  When we got there, I unloaded Daniel and brought him to the door.  I handed him over to Jan and he instantly felt at home, smiling up at her.  For all he knew, I was leaving him there and moving off to drop the next baby at another house, but he didn't seem worried at all.  I went back and retrieved Caroline and Max and set them loose in Jan's living room which, she admitted, had not been "babyproofed" for many years.

The babies instantly fell in love with the round glass coffee table (and the cut glass decanter on top of it!).  At one point they were actually all standing around it slapping their hands down like a fancy little drum circle.

Each baby spent some time hanging out with Jan, though she and Daniel definitely had a special bond.

When Caroline wasn't playing on the table, she was crawling around the room looking for toys.  She found a little 3 pound weight being used as a doorstop and decided that was a perfect plaything!

Max couldn't figure out how she did it! It was too heavy for him.

So he decided to show off, teaching Grandma how to clap her hands.

Daniel was captivating his audience with a game of "Look! It's my Grandpa!"

and just generally being cute.

After that short visit, we packed back in to the car for the trip up to St. Helena.  After a perfect trip across the Golden Gate Bridge on the first leg of the trip, Caroline decided she was not going to enjoy the next ride AT ALL.  In fact, she cried all the way from Jan's house to within a few miles of Aunt Liz's!  This was made all the worse by my GPS that decided to eschew the normal route in favor of the road less taken.  While that might be the way to go to find yourself, when it comes to the roads of the Sonoma and Napa wine countries, it's also the way to find narrow, winding roads with no shoulders or cell reception. Definitely not fun with a screaming baby in the back seat (though it was my dad, trailing us alone in his car, who missed the turn and ended up winding his way back down on the wrong side of the hill, adding an extra hour to his trip).

When we finally made it to Liz's, Caroline acted as if she'd been fine all along, only given away by her poor sweat-filled curls and a slightly husky tinge to her voice -- that's what you get for crying for an hour and a half!  The babies each got to open a present and they were excited to play with all the new toys they got, though the boys seemed even more excited to play with their cousin Larkin who'd come to visit.  

And at the end of the evening (and in preparation for a ride home filled with more bouts of Crying Caroline and a little bit of Maudlin Max as well), we had a FOURTH birthday cake!  This time it was peach  mousse cake.

Max, preparing for cake

Jackie fed Max by hand

This is his "I'm not sure if I like this yet" face

Daniel showed off how well he can feed himself!

Caroline let Liz feed her with a spoon - I think her tantrum is showing its toll on her here.

After a very full day, we got home just in time for a bottle and bedtime, and for the first time since their colds showed up this week, all three exhausted babies slept straight through the night!

The actual date of their birth

Starting a tradition that I'm sure will continue, the Salvateenies have had a number of celebrations.  In addition to all the visitors and gifts they got on Saturday, they also got to celebrate on their actual birthday.  They all had special birthday outfits to wear for their 1 year old pictures with Myrtle.

You may notice that Daniel doesn't look entirely himself in these pictures.  This is because he was in the midst of his birthday sniffles - that's right.  On top of all the gifts they got on Saturday, they also all got colds!  By this point in the morning, Max seemed to be getting over his (which had first shown up two days earlier) and Daniel was in full force.

Caroline came down with her cold a little later in the day.  By dinner time, she was really feeling it.

And her brothers weren't entirely 100% either.

But we would not be daunted!  After some quick vapor baths and a change of clothes, we made them eat their second birthday cake to celebrate (well, actually their third, if you count the one from their party AND the cupcakes they got to have at Grandma and Grandpa's earlier in the day!).

You may notice that Caroline doesn't have a plate.  This is because she cannot be trusted not to pick it up, full of cake, and try to wear it as a hat, and we didn't have time for another bath!

All in all, it was a VERY eventful birthday.  Now we just have fingers crossed that the colds pass quickly!