Halloween

Since the babies were born in the Year of the Tiger, it was obvious that the Salvateenies should be tigers for their first Halloween.  The problem was finding costumes for them - they're six weeks old, but they are barely "newborn" sized.  All the outfits we found were in the 6-12 month range.

And then...Auntie Jayanthi to the rescue!  She came to the hospital bearing three of the cutest little tiger costumes!  They are labeled "0-3 months", but were still much too big.  So I washed them in ultra hot water and dried them on the top setting.  They're still big, but not as bad.

And the best part - they were in orange and black for Game Four of the World Series!  GO GIANTS!

Max:

Caroline"

Daniel:

With Aunt LeeAnn (dressed as a "cougar"):

And with Great Aunt Laya:

Three Little Tigers, all in a row:

Missed it!

Today the boys were eating together regularly, and Caroline would eat after them.  After their mid-day feeding, Caroline was still bright-eyed and alert, so I put her down on the "inactivity mat" to hang out for a while and wiggled the little activity pieces at her.  The boys woke up about a half an hour later and so I put them down with her.

But Max and Daniel were not as "into" the toys as their sister, so I thought perhaps I'd give them some "tummy time".  Max settled down and started checking out the stuff on the mat, but Daniel was still fussy, so I picked him up to check his diaper.

I had my back turned to the mat for maybe 45 seconds, and when I turned back around, Max was on his back!  Six and a half weeks old and he's already flipped himself over!  Or maybe his sister flipped him over...I didn't see it, so I'll never know!

Bay Area Baseball

Lest you think the Salvateenies only have love for the Giants, here's a video of the shout-out they got on the A's radio broadcast the day they were born.

Stay tuned in the coming months for their pictures in their A's gear (which, along with their little Giants outfits, are all way too big for them at the moment).

Who Needs Sleep?

Here's the good news: Caroline seems to be at a point where she can go longer stretches without eating, thereby allowing her to sleep for longer periods.  The bad news? Her brothers don't seem to be there yet.  Oh, and it's not always consistent.  Oh, yeah, and it's certainly not predictable.

Two nights this past week, I've had the babies napping in the living room, waiting for their evening feeding before putting them to bed in their cribs.  They made it through the "witching hour" in the evening - when they scream their heads off and flail around in or out of their swaddles - and finally napped and I had fastforwarded in my head the two and a half to three hours until they would eat again and decided I could get a few things done (watch a tv show, pump, write an email or two, etc.) while they slept, feed them when they woke, and get to bed by 11, exhausted and ready to sleep as soon as I'd gotten them down.  But the Salvateenies have minds of their own and THIS is the time they chose to sleep for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS STRAIGHT.  Had I known, obviously, the chores could've waited until the middle of the night or the next day and I would've slept then.  But as they slept longer, I kept thinking, "I'll go to bed now and then just get up...no, they'll get up as soon as I lie down."  But they DIDN'T!

And then, last night, they decided to be on different schedules, the boys waking about an hour after Caroline at each turn...meaning we'd just barely gotten her finished and back to bed and started to rest ourselves when they got up.  Grrr...

All the books tell us that we can't really expect them to even start falling into a predictable pattern until they're about 6 weeks old - which they'll be this Wednesday.  But then they add the caveat "from the expected full-term due date", which means we really have another four weeks to go.  We're trying to lay the groundwork of napping and sleep times now, but some feedings they'll scarf down 3 ounces of formula and then sleep for three hours and others they'll fall asleep when they've only eaten an ounce and wake up ravenous forty-five minutes later.  How can you plan?

It really is a good thing they're so cute!

And speaking of cute...

Caroline is a messy eater

The off-the-shoulder swaddle is all the rage this season

So fashion conscious

Or the traditional swaddle

What do you think?

"Ohhmmm...."

What happens when Caroline's swaddle comes loose!

5-week birthday pictures

Help! My brothers are stealing my spotlight!

Daniel's so excited he can't hold his milk!

This is how you feed three babies at once - the third was on my lap

Photo Shoot Day!

Now that the Salvateenies have passed their full-term due date, we figure there's no babying them anymore!  Time to take on a full day of activities, little guys!

They complied rather well, all in all.  Morning routines went well at home, then it was into the car and off to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Livermore where everyone got fed (some by actual grandparents, which was a treat for all involved - even though the grandfolks are much too gentle when it comes to burping time!) and took a little rest.  Then it was time for a little more food, a fresh diaper, and a wardrobe change and back in the car!

We headed a few more miles down the road to Lathrop for our appointment with Kree Addiego of http://www.kreephotography.com  The babies were supposed to arrive full and sleepy.  We thought we'd taken care of the "full" part, and they seemed pretty sleepy when we took them out of the car, but that soon faded and they went into full screamy-pants mode.  So we tried changing diapers (which were a bit wet) and we tried bottles (we had not packed nearly enough food for these guys), but still with the screamypants!  There seemed to be no reason for it...and then it hit me!  They knew it was their first "professional photo shoot" and they were just trying to live up to the stereotype of the diva supermodels they all expect to be!  (Check out the photos below and tell me if you think they'll make it.)

After an hour or more of posing - including various costume changes - it was back to Livermore to say good-bye to the grandparents, and then all the way back home.  Traffic was backed up getting through the toll plaza and getting off the bridge, and the hypnotic hum of the car engine lost its appeal to Caroline, who accompanied the remainder of the drive with periodic screeching.  I wonder if that's a downside of driving a hybrid - the engine is next to silent with very little vibration when you're in stop-and-go traffic...no baby distraction!

Once we were home it was turbo unpacking - Joe unlocked the gate and door while I removed the car seat/carriers.  Then Joe took the first baby up the stairs while I brought the other two to the gate.  He came back down to retrieve one while I brought the other half way for him to grab.  Then back down for all the other stuff packed away for their trip.  Exhausting!

At this point, I did a quick wardrobe change of my own and headed out sola for the SF Labor Council's COPE Dinner/Fundraiser, which this year was a tribute to my parents, Hene and Dennis Kelly (also known as Dennis and Hene Kelly), where everyone came up to me to give congratulations and ask about the babies.  I also got a lot of compliments on how great I look.  Considering I hadn't looked in the mirror before I left AND I was wearing entirely the wrong shoes for my outfit (though at least they were black and they fit), I highly recommend going out to dinner when people's expectations of your general appearance are low.

Of course, my absence meant Joe was home alone with the babies.  Before I even made it to the dinner, Caroline was up and yelling.  But her brothers lasted a bit longer before they asked Daddy politely to be fed.  Joe got them all fed and happily put back down while I was gone with little or no trouble.  When I got home, though, no matter how quietly I tried to sneak in the door, they all decided to let me know how unhappy they were that I'd left.  Nearly two hours after I got home they all seem to be quiet and sleeping at the moment.  We'll see how long that lasts!

oh? Those pictures I wanted your diva opinions on?  Here they are (thanks again, Kree!)

Let's Go Giants

Tonight the Giants play in their first game of the 2010 post-season.  This will mark the first time in my life that I have watched the Giants in the playoffs from home, rather than at the ballpark - in 1987 my dad and I had tickets in the next to the last row of section 58 in centerfield at Candlestick (beneath the "REE" in OOO-REE-BAY), and since 1989 I have worked every postseason series.  But not this year - this year the Salvateenies take precedence.

Joe's streak is also ending.  He has covered every bay area baseball post-season since 1987 and attended as a fan in 1981.

I will point out that only one of those previous post-seasons, when one or both of us was in attendance, ended in a Bay Area World Series victory - and that one, in 1989, also included a major earthquake and a loss for the other Bay Area team.  So perhaps our absence this year will be good luck for the team.

And maybe the babies' good luck will continue, starting as it did with Matt Cain's victory on their birthday and continuing the next day as they were announced on the big screen as the team moved into first place:

(Click on the picture to open it up larger and read the message!)

Max, cheering for the Giants

Daniel, taking it all in stride

Caroline clapping