We have been having amazingly good weather the past week or so. And not just amazing for February - amazing in general. 70-80 degrees, blue skies, light breeze. Just plain gorgeous days. So, after baths, naps, and a visit from Cousin Julie
(who gave everyone new pig toys, which immediately got played with and snuggled...faster than any other toy they've gotten)
we set out on a walk. Since I was alone this time, the boys got to ride in the chariot while Caroline was strapped to me in the Bjorn. This was my first time getting them all out of the house alone since we moved, and it was a breeze! I did have to do a little planning ahead of time, getting the stroller ready at the bottom of the stairs, getting the boys all strapped into their car seats for the stroller, etc. - and it won't be ANY fun when it starts raining this week - but for this trip, it was a snap! We headed down the street and were stopped by curious neighbors before we even reached the corner. Three older ladies chirped about how beautiful the babies were and how lucky we were and how much they'd been wondering about who had moved into our house. I'm glad we didn't disappoint them.
From our block we headed out toward the beach, stopping before we got their at our destination - Safeway! We picked up a few items...just what would fit in the basket under the stroller. I asked the bagger to make sure he didn't fill the bags up too high, since they had to fit under the car seats in the snap 'n go stroller. After I paid, I lifted Max's car seat off the base so we could tuck the bags in, then strapped Max back down, and then the bagger asked if he could help me out! Very strange, since everything was now in the stroller. Kind of the supermarket version of asking, "would you like fries with that?" when you've just ordered onion rings.
The walk home was a little harder. There is only a very slight incline, but with a 13 pound baby strapped to your chest and ... pounds of stroller+car seats+babies+groceries any incline is noticeable. We walked along Golden Gate Park, to get the scenic route under our collective belt. A few people passed and smiled at the babies, making comments like "wow - you've got your hands full there". The best was when we were passed by three young adults dressed in all black, heavily eye-linered and multiply pierced. The young woman in the group, walking a large pitt bull, showed little expression as she passed us, but just as she was beyond me I heard her turn to the two boys and say, "Dang! Hecka babies". It has been suggested we make up t-shirts with that slogan. I can just see it now - Daniel wearing one that says, simply, "Dang!", with Max in his "Hecka" t-shirt and Caroline sporting "babies".
When we got back to our street we had to cross Fulton, which is pretty busy. There are big signs reminding folks to stop for pedestrians, but that doesn't mean they always stop. When one man finally did pause traffic for us, we scooted across as quickly as four people on two legs can, and just as we got to the corner I heard the driver say, "Look - it's triplets!" Well, yes, but they're also hecka babies.
At home, Caroline practiced her new skill, pulling her pacifier out of her mouth and offering it to you,
while Max and Daniel waited patiently to be removed from their swaddles after nap time.
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Sunday, the weather was not quite as good, so we played inside most of the morning. We chose to skip the activity mats for today and concentrate on some tummy time:
Then naptime again in their cribs (we're going to try to start nap training this week, now that the construction is stopped downstairs for a while). When I went in to see to a screaming Daniel, I noticed that Max had broken out of his swaddle and was sucking on a solo finger while he slept. So cute!
After naptime and lunch, it was time to head out to Costco. And since the weather had cooled, Caroline got to wear her new hat. Well, new to her. My mom and I bought it in Machu Picchu back in 2004 and it ended up being MUCH too small for the little 3 year old it was intended for. I guess so! It barely fits Caroline and she's only 5 months old!
A couple of notes on our new house. Like I said, it is WONDERFUL to have only one flight of stairs to go up. And very little traffic on the street, so that we don't have to worry so much about cars rushing past as we try to load the third baby in on the driver's side of the car. But we are still on a bus line. In fact, two bus lines run down our street and there are bus stops on all four corners. This has not caused us any problems, but it is amusing that whenever a bus rumbles past the house it shakes us just enough to set off the motion detectors in our porch light AND the babies' activity mat music toys. So we're getting a music and light show every ten minutes or so. Added bonus!
