Time for an update!

Yes, it is time for an update...but what the title really means is that I actually have time to post an update.  Amazingly enough it is 8:15pm, the kids have been asleep for 45 minutes already, the laundry is going, bottles are made for tomorrow, kitchen is cleaned up from dinner...wow!

The kids are doing great and really seem to be settling into life with 1 caregiver (me) during the week.  I've been working HARD to establish a routine and despite MANY bumps in the road (and many, many tears), we finally seem to be getting somewhere.  Nap times and bed time, in particular, are becoming more predictable and consistent.  I've been leaning hard on my fellow triplet moms for advice and support as I am discovering that so many of the common "rules of parenting" I've heard so much about don't seem to apply.  We'll get there...

It is unbelievable to us that Annie, Eli and Mikie will be 8 months old tomorrow.  How is it possible that we are only 4 months away from a 1st birthday party?!?!  If I stop to think too much about it I'll start to cry for sure!

I don't know their current weights but here is what they are up to these days:

Annie

• Rolling and rolling and rolling!  This girl is fast!  She can make it across the room in no time and I never know where I will find her.  She doesn't seem interested in crawling and really doesn't need to - she manages to get everywhere she wants to go (and a few places she doesn't).
• FINALLY out of the 0-3 month size completely!  There were a few dresses I thought she'd never outgrow!
• Incredibly verbal.  No babbling yet, though I have heard a "G" sound.  Lots of screeching and yelling when she is happy.
• Has the largest, widest, gummiest grin I've ever seen and she flashes it at every opportunity.
• Teething but is still toothless. 
• Our rock star sleeper.  When she is tired all she needs is her paci and she is out, regardless of time or place. 

Eli

• Days away from crawling.  Gets up on all fours and rocks and rocks before lunging forward into a face plant.  Zeros in on a target and really goes for it!
• Has changed the most of the 3 in the past month.  Gone is our laid back, easy going and relaxed Eli.  He has been replaced by a maniac.  A raging maniac.  Feeding him is like trying to hit a moving target and he NEVER SITS STILL - constantly bouncing, thrashing, flipping and jumping.  We're considering using a straight jacket and harness during diaper changes for his safety and ours.
• Fights sleep, fights sleep, fights sleep!
• Happy, happy, happy!  Draws a crowd wherever we go because he never stops smiling and engages everyone around him.
• Has 2 teeth just starting to show themselves on his bottom gums!
• Prefers to play with whatever toy Annie and Mikie have.  I have witnessed him more than once make his way over to one of them and "claim" their toy.  I thought this behavior wouldn't start for awhile yet.  Oh boy!

Mikie

• This guy is huge!  While we don't know his exact weight we estimate he must be over 19 pounds by now.  He loves to eat and would eat a steak today if we let him.  Is well into size 12 months!
• Toothless
• Lots of hair which seems to curl when it's humid
• Very verbal with quite a large vocabulary - Ma, Da, Ba, Ga, Mama, Dada, Baba, Goo.  Babbles and babbles and loves to engage in "conversation."
• Gets up on his hands and gets up on his knees but not at the same time yet.
• Has started sleeping on his stomach with his butt way up in the air!!!  Love it!
• Seems to be the most serious of the bunch but has the sweetest smile and disposition.

I'm sure there are many things I've missed but you get the idea...

And now...some photos...

A rare mommy-baby photo

The kidos watching their first football game - GO PATS!

 You know your baby is teething when he rips the tray off of his Bumbo seat and starts chewing on it!

Mikie prefers chewing on something softer

 I am grateful we have been able to avoid this feeding technique before now...but is sure does make feeding time easier!!!

 Hooray - we're 8 months old!