51. 6 months, teeth, bugs, heads and twin rowing team at the Olympics

These months and weeks are just flying by. We now have 3 babies that are 6 months old!! Can you believe it? I can and I can't. They have been with us forever, but in the same breath, it's happening so fast. I am always looking at photos of them from their first day, to show people just how tiny they were. They are now well over 17lb, Robin is incredibly strong and spends a huge amount of time on his tummy, gearing up for when he will be off. He lifts his whole upper body up off the floor and waggles his legs. The other two are not far behind. Rob also has the fastest reflexes and whips things right out of your hand. He hasn't got hand skills yet, but he flails around fast enough to get what he wants, and if not, he gives it a bloody good whack! He is also the proud owner of the first teeth of the bunch. 

I so often look at them and wonder how on earth this is so normal, and still, dare I say it, easy? Easy isn't the right word to use, because I'm on the go endlessly and exhausted by the end of each day. But we are managing absolutely fine so far. The house is tidy, the laundry is constant, but under control, the babies are happy, and we are all happy and enjoying life without too many more grey hairs. And at the moment, we are still living a reasonably normal life. I am still able to go to excercise classes with the boys and get out and about, although, moving them around is getting more and more exhausting! And James works, spends loads of time in the garden and goes for band rehearsal afternoons fairly regularly. 

Personalities

going back to Robin and his flailing arms. Their personalities are really shining through with this one. If you hold a toy out to Will, he looks at it, lifts his arms, opens his hands, and carefully reaches for it to try and get hold of it. When you hold a toy to Robin, he usually has his hands in fists and just flails them around in excitement, towards the toy, then gets frustrated when he has knocked it away. 

All three are still the jolliest little things. As soon as anybody walks into a room, or towards them, they all beam. William does this super cute little nose scrunch too which makes his eyes twinkle. You just need to smile at Sam and he giggles, and Robin just never stops smiling. They are incredible. 

Sam lives up to his name of Smiley Sam. They all do, but somehow, Sam is a little bit more. I just look over to him and he seems to have a stuck on grin. We gave him the nickname because he smiles loads in his sleep. Little happy dreams. 

Will still lives up to his nickname of Chill Will. The other two get bored and want to be moved around and played with. Will loves all the attention too, but is also very happy to just sit and watch. 

Robin is still the charmer. He sucks people in with his cuddles. He snuggles right in to people's necks and faces, and if they dare to put him down, he let's out a heartbroken wail. He is absolutely fine, but he knows he will be picked up again by the person who dared to put him down. Haha, he is bright! He also knows it won't work with the people he is with all the time. 

All 3 are right characters too. They chatter, sing, and really interact with people. 

I started putting them in door bouncers this week, and I felt like it was the first time I saw them properly playing together. It was like they were encouraging each other to jump, so they could have a laugh. Will looked like he was trying to walk towards Sam and shouting for his attention. Sam was looking and laughing, and Robin was just in hysterics! They are always holding hands, touching each other's faces and watching each other, but to see them all upright, playing like that for the first time was so magical for me. They also smile when they see another one being brought towards them and chatter at each other. It is the most adorable thing to see. 

Wonky heads.

James's mum stated her concern over the shape of Robins head a few weeks ago. He has always been a bit crooked and when you look down from the top, it's been quite lopsided, so the left side of his face is further forward than the right, resulting in his left ear being further forward. Sam's has been the same but to a lesser extent. I try to turn their heads to the right when they sleep and had just assumed it would sort itelself out over time. A family member struggled with her baby having a flat head and it resulted in him needing treatment to fix it. The problem was, it took a long time to find somewhere that would help. He just needed a helmet, but the NHS see it as cosmetic, so rarely help out. They ended up going private, but it was quite late and stressful. 

The condition is called plagiocephaly.

We were given the details of the clinic they had visted and I gave them a call. The babies needed to be 4 months, corrected age, so they were too young to be seen. I went to the doctor who referred us to the hospital and we were told it was fine but a health visitor would keep an eye on it. We decided we would go for a private consultation anyway so we had covered all bases, and not have any regrets down the line. The prime time for helmet treatment is between 4 and 7 months (corrected age). 

The private clinic were amazing. Over the time it's taken to see the doctor, the hospital and now the private clinic, Robs head has really straightened out, but Sam's hasn't, resulting in Sam's looking worse than Robins now. I told the lady when we went for Robins appointment, fully expecting us to need to book a second appointment. She told me she would happily look at both heads. What an angel! The boys were brilliant and were as jolly as ever while she took pictures of their heads, which created a 3D scan of each head. Robs is a bit narrow at the top, but still on the low side of 'wonky', and Sam's is crooked, but also on the low end of the chart. Both meaning no treatment needed. 

Sleep schedules.

I see the girls from the baby group most weeks, and most of their babies are in a pretty good routine with their day time naps. Our 3 sleep between each feed, but usually at different times, meaning there is always one awake. I decided I needed to sync up their naps. It has taken a week or two of figuring out how and when to do it, but we are pretty much there. Nearly every 30 minute nap results in all of them being asleep together for 20 minutes or more. A lot of the time I get all 3 of them asleep at the same time!!! I get SO much done in that 30 minutes!! 

We have also tried to start setting up a regular routine full time. We are aiming for 8 o'clock bed time feed start, 4am feed, 8am feed, then 3 hours through the day. 8 o'clock seems like a good bed time for everybody involved. I have been following their routines up to now, and the bed time starts as late as 10.30 sometimes. They are all asleep by this time and I basically dream feed them. 8 o'clock works well because they are still up and about. I turn on the sensory lights about an hour before and play with them. 

I want to start introducing story time with them soon. I might wait until they are holding their bottles and can sit more independently. I have tried reading to them, but I feel like a teacher showing the book to each one in turn. They were interested, but I didn't think it was particularly relaxing for them. Jack loved his books by this age, so I'm keen to get properly started with the babies. 

Noisy sleepers.

We have no more grunting!! I have absolutely no idea when it stopped, but I was reminded of it by a friend who has a very small baby. I can't believe I had forgotten about it, because it was LOUD. Jack hadn't been a grunter, so I didn't realise how bad it was before these 3 came along. 

Colds.

Life has been an endless stream of snotty colds here. Not quite sure how, but I have so far, managed to avoid going down with anything. I pay for it though, because there is always one of the boys struggling to breathe, and getting frustrated during the night. 

3 weeks after writing this, I was hit with a horrible cough and cold, and the babies really suffered with it too. It was a really rough couple of days for me when I was ill, but thankfully, they didn't start with it until the day after I started to improve. 

I had half hour stretch of all 3 bawling. I was trying to give Sam some calpol, so he was screaming like I was trying to murder him. He got so worked up, he breathed the calpol in, choked, and puked it up with the milk he had just drank. While this was going on, Robin had rolled and got himself stuck in a position he didn't want to be in any more, so he had started screaming, and William had dropped his bottle, so he was pissed off and screaming. It was one of those moments where I just had to laugh and try and shut off. Everybody was fine and safe, and in a few moments, the crying would be over and everybody would be smiling again, and a few minutes after that, Sam's calpol would be working, and he would be feeling better too! 

Triplets have no choice but to wait sometimes. 

Weaning

It's started! Well, I say it's started, but it hasn't really. I have made 4 attempts with them in highchairs, but they aren't really interested yet. Sam is the most enthusiastic, and attempts to have a chew, but it's not much of an attempt. Jack was so excited about food, and well into solids by 6 months, so I was expecting the same. It will, and I am ready for it!

Sleep squeaking 

The babies regularly giggle in their sleep, and it is the cutest thing! On the other hand, they also sleep cry, and it's heart breaking seeing their little faces all upset for a few seconds. 

2 man job

Our lives have kind of split into 2 sections for the moment. One with Jack, and the other with the triplets. I'm finally realising that the 4 of them make life, a 2 man job. It's not like I can just pop the baby in a carrier or pram and head out. Jack is incredibly patient when I am getting the babies ready and into the car when we go out, and then into the pram when we finally get there. 

We went away for a family holiday to Lytham, and I feel like I barely saw James and Jack. We realised that it had become the unspoken order. He takes Jack and I will sort babies out. It makes it easier for everybody. I'm not worrying about holding them up, and Jack gets to do all the brilliant holiday activities. I really look forward to when the babies will be joining in with his fun. 

Twin Olympic rowing team

I love the Olympics and had it on in the background this year, but watched very little unfortunately. I had BBC Breakfast on one morning and was half listening to them interviewing a female rowing team who had won gold. He spoke to 1 of the women about a riding accident she had suffered and had been told she would never walk. What an unbelievable achievement to go from that to winning gold at the Olympics!! She told the presenter that she can't cope with being told she can't do something and she thinks part of that is having lots of older siblings and a twin. She said her team mates could support that claim. The presenter then asked how many of them were twins and all 4 put their hands up!! Unbelievable!! James and I are far from competitive, so it will be interesting to see if these guys end up being.