Let's say you're tired and decide to go to bed early. But then at 9:30 or so one of your children starts puking every 15-20 minutes until 11pm. After you finish cleaning up all the puke and crawl into bed exhausted at 11:30, whatever you do, do NOT think to yourself: "Oh, well - we're up late but at least we didn't have to get up at 3am to do this." Because that is just tempting fate a little too much...
Guess what we were doing between 3-4am?
Blech.
Another lesson learned: It is no easy task to clean puke out of crib tent mesh. At 3am. While trying not to wake two sleeping toddlers.
After we solved the crib dilemma, we moved our attention to our next sleep-related challenge: replacing the Pack and Plays. (For those of you without kids: Pack and Plays used to be called "playpens.")
We purchased 2 Pack & Plays before our first road trip to Gram & Papa's, and at the time I congratulated myself for finding slightly smaller-than-average ones that were also a lot less expensive than most. Of course I wasn't thinking at the time that the smaller size meant the girls would outgrow them sooner... They're really too long for them now, and the weight limit is 30lbs (at their last weigh-in, the girls were 27, 28, and 29lbs.).
So our next challenge was to find something to use instead. I was pretty sure we'd be stuck with some type of air mattress and have to get up multiple times a night when someone inevitably rolled off. Assuming we could get them to sleep in the first place if they had the ability to get out of bed and run around (see previous post). Then I found this:
It's a tent that comes with an air mattress that slips into a pocket in the bottom. And the whole thing zips up, so once again we can keep them contained! Yippee!
There's plenty of room in there, so we should be able to use them for a few more years.
They're designed for indoor or outdoor use, so if we're every crazy enough to take them camping, we can use them for that too. Very cool! I got them from One Step Ahead - they gave me a discount because I was ordering three.
The girls had a great time playing in it - here's hoping they'll actually sleep in it! We're planning a trip to Gram & Papa's soon, so we'll get to test them out. They're used to sleeping under the crib tents now so I'm hoping this will work out well.
***
This is just random but I've been meaning to post this photo for a while - how cute are these?
Sleep has been a precious commodity around here ever since the girls were born. When they first came home from the hospital, we religiously put them down in their cribs drowsy, but awake. It worked pretty well until they hit their due date and Eve became posessed by demons. Or developed colic. Most likely it was the latter, but I can't imagine things would have been worse with the demons. Either way, she had a wicked case of acid reflux and also started becoming more aware of the world around her, and more unable to shut out excess stimulus.
She fought sleep like nothing I've ever seen. She would get more and more and more wound up, and was obviously exhausted, but just would not sleep. We finally figured out that the fastest way to get her to sleep was to swaddle her tightly, take her in a dark room, switch on the vacuum cleaner, and rock her to sleep. She would scream and scream and scream for a while, then finally relax, then finally drop off. Sometimes you'd get lucky and it would only take 15 minutes. Sometimes it would take 45. We would creep gently up the stairs, and lay her in her crib as carefully as possible. If she woke up at any point during the transfer, you would have to start all over again. So we started rocking Lily and Julia to sleep too, because Lord help you if you put one of them down awake and they fussed enough to wake up Eve.
So we did this ridiculous dance every night. Often Eve was the first to go down, so then one of us would take a baby into the guest bath and one into the master bath (neither has a window, so they're both dark), rock them to sleep, then creep down the hall to the nursery to deposit sleeping babies in their cribs. On average it probably took us 45 minutes a night just to get everyone in bed. The slightest noise from the baby monitor would send us flying up the stairs to remove the offender from the room before everyone woke up and we had to start all over.
At around 8 or 9 months old, Eve finally started to outgrow the reflux, the colic, the demons, whatever you want to call it. One night when my mom was visiting, she decided to just put Eve down in her crib awake and give her a pacifier to see what would happen. She fell asleep on her own, no crying at all. Same thing every night for a week straight. She had a short relapse the next week, but that was really the end of it. So then we decided to see what would happen if we just put all three of them down awake at the same time. There was some minor fussing on and off for about 20 minutes, then silence. Next night it was 10 minutes. And the next night just a minute or two.
I don't think I can overstate to you how much this changed our lives for the better. Around this time too they finally started getting on a regular nap schedule, and more importantly, napping at the same time. FINALLY we could count on having a little break during day. Getting them all to fall asleep at nap time became a little more challenging as they got older, but they were stuck in their cribs and almost always would eventually fall asleep. If someone is particularly stubborn we'll move her to the isolation booth: a Pack & Play we keep set up in our guest room.
I am sorry this is getting so long-winded, but I'm telling you all this so you understand the hell we went to in order to get a good sleep routine going, and the level of panic I therefore experienced when Julia fell out of her crib about a month ago. The nanny called to tell me it happened, and the first thing she said was Julia was perfectly fine, so I wasn't panicked about Julia's well-being (sorry, Julia). I panicked because I had totally counted on keeping them in cribs until they were... oh, I don't know, five, maybe? What? Is that too long?
We wrote it off as an isolated incident until Eve started showing signs of climbing out. Signs like throwing a leg over the rail and hoisting herself up as if she was straddling a bike. We decided to bite the bullet and switch over to big-girl beds. And then I had a really bad day when I couldn't get them to take a nap even though they were stuck in their cribs, and I had a minor breakdown at the thought of what would happen if they could get out and run around whenever they wanted. So we bought crib tents:
Now they are well and truly stuck in those cribs, and can't climb out. Tim had the genius idea of telling the girls they were forts. We showed the girls the picture on the box and made a big huge deal about how we were making forts on their beds and they got to sleep in a fort from now on and just how cool is THAT?!?! We also gave them pillows and I made blankets for them out of fleece material they got to pick out themselves. Fortunately they bought it, and they love their forts. And I've noticed they're settling down for naps more quickly now, probably because they can't see each other as well through the mesh.
Maybe when they are 3 we'll be brave enough to face toddler beds. Maybe.
Two Fridays ago I accidentally shut Eve's finger in the bathroom door. They are all obsessed with shutting doors right now (we have to shut every door 3 times so everyone gets a turn) and she ran around behind me and grabbed the door right under the hinge to try to catch it before I shut it. The door completely shut and latched before I even realized she was there. It totally ripped her fingernail off and she started bleeding like crazy. Of course I promptly freaked out, not only because my carelessness caused this horrible thing to happen to her and I felt like the worst mother alive, but because Tim was just getting back from a business trip that day and wouldn't be home for a few more hours, so I didn't know what I was going to do with Julia and Lily if I had to take Eve to the hospital.
So there I am, trying not to cry too hysterically, Eve is screaming, I'm trying to stop the bleeding, and I'm leaving a message with the pedi's office to see what I should do. I quickly look over my shoulder to see how Julia and Lily are handling this, and guess what I see?
Those of you expecting me to say they were gazing up at Eve with loving and concerned expressions while tearfully comforting each other will be sorely disappointed, because what they were actually doing was fingerpainting the kitchen floor with Eve's blood.
They look sweet, but really they are complete and total savages.
It seems like an innocent enough statement. But when that statement comes from a toddler who has fought you tooth and nail over every diaper change for the last six months; a toddler who will vehemently deny having a dirty diaper even when five seconds ago you witnessed her grunting and turning red and you can smell her from across the room; a toddler who has been taking antibiotics for the last 8 days that have made her back-end production both more liquid and more frequent with each passing day... When that toddler walks up to you after dinner and annouces "You better change me" you can bet that when you pull her pants down, you are NOT going to like what you find.
Happy Valentine's Day! I realize I have seriously been neglecting this blog, but it's been a rough couple of weeks. I'll start catching up soon, but in the meantime, in the spirit of the holiday, here are some photos of the girls loving on each other.
Lily & Eve...
Julia & Lily...
Lily, Eve, and Julia snuggling up with each other and the infamous Shrek Babies (more on those later)
Next 2 photos L to R: Eve, Julia, Lily
And one more little note... Eve has gotten in the habit lately, when she feels affectionate, of coming up to me (or Tim, or her sisters) giving a big hug, and saying "I love you very much!" She can be quite the little terror, but it's hard to stay mad for long.
By request...
I promised some pictures for the grandparents, so here they are...
From our visit to Tim's parents' house - opening their gift from Gram & Papa
Fun with bows:
Lily became quite attached to Aunt Megan:
Back at home Christmas morning... Eve hogging the teddy bears:
Julia with fairy wings from Great Aunt Margie (they were a big hit):
Everyone enjoying the table and chairs from Grammy:
All dressed up in Christmas outfits from Gram and Papa (Eve wasn't too happy with the tights, but once we took them off she was running around all day saying "I'm so cute!" and "I look pretty!")
My department has a "Secret Santa"-type gift exchange every year. This year I got a new CD by Laurie Berkner, singer of such perennial favorites as "Pig on Her Head" and, of course, "Bumblebee (Buzz, Buzz)." I think the girls like it...
Happy triplets = happy Christine, so I am grateful. Even though I had to listen to this song 83 times in a row last night, and the first thing I am likely to hear tomorrow morning is "Listen buzz buzz again mommy?"
What they say:
Up, mommy! Up! Up!
What they mean:
Pick me up and walk two steps, at which point I will practically throw myself out of your arms in my hurry to get down. Walk two more steps, then pick me up again. Repeat 57 times.
What they say:
No! Don't want it!
What they mean:
As long as you stand there holding that toy/book/cup I don't want it. But the second you walk away with it I will scream so loud the neighbors' dog will start barking.
What they say:
More!
What they mean:
Get me more food, but I'm not going to eat it. I would like to have a full plate in front of me when I announce I am all done and start begging to get down. That way if you're not fast enough I can dump it on the table and start smearing it in my hair, which usually gets you moving.
What they say:
Go pee-pee on potty!
What they mean:
I'd like to sit on the potty for 15 minutes, play with the toilet paper, sing a couple songs, discuss my anatomy, count the lights in the bathroom, and then pee on the floor as we walk to the changing table to put my diaper back on.
What they say:
Nothing.
What they mean:
Option 1 (when you can see toddler): I am playing happily by myself. But don't think that means you can get up and do something productive. If you stand, stretch, pick up a magazine, or even sneeze I will realize you aren't giving me your undivided attention and do whatever is necessary to rectify that situation.
Option 2 (when toddler is out of eyesight): I am doing something really naughty. You'd better run.
***
What you say:
No.
What they hear:
Maybe, but only if you ask me 157 times in a row in an increasingly loud and whiny tone.
What you say:
We need to change your diaper.
What they hear:
I'm about to tear out your fingernails then apply a branding iron to your hindquarters. You may be able to avoid this terrible fate if you kick, scream, and thrash about wildly.
What you say:
It's time to get out of the tub!
What they hear:
The world is ending. Act accordingly.
