Our summer

Hello little blog, it's been a long time. I have a pending post that I started writing the day before the trio's 2nd birthday.  Their birthday was on May 17.  Now the 4th of July is around the corner.  It's almost ready...and hope to post some day.
I think of blogging often, but reality and truth is that I have no time or energy.  So much has happened in our lives, that it's almost impossible to play catch up and document.  So maybe I won't and I'll start at where we are today.

Right now, the trio is asleep. We just spent 2 hours at their Toddler and Two's group and my brain feels like it hurts.  I am on every single second, way more than when we are home.  It's vigilant watching.  Being aware of where 3 little bodies are at all times is exhausting.  It's singing and talking and reading and lots and lots of teaching....
"we go up the slide, down the slide, your turn, his turn, her turn, wash hands, sit please, plates are not for banging, your mouth is too full, get another one, say sorry, good job, please and thank you..." 
...and non stop x three for two hours.  Then there is the 25 minute ride home...and sometimes there is silence.  I've gotten quite good at tuning out the toddler songs, and that's when I remembered our blog today.

A little bit about their group.  It is run by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program.  It's a step before preschool.  They play, sit in circle and have snack with other children, with mommy there.  Marcos continues to have mild hearing loss, and the coordinator is nice enough to let me bring the whole gang.  There are some sounds Marcos does not hear, and since this can significantly affect his development, he is being closely watched.  Thankfully, his expressive speech has made significant progress (putting 2 words together) but Marcos continues to be tested often.  Testing a toddler is quite difficult so we have to be patient and keep waiting for the official diagnosis...(meaning it may never improve).  Most likely he has an abnormality in the middle ear or a tiny bone never fully developed.  Mild hearing loss is easily fixed with a hearing aid.

Our summer schedule has us at story time on Tuesdays, Toddlers and Two's on Wednesday, Early Intervention on Thursdays, and Physical Therapy on Fridays.  That's just the trio.  Isabella has swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays and dance on Wednesdays.  She is at farm camp this week.  Yes, farm camp...only in Petaluma, and if the trio only knew where big sis is at, they would be so mad they don't get to see animals everyday! Then there's the park, the grocery store, and errands plus the cooking and the feeding, the never ending laundry and so much more...

Back to today.  Here are  pictures of Sofia...painting an ice cream out of pink shaving cream during group.  A first for her...oh, how her sister loved doing this.  At their age, my Bella was a pro at art projects.  The boys lasted only a few seconds before they were off to cause trouble.

Oh little blog...hope I visit you again soon, and friends...if you are reading, I miss you all and hope to catch up soon.

Easter~Part 2...The baskets

Our Easter 2013 morning!

Bella woke up and came downstairs to find 2 big Easter baskets. Since the trio was still in their room, we brought them upstairs along with the kiddos' morning sippies of milk.

 Watching Big Sis open her stuff...

 Then it was their turn.  Things got a little crazy but included lots of movement, laughter and good ole excitement! It was hard to get good pictures but these capture a bit of the craziness.

After all the excitement, we all went downstairs to have some yummy breakfast!

I'm thinking next year four baskets will be necessary.

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

March already?!

Since our last post, there's been some sickness.
Sofia had some stomach bug with a fever that is pretty much gone....sadly, she lost a pound.
Everyone avoided it except for me.  Everyone knows things are rough when mom is sick...luckily, it got me on a weekend and dad took over.

We also had ANOTHER eval for Marcos by another speech pathologist who also watched him eat.  The not so great speech eval in February raised some concerns with the way he ate. Luckily, this mom was right.  He eats just fine. This time, we got, what I feel, a more accurate evaluation.  He isn't THAT behind after all, but he still qualifies for speech therapy.  Carlos was also evaluated the same day.  Thankfully it was an in home evaluation.   He is right on track for his adjusted age.

The kiddos are into Elmo and Woody.  The boys are repeating 2 word phrases more and more, and Sofia's first 3 word phrase:  "Move on back", from Wheels on the Bus.  She also tries to push the boys out of her way and says "Go, go go" as in get out of my way!

There's been lots and lots of playing...

Lots of unzipping of the pj's...

Lots and lots of reading...

More and more TV, we are up to 20 minutes at a time, just enough time to watch Elmo's World.
 Woooo Hoooo!!!!

Big sis had wacky hair day at school....our first science fair and parent teacher conferences, which truly deserve their own post.

Lots and lots and lots of nose wiping!  Still cute even with mocos on his face.  

And finally today... their noses are much better, and coughing last night was better than the previous night.  The kiddos had their Synagis shot, there might be one more.  The rest of preemieland is telling me no but we'll wait and see what our doc says.  Next week, spring break for Big Sis and Marcos is getting his 2nd set of tubes (ears) and will go under general anesthesia again.  I should be a pro at this but still scary.  We hope we can get him out of the house without eating or drinking anything without too many tears.  'Til next time....

High Risk Visit

February 27, 2013 was a big day! Finally we made it to our 2nd follow up visit with the high risk nursery clinic. The first time it was scheduled we had to cancel the morning of because one of the three kept us up all night with a fever/cold.... The 2nd time, it was the stomach flu... Again we canceled the morning of due to no sleep and lots and lots of throw up but last week... We made it!

The six of us were out of the house by 7:45 a.m.! That in itself is a major accomplishment! And...can I just say that the clinic is soo far! About an hour or so away from us...How, really, how did that I make that commute almost every single day for 3 1/2 months?!

So what is the high risk nursery follow up? Well let's face it, when a baby is born at 25 weeks gestation, there are no guarantees that everything is going to be okay. None whatsoever. When we brought the trio home, I knew in some ways our journey was just beginning.  Many things could have interfered with their growth and development, and still can.  The high risk clinic is made up of a team of specialists that assesses their progress.  And if necessary will track them for FIVE years.

Most importantly they have experience working with preemies and know that most likely a 25 weeker will not be caught up entirely by the age of two. They do not stop adjusting age until the kiddos are three.  And another cool thing, one of the doctors we saw that day was in our delivery room and the first to hold Sofia.  He saved Sofia's life. And today she is right on track. At 21 months she is exceeding some milestones for her adjusted age of 17 months.  She refused to do almost everything that was asked of her because she was too busy saying hi and interacting with everyone. Sofia's speech has really taken off this month. She is now saying 2 word phrases like bye milk, night mama, bye dada, more peas, and bye poo poo, and yes Dr. G sees potty training in our near future! She is almost running, and the only concern her physical therapist has is her inability to sometimes stop.

Preemies (and some full term babies) don't always follow the order of things, it's called sprinting. In her case, she walked before she learned to stand still in one place and now has a hard time stopping especially when she is moving too fast.  She works on this everyday and our therapist is predicting she will be released from PT when she turns two in May!

They boys are not too far behind and actually performed quite well.  They scribbled, said a couple of words, pointed to some body parts and were quite social.  There are a couple of minor gross motor concerns we need to keep our eyes on:
Carlos favors his left side and tilts his head to the left while Marcos prefers his right side.  Marcos has some stability issues but he has not been walking as long as his siblings.  He'll get it figured out.  This may allow the boys to get PT for an additional six months, we hope.

High risk is not too concerned with their speech delay.  Though the speech evaluation Marcos had in early February gave him the diagnosis as severely delayed.  The doctors are certain our trio will catch up, it will just take a long time.  For now Marcos will start getting more services (speech therapy) and his hearing loss is the main concern.   He is scheduled to get his 2nd set of tubes on March 19, immediately followed by yet another hearing test that same week.  Now if this doesn't work, we will start  looking at other options like a hearing aid.  As always we are praying and leaving it in God's hands.

For now all lungs are clear and we will continue daily pulmacort and albuterol on an as needed basis.  We hope to take a break again this summer but compared to all the drugs they had in the NICU, it's really no biggie.  They were very happy with their weight and especially their height!  They are still small (Carlos, 21 lb 4 oz, Marcos, 22 lb 1 oz and Sofia, 21 lb. 6 oz); but, as long as they each follow their own growth curve, and continue to stay healthy, I have to be ok with the fact that they may not be on the "regular" chart for awhile.

What else has happened this month?  The trio has said good bye to their bottles!! That's right!  The boys had no trouble, while Sofie kept her morning bottle for a couple more weeks but she hasn't had her morning bottle since last Friday! Finally this house is bottle free!!!!!!! My babies are full blown toddlers!

Scribbles!

Our coloring is still lasting a whole five minutes before they start eating the crayons or markers!

We are trying so hard to make it part of our everyday routine but frustration sometimes gets the best of me.

You see the babies are going to be TWO in May! And though they are doing great, they still are lagging behind in some areas.  It could be the preemie thing...(25 weekers) lacking interest and fine motor skills...or the triplet thing...lacking one on one time, or also knows as only ONE mommy and four kids.  

Maybe their personality ...who knows!?!

But look at these scribbles! (The pink ones!)

Marcos did those all by himself!!

And this mama is proud!  

One of the four might just follow in daddy's footsteps!

Freedom!

The best thing ever 

taking the family to a fenced baseball field 

freedom....

They don't have this kind of freedom at home.  They still continue to be confined to a pretty big playroom.  We are not sure how much longer we will be able to pull this off...as they are constantly banging at the gates and finding things to climb on.  We let them walk to the table when its time to eat and walk to get their diaper changed.  Most of the time they are holding someone's hand.  The thought of baby proofing the entire house at this point is overwhelming.  I think its impossible, especially when Isabella's stuff is always nearby and living in a tri-level home with 3 sets of huge stairs.

 So for now we'll be at the baseball field!

Peaceful Moments

Books are bringing a sense of peace and quiet as long as they haven't seen them in a few hours.

They are going in their mouths less and less! 

Marcos enjoying reading books.

 Sofia reading.

And a big OH NO! I THINK this is Marcos but not 100% sure.  This is what happens when I dress them very similar and then take a few days to upload the pics. Unfortunately I didn't take another pic to help me figure it out. Sorry boys!

Marcos (or Carlos) petting Mickey.

These pics are quite peaceful, but very far from everyday living.  This morning Marcos was getting really rough with Carlos in a not playing kind of way.  Ok, he was beating him up.  Marcos has been getting more and more aggressive and we are trying our best to redirect our sweet boy.  

Perhaps the teething...or lack of language...but this too shall pass, we hope quickly.