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....

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!

This can end...NOW!

Our 2013 started out okay, much better than 2012.

Around this time last year, my little Sofia was fighting RSV.  She spent 2 nights in the hospital and her wheezing lasted all winter long.   You can read a post from last January here.

Two weekends ago, we made the switch to big kid car seats.  No more infant carriers.  We even did forward facing. We went back and forth on this, but the kiddos' legs were a bit squished.
Big kid car seats...a milestone!

 Boys in the front!

 Girls in the back!

 Carlitos

 Maquitos

 Sofita

  Good thing.  I had the great idea of trying them out prior to me being solo during the week to make sure the straps were on correctly, etc...So we ventured out on Sunday afternoon and not too long after leaving our house, I looked back, and Marcos was quietly throwing up while the car was moving (and all over the new car seat cover!)  Since his seat was facing forward, I was able to get back there quicker.  We thought perhaps he got car sick.  So we cleaned him up as well as the car, and continued with our outing.

Yes, we are brave.

We walked around downtown and decided to try out a sit down restaurant. It was late afternoon, after the lunch rush but before dinner time. We have gone out to eat before but they were much younger and could stay in the car seat/stroller...so having all 3 of them sit in a high chair was another milestone. We ate fast and managed to get out fairly quick. As soon as we got back in the car again... Marcos does it again. Coincidence.... Not! We managed to get home, Dad hung out with Marcos while I did the night routine with the other 2.  My sweet boy threw up who knows how many times. He was completely wiped out and managed to only wake once that night.




This picture was taken after his first episode, notice his shirt is missing? Not sure how my lil guy was still smiling.



Then that Tuesday night right before bed time...Sofia coughs, then throws up.  She does this now and again, if she coughs right after taking a bottle.  I nervously put her to bed not knowing if she caught the bug Marcos had or what.  Sure enough, about 20 minutes later she was still awake screaming and crying. Good thing we went in her room right away.  My Sofie was covered in throw up and so was her crib.

We took her out of the room and held her for a few hours.  The throwing up went on for about 5 hours.  She had nothing left so she dry heaved A LOT!  Sofia was still doing this when we hear screams from their room again.  Good thing I didn't give them the 5 minutes to settle.  I rushed in there to find little Carlos covered in throw up.  My poor babies! I think Carlos was up from midnight to about 5am.  At one point, both of them did it at the same time.  Thank God this happened at night because what would I have done alone?  Daddy was a true rock star, especially because I couldn't tell if the nauseousness I felt was from the awful smell or if I was also getting sick.  When the chills started I knew it was my turn.

We got very little sleep that night, if any at all.  Before we knew it the sun was coming out and it was time to rush Isabella to school.  Can anyone say late pass?!

This sickness caused the trio to miss a dentist appointment and our high risk follow up appointment, which I was very sad to miss. The trio was left with very little appetite and lots of diarrhea, but really we are lucky the vomiting only lasted one night because once I began to feel better it was daddy's turn to get sick.  At least we take turns, right?

So Isabella was the only lucky one to not get it.  I thought we were in the clear...and Sunday she began getting a sore throat.  The babies had their 4th Synagis shot of the season yesterday so since we were already  going to the doctors, I had her checked out as well...fast forward to today....

Strep throat!!! She's been home all week and I've managed to go up and down the stairs numerous times taking turns between the four.  I miss my helper!! and she misses her babies.  She's been quarantined to her room, and I really HATE winter.

Praying no one else gets sick cuz I'm feeling like I can't handle so much sickness especially back to back.  And my mind automatically sees it hitting their preemie lungs, chronic coughing all night and nebulizer treatments, talk about anxiety! Now we know why this post took over a week! And why our house still has some Christmas decorations up.

4 Lil Turkeys and a Developmental Update

A few days before Christmas and here are some Thanksgiving pictures....

 For the first time, we brought in the trio's table to the dining room! The kiddos were excited.  The trio were not big fans of the turkey, I think most of it got thrown on the ground (happy dogs) but they ate everything else and especially loved the stuffing.  Isabella, on the other hand continues to stick to what she knows.  This year though we convinced her to try some of the sweet potatoes...oh the joys of a very picky 6 year old!

The kiddos are sporting mommy made turkey shirts! I am not that crafty so very proud!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving.   In the ten years we have been married, it was our very first one with just our family.  Though we missed seeing the rest of our families, I will admit that it was very relaxed and quiet...well as quiet as our household can be.  And I loved how we didn't  have to rush anywhere.We had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, homemade mac n cheese and pumpkin pie. 

The trio continue to meet more and more milestones... all three are walking! Yes six more little feet walking around and they are getting better and better each day.  I am so bad at keeping track of dates for this stuff.  I do know Sofia has been walking for awhile now, she was followed by Carlos and Marcos was barely beginning to take step on November 30, the day of their 18 month check up.  Our pediatrician, physical therapist, and staff from Early Intervention are quite pleased with their developmental progress. These past 2 weeks have been a bit tough, the kiddos haven't gone anywhere, they've been sick with a cold...lots of yucky noses and a little bit of coughing. I am so thankful they are receiving another year of Synagis.  Though definitely not fun at all, now that they are bigger and smarter.

We are still having issues with Marcos's ears, his ear drums to be more specific.  He has tubes in but for some reason they are not doing what they are supposed to do.  We are going back to the ENT and a speech evaluation is currently in the works.  Carlos and Sofia have both passed their last hearing test.

Isabella is becoming even more and more helpful. She can play with them more and even help carry one upstairs.  She can take them out of exersuacers and pack n plays...of course we find this out after its done.  She can entertain them so much and their faces light up when she walks into the playroom.  She loves that all of them walk now. She continues to be in the highest reading level in her class and I am making an effort to dedicate a bit more time to her writing.  My big girl did awesome during the Holiday singing performance and is super excited to be off from school for 16 days!

Thankfully all noses cleared up just in time for Christmas!  And we are ready as we are going to be, the tree has been up since December 1, our stockings are hung, Christmas cards are out and we have family in town!
The countdown is on....Happy Holidays

Crayons!

 I've been wanting to do this for a few weeks now.  Thankfully last weekend while Daddy was home, I remembered. and put the crayons in front of them.  Our activity lasted, uuummm, maybe a whole 5 minutes, definitely no more than 10.  Baby steps, baby steps...
The trio is about to turn 18 months old but we are not quite ready for coloring yet.  Opportunity alone and scribbles plus cause and effect will continue to be our focus.

Every six months, the three go through a developmental evaluation to see where they are at in all areas.  Marcos had his last Thursday and here's what is written on his report:

Cognitive & Fine Motor: 12-14 months
Receptive Language: 12-14 months
Expressive Language: 11-13 months
Gross Motor 9-11 months
Fine Motor 10-12 months

At the time of the assessment, his actual age was 17 months (adjusted age = 14 months) so he is doing great in a couple of areas.  His biggest challenges are gross motor (he is not walking yet) and language.  He has always been the least vocal out of the three.  Colds (runny noses) have gotten in the way each time a hearing test is scheduled.  The test after he got ear tubes put in did not show a significant improvement, and the doctor really didn't have an explanation.  The good thing is that usually gross motor usually takes over the brain so once he figures that out, we are hoping for a language explosion.  This is the trend that Sofia (our walker) followed and we are praying that the boys will get there soon.

I would be lying if I said that these numbers don't get to to me.  But only because all this stuff is a reminder of what they have all been through.  I allow myself moments of sadness, worry and concern but then I move on knowing that these three beat the odds.   In the mean time, the waiting game continues. Patience, patience, patience...and everything on their own time.

Did you know that early intervention and medical professionals stop adjusting age at TWO?
That's in six months! I'm thinking it may take much longer for my little ones to catch up and hopefully they will qualify for more services to speed this process up.
And so the journey continues....

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

A very late Halloween post!

Its been hard to keep up with this blog...in between the three littles and big sister, the ridiculous amount of laundry, cooking, school pick ups, play dates, teething and sickness, I've had very little down time. I can't even remember whom it started with but the trio has managed to take turns being sick almost the entire month of October. We have had fevers, runny noses, and one ear infection. Luckily the colds have not hit their lungs and we are managing just fine. Sofia even finished a round of antibiotics without getting a nasty rash. She is the only one who has begun taking albuterol but only once a day. I'm praying it stays that way. Most of the trio's first winter was spent doing nebulizer treatments every 4 hours...if you do the math, that's a good chunk of the day, something we'd like to avoid.

Luckily we made it out on Halloween. Our day was busy, and the trio and I made it to sissy's parade at school before 9 am that morning. Our lil dinos got lots of attention.  I even agreed to let people take pics! Reality is, I may be around these people for years...so I try my hardest to put on a smile and ignore all the comments we get. After all,  the attention is just part of what comes along with triplet land...and besides it was Halloween and the trio was looking adorable!

Here they are watching big sister's parade.

3 lil dinos + 1 candy corn witch

After our busy morning, lunch, nap and snack, we headed out to the Petaluma Outlets to do some Trick or Treating.  Mommy was so happy daddy left work a few hours early.  We even had time to grab Starbucks! It was perfect for us.  Very slow paced.  Not too, too many people and we were happy to be out as a family.  

 Guess which lil rascal managed to turn herself around even with the strap on?

Not too sure what we are going to do about that...

Once we got home, it was time for daddy day care.  Big sis had a party at 5:30 so I warmed up the trio's dinner and ran out the door.  She did lots of trick or treating.  It was a cold and wet Halloween but it didn't stop us one bit. I can now say I've trick or treated in the pouring rain, with rain boots and an umbrella!

 Will the trio get in on some of the goods next year?  Hmmmnnnnn.....

I'm predicting....YES! Hope your Halloween was as much fun as ours.

Let's hope November is a better blogging month.  After all, it is Prematurity Awareness month and we have a lot to be thankful for!