Our little climbers have been both grumpy and adventurous the past week. No matter where we are in the house, everyone climbs on everything! In the family room, they climb up the couch and into the window; in the living room onto the armchairs, end tables, and hearth; in their bedroom onto the armchair and ottoman. It is a crazy time!
As the girls were climbing into the family room window, we tested who trusts us the most by seeing who would jump off into our arms (and the couch below):
Reagan? Craig told her to jump and she just thought about it…and no.
Emerie? Craig told her to jump and she looked at him, swayed a little…and no.
Harper? Craig asked her to jump and what did she do? Total trust fall forward, straight ahead. Good to know who trusts us at this moment in time. I also watched Harper do a full trust fall to no one on the bed other night…arms out, dead ahead!
This week marks my one year anniversary back at work, post babies. It’s crazy to think how quickly that passed, even with crazy busy days and many sleepless nights. As I write this, I revel in the fact that Craig and I are still functioning adults with full time jobs and three little ones, especially after nights like this one, where I might have a total of 3 or 4 hours of sleep, broken up into many tiny chunks, and now have another 8.5 hour work day to stay awake for!
Last year I remember thinking how difficult it would be to leave the girls and go back to the office, that I would miss them and not see every change that occurs throughout the day. There was definitely some stress my last couple of weeks home- a different kind of stress than being home alone all day with three infants. Looking back now, that adjustment period went much smoother than I had anticipated, and it wasn’t nearly as difficult to get back into the work routine as my mind had suggested it would be. It also helps that I get to enjoy breakfast and a hot cup of coffee at my desk each morning, with the knowledge that the girls are still safely sleeping in their cribs for another couple of hours.
Fast forward a year, and our work day routines haven’t changed that much. We still do an early morning feed and put the girls back to bed; we still do dinner time but now it’s with food and bottles before bed; we still have play time…it is just waaaay more rambunctious than last fall. It is easier in some ways and harder in others. The morning feed is much quicker now, taking about 10-15 minutes tops compared to 40 minutes. On days like today, that early feeding provides the opportunity to put everyone back into their own cribs (and out of our bed) for a couple more hours of sleep (for them and us on the weekends!).
I still pump at the crack of dawn every morning, while at work, and right after the girls go down at night. After 16 months, I am nearing the end of this part of my mom journey. Just imagine the free time I will get back (funny joke I know…)! This will occur once bottle weaning is a little farther along; we are progressing on sippy cup use now and are getting there.
I still enjoying getting off work in the middle of the afternoon instead of early evening (3:30 is a big difference from 5:00!). This was wonderful in the winter when I could drive home in the light instead of going to and from work in the darkness for much of the winter. Instead of hurrying home for the afternoon feed (which is no longer), I now head home for playtime before dinner. It was in the 70s and sunny yesterday, with the house overly hot, so we opted for pool time on the deck. This was the longest the girls actually stayed in the pool and played, mostly getting along! It is nice to be able to do fun activities and enjoy the nice weather. They really enjoyed putting the kitchen utensils to use- the measuring cups, spoons, and old yogurt cups…anything that could pour water. Reagan was really interested in drinking the delicious pool water straight from the measuring cup!
It is wonderful creating new and exciting activities for the girls. They now giggle at each other (not quite talk yet) and interact with you and each other. The bubble machine is quite the hit. Harper looked up at me at one point and said “bubba!” Another word for the Harper dictionary- check! In addition, anytime the dog, or especially the cats, go by, we hear little “kitty!” exclamations from all three. The dog and cat now have this title, whether they like it or not.
Just when I think we are cruising along great on this #tripletlife, I have a hilarious mom moment. Earlier this week we had a night that involved the triple wagon and watching it slide backwards down a driveway as I was handing Emerie off to someone, carrying Harper and Reagan with it. Yes, they were still strapped in (thankfully). For the record, I am quite impressed that it didn’t tip over AND neither kiddo shed a tear over their unintentional, backwards roller coaster ride. I’m sure I entertained the neighbors as I went crazy mom running after it. These are the beautiful memories to build your life on right?? Now if only the wagon had a brake on it…that would be helpful…
And I will leave you with this. Everyone has figured out the word “no”, and Harper wags her finger at us when she says it. Enjoy.
The Douglets 