One Year Old!!!!!

A Tale of Three Babies

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the first year raising triplets! Looking back, it certainly was an adventure, and I have a feeling the next year will be as well. Dave and I had been looking back at old photos and video of the past year, and it brought tears to our eyes. It's hard to believe how much they've grown and changed. When they're so tiny and helpless, and you're so sleep deprived and disoriented, it's hard to imagine that you'll ever miss it. But you do. That's not to say they aren't a boat load of fun now! They're all standing up and "cruising" around. They love to use they're walking toys to help them get around. Evan in particular gets this look on his face that can only be described as gleeful. It's so amazing to see them explore their world and learn new things. Even if those new things include climbing up onto furniture and pulling down everything Mommy just tried to put out of their reach.

We had their one year check up, and they are doing great as always. The boys are both in between the 50th and 75th percentile...Evan now outweighs his brother by three ounces! He is 25 lb 6.5 oz, and Cameron is 25 lb 3.5 oz. Sophia is a dainty 23 lbs. We got the all clear to switch to whole milk, which will save us a pretty penny. Now if we can just get them off this baby food phase. We are trying new foods, and it's going better. They recently tried buttered noodles with Parmesan and loved it. They nibbled a little grilled cheese and green beans, but not enough to be considered a meal. The good thing is they will take Stage 3 foods now, but only certain ones (of course they only like the organic ones that cost twice as much). It won't save us money but at least it has more substance and is a step off the puree train. Nap time is also a work in progress. The afternoon nap is becoming a battle, and sometimes they skip it entirely. I am trying to tweak the schedule, but in case you haven't figured out by now, it's not really up to me!

Their first birthday party was so much fun. The weather cooperated and family and friends seemed to have a blast. I was a bit stressed in the beginning, but it turned out to be an awesome day. Everyone was such a big help, I can't believe how lucky we are.

My Boys

So Big!

Auntie Amy, Uncle Josh, and Cousin Kady got us this cool ten for our birthday. We love it, but poor mommy can't figure out how to fold it up?!

Peek-a-boo! Evan and Mommy

Evan was the first one to figure out the tunnel...no surprise!

Hey Mommy, what is that?

Here comes Evan!

Hey Mom...just checking things out!
Cameron

Evan enjoys Cameron's present from Grammy and Grampy Denier. Looks like it's his present now!

Wow, check out all these presents!

Yes, I do have my hands full...

The cake table

This gorgeous cake was compliments of my Aunt Anne. She made all our birthday cakes growing up.

Three Men with a Baby a.k.a. "The Three Grandfathers"
Grampy Moran, Grampy Denier, Grampy Compagnone

We got an awesome swing set for the kids (well, their grandparents did). Now we can swing whenever we want!
Evan

Sophia

Happy Birthday!

Cameron flirts with cousin Katrina

Let's get this party started!

Since their actual birthday was Monday...Grammy made them cupcakes. I just squirted a bunch of whipped cream on top. They weren't quite sure what to make of it...good thing it was bath night!
Cameron

Sophia

Evan "Hmmm...not so bad"

Queen Sophia

King Evan

King Cameron

We gave cereal bars a try...they didn't eat too much but sure had fun playing with them!
Sophia

Cameron

This was priceless...they were all hot and sweaty from playing outside, so I let them run around in their diapers. The only thing cuter than a baby with only a diaper on is a baby with only a diaper on making a heck of a mess!
Evan

Saggy Bottom Boy

This Time Last Year...

This time last year, Cameron, Evan, and Sophia were still baking away, and now here we are...

Eleven Months, two weeks later and counting!

I was thinking back to a year ago...I can honestly say I had no idea what I was in for. I remember being so worried about the pregnancy and birth, and not even able to think about what comes next. Now I know! In exactly eight days my sweet peas will be a year old! There's so much to celebrate-not just having three beautiful, healthy, and happy babies, but also the mere fact that Dave and I made it through the first year! Plans are underway for the first birthday party. I suppressed the urge to throw an over the top "My Super Sweet Sixteen" type bash...most first birthday parties are more for the adults than babies anyway. It will be a Sesame Street theme, because whenever it comes on the babies freeze and glue to the TV. It's kind of sentimental, since my first birthday was Sesame too. My aunt is going to make a Big Bird cake, and I am going to attempt to make small individual cakes for the babies. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can have a cook out in the back yard. The babies are moving around like crazy...all crawling and climbing like mad. Sophia was the first to pull herself to standing, and the boys soon learned from her. Cameron decided to reach this milestone at 3am...I heard him fussing and walked in to see him standing up in his crib smiling at me! They are also getting harder to keep "out" of stuff. As you can see from some pictures below, if they can get on it or into it...they will!

Sophia

Grrr...why can't I pull Daddy's hair out in clumps like the cat's?!

Evan and Sophia with Grammy
We went out for a belated Mother's Day brunch with my mom and Tim. Very classy place in Woodstock called The Harvest. They didn't really know what to do with three babies, so they stuck us on the porch and closed the door. Fine with us!

Cameron
As you can see, he is now "sans helmet". There was a very noticeable difference after the first month of wearing it, but little change after that. Now that it's getting hot, we called it quits. It's not a perfectly round little melon, but it's close enough.

Evan

Sophia

Like Father, Like Son
Dave and Cameron

Hey, how did you get over there?!
Sophia and Evan

Evan seems to think Daddy's belly is a bongo drum

Let me out of here mommy!!!!!
Sophia

Sophia helps Daddy change her brother's diaper.

We took the babies out to a dairy stand. This ice cream tasting went much better...Evan loved it of course. We're finding there's not much he doesn't like to eat-he is getting rounder by the day. We call him our little meatball.

Yummy...more please!

Jail Break!
I took down the baby gate and let em' loose! It was too funny...and nerve-racking!

Quick, let's make a run for it!

Sophia finds a cozy place to hang for a while

I did it!

Daddy and his boys

So ever wonder what it takes to feed one year old triplets? Besides three 8 oz bottles each day, they eat about 1 1/2 cups of cereal, 8-9 containers of baby food, a cup of yogurt, and an uncountable number of puffs, yogurt melts, crackers, cheese bits, and other finger foods. Wal-Mart was having a sale on Gerber foods, so I stocked up. When the cashier saw me coming with a cart full of baby food, she said "Looks like you're feeding an army!" Of course, I laughed and told her close enough, triplets. Anyway, when I got home and unpacked the bags my counter looked like a Gerber store!

Our stocked up pantry...this MAY last us about two weeks.

We got our first haircuts! Some of us (Evan) were LONG overdue. Here is Sophia waiting her turn.


Cameron peruses Sports Illustrated while he waits

Evan looks a little nervous..."Just a trim, right mom?"

Evan's hair is gorgeous, think, shiny, and even a little curl to it. However, he had TONS of it, and it was long enough to be considered a "baby mullet" so it had to go.

Sophia just got her bangs done...no more falling in her lovely eyes!

Cameron was so cool...he kept steering the "tractor" and flirting with the stylist.

Evan before....

and after! Daddy and I think he looks like Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber...but in a good way! He looks like a little man now!

Cameron and Sophia chase Grammy

Cameron learned this trick from his sister Sophia!

This is easy!