A Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat*

Sarah's parents, Grace & Frank, rented a beach house on Topsail Island, NC for Thanksgiving week for the collective family to gather. We had a terrific time.

Grandparents got lots of time to play with (and only slightly spoil) the terrific granddaughters.

Sarah & Greg had a few opportunities to go out for dinner, and a lunch or two, walk on the beach a bit, etc. Then there were the times we all got to play on the beach - very special.

Thanks very much to our hosts, the grandkids, and the parents for such a great time.

The best source of pictures and commentary is Sarah's blog. I meant to post from the scene, but that didn't happen.

*ref: Alice's Restaurant by Arlo Guthrie, 1967.

time to head back home

Our visit is drawing to a close. We have enjoyed them all very much.

Last night, Sarah set up a video conference with her parents. We'll have to do more of that to keep in contact with them all. The girls sat in a row as if in the movies and generally paid attention to Grandma or Grandpa G. on the computer monitor. They are quick to recognize a still camera, though, and while I tried to get some candid photos, someone usually spied me.

---

Today was dad Greg's birthday, and the girls made him a card at school decorated with footprints.

Playtime after dinner

life in a gated community

The living room has been converted into a baby area with the addition of some containment hardware. It is filled with toys, a changing table, and things to entertain residents of all ages.

boo at the zoo

The Greenville Zoo hosted a trick or treat opportunity at the city zoo called Boo at the Zoo.
The girls attended Tuesday night. They got dressed in costumes, and we wheeled them around the halloween themed section of the zoo. They opted for the no candy option, so they just got to look cute. Next year they may get into the goodies.



Julie has a low growl on occasion, so she was a natural for the lion.







Emma was a turtle.


Rebecca was a monkey (curious George?).

the weekend

Sunday the girls had an appointment at a photo studio for their 9 month portrait. We went along to help with crowd control. The studio was crowded with many families, kids of all ages, etc. The girls took it all in stride probably becuase they're used to lots of kids at day care.




Later that afternoon, Greg, the girls and grandparents went for a walk around the block. The triple stroller is great in that everyone gets a front row seat. (l-r: Julie, Emma, Rebecca)



































Chilling on the front porch. (l-r: Emma, Rebecca, Julie)

daily routine

The next morning we all awoke around 6:30 to start the day. The girls get changed, fed breakfast in a bottle, the spend some time back in their cribs waiting to get dressed for school (day care). Once dressed, they move to the staging area downstairs, get buckled into their carriers in the living room (l-r: Emma, Julie, Rebecca), then get carried to the car. Mom & Dad have their lunches, brief cases, etc. along with a cooler of 12 bottles and 3 servings of solid food for day care.

After work & school, the girls get carried back into the house from the car in their carriers. Anywhere from none to three may be asleep from the ride home. When they wake, they usually head to the exersaucers in the kitchen for some bouncing around and socializing with the grown ups (l-r:Julie, Rebeccca, Emma). If all goes well, they stay there while we have a quick dinner before their next course.

They are fed some solid food, one at a time currently, then cleaned or bathed and put in their pajamas. A while later, they'll get the last bottle of the day, play a bit more, then head off to bed by ~8:30.

Then the adults prepare 3 batches of formula (35 oz. each), fill and label 15 bottles. Three bottles get used for breakfast, 12 go to day care with the expectation that 9 will be used, 3 spares. The spares provide the evening bottle.

Next, either Sarah or Greg heads off to the gym! Whew.

Here is a short video clip of pre-bedtime play. (front to back - Rebecca, Emma, Julie).

Chapter 2

We returned to visit the next two generations after too long an absence. The girls were just shy of 4 months old when we last left them, they're nearly 9 months old when we returned. Needless to say, there were major changes.

We arrived at their home while the girls were at day care and parents at work. When the girls arrived at home, we gave them plenty of space, and they checked us out intently. We'd love to know if there was recognition, either from our earlier stay or from video chats, or if they were just checking out these new faces in their world. After a short time, they warmed to and charmed us just fine.





Emma in the high chair for some solid food. She has a great "I'm checking you out look".













Julie & Grandma. Julie is peeled for her turn at the solid food.












Rebecca & Grandpa practice sitting up.

epilogue

Our last day with the family for this trip was Saturday, May 16. We stayed through the 9 am and noon feedings, dragging our feet just a little before we headed back home. We miss them all very much.

Before we left, we took a few hurried pictures of all of us.

Greg, Sarah, Rebecca, Emma, Ginnie, Paul, Julie.

Wow.





(front row): Emma, Julie, & Rebecca


To see more news about the family, check Sarah's blog.

time

Our time with the family is drawing to a close for this visit. We will head out tomorrow when Sarah & Greg have the weekend to regroup before the next work and daycare week kicks in.

The girls have been in daycare all this week, and they arrive home happy, sleepy, and content, each with a brief report card on the day's highlights. Next comes rinsing and washing 20 baby bottles (Emma skips the 3 am feed), running the dishwasher with them, feeding the gang at ~6 pm (varies by girl depending on the last bottle time at daycare), dinner for the adults often with a peanut gallery of babies watching us from various chairs, swings, etc., then the parents prepare 20 bottles for the next 24 hours. Whew.

The girls have many cute clothes, and Sarah always has them well dressed for day care.

Ginnie & I busied ourselves with yard work, laundry, etc. this week while the girls were in daycare. We also have been handling the 3 am feeding of Julie & Rebecca. While I'm not at my best at 3 am, this feeding usually finds the girls very docile, sleepy, and cute decked out in their nighties. This will be missed.

Emma continues to sort of sleep through the night. Sarah reports she usually wakes between 4 and 5 am, but will settle down with some comforting.

Tonight the girls will be separated to see if they all can make it through the night. Separation is intended to keep them from waking each other. Emma moves to the nursery for Ginnie & me to tend. Julie, who is felt to be the next candidate to sleep through, moves to the master bedroom where Sarah will keep watch. Rebecca is in the Pack n Play in the living room where Greg will spend the night on the sofa. It would be a great help to Sarah & Greg if the girls can sleep through.

Aunt Jen

Jen arrived Monday afternoon for her first visit with the girls. She quickly pitched in, entertaining Emma prior to feeding her.

happy mothers' day

Emma made it through a second night without a feeding. I don't think you could say she slept through the night as there were some noises from down the hall at some times.

It's sunny here at the moment so we're all heading off for a picnic in a nearby park. The young folks had this in mind for mothers' day, and invited us oldsters along. We can help juggle.



We went to a beautiful new park in Simpsonville complete with kiddie railroad which the girls may enjoy some later time, many ball fields, concert pavilion, etc.








Sarah is feeding Julie, Greg with Rebecca, and Grandpa with Emma.










Dad, Rebecca, Julie, & Emma-

progress

Sarah & Greg performed a practice start Friday morning preparing for day care. They managed the 3 am and 6 am feedings by themselves and got off to work on time. I'm not sure how much sleep they got, though. For us, it was the longest we'd slept in a couple of weeks. The girls cooperated by dozing until 9 am. Usually the period between the 6 am feeding and 9 am is one of restlessness on their part which leads to sleeplessness on ours.

Friday night saw another breakthrough as Emma slept through the night! Sarah & Greg facilitated this by having Emma sleep in their room in the Pack 'n Play so she wouldn't be awakened by the other girls at ~3 am. It worked, once at least. Tonight we'll try again.





Saturday afternoon naps - from the front, Emma, Julie, Rebecca.










Greg & I got a few chores done today including repairing the kitchen track lighting.

Note the ladder climbing cat checking out the view from about 5 feet up the stepladder.











Lefty guards the latest Similac shipment.

steady as we go

We are nearing the end of our 2-on-3 daycare as the girls will head to professional daycare next week. We have been busy (you read that before), but things have run smoother than we might have thought (hope this doesn't jinx tomorrow). It takes a good hour and a half to change, feed, & burp the three with two adults. However, we've never had everyone demanding attention at the same time, well not too loudly at least.

Here are some behind-the-scenes photos:

the menu, customized for each patron


















the larder (initials on bottles to keep them straight), formula mixer/pitcher, and mom's milk

---

and something different - Lefty the cat climbs the window in our room behind the venetian blinds to check out the back yard.

styles

One delightful aspect of the feeding routine is the over-the-shoulder time spent trying to get an elusive burp freed. If the girls are getting sleepy, they tend to be docile and snuggle up, and Greg mentioned they have different styles. You start with them over the shoulder, then they wriggle down a bit and maneuver for position.







Julie favors tucking her head under your chin.













Emma (shown here) and Rebecca favor more side of the head contact.








Some other pictures ...



Grandma and Emma












Rebecca
















Some closeups: Rebecca was handy, and asleep -

TGIF

The work-week is nearing and end, and the grandparents, at least, are looking forward to it. The week has been a blur. The girls continue to be delights.

Today, Julie has rolled from her back to her right side, and it may not be long before she completes the roll.

They're all trying to figure out the finger / fist / thumb-sucking process. They try various approaches, but the best approach has eluded them so far.

A couple of times, they slept until 3 am, give or take, from the 9 pm feeding. Sarah & Greg would like to see them sleep through the night before they get into daycare. They need to continue the 6 am feeding so the whole family can get organized and out of the house at a good time mornings.

observations

• We can tell the girls apart, sometimes without checking the hairdos.
• [currently, at least] Their crying does not disturb the others. Sudden or loud noises will cause all to start, so there must be some selective hearing that tunes out sisters' protests. One or two can sleep right through the loud protests of the other(s).
  
• [currently, at least, but this will probably change one day] One can come into the nursery when they're supposed to be sleeping, get seen by whoever is awake, yet have no fuss when you leave the scene. This is a big help.
• The cats, Dusty and Lefty, take a detached interest in their new housemates. They tend to keep their distance. During nighttime feedings Dusty is likely to visit the nursery to check out who is there.
  

hanging out

A relaxing Sunday. Julie is in stripes (Martha Stewart jail togs?), Emma to the right, and Rebecca.

Later Sarah, Greg, and Rebecca went out for some shopping errands. It was Rebecca's first outing solo with her mom & dad.

Among the stops was Babies 'R Us where most shoppers had babies in tow. Sarah & Greg mentioned it was nice to be just another couple with a cute baby rather than ... "wow, triplets".

Friends gave us bibs with the girls' initials embroidered to help the grandparents keep the girls straight.

Thanks Helen, Amy, Bill & Casey.

ahhh, a weekend

We had a good, if short, first week of 2-on-3 daycare, but we were glad to welcome the weekend when the adults would outnumber the young 'uns.

Greg checks out Emma & Julie during some tummy time. The girls sleep on their backs, but they need supervised time on their bellies to work on muscles and give the backs of their heads a rest.

Sarah & Greg slept through the 3 am feeding, but once again we lucked out with Emma sleeping a bit later and accepting second seating for the meal. I zonked out and skipped the dawn feeding. Sleep is a bit short for all of us. Ginnie & I are probably averaging 5-6 hours of sleep most nights. Greg & Sarah get a bit less. We nap whenever we can, but daytime opportunities aren't as frequent as I had hoped. It's hard to get all 3 to doze off at the same time daytimes.

Sarah & Greg sent us out on a date Saturday to get out of the house, see some warm South Carolina weather, etc. We celebrated by shopping - Rite Aid, Lowes, Costco, Publix (supermarket). It was good to get out for a few hours and let the parents and kids have the house to themselves.

All this shopping could have been nap time, however. I felt a little spacey wandering around Costco, and I realized it was fatigue. Luckily they had free samples of coffee.

7:45 pm, fatigue takes its toll. Julie helps Ginnie rest while Rebecca helps me.















For us, evening culminates with the 9 pm feeding, if all goes well. That means the kids get changed, eat, [burp], and start to doze off by about 10. Then we carefully, quietly, carry them to the nursery, wrap them in the swaddlers and hope they continue their night's slumber for 4-5 hours. Then we head to the shower and bed. Sleep fast.

Sarah and Greg usually have a few more things to do before they get to bed.

There are baby monitors in both bedrooms now so we can hear nursery noises better, which we do. This can lead to a trip across the hall to see who's awake and decide how to get her back to sleep.

three days on our own

We had a week to get up to speed before having the girls on our own daytimes after both parents went to work Wednesday. Wednesday went well. We never had all three awake, hungry, and vocal at the same time. They slept quite a bit that day, so when the parents arrived home after work, they got to deal with wake time.

Thursday & Friday went well also, but there was a lot less sleeping during the day, so we were quite busy. Thursday dinner time for the girls -


We have tried to let one parent sleep through one night feeding week nights. Sarah told us we could change our minds later as she thought it might get to be too much. Time will tell.

the routine

What's a typical day (at least the ones we've participated in) like?

So far, there have been at least 3 adults with 3 babies. That will change Wednesday when both parents go to work. Sarah will start back to work Tuesday, but Greg will take vacation that day.

When does the day start? Let's try midnight. The girls are generally on a 3 hour feeding schedule, but night feedings are stretched out a bit if all are willing. Having been fed at 9 pm, they sleep until 1 or 2 am currently. When they wake at that time, one adult goes downstairs to half-fill large glasses with hot tap water. Previously prepared bottles (labeled since there are slight differences in quantity) are plunked in the glasses to warm. They are pretty flexible (parents & kids) regarding bottle temperature.

The babies sleep in swaddlers (new items to us) that wrap them up like sushi (according to Greg). They get peeled out of the swaddlers one at a time starting with whoever is the most awake (or making the loudest protest). That one moves to the changing table for a diaper change, then is escorted off to a comfy chair for feeding. The next candidate gets peeled while the former is on the changing table, then heads to that station for dry/clean pants. Repeat.

We generally try to keep quiet during the night feedings to avoid getting them too wide awake. After a few burp sessions, they nod off, get re-wrapped, and put back in the crib. They are sharing 2 cribs currently. Someone takes the bottles to the kitchen, rinses them and heads back to bed. This takes about an hour.

Greg & Sarah have a baby monitor in their room, so they often hear the girls before we do. Our room is across a hall from the nursery, so we do hear them first sometimes. We often find one baby missing when we go in. In that case, someone was fussing, and was taken to the parents' room where there is a pack 'n play (playpen) set up for sleeping. This means the parents get less sleep than the help does.

About 2-3 hours after finishing that feeding, the natives get restless again. Same drill as above.

The next feeding occurs around 9 am. This can take some delaying tactics, e.g. comforting, popping in a pacifier, whatever to keep the peace until 9.

The 9 am feeding usually happens in the nursery (same drill as above), then they may be put back in the cribs, or if they're active rather than sleepy, they head down to the living room for the day.

The living room has a pack 'n play, a quilt-like mat, a bouncy chair. There are 3 swings, 2 boppy pillows, etc. to keep all occupied and supported through the day.

Noon feeding - as above. Three pm feeding adds vitamins. Six pm, nine pm, dine in the living room, then off to the nursery.

They're on a mix of breast milk and formula which leads to a lot of measuring and mixing.

We usually sneak a bowl of cereal about 10:30 for breakfast. A half sandwich around 2 when they're asleep. Our dinner time is after they are fed. With luck, all are content in some sort of swing or bouncy chair. If not, they're in someone's lap.

Ginnie & I have fed the girls by ourselves three times so far. It can get a bit noisy, but we've lucked out pretty well with someone sleeping through the start.

With 21 feedings a day, the dishwasher runs 2 shifts. Bottles and other feeding supplies add up quickly.

The girls are delightful, and we're enjoying them thoroughly. Sarah & Greg are very relaxed with the babies, like they've been doing this for years. The girls are lucky to have them.

an outing

Monday was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70s and light winds. We all took a walk around the block, although half of us slept most of the time.

Buckled up and ready to ride.

the start

Ginnie & I arrived in the evening on April 14. Sarah's parents were about to head home early the next morning, and we were taking over the role of extended family assisters to three adorable three-month old granddaughters: Emma Grace, Julie Catherine, and Rebecca Caroline.

Let the games begin.

The first night we tried to participate in the overnight feedings, but the job was better left to the experienced, and Sarah's parents wanted as much time with the babies as they could squeeze in before they departed. Sarah's mom had been with her since before the babies were born. Her father had managed to visit a few times as well.

We ended up sleeping (such as it was) in our clothes on top of the bed as we didn't know how the night would play out and what we might be called on to do.

The next day, we got refamiliarized with infant care e.g. feeding, burping, changing, entertaining, etc. We also began learning the differences in personalities and appearances of the trio. Greg had given us a heads-up early on that the hair was different on the three.







Julie has a bit of a spike look on top (although only a few hairs to which I can relate).














Rebecca has the 'buzz' look.















Emma is bigger than the other girls, and she has more hair on the sides and back.