December 2012

The last few months have really flown....the trio are so busy growing and learning that there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Admittedly by 6-6.30 they are ready to head to bed after a full day of fun and activities. And they take themselves into the room and wait beside their cots to be lifted in with a kiss and cuddle.... so cute.... hope it lasts! Harrison is now 11.6kilos and Anastasia and Oliver are our lightweights at 10.4 each. They mostly feed themselves( very messy) with only the occasional"mummy help". They are only having one nap now during the day... try to get 2+ hours but sometimes they only sleep 1-1.5 hours :(
We have been down to Brisbane again and enjoyed catching up with family and friends as well as taking everyone to Dreamworld and enjoying the "fast rides". Oliver really enjoyed this and wanted more while Anastasia and Harrison were keen too but happy to look at other things and everyone enjoyed swimming. They also loved playing in the rain one morning when it came down really heavily ....daddy took them out and they had a ball!

Enjoying popcorn with another set of SCI trippies

Oliver

Anastasia

Harrison

our first merry go round ride

Oliver very serious about driving the car!

We had a bad run with ear infections and have seen a specialist who recommends that they all have grommets.... yep all 3 are booked in for surgery in January.  Hopefully this will sort out the ear problems and we will be able to cancel our weekly(joking!) doctor visits. Not quite as bad as that but they know us as the triplets!
We are spending Xmas at home but will be visited by both sets of grandparents and auntie Cinta as well so will have a full house with lots of food, fun and festive times

Not sure about Santa but there were no tears
Anastasia, Oliver and Harrison

With Daddy

Not another Xmas party!

Getting tickles

Good morning beautiful

See our lovely beach

The last 12 months have been amazing, exhausting at times but completely the most satisfying year we have had. It has been wonderful watching our three babies develop into little toddlers with such different personalities and we are looking forward to see them blossom even further in 2013.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that all the IP's get positive results and that everyone can complete their families in the new year.

Eighteen months... oh wow!

 Today it is 18 months since we became the proud parents of Harrison and Anastasia and then of Oliver 3 weeks later.... so much has happened in that time and trying to keep up with all the changes is so hard. They are forever changing and developing in new ways every day.... it is such a pleasure to watch them grow.
Have just done a large photo dump... we have been very busy and have experienced a few things since I last posted... fireworks and dining out  in Brisbane, camping with friends and swimming to name a few. Our "favourite " auntie surprised us with a visit as well which was lovely. Enjoy

Harrison eating "num nums"

Anastasia with "num num"

Oliver showing the others how to not get caught with food in your mouth

camping is great fun with friends

our home pool

Chilling watching mummy and daddy set up our shade house

First time every watching TV.. lasted 5 minutes!

Trying to decide if this canoeing is any good

With Mummy and "bestest" auntie

Nothing beats chippies and sauce...yum

Our flying fish!

Oliver stepping out!

I have been holding off posting until it was official ..... and today I believe we can actually say that he has decided to join the rest of us and walk... at least when it suits him!
Oliver has been taking his time and practising his skills around the furniture and even breaking out 3-5 steps but hasn't been convinced that this is for him. Then this morning he just decided "yep  I can do this" ... and so he has been showing off now to anyone who will watch him! We think that he has held off for such a long time cause he didn't have the strnght in his ankles. Since Oliver was born it has been obvious that he has totally different body tone to Harrison and Anastasia.... there was even a question asked if he might have Cerebral Palsy. We obviously were concerned and worried about this possible diagnosis and have been monitoring him closely... and as he has been meeting all his milestone( in his own good time!) we think that if he does have CP it is extremely mild and hopefully won't need too much intervention. Saying that though we have to say that he is standing with his right foot facing out and wanting to walk on the inner side of his foot.... so we are booked to see a specialist physio and ortho team in the near future to see if he needs some assistance to get his feet in the correct posture. This is so mild when I consider all the potential issues that we could of had with 3 babies... and I just am so grateful for the health and happiness of our delightful trio!
Now so other facts about the trippies
We have had a really lousy 3 months with teething, broncholitis, tonsillitis, inner ear infections and then the flu.... uggghhhh!! One night I think I got up over 18 times to different babies at different times. Thankfully though they are all in the same room they tend not to disturb each other... so it seems that they arrange to do a tag team just to keep Mummy hopping!
When we went to the paediatricain last month they all passed ....... Harriosn is spot on 50% for everything(weighs 10.6kgs) while Anastasia was measuring at the 10% for her age(weighs 8.6) and so we need to increase her weight some more. Her head circumfrance is a concern as it is 5% but this has been the case since birth and when we look at the family her grandmother has a petite head... so genetics definitely are working here. Oliver was 50% on height but was only 5% on weight (8.7kgs).... so both him and Anastasia are back on formular to boost that... and it has worked well. In one month they have both hit over the 9.5 mark!
They all eat like crazy and seem to enjoy most foods... it is funny that if you put out a bowl of fruit peices Harrison grabs all the grapes, Anastasia all the strawberries and Oliver all the kiwi fruit... and they pass each other the peices they know the others like... so cute! Harriosn is probably the most cautios in tasting new stuff while the other 2 just dig in.
They are doing well on the sleeping mostly... they go to bed at 6-6.30pm and generally wake up at 6 in the morning... still getting the occasional callout for dummy or if we have a cough or sore teeth which is fine by me. They are now only having 1 sleep during the day.. generally go down at 10.30 -11 and sleep for 1-2 hours. Then they go all afternoon!
They are all testing the limits...looking at us when they are near the TV to see if they can get away with playing with the button, taking toys off each other and then running away (mostly Anastasia!) They are all enjoying climbing on their play equipment and have nmany falls and scrapes from the top... but still get back up and go again.
Harrison is still very cautious of new situations and wants reassurance whereas Anastasia will watch for 1 second.. then jump in madly. Oliver watches and studies and then proceeds to join in after he works it all out. They are just so totally different in personalities.. so amazing to watch and see them develop as little individuals. Words are slow in coming ... they do tend to use some signing to get their message across and I think that as they have each other they won't be rushing to talk to us!
Enough of the dialogue... on to the piccies!

Oliver's first real walk!

The trio rumbling with daddy

The granddads and daddy taking us for a ride

Both sets of grandparents and daddy celebrating daddy's birthday.

we love climbing anything!

Princess with her adoring nanna's!

Our first costume party.. superman, princess and spiderman here to the rescue

Super dude!

spidery on the prowl!

Mobility ..... we are heading into trouble now!

We now have 2 walkers...... and one climber! Yep Harrison is now testing out his new upright position (very gingerly at this stage) and Oliver is working out that he can climb.... he is also very close to walking but his version is quite terrifying for us as he stands , looks at you and laughs and then launches himself towards you with no fear of falling flat on his face.... you have to be quick to catch him!

They are all recovering from there first bout of illnesses.. we have had a run of teething, middle ear infections and broncolitis that has been ongoing for about 6 weeks. Record number of times getting up in one night was 16.... thankfully we are now back down to 2-4 a night and hoping that will be 0-1 within the next week.... this is one exhausted mummy!

Besides that they are all doing really well and developing further into delightful little people. They are all so uniquely different and have such fantastic personalities. They are all trying to feed themselves and managing to make lovely messes and they are saying words like car and plane (ane) and aslo No! they can say Oliver ( owa)and Harrison (hara) but haven't yet managed Anastasia and mama and dada are yelled constantly. Both boys had their first haircut and were brilliantly behaved... I was expecting that they would be fussing and fidgeting the whole time but they both sat very still and seemed to enjoy the attention.

Here is the video of the first real walk Harrison did( 2months after his sister) and also some other fun videos and photos of our trio.... hope you enjoy them as much as we do taking them.... it is so hard to choose what photos to put up as I love them all. ( Am not sure if the videos have attached properly .... fingers crosssed!)

Just a little chuckle!

Harrison first real walk!

Feeding time at the zoo!

Oliver climbing with Harrison looking on!

                                                 

First haircut....very serious!

Oliver waiting his turn....

High tea in the park

Our little princess on the play gym....

Our handsome boys!

Birthday party for us turning One! and christening as well

The last 6 weeks have been hectic for us as we had the babies christened and they also celebrated their first birthday.The christening was lovely and we had friends and family come from all over to share this with us. It was a lovely day and all babies behaved very well.. except Harrison tried to grab the candle to play with the flame. Both of our parents were here with us for some time so that they got to really enjoy getting to know the babies again and enjoy them. It was wonderful watching them interact and laughing and sharing stories with them... also great to have the extra help looking after the trio. We have now also got a walker.... yep Anastasia has set the bench mark and now we are waiting for the boys to catch up! She is so proud of her new skill and just loves showing off in front of everyone... especially her brothers! I will try and upload the video of her first long walk which she did on mothers day... isn't she a clever little miss?

                                                            The christening 

Anastasia

Family photo

Oliver, Anastasia and Harrison

Our little dreamer.... Oliver

Harrison... wanting a cuddle!

We have now also got a walker.... yep Anastasia has set the bench mark and now we are waiting for the boys to catch up! She is so proud of her new skill and just loves showing off in front of everyone... especially her brothers! I will try and upload the video of her first long walk which she did on mothers day... isn't she a clever little miss?

Anastasia first steps!!!!

The birthday party was held on 12 May between the 2 actual dates and we held it down at the park with friends. It was a lovely afternoon with a sausage sizzle and  a beautiful balloon cake. The babies all seemed to have a good time and really enjoyed the bubble machine and also the pinata.... with them having their first real big sugar hit as Daddy gave them lollipops!!

Oh yes I like this Daddy!

Thats right... I love cuddles!

The balloon cake... it was delicious!

Our supersized candle!

So what trouble can I get into now??

They are all so fantastic and really developing into little individuals with their own particular personalities. Mostly they are happy.... Harrison is probably a mummy's boy and likes things to remain familiar but is okay after he gets to feel comfortable. Anastasia is out there and a real go-getter... straight into everything! Oliver studies things  quietly and then beams in delight when he works it all out and heads into trouble!
So our first year with this delightful trio is now over and we head into toddlehood... now I really am scared! The next year is going to be so full of learning , loving and lots of laughter and some tears I am sure... so looking forward to it and sharing the development of our delightful babies.
Cheers from us all... Paula, Justin , Harriosn, Anastasia and Oliver

a very long overdue update....

Our beautiful babies are now 11 months old ( well Harrison and Anastasia are and Oliver is over 10 months).... so hard to believe! The time is flying and they are all growing so fast... I am staggered at the changes that seem to occur on an almost daily basis.

Some facts about the trio... Anastasia was the first to crawl and she is like a little rocket darting all over the place at a rapid rate of knots! We think that she burns up so much energy and as a result she is the lightest... even though she eats as much as the boys... she weighed 8.2 kilos 2 weeks ago. She is now standing without holding anything and thinks she is sooo clever but still not game to take that first step. She is the best eater in that she will eat whatever you put in front of her and loves to feed herself and has a liking for olives!

Harriosn became very impatient and yelled and bellowed till he eventually managed to go forward with his crawling. He has finally gotten some speed up but tends to crawl with his head down so bumps into things... ouch!He hates feeding himself and though he eats well is more selective and not as willing to try new things as his sister. He weighed in at 9.8 kilos yesterday and feels alot heavier.....can really say he has heavy bones. As a result he hates trying to stand and so comes up to you and kneels till you lift him upright.

Our little Oliver is a delight and seemed to be destined not to crawl been happy just to rotate around and roll to places.... then last 2 weeks he up and started going forward.. it was like he was waiting till he had it worked out and then he would do it. He loves standing upright and gets very excited when you pick him up. He loves his dessert though he is now enjoying most things and enjoys trying to feed himself.... vegemite sandwiches are a big hit with all of them. Two weeks ago he weighed a big 8.6 so trying to catchh up with his brother!

Sleeping is mostly okay... except we still have a few dummy runs during the night for the boys. The last week has been rough though as we have everyone teething.. Harrison is working on #7&8 while Anastasia is working on #3,4,5 &6! Oliver is about to have # 5&6 pop through.

Their personalities are just so amazing to watch develop... they are such different individuals and all so delightful and the joy they find in each other is lovely to watch. They get a plastic cup and blow into it and then burst into squeals of laughter at each other. Harrison is such a boy and throws things everywhere but really loves his cuddles. Anastasia is such a little princess, putting her hand up to check her hair( the little she has) and then when she gets cranky clenches her fists and growls at you between her teeth! Oliver is such a studiuos and observant little fellow... he always seems to be assessing how things work and how to make them work .. then he burst into laughter when he gets it! They love their swimming and any kind of time outside and all love music often bopping away to songs.

So now for some recent photos :) We have been very lucky and have had some visitors recently. First we had another set of triplets come and visit...they are nearly 3 months older than ours and you could see the difference... they were so active and into everything.. it was a great lesson on getting prepared for when our 3 get to that stage! They are so cute and we had a great time watching the 6 interact.

When I was 17 I was very fortunate to spend a year on an exchange to Wisconsin and stay with a wonderful family. I have alwys kept in touch and consider them as part of my extended family. My mom and 2 of my sisters came to visit and meet the trio and we had a fantastic week with them sharing in all the fun things that the trio love doing,... swimming, going out to eat and even baby bounce at the library!

Oliver,Anastasia and Harrison

Harrison swimming

Loves her corn on the cob!

Oliver practising his yoga!

Our play date with the other triplets!

Out at the winery

Cuddles with auntie Ann

Auntie Mary with her arms full!

Grandma Joan with the trio