Squeezable Pouches and Sippy Cups

The trio have gained more independence this week with eating and drinking. The squeezable pouches I ordered finally arrived yesterday. (They were $1 each! Hooray for co-ops.) 

So far the babies have fed themselves applesauce and oatmeal. I have to roll the end of the pouch and push the food farther up, but they are great at sucking the food. A few months ago when I gave them store-bought pouches, the girls squeezed the entire contents out on the floor. They have definitely made progress!

The other big news is that each kid has finally gotten the hang of sippy cups. We use the Munchkin weighted straw cups so they can hold the cup at any angle and still drink from it. We've eliminated the breakfast, lunch and dinner bottles. I don't expect to cut the nighttime bottle out anytime soon, though.

James and Amelia are drinking half formula/half cow's milk. Maddie is drinking formula. After a few days of limited cow's milk, Maddie's eczema and reflux worsened. We'll ask the pediatrician about it at their 1 year well check next week.

Just in case you're wondering, we keep the babies in this high chair arrangement for breakfast and lunch because we don't sit down together as a family. James must be separate from the girls since he steals their food. We push the high chairs up to the dining room table when we have dinner.

IKEA Highchairs

I spent a good bit of my pregnancy researching triplet feeding tables. I knew I just had to have one. At one of my baby showers I asked for money and received enough funds to buy a table. I decided to wait until the babies could sit up. By that time, we realized our home was already taken over by exersaucers, swings, pack-n-plays, etc. The last thing we needed was a giant table where our kids would eat separately from us. I looked into making our own, but that seemed like a lot of money to spend on something that could only be used for another year (two at most).

IKEA saved the day, yet again. We had purchased a high chair for Jackson when he was about 8 months old. That meant we only needed two more. At $25 a piece, that was much more doable than $300+ on a feeding table. We ended up receiving the other two highchairs as Christmas presents. Score!

Just in the past three days I have been especially happy we decided on these highchairs. We had a potluck breakfast at church on Sunday. While I love our church, it's no secret that it's not the most baby-friendly place. Since there aren't enough highchairs available, we brought our own. They fit easily in the back of our van, along with the strollers.

Since the chairs are incredibly light weight and they stack on top of one another, I was able to carry all three in by myself. No assembly or difficulty at all. (Now we just need the church to buy a few.)

With the weather being so nice, we've enjoyed a few meals outside on our deck. Once again, I can't imagine trying to drag a bulky table outside or having to get up to feed my children. I love having James, Amelia, and Maddie so close to Jesse and I no matter where we eat.

The best part is that the chairs don't take up our whole dining room. When we want more space we just stack them and go. 

They're also easy to clean with a damp cloth. There's no fabric so we don't need to worry about mold or taking pieces off for extra laundry. The final advantage is that when James steals the girls' food, I just separate him by moving his chair out. I wouldn't be able to prevent that with a feeding table.

I love when things work out better than I planned.

Solids at 9 Months Old

We have offered breakfast and dinner for three months now, with lunch inconsistently offered. Honestly, lunch got in the way of us going out during the day and it was hard to fit the third meal in with bottles and naps. Over the past two weeks lunch has become a regular meal. The trio now consume 3 meals a day in addition to 24 ounces of breastmilk/formula in bottles. I have not been consistent with offering sippy cups. 

Here are the main ways the babies eat:

1. They are spoon fed meals by Jesse or I while sitting in the bumbo or high chair. 

2. They feed themselves while sitting in their high chairs.

3. They feed themselves in a free for all on the floor.

4. They (eh, really only James) feed themselves with squeezable pouches.

I've still been able to keep their food healthy. I haven't taken many shortcuts with the babies' food. Instead of instant oatmeal, I make steel cut and mix in fruit. I am very intentional in making sure most of their foods are fresh rather than processed. That's not to say that I haven't given them yogurt melts, veggie straws, cheerios, graham crackers, etc. But the majority of what they eat is produce, eggs, beans, yogurt, or chicken. Here are a few meals they've eaten this week:

Banana Egg Pancakes: Whisk together one banana and one egg together, pour batter by the tablespoon, and cook for a few minutes on each side. The pancakes have an unusual texture but they are solid yet soft enough for the babies to feed themselves. 

Taco Soup: Our recipe is 2 cups of shredded chicken, 2 cans of drained black beans, a jar of salsa, 2 cups of chicken stock, and a can of corn. Combine ingredients and simmer on stove for half an hour. We fed the trio since the ingredients were pretty wet. They always eat whatever we eat for dinner.

Cereal and Fruit Salsa: Mix a cup of diced peaches, cup of diced pears, and handful of strawberries in the food processor. Mix in cheerios.

I'm really impressed with how well they eat. We started with purees but evolved more into a baby led weaning approach. The babies never refuse food and we have given them a broad range of foods and spices now. They do fine with different textures, even though they don't have any teeth.

Our Week in Collages

I try to keep blog posts topical in theme rather than random lists from our day.  By the end of this week I ended up with 100+ pictures of things I meant to share but never did because they didn't fit with the rest of my posts.  Each collage deserves its own post, but I don't have time for that.  It's been a busy week with lots of activities.  Here are some of the highlights of our adventures.

Field Trip to the Aquarium

An aquarium recently opened just a few minutes from our house.  I'd been wanting to take Jackson, but not for $21 per ticket! Jackson's preschool scheduled a field trip with discounted rates.  It ended up being $10 for the whole family, and we got to invite friends!  The aquarium was interesting and a nice change of scenery from our usual outings.  There was an impressive touch tank, variety of sea life, and intricate displays. With that said, I walked away feeling perfectly content to never go back again.  The crowds, narrow walkways, and lighting proved to be over stimulating for Jackson.  He sat in the stroller the latter half of the trip and even closed his eyes and covered his ears at the very end. The babies were bright eyed initially, but fell asleep after an hour.

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Food Exploration

• I tried three new recipes this week.  The Irish soda bread was really flavorful and moist but very crumbly and hard to slice. The Guinness stew had a thick broth and rich, hearty flavor.  I won't be repeating it often though since it takes so long to make and requires us to buy Guinness. The winning recipe of the week ended up being completely improvised. I have all my shredded chicken to use and wanted to try enchiladas for the first time.  I combined an 8 oz package of cream cheese, 3 cups of shredded chicken, and half a can of rotel mix for the filling.  I filled 10 tortillas, rolled them up, and placed them in a casserole dish.  Then I mixed the remainder of the rotel with an enchilada seasoning packet and smothered the tortillas with it.  I sprinkled cheddar cheese on top of the boys' enchiladas and baked on 350 for 20 minutes.  SO good!
• Jackson surprised me one morning this week by climbing the pantry and refrigerator and pouring his own cereal and milk for breakfast.  He didn't make the slightest mess.  However, Jesse asked me the next day what was in the milk carton.  Jackson said, "I drop my spoon in there.  It not come out." Ha!
• The babies have been devouring everything they can get their hands on.  This week they have eaten all the usual purees along with scrambled eggs, waffles, enchiladas, and strawberry yogurt.  Graham crackers still prove to be the biggest hit.
• A friend of a family member is an overproducer and donated over 300 oz of breastmilk for the triplets.  I'm happy to have been able to both donate and now receive milk.  It makes me feel connected as women/mothers in such a powerful way. 

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IKEA

Jackson and I used to go to IKEA every single Monday. We stopped going once they stopped offering free breakfast.  After the fiasco with the van on Wednesday, I was determined to go somewhere.  I found myself at IKEA, which was completely for me rather than the kids. I love walking through the showrooms and fantasizing about having a library one day, bunk beds for the boys, perfectly organized walk-in closets, and so on.  We browsed through the children's area, played in the tents, binged on 75¢ hot dogs, and purchased a play mat for Jackson's cars and trains. 

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"Castle Park"

When I was in labor with Jackson, I drove a half hour to visit my sisters.  I was having regular contractions and knew that walking was the best thing I could do, so I drove to our childhood park and walked.  I walked for miles.  Jackson was born twelve hours later.

Even though I visit my sisters weekly, I've only been back to that park once since Jackson was born.  I thought it would be fun and nostalgic to spend the afternoon there.  I brought the wagon, but the damn wheel fell off again as I was unloading it in the parking lot.  I was totally ill prepared to care for four children, but was determined to enjoy ourselves since we were already there.  I wore Maddie in the Ergo, put Amelia in a random umbrella stroller, carried James, and ran after Jackson.  My arms felt like butter.  Thankfully, my sister and niece came to the rescue to provide relief and entertainment.  Alas, we had a great afternoon after all.

8 Months Old

sleeping habits:
All three are asleep by 9 p.m. (Maddie still sleeps in the pack-n-play in our bedroom for no reason other than I like her nearby.  James and Amelia sleep in their cribs in the nursery.)  All three wake up around 6 a.m. for a morning snack, then fall back asleep until 8-8:30.  Maddie has inconsistently added back a middle of the night feed most nights, anywhere between midnight and 3 a.m. (in addition to her 6 a.m. feed).

Naps have decreased in length this month. Morning nap is from 11 a.m. until about 12:30.  Their afternoon nap is 3:30 until 5.  Naps are taken in cribs or pack-n-plays.

eating habits: 
Last month they were each consuming 30 oz of breastmilk/formula per day.  This amount has decreased to 25 oz per day for James and Amelia.  Maddie consumes 25-30 oz, depending on if she needs a nighttime bottle.

 9 am- 5 oz bottle (breastmilk)
10 a.m.--split 12 oz of pureed fruit, oatmeal

1 p.m.--5 oz bottle (breastmilk)
1:30 p.m.-bites of cheerios, veggie straws, graham crackers, etc

5 p.m.--5 oz bottle (formula)
6 p.m.--eat table food (fed by Jesse and I, not by themselves)

9 p.m.--5 oz bottle (breastmilk)

5 a.m.--5 oz bottle (breastmilk)

milestones:
James-sits up unassisted, holds his own bottle
Amelia-slides backwards on her stomach all over the living room, holds her own bottle
Maddie-feeds herself dry foods (graham crackers, cheerios, veggie straws), holds her own bottle

challenges:
-Maddie is months behind in gross motor skills.  We have set up appointments with various specialists to hopefully rule out more serious causes for her delays.
-None of the babies like dairy.  Yogurt and cottage cheese are not well received.
 -They are still incessant droolers, but no teeth.

victories:
 -All three have a great appetite and love eating.  Their new favorite thing is graham crackers.
-Maddie qualifies for free Early Intervention services through the county.  She will begin physical therapy at home within a few weeks.
-After five months, we finally received updated insurance cards with the correct PCP.

special notes:
-When at the museum, park, or rec center, I now take the trio out of their stroller and let them swing, play, feed themselves, sit, or have tummy time.
-When Jackson was this age he had separation anxiety anytime we dropped him off at the church nursery or left him.  The babies are so social and smile at overly friendly/inquisitive strangers every day.  They don't seem to mind (yet) being left with someone new for an hour.
-At 8 exactly months old (today) we switched from infant carriers to convertible carseats.  The configuration is the same, but they were getting too heavy and difficult to take in and out of the van using the infant carseats.

Trying to Be Big

My babies are trying to grow up on me.  I'm not sure if I like it.

Maddie sunbathing

James driving the tractor at Discovery Place Kids

Amelia going down her first slide

Maddie taking everything in at the water table

James still figuring out the sippy cup

Amelia jumping

Maddie riding the snail

James nibbling on a banana

Amelia relaxing in the wagon



All three eating dinner at the table

Feeding themselves.  Free at last!

I know it's cliché, but I seriously need time to slow down.  Look at these kids!

FYI, if you're wondering why James looks startled in most of the pictures, it's because I took them with my phone rather than my camera.  The flash on my phone startles everyone!

7 Months Old

sleeping habits:
All three are asleep by 9 p.m. (Maddie still sleeps in the pack-n-play in our bedroom for no reason other than I like her nearby.  James and Amelia sleep in their cribs in the nursery.)  All three wake up around 5 a.m. for a morning snack, then fall back asleep until 8-8:30.  James always wakes up first.  Amelia could sleep all morning if I let her.

By 10:30 a.m. all three are back in their cribs or pack-in-play for a morning nap.  They typically nap until 12/12:30.  Their afternoon nap is 3/3:30 until 5.

eating habits: 
9 am- 6 oz bottle (breastmilk)
10 a.m.--split 12 oz of baby food

1 p.m.--6 oz bottle (breastmilk/formula)
1:30 p.m.-bites of cheerios, yogurt melts, diced fruit, etc

5 p.m.--6 oz bottle (breastmilk/formula)
6 p.m.--split 8 oz of food

9 p.m.--6 oz bottle (breastmilk/formula)

5 a.m.--5 oz bottle (breastmilk)

*We just introduced sippy cups of water and small bites of food (rather than purees) at exactly 7 months old.

milestones:
James-holds his own bottle
Amelia-so close to sitting up unassisted
Maddie-keeps her food down!

challenges:
-They all still lack coordination to put finger foods in their mouth.
-Vaccines seem to cause fevers and serious fussing.
-Where are the teeth??? The drooling and teething is chronic, but still no teeth.

victories:
-Maddie is gaining weight at the same rate as James and Amelia.
-All three have a great appetite and love eating.
-Maddie had an uneventful cardiologist appointment with no major concerns.
-We go everywhere using the quad stroller with relative ease.

special notes:
-The babies had a few more firsts this month: swinging at the park, snowfall, Valentine's Day, and playing at Discovery Place.

Baby Dinner on a Dime

$1.98 for jar of unsweetened applesauce.......46 oz
$3.38 for 8 sweet potatoes....................made 54 oz
$2.19 for a bag of pears........................made 16 oz
$1.09 for a bag of carrots......................made 18 oz

That's $8.64 for 134 oz of baby food (or 33.5 4-oz jars). 
That's roughly 26¢ per jar if I were to buy them as packaged baby food at the store.  Good luck finding jars of baby food for that price.  It's great being able to combine my love of cooking, healthy eating, and saving money!

Feeding Schedule-6 Months Old

9 am- 6 oz bottle (breastmilk)
10 a.m.--split 8 oz of baby food

1 p.m.--6 oz bottle (breastmilk/formula)
1:30 p.m.-split 4 oz of baby food

5 p.m.--6 oz bottle (breastmilk/formula)
6 p.m.--split 4-8 oz of food

9 p.m.--6 oz bottle (breastmilk/formula)

5 a.m.--5 oz bottle (breastmilk)

Solids We Introduced (in order)

• rice cereal
• oatmeal
• banana
• apple
• sweet potato
• avocado
• peas
• carrots
• pears
• squash
• any "Stage 2" jars

Nom Nom Nom

Jackson is going to eat us out of a house and home soon. He gets stuck in a rut where he eats the same meals for a week or two, then switches to something else.  We go through days on end of cheesy grits and ravioli, then cereal and chicken nuggets with mac-n-cheese.  Lately, breakfast has consisted of oatmeal and a banana.  He also eats an apple a day (peeled but not sliced).  His new lunch kick has been a cheese quesadilla with sour cream and/or salsa.  I fixed him one for the first time a few days ago because we ran out of sliced cheese for a grilled cheese.  He has requested it every day since. 

The three of us have been devouring dinners lately.  Homemade chili, chicken tetrazzini, shepherd's pie, and tacos have been on the menu for the week.  Everything tastes exceptionally good when I actually follow recipes to add onion powder, garlic, thyme, rosemary, etc.  I also tried this oven-fried chicken recipe with baked potatoes. Yum!

Since introducing rice cereal two weeks ago, the babies have enjoyed mashed bananas, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal cereal.  It always takes a while to gain variety since foods must be introduced individually for several days in order to rule out any allergies or bad reactions.  I aim to give them solids twice a day, but there have been a few days where they've only had a morning feed.

The high chairs are more trouble than they're worth right now. It's easiest for me to put the babies in bumbos and form a semi-circle using the coffee table and side table.  I've also figured out James, our impatient eater, does best in the middle.  That way I can feed him every other time (i.e. Amelia, James, Maddie, James, Amelia, James, Maddie, etc).  Amelia is still the best eater and actually swallows the most food.  Maddie is the most unpredictable. 

I plan to continue making their own baby food since it's significantly cheaper and they'll be eating a large quantity before too long.  Our next foods will likely be carrots, then apples. 

Happy eating, everyone!

Introducing Solids

Since the babies received lots of food for Christmas, I decided to try rice cereal for the first time tonight.  We introduced solids for Jackson when he turned 4 months old.  Knowing that James, Amelia, and Maddie are my last babies, I've been in no rush this time around.  Still, all three have shown signs of readiness and they are a mere two weeks away from 6 months old.

I refuse to discard any breastmilk if it wasn't consumed, so I mixed the rice cereal with formula.  The babies were in good moods and it was in between feedings, which made me think we would have a successful first attempt at solids. I lined our new high chairs up in a row.

James proved to tire very quickly.  He wanted nothing to do with sitting in the high chair or eating.  He just cried and let the cereal dribble down out of his mouth.

Amelia loved every part of feeding.  She wanted to grab the spoon and feed herself.  She opened her mouth each time and happily consumed everything she was given.

Maddie wasn't the most comfortable in the stiff high chair, but she enjoyed her meal in the comfort of her daddy's lap.

I don't know how I'm supposed to balance feeding all three at the same time!  We've all mastered bottle propping so all three are fed in under 15 minutes.  Our first attempt with rice cereal involved lots of fussy, attention-seeking babies, and that was with two adults.  I'm certain it will get easier when they are able to feed themselves finger foods, but until then, this is just another challenge I'll have to figure out. 

Update: Just since posting this, I've received advice from fellow triplet moms.  It was suggested to use one bowl/one spoon and go down the line.  Babies can sit in bumbos, bouncers, high chairs, etc, as long as they are upright enough to eat and comfortable.  If one baby takes too long, skip him/her and keep going to the next baby.  Keep alternating until the bowl is empty.