Kimball is the first to work on crawling. It has evolved from getting up on his knees and collapsing forward, to doing the inch-worm crawl, to the butterly stroke (maybe he’s natural swimmer), to his current variation, the walrus. It’s not the army crawl. He gets up on his hands and pulls, collapses, up, pulls, collapses. I have it on video. Sometimes he moves very fast. His technique changes very quickly. Kimball also quickly loses interest in whatever toy is in his possession. All that matters is what ISN’T in his possession. His eyes glitter at the prospect of a new acquisition. Who cares if someone else is playing with it? We might have a problem with sharing. Kimball is doing fine sitting up until he sees something he wants and lunges for it. He loves to blow spit bubbles and raspberries with his tongue. I just wish he wouldn’t do it while he’s eating chicken and squash. It usually doesn’t match my outfit, and it’s not really my color.
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/Brinlee is starting to crawl, she started by getting up on her knees and rocking, but on Monday she started getting up on her hands and toes, like she is going to do the bear crawl. She is also sitting up well unsupported for minutes at a time. I think we have a natural-born shopper on our hands. Whenever I show Brinlee something pretty that’s for her, she just lights up! Friday we got some bows for her hair, and I put one on her in the store. She immediately sat up in her stroller and started grinning and laughing at anyone who would look. She knew how cute she looked. Brinlee is practicing her future gum chewing by chomping her tongue.
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/Sawyer doesn’t get as much of a chance to work on crawling because he still has really bad reflux. I try to keep him upright for 1.5 to 2 hours so he can digest some of his food, then I let him down in the floor. He still spits up, but hopefully less than if his belly were freshly filled. He is getting up on his knees rocking some, but he is often content to play where he is. He is so sweet-natured and loves cuddling. He loves when I clean him up after meals, when I change his diaper, give him a bath, change his clothes, anything that involves contact. Sawyer is a little scientist, studying everything, trying to figure it out. He is still a very good eater. He’s like a baby bird. He leaves his mouth open pretty much the whole time waiting for another bite. Sawyer needs more fruit than the other two, so at the end of the meal I feed it to just him, and he wolfs it down. Brinlee and Kimball really slow him down, but he is generally pretty patient. He’ll probably be happier when he can just shovel it in himself.
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/We occasionally sample the delights of Baby Einstein videos. I believe the baby Monet video is the one about the seasons. In the winter portion of the show, they show these little plastic skiers going down a plastic mountain. Every single time the skier in the red jacket goes down, Brinlee bursts into tears and just wails. I don’t understand it. I thought it was coincidence at first, but it’s not, it’s the skier. I wish she could talk and tell me why it’s so disturbing to her.
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/We got the kids a choo choo wagon (I already know you are going to want to know where to get it. They are available at www.step2.com. The first two wagons come together, but you have to buy the orange trailer separately. I think you can add up to 3 or 4 trailers). We take them on rides around the neighborhood. The prefer overcast days. They lean forward if it’s sunny.
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/The kids had their first plain meat – beef and gravy. They hated it. It’s the only food they have just hated. Poor Sawyer threw up after the second bite. He tasted it, made an awful face, leaned over and released. After that when I offered it to him, he would make the disgusting face, squeeze his eyes closed, and dutifully open his mouth like a good boy. Brinlee is not so dutiful and quickly started evading the spoon. Kimball took a few bites and would make the disgusting face along with an accusatory glare like, “How could you?” Then he would open his mouth, tip his head forward and let it fall out. It’s so thick and pasty it just fell out like a clump. I was trying so hard not to laugh at their grossed-out faces. I only gave them a few bites as they were obviously not enjoying it (but I videoed first). We moved on to green beans. They still had beef and gravy flavor in their mouths and grimaced at first with the green beans, but they got over it. Now I mix their meats with a veggie and they like it fine.
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/Adam’s co-workers requested a visit, so we took our circus to town. We toured the hallways, signed autographs, dutifully handed over babies. The kids did their duty and allowed the man-handling. After the show we went to lunch (well, the grown ups did), and they played in their strollers until we were done. Very well done, kids. They have done very well every time we’ve gone to a restaurant. They might snooze a little or play some. They occasionally want to sit in laps, but overall, it’s a good experience.
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/We went to the Botanical Gardens for our June activity with the Guinn girls. It was really beautiful. There are a lot of things for the kids, and next year we will definitely get an annual pass. My favorite part was the Japanese garden and the big fountains and open courtyards. There is also a big bugs display right now. Some artist created these enormous bug replicas and they are scattered around. We also encountered two other sets of triplets. That made four sets in the gardens. Ours and the Guinn girls were the most obvious because they are babies. Actually, the Guinn girls nearly set off a riot everywhere we went. One reason is because they are so cute. The other reason is they were in a triplet stroller while we had a double and a single. Even though we were together, people imediately rushed the girls and mostly left us alone. I felt kind of bad for Kimberly and her mother and sister (Frank was unable to join us at the last minute), but I wasn’t sorry they weren’t noticing us. When people did notice us, they would ask if they were sextuplets (good for them for counting to six) because Kim’s girls are only 2 weeks older than ours. When we said no, they then asked if we were sisters. My response was, “Well, no, but we do drink from the same water supply, so you’d better be careful.” We started making up stories, too, “Yes we are! This is our other sister and our mother, and this is our husband!” (Poor Adam was the only male in the group, not counting our boys) Aren’t we awful? On the one hand, the sight of triplets brings a lot of joy to most people. They are just beside themselves with excitement. On the other, they ask the most absurd questions, and it’s hard not to take advantage.
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/We have had a very busy week. Grandma came to visit last Wednesday and was joined by Grandpa on Friday afternoon. My brother, Leo, and his wife, Amber, and their three kids, Summar, Tyler and Bridget also arrived Friday afternoon, and Gran and Grandad arrived late Friday night. Why all the ruckus? Our babies were blessed at church last Sunday (July 1). We decided to bless them in birth order, so Brinlee was first, then Sawyer and Kimball. They were all very good. No one cried, and no one spit up on their blessing clothes. Just to be safe, we didn’t feed them solids that morning, so if they did spit, it would be white, and not orange or green. After Adam blessed Brinlee, he held her up to show the congregation, and she grinned her biggest, cutest grin. It was adorable. We expect nothing less of the princess. It was a great weekend. We had a lot of fun, and the blessings were beautiful. The Guinn girls came to the blessing, too. Two sets of triplets created quite a scene at church. We’re so glad everyone came for the special occasion. It was a lot of fun, and the kids loooooovvvvveeedd all the attention. The grandparents lllllllooooooooooooovvvvvvvved not having to share. There were plenty of babies to go around. Now the kids are having to settle for mommy and daddy again. Poor things. There are pictures below, and before you ask why there are so many of Brinlee, it’s because she was in a glorious mood that day and grinning up a storm. To tell the truth, she felt beautiful in her dress and was very happy to let us photograph her in it. The boys were very tired and unusually crabby. They were not in a picture-taking mood, so we didn’t force them. We were just so excited to see everyone and be together. We wish more family could have made it, but unfortunately, we are a far-flung group on both sides.
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/The kids have moved on to actual high chairs. I’ve been feeding them in those Bebe Pod seats, but they are becoming increasingly unruly, especially Kimball. He has learned to twist and throw his weight back and get out of the chair. That’s not convenient. Those chairs are so easy to clean, and so space conservative that I held out as long as possible, but Saturday we made the big switch. They are definitely secure in their five-point harnesses, though I’m sure Kimball will figure out a way to escape. Hopefully not soon.
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/Now that they are getting mobile, we are going to have to contain them. We ordered two play yards that we will join together. Adam suggested a dog run, but we decided against it. For now. Like everything else, it will add to the lovely baby decor theme we have going in our family room.
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/Of course there are lots of pictures to share.
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/Visiting daddy at his office
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/Chillin with daddy
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/I am so cute, and I know it!
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/Ya think he needs a nap?
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/Kimball’s bib usually winds up backward, looking more like a Superman cape. Here he is, ready to take off. Kimball has an unnatural obsession with our computers and is constantly trying to get them or the cords.
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/This is their very first ride in the choo-choo wagon. They were surprised and excited!
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/I think I like this!
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/We love playing with daddy!
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/Our first time in our high chairs.
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/Grandpa is teaching Sawyer how to solve the Rubiks cube. Sawyer was fascinated with it.
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/Grandad and Brinlee
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/Grandpa and Sawyer
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/Family picture on their blessing day
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/All the family who came for the blessing
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/Kimball finally gave us a grin!
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/I love my daddy’s kisses!
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/I’m so pretty! I can’t help grinning.
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/Just chillin in her ride. Brinlee always puts her feet up in her stroller, the choochoo, her car seat, anywhere she can. Heaven help the people who sit in front of her in the movie theater.
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/I love grandma!
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/I look so much like Gran. No wonder I love her!
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/Brinlee peeking over daddy’s shoulder in her cute hat. It is way too big. We had to keep pulling it back.
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/Family picture under a giant ant.
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/Brinlee, Kimball and Sawyer are on he left, and Alyssa, Makenna, and Isabelle are on the right. It’s like they knew we were coming and set it up for us.
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/Cute little bugs
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/We had a great time at the gardens.