Monday, March 12, 2012

Triplets' 6 Month Letters

Dear Jack,


You are 6 months old! This time has flown by SO fast. And you have grown and changed so much already.

We started feeding you baby food recently and you just love it. You are such a clean eater! It amazes me every time. So far, the only thing you haven't cared for is the jarred meat. But really, who can blame you?! I purchased some jarred food so that I would have it on hand. I try to make as much of it as possible, but you guys eat so much! It's hard to keep up. But I have learned that I will definitely be making all of the veggies, grains and meats. I'll only use jarred food if it's a fruit.

Another change has been with your paci. In the beginning, you loved your pacifier so much that you would have used it 24/7 if I let you, but now you only use it at night right after a feeding. And a lot of the time you don't even use it then. You are no longer swaddled at night, and I was sure you would be the last to outgrow swaddling. Instead, I lay you in your Pack 'n Play (sorry buddy, no room for a third crib), hand you a little monkey snuggly and off to sleep you go. Although, that makes it sound like sleeping is a lot easier than it actually is. At night and for your morning nap, you go to sleep with no problem. But there is a lot of crying before you sleep for your afternoon and evening nap. And then at night, there is TOO much waking up young man. We thought that we had finally reached a point when everyone was sleeping through the night, but it didn't last long. And when you cry, you wake Wendy...and then she cries...and vice versa. So our nights are not at all restful. :( However. Things have gotten better. There was a period of time there when you took three 30 - 60 minute naps. And you were miserable and exhausted. At least now you are better rested.

Being better rested also means that you are more often in a good mood. And when you are feeling good, you have such a laid back, easygoing personality. You smile and are content to just be. You can often be found chewing on those adorable little hands of yours. When it's play time, you prefer to be in an Exersaucer or on your baby gym. You love to try and get the little hanging toys into your mouth. Tummy time is still not a favorite of yours, but you are getting better at it. Since you learned to roll onto your back, you've realized that tummy time can be as short or as long as you desire...generally you desire it to be short. :)

By far, your favorite thing to do is cuddle. Jackie, I have never had a baby who wanted to cuddle so much. And I love it. I think you fit best over my left shoulder with your face tucked into my neck. It's as if you are a missing piece of my body, you fit so well. After a nap, you always need a little "holding time" before you can be put down to play. Otherwise there are major protests. With 4 other siblings, there are times when I can't meet this particular need of yours, but know that I love every second of that special time together. :)

At 6 months, your eyes are still blue and you have a little blond hair. Your head is very round, except for one side that's been flattened by the frequency with which you sleep on it. :) Don't worry, Dr. Patty says that should go away. We haven't had your 6 month check up yet, so I don't know how much you weigh, but you have slowed down in the weight gaining process. You are still in 3-6 month clothing. But now that we've started solids, you should start to gain faster again. Mostly, I just think you are an adorable little baby! And you have such a sweet and loving spirit. Your Daddy, siblings and I are so blessed to have you in our family.

Getting to know you these past 6 months has been such a pleasure, Jackie Bean. I think that our relationship is a bit more developed simply because I do need to spend more time with you. There are little nuances to your personality and your preferences that only I know about. I hope that soon you will be able to spend more time with your Daddy so that he can get to know you this way too. He loves you so much, but for the first time we have a Mama's Boy.

Thank you for adding your wonderful spirit to our family. I love you.

Love,
Mommy


Dear Luke,


Daddy and I are having so much fun with you! When I was on bed rest, I would lay in my bed and feel you do what seemed to be acrobatics in my belly. You moved ALL. THE. TIME. Well. Things have not changed one single bit. You are always in motion. At 4 months, we stopped swaddling you because 1) you didn't seem to like it, and 2) you were always getting out of it anyway. As soon as we did away with the swaddle, you started sleeping like a champ. You are the best sleeper...possibly better than even Charlie and Livy.

You get around really well for a baby who doesn't crawl or even roll from place to place. You learned how to roll from your back to your belly a while ago, and while you use this to move from place to place a little bit, you mostly just push with your super strong legs. As long as you have a finger to hold, you can stand up really well. Just yesterday, after seeing you move all around your crib again, I told your Daddy that I thought you might crawl before you sat up on your own. Today you proved me wrong when you did this...


You are well on your way to sitting completely unassisted!

I think your constant movement is a physical expression of your general zest for this new and exciting world. Toys are fascinating for you and you are becoming quit good at maneuvering them as you desire. When you eat, it's more of an experience than a meal. Every bite of food must be felt with your fingers as well as your mouth. Which means that food gets EVERYWHERE. Hands, face, hair, chest, chair, siblings. :)

If someone is close to you, the chances are very good that you are touching them. Poor Wendy is forever getting hit and kicked by you. :) When we hold you, you wrap your arms around our necks and give us a great big hug. And your smiles...you are always smiling and laughing. Even when you are playing by yourself. Charlie and Liv have made getting you to laugh somewhat of a sport!

You have a good amount of brown hair, and blue eyes. The resemblance to Charlie is still uncanny! You just look SO much like him! I

n comparison with Jack and Wendy, you are HUGE. I weighed you today and you are almost 16 lbs already! And I'm sure you are a good 2 inches taller as well. Several times when we've been out, people have been confused as to whether or not the three of you are triplets because you look so much older than the other two.

Your happy attitude is such a joy to be around. Whenever I'm feeling down, you never fail to cheer me up with your big grin. I just love you so very much, Lukie. Thanks for making these last few months so wonderful!

Love,
Mommy

Dear Wendy,


Just like your brothers, you are such a unique individual. Lately, you have really begun to engage in early communication. Many people have commented on what a great social smiler you are. It's so endearing. And the past couple days you have really started babbling. Your coos sound so sweet.

Your eyes are also still blue. Neither Daddy nor I have blue eyes, so it would be crazy if 4 of our 5 kids ended up with them! You have a little mop of sandy blond hair too, and are still resembling your sister a bit. But with more of your Mommy thrown in there.

The biggest change these past three months has been your eating habits. When you were born, you refused to nurse. At 4 months, I decided to give it one more shot, even though you'd had only bottles since you were 5 weeks old. Miraculously you latched right on and have been exclusively breastfed for the past two months!

It has taken some time for my body and yours to adjust to this though. You haven't done a lot of growing and still weigh about 11 lbs. Next to Luke you look absolutely miniscule! Everything about you is so tiny. Only recently did I get out the 3-6 month clothing, and a lot of that is still too big. Now that you are eating solids, you have started to gain some more weight, so that eases my worry a bit.

But you seem to be developing well. You busy yourself reaching for things, working in your Exersaucer, chewing on your fingers, and trying to put your paci in and out of your mouth. You are becoming a stronger sitter too. Tummy time is lasting longer as you get stronger. Even though you can flip yourself over in no time flat, it seems that you are enjoying being on your tummy more than you have in the past.

Sleep has gotten to be a bit tricky lately. With Jack waking up more frequently and then waking you with his cries, it seems that you have gotten used to waking at night. Now there are many times when you are the one who wakes first. I am hoping that as you continue to gain weight, that will help you sleep better at night. Daddy and I could really use the sleep. :) We have tried laying you down without a swaddle, because you always fight against it, but you just can't seem to fall asleep that way yet. Thankfully, you still love your paci, so that helps soothe you to sleep.

Wendy Jane, you are a happy baby with a very calm attitude. When you are rested and fed, it's easy to forget you are around because you play so quietly by yourself while your other siblings demand so much more attention. I try to devote some special one-on-one time to you every day. You are so wonderful and loving. Olivia just adores you and I am hoping that the two of you will have a close relationship as you grow up. Right now, you are a bit of calm in the midst of this crazy household of ours. And believe me, we need a little of that around here. :) I love you dearly Wendy Lady.

Love,
Mommy

To the three of you:

Walking around with the three of you in our long stroller is always a treat. To many parents of multiples it might be annoying, but I kind of enjoy listening to what people say as we walk by...when they think we are out of earshot. People are amazed. They think you are adorable, so well behaved, miracles, a lot of work. They think we have our hands full, are blessed, are tired, are superheroes. But really, we're just regular parents who were blessed with some amazing children in an amazing way. We are not superheroes. If you are old enough to read this, you've figured that out already.

But our love for you is greater than any power any superhero can possess. It is our prayer that this love will get our family through the trials of these first few years, and through the trials of the years to come. With a family of seven, we are bound to have our share of challenges along the way. But if we nurture our relationships with each other and with the Savior, I promise you that we will emerge from this life with the greatest gift...our family. You have blessed us already, and your Daddy and I are humbled to be parents to such sweet children.

We love you.

(pictures coming soon...)

3 comments:

Kelly said...

These letters made my morning! I loved them! What gems you have!!

Eli Bowman said...

I just LOVE that you write these letters, my dear. They are so special...just like our kids.


...and just like you.

Breezi@ Not Your Average Fairytale said...

I Love these letters. I love these sweet babies! So darn cute :)

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