Week 38 with Triplets

The triplets turn nine months old this week, and what a week it was.

Sham-rocking These Outfits

Let’s kick things off with a cute pic of the three in their St. Patrick’s Day outfits.

Their mom has worked extra hard this year to find adorable holiday outfits for the big first time holiday celebrations.

I snapped this picture at the daycare, before they could get soiled from typical baby activities.

The girls also had headband bows, but Umpa just doesn’t have the magic touch with those things. I figured it was best to keep things simple.

We even let them try corned beef and they like it. Gonna need a bigger brisket next year.

Everyone is Officially Self-Propelled

It was a HUGE week, in terms of mobility.

Baby Bean has been scooting around for a few weeks now, and we’ve been working hard to help the other two keep up. Over the course of just a couple days it all came together.

Melon

A massive developmental leap this week, with several new skills.

On Monday she was consistently transitioning from hands and knees back to a sitting position.

After pushing herself in reverse for a few weeks, on Tuesday she finally found her forward gears. Melon became a full-on four corner (hands and knees) crawler.

The same day she started crawling, I put her down for a nap in her pack-n-play crib. Next thing I know, she’s on the video monitor standing and holding herself up using the top of the crib.

If you’re familiar with these portable cribs you know there isn’t really anything to grab, so standing mostly takes core and leg strength. Such a surprise.

Bear

Our big boy takes a little ridicule for mostly wanting to be a lump. He is strong as all get out but lacks the motivation to roll or crawl. (Humorously, he rolls all over the place in his crib but not during play time.)

After some stair exercises (discussed in last week’s blog), and finding proper motivation, he also started scooting around on Tuesday. It’s mostly an army crawl, but he’ll go a good distance and his form continues to improve.

And what motivates him the most, you might ask? He’s pretty crazy about the floppy shark.

Bean

The smallest and most adventurous girl has been scooting around for a while. This consisted primarily of pulling herself around with her arms, but pretty quickly and efficiently.

Apparently seeing her sister crawl for the first time triggered something in Bean’s brain. I was shooting a video of Melon’s first time crawling to share with mom, and Bean comes scooting through the shot for the first time on four corners.

Not wanting to fall behind her siblings, Bean then decided it was time to tackle the stairs on Wednesday. Mimi and I were watching as she pulled up one knee, and when the second leg started going up I sprinted to save her.

Needless to say I went gate shopping as soon as mom picked up the babies from daycare.

Observations on Mobility

With everyone now on the move, there were a few observations I wanted to share. Obviously there will always be differences in personalities between these three, but sometimes there are little things that catch my attention.

When Bean started pulling herself to a standing position on the stairs and various furniture, it seemed like she was an unstoppable wild child. But I also saw calculated risks.

What I mean is that she wouldn’t reach for a higher surface to grab onto unless she was comfortable on getting back down. Very smart.

Melon also seemed to have a strategy in her head.

I think the hurdle for her crawling was the ability to get back to a seated position. When sitting, she would stretch way out to grab toys but stopped before transitioning to all fours. If that happened, she’d be stuck on her tummy and have nowhere left to go but rolling on her back.

As soon as she figured out how to transition from four corners back to a seated position, the crawling followed.

Unfortunately, Melon does not run the same risk assessment as Bean when it comes to standing. This puts her in precarious situations where she needs to make a long drop or cry for help.

Best Blanket Ever

The triplets got to play on their new Biggle Buddies blanket this week.

It is super soft and covered with fun animal prints. They absolutely loved it!

A big Thank You to Biggle Buddies!