Week 19 with Triplets

Week of November 8, 2021

First Full Week with Umpa

Last week I had two days alone with the triplets. What I learned is family and friends visiting to help might be best in the afternoon when my personal batteries start to wear down.

This week I figured out, the hard way, that I should take some time before changing too much in our routine. By the end of the week, with and without family stopping by, the babies and I are were in a pretty good place.

The Bumps in the Road

• Don’t change the routine
  • The triplets do have some nap time routines that are not sustainable in the long term. Trying to change that on my own in the first week was a big mistake. It definitely added unneeded stress to my day
  • We are now letting mom and dad change the nap routine and I will follow their lead
    
• Don’t change the day care space too much at once
  • The triplets will eventually need to nap in different rooms. Because one is usually noisy heading into nap time, and not wanting to disturb the others, I tried putting that baby in a separate room. I didn’t do it properly, so the results were disastrous
  • By the end of the week we made small adjustments and finally saw some success
    
• Don’t over commit myself
  • When at their house, I try to help with laundry. So, it seemed to be no big deal bringing a few baskets home with me one day
    • It turned out that, in addition to loading and unloading triplets, an extra two laundry baskets adds considerable effort. Keep in mind I’m in my fifties, which is when you start to dread stairs
    • The new plan is to either not bring home laundry, or at least leave it in the car. We can then unload it later when my wife is home to help
  • We also had an occasion where I offered to watch the babies an extra hour. It wasn’t mandatory but it helped their parents and the triplets were having a good day
    • That extra hour kicked my butt. Luckily my wife got home to help because I was drained in that final stretch
      
• Don’t rush the babies
  • This wasn’t actually a lesson learned this week. It was more a matter of putting it to good use a few times
  • The beautiful thing about this arrangement is the lack of a firm schedule. I load up the triplets and take them back to my house when I’m confident the trip is timed best for them. Some days that’s 8:00am, other days it might be 10:30am
  • It’s also worth noting that, with winter weather starting, we will have days where it’s best to simply stay at their house

The High Points for the Week

We eventually found our groove and had lots of fun times too.

• The triplets love their jumpers, and this week we introduced them to the Exersaucer. Baby B wasn’t so sure about the rocking motion but the other two really loved the new toys around the ring

• On a particularly good day of eating and naps, we decided to set up a sensory activity. This was not an original idea, but replicated an activity my daughter had with the triplets.
  • The babies are put in onesies and placed tummy down over Original Boppy Nursing Pillows
  • Place the babies around a shallow tray filled with toys and warm water
  • Baby B wasn’t too sure about being face forward over the tray. We eventually turned them around to put them on their bottoms and let them kick the water with their feet
  • Finally, to dry off a little, we removed the pan entirely and let all three kick against each other’s bare feet

• We had our first sharing of a toy (and I fully acknowledge this may have been a random series of events that played out perfectly)
  • The girls were laying next to each other on their backs
  • Baby A had a ring toy in her hand, looked at her sister and extended her arm with the toy
  • Baby B reached out and grabbed the toy
  • And the key to the whole transaction, Baby A released the toy without a struggle

Living Room Officially Becomes Day Care

This weekend we upgraded the living room to be better equipped for the triplet’s next stage. Really, the timing coincides with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday when we’ll also be hosting a one-year-old.

We call it The Corral and it gets us prepared for the days of baby mobility coming soon.

It started out shopping for the largest triplet playpen I could find. This style of playpen are sold by the number of panels they contain. Originally the 22-panel playpen seemed a good fit, but these sold out before I could get one ordered. Finally we wound up buying two of the smallest Costzon 14-panel playpens, since these can be combined.

Ultimately, we wound up using 26 panels to create the largest corral we could in the space. We will eventually add the foam play mat for easier play and durability.