Week 39 with Triplets
The first full week of mobility.
In the blog for Week 38 I talked about how everyone was moving on their own. That was certainly an exciting milestone, but this week we experienced the reality of that achievement.
Melon and Bean are both up on hands and knees, while Bear has a very efficient army crawl. He’ll be up on four corners in no time.
Suddenly Mobile… and Quick
What I was telling visitors this week is that we’ve entered a new phase in the daycare. Up to this point it was about tending to the needs of the babies, bringing toys and moving them around for different activities.
In this new phase it’s all about baby wrangling. This means making sure, at all times, you know the location and trajectory of each child.
The upside of this is that the kids can now move themselves toward whatever toy they want, and will even come to me for food and activities.
This makes them far more independent and can spend longer stretches entertaining themselves, which often means the three of them playing together.
Getting Better About Confinement
Where I nearly got myself in trouble this week was assuming that two babies would stay put while I focused on the third. That is no longer the case.
We’ve been prepared for this moment since Christmas, when we set up the “corral”.
It’s roomy, has plenty of toys, and they love it.
For the most part they are free to come and go through the little door as they entertain themselves during the day.
I need to get better about closing the door and using that space as a way of guaranteeing everyone’s security when my attention is elsewhere.
Extreme Babyproofing
I wanted to touch briefly on my philosophy when it comes to babyproofing the daycare. Other than the corral, we’ve only needed to install a few baby gates so far.
Any home with multiple small children is not concerned about containing just one child. It’s thinking through how to babyproof if the three kids work together to overpower a security mechanism.
In the case of the baby gate, it comes with four cup brackets to prevent the baby from simply pushing the gate out of place. There are no real instructions on how to install these, but I got strategic about it.
My idea was to install these brackets in a way that it prevents horizontal AND vertical movement. It would go in and out easier if I’d just installed them all with the opening on top, but this way seems most secure.
Also, on one side of the gate is a freshly installed newel post. Not wanting to drill into that, I instead mounted the brackets to a board that spans from the floor to a trim piece on the post. This limits vertical movement.
Then, using thick Velcro straps (soft side in), secured it to the newel post. I positioned the ends of the Velcro in a way that they can’t easily peel it off.
Other Accomplishments
The triplet’s physical development is coming along quickly these days.
Return to Sitting
As of Friday, all the babies can now get from a crawling position back to sitting.
Sitting on Knees
Both girls started sitting up their knees this week.
Wanting to Stand
Bear has shown a desire to pull himself upright on furniture and toys, and the girls have already mastered it.
Now you can watch Melon and Bean practicing letting go to stand on their own. Bean is also starting to take small steps, using the furniture for support.
Convertible Car Seats
With Bear reaching the height limit of his infant carrier, it was time to upgrade to their next — and last — car seat.
We went with the Diono Radian 3RX, since it’s promoted as a 3 across car seat. Also, at this time, when you order from the Diono website the third seat is free.
There was some concern about getting the middle child buckled in and out, but it’s actually been easier than anticipated. Whew!
Getting Ready for Spring
Finally, I wanted to share a cute picture of Bear in his new sun hat.
Not surprising that the hats we bought for them last summer no longer fit.
With warmer days right around the corner I wanted to make sure we were ready for that first chance to get outside.
Found these adorable hats on Amazon in a variety of patterns.