Lock in

Thanks to the weather I've been under a self imposed lock in for the past week or so (don't want to work out how long it had been since I left the house!).

The babies have been a mixture of fantastic and frustrating. Frustrating in that since Christmas their sleep has been very broken. We've had many tears and much screaming. Beth seems to have decided that if I am not by her bedside when she wakes, at any point in the night, then I must be gone. She will then wail like a banshee. She will also only be comforted by me which has not been very nice for her adoring daddy.

The boys continue to be so excited by life that 4.30am-5.30am is the ultimate waking up time. They are wrong!

Once their day time naps started going haywire as well we knew it was time for a change! So I've changed nap times and tried to be an omnipresent force for Beth. In the past few days things have improved - long may that continue!

Now for the fantastic! Well Charlie said his first word 'da da' although his da da doesn't entirely believe me. Lex is continuing his quest to rise to his feet and Beth can sit up for brief moments.

On top of that they are now playing more together. This generally means stealing toys from each other but that's play isn't it? Lex decided today to stroke Charlie's face. Charlie was smiling away but he did end up with a scratch down his cheek! Lex also decided Beth was fascinating at lunch and stared at her the entire meal. It made feeding him tricky as he was not concentrating.

They are also hard to keep still and are rarely where I put them when I get back. Usually they move into head kicking formation.

All in all they are great fun but it'd be nice to get more sleep!

Pictures are:
Beth unimpressed with her tea
The babies where I put them
Where they end up
Lex and Beth playing
Charlie
Beth
Lex
Guess who isn't going to have that toy for long?
Beth and Lex
Charlie

Raspberries and the wall of death

The babies have been changing lots so thought it was worth recording.

All of them are loving bouncing frogs, animal noises, photos, rolling around on the floor and playing in the bouncer.

All of them hate being in the bouncy chairs, having their nails trimmed and sleeping past 5.30am.

They are interacting with each other much more. There is more smiling at each other and fighting. We are trying to get them to sit up but, at the moment, they are not sure of the point and tend to chuck themselves backwards.

Charlie

Charlie is getting more and more of a vocabulary. Unfortunately we think it might be Polish! He rolls around lots but is less keen on rolling back.

He has discovered that the bars on his cot turn and he squeaks them regularly.

Lex

Lex is a bit scary. He rolls over, gets on his hands and knees - and today then straightened his legs so we are now wondering if he is going to miss crawling and go straight to walking.

Lex has discovered that one side of his cot rattles and he does that frequently. He sees the cot a little like a 'wall of death' and throws himself around in it in an attempt to gain enough momentum to escape.

Beth

Beth is still obsessed with the bouncer and her daddy. She still hates drinking milk but loves her food. This week she learnt to blow raspberries and has done so frequently.

She is becoming much more vocal and is gabbling away in a gentle voice, unlike Charlie's shout.

Pictures are:
The boys with granny
When babies attack
Charlie and Beth (blowing a raspberry)
Charlie
Lex
Beth
Lex and his daddy

The Plague House

Since well before Christmas someone has been ill in this house. First Matt caught flu, probably somewhere along Division street on his Christmas do.

He was ill the week leading up to Christmas and took to his bed for a few days. Unfortunately this meant I missed my works Christmas do. Matt had to miss football as well.

Then the babies started to come down with it and expressed it in their own individual way.

Lex got it first and vomited but kept smiling. Beth wasnt so happy as some splashed her!

Then Charlie came down with it on Boxing Day and I've already recorded our trip to A&E. Beth was next and just cried for two days.

We thought we were through it but now they are coming down with colds! Argh!

One good thing over Christmas has been seeing lots of people, yes it does mean more bugs for the babies to catch but also socialising for them and us! Below are some pics as proof.

They are:
The babies all wrapped up
Auntie Elaine and the babies
Uncle Chris and Beth
Grandma Cunnington feeding Charlie
Auntie Julie and cousins John and Patrick with Beth
Charlie and Beth
Auntie Bex and the gang

New Year

“Making the decision to have a child – It’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” - Elizabeth Stone

So it's been a bit of a big year, one of those years you look back on and know your life changed from that date. Could be positive, going to Uni, or negative, losing my dad.

This year was the biggest of those life changes - and there's already been some biggies.

We learnt to live without sleep. To put three other people first in everything. To turn on the entertainment gene when every fibre in your body wants rest.

We inspired the most beautiful smiles, cleaned many bums, tickled tummys and sang far too many versions of 'Old MacDonalds Farm.'

We worried about tiny bodies hooked up to machines in hospital, worried about babies rolling across the floor, stressed about milk consumption and the regularity of poos.

We kissed soft cheeks, cradled sleepy babies and held tiny hands. We woke in the middle of the night (often) and drank hot drinks (rarely!). We've marvelled at how early different personalities develop.

It's been a privilege and the most exhausting year of my life - but worth every moment. Can't wait for 2013! It's such an adventure watching them grow. Love my beautiful babies and their daddy too. Happy New Year xxx

A trip to A&E for Boxing Day

Just after I'd posted the last blog Charlie woke up from his nap with a cough and wheezing. We rang NHS direct who got the out of hours GP to ring.

I just wanted to know when to panic. They said we should go to the Children's Hospital A&E 'reasonably soon.' That made me a little panicky!

Anyway luckily Matts mum is here so she helped Matt with the other two whilst I drove Charlie down to A&E.

We had to wait a bit to be seen so I got to do some people watching. One woman came in carrying a child of about 7. The kid had bare feet! This on a wet night in December. Maybe he refused shoes.

There were lots of coughing children so I kept the prams raincover on. We had been advised to ask for a separate waiting area but they didn't have any available.

Anyway Charlie drank a whole bottle of milk and had his first jar of food (rice pudding which he liked) so he wasnt off his food. We saw a nurse who checked his sats (oxygen saturation levels) which were 100% so that was good. Then after another hour we saw a doctor who checked his lungs, ears and throat.

She said he has a viral infection and to just keep an eye on him. She also said he was the smiliest baby she'd ever seen.

Today he's still a bit tired and slightly snotty but otherwise fine. Phew!

Babies first Christmas

This is an excuse for cute pictures of the babies. We had a lovely day and I'm sure there will be more in the next week or so.

Catch up

It's been busy in the baby zoo hence the lack of posts. The babies are busy rolling around, becoming obsessed with their feet and making noises. Charlie makes sounds that might be words in another language. Lex squeals or makes a noise that sounds like he's straining on the loo. Beth is enjoying makes choking noises. We're so glad they are experimenting with different sounds...

Meanwhile mummy and daddy have been working out finances for mummy's return to work (there won't be any) and trying to sort childcare.

Turns out getting someone to look after three babies is both tricky and expensive. Who knew? Childminders can only have 3 kids between 1-4 so we'd be block booking them. There's not many who are totally free and if they are there might be a reason for that!

Another option is a nursery. We're on a waiting list for one up the road but they won't have spaces until July and I'm back at work in April. It's also the most expensive option but would get the kids mingling with other children which I do think is important.

Lastly there's a nanny. Great that they'd come to us but they don't really have to have any qualifications plus if they are ill you are a bit stuck. It would be the cheapest option for us though.

So that's taking a bit of work. No solution as yet. My ideal would be a nanny for most of the time then a nursery for an afternoon a week, building up as they get older. It might be a case of just taking what we can get, at least at first. Not really what you want to do with your precious babies.

Other than that both granny's have been visiting and we've been getting ready for Christmas. Should be a good one!

Pictures are:

Lex, Beth, Charlie
Beth, Charlie, Lex
Granny Cunnington helping feed the babies
Granny Cunnington after a day with the babies!