Trick or Treat!

A short video of our farmer's first stop trick-or-treating with his animals.

Adventuring

As October winds down, I will remember it as the month we got busy living and headed out and about with our small army.  Prior to October, our trips with the trips +1 consisted of Labor Day travels to mom and dad's in Anna and Courtney's parents at Indian Lake, doctor appointments, and church for baptism and one service.  I don't recall any other excursions.

During October we were able to do the following:

• Church with Leslie, Taylor and Zach
• Fulton Farms to pick pumpkins
• BW3 for dinner on Friday October 14
• Meijer for groceries on Sunday October 23
• Visit to Dad's office
• Several trips on various errands as mom or dad would take one of the babies along
• Mom of the Century travels to Delaware, Ohio, alone with all four kids, to see her family

Grocery shopping at Meijer went pretty well.  We had two carts.  Ryleigh and Cayden in car seats in dad's cart, one on the base, and one up top.  Austin and Gabe rode in mom's cart.  Somehow we found a way to squeeze our purchases in too.  Cayden is apparently partial to Kroger as he spent 1/3 of the time crying.  We really didn't receive many incredulous stares, as we were separated quite a bit trying to expedite our trip. 

Dinner at BW3 was also a success.  We took Aunt Abby, who stayed with us several nights during her Fall Break from college, along which made it possible.  The boys were not phased by the new environment, however, Lady Roo (as she occasionally likes to be called these days) spent a good part of the time being held by mom.  The lights, noise and people proved to be a little too much for Miss Social to process.  Gabe gives two thumbs up to the Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap at the Troy location. 

Court's trip to Delaware went very well.  She left Friday afternoon during nap time and returned Saturday during the same time.  The babies were good in the van and Austin kept her entertained pointing out every field, truck, and cow for the 80 mile journey.  Court sent Dad to the riverboat Friday night to bring home more diapers and formula money.  Mission accomplished.

Finally, we were also able to take many walks in the subdivision the last week of September and first two weeks of October as the weather improved.   The community playground and Stone Lake were two of our favorite destinations.  As the weather cooled and rains came the last two weeks of the month, our ability to take walks at night has ended.  We both cringe as a long, cold winter approaches that will leave us home bound most of the next four months.  Hopefully we are still able to get out and about from time to time. 

Current Weights

Per the home scale.....

Gabe  13 lbs 
Cayden  13 lbs 1.5 ozs
Ryleigh   12 lbs 10 ozs

I think 8 ounces is the most that has ever separated the triplets, with the non-identical, identical boys liking to stay within an ounce or two. 

Bellying Up

This week we test drove our new triplet table. This was a generous present from several of our neighbors.  The babies seemed to enjoy sitting up and checking things out.

The first taste of cereal went okay - Ryleigh definitely liked it the most. Gabe liked it until he decided it was too much work. Cayden was not impressed. Maybe another day...

Cayden, Gabe, and Ryleigh

A pumpkin-picking good time.....

We recently went to Fulton Farms with the entire Stangel family to pick pumpkins in what is an annual tradition.  A few pictures from the outing -

Takin' it easy

Looking for the perfect pumpkin

Austin meticulously painting his pumpkin

A Grand Idea

Courtney got together for dinner and drinks last Friday night with three fellow triplet moms from the Dayton area.  She came home with some good advice, including one idea that was soon implemented -

This system of using blankets to prop bottles and letting the babies feed themselves has accelerated the feeding process when only two people (or one) are at home.   Instead of individually feeding and burping and holding all three, one person can monitor all three and pick them up intermittenly for burping.  The babies have adjusted well to taking many bottles in the above manner. 

Five month achievements

As the babies turn five months old, many milestones have been reached, including the all important sleeping through the night. This has also been the most chatty month we have had. Gabe is by far the most chatty. He must be following Austin's example, who never seems to stop talking these days. Ryleigh is quick to let you know she is not getting enough attention- and smiles from ear to ear as soon as you turn her way. Cayden was the first to laugh - when Mom planted dozens of kisses on his neck. The five months stats, as taken at home:

• Cayden - 12 lb 5 oz, 23 and 3/4 inches tall
• Gabe - 11 lb 15.5 oz, 23 and 1/4 inches tall
• Ryleigh - 11 lb 10.5 oz, 23 and 1/2 inches tall

One of the most enjoyable milestones they have reached is smiling and laughing. Nothing can make you smile faster than a smile on a little one! And here is the proof:

Austin on his way to see Thomas the Train

Ryleigh is all smiles for anyone giving her some attention

Cayden has a half smirk - probably for all the silly things we say to him to get him to smile

Gabe cracking up during a 'photo shoot' (the occasional day when Mom dresses them all in matching outfits and attempts to get good shots of the crew).

Shenanigans....

As the triplets turned 5 months old the other day and we were discussing how far we have come, it made me think about how challenging things were when we first brought the kids home. It wasn't that long ago that we were getting up every 3 hours to feed the babies and now we are down to four times in a day. We still have the very challenging 6:30 pm to 8 pm hours every day but it helps to think that it could be much worse. Jon and I are even starting to get brave enough to try to handle that 'witching hour' on our own. Here is a pictoral of one such attempt...

Pay no attention to the chaos Austin was allowed to make in the background and the upside down baby, everyone was happy for at least a few minutes! The picture should come with a warning - this works until it is time for the babies to burp! The only other attempt at feeding two at once worked better, mainly because one of the babies fell asleep. Of course, when all else fails - just distract them:

Austin thought this was pretty cool. Poor Gabe (in the middle) wasn't so sure of it.

-- Courtney