Our Triplet Adventure: 4 Months Old

It has been FOREVER since I have posted anything. Since I have been back at work, the days seem like an eternity, but the weeks fly by! Going back to work hasn't been as bad as I anticipated. While I do miss my babies, being around adults every day is almost like a mini vacation and has been good for my sanity and brain function. If only there was a way to work half as much I would have the best of both worlds. The girls were sleeping so good when I first went back to work, but that has gone a little bit down hill. A few weeks ago, Ava and Lia got congested and started waking up at night. They are better now, but are out of the routine of sleeping through the night. Fortunately, they usually eat quickly and go right back to sleep. I still have mom and Dana each spending the night a couple days a week to get up with the girls on the nights I work. I have started taking on the weekends by myself and it has been going pretty good.

So, I realized that I don't post nearly enough about Simone and Noa. Both have had some pretty significant events in the past couple of months. Simone has become an Honor Star at church. It is something she has been working towards for several years now and gone to weekly classes and put in a lot of time and effort. In May there was a ceremony to celebrate their accomplishment.

Simone also had her 5th grade promotion at the end of May. This was her last year in elementary school and next year she will be moving on to middle school...a depressing thought for dear old mom :( We were very proud of Simone for receiving the business partnership award for her class for showing outstanding leadership skills!

Me, Simone and Wade

Grandma, Simone and Aunt Dana

Noa also had a couple of big events in the past couple of weeks. First we celebrated his 5th birthday which was May 31st, the same day that Dad/Grandpa turned 60. We also celebrated my nephew Andrew's 11th birthday on the same day. For those of you that haven't talked to Noa lately, he has become quite the dinosaur expert/fanatic, so of course we had a dinosaur themed party and pretty much every gift Noa received had something to do with dinosaurs.

And that was just the beginning of the "birthday season" in the Cunningham/Schmitz households. June 3rd, 4th and 5th brought birthdays for Munai (Nana), Aunt Becky and Wade. In addition, we have Uncle Kenny (6/7), Aunt Dana (6/11), Paulo (6/12), Uncle Matt (6/14) and Me (6/15). To add to the madness, we will also be welcoming my brother Matt's daughter Audrey Rose on June 16th if all goes according to plan. Hmmm...I hope I remembered everyone and I am not 100% guaranteeing I didn't get some of the dates mixed up...my brain is kind of mush most days! Anyway, Happy Birthday to all!

Lia, Mya and Ava wishing Daddy a Happy Birthday

Noa also started his first day of pre-kindergarten summer school. It is a program where kids who are entering kindergarten in the fall can go to school during summer school in order to get used to the classroom and the routines. After the first day which brought two calls from the teacher (surprise,surprise), Noa has transitioned well. We have been letting him ride the bus which he loves! Here are some pictures of him waiting at the bus stop on the first day, and a video of our bus stop conversation that morning.

The babies had their four month check up this week and the stats are as follows:

Ava - 11 lbs. (3rd %) 22 inches (8th %)
Lia - 14 lbs. 14 oz. (75th%) 24 inches (50th %)
Mya - 13 lbs. 10 oz. (65th%) 24 inches (50th%)

The percentiles listed above are for full term 4 month old babies, not preemies. So, Lia, for example, is bigger than 75% of full term 4 month old babies! There is not much preemie about Lia and Mya anymore. Both are bigger than average. And the most exciting news is that little Ava has finally made her way onto the growth chart and I am sure that she will continue to climb.

I am sure that there is much more to report in babyland, but I am kind of drawing a blank right now. We are trying to work on things like pushing up when they are on their tummies, and hopefully rolling over in the near future. The pediatrician has told us we can start solids anytime we feel ready...not sure, though, if I can possibly fit one more thing into our day. We will probably go ahead and start trying cereal occasionally to get them used to it.

The babies have started becoming extremely sociable. The are starting to coo and all 3 are giving lots of big smiles in response to people talking to them, especially in the mornings when they are at their happiest. Just in the past couple of days, Ava and Mya have started laughing out loud which is hilarious! Hopefully I will get it on video sometime soon. And Lia has started amusing herself by blowing bubbles. We also found that the girls LOVE being read to. We set their chairs up into a reading circle and they will give us their complete and undivided attention most days while we read. They even seem to look at the books. It is good that they enjoy this because, as many of you know, my profession (Scholastic book distribution) means that my kids have large quantities of books at their disposal!

Well, hopefully it will not be so long before I am able to post again! Below are some pictures of the girls smiling and a few others. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!