Eight months and three days have gone by since Toby, Eleanor and Callista decided it was time to join the outside world.
Those first few months went by slowly. The thing about preemies is that you go through the slow, not-very-exciting newborn stage for way longer than normal. Once they hit a corrected age of 12 weeks, though, they took off, and they haven’t stopped since.
All three babies love their jumperoos, stuffed animals, blocks, singing songs and reading books with Grandma, being tickled with fingers or kisses, going for car rides and taking baths.
They aren’t big fans of getting dressed and waiting to be fed.
Otherwise, we have a very happy trio!
The girls are doing great at sitting up on their own and can do so for several minutes.
Toby still isn’t terribly interested in sitting up. His head is the biggest still, so I’m blaming his disinterest on being a bit top heavy. He loves to practice standing, though!
Toby and Eleanor are both working on crawling attempts, though only Eleanor regularly attempts to make forward movement. She’s had a taste of independent traveling with her roll-roll-roll routine. She’s definitely the most independent – something that’s an obviously helpful trait when it comes to moving and shaking.
What about Callista? She’s happy to lie where you set her as long as you bring her toys. While you’re at it, feed her that bunch of plump grapes over there, too. Frustration will be her motivating factor. I’m sure of it.
I forgot something, so I’m adding this after publication
See those shirts the girls are wearing in the first photo? Eleanor’s is a newborn-size dress, and Callista’s is a 3-m0-size dress. The nb dress would have fit Callista had the neckline been a bit wider, but it is what it is.
My point? I love using too-short dresses for the girls as cute tunics paired with leggings. Babies grow so fast, so it’s nice to get longer wear out of some of my early favorites.
I think I’m a genius.
For all the nights I said goodnight through your plastic isolettes,
all the nights we spent apart,
all the nights I could only reach in and lay a gentle hand on your back,
all the nights you woke without your mama by your side,
all the nights I left without a kiss –
just one more kiss goodnight.
This song will be stuck in my head the rest of the night. You’re welcome, Harry Potter fans:
Bubbles taste good. Swearsies. Just ask Toby, Eleanor and Callista.
We’ve started putting the babies to work around the house. It had to happen eventually, right?
Promise you won’t call the authorities?
The babies miss Emilee Beth and remember she told them she’d take their pictures again when they learn to sit. Emilee, they’re practicing! Callista sat here for a solid five minutes.
I’ve been feeling badly lately thanks to Pinterest. There are a ton of those collages of monthly baby photos, and I never tried to set up a certain pose or accessory or whatnot to photograph the growth of our trio.
I was turned off by the idea at first because they were so small, and … I don’t know, I didn’t want … I just felt sad about comparing them to a small stuffed toy that looked ginormous next to their tiny bodies (sidenote, their Angel Dear blankets, which used to cover them from head to toe, barely cover their legs now). Then, once they came home, I just assumed I had already blown the tradition by not starting from the beginning.
I have issues, I know this.
What I didn’t realize was that I’ve captured their progression on accident. I started routinely photographing them as a group because it was new and exciting and exactly the way they were supposed to be but hadn’t been able to without wires and plastic barriers and other necessary nonsense until they got home – together.
They aren’t always in the same order, the same location, the same position or on the same day of the month, but the photos show how they’ve grown. Together.
These are just the highlights. Surprisingly, I have a ton of group shots. I just may end up with enough to fill a photobook at year’s end.
I like it when things work out without planning.
