Nine months old- I cannot wrap my head around that! Everything is going so quick, and they are changing so fast right now. SLOW DOWN! Things are in full swing planning their first birthday party. I LOVE planning parties. I always say that in my next life I will be a party planner, so I am enjoying planning things and making all the goodies for their big bash.
Thank you Wintrows for our outfits!
The past month has brought lots of summer fun! The babies have spent some more time down at the river with Chris' family, attended their first Alumni tournament and softball games, gone swimming LOTS, taken many walks, played outside, gone on golf cart rides, and had their first news appearance! It has been a whirlwind. The babies have loved meeting new people and, of course, they love all of the attention and play time. They are huge fans of the water and splashing, but not of getting splashed. We have a little baby pool they get in and also some floats for the bigger pool. They love both.
We got stuck under the shelterhouse during a huge storm.
My brother's team won their division of the alumni tournament
We had our first television appearance, and it was live. I was terrified! 10TV came to our house for a segment they do in the summer called Dom's Backyard BBQ. They go somewhere different every week, and the family gets to invite their friends and family over for a BBQ catered by Schmidts. It actually ended up being a ton of fun! We had about 40 people over, and it was a beautiful night. They did three separate segments with us and the babies, and the babies did great! No crying, although there was some squirming. It ended up being a lot of fun, and I was glad that we did it. It gave us a chance to thank all of our friends and family that have helped us so much over the past year.
I was able to have a small get away (to my grandparents house) to meet up with some other local quad moms. It was great! I met some great people, and we swapped a lot of funny stories and experiences. We are all hoping to get together again this fall with all of the kiddos for a trip to the Columbus Zoo!
The babes are getting to be pros at eating. They have had all kinds of food now, and I am still making all of the food myself. I like to make a bunch at once, and then we use it over the next couple of weeks. They have had nectarines, potatoes, apples, carrots, butternut squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas, peaches, green beans, peas, blueberries, plums, pears, and I am sure other things that I am forgetting. They also eat baby mum mums and we just started offering them some puffs to work on their pincher grasp. They love everything except for green beans. Even if you try to hide them, they know they are there. We also started using their quad table for feedings. It is hilarious, and they love it. They are now eating food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but they still get bottles as well. Our schedule is something like this:
6:00-7:00am: Wake up & bottle
8:00am: Breakfast
8:30-9:15am: Lay down for morning nap
11:00am: Bottle
12:15pm: Lunch
12:45-1:15pm: Lay down for afternoon nap
3:00pm: Bottle
5:00pm: Dinner
7:00pm: Bottle & Bed
Basically, our lives revolve around their eating schedule. They can put down some food. I cannot even imagine how much they will be eating in the next couple of years.
First time in the quad table!
A sampling of our bottle washing
The last of my breastmilk
We hung 4 swings from the porch. They love them!
Owen still likes to eat a lot in the night, but that is okay because we want him to grow. Jackson and Millie almost always sleep through the night, but they occasionally need a binki or a little settling. They are teething, so that is understandable! Dylan is our wild card. Sometimes (rarely) he can go all night, sometimes he just needs a binki, sometimes he needs a snack. He is definitely getting much better though! They are also getting much better with their naps. Jackson is the stinker of the bunch for naps, but everyone else is laying down for their nap pretty easily. How long they actually stay asleep is an entirely different story. That fluctuates day to day and baby to baby. Overall though, they are doing so much better than they were even a month ago. Yay babies!
We had some family pictures taken at the end of June. Sarah at Sarah Shambaugh Photography did a fab job! She is the same photographer that did our birth photographs. Here are some of our favorites:
Jackson
Jackson is looking more like a toddler and less like a baby. WAH! He is built so much differently than the other babies with all of his muscles. I think he is going to be big because his feet are huge man feet! Jackson can pull himself up to standing, and he is the closest to crawling up on his hands and knees. Jackson weighs just under 19 pounds, and he is currently the most cranky baby of the bunch. He wants someone to be playing with him or holding him constantly. I think he forgets that he is 1 of 4 =) stinker. Jackson is a pretty big talker, not that he knows what he is talking about. He can say dada, mama, nana, baba, and other similar sounds. Mostly he just knows how to scream when he wants attention. Jackson loves to play with any and all things that are not his toys. He is obsessed with electronics (phones, monitors, anything that lights up)- we are in trouble! His hair is one big giant swirl which is adorable. It is starting to be very wavy on the top. I have gotten a lot of comments lately that he looks like my brother Nick. I have a hard time seeing them look like anyone else other than themselves.
Jackson LOVES plants.
Owen
So rotten!!!! Owen is our most adventurous little guy. He is small, but he is mighty! He scoots and army crawls everywhere, and he is quick. He can also pull up to standing if he uses the right toys. It is terrifying because he is still so unsteady, but he loves it and always looks so proud when he is done. Owen finally hit the 15 pound mark! I am anxious to see what the doctor says about his weight when we go Friday because he definitely looks much bigger to me, and he is a eating machine. Owen is our happy baby. He just grins ear to ear all the time. He is so busy, and he has no problem entertaining himself by scooting around the playroom playing with all of his toys. Owen is a nosey little fella. He is always looking around just taking everything in. He is the biggest turkey at bedtime, and he often wants to stay up later than his siblings. I still love his perfect little lips. Owen has the straightest hair of the bunch, and he is also the most blonde. He looks the most like his daddy.
Dylan
Dylan is still the most cautious one of the bunch. His eyes get so wide when there are any big scary noises or sudden movements. He is a master at sitting up, but he does not care too much to move around the playroom. He would rather you bring the toys to him! The boy LOVES to jump! It is exhausting. I think he would jump all day if we let him. He also loves to float around the pool in our little baby raft. He just lounges back and takes it all in. Dylan is still the biggest of the bunch weighing in at 19lbs 6oz. He is such a pudgy little guy with the sweetest blue eyes. When he is eating his bottle, he just reaches up for your face and cuddles it. It is the sweetest thing in the world. He absolutely LOVES Aleah. Whenever she is around (whether she is trying to entertain him or not), he just cackles the whole time. I love the interaction between those two. I love his chubby little cheeks which are always so rosey. He has the cutest little curls on the top of his head- I hope they stay! He is such a sweet little cuddle bug.
Model Baby
Millie
Millie is still the tiniest of the bunch. Weighing in at a whopping 14lbs 14oz. She has a little chubbiness to her, but she is just petite overall. She is such a little princess, but she is not afraid to stand up to those brothers of hers! Millie can clap and say yay which is just about the cutest thing you have ever seen. She does it constantly because she is so proud that she can do it (and because we egg her on all the time!). This past month, Millie got a good report on her strawberry hemangiomas (one on her back and on on the inside of her lip). They are starting to decrease, so we do not have to go back to the Hemangioma Clinic at Children's Hospital until after her first birthday. At that time, they will let us know if she is going to need any plastic surgery correction for the one on her lip, but they don't think she will. Millie is a pretty big talker. She will lay in her bed and just talk to herself all the time. She also babbles at the other babies which is adorable. Girlfriend is finally starting to get some hair! Not much, but we will take it. Her teeth are really starting to show when she grins which I love.
Right now, I am loving how the babies interact with each other the most. They will just reach out and touch each other which is so sweet. Sometimes they torture each other (think pulling hair, pulling ears), but they always get each other back it seems like. It cracks me up when they start gnawing on each other's toes. Gross! But it is cute. They also talk to each other which is adorable.
Thank you all so much for following along in our journey! Until next month, we wish you all well!
