3/4 of a year old!!!

Wow! We have three 9 month old babies! We interviewed a nanny yesterday and she asked "So when did the shock wear off after you found out it was triplets?!" And we said "Sometimes it feels like it still hasn't!" :). Randomly Michelle or I will look at each other and whisper "We have THREE babies!!" :) And those babies are 9 months old already! (7.5 adjusted).

Our little Elle-belle is a goofball!  She has a great laugh and a super big gummy smile.  I personally think Ellie has really peaked in her cuteness this month!  I can't tell you how many times I just look at her and say "you are soooo cute!"  This week she has started to tilt her head to the right with a big smile as if to say "look at me! aren't I cute?!"  It's fun to see her seeking out social interaction like that.  Ellie is our empathetic little one who will start crying when one of her siblilngs cries..."well, if they're crying, there must be a good reason to be sad!" Ellie is probably our "clingiest" baby right now and is particularly fond of her moms and makes other people work pretty hard before she warms up. She is the best at self soothing by popping her thumb in her mouth.  Ellie is convinced she can roll herself anywhere she might be able to go and balks at my attempts to get her on her tummy and crawling, although when we put her in all fours she actually likes to rock and does pretty well (for a few seconds at a time)!  She has gotten much better at standing over the past couple of weeks and really likes it.  Ellie LOVES to eat and man, can she put away the food!  She is often eating well after her siblings have slowed down and can get pretty fussy if you don't get it to her fast enough.  Ellie is getting much better at picking up smaller pieces of food but hasn't totally mastered getting them in her mouth.  When she isn't eating she is busy trying to touch her siblings in the highchair next to her!  She likes to bang toys and bang two blocks together. Her favorite thing to say is "da-da-da" and she can be quite the little chatterbox at times.  She's having fun figuring out new toys and how to make them work.

LOVE that big gummy smile!

Ellie really likes it when people clap =)

Isaiah is our solid little dude.  He is a pretty mellow little guy who is often content to play by himself for longer than the girls.  He continues to melt our hearts with his flirty smile and deep belly laugh that is sooo easy to elicit.  He is really enjoying playing peek-a-boo right now and will just crack up every time you reappear.  He will even initiate it by pulling a cloth over his head and then pulling it back down.  Isaiah is still pushing up onto all fours though he goes up into plank/down dog more than all fours and 90% of the time he's still going backwards.  It's starting to really tick him off that he can't figure out how to go forward!  He's a lovey little guy before bed often telling us bedtime stories of his own.(Getting diapers & PJs on is often a mini screamfest, but he's most likely to be happy & chill.)  He loves loves loves the super soft blanket on our bed and is often just content to lay on it on his tummy doing his own version of the worm!  Isaiah also likes to eat, or more accurately, be fed.  He is so funny because he holds his arms next to his side and will lean forward with a wide open mouth.  He will pick up food, but often just holds it in his hand at his side.  My mom calls it his "security food" that he has stashed just in case we stop feeding him. =)  He is struggling with picking up little pieces of food and honestly doesn't seem too interested.  He bangs toys together, but one of them is usually in his mouth. =)  He's still our little squealy boy & sometimes sounds like a little pteradactyl.  He likes to talk and changes his tone/pitch a lot when he does like he's telling quite the story.

our happy little guy

"that was funny, but not as funny as the last thing!"

Avery Avery Avery!  She is our littlest peanut still but she is our mover & shaker.  Avery is a very happy little baby as long as she is free to roam & explore the house.  She is army crawling anywhere and everywhere and in the past week or so has started pulling to stand.  And now that she is learning to pull to stand she is OBSESSED with pulling up and tries to do it almost constantly. She pulls up on the stools, the playyard, the little musical play table, the coffee table, in the bath and on us and gets frustrated when she can't quite get it but she is very persistent and tries over and over.  But it's that persistence and her go go go temperment that has her on the move so early.  This month, especially in the past couple of weeks, she has really started doing things specifically aimed to get social attention.  She has a really cute scrunchy face smile that I have yet to capture with the camera and she also has a fake laugh and a fake cough that she will do to get your attention.  It is really cute and fun.  Avery is also talking more and says a lot of sounds including "ma-ma," "mum." "ba," and "da."  She is loud and has lots of inflection changes. Have you ever watched the "talking twin babies" video on YouTube?  Avery sounds a lot like those two babies! Ellie sounds like that too...I'll try to get a video up soon!  Avery's fine motor skills have really taken off and she is doing a ton of self feeding, picking up small pieces of deli meat, half blueberries, etc and gets them into her mouth pretty darn consistently.  This has been great for everyone because I think she eats more (she will regularly eat an entire piece of deli meat by herself) and, of course, with her being more independent meal times are just a little easier.  

silly goose but at least she held still a little more!

love that big smile!

Group shots were a little easier than expected this month which was nice!  Here are a couple of the best:

three fairly smiley babies!

love all the legs up!