The Silence of Sleep

For several months now I have had to wake the babies up from their morning nap after no longer than 75-90 minutes to "preserve" their second nap as discussed in the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." Slowly I have had to push their afternoon nap later and later or else they aren't tired enough to take it. Eventually it got to the point where Madison wouldn't take a second nap, and Hayden would only take it half of the time. So, with one and a half babies ready to drop a nap and the afternoon nap being pushed too close to bedtime, we decided it was time to change to one early afternoon nap.

After a week of short naps (1.5 hours instead of the usual 3-4) the babies finally all got the one nap thing down today. As I type they have been asleep 2 hours and 45 minutes... ahh, the silence that comes with sleeping babies. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my time with them during the day but a little "break" is always welcomed. But, no idiot here, I do realize that this is today's treat and tomorrow may bring another short nap, but hey, you take what you can get.

The babies (I'm not sure how much longer I can call them that) had their 18 month doctor appointment last week, and their weights were right on track with what they have been for a while now:
Hayden: 23 lb, 14 oz.
Payson: 23 lb, 12 oz.
Madison: 21 lb, 6 oz.

Hayden is still in the 75th percentile for height while Payson and Madison are 50th. Developmentally they are all doing great! Their vocabulary is really expanding quickly as they can each say dozens of words without prompting and repeat several dozen more. Hayden's favorite words right now are "dir dir" (dirty) and "shhoos" (shoes), Madison loves to say "cracker", "car" and "cheese" when you ask her to smile, and Payson loves "b" words such as "bubble", "bird" and "ball." "Uh-oh" continues to be a favorite word for all three and now "weeee" and "whoa" are used often when on wagon rides or going down the slide. Hayden likes to sing "E-I-E-I-O" from "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and Madison loves to sing "Rock-A-Bye Baby." So cute. And if you new moms are considering doing baby sign language, I highly recommend it. It helps so much to have them sign words such as milk, more, eat, help, please, etc. and it's really cute when they sign words such as thank you and sorry too.

A week after returning home from our big trip to Denver and Phoenix, we hit the road to visit Grammy and GP in Oklahoma. Aunt Chelsey and crew joined us for the weekend and the cousins all had a great time playing and swimming together. Halfway through our 4-hour road trip we stopped to let the babies run around on a nice plot of land... but, apparently the grass was greener on the other side.

We were thrilled to be in town for Harrison's first birthday party thrown by parents Joey and Cristin.


Madison gives Keith a little nuzzle.


Our niece, Emma, is just a few months older than the triplets and they had fun sharing toys, food and high chairs.


The four of them were a perfect fit on Grammy and GP's little bench.


The little kids had lots of fun swimming in their new kiddie pool with cousin Chloe and playing with cousin Mikayla during the weekend.

Hayden peeking up after blowing bubbles.

Precious little Madison taking a swimming break.

Payson inspecting the water hose.


Mommy playing with Hayden.

Our little ballerinas playing on the chairs...

And our little diver in his Speedo.

Back at home it's monkey-see, monkey-do, and it's a good thing we have three bar stools so the babies can each have their own to climb under.

At our neighborhood festival the babies had their first face (i.e. hand) painting. Payson wasn't a big fan but look how delicately Madison is holding her hand out so that she doesn't mess up her pretty butterfly.

I heard someone playing with the blinds while I was preparing dinner one day and found Payson and Hayden standing together on the Incrediblock. Silly kids.

Our playgroup had a picnic at our neighborhood park and Madison loved going for a spin in one of the older boys' Jeep ride on. At one point she even leaned over and helped steer the wheel.

We took the babies to feed ducks for the first time, but I'm pretty sure the babies ended up with more bread in their bellies than the ducks did.

Since the babies love water it was hard keeping them away from the edge of the lake so the bridge made a better hangout spot.

Madison's hair is long enough for full pigtails now. They're just so adorable on her!

And here's the cute back view.

Hayden was thrilled to wear mommy's hat around the house.

Hayden loves her little Pony and nearly flipped it with her crazy riding skills (play video below). She likes to rock to the music, and she gives him hugs and kisses throughout the day.

And now play the video below to enjoy a little "dance, dance time" with Brobee: