Woolsey Family Chronicles

My babies are 9 months old now. They are good loving citizens of the world at 9 months old. The girls crawl, pull themselves up onto furniture, walls and people. Preston is scooting and doing some productive babbling. Ava is doing great and is high maintenance as ever.

On Monday the triplets had their first in a series of developmental appointments at the Sutter clinic to assess where their fine and gross motor skills are according to their birth age and their adjusted age since they were born 6 ½ weeks early. They also met with a physical therapist who gave them exercises for their muscles to loosen them up since premature babies tend to have some tense and tightening issues.

I was not concerned going into the appointment because these are my babies and they are perfect in my eyes. I was sure the professionals would agree. I was concerned for Chris though, since during the routine hearing exam in the NICU he almost had a nervous breakdown during Violet's exam merely because the man doing the exam was taking a little longer and “had a concerned and serious look on his face.” I asked Chris on the way down if he thought he was going to be okay during this 3 hour assessment of our offspring, or whether he would start to panic if things were going as planned. He said he is fine. I didn't believe him. After the appointment Chris told me that he was a wreck the whole time. I don't know what we're going to do with him or how he is going to survive their childhood.

So, we brought Nanny Laura with us because the appointment required one person per baby. They asked lots of questions about the babies like about each of their personalities. The most interesting part was the exam of their fine and gross motor skills. The girls are overachievers in that department. They grabbed the blocks like they were supposed to and they played with objects in an appropriate way. They crawled on the mat, though they were overtired and semi-hysterical during this portion of the day. They go from crawling to sitting, they pull themselves up, all that good stuff. I figured Preston wouldn't fair as well as the girls and that he may just sit like a blob and not participate. I didn't think this because I think he is not smart, but because he has such a mellow personality. What I learned about Preston is that while the girls are go getters and attack and try and conquer whatever is put before them, my boy is precise and meticulous about his movements. I could tell that even the professional was surprised when she threw the cherrio before Preston and he very carefully reached his pointer finger and thumb out and carefully grabbed that cherrio and placed it in his mouth. The girls tried to globber the cherrio. Preston was also the only kid who took the two red cubes, one in each hand, and banged them together. That is my boy.

So in the end, they all scored above average for fine motor skills as a 7 month old (they considered them 7 month old babies developmentally) and normal for 9 month old babies. I was proud of them. But I would've still been proud if they scored low because like I said they are good loving citizens of the world and that counts for a lot.

On Wednesday Chris took Ava and Elsa to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a fun trip with dad. They all went to dinner at Chili's and went back to the hotel and the girls fell asleep. Ava started laughing in her sleep. When Chris asked Ava what she was laughing at she said, in her sleep, Elsa and Violet are playing together. Chris said it was pretty cute. Ava does love her babies.

Unfortunately, Ava was having a tough day the next day at the aquarium. Ava wouldn't listen and threw a few unattractive tantrums for all the fish and all the other people trying to have a nice day of fish viewing, to see. Ava was probably like another exhibit for them. She probably scared the sh%t out of all the fish like the little red head in Finding Nemo scared the fish in the fish tank at the Dentist office. There were numerous time outs. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. Poor Chris further lost one on this trip when he got caught in not one, but two major accidents on the drive home and the car was stopped for an hour each time. Elsa AND Ava were screaming in the backseat. Chris called me during one of the standstills and I could hear the screaming in the background and I felt helpless and horrible for Chris. I really did. But there was nothing I could do so I grabbed my wine and went back into the dining room where I had all my friends over for Bunco. Chris is still waiting for an apology from Ava for her terrible behavior. He may never get it.
Time Out #1 Time Out #2 Time out #3

Meanwhile back at the homestead, I was having a nice relaxing time with twins. I found having just Violet and Preston to be a breeze, not to mention that I kept my nannies for both Wednesday and Thursday for the sole purpose that I could get out and have some free time. It was so nice. Nanny Laura said it was weird just having Violet. They took a long walk, she read Violet books, gave her a massage and just spent some quality time with her. She did also say that she is glad it isn't like that everyday because it was too quiet – just not as exciting and she missed the others.

The Woolsey 6 is headed to Socal for Thanksgiving on Sunday night for a week which should be lots of fun. This time the babies are so mobile that we will actually have to do some baby proofing and constant watching at Dick and Sherri's house this time. It will be a fun and exciting change of scenery for us.

Until next time, the mothership is signing off.