Giggly boys!

Although the Fab Four have been aware of each other for months now, their interactions have only recently begun to resemble that of playmates. On Friday afternoon, Isaac and Jude started doing this the minute they laid eyes on each other:



Isaac proceeded to chase Jude around the living room as they both giggled, Jude stopping and turning every once in a while to make sure that Isaac was still following him. And they've played the same game every day since.

Try as I might, right now I can't think of anything more delightful than seeing my babies become friends!

So you think you can clap

Lucy has recently started "clapping" whenever she gets excited about something. And when Dahlia claps, Lucy most definitely does not want to feel left out!



I wonder when she'll realize that clapping involves a horizontal motion?

Brotherly love

And so it begins ...

Awww, how sweet!

Uh-oh ...

"Mooooo-om!!"

Isaac steps up ... and up!

Isaac likes to stand on things. His favorite stepstool is a musical table (sans legs) that Tia Janine gave us a few months ago:


If the musical table is not available, no worries. Isaac will just find something (or someone) else to stand on:


I need to be more careful about what types of toys I put in the pen, though. The other day I came out of the kitchen and was surprised/alarmed/amused to see this:


Looks like we've got a little daredevil on our hands! (Hmmm, I wonder where he got that from?)

10 months old ... and 10 new things!

When I was pregnant, I didn't realize what a wonderful resource (and source of support) my local Moms of Multiples (MoMs) group would be to me once the babies came. The women in the group share everything from quick and easy recipes to Halloween costume ideas for multiples to real-life horror stories (for example: lady in Target asks triplet mom who's shopping with her girls, two of whom are identical, "So which one is the ugly one?").

One of the most useful tips I've gotten from the veteran MoMs so far is to buy a notebook for each child and keep it in the kitchen. That way, every time one of kids does something new or cute, I can quickly and easily jot down whatever it is before I forget. The notebooks are not as fancy as baby books, but they're not as much work, either. Exactly what I need!

As I looked over my entries yesterday, I realized that the babies started doing 10 new things during their 10th month (how appropriate!). One or more of them can now:

Feed themselves! Exactly a month ago, Isaac fed himself a Cheerio at the dinner table. A couple of minutes later, Dahlia did the same. Then Jude did it. And then Lucy did it! I find it amazing that, while the babies usually reach milestones days or even weeks apart, they all started feeding themselves within minutes of each other. We are now trying out various table foods, with varying degrees of acceptance.

Isaac at 10 months: Almost always the first to do something new!

Clap! Dahlia started doing this on her own one day at the breakfast table. At first she would get the cheesiest look on her face when she clapped; I wish I had gotten it on video because now she just claps like a normal baby.

Play with a ball! Isaac has discovered that some toys bounce if you throw them! So he now plays his own game of fetch, throwing bouncy toys in one direction, crawling across the pen to get them, and then throwing them in the other direction. Ted is certain that Isaac is going to be a pro athlete one day and make us all millionaires.

Bite! Everyone has two teeth now, but some teeth have had more time to grow than others. Isaac's are pretty big, and, with more on the way, he will bite on anything for relief. Including our arms.

Throw tantrums! Okay, so this started before the 10-month mark, but I just recorded the phenomenon last month. Dahlia wants to be an only child, and if she doesn't get your attention when she wants it, she'll throw back her head, arch her back, and kick her legs wildly. This is accompanied by very loud screaming, of course. We've been using the "ignore" tactic—does anyone have a better suggestion? I am afraid that the other babies will get some bad ideas from Dahlia!

Dahlia at 10 months: Doesn't she look so innocent?

Babble! Dahlia and Lucy have been babbling for a while, but Jude recently joined them in saying ba-ba, da-da, and na-na. Jude has also started chirping and making other cute sounds when he plays—so cute!

Jude at 10 months: Happy to see Mommy after his nap!

Say words! As I related earlier this month, Lucy can say "Pepper," and she often will call the kitty's name when she is in the room. But Lucy has also added to her repertoire by repeating "banana" at dinner and "bubbles" at bath time. Oh, and while we were watching "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Lucy said "Obama"—twice!

Lucy at 10 months: Learning to pattycake from Abuelita Joanna

Call me! Everyone except Isaac cries, "Mamá, mamá," whenever they are upset. I am pretty sure that they are talking to me most of the time!

Sit up, crawl, and pull up! When Lucy decided to catch up with her siblings, she did it fast: She sat up and crawled on the same day, pulled up to standing 5 days later, and started cruising 5 days after that! She can pretty much keep up with the pack now.

The Fab Four at 10 months: Nothing can stop them now!

And, last but not least:

Stand alone! Isaac has been experimenting with letting go when he's standing up. I have seen him stand on his own several times in the past week. From this position, he can also squat to sit without holding on to anything for support. I have a feeling that walking is around the corner. Eleven months, here we come!

'Tis the season

October means Homecoming, and all year I've been looking forward to taking the Fab Four to their first AU Homecoming fair. In fact, I was so excited that I even had a friend pick up four matching college tees (not cheap!) so that the babies would be appropriately decked out.

What was I thinking?! Not only does RSV season start this month (running through April), but also H1N1 seems to be everywhere. Both viruses could pose a life-threatening risk to my 33-weekers, who have not been vaccinated against either one. After remembering this tiny detail, we ultimately decided to stay home.

Unfortunately, this will be the story of our lives for the next several months. If you plan on visiting us during this time, we have just a few requests:

If you are sick or have been in the 5 days leading up to your scheduled visit, or if anyone in your family has been sick during that time, please postpone your visit until you are well.

If you have a baby or toddler, please do not bring them with you to visit us until RSV season is over, as the virus is common among children and spreads very easily from child to child.

If possible, please get a flu shot. We plan on getting vaccinated for the regular flu next week, and the babies will be vaccinated for H1N1 when the vaccine becomes available at our pediatrician's office.

As usual, we'll ask you to wash and sanitize your hands before touching the babies, since the virus that causes RSV can live as long as 6 hours on hands and 12 hours on objects.

Oh, and if you're wondering whether I returned the tees I bought for the kids to wear to Homecoming ... no way! Look how cute they look in them!

Jude, Lucy, Isaac, and Dahlia get their first taste of fall in matching AU tees

A truly GREAT-grandpa!

The day we found out about the quads, my Abuelito in Peru was one of the first people I called. When I told him that his dream was coming true—that I was pregnant—he let out a celebratory whooooop! Then I told him to guess how many babies I was having. After a pause, he declared that he'd be happy with two. Laughing, I replied, "More like two times two!"

Stunned and overjoyed, my Abuelito immediately recalled the story of Sarah, who laughed when she learned of her miracle pregnancy. He then offered a prayer to God, thanking Him for his love and his gifts and for how He grants the desires of our hearts and always provides for us. And he prayed that the four beings growing inside of me would grow up in the Lord and to love the Lord.

The moment was bittersweet: Knowing the risks and challenges of traveling with premature quads—and keenly aware of my Abuelito's advanced age—I feared that he would never get to meet my children.

Saying goodbye to my Abuelito at the airport in Peru (November 2007)

Then, several months ago, my Tio Ner and Aunt Harriet started talking about bringing him to the States to meet the quads. As much as I wanted this to happen, I did not pin my hopes on it. There were too many obstacles—among them distance, age, money, and the U.S. State Department itself. So imagine my joy when I learned that he and my Tia Julia had been granted tourist visas to come see us!

They braved the long journey from northern Peru in mid-August and were in this country for nearly a month. I cannot describe what a special gift and privilege it was to be able to introduce my babies to my only surviving grandparent. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine my Abuelito here, holding out his arms to embrace me and my four babies!

I tried to make the most of our precious time together, but I did not take nearly enough pictures. Here are some of my favorites:

Abuelito meeting Isaac for the first time

Lucy studying Abuelito's mustache

Abuelito holding Jude for the first time


Abuelito cuddling with Dahlia

The quads with their Abuelito Nehiel and my Abuelito (their Bisabuelo)

Thank you, Tio Ner and Aunt Harriet, for your efforts to make this seemingly impossible dream a reality! Abuelito, nunca olvidaré los momentos que pasamos juntos acá en mi casita. ¡Lo queremos mucho!

Lucy's first word!

When people ask me what I think the babies' first word will be, I invariably answer, "Pepper." The babies are absolutely fascinated by our kitty, and her presence is enough to pause even the loudest screamfest. In return for their adulation, Pepper tolerates the babies extremely well (although she's not quite sure what she thinks about this crawling thing).

Anyway, last night Lucy was in the Exersaucer babbling away as usual (baba, dada), when Pepper came around the corner and sat down a few feet away from her. As soon as Lucy spotted the kitty, she started bouncing and panting, which is what she does when she's excited. Then Lucy leaned in Pepper's direction and said, "Puh-puh."

Ted was sure that Lucy had only said "baba," so when I picked her up to change her diaper, I decided to see if she would say Pepper's name again. As Lucy twisted in my arms to look at the kitty, I said, "Hi, Pepper!" And Lucy whispered, "Puh-puh."

Pepper, aka "Puh-puh"

"Isn't Pepper pretty?" I asked. Staring at the kitty, Lucy repeated, "Puh-puh." Ted and I looked at each other in amazement. One more time, I said "Pepper," and for the fourth time in a row, Lucy called her name: "Puh-puh."

I think we can safely say that this was not a fluke! I wonder how I can get her to say "Beatles" next ...

9 months old ... it don't come easy!

I won't sugarcoat it—this past month has been a hard one.

We kicked it off with all of the babies getting roseola (several days of fever, followed by a rash). Naturally, their symptoms did not all appear on the same day—Lucy was the first to have a temperature, then Jude, then Isaac, and finally Dahlia. To compound the sheer misery of dealing with miserable babies (thank God my mother was in town!), the air conditioner chose to die on the second day of fever (which happened to be my birthday). A new air conditioning unit was not the kind of birthday gift I'd envisioned, but at that point I would have paid anything for a little relief.

Then, just as the roseola subsided, Isaac started cutting his first tooth. Suddenly, the kid who'd been sleeping 10 solid hours a night started waking up screaming every 2 hours! He now has two teeth on the bottom to show for it, but his sleeping patterns have yet to return to normal (I suspect another tooth is on the way). Dahlia, on the other hand, cut her two bottom teeth around the same time Isaac did, with very little change in her mood or sleeping patterns. Are my kids proving the theory that women have a higher pain tolerance than men do? We'll see how Jude and Lucy react to the ordeal when it's their turn!

Of course, none of this—fever, rash, or teeth—stopped the kids from keeping us on our toes with their continuing efforts to become fully mobile. Isaac started cruising a couple of weeks ago (and will loudly protest when confined to the playard); Dahlia occasionally pulls to standing; Jude can sit himself up, pulls to standing like a pro, and is almost officially crawling; and even little Lucy is rocking on all fours (only when she wants to though—you can't make her!).

Freshly bathed and happy—but it's getting harder and harder

to get them to sit still long enough for a quad pic!

We ended the already difficult month with a change in our feeding schedule—never an easy adjustment for any of us. Specifically, we've added a third meal of solid foods (so now they have breakfast, lunch, and dinner—just like real people!), and we've taken away one round of bottles. (Thanks for the advice, Christy!) This means that we are now going through 4 pounds of baby food per day, while the formula we are using has decreased to about two-thirds of a gallon a day. Incidentally, we are using just over two dozen diapers every day now, but we change approximately twice as many dirty diapers as we used to (thanks, baby food!).

As for naps, they've gone from three a day to just two—one in the morning and one in the early afternoon. We have to fight to get the babies to stay awake until bedtime, but I'd say that it's been paying off: Last night Dahlia slept for 12 straight hours! Dare I hope that the others follow suit (and save my sanity) in the near future? Stay tuned!

Two-armed and not dangerous

The crime rate is on the rise around our house. The suspect is a female, nearly 9 months old and about 27 inches tall. Her assigned pacifier color is pink. Recently she has been spotted pilfering other babies' pacifiers in various locations around the playard. On occasion, the pacifier has reportedly been snatched directly from the owner's mouth.

The brazen thefts occur in broad daylight, and the greedy perpetrator is not always content with taking just one pacifier at a time:

Suspect sighted with two of Isaac's orange pacifiers

The suspect makes her getaway by crawling. She should be easy to spot since she prefers to place pacifiers in her mouth upside-down:

Suspect seen using one of Jude's blue pacifiers

In fact, she also has been known to experiment with using pacifiers backwards:

Suspect spotted misusing Lucia's purple pacifier

If you come across this suspect, do not attempt to remove the pacifier from her mouth. Her parents are just happy that she's learned how to soothe herself without their help!