Sunday, January 31, 2010

Don't hate the hat!

Babies in hats are adorable, especially when the hat belongs to Daddy. Here's Dahlia the first time Ted put his hat on her head:

7 months old

We got another cute shot of Dahlia in Daddy's hat a couple of months later:

9 months old

As you can see, Dahlia has always seemed to enjoy wearing Daddy's hat, which is why we were baffled (and quite amused) by this reaction a couple of nights ago:



Dahlia, what did Daddy's hat ever do to you?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Think Weird Al for babies

Going through the junk drawer yesterday, I came across a scrap of paper with a list scribbled on it. Inspecting it more closely, I remembered that sometime last summer I decided to write down a bunch of "songs" that I liked to sing to the babies at the time. Each was based on a rock/pop hit, but I'd tweaked the lyrics to entertain the Fab Four (and my sleep-deprived self). If you came over to help us when the babies were small, you might remember hearing me sing/say:

"Let's burp! Put on your red shoes and burp the blues" (to the tune of "Let's Dance" by David Bowie) or "Gimme a burp!" (said like Janet Jackson says, "Gimme a beat!" in "Nasty") when the babies were hard to burp ...

"All I want is some poop; just gimme some poop" (to the tune of "Gimme Some Truth" by John Lennon) when Isaac was constipated ...

"Dirty Lucia-ah" (to the tune of "Dirty Diana" by Michael Jackson) when changing Lucy's poopy diapers ...

"Let's get, let's get, let's get washed!" (to the tune of "Let's Get Rocked" by Def Leppard) or "Pour some water on meeeee, in the name of love" (to the tune of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard) when I was giving the babies a bath ...

"Who's sad?" (said like Michael Jackson says, "Who's bad?" in "Bad") if a baby was crying ...

"They say that waking up is hard to do-oo; now I know, I know that it's true-oo" (to the tune of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" by Neil Sedaka) if a baby woke up crying, or ...

"Here I come, baby; comin' to getcha!" (lifted from "Foxy Lady" by Jimi Hendrix) when I was on my way to pick up a baby—for any reason.

Ted and I have come up with more silly parodies in the months since I made this list, but I don't even remember what they were anymore. I'm glad I recorded my greatest hits from the early days!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Walk this way

A month after taking his first step, it's official: Jude's our second walker!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

13 months old ... and so much fun!

The babies are 13 months old today, and I'm already discovering why people always say that 12 to 18 months is their favorite age range. In the past couple of weeks, I have been repeatedly amazed at the new things the Fab Four are doing! Here are some highlights:

Isaac at 13 months
Weight: 22 lb. 10 oz.
Length: 29.5 in.
Tooth count: 6 (4 on top, 2 on bottom)

Isaac has been walking for a month and a half, and he is a real pro. He likes to dribble balls around (and around) the living room with his feet, and he will throw or roll a ball back and forth with whomever wants to play. A couple of weeks ago, Daddy taught him to high-five, so I guess he's all set to join a sports team now! Isaac has also started pretending to burp after we congratulate him on a real burp (a bad habit we got into because the babies were so difficult to burp when they were smaller). He puts so much effort into it that you can't help but laugh! This kid is all boy!

Lucy at 13 months
Weight: 17 lb. 15 oz.
Length: 27.5 in.
Tooth count: 3 (1 on top, 2 on bottom)

Lucy is our dainty girl, a neat eater with the most delicate pincer grasp. She has been working very hard on standing in the past few weeks, and she can now take up to four steady steps at a time. Lucy also loves to play peekaboo, except that she takes the "peek" part very seriously and will usually only cover one eye (or sometimes just her temple)—I think she feels very sneaky! She is the only baby who will clearly repeat sounds, but the only word she says on her own is still "Pepper." Lucy is the most content and patient of the four. Her biggest challenge is holding her own among her more rambunctious siblings, but she does a great job!

Jude at 13 months
Weight: 20 lb. 8 oz.
Length: 28 in.
Tooth count: 4 (2 on top, 2 on bottom)

Jude is this close to being our next full-blown walker. He can take up to 10 steps at a time, and he is adding to that number every day. He loves to observe any process, be it Daddy taking out the trash or Mommy folding the laundry, and does not like to be confined to the other side of the gate. Jude does the twist on command (we call it his "wiggle-butt" dance), and his new trick is to climb on top of the rocking horse and stand in the saddle like a rodeo clown. We tell him to sit on his bottom, but he listens only about half of the time. I can tell that he is going to be the most mischievous of the four!

Dahlia at 13 months
Weight: 19 lb. 6 oz.
Length: 28.5 in.
Tooth count: 3 (1 on top, 2 on bottom)

Dahlia is standing very well now and, like Lucy, can take up to four steady steps at a time. She is also our little chatterbox. In the past couple of weeks, she has started "talking" as if she were asking you a question or commenting on the weather. Her favorite "words" are "wudgie" and "zoey," but she recently perfected her first real word: "Pepper" (pronounced "ba-po"). Dahlia is liberal with her cheek-to-cheek hugs, freely granting them to people and stuffed animals alike. And if she sees another baby getting love, she will race over to shove that baby out of the way so that she can give you a big hug. This little girl is the Latin lover of the bunch, for sure!

For me, life is feeling a little more normal. The kids are consistently sleeping 11 hours at night—without interruption—and that's huge (now if only my circadian rhythms would get back to normal!). We ditched baby food back around Christmas, so the babies are feeding themselves all sorts of table foods. We are also slowly transitioning to milk and sippy cups (can't wait to be done with formula and bottles!); my original goal was to accomplish this by their due date (February 9), but I think we might need a little more time. It won't be long before my Fab Four aren't considered "babies" anymore!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

A year at home

One year ago yesterday, Ted and I brought home our 2-week-old quadruplets. Up until then, I hadn't really felt like a parent. During my pregnancy, in fact, I could barely wrap my brain around the fact that there were four human beings inside of me—after all, I knew very little about their personalities (only what their random kicks and stretches could tell me), and I didn't even have a good idea of what they looked like (despite the dozens of ultrasounds I saw!). Even after the babies were born, neonatal nurses took care of them around the clock, so visiting the NICU felt more like going to see a friend's baby than my own.

Bringing home the babies brought home the realities of being a mother. From one day to the next, I entered a season in which nearly every waking moment (and many half-asleep ones) would be devoted to caring for, worrying about, and growing to love each of these four little people. Over the next year, I would put everything else on hold and get to know each child's cry and each child's laugh as only a mother can. And on every one of those 365 days, I would learn something new about the babies, about Ted, about myself, about life.

I still have a lot to learn, and I know that the years ahead hold challenges and joys that I cannot even imagine right now, during the babyhood of my motherhood. But I do know one thing for sure: When I tell my babies that I love them, I mean it more than anything else I've ever said.

I've come a long way, babies, and so have you!

Isaac on Homecoming Day and exactly 1 year later

Lucia on Homecoming Day and exactly 1 year later

Jude on Homecoming Day and exactly 1 year later

Dahlia on Homecoming Day and exactly 1 year later

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