Who's the Boss?

Emma apparently!

Last night we put the girls back in the same room to sleep.  Everyone has been sleeping in separate rooms for quite a while, it just works better right now to separate them.  But we have guests coming this week and the babies will have to share while they are here.  We thought we should start the process early.  Well, going to bed was as expected, Alex cried for 25 minutes bothering Emma but she finally settled and both slept all night just fine.

In the morning though Alex woke early by about 20 minutes and started fussing.  It woke Emma and after a few minutes Emma rose, crawled to the end of the bed that is adjacent to Alex, stood up and put Alex in her place.  I watched this all unfold on their camera.  Emma sternly told Alex, in baby babble of course, to "pipe down it's not time to get up yet, I'm sleeping"!  Alex stopped crying, and Emma got back down turned around and laid back down and went back to sleep.  Alex sat in her crib quietly playing until I went to wake everyone up.

It was hilarious to watch.  I've noticed Emma is in charge of the gang during their play time and she has given both her brother and sister stern orders in the past but this one was just too cute.  She even pushes her brother, who is 5lbs heavier than her, over when he gets on her nerves.  She's one tough cookie.

Ethan zonked out on his nanny.  11 months

Emma getting some Emma time instead of a nap.  11 months

Emma in pink, Alex in yellow, hamming it up.  11 months

Alex tolerating a goofy girly headband for 15 minutes as part of her Valentines Day outfit.  11 months

Diaper Rash - Darn the Bananas

We have struggled with diaper rash for, sadly, a large portion of these monsters lives.  They had a combination of sensitivity to the chemicals in diapers and very sensitive delicate skin from coming 9 weeks early.  The girls have struggled more than Ethan.  It took us way too long to figure out a solution that worked for us and we still have trouble with it reoccurring with food sensitivities.  As it turns out we really have only one food sensitivity, bananas...  As you can see from the list at the bottom of this page we eat a WIDE variety of foods.  I'm so confused as to why what seems to be the mildest food there is is the one thing they are allergic to.  We have introduced bananas 3 times now, each time 2 months apart and still, ouch, rash returns.

Now, on to the solution.  We tried so many diaper creams, even a specially compounded prescription one and none worked.  Finally our pediatrician sent us to a dermatologist who had two simple solutions:  Triple Paste and Kroger brand chlorine free diapers named Touch of Nature.

Triple Paste is amazing and I have seen it work in a matter of hours.  Per the instructions of the Dermatologist you have to use a generous amount (and by generous I mean about 1/2 Tablespoon).  The combination of the chlorine free diapers and paste worked wonders for us.  We only use the diapers with really bad outbreaks because they are expensive but we do use the Triple Paste with every single diaper change.

The Kroger diapers are the least expensive on the market and are a great quality.  They even work overnight, they hold a lot!  I and mean a lot, my kids flood out of their overnights, a size up, every night!!

Finding Triple Paste locally is challenging so we buy it from amazon.com and with triplets we go through 2 tubs a month, but you can't put a price on a happy bum!!!

Emma, Ethan then Alex, 11 months, having a camouflage day!

The Feeding Saga

I've been posting a lot about feeding lately, sorry but it's occupying about 95% of my life right now!  My independent little kiddos only want to feed themselves and I have a freezer full of pureed food that I need them to eat.

I've been trying a couple of techniques to get them to eat the pureed food this past week.  I ordered some reusable baby food pouches, yay!  But while I waited for them to arrive I put the food in ziplock bags and cut off a corner and let them suck the food out of the bag.  I realize that this may not be the best message considering I will have to deal with telling them no don't suck on plastic at some point but I was desperate.  It is the only way they will eat a decent amount of food at a time.  When we feed ourselves we eat 1/2 as much and take an hour!  Oh yes, I only let them eat from a ziplock if I'm holding it, they don't get to hold it.

The pouches arrived after a couple of days and thank goodness we like them.  In fact sucking on the pouches has given them a new skill and now we like sucking from straws and wow! has that provided a new favorite thing to do.  Down side, when I take the cups with straws in them away I get tears.  Oh well.

We have tried the two different reusable food pouch options available, Little Green Pouch and Squooshies.

I'm not sure we really have a preference.  The Little Green Pouches feel more substantial but I prefer the Squooshi top opening to the LGP side one.  Both are easy to fill and clean.  The Squooshi rolls up to help push food to the top but the LGP squeezes nicely.  They are the same price.  I purchased mine from Amazon.com, LittleGreenPouch.com, and squooshi.com  I was able to get a $5 coupon from PlumDistrict.com for a Squooshi order and a 40% off deal from EcoBabyBuys.com for Little Green Pouches.  

Update to the pouch comparison after using them for a month.  We had a tiny issue with the Little Green Pouches and I contacted the company directly for assistance.  I am happy to rave about their customer service. They responded super fast and resolved the issue to my satisfaction.  Not many companies can boast that and I appreciate it tremendously.  I purchased another 8 LGP's after ordering 4 initially and 4 Squoosies.  I still like that you can roll a Squooshi up but that is only helpful right now when I'm the one holding the bag and feeding them.  They are learning how to hold the bag themselves right now and they do much better with the Little Green Pouch.  We have fewer run overs and explosions.  I also feel like the quality of the Little Green Pouch is better and they will last.  Also, the Little Green Pouch is dishwasher safe!!!  Anything to save time.  So my opinion is the Little Green Pouch is a better product.

I am hoping as we get a little older we can use these as a way to eat away from home so we can go out a bit.  As things stand right now we never leave the house unless absolutely necessary.  I think they are sick of being house bound!!  I know I am.