{Quad Squad} 11 Month Update + Photos & Videos!

We are nearly there. We've nearly reached the quad squad's first birthday. Even at 11 months, it seemed so far away when they were first born. I remember looking at my two and three pound babies and only thinking as far as the day I could bring them home. One year seemed so unattainable at that time. Every time I sit down to write one of these monthly updates and talk about what they're doing now and what our schedule is like, I'm immediately humbled and beyond grateful to share the words I do. It took four miracles to accomplish what we have and the grace of God to bless us with a life full of children and happiness and milestones.

And milestones are something we are enjoying frequently around these parts. For several months now, we've had four sitters, crawlers (also know as speed racers) and standers as of many weeks ago. They've been pulling themselves up on anything they can grab—play tables, large toys, daddy's leg hair, you know, the usual. But now we have two independent standers who are also getting ready to walk. Kailey first started letting go of things several weeks ago and would last a few seconds before coming crashing down. (Her nickname is Bam Bam, remember?) Then last week Harrison started doing the same thing. Except the Big Man is stable. He lets go and just hangs out, smiling and laughing, reaching for toys. He's rock solid, dude. In no time they'll both be taking their first unassisted steps. For now, Kailey is learning to walk along things, like the couch, or back and forth between play tables and such. She also made have climbed up part of the play corral fence in a rush of activity the other day, but I don't even think she realized it. Let's hope that's not a glimpse of things to come just yet! I will bawl my eyes out the day the play corral is no longer an option for, well, corralling the crew when I can't keep up in four different directions.

my crew at 11 months old
(my sweet mother-in-law braved the trenches with me to get these photos)

"bye bye, momma, we're done with this photo shoot"

trystan

logan

kailey 

harrison

It's cool to see their motor skills improving nearly every day. They're really into putting objects into something, like a bucket or container. One of their activity tables has a hole in the center that you can drop balls into and they roll out down the legs. Harrison loves doing this and I can't believe he remembers how it works and does it several times in a row!

Teething is still going on. Some days it hits full force and it's a little miserable. Then it'll slow down for maybe a week or two. Harrison has two top teeth coming in right now and those suckers look like they hurt. Logan has a top tooth coming in, Trystan's on a break and Kailey finally has her first two teeth threatening to break through her bottom gums any minute! We keep frozen teethers around the crew like candy and administer Infant Advil as needed. For the most part, they do pretty well with bouts of misery here and there that distraction or cuddling usually resolves. Or a nap if all else fails.

me and my big man

Weights are up, too. Though they're all still skinny, smaller babies for their age they are growing rapidly. We've had as much as 10-ounce gains in a week lately. Harrison is the largest at about 18 1/2 lbs and Kailey is the lightest at a pound or so less. It amazes me that they all stay somewhat close to each other in that regard.

Food is taking up center stage at the moment. I'm still making all their food, pureeing multiples things almost daily to keep up with demand. The apartment fridge is small and freezer space is limited, plus I only have my small Cuisine Art baby food maker. Normally, I have a large food processor and a smaller food processor to use in addition to that. So I just take on small chunks of food a day and it all gets done. The babies eat about 5-6 ounces of pureed foods three times a day. Currently, we're mixing up all kinds of stuff, like prunes + bananas + butternut squash + corn or super greens like zucchini + kale + pears + rice cereal. One of their four feedings is strictly a bottle and finger foods, and we're slowly adding to the latter as well. Currently, favorite finger foods include Ritz crackers, graham crackers, rotisserie chicken, cheese crumbles, Cheetos puffs, grilled cheese pieces, cheerios and Plum Organics puffs.

We've been dealing with a lot of constipation for the last few weeks—I'm guessing it's a mixture of new foods and less liquids. They aren't drinking several 8-ounce bottles during the day anymore so we have to sort of make up for that with water. We pass around a sippy cup of water at all meals and several times throughout the day to try and get them more hydrated. They also occasionally get Miralax and prunes as needed. And they all love tea! A lot of times I'll have decaffeinated green iced tea on hand (sweetened with Truvia) and they go crazy for it.

For those of you who revel in stats, here's our daily breakdown:

20-25 diapers

16 bottles

80 ounces formula

60-70 ounces pureed food

8 sets of clothing (PJs to daytime wear)

Approximately 130 baby lifts to and from the changing table, quad table, cribs and play pen

Over the past few weeks, all four babies got their turn at the new eye doctor's office and all were given good reports! Including Kailey, who we were most concerned about since she was extremely far sighted from birth. That has continued to improve over the past several months to the point that there is not even a concern for glasses at this time. The doc didn't need to see any of them for a couple years, until they are older toddlers or any other issues pop up between now and then. I can't tell you how happy this makes me! God is so good, all our kids have no major—or even minor—medical issues to speak of. It's truly incredible, considering how they started out.

kailey

We've also been able to introduce the crew to many new friends and family members over the past month. We've had lots of visitors to the apartment, we've taken them to meet their great grandpa, to the husband's parent's house where they met good friends of ours and more. It's really awesome to be more integrated into the lives of those around us now that we live in the Dallas area and it's even nicer to be getting the babies out more and more. My own recovery is still in progress but getting better every week. I look forward to the day I can get the kiddos out with minimal assistance, especially walks in the quad stroller, and that I can also begin exercising and physical therapy again. I can't wait to feel strong and healthy at last!

crowding around grandma c

Life has ceased to be nothing short of action-packed, hectic at times and—more often than not these days—feeling cramped. We're still in the apartment and are waiting on news of a house we are hoping to purchase. As many of you know, home buying can be a long and tedious process, especially when repairs are involved. Please say a prayer we are able to find the right home for our family...and soon!

I just ordered a second eight-panel play pen to attach to the eight-panel one we currently have. The quad squad just needs more space to play and crawl and roam around. I can't let them roam the apartment freely during times I need to be making baby food, doing dishes, washing laundry, etc. so I definitely need a safe, baby-friendly place I can put them. The corral is perfect but the babies are bigger and much more mobile, so I intend to figure out how to fit a 16-panel play fence into our teeny tiny living space! Then we still have large-scale toys, jumpys and two big baby swings left to contend with. Like I said...cramped.

But despite the minor setback of living in an apartment with about a fourth of our actual stuff, the babies have adapted flawlessly. The very first night we spent here, they were kept on schedule—fed dinner at the appropriate time and put down to sleep the same way (albeit in four pack-and-plays instead of cribs that night), and they slept their usual 12 hours. They certainly take comfort in their schedule and there's no doubting it helps us stay grounded and consistent and able to plan and adapt to situations as needed. After a lot of tough love, we've also established two daily naps: one at 10am and one at 2pm. They usually get us at least an hour of peace and quiet, sometimes more. And it makes the babies so much more tolerable happier the rest of the day.

There's certainly humor in our everyday. Kailey has learned to shake her head like she's saying "no" and Harrison finds this hilarious at certain times. Two nights ago, during the dinner spoon feeding, she started shaking her head and Harrison died laughing. Like so hard, his face turned red and he had to take a deep ragged breath when he was done. Then I started laughing then Kailey started shaking her head again, Trystan got mad the feeding had momentarily stopped and Logan was looking back and forth between Harrison and Kailey trying to figure out what in the hell was going on. (Caught the very end of it on video below.)

Yesterday I found some adorable baby sandals on sale at Old Navy's website but had no idea what size to order. First-time mom moment: how in the world are you supposed to know what size shoe babies wear? How do you measure their foot, anyway? I looked at the sizing chart, ran a quick Google inquiry then pulled up an online ruler and held Logan's foot up to my computer screen. Got the measurement I needed and sandals were ordered—just in time for their first birthday party in a couple weeks at the lake house we rented. Bam.

kailey using trystan as her footstool...totally natural

Harrison and Logan have also taken to dancing when they hear music and it appears that all four kiddos still love Old McDonald. We have a Baby Genius DVD that has this song on there and they all light up when it plays. And the aforementioned two bob up and down on their little legs and wiggle their butts. It's really way too cute, and then I always end up doing some stupid-looking dance to get them to keep going. My levels of enthusiasm and wide-eyed peppy encouragement seem to soar when I'm in the apartment by myself with four babies. No one is here to witness!

And that, my dear friends, is the 11 month update. From start to finish. Thanks for reading!

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