Two year anniversary of conception

Yesterday was the two year anniversary of the girls' conception.

I recall the moment in the clinic in Barra, near Rio, when the doctor said he wanted to implant three embroyos. We paused. He said, "One chance in ten thousand that you would get triplets." He said, "This is your last chance to have a baby." We said, "Let's do it."

Now they are 17 months old (today). Three amazing girls and two very tired and amazed parents.

Worries

For the past two weeks, we have been renovating the kitchen. Tuesday 2.19 Varlei stripped out the cabinets, tore out the walls, brought down the ceiling & ripped up the floor. The house has been in a state of chaos since then. Constant noise and dust, irritation and confusion, improvised solutions and break-down. The girls, who had been fighting a GI virus for a couple of weeks prior to the construction, have not done well. The noise and dirt & confinement have left them in an agitated state. We have tried to take them out as much as possible but there aren't that many places to go in mid-winter, and it takes an hour and a half to get them ready to go out, especially since they are full of diarrhea and tend to vomit at unexpected moments. Last night they were crying a lot in the middle of the night. And now Evelyn has a cough. We are worried.

Almost a year

Trying to get back into the blogging habit with the girls. They are almost a year old - birthday next Sunday, 2.27.

So much to observe & report...

Prayer for Lila Pearl

My great friend Mark Barad and his wife Pasquale had a little girl in June - Lila Pearl. We hear she has a serious medical problem that so far has resisted a real diagnosis. Doctors and parents are working hard to manage the situation and there is no sense they can develop of how things are going to turn out. In these cases, Mark says, some children's trouble resolves and some children's trouble gets worse. Lila Pearl is on my mind every day and I pray for her as I do for my own girls. Nothing seems so precious as the health of these little lives.

Evelyn at 6 months

Evelyn appears to be a bit more alert the last couple of days. At least, that's Luciana's impression. She can be very active and smiling at times, and at other times she has a very matter-of-fact expression on her face, kind of like a hardboiled detective observing the foibles and vanities of people.

All three girls slept all night tonight - for the first time - from 8 pm (with a sleepy 10 pm feeding) to 6 am, at which point they woke up in good spirits together and each had 5 ounces of milk. We are making the transition from the medium bottles to the big bottles. I know someday the medium bottles will look impossibly small, but for now the big bottles look impossibly big. But up in the cabinet is a collection of the small bottles (4 ounces) that look laughably and improbably tiny. What the hell were those for?!?!

counting blessings

I keep thinking we could write a good book if we just took a tape recorder and a camera with us whenever we go out with the girls. We always draw an interested crowd. My social-quotient has gone up significantly since the girls arrived -- better than when we had the dogs, because lots of people don't like dogs but apparently only a few people aren't entranced by the entrance of triplets (in baby seats, or in the strollers). I think we could really find some interesting material if we just asked people to tell us what blessing they would wish on the girls for their lives growing up. We haven't been able to do much with this idea yet, but I think that the girls provoke something tender and hopeful in people that it would be nice to capture, like catching fireflies in a jar.

Developments

Just a few notes on the girls at this point. In the past two days Jessie and Cecilia have learned to roll from their backs to their fronts. Any chance they get, they are rolling over and working at holding their heads up to look around. It is amazingly hard work to grow up. I spent time writing this morning with them on a blanket in the livingroom, and from the other room I could hear them grunting and cursing like mad. Every once in awhile one of them would sound too distressed, so I would go over and flip her on her back. Kind of the opposite kindness you would show a stranded turtle, I suppose. But in a few seconds, she would flip back on her belly and start working again. It was like hanging out in the weight room listening to the boys with big pecs and massive shoulders grunting under iron.

The other fun moment was feeding them cereal this afternoon. The best way to do this is by installing them in their bouncy chairs. Evelyn and Jessie are very enthusiastic -- when I get a spoon into a mouth, they beat their hands and feet in affirmation. It's like trying to feed an eighth grade clarinet player who is practicing with the marching band. Maybe as much fun as that. Cecilia is also very enthused, but rather than beating her feet on the chair, she grabs the spoon with one hand and manuvers it herself. And between mouthfuls, she puts her fist into her mouth. It seems she has to self-soothe herself between spoons. I have learned to wait until she stops sucking her thumb, then I offer her the next spoon.

It is also a great joy to clean them with a warm wet cloth after cereal. They have cereal in their hairline, around their eyelids, in the curve of their nose and in the folds of their neck. Cereal somehow even gets down their back and into their armpits. Apparently it's an immersive experience. Lots of fun for everyone. I love cleaning them slowly, gently and calmly so that they find it a pleasure to be touched.