Four Months Old

Yesterday on October 2nd, the boys turned four months old. They celebrated this milestone by screaming at the top of their lungs pretty much all day long. In fact, this is how they celebrated October 1st and September 30th. In the past two weeks the boys have taken up yelling as their new hobby. This makes for quite a bit of excitement around the house. The dog tries to stick her head between the couch cushions. The cats take refuge in whatever room happens to be baby free. The other day, I came home to a chorus of screams. I walked into the house and Carrie appeared to be shell shocked. She had the look of a person who had been under interrogation for the past eight to twelve hours. I knew that I needed to pitch in and help out. We tried the swings. The swings work sometimes and usually for very short intervals. Sometimes you have to go with the swing/pacifier combo to get them to be quiet. Holding the baby will generally put them in a tranquil mood. However, it is very difficult to hold three babies at once. In response, I have developed a technique.

They usually like this. It allows them to look around and check out their surroundings which they are really starting to do. This picture was taken last night right after the 7:00 P.M. feeding. I can't hold them like this forever. Despite how easy it may look, this technique is both physically and mentally demanding.

Back to the subject. There are other ways in which to make the boys happy and not scream until they turn purple. One place is in the car. If you are driving in the car and hitting plenty of bumps, this will calm the boys. They love bumps. The rougher the road the better. Stopping is the worst thing ever. Stop signs and stop lights are met with a chorus of discontent from the backseat. Keep it moving. The fact that they like rough roads has led me to believe that we should travel everywhere cross country. Taking a ditch and bouncing the vehicle along the side of the road would no doubt make them extremely happy.

Another place they are happy is in their stroller. Hold on. There is a catch. The stroller has to be in constant motion. Stop the stroller for an instant, and you will hear exactly how they feel about it. If we have to stop, you must shake the stroller or shake an individual seat. I am amazed at how violent they seem to like their method of travel. Most people like smooth sailing. Not our boys. Bumps in the road are welcome.



There is also a sure fire way to get them to be quiet. It is no secret that my favorite band is Guns 'n' Roses. My favorite song is Paradise City. This is also the favorite song of our boys. Play this song, and they instantly become calm and happy. Why? Well, without Guns 'n' Roses, I wouldn't have started playing guitar. If that would have never happened, I would not have been in Central Illinois playing a show. If it weren't for that show, Carrie's friends would not have been able to force her to go to this show where she met me. I believe the boys know on same basic level that without Guns, they would never have been born.

This brings us to one simple fact and I doubt the guys in the band thought of this when they formed, but Guns 'n' Roses equals Triplets.



Carrie has this song on her IPOD and uses it whenever a car ride gets too dull for the boys. It almost brings tears to my eyes to think about my boys loving Rock 'n' Roll. They love to watch this video. In fact, they love to watch music videos. The fact of the matter is, much to the chagrin of their mother, these boys are metal heads. They love it loud and hard. They like their travel rough and their music rougher.

That and each one of them can scream like a banshee. This is important to a metal musician. I have studied the scream and it starts with the face getting twisted up. The eyes closed. The bottom lip starts to quiver. You have about two seconds before total meltdown. Then the scream starts and gets louder. They almost forget to breath as their faces turn purple and they howl with a volume that is so intense, I am amazed that it comes out of such a little body.

Here is a picture of the boys on the couch on their four month birthday.


We are very thankful for the schedule the boys are on. They are sleeping pretty much all night, and they all wake up pretty much every morning around 6:45. I imagine they are around the 14 pound mark. They are awesome, and Carrie and I can't imagine life without them. I don't even know what it is I used to do. It doesn't matter. This is what we do now.

In other news, we had a couple come over to the house that are expecting triplets of their own. They were very nice people who looked like they were scared out of their minds. The Dad looked like a deer who was about to be run over by three cement trucks. I hope we made them feel better. It reminded me of when we went to meet the Britton Family here in Austin while Carrie was pregnant. After we left, I almost threw up. Anyhow, Carrie and I have decided to write a blog specifically about having triplets and what worked for us up to this point. We have been getting e-mails from people expecting triplets from all over and it's pretty cool that we can help people out in some small way.

Anyway, I leave you with another photo from yesterday. This is the surprised look that they usually have while they are trying to figure out the world. I hate to tell them that the world will continue to shock and surprise them long after they are babies.