Kissy Brothers in Action

Here's my first attempt at posting a video! It's grainy and short, taken with my digital camera, so forgive the low tech and simple story line. You can barely hear Sira (left) and Bereket (right) smacking their lips at the same time. Tsega was sleeping (we'll see more of him in the future).

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Milestones and Development: History and 10 Month Update

When we picked up the triplets at 5 months old, the boys were about 10 lbs each, had little head control, and only Tsega could bear weight on his legs. They were evaluated by a team of development specialists and were diagnosed as delayed in gross motor skills (but otherwise healthy--in fact we've only had one cold since homecoming--with good social skills). No big surprise since they had been in care since 6 weeks old and lacked stimulation and exercise.

Like many of the babies adopted out of Ethiopia, none of the boys were on US growth charts at homecoming. Tsega grew (and grew) almost overnight while his brothers remain small but growing steadily. Tsega is currently 22 lbs, that's 70th percentile for weight! Bereket and Sira are now 15th percentile for height and 18 lbs, below 3rd percentile; no surprise since they still easily wear 6 month clothing. I guess they're just little shorties :). I'm imagining Tsega as this huge figure in our house, with his arms around his shorty papa and shorty brothers and everybody in public asking if B & S are twins (these are triplets, Tsega is their triplet brother. . . really he is! And for the umpteenth time, we are also glad it's us and not you). . .

Because Tsega had such rippling muscles, lol, had good head control and could stand with assistance so well, nobody seemed concerned with him. So we worked with Bereket and Sira to get their muscles pumped and bodies moving. It worked, they caught up fast.

Then Tsega caused worry. He hated tummy time so we spared him much of this. His mobile brothers were roaming circles around planted Tsega. At 8 months he could not roll over, get into sitting position, nothing. He just sat there (after we would sit him up and prop him back up again and again after his numerous head-crashing falls). I think he suffered from "sudden-big-baby-syndrome"; he didn't have time to adapt to his new big body. Or maybe he was concentrating on his charm (he's our crowd pleaser).

Despite the protests we put him on tummy more and more. From sitting he started flopping to his belly without the grace of his fluid brothers. Then he bridged. Still protested. Now I was constantly helping him out of positions he had maneuvered himself into. Then he rolled belly to back and despite all his tummy torture time, rolled from back to belly. Now he is almost caught up to his brothers without the months of preliminary practice and exercise that got them crawling and standing. He can now get into a sitting position, rolls both ways, crawls backward (forward is on the horizon), lunges, thrusts, and pivots around the room, and just started pulling up and getting into a standing position. All this in about 6 weeks!


Bereket and Sira can do all this and crawl. As it has always been, Bereket first masters a skill, then follows Sira about a day later (ahhh, the power of genetics!). Tsega has his own method and time schedule. Bereket crawls around the house and grabs onto everything (bouncy chair and my leg are favorites) and pulls to standing all day long. It's so funny to see hear him slapping the ground with his hands as he comes towards me from the living room to the kitchen and I look down and see this little baby climbing up my pant leg. Sira and Bereket look like little vampires descending upon Tsega as I'm trying to bounce him to sleep in the bouncy chair (bouncing the heck out of him in this chair works like a charm for soothing this baby to sleep, BTW). I find myself leaping from floor to couch so the three can't pull and claw me into abyss!


Short story long. . . the boys are doing great and no more worries about being behind, including Tsega-mega.

Next stop, walking and talking. Oh, sigh, but the baby stage is short and I will miss it dearly :(

BTW, Bereket & Sira each have two bottom teeth, no real hair; and Tsega has no teeth but nice curly hair :)

Play Nice

Let's just say our house is LOUD these days. (WHAT?!)

I love the toy in this picture below; er, I mean the boys love it and they can play with it together. I don't know what it's called or who makes it (it was "donated") but they don't make toys like this anymore. Besides dinging the bell and squeaking the squeak, they love to turn it upside down a million times.


Sira is papa gaga lately; that greasy sock is indeed Jerry's (gross). Poor Tsega's head is getting crushed in Sira's excitement.



Be nice to your brothers, baby boys.

Ahhh, that's better.

How to Feed Triplets

How have we stayed sane with night feedings and constant formula for THREE babies? Podee bottles!


If it weren't for these bottles, I'd have to take it all back and admit our house is indeed a train wreck. So please don't accuse me of bad attachment parenting; with multiples you modify. It took the triplets practice in the beginning, we would lead their tiny hands up to the base of the nipple to keep from sliding out of their mouths and squeezed nipple bases to siphon milk up so there was no delay of milk delivery. Tsega took to it immediately. Bereket and Sira, especially Sira, would at times get mad when the milk wasn't in mouth at first suck and they couldn't quite get it up through the tubes fast or efficient enough, or the nipple would fall out. Sometimes they'd hold onto the tube and yank out the nipple reflexively, not knowing what they did and unable to retrieve it. They'd throw their helpless arms out to the side and scream (oh, the tragedy!) and I'd get the old fashioned bottles back out.

Now they're so proficient they can find the bottle, grab it by the tube, and swing the nipple in their mouths. Jerry and I love to tease them and get them all squirming and noisy by holding onto the tubes and twirling the bottles over their heads. But you have to watch and make sure they don't steal their brother's bottle. Watch Sira steal Tsega's bottle:


Don't worry, Tsega gets it back.


Another good idea is to make large pitchers of formula in the mornings and keep them in the fridge so you aren't keeping crying babies waiting and mixing formula all day. By the way, we don't have a dish washer so we do wash bottles constantly and Podee bottles aren't the easiest to wash. Somebody should invent a mini automatic bottle washer that's fits on counter tops (or do they make these!?) 'cause I am tired of washing bottles ("Jerry, you do it!" is a common statement in our house along with, "get a rag!").

Ethiopian Eyes

Ethiopians have the most beautiful eyes! The first impression that struck me while clicking through CHSFS's family photo album of adopted Ethiopian children was that Ethiopians are uniquely beautiful. I didn't know what Ethiopian looked like before (I live in Central Kansas!) or maybe never thought it through, but what classical and exotic features stared from my monitor: high foreheads, soft mocha skin, large eyes, spirited expressions. I had been considering adopting from Ethiopia when I first came across these faces (Russia, Kazakhstan, Guatemala, Haiti, & Vietnam were other countries I had listed and eventually crossed out--I think in that order), and I think it was that moment I decided.


Melissa Fay Greene describes the face of a young orphaned girl in her book There is No Me Without You that could also sketch the faces of our Bereket and Sira: "Thick black eyebrows had been sketched as if in charcoal upon the classic oval Ethiopian face; huge round eyes midface were full of intelligence. . ." Well, no offense B & S, but I'm not sure those baby eyes are sparkling with intelligence, but definitely love!


Bereket and Sira indeed have BIG round eyes, looong lashes, & thick arching brows.


When we first met the boys, their eyes would at times spontaneously POP wide-open; they were tiny babies and ALL EYES. Look at the funny photos of Bereket and Sira below, the camera flash can really get those beautiful eyes bugging! 8)


Tsega's eyes are more almond shaped, his brows more chiseled (don't you just want to kiss those lips!?). This probably won't make sense to you, but I describe Tsega's facial features as "curly". And I love it when the camera captures the curliness (or maybe curviness) of his lips and eyes.



Maybe it's not very deep or polite to talk about beauty and it's certainly not something on which to base an adoption plan. And please forgive my bragging (biased proud mama here). But I think Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians must agree that the "classic Ethiopian look", whatever that image is to you, is so darn good looking! :)

Interaction, Play, and Brotherly Love

According to our boys’ lifebook (prepared by Ethiopian care center staff), the triplets sometimes hold hands “to show their solidarity”. We have it on film. In Ethiopia the boys slept in the same crib for much of their 3.5 month stay.

These days they're too big to share cribs. Tsega's relatively larger and MUCH stronger and will grab and thrash about the nearest object (animate or inanimate) when he's tired and mad. Bereket and Sira can sometimes still share a bed but a stray hand is deemed highly offensive on top of a cranky baby's head.

The identical brothers, Bereket and Sira, seemed tuned-in to one another from the beginning. I’ve always put them on the floor facing each other with toys in between and they stay happy for long periods like this. I've heard one start to coo out of a nap while the other seems to answer back in the same coo at the other end of the room. People say babies only co-play, but I think there's more than mere side-by-side interaction with these triplets. They share laughs and smiles, pass "binkies" and toys back and forth (suffice it to say they share gobs of saliva), grab each other, and sometimes make the other cry.



When we first got home from Ethiopia, Tsega needed mom or dad to hold him what seemed like all the time; yes, perhaps at the expense of Bereket's and Sira's bonding time, but Tsega had higher needs back then than the other two. He was unhappy playing on the floor for long periods. He didn't seem to even notice his brothers existed.

After a couple of months home Tsega blossomed socially into a happy baby. Now and then he would stop his play on the floor and look over at his brothers with a big smile as if he was seeing them for the first time; as if he was thinking, who are these cute babies? Now he loves to observe his brothers and grab toys out of their hands and they don't seem to mind (but don't try this with Tsega especially if he is playing with a spoon or a bowl of baby food). The past week he has started leaning in towards one brother for a big hug while open mouth kissing the top of his head. Ahhhhhh. . .

Tsega loves posing for mama and her camera. He looks up and smiles everytime I call "Tsega!".


Now I face all the boys together for play with several toys in the center and around each baby as they entertain and play together. This is the greatest part of rearing multiples by the way, and gives mama and papa much needed breathing time. Of course the babies don't stay in one place for long.

Maybe you are wondering if one triplet cries, do they all follow. Happily, the answer in our case is no. In fact, one rarely wakes the other with crying. But if they see me preparing bottles, cover your ears!