Juergensen Family Blog

What a difference the last few months have made! Things have either gotten a lot better or a positive trend line makes them feel like they have. Today was an especially good day – it is almost as if they knew I would be writing this post tonight, and they wanted to be on good behavior for their performance review. Here are the updates:

• Crawling. What a difference crawling has made, especially for Kate! Sabrina was the first to crawl, right around 8 months, and Kate was a few weeks later. Almost immediately she went from crying anytime you left the room, to self entertaining for what seemed like long stretches in comparison. It is as if she realized she has places to go and things to do, so you leaving is not the end of her little world. In fact, she often initiates the separation by crawling away. Sabrina was a fast crawler almost from the start, and for her the opposite may be occuring. She has always been the easy baby, but now with her crawling skills she has a fondness for crawling through the barrier into the kitchen. That’s a topic for a different day.
• Eating. Meals seem to be a lot easier these days too. Part of it is that the guesswork in timing is out of the equation – 5:00 to 5:30 is now the ideal start time. Perhaps part of it is that I take the girls to the playground AFTER dinner, not before, which avoids the hunger related meltdowns when we returned from the park. But also, I think they finally have a sense of what needs to happen at dinner and everyone is a bit more patient while waiting for more food to be put in their mouth. While Sabrina started with only 4 foods she’d eat, she has now expanded her list to include most of Kate’s favorites as well. Since there are 63 individual meals in a week (7 days x 3 meals per day x 3 kids), any improvement in 42 of them makes a huge difference in the week.
• Playing together. With the new mobility has come an interest in playing together, much more than before. Sure, they still take each other’s toys and somtimes try to bat the other one away like a fly, but they are at least aware that the other one is there, and often find them entertaining. More on this later.
• Sleep training. What took us so long? Finally when Kate and Sabrina turned 9 months old, and were over 17 lbs, and the 4am and 5am wake-ups were still occuring, I decided something needed to be done. Unfortunately they can cry for 45 minutes straight, unlike Zoe who petered out at 10-20 minutes. Also unfortunate, 45 minutes of crying does not necessarily wake the other baby, so each of the crying spells occurred at different times, making for over 1 1/2 hours of noise. Long story short, it was a rough week, but results started kicking in immediately and now we can go to sleep with confidence we won’t see them again until morning.

  There is more to write (summer time, personalities), but I am tired and signing off now.

As usually happens, I am wrapping up this post almost a month later on Labor Day as summer unofficially ends.

• Summer has been a huge help. Now when everyone is crying at the same time, it is very easy to get the stroller and go for a walk. Often Kate and Sabrina fall asleep on the walk, and when they don’t, they usually enjoy the change of scenery. Zoe loves walking and strolls have a way of calming everyone down. Even better, I figured out how to take all three to the playground by myself, and we go almost every evening, after dinner so moods are better. Kate and Sabrina and now Zoe love swings! Even when they’re in the stroller, Kate and Sabrina like all the attention they receive from the toddlers playing in the playground.
• Self-feeding. Kate has really taken an interest in feeding herself, which makes spoon feeding more difficult, but has the potential to make meals easier. She will try almost anything – tonight was spaghetti. Sabrina has less interest but will usually eat bread, cereal or grated cheese, but looked skeptically at watermelon. Someday soon we may prepare one meal that everyone can eat.

Signing off for now, but hopefully soon I’ll write a post on their personalities.

I wrote the following in late May when I was in Las Vegas for a trade show, but like most things, didn’t get around to posting it until now. It seems it should be included in the blog, as it is part of the story of the first year of having 3 kids. Here it is:

Today I am in Las Vegas and really enjoying the rest and relaxation. I didn’t fully realize how much I needed the break until I got on the plane yesterday and my mind went into a foggy-like lethargic state. It was kind of like what allergy medicine (the good kind) does, but I hadn’t taken any. I attributed it to the lack of good sleep the night before – a mere 4.5 hours – and thought nothing of it until I woke up today in the same state.

It has been a relaxing two days, and there are two more to go. Last night I slept 10 hours elapsed – a few wake-ups, but no major insomnia. It was wonderful. I am enjoying not having to do anything but get myself over to the trade show at the correct time. Thre freedom to wander as I please without thinking about anything but whether this is what I want to be doing is liberating. Yesterday I ate in the diner and had a salad that was mediocre at best. I forgot how much I love salads, and was wondering why I don’t eat them more often when I suddenly remembered the answer – that there is no time to make them and no time to eat them, and I rarely have the ability to go out to eat. This morning I went to the pool and laid in the sun for an hour or so. The only thoughts running through my head were pool or no pool, do I like this song or not, should I have lunch or skip it. It is truly a vacation for the mind.

If it sounds like I would be happy in a life without kids, it isn’t so. Life would be so empty to me and the simple pleasures I am describing would not measure up to the love of my three daughters (or at least two of them at any given moment.) But having three little ones means days are all about keeping the calm, with most minutes from morning to night driven by their needs, their schedules and their moods. Everything I choose to do from going to the bathroom to possibly running an errand requires quick mental calculations of whether the new state is worth the crying that occurs when I leave the room, if anyone is in a position to harm anyone else, logistical considerations of how to bring everyone along, or time calculations of what everyone’s upcoming needs will be in terms of feedings and diapers. It is mentally exhausting.

Here in Las Vegas I am enjoying only having to take care of myself. It is no wonder my mind is in a coma-like state – it has no idea what to do with the void. Fortunately it has figured out that it is time to enjoy the rest & relaxation!