Sunday, August 31, 2008

Progress Report--One Year Old

Here is an update of each of the kiddos. The heights/weights are all from their one-year check-up about two weeks ago.

Kassidy
Weight: 19 lb 2 oz (20th percentile)
Height: 29.5 inches (50th percentile)
Walking: YES
Teeth: 4

Kassidy is the most inventive of the bunch. She is often the first one to figure out how a new toy works. She also was the first to figure out how to get into the kitchen cupboards. She tries to use brushes and combs to “brush” her hair. She found Kaiya’s hair bow on the floor and kept trying to put it in her own hair. Kassidy loves her “nuggle” (small, silky blanket that the babies like to sleep with). When we let the babies loose in the downstairs, she will head straight for the crib room, reach into all the cribs, pull out all the nuggles and carry them around. She also attacks the laundry basket to find all the newly cleaned nuggles. She is still a “mama’s girl”, but she is getting a little better. Her hair that once stood straight up now lays flat, so she almost looks like a different baby.


Kaydence

Weight: 17 lb 2 oz (almost 5th percentile)
Height: 28.25 inches (20th percentile)
Walking: NO
Teeth: 5

Kaydence is trying to take over Kassidys spot as “mama’s girl”. She is my most snuggly baby. She has a great smile and is the easiest baby to make laugh. She also has a stubborn streak---she is a girl who knows what she wants. She has the longest and the blondest hair of everybody. You can always tell where Kaydence sat at mealtime because she likes to secretly throw things overboard when she thinks no one is looking. She also hates getting in the water at the swimming pool and she as an aversion to having her picture taken.

Rustin

Weight: 19 lb 10 oz (10th percentile)
Height: 29.25 inches (30th percentile)
Walking: YES
Teeth: 2

Rustin is the most determined one. He was the first to crawl and the first to walk. If he sees something that he wants, will go over anything or anyone to get it. Rustin is my best eater. He will eat almost anything that I give him. He is also the most tactile. He likes to feel different textures. He likes to make “oooh oooh oooh” noises that sound like a monkey or a caveman. He isn’t very cuddly, but when he gives you a hug, it is a big one.

Kyndall

Weight: 14 lb 9 oz (<5th percentile)
Height: 27.75 inches (10th percentile)
Walking: YES
Teeth: 5

Kyndall is the most easy-going and content of all the babies. She is often happy to play by herself and doesn’t require a lot of attention. She isn’t usually the instigator of a fight, but if someone takes her toy, she will put up quite a fight. Kyndall maintains her petite figure by being the pickiest eater. She likes to put random toys up to her ear and pretend it is a phone. When she wakes up from her naps, instead of crying, she practices her walking skills in her crib until we come get her. She likes to babble and most of what she says sounds like “tickle, tickle, tickle.” She sometimes uses a “fake” laugh to try to be funny.

Ryder

Weight: 19 lb 10 oz (10th percentile)
Height: 29.25 inches (30th percentile)
Walking: YES
Teeth: 4

Ryder is the charmer. He is the most high maintenance of the group and likes to have someone giving him attention all the time. I am sure there are days when he wishes he had come as a singleton instead of a quint! He has a great smile and can be very adorable when he wants to be. Like Kassidy, he is quick to figure out how things work. He still loves his binky and he loves the nuggles almost as much as Kassidy. He has a great olive complexion that I am sure will make Rustin jealous when he gets older.

Kaiya

Weight: 47 lbs
Height: 42 inches
Teeth: none lost yet
Grade: Kindergarten

Kaiya just started kindergarten this week and she totally loves it. She is very smart and learns quickly. I was surprised when, after only a couple of days at school, she had memorized several of the songs that they had been singing in music. She also likes to be very independent. I think it comes from being the second child---she sees herself as an equal to Riley and thinks she can do anything he can. By the third day of school, she did not want anyone walking her to her class. Kaiya also started dance classes this week. She is taking Jazz and I think she is going to love it.

Riley

Weight: 56 lbs
Height: 47.5 inches
Teeth: Lost 2 so far
Grade: 3rd

Riley was also excited to start school. His favorite subject is reading. His least favorite subject is Math (I’m going to have to work on him, if he is going to be a statistician like me!). His teacher says that he is very inventive and is always coming up with suggestions for new ways to do things. He has become such a great helper with the babies. He is very gentle and kind with them and he is able to carry one of them if we need him to (like to get everyone inside church). He started taking piano lessons over the summer and his teacher has been very impressed by his sense of rhythm. He is a very sensitive and sweet kid and he has snuck in to make my bed for me on more than one occasion.

Here's a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Riley and Kaiya on their first day 0f school!


Kaiya, Ryder, Tiare, Kyndall, Kaydence, Rachelle, Kassidy, Riley, Rustin


I tried to get a picture of me alone with the quints......you can see how well that went over!


Tiare's attempt at getting a picture with the babies went a little better than mine. (But not much!)


Tiare and Me. Tiare was such a great help this summer! We were really sad when she left!


Amanda with Kaydence, Rustin, Ryder, Kassidy and Kyndall

Amanda is a friend from California that came to help with the babies this week. She is starting college this fall and plans to major in child psychology, so she thought hanging out at our house would give her some good experience. She was great and we really enjoyed having her here! She gives a detailed report of her week at our house in her blog.


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Friday, August 22, 2008

How Many People Does it Take to Cut a One-Year Old's Hair???

Answer: SIX!!! Three to hold him down, one to take pictures, one to take video and one to actually do the cutting!

Now that the babies are officially one year old, we decided it was time for a haircut! Ryder and Rustin both got their first haircut just after their birthday. My good friend Cassaundra was the hair-cutter, Ryan (my brother), Tiare (my sister) and Kiera (my cousin) all helped hold the babies down while my mom took pictures and I got the whole thing on video. Quite a production!

Before Picture: Rustin


Before Picture: Ryder


Before Picture: Ryder (back)


During Picture: Rustin


During Picture: Ryder


After Picture: Rustin and Ryder----don't they look cute???? It is amazing how a haircut can change them from babies into little boys!!!



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Sunday, August 17, 2008

Some "Firsts" before the Big First Birthday

I have to start by appologizing because this post is chronologically out of order. I had intended to post these pictures a few weeks ago, but got busy with birthday pary plans and out-of-town visitors and it never happened. So, just imagine you are reading this BEFORE the babies birthday and it will all make more sense!

The weeks before the babies birthday were filled with several new experiences. Here are a few of the things they experienced for the first time:


First trip to Costco! My friend, Liz and sister Tiare came to help. Ryder, Kassidy and Rustin sat in the triple stroller and Kyndall and Kaydence got to ride in the cart. Because they were seperated this way, we had a few people that came up to the stroller and said, "Oh my goodness---I have never seen triplets before!!" (I bet they had never seen quints before either)



First trip to HEB (local grocery store)! Tiare and I did this one on our own with all seven kids. HEB has these great race-car carts that have a couple of seat belts in them, so we could fit all the girls in one and the two boys in the other. The girls were a little squishy, but they all had fun. We looked (and felt) a little bit like a parade as we went through the store. Tiare has been getting really good at her parade wave since she has been here. (elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist)


First Steps! Rustin was the first one to take some walking steps! He has always been my most determined one, and he just kept trying and trying until he figured it out. I love the early walking stage---the babies are just so proud of themselves when they take some steps and they have these huge smiles on their faces. It is totally adorable!

First Independent Stander! About the time that Rustin was figuring out walking, Kyndall figured out how to stand herself up in the middle of the room. Her balance was great when she was standing still---she could stand there forever, but as soon as she would take a step, she would fall over. She always tried to prepare herself for the walking attempt by laughing and putting her hands in the "Frankenstein" position. It wasn't until her birthday that she figured out how to take more than one step without falling. Now she is hilarious to watch because she has these cute spindly legs and she toddles unsteadily for 5-6 steps, falls down, stands back up, takes 5-6 more steps, falls down, stands back up, etc. until she reaches her goal. The whole time she is smiling and laughing.


First Birthday Present! Kyndall, Kassidy, Ryder and Rustin attack an early birthday present brought over by some friends that were going to be out of town on the babies actual birthday. I think they had almost as much fun with the tissue paper as they did with the actual present.

First Mac and Cheese! I am almost embarassed to admit that the babies were nearly one year old before they had Mac and Cheese for the first time. Giving one baby a bowl of pasta and letting them go at it creates quite a mess, and the thought of cleaning up FIVE TIMES that mess was a little daunting. But my guilt at depriving my kids of one of the rites of toddlerhood finally overtook my desire for cleanliness and I decided to go for it. The babies loved it, of course. They also made a huge mess, as expected, but nothing that a little soap and water couldn't fix!

Kassidy (I don't know if you can see very well in the picture, but several noodles made their way to her hair)


Kaydence


Rustin


Kyndall


Ryder


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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Quint Olympics: The Crawling Race

When you need a break from watching the Summer Olympics in Beijing, check out the latest installment of the Quint Olympics! This episode features the Crawling Race.

BEFORE watching the video, cast your vote for who you think will take the gold in the poll to the right! ---->



If you missed the first two Quint Olympic events, you can see them here:

Quint Olympics: Toy Wrestling Competition

Quint Olympics: Cheerio Eating Contest
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Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Big Birthday Bash!

Garage Banner made by Christine Woods (the same creative genius that designed my nursery)


After weeks of planning, preparing and baking, the day of the big birthday bash arrived! We really wanted to do something for the babies birthday that included everyone who had helped us out this past year. Making it through the first year is a huge milestone, and I know we wouldn't have been able to do it on our own. When I started making the guest list, I was amazed at the number of people who had helped our family in some way this past year. I send out 223 Evite invitations, and (unfortunately) I still missed some people, which I felt really bad about!

When I first sent out the invitations, I had no idea of how many people to expect! I thought we would probably get around 100 people at the party. But the RSVP list kept growing, and we ended up with around 187 people at the party!


We also had a lot of family here for the celebration. My brother, Ryan, who is on break from dental school came for a week. He was great to entertain Riley and Kaiya by taking them to the pool, movies, McDonald's, etc. so we could get things ready for the party. My sister, Tiare, was also here. She has been living with us for several weeks this summer as my "Quint Nanny". My mom flew in 1 1/2 weeks before the party to help me out (she is great at party planning). My aunt Jeanie and her daughter Kiera also flew in from Arizona to be here for the babies birthday. Jeanie is the one who took care of me and my family while I was on bedrest in Arizona. She also let us completely take over her house when the babies came home from the hospital. She is so amazing, and I am so glad that she got to be here for the big day!


The party was so much fun. The babies looked totally adorable in their coordinating outfits. My mom found outfits in all their colors when she took a trip to Hawaii. My cousin, Kiera, did the girls hair. Unfortunately, things were so busy at the party, that we didn't get very many pictures of the babies! My mom did snap a few before the bulk of the people arrived.


Kassidy, Rustin and Kaydence--Not quite sure what the fuss is all about!


Kassidy

Ryder

Kaydence

The party was "come and go". There was a "Quint Quiz" trivia game with questions posted throughout the house (If you want to check your Wilkinson Quint IQ, I have listed all the questions in the post following this one). There was also lots of food. I started making rolls for sandwiches about two weeks before the party and freezing them. I have to admit that I got a little bit carried away---every time I made a batch we ended up eating some, plus I undercooked the first batch, so I kept thinking that I needed to make more to compensate. I think in the end I made about 300 rolls. Fortunately they freeze well and no one in my family is sick of them, despite how many we have eaten lately!

Besides ham and cheese and chicken salad sandwiches, we had chips, several different appetizers brought by friends, cookies, ice cream and of course cake. The ice cream was provided by Dreyer's. I entered an essay contest for a Dreyer's Slow Churned ice cream party and I was a grand prize winner! They actually give away 1,500 "grand prizes", so it isn't quite as prestigious as it sounds, but hey---its free ice cream!!

Here are some pictures of the food and decorations:

The Food

High Chair Decorations. After the babies were born, my mom's friends threw her a "Quint Mimi" shower. The gal that hosted the shower made the baby cut-outs and signs. They are so cute, I was glad to have an excuse to use them again.


The Family Room


Another angle of the Family Room


The crib room--the signs on the cribs were part of the trivia game.



The Cake



Of course, the cake eating was the highlight of the night! We all sang happy birthday and each baby got a cupcake frosted in "their" color. Rustin was the first to dive right in. Ryder immediately started crying (so typical of their personalities!!!) The girls were all a little unsure of what to do. I love how my sister-in-law, Tobi, described in on her blog. She said, "If this had been a Quint Olympics then Rustin would have won hands down. He was the first to grab his cupcake and smother the life out of it. So funny to see them all clutching those cupcakes until they resembled play-dough!" Eventually everyone figured things out and made a pretty good mess of themselves!


Ryder, Kassidy, Kaydence, Kyndall and Rustin, moments after getting their cupcakes.



"Yum! I get it now!"





Kassidy



Kaydence




Rustin


Kyndall

Ryder



After most of the guests had gone and we had cleaned up the cake aftermath, we let the babies open a couple of presents.


Like most one-year olds, they were more interested in the tissue paper than the actual present :-)

All in all, it was a great day!





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The Quint Quiz

Test your Wilkinson Quint IQ by answering the questions below. (This is the trivia game from the babies first birthday party. ) The answers are listed as a comment. Good Luck!

1. What order were the babies born in?

2. Which baby had the lowest birth weight?

3. What famous fictional character shares a birthday with the quints?

4. What order did the babies come home from the hospital?

5. What was the record-breaking combined total birth weight for the babies?

6. Who was the first baby to get a tooth?

7. Who was the first baby to take steps?

8. What hospital were the babies born in?

9. Which baby weighed the most at birth?

10. Which baby weighs the most now?

11. Who was the winner of the toy wrestling competition?

12. Who was the winner of the Cheerio eating contest?

13. How many bottles do the babies drink in a day?

14. Approximately how many diapers do the Wilkinson's go though in a week?

15. Which baby has had the most ear infections?

16. Which baby used to crawl like a snake?

17. What is the nickname for the big white van?

18. Which new anchors volunteered to work a quint shift?

19. Which baby hates going to the pool?

20. What was the first restaurant the quints visited?

21. Which baby can stand up by his or herself in the middle of the floor?

22. What is the nickname for the stroller?

23. What was the name of the Doctor in Arizona?

24. What day did the babies come home to Texas?

25. What are each of the babies colors?

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Friday, August 1, 2008

Happy Birthday Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder!!!

Yesterday was the BIG DAY!! Kassidy, Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall and Ryder turned ONE!! It has been an amazing year. I am so grateful for the help of friends and family that helped us during the last year. To celebrate, we had a huge party with friends, neighbors and relatives. I will post another birthday update with lots of pictures from the big day as soon as I get a chance. In the mean time, several news teams were here this week, and I have put links to their stories below:

KEYE News story two days before the party

KVUE News Story

FOX 7 News Story

KEYE News story on the Birthday (they were at the party and got footage of the cake eating)

Hill Country News Article

There is also an article in the August issue of Austin Monthly magazine. The website was not showing the August issue yet, but it should be soon. The magazine can also be found locally at Costco, Walgreens and HEB.
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