A Schedule - Finally

We had a very informative doctor's appointment yesterday where they got their flu shots and we were given a lot of next steps for the babies. We are now going to be starting them on sipping water from a cup, increasing their solid food intake to larger quantities/more variety/3 meals a day, feeding them finger food as a snack, and not feeding them anymore at night. The doctor said we should not feed them prior to 6am and need to just let them cry it out during their night wakings. I told her how much we were struggling with getting sleep because they were waking at different times in the night and sometimes crying hard and for long periods where we felt forced to feed them (mostly Madeline). The last two weeks had just been so rough with only getting 1-2hours of sleep at a time and them waking each other up. She was convinced that it was becoming a habit and we needed to not "let them run the household". By increasing their food intake, we can be even more assured that they are not hungry during the night so that is what we will do. Last night went pretty well for the most part. Tess slept like a champ until 7am where we actually woke her up, Madeline cried every couple of hours but we tried to block it out by closing her door (she sleeps alone in the nursery) and our door and she got her self back to sleep. Only one time did I go in and just readjusted her and rubbed her back and she fell back to sleep. Molly woke up a couple times and one of the times she was getting pretty loud so we moved her portable crib into the kitchen (yes, the kitchen b/c we have no more rooms) so she wouldn't wake up Tess. She seemed to sleep pretty good out there. They all got up for the day around 6:45am so that was really nice. Since then, we have had them on a great schedule all day with incorporating the meals, bottles, play time and naps and so far so good.

Here are the stats at their 6 month check-up:
Molly: 13 pounds, 3 ounces
Madeline: 13 pounds, 1 ounce
Tess: 13 pounds, 2 ounces
They are all exactly 24 1/2 inches.

I've been updating the post below with the scenes that the girls have been appearing in on One Life to Live for those that have been watching. It has been pretty fun watching them on TV. We had a great time in the city last Saturday night. When we arrived, they gave us each a glass of champagne and then we sat at the swanky hotel bar. We had dinner at The Mercer and spent the rest of the night in SOHO at some fun places. We slept until 10am (I was still up a lot during the night...habit I guess) and then enjoyed a great breakfast before heading back to Hoboken. My parents on the other hand experienced the joy of waking up all night with the girls...yikes. But, they survived and we are so thankful for their help to give us a night off.

The girls have really been doing great with eating solids. So far we have tried rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, and bananas. Here are some pictures of Halloween and them eating:

... 3 Peas in a Pod with Grandma Burns:

Maddy:

Henry:

Eating

Tess:

Molly:

Maddy:

Hanging around the house:

Molly:

Maddy:

Tess watching the street activity:

Henry and the Girls: