Surviving Houston brood mark milestone

The surviving Houston octuplets are celebrating their 10th birthday this weekend.
   
The five girls and two boys are part of the world’s first set of octuplets born alive. They blew out their candles with gusto, their days as preemies on respirators far behind them.
   
All were born three months premature at a Houston hospital in December 1998. Their parents, who are natives of Nigeria, say they are astonished and grateful the babies have grown to be healthy and active fourth-graders.
   
The babies’ weights at birth ranged from 10.3 ounces to 1 pound, 11 ounces. The tiniest later died of heart and lung failure.

Family and friends recalled how the family had set up assembly lines to feed the children. There was also a color system for their clothes during the week: red on Monday, maroon on Tuesday, yellow on Wednesday, and so on.
   
The family still lives in the six-bedroom home that was donated to them and the kids get shuttled around in a 16-passenger van.
   
It’s a busy group. A few years after the octuplets were born, the family welcomed another girl, Favor, now 6.