Despite the look of torment on Zeke’s face in the photo below (which was taken the day after his return home from the hospital), he is finally getting back into the swing of things around the zoo and is holding his own much better now.

“I’m sooooooooooo glad brother’s home,” says Gabriel. “My hospital bed is looking pretty good about now,” thinks Zeke.

We noticed on Monday that Gabriel’s first tooth is popping through his bottom gum. He seems to be teething more dramatically than Zeke, whose drooling, chewing and gnawing is fairly limited in comparison to Gabriel. Soon enough, both boys will be flashing those adorable snaggle-tooth grins that soften even the hardest heart.

Houston & Zeke have fun poking buttons — one of big brother’s favorite pastimes.

Houston is going swimming at Dixie’s house tomorrow. She has a big pool, and I plan to teach him a few techniques that should serve him well at his last swim lesson this coming Saturday. Miss Heather will be watching the twins so I can devote my full attention to helping Houston blow bubbles, hold his breath and put his face in the water.

Click the top photo to see all the June – Part 2 pics and the above photo to see all the Part 3 shots. Birthday party and Tea Party photos coming soon.

Looking back on all the photos of Zeke while at Brenner’s (click the image below to see all the pics) reminds me of the overwhelming feeling I had during my hospital stay: simply put, kids are the best and are way cooler than adults.

Doctors Cooper, Petty & Van der Vaart proudly pose w/ a CCAM-less Zeke.

Every child I saw emanated a powerful will to live that seemed untouched by the negativity and baggage that adults so often create for themselves. Witnessing the pure survival mode and faithful fighting spirit of Zeke and all the other kids there was a magical thing. Let’s hear it for the children, y’all!

Not that I don’t love the twins, but I am so over breastfeeding. Our wild Beast actually feeds better than our oft mild-mannered Zeke, who enjoys ripping my nipple apart to look around, unlatching and latching back on 1,000 times, and doing his famous rocking move while attached at the breast. Not fun.

Heck, I’ve been doing breastfeeding for the better part of two years and I am just looking forward to having my boobs back to myself. I’m not kicking it till Gabriel and Zeke are at least 10 1/2 months; that was the point at which my body stopped producing milk for Houston. It’ll also be nice to get back on my allergy nasal spray and other occasional meds, as well as get my hormones back to as normal a level as possible.

Mommy takes Zeke for a stroll around the hospital on the day of his discharge.

We have implemented a zero-tolerance policy with Houston as far as his disobedience goes. I used to give a few chances before punishing him, but I find that I’m less likely to discipline in anger when I just nip the contrary action in the bud immediately. I tell him that he lives in a dictatorship and that Mommy is the supreme ruler.

Sometimes Gabriel will crawl over to Houston during time out, so we have to make sure that Gabe is restrained when big brother’s being punished. But overall, using a time-out corner is pretty effective since Houston absolutely hates staring at the wall. And with most kids Houston’s age, we’re also concentrating on quelling the incessant whining, improving his listening skills and following instruction, and getting him to start using simple manners. Ah, the joys of toddler-hood!

Amanda, who tended to Zeke during his stay in intermediate care, was one of our favorite nurses.

The twins are doing dandy, although I could hire a full-time assistant just to clean up their puke. Man, do I have some pukey boys. Houston had his last vomit at around 11 months, so I hope Gabriel and Zeke will cease the nasty habit by then … or perhaps even sooner.

We’re heading to the Raleigh Tea Party to celebrate Independence Day. Should be a lot of fun for the whole family. Hope you and yours have a wonderful 4th of July!

On Monday, Zeke had his follow-up appointment with Dr. Petty, who said Z-Bird is recovering smashingly. Being the thorough surgeon that he is, Dr. Petty wants to see Zeke one more time in July, just to make sure his recovery is right on track. If Zeke is doing then as good as he is now, we will hopefully never have to go to another children’s hospital ever again.

Zeke (on left) & Gabriel have fun w/ Mommy in the kitchen.

Although he is healing well, Zeke is still not crazy about tummy time, especially when Gabriel is around, upping the competition in a major way. Zeke’s limited “crawling” usually consists going backwards or just a few inches forward, or simply rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, and then squalling till someone rescues him. Time in the jump-n-go will usually remedy the angst — a good thing since I want him to get lots of exercise to help to increase his strength and stamina.

Other than lagging behind on crawling, Zeke has finally caught up to Gabriel as far as eating is concerned. In fact, I was surprised that Zeke weighed only 16 pounds, 15 ounces at the doc — 2 ounces less than he was on the day of his discharge. Gabriel does look bigger, but Zeke definitely looks heavier and hardier than he did when he came home from the hospital. Plus, he is one long sucker, measuring in at 26 inches, so we’re not all that worried.

“Beast” crawls like nobody’s business!

Gabriel has been given the loving nickname of Beast. That boy is just a live wire, always grunting and screeching about something. He sucks down his bottles like there’s no tomorrow, attacks my boobs during feedings as if he’s a wild animal, crawls around the house at hurried speeds, steals whatever toy Zeke happens to be playing with, takes head bumps as if he’s wearing a helmet, flares his spicy temper when solid foods aren’t being shoveled into his mouth quickly enough, and challenges big brother whenever possible.

Houston is glad to have both brothers back in the house. It’s absolutely adorable how much the twins worship him, and how they beam and giggle whenever he decides to grace them with attention. Even semi-torturous acts usually garner a grin and a chuckle.

Houston’s 2nd birthday party was a smashing success. I hope to have party photos available for your viewing pleasure soon, as well as pics of Zeke during his hospital stay. In the meantime, click the above photo of Gabriel to check out all the June – Part 1 photos.