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.

Back in mid-May, Miss Heather and I loaded up the boys in the mini-van and took them to get fancy photos taken at the mall. As you can see, Houston, Gabriel and Zeke wore the Reds baseball caps Daddy bought for them while he and Mommy were in Ohio visiting Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for Mommy’s fetal surgery last July.

The hats are symbolic for our journey over the past year, with the twins surviving TTTS and thriving outside of the womb, Zeke conquering his CCAM woes, the 3 Amigos just bonding and loving each other like brothers should do, and our family finally all together, happy and healthy and under one roof … not to mention the fact that Daddy has big baseball plans for the boys when they’re older! Click the photo below to check out all the cute pro pics.

Zeke (top) & Gabriel ponder, “What has Mommy gotten us into now?”

Zeke is better than new since his lobectomy. Last Saturday was the only semi-bad day he has had since coming home from Brenner’s. Granny noticed that the incision site was a little puffy. Plus, Zeke had a slight fever and was pretty grumpy. But all is well now … the puffiness is almost totally gone and Z-Bird is happy as a clam. Dr. Petty says the slight swelling is normal; it’s just the tissues underneath the skin recovering from the trauma of surgery.

Gabriel left poor Zeke in the dust during his brother’s hospital stay. Gabriel was already the more advanced crawler prior to the surgery. And since Zeke was bed ridden for the better part of a week, and then returned home fatigued, fairly medicated and weighing 7 ounces less than Gabriel (Zeke weighed 17 lbs., 1 oz. on 6/16, and Gabe was 17 lbs., 8 oz. on 6/20), he couldn’t even roll from back to belly the first couple of days he was home.

Zeke’s doing much better now, enjoying tummy time for brief periods and doing some limited crawling, although he gets frustrated much quicker than before. Surely it doesn’t help Zeke’s confidence level that Gabriel has taken off like a wild buck, crawling around the house like nobody’s business and getting into everything he can get his grubby little paws on — including changing the station on our XM Radio. Gabriel is one strong lad! Who knows, our “little hot mess,” as one nurse called Zeke, may decide to forego crawling altogether and go straight to walking. We shall see.

“Thank you, Lord, for our miracle babies (Gabriel on left, Zeke on right) & their loving big brother,” say Mommy & Daddy. 

On Saturday, I took Houston to swim class, while Daddy lifted weights. Well, Houston finally let go of whatever it was that was bothering him about being at the Y (yeah, his third lesson didn’t go so hot). Since Daddy paved the way, I was able to get Houston into the water! He had a blast, making friends, letting Mommy swim him around the deep end, playing on a neat underwater ledge, frolicking in some fountains, having fun with lots of water toys, going under the rope, and even doing the hokey pokey with all the other kids at the end of class.

Then the next day, Houston attended children’s church for the very first time. He was a pretty good boy, although a couple older boys easily hyped him up whenever they so chose. Also, Houston’s utter love of hugging did initially freak out some kids; they soon got over it, once Bull tempered his zest for the gesture. Considering that the new atmosphere is much more stimulating that the church nursery, I’d say our tazzy boy handled himself quite well.

Zeke’s crooked hat perfectly illustrates his goofy and fun-loving personality.

Houston’s allergies seem to have gotten a bit better in recent days. We slather him with snazzy lotions, vitamin E and corn starch for his eczema. For his seasonal allergies, we continue to give him Claritin and “razor-blade flavored” eye drops (what I call them due to his dramatic reaction to the drops) and always run a humidifier in his room when he sleeps. I hope Houston gets over these darn sensitivities soon and is especially healthy for his fun-filled outdoor birthday party this Saturday.

Here are a few funny Houston translations:

• tett-unh = tortilla
• pett-ance = pizza
• bruv-urh = brothers
• pook = puke
• in-yare = in there
• *uck = truck
• cock = clock
• piggy = The Muppets
• cwooz = Blue’s Clues

 Gabriel flashes “the look of judgment” — a standard facial expression that both twins possess.

Note: here’s some proof we really do live at “the zoo.” Because the competition for attention has really been upped since the twin’s arrival on the scene, Stanley has been bringing us “gifts” more and more frequently. These have included both living and dead birds, chipmunks, mice and lizards. His murderous ways hit an all-time high when Zeke and I were away at the hospital when the nutty feline brought in a live bunny and proceeded to torture and kill it under our bed. Granny heard the whole ordeal and lucky Daddy got to clean up the mess. Needless to say, we got handy-man Papa to remove our cat door.