Nine years ago today Stephen and I tied the knot. Back then, we were liberal agnostics, living a carefree life in a college town. Now, we’re libertarian-leaning Christians, living the high-stress, but utterly rewarding life of proud parents to three boys. My how times have changed!
Gone are the days when all the boys will stay still long enough to snap a photo.
Speaking of change, all these photos come from a play date Houston (then 19 months old) had with our good friends’ kid, Matthew (then 10 months old), last January. Having recently rediscovered the pics in an e-mail that Matthew’s mom, Beth, sent me long ago, I perused the shots and decided they were too cute not to post on the blog. Click the above photo to view pics from that fun-filled day, as well as a few shots of another play date from early last year.
And change seems to be such a constant when raising so many young hoodlums. Just when we celebrate a new milestone, contend with a new transition and handle a new growth or development, it’s as if we have barely enough time to adjust to the physical transformation or mental maturation before change sets in again.
It’s amazing, yes, but also quite exhausting at times. At the end of most days, I am still astonished that the kids, Daddy and I survived fairly unscathed and are all a bit stronger, wiser and no worse for the wear.
Even back then, Houston enjoys flaunting his physical power by sitting on babies.
Now that an increasingly mobile Gabriel and Zeke aren’t puking so much, we’re beginning to let them crawl and cruise around the living room. This is proving to be a difficult transition since they’re used to having the run of the hallway and two baby-proofed bedrooms, where they can virtually explore to their hearts’ content, tearing down, throwing, banging and chewing on anything in their path.
Obviously, our living room doesn’t fit that description, with electronics, books, cords and lots of other adult gear everywhere within their reach, thus, the attending adult must be extremely alert and hands-on when monitoring the kids. Plus, the twins are not that accustomed to hearing “No!” during their explorations, so the household change is even that much more daunting.
Zeke (left) & Gabriel around 3 months old … can’t believe how big and loud they are now!
Some other stuff:
- Gabriel will mimic an adult saying, “Uh oh.” Gramsey and Papa discovered this during their time baby sitting the kids last weekend.
- Both Gabriel and Zeke have natural talent at throwing the football and basketball. (Sharing the balls, however, is another story.) Saying, “Yay!” after Zeke’s throw elicits a boisterous response in him.
- Houston can now slam-dunk the basketball in his net and is getting much better at catching balls, thanks to much practice with Daddy.
- Gabriel held up his arm when gesturing “bye” to Miss Heather today, and Zeke actually waved to her. Smart boys!
Houston dons a fancy “drool scarf” — a wardrobe staple during his time teething.
- Gabe’s teething is in full swing. His lot of newly revealed teeth is causing him to whine and drool up a storm. Zeke’s teeth are still hiding below the surface, just waiting to wreak havoc. I’ll have to dress those boys in drool scarves sooner rather than later.
- Houston likes to “fwy” (fly) off his changing table like “Soo-pare man.” He also enjoys “numping” (jumping) off of anything and insists on taking off his socks as to attain proper grip on the landing.
- Houston has taken to saying “cool;” telling Mommy “careful” when he thinks I’m being clumsy when handling him; repeating a phrase that Mommy or Daddy say and adding “too” to the end of it; and adding “self” to the end of a phrase about himself.
