I took Houston to the dermatologist yesterday, and the doc confirmed that he does have eczema, as well as a spot of ringworm on his back. The prescriptions have already started working on the many dry, scaly, uncomfortable patches he has on his sensitive skin.

Gabriel (left) & Zeke almost always wake up happy!

The doc also said that the red stripes he so frequently has under his eyes are symptoms of eczema. We had thought these were results from Houston’s seasonal allergies and had been giving him doc-recommended antihistamine eye drops, which he absolutely hates!

It always takes two people get the meds into his eyes: one to restrain his freak-out and the other to tend to the eyes. So it’s definitely a good thing that we now only have to administer the occasional eye drop when need be, rather than drops once a day.

Standing up & pulling things down makes Gabriel giddy.

The twins are doing excellent, although they’re up to no good a lot of the time. Example: last week they were playing in the nursery, while I was tending to the kitchen. I heard a racket, so I went to investigate. They had pulled down a chair cushion; Gabriel was sitting upon the conquest, yelling triumphantly, while Zeke was mercilessly beating their defenseless prisoner.

Back in the kitchen, I heard some more hoopla. This time, my zany boys had pulled over their huge laundry basket and were basking in all the puke-covered clothing and excitedly throwing pieces into the air.

Attempting one more time to get something done in the kitchen, I heard more suspicious noise. I found Zeke playing innocently enough, but where was Gabriel? That wild child had managed to crawl under the crib all in an effort to chew the tire of one big brother’s Hot Wheel trucks. It was no matter that his head was crushed up against the mattress springs; he was happy as can be. Boys are so weird … and I live with four of ’em!

Houston & his main girl, Dixie, create beautiful sidewalk art.

Other tidbits:

• The boys love “singing” during Mommy’s power walks. The beautiful sounds often times have my neighbors peeking out of their windows to see what all the fuss is about.
• Daddy: “Houston, don’t you want to be like Daddy and use the potty?” Houston: “Nope.” Daddy: “So who do you want to be like?” Houston: “Hoo-tuhn!”
• Zeke’s cruising has greatly improved and he is giving Gabriel a run for his money. Better get my running shoes ready ’cause I will have three very mobile boys before you know it!
• Houston is finally peddling on his trike. He was virulently anti-pedal for a while, but still liked to “ride” kind of Fred Flintstone-style. Mommy and Houston’s shins are welcoming the advancement.
• Gabriel is currently our tempestuous child, making Taz look lethargic and lazy. He is wide open!
• And Zeke is our temperamental boy, crying and making funny angst-ridden faces whenever he wants to be held, which is pretty much all the time.

Zeke enjoys grubbing around on our dirty front porch.

We had a ceremony for Bean last weekend. We dug a shallow hole and put inside it some hair from her favorite sleeping pillow, some stuffing from the pillow, art drawn by Houston and Daddy, and a note from Mommy. I read the note aloud and then Stephen said a prayer. The occasion was sad, but I’m glad there’s some place we can visit with Bean whenever we’re missing our sweet girl.

Bob and Stanley are doing okay dealing with the loss of their sister, but you can tell they miss Bean, too. It’s strange to see animals mourning.

Click the above photo of Zeke to check out all the September photos and the photo of Houston and Dixie to see all the late August shots. Note: Some of the pics are a tad blurry because I thought I was experiencing camera problems. Turns out I just needed to buy new rechargeable batteries. Problem solved.