Houston has officially kicked the binky. Stephen and I decided a long time ago that once he had depleted his rather large stash of the oral-soothing devices, we wouldn’t buy anymore.
Fat & happy post-pigging out, Gabriel (left) & Zeke fiddle while their food digests.
Well, upon close inspection of his last remaining pacifier, it was evident by the tears and gashes that it had to go. I gave him one last hurrah with his dear old sleeping companion last night, and then we threw it in the trash this morning. And as of this writing, Houston has fallen asleep for a nap and for the night tonight quite successfully and without much fuss over his beloved binky.
Yes, Houston is a good boy, although we are still struggling a bit trying to get him to be nicer to the twins. He especially picks on Gabriel, who pretty much worships his big brother. And I think that’s exactly why Houston shows such an affinity for being mean to Gabe. Zeke oftentimes tends to be a loner when he’s playing, whereas Gabriel wants to be with Houston. Therefore, when Houston pushes him down or steals his toy, Gabriel reacts quite dramatically, of course, satisfying big brother’s mischievous ways.
It’s even more disheartening since Gabriel loves to share. He’s always moving food over to Zeke’s high chair tray or holding up toys for me or brothers to play with. So he takes Houston’s stinginess particularly personally. All in all, the 3 Amigos get along as well as can be expected, considering that Houston’s in the heat of his terrible twos and the twins are still babies.
Houston plays w/ “choo choo twains” @ the Children’s Museum.
Zeke has become a real a live wire, and here we thought he was going to be the mellow one. (Dare I say we won’t have a mellow one in this crew of sassy boys.) He screeches at Houston to leave him alone and holds his own when battling one-on-one with Gabriel. Zeke wasn’t going to let a little lung surgery hold him back, uh uh.
In addition to sucking his thumb, Zeke has also taken to cuddling with blankets, similar to Linus. He must always hold the blanket with his right hand (his thumb-sucking hand), while pressing the soft material and usually the washing-instruction tag, as well, up to his his face. Zeke will even pull blankets out of his crib in order to have them to crawl around with while playing in the nursery. And when a blankie is nowhere to be found, a stuffed animal and its tag will normally suffice.
Zeke (left) & Gabriel check out Dixie’s old toy — a hand-me-down from Miss Shawn.
I sometimes say the twins are like little zombies. You know how in the movies zombies just keep coming at you, crawling over you and on top of you, drooling madly, eventually overtaking the victim? Gabriel and Zeke get really excited when Mommy comes to play and do the same thing. Even though their wiggly attack is affectionate, they dig their toenails into my legs, rip my flesh to pull themselves up onto me, pull the fuzzy hairs on the back of my neck, tear down the neck of my shirt, and drool and/or puke on me. They’re usually making some crazy zombie-type grunts during all this, too.
I’m not sure if it’s because of their challenging time in utero or because they still share a crib and are used to beating each other up or just because they are strong little dudes who simply cannot contain their zest for life.
My boys are some good darn eaters. The twins are now eating virtually all table foods and loving every minute of it. (The only trouble I’m having is getting them to stop spitting food, which they seem to think is some sort of game.) At dinner tonight, Gabriel and Zeke even devoured some tilapia cooked in teriyaki, and Houston tried his hand at a tossed salad. He really likes raw carrots and celery, but had some trouble getting the slippery lettuce down his throat without incident.
Granny catches a pose w/ the 3 Amigos!
FYI, some of you have been asking about what to give to Gabriel and Zeke for their 1st birthday on October 16. Instead of a gift per se, please consider donating in their names to one of the following non-profits:
- The Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome Foundation: Click on the “donate now” link in the center of the home page.
- Cincinnati Children’s Hospital: Click the “Ways to give” link.
- The National Right to Life: Click on the “click here to donate” link in the upper left-hand corner.
- Susan B. Anthony List: Click on the “take action” link in the upper right-hand corner and drag down to “donate today.”
To check out some additions to the September – Part 3 gallery, click the pic of Granny and the boys. To view all the late September shots, click the very top photo of the twins. And to view photos of Houston on his play date with Uncle Greg and Auntie Merdy, click the pic of him with the trains. (Note: Some of these are blurry, I suppose because they were shot with an iPhone, but they’re still worth viewing.)