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.