Friday, like everyday, Houston said something that cracked me up. “I like this song,” he explained as we listened to the bluegrass station on satellite radio. “I think it’s about Jesus … or maybe it’s about Star Wars.” Three year olds are so funny and, man, do they love to talk! Houston is “full of potatoes,” as I like to tell him (as opposed to the other full-of phrase). There isn’t any subject that boy won’t broach, nor is there any vocabulary or phraseology he won’t tackle.

Kara & Houston have a blast @ Surfside Beach!

As far as the twins go, Stephen and I have been somewhat concerned about their language delay. Gabriel and Zeke know what we’re saying; they can follow directions; correctly point to objects in books; sign; have fine hearing; and make some sounds and utterances we can relate to what they’re trying to convey. But the boys simply don’t speak that many understandable words. Speech-language delay is quite frankly common among boys, among twins and among preemies — obviously, categories in which Gabe and Zeke fall — but we are still planning on forging ahead with some speech therapy for them.

We came to this conclusion after having them undergo developmental screening over the past month. For a while there, Stephen was convinced Gabriel and Zeke had autism. Combine the facts that Stephen adores all his boys, the twins do have some speech-delay issues, and Daddy got somewhat obsessive about his autism research on the Internet, and you have a parent who was convinced his kids had a life-altering condition. Since I was already a tad worried about Gabe and Zeke’s speaking abilities, I agreed to have the twins see a developmental doc. Not only was I fairly certain this professional approach would allay Stephen’s fears, but the doc could also refer us to a speech therapist, if necessary.

“Have your people call my people,” says beach super-star Gabriel. 

This saga started on 8/12 when Stephen and I had our parent meeting with Dr. Kuhn. Then Gabriel had his 2-hour evaluation on 8/19 and Zeke had his on 8/26. Stephen and I had our follow-up with the doc on 9/1, and his diagnosis was that Gabriel and Zeke are both right on track with all of their development (social, cognitive, emotional, physical), but they are experiencing some “expressive speech delay” (i.e., they understand language and commands, but they just aren’t using that many articulable words themselves — chock that up to twin talk or their near six-week prematurity or that they have their needs met without having to use much English.

Long story long, it’s all good: Daddy is much less stressed about everything, Mommy’s relieved that Daddy’s not so anxious anymore, and we’re both happy to get Gabe and Zeke some no-big-whoop speech therapy, and then they’ll be talking as much as big bro before we know it. It’s hard to believe that one day soon the twins will be expertly expressing some of the crazy thoughts that toddlers have. Like tonight when I told a sassy Houston, “Don’t back talk to me like you run the world, young man.” His confident reply: “I do run the world, Mommy, ’cause I’m a big boy.” Pretty soon we’ll have three boys giving us lip like that. Whoa.

Besides all that, here’s what else is going on:

8/12: During Papa, Gramsey and Kara’s visit, Papa bought Houston a reading lamp that hooks to his bed. Houston is really proud to have the lamp and now doesn’t have to strain to read his books and comics while lounging in the sack. Also, cousin Kara brought her Nintendo DS during their visit and got Houston into learning how to play on Daddy’s mini-gaming system. He has obsessively mastered the DS since then, so much so, that we’re now having to limit his gaming time; otherwise, that boy would play DS from dawn till dusk.

Doesn’t this old photo of Papa bear a striking resemblance to Houston?!?

8/13: Daddy helped me take the 3 Amigos to their dental appointment. Gabriel didn’t cry at all, Zeke only whined a bit when the hygienist had to scrape some tartar off his teeth and Houston showed a huge improvement over the last traumatic appointment, which is seared into my psyche. No, he didn’t love having people poke around his mouth, but he was pleasant both before and after the cleaning.

8/14: Daddy and I took the boys to Dixie’s 4th birthday party at a rockin’ place called the Little Gym. It was evident at the party that Zeke has morphed into the adventurous one – he’ll be the one jumping out of airplanes one day, not Gabe, which used to be my assertion; Gabe is a major mama’s/daddy’s boy; and Houston is somewhere comfortably in between. Houston and Daddy then went to the mountains for a couple of days to attend the Houston Family Reunion. Houston really turned a corner with his potty training while there and Stephen actually came home with pull-ups to spare.

8/15: Mommy, Auntie Merdy and the twins attended the Women’s Hospital NICU Reunion. The fun-filled event featured a tumble bus, tattoos, blowing bubbles, a teddy bear clinic, a toddler rec room, a touch-a-truck table, a massage for Mommy and lots of free food!

8/17: Houston took his first doo-doo in the potty. He is solely wearing big-boy undies, except sometimes during naps, at night or on outings, like going to the Y. He also enjoys peeing outside when we’re playing, as well as peeing off the deck — something I have stressed is ONLY okay to do in the privacy of our own back yard.

Ever dauntless, Zeke stalks this big bear @ the NICU Reunion.

8/18: I ended up having to take all three hoodlums to Zeke’s gastro-intestinal check-up, and they were actually very well behaved. I notified his specialist that I tweaked one of Zeke’s prescriptions, which he is supposed to take three times a day, either an hour before he eats or two hours after. Turns out that Zeke’s sensitive system reacts much better to the meds when he takes it with food. With the exception of his bout with a 24-hour tummy bug at the beach, Zeke hasn’t puked in weeks! Z-Bird weighed in at 28 pounds, 10 ounces (Gabe weighed 28 pounds, 2 ounces at his session the next day with Dr. Kuhn). After the appointment, we strolled to my nearby eye doc to pick up my contacts. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the loud and bustling walk along the big-city streets.

8/21: We took the kids to another great party for Maddie’s 5th birthday at Bounce-U. Unfortunately, I was unable to snap photos ’cause Daddy and I were actually too busy participating in the fun to help ease the kids’ intermittent apprehension regarding some of the more thrilling “bounce stadiums,” as they are called. Cousin Casey also made a brief visit to the zoo to hang out and take a break from her long road trip to Tulane University, which will be her new home, while she earns her doctoral degree in French. We’re so proud of you, Casey!

8/22-8/25: Mommy and the boys trekked to Surfside Beach, South Carolina, to spend some fun in the sun with Auntie Dina, Kara and Uncle Richard.

• Arriving late, the first night was horrendous. Zeke had some sort of stomach bug and vomited (like I had never seem him) three times that night and once the next morning. I was sharing a California King bed with the 3 Amigos, so that was a sleepless night, for sure.
• “Mama’s boy” Gabe whined almost constantly the first full day there and, shockingly, neither he or Zeke liked the sand or the ocean. Houston, however, loved the beach and had a blast playing in the sand and surf with Kara and Dina. We then hit a kid-friendly pool at our resort, which was a bit more the twins’ speed. After Dina kicked our butt’s at Scrabble, I got a better night’s sleep with my flip-flopping boys.

Synopsis of Gabriel (left) & Zeke’s 1st time to the beach: NOT impressed.

• On the second day, Dina watched Gabriel and Zeke so I could take Houston and Kara to the beach. Houston karate chopped waves, got used to the taste of salt water, braved a few underwater slips, and enjoyed building a sand turtle under Kara’s strict direction. We then we hit the pool across the street from our condo. Meanwhile, the twins let their hair down with Dina and then the entire posse went to the fancy pool again. I managed to fit Gabe, Zeke and and myself (with Kara’s help) into an inner tube to float along the “lazy river.” By this time, Zeke’s bug was gone, but Gabriel’s cough and everyone’s runny noses were pretty darn bad. Yet, we somehow had a restful night in that big communal bed … thanks in large part to Richard buying a replacement for Gabriel’s strange comfort item: an empty baby bottle.
• Our last day, I woke up feeling terrible. I wasn’t sure if it was pure physical exhaustion from toting around three burly boys at the beach or the tummy bug or both, but after going to the regular pool with the gang, I showered and napped with the twins while Houston went to the beach with Kara, Dina and Richard. I painstakingly packed up all our gear and made the 4-hour drive home, even once pulling over to hurl on the side of the highway. Looking back, this mini-vacation was a lot of work, but worth the hassle ’cause the kids had a great time. Thanks for putting up with us, Dina, Kara and Richard … and thanks, too, for making us feel so welcome at your timeshare, Richard!

8/30: It was my 39th birthday, so the dudes and I celebrated by donating tons of outgrown toys and clothes to my charity of choice and then spending a couple hours at a downtown park.

9/3: Daddy and Houston went to their first high school football game of the season. Despite his denied request to take his recorder so that he could accompany the marching band, Houston had a wonderful time with Daddy and playing on the bleachers with a mutually hyper boy in a Toy Story t-shirt.

A few randoms … Houston has successfully worn his is big-boy undies to children’s church and used the potty there. At his request, he has also used the real toilet at home while standing up. Gabriel can adeptly use the pedals on the trike. He is also quite a ninja at opening anything and everything. And Zeke is an artistic genius at sidewalk chalk and is also very proud of his new words: “Mama,” “ah ceam” (ice cream) and “mmm bah” (school bus).

Click the above photo to view all the Surfside pics and the Zeke-and-bear photo to check out latest additions to the August gallery.