It has been an entire month since I last blogged. We’ve been busy with the daily grind, fun, doc appointments, discipline, errands, chores, play dates, yard work, travel and the craziness that is life in Clan Dillingham. I’ve also been taking lots of photos and have gotten way behind on downloading and editing, but I do have some good shots to share.

No, Houston’s not peeing … he’s playing w/ his pal, Matthew!

Here’s an overview of our activities since the last blog:

• 4/16 > Two-year-old Matthew, baby Jonathan and Mama Beth visit the zoo on an unseasonably hot day for seemingly endless fun with the garden hose and a feast of pizza and cheesy bread.
• 4/17 > The clan heads to our oft-patronized local lawn-and-garden store for their 11th anniversary celebration, featuring tractors, other big and booming farm equipment, live bluegrass music and hot dogs.
• 4/21 > The twins have their 18-month pediatric check-up. Zeke was 26 pounds, 4 1/2 ounces; 30 3/4″ long and his head was 19 1/2″ around; and Gabriel was 25 pounds, 15 ounces; 30 1/4″ long and his head was 18 1/2″ around — momentous since it was the first measurements since the day they were born that Zeke came in bigger than Gabe.
• 5/1 > Houston and Daddy hit “free comic book day” at Daddy’s favorite local comic specialty shop. At the crowded event, they see Super Man, who Houston was afraid of for some odd reason; a “smoking-hot” Wonder Woman, as described by Daddy; Falcon; Green Lantern; and Storm Troopers … also known as “Star Wars guys,” according to Houston.
• That evening, we attend a neighborhood party with our old buddy, Bill. Mommy and the twins head home after the kids follow a ball into a patch of poison ivy. Houston stays behind with Daddy and Bill, and has fun rough-housing with a boy, also named Matthew.

Gabriel loves tractors, big tires & anything that goes vroom-vroom.

• 5/4 > The boys accompany Mommy and Daddy to our local polling place to vote in the NC primaries. In the 3 Amigos’ opinions, the voting machines were okay, but the “I voted” stickers were way cool.
• 5/5 > Auntie Merdy hosts Mommy and the kids for a play date at her neighborhood park. The sandbox is a huge hit with the twins and Houston has a blast on the slides.
• 5/8 > Mommy participates in a multi-family yard sale with our neighbors, Heather and Trey. We don’t make much money selling mostly outgrown baby stuff, but Mommy enjoys the kid-free morning and also scores some free toys for the kids.
• 5/12 > We get to spend some time with our beloved Miss Heather. Although she was at the house for monthly cleaning, Heather was able to play a little, as well as give lots of hugs and kisses to the boys.
• 5/14-5/16 > The family road trips to Virginia to celebrate Aunt Lisa and cousin Casey’s graduation from college. Congrats! It was a lot of work getting there and tending to the kids in Gramsey and Papa’s 3-level house (yeah, stairs stink!), but a blast was had by all, especially Houston, Gabriel and Zeke, who were smothered with love and attention and fed many sweet treats.
• 5/18 > Zeke has a check-up with his gastro-intestinal doc. Considering that he has puked just one time in the last 13 days (THANK YOU, LORD!), his meds will remain as is for now and will be re-evaluated at his next appointment in August. Zeke was also an even 27 pounds, which is the 50-percentile range for his age and a whopping 7 1/2 ounces more than he weighed at the pediatrician not even one month ago. Amazing!

“Hey, let’s use this bin for lounging & climbing — anything but storing toys,” think Zeke (in bin) & Gabriel.

• Today > Mommy and the boys visit Daddy at work. We walk to a nearby establishment, where Houston and Zeke eat gelato (strangely enough, Gabe was uninterested), and Mommy and Daddy chug sweet coffee drinks; we see adorable Canadian geese ducklings waddling through the parking lot; and then have fun riding the elevator and bugging Daddy’s co-workers.

Other notable happenings:

• Gabriel is saying lots of words in his own quirky way and even made up a sign for one of his favorite things: “mower.”
• Zeke is still signing up a storm and doing funny things, like saying “shhhh” while sticking his finger up his nose.
• Gabriel is a master at climbing stairs (or climbing most anything) and made it down the front steps solo for the first time today. He’s fearless!
• Zeke has one hell of an arm, successfully making baskets with tennis balls (or most anything small enough to fit through the hoop). He has power and precision!
• If you ask Houston what his name is, his answer is “Sus-tuhn Can Dih-yin-ham” (read: Houston Clan Dillingham). Too funny!
• The twins are now taking one nap a day (around 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) It was a painful transition, but it has worked out nicely.

 

Houston & Zeke collect “nature” in milk cartons, while getting wild down our backyard path.

• Houston skipped his 2 p.m. nap for the past couple of days, going to bed early instead, yet still waking up around the same time in the morning. If this becomes habit, Mommy might actually be able to start swimming at the Y in the afternoons, while the dudes play and make friends in the childcare facility. Keep your fingers crossed!
• And last but certainly not least, we made our final payment to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital a few weeks ago. Considering I underwent laser surgery for TTTS in July 2008, it is certainly a wonderful thing to be free and clear of one of our major medical bills. Yee haw!

Click the top photo of Houston and Matthew to check out “Hangin’ w/ the Hydes;” click the next photo of Gabriel to see the shots of “Tractors Rock;” click the pic of the twins being nutty in the nursery to view all the April – Part 2 shots; and the above image of Houston and Zeke to see the Part 3 photos. May pics coming soon.