About 10 days ago, we noticed that Aiden would grab his stomach whenever we pushed medice through his feeding port. Shortly thereafter, the tube had fresh blood in it which was cause for concern. After taking him for some tests and x-rays in Dallas, they said the tube was in the right spot and were unsure about what caused the bleeding and discomfort. Fast forward to July 23rd. In Boston, they ran the same tests and discoved that the tube was out of place. They wanted to fix it as soon as possible and this required a surgical procedure. The problem was that his cleft surgery was scheduled for Monday, July 27th.

Fortunately, they were able to do both surgeries on Monday morning. It literally took months. but Aiden finally had surgery on the cleft (and got his feeding tube replaced). The surgeries were successful and it will take several weeks for the cleft to heel. But thankfully, it is finally done! Hannah and Aiden will stay in Boston for another week as there are some follow ups and additional tests he will have while he is there. Hopefully, they will be back by Friday, August 7th.

E&E are expanding their vocabulary at a rapid pace. The other day, a dinosaur was one of the characters in an educational DVD they were watching and he said “deno-ro.” Ethan is doing very good at stringing words and thoughts together. When Manish is leaving for work he says “Dada…keys…cars..go..bye bye Dada.” And to think, this time last year they had just started semi-walking.

Please continue to keep Aiden in your prayers! Below are some pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Evan went into hiding and is coming out

Ethan, you look bored

Aiden tackles Evan while Ethan watches on

Aiden, you want some of Evan’s milk?

Looks like he got it

And he is happy…or is that angry?

Jokers

Evan was lying down…which makes him fair game for Aiden to jump on and hug

One is loving puppy and the other is reading about ducks

Little boys being little boys

Is the sun too bright?

Evan, are you making some sort of offering?

So intellecual

Ethan, your head is too small

Evan was hiding again

Headbutt

So happy

Aiden, what are you looking at?

Ethan too

Look at those gorgeous eyes!

What happened?

Summertime has been hot…very hot. We have consistently had temperatures over 100 degrees day after day. Thus, the boys have been in the pool quite a bit and ironically, the best “swimmer” is Aiden. He lays back (in his little life jacket) and kicks all over the place. Ethan and Evan are more restless in the pool and like to be held.

All three are doing a good job understanding things. Their vocabulary is growing and they are even saying complicated words like “oxygen” (this is in reference to Aiden’s oxygen tank). They have also learned “uh-oh” and “no-no.” Of course, this means that they are getting into all kinds of mischief!

Enjoy some of the pics below.

He turned into a superhero

Off to rescue someone (a superhero with an oxygen cord and feeding tube?)

Aiden, you forgot your mask

He is loving this

Evan, what on earth?!

Ethan?

And now you are upset?

Aiden is too

Because he is caged

He wants to be free…

…looks like he is scheming

Ethan, are you hitting Aiden in the head with the phone?

Fun in the sun

Good morning sunshine

Is that nice and soft?

Boo, what are you up to?

This looks like potential trouble

“Puppy” is very popular these days

Evan, such a nice kiss!

Aiden loves to hug his brothers (even if they don’t hug back)

Get puppy

Evan, what are you pointing at?

Here he comes

Evan loves to hide under the pillows

Still loving their little pet…

And now Aiden gets a chance to love puppy

Happy Independence Day! The boys have decided that they are independent, and a law unto themselves. That is requiring a lot of work and training…but it’s not all bad. They can do so many things themselves now, and what they can’t do, they certainly make up for in trying hard! Evan is doing a great job feeding himself cereal very neatly with his own spoon. They try to put on their own shoes (certainly know how to take them off) and clothes (also do a great job taking off their pants and diapers, unfortunately…I’ll leave the rest to your imagination!). Even Aiden is trying to buckle himself into the car seat and stroller.

Their vocabulary has completely taken off, and they can say just about anything, and easily convey what they want. Their latest favorite words are “Boom” and “Bang,” and they like to put those into practice when they say it, from toys to food to whatever happens to be at hand. Sadly, that has caused some injuries to each other. Despite the fact that we have been teaching them that you cannot throw (“Boom!”) toys, and especially not hit each other with toys (“Bang!”), apparently this is a hard thing to learn, because it is soooo much fun to throw things!

We attempted to make it to the July 4th kiddie parade here in Flower Mound, but were delayed when Aiden had a massive blowout as we were putting him in the car seat. As you can see from the picture below, the boys were a little disappointed that they did not get to see the “kids” in the parade. Ethan and Evan are still going through some separation anxiety from Hannah being in Boston so long, and they are afraid that she is leaving every time she walks out of their site, but they are doing great in the nursery at church. It has been a bit of an adjustment for them, especially since service is right at dinner and bed time, but they are so excited to get in the car and go to “chuch” to play in the nursery with the “kids.”

Such long, thick eyelashes you have, Evan

Everyone loves the doggy

My own little Boo

Laughter

Don’t pull too hard

Ethan is posing for the camera

Aiden and his little tongue

Are you trapped on the window sill?

Are you two trading clothes?

Ethan, you forgot something

Little boys and their toys

Evan is growing a moustache at such a young age

Aiden, did you make your cousin cry?

Either way, he has the chair all to himself

Interesting life jackets. Ethan does not seem to like it much

Aiden doesn’t either, but he loves swimming more…

Sharing his book

Boom! Bang! They love throwing things

There goes another toy

Aiden is worried they will throw him next

So, he goes into defense mode

The trips having fun

The twins try to catch a fly

Aiden, are you throwing things too?

Classic Aiden…look at the eyes…and the hair

The twins’ new favorite: “hot tea”

Ethan plays with his “little piggies”

The boys missed the July 4th kiddie parade because we were late. They even had on their little red white & blue outfits