Two-next-month

Two out of four of us ended up in hospital this month, so the last few weeks (for me) and week (for Alex) have been a bit on the quiet side. I ruptured a hernia (did anyone pick the last blog post didn't contain the usual level of detail?) and ended up in hospital the next day to get it repaired. All good now, except I wasn't allowed to pick up the boys for a month - so Nik's done the lot. He was VERY happy when I got the all clear from the surgeon today. Alex tripped over outside and slashed his eyebrow open, so off to emergency with him too. An hour later we were introduced to skin glue (they prefer not to stitch above the eyes now) and less than two hours later we were all home. No sedation, nothing. Just sterile super glue and no shower for 24 hours. We were told that it's going to scar, and we agree. And we're sure he's going to look even more rugged with his first visible accident. We also agree that it's going to be the first of MANY with these two.

Before, straight from hospital and a week later. Amazing!
[I'll restrain from posting photo's of my belly]

Alex's great love is counting, and he'll count anything. His dinner (while emptying his bowl/plate, and then putting everything back in). stacking cups (sorry Tajy, they're no longer your domain), whacking himself on the head (whack "one", whack "two") and everyone's fingers or toes. He's also been busy playing with his skin glue over the past few days, and loves poking it and then saying "ow". Makes a difference from him walking around alternating between saying "sorry" or "oh no" to everything, including when he's realised something is 'wrong' - such as us leaving a door open. He's had a mega growth spurt and we're sure there is more than 5cm difference between them now, and his weight - according to the Children's Panadol bottle - is between a 3 and 4 year old. Umm, they're not even two yet. And Tajy's not little... We realised how little they weren't when all three came to get me from hospital as it's the first time the boys have been in the double stroller for a while. Tajy just fit while Alex looked rather wedged in. Knew we liked using shopping trolleys for a reason when we're out and about! Looks like another item for eBay shortly.

Both boys are quite happy to stand on your foot if you're in the kitchen and they can't see what's going on. Alex has cottoned on to stand back so you can see better, but Tajy hasn't worked this one out yet. Probably as he's lurking around me in a hope of being picked up and sat on the bench - which hasn't happened since my surgery. Think he's going to go into shock when I lift him up shortly

The chalkboard (or any wall they can get to)
is still a big hit.

Tajy is still busy doing his own thing, and freely lets you know when he's frustrated. Still no development on the speech front, except for dad-dad-dad or mum-mum-mum. He's just worked out how to jump (have to laugh when Nik has them marching around the house in a quest to get Tajy to bend his knees), so he's taken this one step further and loves jumping up on the lounge and doing a sit drop or tummy flop. Matey, these are moves for that trampoline which is right outside the backdoor. I'm not sure who the biggest fan is (the boys or Nik), but we now have what feels like a zillion match box cars all over the house. Tajy still loves laying on his belly and playing, and is now frequently found with a stash of cars under and/or around him.

Alex is absolutely fascinated when a plane flies over our house, so he's going to just about have kittens when we head to the airport to go on our holiday in a few weeks time. We've ended up booking a two bedroom apartment and think that we'll throw the mattresses on the floor and sleep with a boy each. We may be pushing our luck trying to get them to sleep in a strange cot when they are used to nothing but their own house. They'll both definitely be gro-bag'd so they can't wonder around. We still have absolutely no idea what we're doing for their birthday, so we'll keep it low key as we arrive back home the day before. They'll get presents if nothing else as the xmas toy sale catalogues have all been released here in the last month, so we've stocked up.