The summer has arrived.  And by that, we mostly mean 90+ degrees.  But I don't mind that so much.  That's why we condition our air, and I generally like to sweat and work out.  And the little ones, they probably don't even notice.  This one certainly doesnt know any better.



Although the heat may make them more sleepy.



"What, eyes open?  You got it, Mom."



With the summer we do baseball sometimes.  Not often, but sometimes.



It's good for Alex that Amy likes baseball, otherwise we wouldn't ever go.  Alex did really well watching the game, he was surprisingly entertained for a number of innings.  It helped that we had the first row in the upper deck, as he could hang over the rail and see everything that occurred.



I just try to steal ice cream and photobomb.



Here I am wearing two kids with our baseball compadres.  Going warp speed.



Also, G.G.'s in town!  She's landed a number of baby-sitting events and spent a couple days at the VZ house.



That same weekend Allie had her 5th birthday party.  At the schlitts.



Alex had NO desire to do any of the slides, and I carried him up the stairs kicking and screaming.  Yes, I was that dad.  Why?  Because I know better, and after the first trip down he begged to go again and again.  I did a lot of stairs that day I tell you!



He also snarfed some of my root beer.  I think he liked it.  We left Luke with Grandma and company.  I think we liked that.



This week he had olympics day at the gymnasia.  He's excelled at the parallel bars.



Mastered stylish gravity falls.



And tied for first place!



So you enjoyed a bunch of pictures with lazy commentary.  Mine apologies.  Luke got 4 months shots yesterday and was a little awful the last 24 hours.  And Alex has found a way to pitch fits that no major league slugger could hit.  So my excuse?  I'm sleepy and my brains hurt.  We have no significant news to report, mostly living the status quo of rearing two youngsters.  Luke is 35% weight and 93% length (that is shocking).   He rolls over at his liesure and sleeps pretty well these days (generally from ~9 to ~5 or 6, but now that I wrote that down he'll certainly revert!).  Alex has learned to poop no longer in his pants, and so we consider him pretty much potty trained.  He's a pretty great big brother.

New trick?



Bubbles.



I've got nothing for this.  Jousting? 



Nerd oscars were on 4/27/2012.  Amy and I went.  I brought home a marble thing with my name on it.



then we went to Denver.  Five Iron Frenzy concert.  Good friends.  No oxygen.





"Want to see my derp face?"





"Hahaha!  Alex taught me this."

Today I have a random collection of photogs.  While Easter has happened in the last few weeks, we've mostly just been keeping busy working and child rearing.  Not that those are mutually exclusive.  Alex helped me pour some concrete for an AC in the aquarium room (the fish are easily the most spoiled of those for whom I am responsible... and yet they have the worst survival rate).



Alex has also requested many picnics of late, and the weather has been great.  Hurray for being in the 6 weeks of good Houston weather (although the allergies have been ridiculous).  AJ's reaction to allergies is primarily acting like a pirate.  "Arr, when do I get my earring?"



Part of his punishment for looting and burning passing-by ships was court ordered fireman training.  Unfortunately he was really excited about it, though, so it's not doing much in the way of discouraging the pirate behavior.





And then it was Easter.  I hope we conveyed what the celebration is all about, but from the looks of things Alex was quite excited about all the booty (again with the pirate angle, what gives?).  I'm happy to say we've moved past the collection of Cars die cast characters to the stage of losing them.  And breaking them.  There's been some sadness in the house today.  Miguel Camino!!  Where are you?!?



Luke got a basket too.  "Hold on.  Why does all this stuff look used?  Are you recycling Alex's old stuff and passing it off as new again?"



Luke got a bottle recently too.  The first one was a nightmare... actually I think it was this one pictured.  Not sure if it was because Alex wanted to help a little too eagerly, or I didnt really bother warming the milk.  Just look at his eyes!  In any case, the next two have gone quite a bit smoother.



Then next week we went to the zoo.  On a school day.  We went with friends.  I skipped work.  There were 80 buses parked around.



Alex was exhausted and we were all a little whiny before lunch.



These are bubbles.  And a dangerous picture, as Alex was armed.  That frog will spit if you squeeze it right.

We're a bit delayed in posting about Luke's 2 month checkup, but late is better than never.  We have a very healthy boy who is growing like a champ.  2 month stats:
Weight: 12lb, 2oz (64 %)
Length: 24.25in  (91 %)
Head: 40cm  (52%)

We are a bit surprised by his length, as Alex was so small as a baby.  Chris may get his basketball player.  I think Alex will be a baseball star.  He's already hitting the ball all the way across the backyard.
Luke is not quite the sleeper Alex was at this point, but is still doing pretty well.  We were a bit spoiled the first time I think.  Luke's longest stretch between feedings is about 6 hours at night, then another 3-4 hours.  He eats every 3 hours during the day and is on a pretty good schedule.  I try to put him down for a nap around 3 when Alex is "napping" (Alex doesn't always nap, but stays in his room and reads books until we get him which is nice). 
Luke has started smiling and cooing, which is completely adorable.  He loves to be talked to.   Alex is a fantastic big brother.  He absolutely adores Luke, and is always eager to get things for us and help any way he can. 

I am so blessed to have 2 healthy, sweet boys. 

Have a Hoppy Day!

Getting ready for a summer at the beach!

Getting so strong!  Look at those blue eyes.  We'll see how long they last!

Is this update late?  Of course.  But what do you expect when we're chasing two kids around?  I used to be the camera operator, now I'm reduced to child holder number 2.  I've simply run out of hands. It's a problem of limb limitations.  But, fear not!  I've come to reset the clock, catching up on the last few weeks.  We start the end of March with an outdoor meal.  This was moments (and by moments, I mean a few days) before the torrents of rain brought out the mosquitoes.  Some of us enjoyed last summer's drought and the lack of AfterBite(TM) applications, though my yard was not among them.



"What?  A picture?  What is this, posterity day?  I don't want my image recorded, and I'm not smiling.  Just get used to it."



"Dunno how much more clear I can make it.  No.  Smiles.  And what's this 'cheese' stuff?  Why does Alex always say that when you grab the camera?  There's never food involved, it's completely illogical.  I demand more rational behavior from this family!"



Speaking earlier of torrents, they kept us away from Emily's Easter Egg Hunt in Katy.  Which was a pity, as Alex hasnt ever missed it.  Unfortunately driving 50 miles through the heart of Houston at 4pm on a weekday with 3-5" of rain coming down at the same time was enough to scare us into agoraphobes.  What's the (not even close to) next best thing?  Emily's Easter Egg Hunt, Alex Campus.  We hided us some eggs upstairs, which I hope were all found.



This past weekend we celebrated our inaugural NASA people Bocce tournament.  This spawned from a joke at work, wherein we were putting up fake fliers for a bocce tournament on the grass roof being laid on one of the buildings during a remodel.  Because it sounded like so much fun, we decided the beach house was a better location.  And because none of us are Italian, we let Alex make the rules.  Everyone wins!



"No way this is a smile.  This is a fart face.  No.  Smiles."

What's happened last week?  I don't remember, but fortunately someone took pictures.  Amy started off life since the last update with a birthday.  Her 29th(ish).



It was followed up the next day with a nap.  Are we all sleeping?  Of course not.  One of us is asleep, one of us really wants to be, and the other one thought it would be fun to pretend.



"I'm Ron Burgandy?"



"Ah, he's coming for me!"



Good for Luke, that last image was a false alarm.  Alex was out playing baseball.



I totally struck him out because he was easily distracted.  Amy gets the assist on that one. 

"Yeah.  I can smile.  Or smirk.  So what?"



"Ah!  He's coming for me again!"



"These straps are impenetrable!" 



"Great.  As soon as you turn your back he's going to tuck my ears inside out.  Why does he do that?"



And by request, here's a shot form the wayback machine of Alex at 8 weeks.

Luke is beyond six weeks of age.  He struggles to understand this, but he does try.  You can see it in his face.



Luke: "Cripes, it's started already.  Completely staged photos.  Doesnt any appreciate candid anymore?!?"
Alex: "Why don't I ever get hair cuts?  My hair is four times the size of my head.  My neck is starting to hurt."



We went to the rodeo's livestock show on Wednesday.  This is pretty much all Luke did... hide his face and sleep.



We started off riding horses.  They didnt let me on.  Alex, on the other hand, unsuccessfully chased his girlfriend.



I'm making jokes that we'll be using this during their reception.  Don't tell Emma.



After a while we went in to terrify the children with enormous, unsightly cows.



Minutes later, Alex decided to meet a police officer.  After wandering about the reliant complex by himself for a bit.  I suppose his parents were lost...

We decided to make ropes to keep us all together.



Finally, we rode some tractors. 



We then went home with as many kids as we had when we arrived.  For that, we were thankful.  Next up, Amy ages!

Grammy snuck over to the house last weekend, but it doesnt appear anyone had a problem with it.



Later that day, Alex went to Sarah's princess birthday party, and as the only dude of age to attend he knew he had to liven it up.  Hence the pirate outfit.  I must commend him on his ability to always find cars to play with, even when he has to settle on pink ones.



He celebrated Leap Day by striking an unintentional pose.

I'm glad we have shirts like this.  I keep thinking he's the oldest, but every time I give him a cup of milk he spills it all over the place. 



We should probably get one that says "really good sleeper" to see if that would help.  Dude is still waking up every 2.5 to 3 hours at night.  Amy gets no sleep from that.  I get not enough, but she certainly has the raw end of the deal.  Here he is sleeping in the middle of the day.

Luke let's me get up around 4 every morning.  Such a caring dude.  I believe he's over 10 pounds already (that's about 2.5 pounds in 3 weeks for those keeping track), so you'd think he'd be ready to sleep in longer than 4 hour increments.  This is not yet the case.  We look forward to those days.