bring on summer

With warmer weather and sunny days entering the picture more these days, I cannot wait for more opportunities to take the boys out. The weather was gorgeous this weekend and the boys made the first of many trips to the playground. They so far have experienced the swings, and they both loved it. Joshua seemed to enjoy it more, but I think that's just because he's such a smiley and happy boy.

I've also enjoyed getting out at lunch time again, as we tend to take the boys out in the jogging stroller for a quick spin around the development. It's raining today, so the walk and the playground had to wait for another day.

when life takes precedent

I find it intriguing that in less than a week, on Valentine's Day, Joshua and Brayden will officially be 8 months old. Where does the time go? They sit up, roll around, talk in baby babble, make meaningful eye contact, and are all around the most adorable little boys ever. Sure, maybe I'm exaggerating, but I'm their dad, it's my job.

Maybe one day I'll get back to working on this little homebrew project of a website. That might be a day when I'm not balancing so many things: busy schedule at work, lots of involvement with church, enjoying quality time with my family, and being sick. I'd say I'm ready for some warm weather and sunshine, but I've only been skiing once this year and that just doesn't seem like enough.

and then they grow

Claire and her mom took the boys to another brief visit to the pediatrician yesterday, it was primarily a weight check visit. The boys finally made a significant turn upwards: both Joshua and Brayden gained about 9oz, getting them back or nearly back to their birth weights. We have another full pediatrician visit tomorrow, so we'll see what else they have accomplished.

July is not even here yet and already it is shaping up to be a busy month. Claire's Aunt Vinette is planning on coming to visit tomorrow, bringing along with her Claire's grandmother who has been dying to meet her latest great-grandsons. My parents will be back this weekend to visit and spend Independence Day with us, which will also be a good time for the boys to get some additional time with Grandpa Walton. Later in the month we have tentative plans for my Aunt Vonnie and Uncle Paul to come and meet the new family members, and shortly thereafter we are hoping to take the boys on their first trip to Brant Lake. Sure, it may not be like our old schedules which were much more crammed with summer happenings, but so far it seems like quite enough for the moment considering how quickly the past 2 weeks have gone.

slow progress

Not that I anticipate a high level of traffic here for a while, but just a little note to say that as I find time I will be making little upgrades here and there to the site. The latest, as you might notice if you've visited before is the lovely new banner at the top of waltontwins.com. The photos were taken by me, and graphically tweaked, poked, and prodded into a nice slick banner for the site. I'm a fan of old-timey black and white occasionally.

As for the boys, they had an adventurous day! Grandma Walton and mom took them out to Target to get some shopping done, they've been eating some extra formula out of bottles, and they been having a grand time with Aunt Karen, Aunt Lisa, and Grandma Tosti. On the downside, I'll be slightly distracted for the next 24 hours as I was surprised to find out that I am apparently on-call.

long nights

Some nights are harder than others, but I know it's early still. Speaking of early, I rarely am up and awake at 5:00am, but that seemed to be the magic hour this morning. Joshua and Brayden seem to be going through cycles where every other feeding they need just a little bit more food, but we're trying to limit the formula supplements to 3 times a day. Luckily this morning they just needed a change and some snuggling and they went back to sleep, even if it only lasts an hour (Claire could use that hour of sleep).

Anyway, today is another half day of work and some of Claire's family is coming to visit. Of particular interest, they boys get to meet their Aunt Karen for the first time! We're not playing favorites or anything, but Grandma T, Pop-pop, Uncle B, and Aunt Lisa already met the boys in the hospital.