Alex's Adventures in Poland

Alex and I took our Big trip to Poland in late August/early September to attend my cousins' double wedding. Alex really had a great time and I think that this will be one of his most memorable moments from his childhood.

Here are some (ok...lots) pictures from our fantastic trip.

All excited on the BIG plane...oops I swallowed my gum...we definitely look tired after the 10 hour flight

WARSAW

Maybe someday I can win a golf trophy like that...Enjoying all the fresh fruit Alex could pick in my Aunt Danka's garden

At the Wedding in Chojnice

Alex in front of the church...Alex with my cousins and their new husbands...Me and my sister with our 3 cousins (in the middle)

Alex,mom and Aunt Ewie...Alex as the ring bearer...he did a great job!

Alex and mom inside the church...the same church that I was baptised in and the same church in which my parents got married! Wow!

Alex dancing up a storm with my Uncle Marek...and Aunt Ewie...and making a traditional Polish Vodka toast! (ok...he only had sprite in his glass, but it was fun nonetheless)

My cousins Kasia and Ania with me and my sister...Alex going mushroom picking in the forest...wow check out those sunflowers!

Alex pondering the future at the lake...with Babcia...and enjoying the old town square fountains

Szczecin

Alex's most favorite thing...traveling by train!!! .....Me with my cousin Iza on the train

Alex and my Aunt Ania waiting for the trolley...and enjoying the trolley ride with Babcia...us with Aunt Ania...and Alex spending time with his new "friend" (getting a little too cozy for me :)

Alex in front of what he called the Rocket Ship Church...wow the view is spectacular from here.

Back to Warsaw

Alex in Warsaw's Old Town Square...enjoying Warsaw's artistic side...getting his caricature done...do you see his horns?

Who said everything is bigger in Texas...check out the ice cream and cotton candy!...Mom and Alex in front of Warsaw's Palace.

Alex with one of my Aunt Danka's beautiful dogs...All good things must come to an end!!! Saying good-bye to Aunt Danka and Uncle Marek.

Busy August

August started with my birthday...and my mom brought a beautiful cake to celebrate the occasion.

Alex helped me open one of my gifts thinking it would be something really cool for him...Boy was he really dissapointed when it wasn't a giant car!

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Next, it was time to celebrate the BIG 2 for Matthew and Zachary!

Happy Birthday to our Double Trouble

Matthew helping dad put his new trike together

See dad, I knew what I was doing!

Zach on his trike

Justin Bieber look out...Here comes Zach

Talk to the hand Matt...You're not a minute older than me...we were born within the same minute!

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The twins continue to grow...not surprising based on the amounts of food they eat.

Here are their latest growth stats from their 2-year check-up:

Matt

Height: 36"+ (90th percentile)

Weight: 29 lbs (65th percentile)

Head Circumference: 49 cm (6oth percentile)

Zach

Height: 36"+ (90th percentile)

Weight: 28 lbs (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 51 cm (95th percentile)

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Some more pictures from August

This is why my back hurts all the time!

I don't know what Mom is talking about...you don't taste sweet at all Matt!

Alex jammin' in the bath after our company picnic...notice his new "tatoo"...it actually lasted about a week even with some good scrubbing.

Alex demonstrating his new skills

Grandpa reading to the twins while Mom and Alex are vacationing in Poland (next posting coming soon)

Health Updates

I will post some pictures with the next posting...this one is more for documentation.

Here is a health update on the boys...I'll start with the most challenging one...Matthew.

Matthew

• Matt has continued to get sick on and off the last few weeks. His latest illness is strep throat (again) and he's back on the antibiotics.
• We have done a number of tests recently and have seen an immunologist and Matthew has been diagnosed with an immune deficiency disorder called hypogammaglobulinemia or essentially an IgG deficiency (one of the most common type of antibodies in the body), which helps to explain his frequent upper respiratory infections and resulting hospitalizations. The immunologist seems to think that this could be a transient form of the disorder, which hopefully means that he will outgrow it in a couple of years and for now we will just monitor his levels. We just have to be even more germophobic (if that's even possible) with Matthew being very susceptible to having major complications from even the most minor of illnesses.
• We are also seeing a pediatric gastroenterologist to figure out why Matthew continues to have chronic diarrhea (He's had it for over a year). Initially they thought he might be lactose intolerant, so we tried to put him on a lactose free diet, but that hasn't help. My suspicion is that it is some sort of malasbsorption issue such as gluten intolerance...we have to wait to see the specialist in Houston...more to come later.
• Matthew has also been on some preventive (nebulizer) steroid breathing treatments (2x per day) for some minor wheezing...hopefully that has or will resolve soon.

Zachary

• Zachary unfortunately has had 4 ear infections since May and the doctor has recommended putting tubes in his ears (just like Matthew). We saw the ENT doctor today and his surgery is scheduled for next week.
• Even with the ear infections, Zach is pretty content and a happy kid so hopefully the surgery will alleviate any discomfort that he's had and keep that bacteria away.
• Zach continues to be on Zantac for acid reflux, but I think we will once again try to wean him off the medication because I think he seems to be doing much better.
• Zach is also doing some preventative daily breathing treatments for a chronic cough, which has subsided significantly in the last couple of weeks.

Alex

• Alex has also been battling a stubburn ear infection and had to go on 2 different antibiotics to clear it up. He got a clean bill of health from the pediatrician this morning, so hopefully the ear infection will not come back.

More Updates...with pictures

As usual, we have been going non-stop the last few weeks.

Jeff's niece, Holly, came down to help us for a few weeks and be our back-up babysitter when the kids got sick...Guess what...they didn't get sick the entire time she was here. We were so busy that we didn't take any pictures while she was here. :-) But, we did get to go to Houston Children's museum and a few days in Galveston. (I'm so dissapointed in myself as we completely forgot to take our camera on the trip to Galveston)

Here are some recent pics of the boys...


Alex after a bath


Twins after bath


Matt's typical sleeping position


Zach showing a slightly different view while sleeping


Zach after being decorated by his brothers


Matthew can you show me your funny face?


Nope, but I can show you what a big mess I can make...

Matt's happiness in filthiness


The boys celebrating Daddy's birthday!