Well, two posts for the entire month of April isn't really so bad in the greater scheme of things. We were, after all, away for a week to New York to visit my parents, then home for four days, then away to Chicago for four days to visit my sister-in-law and her family and then home, but then the boys both got really sick and, despite the fact that it looks like they "only" have ear infections and Hammie has pneumonia, I had to obviously devote considerable time to researching the symptoms of swine flu online and becoming incredibly paranoid.

On a more positive note, the boys had a great time on both our trips. I have no pictures from our trip to New York since, as I know my parents can be relied upon to take many many many photos of the boys, I didn't even bring my camera down with me. We had a great time going to the beach, although Hammie was a little freaked out by the texture of the sand. As soon as my mom took off his shoes and put him down on the sand he started trying to pick up both feet at once and crawl up my mother like a monkey. He warmed up to the idea after awhile, though he still didn't like walking on the sand. I think that must be because sand isn't terribly stable and Hammie is still a little wobbly on his feet at times.

In addition to going to the beach the boys got to do all sorts of things in New York that they never get to do at home. We went out to eat at many different restaurants. Fraser's favorite by far was the Grill and Bar which is located directly across from the train station and which, since we were eating during rush hour, provided many many opportunities for him to yell "Another Train!!" in the middle of the restaurant. Hammie was no as interested in the trains, but did manage to make a friend on our way out. He walked right up to this little girl who was standing next to another table while he parents prepared to leave. She looked like she was a few months older than him, and she started petting his arm and saying "Baby" a few times, then she leaned in and planted a big kiss right on his mouth. Hammie just stared at her for a moment, nodded, and then headed toward the door. Hysterical. The boys also got to eat chocolate immediately after breakfast when we celebrated Easter on Saturday. They thought this was wonderful and Fraser only requested chocolate for breakfast for next 4 days or so. (No, he didn't get it).

Our trip to Chicago was lots of fun and definitely left me with a whole new appreciation for people who raise children in the city. I completely take for granted that I can just open the back door of our house and let the boys into the back yard while I wash dishes or write this blog entry. In Chicago my sister-in-law planned outings for every day we were there out of sheer necessity. Otherwise the boys were virtually bouncing off the walls. Between the planning, the packing the diaper bag, the loading everyone into the car or strollers and the travel to our given destination I was totally spent before we had even arrived. It was nice, however, to get to take the kids to places like the zoo and the aquarium which are major outings from our house (think hour and half drive minimum) but were conveniently located while we were visiting.

We saw Andy's friend from college, Murray, and his wife and daughter while we were out there too. I think Hammie very much enjoyed being bigger than someone (he is 4 months older than Amelia). Lily, Denise and Dustin's, daughter had this adorable habit of kissing everyone, especially Hammie, several times a day. Fraser seems to have been paying attention to the positive feedback Lily received for this because he has been kissing Hammie pretty regularly since we got back. Of course Fraser's kisses still really consist of puckering up and just putting his face in the vicinity of his brother, without making any actual kissing noises, but it is still pretty cute nonetheless. Fraser also picked up another cute but odd habit recently. He likes to carry things around in his pockets, but he has trouble putting things into his back pockets. Now, when he wants help getting something into his back pocket he says, "Mommy, can you put this in my backpack pocket?"

Unfortunately, I think the variety of illnesses the boys are now experiencing is a pretty good indicator that they are going to be about as good at traveling as I am. At least we have a pretty good stretch of "home" time coming up now. This is doubly good since I am now so ridiculously huge that I don't think I could fit into an airplane seat (or even a car seat) again for quite some time. I am, in fact, so huge that I was sitting on the couch yesterday complaining about how much my back hurts and how huge I am I said to Andy "I cannot believe I have another three months to go!" He looked at my belly very seriously, shook his head and I said "I know." Not the "I know, I feel for you that you are so uncomfortable" but the "I know, you are going to develop your own weather pattern soon and what the hell are we going to do when you are so humongous you can't even waddle around after the kids?"

So, for now I will enjoy the warm weather and our week of "quarantine" here and try not to think about it being a zillion degrees in the middle of July and me weighing approximately as much as a silverback gorilla (and Andy hiding under the picnic table in fear).