M Tooth #4

And quickly following #3, is #4! Top left again - so now he and Ethan have exactly the same number teeth and in the same location!

Double Trouble - Defined

So this is what Double Trouble REALLY looks like...

It all starts off innocently enough...

(see, aren't we such good boys playing so nicely together?)



And then someone has an idea...






(if you click on the photo above to enlarge it you'll notice he's showing all 4 teeth in this one because he's SO proud of himself)

And then things start to spiral out of control...(with a little help from mom and dad, so really, who is to blame here?)

(this standing thing is WAY easy)



(yes, I know my pants are twisted, but we all have our off days okay?)



And then someone else joins in...

(I can TOTALLY do this too)



(See?!)



And there you have it! But really, the REAL double trouble hasn't actually started - we'll be holding on to our hats from here on out! :)

Feed Me!

These boys like to eat, so these shirts are very appropriate :) Thank you to our buddy Oliver for getting these shirts for us - we love them!!

And along those lines - a video of our love for the fresh food teether (WARNING: for those who are repulsed by gross eating noises - BEWARE - do not launch this clip!) :)

To Sitting (the video)

Just a few quick clips of the boys doing a little morning sitting up (because I finally had the camera out with batteries charged). Not the best footage - and also pretty dark, but it's something! :)





And one more of Mason - just randomly banging some plastic toys together - because that's entertaining when you're 9 months old!

M Tooth #3

Mason's 3rd tooth has shown itself! Top center left!

Funny Bones

Mommy was checking to make sure that our funny bones are present and accounted for...and the verdict is that yes, we definitely have them!

This post may or may not have been inspired by the fact that daddy had to go to the oral surgeon today to get his wisdom teeth removed. We thought he'd be really silly when he got home, but he didn't turn out to be silly enough for us - so we picked up the slack for him :)

Thank You Nan-Nan!

Nan-Nan gave the boys Eeyore dolls and a special book today and they love them so much!!

Thank you Nan-Nan!!

Thank you for visiting Uncle Nicu!

One more photo op with Uncle Nicu before he headed back home!

9 Months Old!

9 months already!

Uncle Nicu is visiting for the weekend, but I didn't think to get my camera out today until bath time - so here are some 9 month old 'fun in the water' pics!

The boys were playing Star Wars (their favorite.) It's kind of hilarious because most of the time they are just trying to eat the Star Wars figures, but Mason has recently started taking 2 of the figures and will crash them together while making an explosion sound - I mean seriously...where does he get this stuff? We haven't taught him to do that!! But for some reason he likes to take Darth Vader and Chewbacca and act out a battle sequence. Oh my...I will have my hands full!

9 Month Checkup

This morning the boys went for their 9 month checkup. They did an iron check and I just got the call that everyone is normal on the iron front which is great news!

Mason has this somewhat nervous/repetitive thing that he has been doing over the past few months. Whenever he is not occupied with something he moves his hands and feet in a circular motion (I say he is practicing to be a future orchestra conductor). However, I mentioned this to the doc and he said that it's generally something babies will grow out of, but if we do not see a marked improvement by his first birthday he might want to send him for an MRI of the brain, which we are certainly hoping he will not have to do as he would have to be sedated for the test. He is also keeping an eye on the growth of his head because if it continues to grow at a rapid pace and the movements continue, he will definitely want the MRI just to make sure everything is okay.

He wasn't too concerned though because developmentally, Mason has been doing quite good, he learns to do things quickly (raspberries, clicking his tongue, high-fives, he babbles, he gets himself to the sitting position very quickly, even makes some attempts to stand up), but he said he would have liked to see a little better pincer grip at this age, and although he knows "how" to crawl, he will only go about two "steps" with it and then stop and then he just sits and plays or he'll roll or scoot to get places, and the doc would of course have liked to see him crawling or army crawling like his brother. Ethan army crawls now and he gets from one end of the room to the other at mock speed.

But every baby is different and I think overall they are both doing great! They are both growing big and strong, though Ethan is starting to level out a big on growth. And hopefully Mason will grow out of his hand and feet rolling, but maybe he's just telling us he's bored! :)

I think we will start some more interesting foods soon, so that should be fun!

Here are the stats:

Mason:
Weight: 23.5 pounds (90%)
Length: 28 1/2 inches (70%)
Head Circumference: 48cm (95+%)

Ethan:
Weight: 21 pounds (60%)
Length: 27 1/2 inches (25%)
Head Circumference: 46.4cm (80%)

Just for Fun

Just some random Thursday morning silliness

Ethan Is Sitting Solo!

Ethan is officially getting himself to the sitting position now with great proficiency! It's funny because he and Mason get themselves to sitting in entirely different ways. Mason will get to a perfect hands and knees position and then tuck his leg under and rock back to his bum. Ethan will tuck one leg under the other while lying on his stomach and then push himself back and and up into sitting. Both are sitting up, but of course they have to be different!

Now I just have to capture these two on film. If only I could remember to charge the video camera! Whenever I go to grab it the battery won't work! I think it might be time to invest in a backup battery!

Fresh Food Teether

These teethers might be a pain in the rear to clean, but they love them! Here is our seal of approval:

Puffs

Mason and Ethan have been eating puffs lately to practice the art of getting small pieces of food from the highchair tray into their mouths. Seems easy right? Not always. Coordination is clearly not something we are all born with.

So sometimes, instead of getting the food in your mouth, it ends up on your head. This happens to everyone right?


Ethan thinks he's hot stuff because he has really got his pincer grip down and can get that food right where it belongs (well, most of the time).

Here he is showing you the "before" (notice the thumb and index finger ready to grab those little pieces)


And here he is showing you the "after" with both fingers and food securely in the mouth.


What that expression is supposed to be about...I'm not really sure. But I think he was offended I was taking his photo while he had his hands in his mouth. This one I had to take quick because every time I aimed the camera in his direction, he kept throwing his arms open and giving me huge grins. These guys LOVE to work the camera.

Shopping Cart Ride

Today we took the boys on their first shopping cart ride. Well, technically Mason had already gone with mom (who forgot her camera) to the grocery store last weekend and rode in the cart, but this was their first time together. We had to hit Costco to buy some more produce for baby food making, and luckily, Costco has the double seats on their carts, so we were able to use our twin shopping cart cover. Boy did they have fun!

I was so sad when I realized I had forgotten my camera again! But dad was thinking quick and got these pics on his cell phone. Not as good as the camera - but they will do!

Mason's 2nd Tooth!

Tooth #2 arrived right on the heels of Tooth #1! So Mason now has his 2 front bottom teeth!!

Mason Is Sitting Solo!

I went to get Mason from his afternoon nap today and found him sitting up by himself! Guess it's time to lower the crib since he'll be pulling up on the sides before I know it! He looked at me as if to say - okay, I'm ready to go lady, let's get on with our day! Then he did what he usually does and laughed out loud. He thinks most everything is funny these days and will laugh and laugh at his brother. What might be considered disturbing is that he will also laugh at his brother when his brother is crying hysterically, but hey, we all have our own ideas of what is funny I guess!

Saturday Night Fever

Poor Ethan :( The crazy traveling really caught up with my boy and last night he was extremely congested and had his first fever (that was not caused by an immunization or teething that is). We are hoping this will be short-lived because he was one miserable boy - he didn't sleep more than 1 hour last night.

Mason's 1st Tooth!

It's finally here! I thought Mason seemed exceptionally "off" today during our flight and when we got home his cheeks seemed extra rosy and he felt pretty warm. The thermometer said mid 99s. At first I thought maybe he had caught something from all of the travels (and of course that could still be a possibility as we are not out of the woods yet), but upon further investigation it was apparent that tooth #1 has finally arrived! Lower bottom right was the first one to show (because he has to be opposite of his brother of course)!

Happy New Year!

Starting off the New Year with two baby boys was wonderful! Getting up at 4:45am and scrambling to the airport for our flight, where we'd sit on the plane for an extended period of time while it was de-iced, and then the flight time would take longer than usual...that we could have done without! But the babies' smiles and giggles (in between their fussiness from all the chaos) made up for the exhausting travel parts of the day!

6:30am in front of the holiday display at the airport hotel


Photo in front of the baggage carousel when we finally made it back home!