More Fun Every Day (8.5 months)

Well, the more they grow the more fun we are having! We took the boys to Gymboree (the gym, not the store) and had a blast. Owen and Mason worked on crawling with the help of Mom and Dad. We put a ball at the top of a ramp and pushed on their feet which made them have to move their hands forward one at a time. They did great staying on all fours! They also took a ride down a slide and balanced on some barrels. At the end of the class, the teacher blew millions of bubbles and it was so cute watching them try to catch one. At home, we practiced what we learned at the gym on our own equipment. Both babies did great going up the ramp and the steps.

The funniest thing to happen this week was with Owen. Evidently we've taken so many pictures of the babies that the focus light and beep of the camera has created some sort of Pavlovian response in which Owen breaks into a smile for the camera. Not just any smile-he shows us his best toothless grin, scrunches up his nose, and squints his eyes. It is hilarious!!! We got it on video so you'll have to watch it! And you'll notice the series of pictures of Owen cheesing for the camera. What a funny little dude!



We also took some videos of Owen and Mason doing their army crawl. Poor things were really tired but we tried for the video anyway. They have really improved over the weekend and have started getting themselves up on all fours on their own. Won't be long until they have me chasing them all over the house!

Mason army crawls to the camera:



Owen army crawls to his ball:



Photos from the week:

8 1/2 Months

Modern Art

Well, I usually reserve this page for Mason and Owen but here are the pics of our poor little Pilot.

Modern Art

Physical, Sensory, Mental and Social Developments (8 months)

New developments for 2008:
(and some from the end of 2007)

*Owen turns around from sitting position and pulls up to his knees and sometimes feet while in his crib.

*Mason and Owen both like to grab your hands and pull up to standing. They are extremely proud of themselves when they do this! They grin and giggle and if they are crying it is an excellent way to distract them! I also steady a plastic tube and they grip it and pull up. The coffee table is still a little too tall for them yet!

*Both babies are trying really hard to crawl. They are pros at using their arms and feet to propel forwards.

*M & O both look up to the light if you ask them "where's the light?"

*Owen now has 2 teeth like his brother. The second one came through today!

*M & O can stand with their hands free if they are leaning against something-mainly me. They have started lunging from a seated postition onto me and pull up to a standing position. The other day they both did it at the same time. It was my first of many family dogpiles!

*Owen holds his bottle for the entire meal! HOORAY!!!

*M & O have started to wave although not at anything in particular. They just do the hand motion. We are working on associating it with "HI" since EVERYONE stops to talk to us when we're out and about. I feel like we are on parade!

*M & O want specific things, well actually, everything in sight! If they can't have it they fuss! They are becoming very, very aware of their surroundings!

*M & O don't just fall forward face first from a sitting position when they see something they want. Now they can put a hand out and brace themselves while they reach for it or gracefully ease down to their tummies so they can wriggle over to it. They can also catch themselves from time to time from tipping sideways or backwards.

*Problem solving! M & O both have figured out how to get things by pulling on something else or tipping the box over to get to what is inside.

*M & O both rake small objects with their fingers and then pick it up with their hand. Owen saw some crumbs on the table and scooped them together, grabbed at them, pulled his fist close, opened it, and realized he missed 'em. So close!

*M & O recognize the difference between large and small. They approach large objects with 2 hands and small ones with only one. They can also pick up 2 things, one in each hand.

*OBJECT PERMANENCE has set in! Used to, you could hide the remote or your cell phone and they'd forget that they ever saw it. Now they look for it and fuss if they can't have it. This also holds true for Mommy and Daddy. It is no longer "out of sight, out of mind." If we leave the room they object! Mason knows his blocks are still there when you show it to him and then put it inside a box. He leans over to look inside. He looks so hard that he puts his forhead all the way to the box. It is so funny! Sometimes he problem solves and just tips the box over and reaches in.

Week 36 and 37

We Won!

Many thanks to everyone who voted for Mason and Owen's picture, including all of our friends and family as well as the fine folks at TAG and at texags.com. The photographer (Kim Millburn) was in shock at the response to the contest. We won a close one against the email campaign of picture #17. We'll be ordering our brag book soon! Thanks again everyone!

Swings! (8 months old)

Storytime with Daddy

The boys enjoyed the warm January weather on Wednesday in their new swings from Aunt Lindsay. I got some great pictures of them showing off their baby blues! There's quite a few pictures but I couldn't eliminate any more-they were just too cute!

Swinging

Vote for Mason and Owen!

The photographer that took the portraits of Mason and Owen that we gave out for Christmas is having a contest for the favorite picture of the year! Vote for #9 so we can win a 5x5 brag book!

Vote here!

Pass this along to anyone and everyone you know!

New Year's Eve and Angel Fire

Owen and Mason looked so grown up in their new outfits from Uncle Kyle! They rang in the new year sleeping though...they didn't quite make it to midnight! We also took some family pictures that night.

Owen and Mason saw their first state line and thier first snow! We all went to Angel Fire, NM for some skiing and relaxation! We took some adorable pics of the babies all bundled up in the snow! We even made little snow men for them just like Aaron's mom did when he was a baby.

I can't believe how grown up the boys seem! Aaron and I think they have changed so much lately! Mason's favorite word is ma ma and Owen's is da da. Mason also loves to say pa pa. Papi is so proud! They are both starting to tuck their legs and get into the crawling position...won't be long now! And those teeth-they are fully emerged now! Mason even got another one. They are so cute!

Angel Fire 2008

Christmas Pictures

Well, here they are!

Christmas

Having fun!

Here are a few pictures of Owen and Mason. The first is a cute video of Owen going crazy in his jumperoo! They also got to "finger paint" with colored applesauce! Loved it!

7.5 Months