Growing Fast 8 - 10 months old

Mason wore himself out during their first visit to the zoo.

They love to wrestle...
Especially with Dad.
Avery on her tip toes watching for Harley.
And every once in a while can be sweet to each other.
Mason at his sweetest.
Hanging out with Nana.
Little Cow...
And Crazy Chicken!

Papa Joe teaching Avery piano.

Picture Update

A couple of days ago we got the critters dressed up and managed to capture a few pictures. Since a blog post is way overdue we thought we would share.

Mason loves having his picture taken, and takes advantage of any opportunity to cause mischief.

Avery is still the curious one, she keeps us laughing.

Chance's 35th birthday.

Caught wrestling.

Avery and Mason's first trip to the pool.

They talk to each other more and more everyday.

6 month update

We've made it to the 6 month mark. Avery and Mason had their 6 month check up on Friday and they are both growing like weeds. Some are fatter weeds than others but weeds nonetheless.

Avery weighed in at 14lbs 11oz and is 26.5" long putting her in the 75th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight.

She would probably be a little bigger if she wouldn't fill up on toes ruining her appetite.

Mason weighed in at a hefty 21lbs 4oz and is 27" long putting him in the 75th percentile for height and over the 95th percentile for weight.

He loves his walker, running over toes has become one of his favorite past times.

Harley has been elevated to celebrity status, her presence in the room is enough to stop all activity and draw stares, touching her...although rare...is a much celebrated event.

Mason recently found the washing machine which is almost as exciting as the Harley. He is mesmerized by the wonders it holds as it spins around.

He is getting better with his car all the time, one of his favorite games is to have us litter the kitchen floor with empty milk jugs, detergent jugs, basically anything he can crash into and push around the room so that he can play his own version of crash-up derby.

Avery is still working on her driving (insert woman driver joke here) but she is getting better. Mostly she likes to chew on the steering wheel. Her favorite activity is bath time, she loves the water but seems baffled that she can't grab it.

Everyday is an adventure. We'll post pics and videos as often as we can.

Avery Laughs

Milestones

We've crossed a few milestones since our last update. First, Avery and Mason now enjoy a diet of carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash in addition to their formula. Mason has improved his spoon to mouth coordination since this picture was taken. This is his first experience trying to eat off of a spoon.

Avery's love of food isn't quite as strong as Mason's so eating off of a spoon for her is just more work that she doesn't need.  Although she has improved since this first attempt at spoon feeding, she still needs to have a pretty strong appetite before she will eat more than she spills.

Milestone number 2 is crossing the five month mark. We took them to Memorial Park on Mother's Day and took their 5 month pictures below.

Milestone number 3 is they are both able to roll over from their back to their stomach on a regular basis now. Avery led the way and Mason followed right behind her.  

Bluebonnets

Not wanting to miss the Bluebonnets during blooming season we took a road trip last week to get some pictures.  

Mason did well, it was extremely windy and he is no fan of the wind so his patience was definitely put to the test. If there weren't so many new things to look at we don't know that he would have had such a good time. 

Avery, curious as ever only sat still for a moment.  

Mason was more interested in the flowers than the camera. More pictures are on our flickr site. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25112125@N03/

The Last Month

Monthly updates were not our original intent for this site and now that things are beginning to slow down, or we're getting better at it, one of the two, we hope to update this site more often. Plus Avery and Mason are really beginning to show their personalities.

We have also simplified our life by buying a new car that better suits our new lifestyle. Dina has finally fulfulled a long time dream of hers to own a minivan and is the proud owner of a new Honda Odyssey. All the "cool" we had left is now gone, but what we got in trade has been well worth it. Getting the family out is a whole new experience for all of us. I never thought we would be excited about a minivan. We were able to break it in the first day we had it by taking our first trip out of town to see Avery and Mason's great grandfather in Victoria, TX. Getting to see my grandfather hold them and interact with them was special for him and for us. 

So, to update, Avery & Mason had their 4 month check up on April 8th. Both are growing well. Avery is 24 inches long and continues to keep herself thin weighing in at 11lbs 5oz, which puts her in the 25th percentile for the most part. Mason is 25.5 inches long and tips the scale at 16lbs 2oz, which puts him in the 75th percentile. They are also beginning to notice each other a little more each day. We can set them down face to face and they will watch each other - most of the time if one smiles or laughs the other will mimic the expression so we are constantly trying to make them laugh.

Avery is showing a lot more personality. She will almost always smile back if you smile at her. She still loves just looking around, and the ceiling fan is still a facination that we can't fully understand. Their bouncy seats have mobiles that light up and play music that can be removed. We have always left them off because they had no interest in them, but figuring they were finally old enough to understand we reinstalled them and they have become an instant hit. Avery will sit wide-eyed as ever watcing the bubbles and colors and when it shuts off she will squeel and kick wanting you turn it back on. She is also fascinated by the TV and she will do her best to sneak a peak whenever she can. She doesn't talk too much, she will babble every once in a while, but most of the time she is content to listen and observe.

Mason is our talker...he will carry on and on about what we're not sure, but he has passion we'll give him that. Sometimes he is just talking and sometimes he really gets into it and starts getting excited. He likes to walk around outside, we water the yard together alot, but he is usually content to sit and talk, he listens well and always has something to add. He is also pretty excited about the mobiles for the bouncy seats. He is big enough to hit the parts designed to turn it back on when it shuts off and smiles big and laughs when he does. Like his sister, he is also fascinated by the TV, it is about one of the only things besides eating that he will stop talking to do.

They enjoyed their first Easter traveling from house to house visiting every relative in town. And they had their first run-in with the Easter bunny.