Learning To Share

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Charlotte, with crystal clear skies and temperatures in the mid 70s. What a perfect opportunity to spend some time with Mason, Ike and Simba outdoors enjoying the awesome spring weather. It's hard to believe that just one week ago we had 5 inches of snow and low temperatures in the teens. But I guess that's typical of March weather in the South. It reminds me of the weekend Brooks and I got married in March of 2003. Our wedding day was mostly sunny with highs in the low 70s. The next morning on the way to the airport for our honeymoon we experienced about a half an inch of snow.

As I mentioned, yesterday we were able to take advantage of the warm weather with the kids. We set up outside on a blanket in our front yard and then went on a long walk. I don't think Simba is in the best shape coming out of the winter because three times on our walk he plopped down in someone's yard and refused to continue.

Here is a video of Ike and Mason at play in our front yard.

The Art Of Sleepjumping

Last night Ike showed off his new skill - crawling. Tonight, it was Mason's turn to join the talent show.

The jumpy-go has long been a favorite exercise for Mason, especially when she wants to burn off the high caloric intake from consuming so much Similac. Usually when Brooks and I put her in there she will bounce up and down for close to an hour and we'll have to take her out to give her a rest. But tonight I think she outdid herself. After about 45 minutes I stepped out of the bedroom (where the jumpy-go was set up) just for a minute or two and I came back in to find Mason dead asleep in the jumpy-go but still bouncing up and down, albeit at a slow and half-hearted pace. Wow. Talk about multi-tasking!

Here's the video evidence of her feat.

Ike's First Crawl!

Today we are proud (and scared) to report that Ike made his first official crawl this morning. He'd been close to crawling for quite a while, but never could seem to get past the rocking in place phase or propelling himself backwards. This morning out of the blue when Brooks put him on the floor he just took off across the floor. Wow. It's almost like he went to bed last night reading a "How to crawl" book and just woke up and said to himself, "Okay, now I get it." Well, I guess Brooks and I are going to have our hands full for the next few months until he gets a hold of that "How to walk" book. Mason is not too far behind so we'll report back when she gets the hang of it.

Springing Into 2009

Greetings again to anyone who has stayed loyal to the blog even though I haven't updated it in more than a month!! Sorry!!!

December was crazy with my job, an insane travel schedule, and of course the holidays -- and for some reason I just can't seem to find the time to sit down and make any updates. Plus, I've gotten sucked into Facebook and a lot of my Internet time has been cannibalized by this habit-forming social networking site. But don't get me wrong, there is a lot to update for Mason and Ike, as they have just passed the 6-month mark. This blog is back off life support so keep checking back frequently.

Back to Mason and Ike. They're doing everything that a normal 6-month-old does...and then some. They are rolling over with ease, sitting up, starting to crawl, laughing, sleeping better, eating solid foods and, of course, delivering some very potent poops. Their personalities are really starting to develop. Ike is the outspoken and volatile 'stuntman,' never at a loss for smiles, laughs, shrieks and cries and always trying to push his body to the brink of what is physically possible (and impossible) for a baby of his age to do. Naturally, his favorite activity is jumping up and down in the bouncey seat until we have to take him out to rest his legs. He's also mastered rolling over in the boppy seat and pushing himself out onto the floor. If that isn't enough, he recently put a scare into us when he crawled backwards all the way off of our king bed onto the floor. But instead of tears, this acrobatic feat elicited laughter from Ike.

Mason is still the picture of chill. She is more content to sit back and observe things than to be the life of the party. Though she is a capable up-and-coming crawler, her favorite physical activity is laying on her back, grabbing her feet and shoving them into her mouth. Unlike her brother, she loves to go to bed at night and regularly sleeps through the night (though her 'talkative' hours seem to be in the middle of the night when she thinks nobody is listening). Ike still has his tendencies to wake up in the middle of the night and whine or cry for no reason until he is reaffirmed by a rub on the stomach or pacifier. As a result, Brooks and I still have to trade off night shifts, meaning peaceful nights' sleeps are still few and far between.

It's definitetly worth the sacrifice.

Personally, I'm ready to get back to a normal schedule. The past month for me has been consumed with business trips to Chicago, Orlando, New Orleans and Los Angeles. Each time I come home Mason and Ike look they've grown up way too fast. I want to be there for every single second!