Dylan's First Haircut!

Today, Dylan visited the barber for the first time. He did so well. No crying! Of course the barber earned his money by skillfully cutting the hair of a moving object!

Taking a stand

It was only a matter of time. You can't stop Dylan, you can only hope to contain him.

In other news, both Grace and Dylan are quite enamored of their new toy piano. I'm glad that mom knows what toys to get.

8 months old

Tomorrow Dylan and Grace celebrate their two-thirds birthday -- cake for everyone! Every week or two there seems to be a new milestone. Grace now stands up regularly using anything she can get her hands on for support -- crib rails, gate in our living room, etc. Dylan has a mysterious gravitational pull toward Truman's tail and for some reason finds the dog hilarious (apparently some inside joke that mom and dad don't yet comprehend.)

A few photos to commemorate the big 2/3....

Fun at mealtime

Waiter, I'll have the 2 oz. Gerber applesauce and some milk, please. But before that, I'd like some playtime to smash my blocks together...

Grace is now sitting up on her own. Here she is playing with her picture book, which contains photos of her and her brother with both sets of grandparents.

Before and after

Let's start with milestone #1. We took Dylan and Grace on their first plane trip this past weekend. They both handled the travel well, although Grace got fussy on the return trip. In general, they were both quite interested in looking out the window, and Dylan also took the opportunity to snooze a bit.

We went to my cousin Vasant's wedding, and it was a beautiful wedding and reception. Lots of smiles everywhere, and a great opportunity to reconnect with the relatives. I am particularly happy that the kids got to meet their great grandparents. The kiddos were on occasion a bit out of sorts from the crowds and noise (and for their parents keeping them up waaaaaaaay past their bedtime on Friday -- lesson learned). However, when we left them to their own devices and gave them some breathing room, they just loved crawling and rolling around in the hotel lobby, in the hotel room bed, etc.

Attached is a priceless before and after scene from our room at the Augusta Marriott. It appears that after politely tolerating her brother kicking her in utero for several months, daddy's little princess has learned to assert herself.

Milestone #2: This past weekend, Dylan started clearly enunciating what I've been wanting to hear for some time now...."Dada!" Now, he just spontaneously launches into enthusiastic spurts of multiple "dada"s.

Recycled prunes and more

On Sunday, in the spirit of giving, Dylan decided to share his meal with his daddy. Of course this meant that he recycled his prunes ON his daddy. Results are below with prune stained outfit on the floor nearby.

Love is not caring if your little angel barfs prunes on you!

Happily, Dylan has since recovered and is cheering the Horns on to victory with a handsome outfit that Aunt Marlyn sent! Just a few more weeks to wait until the fall football season!

Okay, this last shot is just for grins. Baby bums are cute.

Let the games begin

July 15, 2008 (AP): Grace "officially" started crawling today. This marks the first time we saw her go beyond the famed "rocking horse maneuver" and put one knee in front of the other. She then starting trekking forward and then even a bit sideways. Before we knew it, she was crusing right toward the plant at the edge of the living room, and proceeded to start tugging on the vine that reached the floor. Let the games begin!

Be wary....

Apparently you are a shady character, as Grace and Dylan are looking at you with great suspicion. This has the makings of the cover of a rap album (I reserve the copyrights).

Happy 4th of July!

This 4th of July, we celebrated the event in our neighborhood with an old fashioned bike and stroller parade. This was followed by a community-wide celebration, complete with a color guard, a medal of honor recipient, an adorable 11 year-old singing the national anthem and refreshments for all. It was a lot of fun and the kids were great!

Below is a photo of Grace enjoying the big band music being played over the PA. She was dancing to the beat and grinning the entire time.

Afterwards, we introduced Grace and Dylan to water sports. Specifically, maxing and relaxing at poolside. Clearly, Dylan has this mastered already.


On Saturday, we joined our friends the Machs and Orsis at their place on Crystal Beach, where Dylan and Grace got their first introduction to the ocean (Gulf of Mexico).





It was a terrific weekend for the entire family!

Close to crawling

Grace is making significant progress toward crawling. She will get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, like she's about to shoot out of the blocks at a track meet. She really enjoys trying to crawl, and often smiles when Denise and I encourage her. Gooooooooo Grace!

Here's a rarity of Dylan sporting socks. Of course, we reduced his ability to remove them by further confining him in shoes. Time for a new car seat, as Dylan has sprouted up very quickly!

We're one year old (collectively)!

Grace and Dylan are 6 months old today! My parents are in town and have had a great time doting on their grandkids. This morning we took them in for their 6 month pediatrician visit, and they're both doing great. (Granted, neither of them particularly enjoyed getting their vaccination shots). It's hard to believe how much they've sprouted up....they've become so interactive, and have already outgrown so many of their cute outfits.

The six-month milestone warrants the return of Spreadsheet Man -- enjoy!

Splish...Splash!

The kids are now starting to enjoy their baths more. They now realize that they can kick and splash around for fun! Below is a photo of Dylan all fired up for bathtime (with all of the private bits edited!).

Notice the remnants of a Beckham/mohawk hairdo, compliments of mom.

The paparazzi found me again!

Here I am relaxing in my papasan swing and then the cameras start flashing! What is a girl to do?

Dylan has no idea why you are looking at his blog!

Thus, he is looking at you with suspicion.

But...

He also knows that no one can resist a cutie like him!

Having twins is AWESOME!

Just an observation based on the past 5 months.

No, really, that's it...the storytelling skills are a bit lackluster today...you can go back to checking your email now. Please disperse, nothing to see here.