Weekly Update

Gage is getting really close to walking. He has taken his first step, but fell right after. He practices standing without holding on to things and moving along the couch without holding on carefully. He should be walking any day now. Naturally we think this is all very exciting.

Reid has not shown as much interest in walking, but he is getting to be a clever climber. He uses boxes and toys to help him push off. He can nearly climb onto the couch without help. Today he used me as a step to climbing onto the back of the couch. It was pretty funny, although he accosted me in the process.

I hope you enjoy the pics and video for this week.

The boys like to relax at the door for some reason.














Reid is working on his escape plan in case of emergency.














Reid's climbing skills in action.














One of Gage's favorite games right now.

To Michelle,

The boys are stinky,
church is long,
the post is coming,
Keep your pants on.
;)

Nick's an Old Man

Yesterday was Nick's birthday, and I must add, a fine time was had by all. Because he is The Organizer, Nick planned his own party (at Red Robin) and did all the inviting. Of course, it seems like it should have been me doing all that, but historically Nick hasn't been overly happy on his birthday, so basically I figured he was happy to plan his day exactly how he wanted, and I was happy to let him. He did a great job. The only small blight on the day was the BYU game we watched at the end. Let's not talk about that.

The other day I gave the babies a piece of cut-up french toast with a little brown sugar on it. Mostly, I am constantly trying to find "real" food that they will eat. I don't know if they get tired of foods, but I am tired of feeding them applesauce. So, we attempt new things. Reid though, is very suspicious of anything that he hasn't tasted a few times before. Sometimes, he's suspicious even if he has tasted it many times before, but that's another story. Reid grabbed the new food with eagerness, but almost immediately he dropped it with an appalled look. Then, he began shaking and wiggling his fingers, as if his hand by itself was having a seizure. After a moment I realized that he was unappreciative of the sticky/grainy texture that the brown sugar made on his hand. Perhaps those of you who know Nick well will not be surprised by this little quirk.

Heaven help us.

I particularly like the video this week. Not because it is the most entertaining, but because it shows the boys working together. They work together all the time...usually their goal seems to be to drive me crazy. Or, they just want to make sure the other isn't getting into something cool. The sight of them crawling next to each other into a room is one of my favorite things. So, I thought I would show them "sharing" their toy. They will sometimes spend up to half an hour pushing and pulling this particular toy around together. In baby time, that is like a full day.

Gage, and his giant smile:


Naomi and Reid, playing in the baskets:

One of the many places Gage finds to lay down:


Reid's up-to-something face:

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming/Blogging

I know our posts were inconsistent last month. In our defense, we went on two vacations and had web hosting problems. However, now we are back on schedule.

Reid has six teeth now, four on top and the two on bottom. He's been pretty good about the pain, but has been waking up a lot at night--we assume teething is the cause. Gage has four teeth with one in process.

We took the boys swimming at a kiddie pool recently. It was one of those zero entry style pools. The boys had a great time crawling in and out of it; they also seemed to enjoy charging straight into the deeper part. More than once we had to pull them out after they had crawled in until the water was up to their foreheads. Every time we pulled them out/saved their little lives they were smiling their heads off and coughing out water. I know you are thinking, why didn't they just keep them from crawling in that deep in the first place. Three reasons: (1)They are stinking fast crawlers now and I have to run [only a slight exaggeration] to keep up. (2)You have to remember that we are playing two-on-two. We aren't running a standard two-on-one zone defense. (3)We kept thinking their little neurons would conjure up this thought, "Hey, nearly drowning isn't that fun!"

Another note on the swimming. Reid flirted with every sunbathing teenage girl out there. He kept crawling up to them to get their attention, acting like he was shy, crawling away two steps, and then turning to revel in the "aaaawwwwww, he's so cute" exclamations. Yes . . . we fear the future. Sorry we don't have pictures of all this swim action. Again, I remind you of the two-on-two/man-to-man situation.

I have posted a video of a new game the boys made in the tub. We hope you are all well.

Back from Texas!

We just got back from visiting Collin & Liana...along with the Allen crew, Mom & Dad, MB, Joel & Paul. It was pretty fun! We got to meet Lily for the first time (what a good baby!) and see Joel who has just gotten home from his mission. It was great...even if we did have to fly with the babies. I tell you, trying to hold a squirmy 25-pound little person on your lap for two hours at a time isn't really a fun way to spend a day. But, it was worth it.

Our camera battery died about day 2, so we are again dependent on others for a majority of our photos. So I'll just post a few of the pictures we do have, and then we'll do a longer and more detailed post later.

Trying to get a little nap in before we board:


Gage decided he really loved Uncle Joel. He showed a definite preference all weekend:


Nadia decided that Reid was her favorite. At one point she was making Reid laugh, and she told her mom she was making "this Reid laugh, not the other Reid!" (poor Gage).


I just liked this picture of Reid