Well-Baby Checks...

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Well, what a doctor day! I guess on some level I knew that it would be a little much to handle but never really thought through all the details of the appointment. I have NEVER been more impressed with my children! Molly didn't cry during either of her vaccines or her lab draws...shocking! Gabe made the cutest little pouty face and had about two tears...and this was without sweet ease! I am not going to lie- it was long and tiring. It didn't help that the appointment landed right at lunch time. Perhaps a little better planning for next time...live and learn. Okay... so here are the updates. I am breaking it up into little sections for each kiddo (for my baby book and for the grandparents!)
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Gabriel Joseph May

6 months old

weight: 17 lb 15 oz (55%)
length: 27 inches (70%) * head: 17.6 (70%)

my son is just all about the sevens I guess!

So it is definitely the truth to say that for every spice in life...there is a little bit of sugar too. Gabriel is our sugar to Molly's spice. I have never met a happier baby. Gabriel LOVES to smile...especially at Molly. I swear Molly gets the best Gabriel smiles. Gabe is at his happiest when he is playing on the ground, jumping in his rain forest bouncer or hanging upside down. I really think that he might be part bat. He is always trying to discover some new position that leads him upside down. For the first three months of Gabriel's life I was convinced that his tear ducts were clogged because I had never seen him truly cry. He really doesn't cry much at all...he just complains. We started rice cereal with Gabe at 5 months and he eats like a champ. He now loves to nosh on avocado, bananas, sweet potatoes, peas, etc. We haven't found a food that he won't eat. It is so nice that eating has never been an issue for him...really nice for Mommy.

Gabriel is in constant motion these days. He is always up on all fours rocking back and forth. He wants to crawl SO badly. He is really close too which makes me a little nervous. I could handle two kids when one of them was stationary. He currently can crawl backwards and when that fails he will leap forward on his belly to get where he needs to go. He has an amazing wing span and reach things I thought were well out his reach...like Molly's toys. Gabriel's movements are quickly molding me into a more cautious parent. About a month ago, I went to switch the laundry for 3 minutes and left Gabriel on Molly's bed...her bed with GIANT guard rails. Well, in about a minute's time my immobile child managed to make it to the other end of the bed, maneuver around the bed rails and end up on the floor. It was a scream that I NEVER hope to hear again come out of my sweet baby's mouth. It was a BIG lesson learned... and it was here that I realized his tear ducts really do work.

Gabriel is a tummy sleeper. You can always find him on his tummy, launched into his bumper pad and bent backwards just a little. Such a snuggle bug! Aside from being a little chick magnet he is also a mosquito magnet. He just sits there and lets those bugs get the best of him. You can notice the bug bite right between his eyes in the first picture.

Gabriel likes hats...or maybe we just like him in hats. You have to admit...it is just about the cutest thing ever!

Gabriel currently has two teeth on the bottom. At any given moment he is making this weird face (as pictured in the fireman hat), He is rubbing his gums with his tongue and beat boxin' simultaneously.

It is amazing that he has been a part of home now for 6 months! How did that happen so fast?!?! But for as quickly as 6 months has come...I can't seem to remember life without him in it.

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Molly Grace May

2 years old

weight: 23 lb 4 oz (10%) - BIG IMPROVEMENT!

length: 34 1/4 in (70%) * head: 19 in. (70%)

Our Molly girl is at such a fun age right now! She just has so much to say! I know that every toddler is hilarious and our Molly is definitely up there with the best of them. She says the funniest things...here are a few of my most recent favorites...

In her stroller at Old Navy: "Let me out now I need to shop..."

Every time she says no...it comes out as: "No Honey..."

When she is delaying bedtime she now must say goodnight to the kitchen appliances and produce. So now we get to enjoy: "Night night pickles...I love you. or Sweet dreams Milk *kiss*"

I think that our most common phrase though is: "No honey, I'll do it."

I seriously think that if there was a memo that went out to all two year olds about control than Molly has read it, memorized it and added her own footnotes. I swear on the day she turned two everything became all about her INDEPENDENCE. Molly now buckles her own car seat, dresses herself (in her unique style), climbs in the car herself, climbs in the bath tub herself...you get the idea. She is the boss of EVERYTHING about her...or so she wishes...I am learning how to trick her into letting me help... some days are better than others..she is a smart one.

Sleep is a battle with Molly EVERY day. She is notorious for inventing ways to get out of naps, creating methods to fight sleep and improving new stall tactics. If only she could harness all this brain power to save the planet or something! I will say we have now moved off the floor. For those of you that don't know, we went through a 6 month stint where Molly would only fall asleep on the floor every night. That was fun.

Like Gabriel, Molly too loves hats...

and shoes...and finger nail polish...and purses, bows and dresses. Her favorite place to play is in our closet.

Our Molly Grace is just about the most ungraceful child you will ever meet. She is COVERED in bruises. But for as uncoordinated she may be our little girl can dance! Molly loves to dance and sing and READ books! She loves her books so much...in fact, she would give up her pillow, babies or blankets in a battle against nap time...but if I even so much as hint at taking her books away then it is the end.of.the.world.

Molly has been the best child to break Kelly and I in to parenthood. She is ALWAYS full of surprises. I think the most disgusting discovery was when I looked in the rear view mirror just in time to see Molly take a piece of candy off the bottom of her shoe (from the Target parking lot) and eat it. Sadly, she has done this several times since...we now ride home without shoes on.

I love Molly's age because she is now the queen of pretend. She is always discovering things and showing me a whole new perspective on everyday events. It is so refreshing. I can't wait to see all the adventures that she and Gabe will create together... I love that Kelly and I can tag along for the ride too... I guess all of you can too...

Thanks for catching up with our crew!