Hair!!

Ella is now sporting a cute pony tail on top of her head in order to keep the hair out of her face. And Mark got his first hair cut last weekend. We did a few posed pictures before the actual hair cut, when all smiles and laughs were gone. Matt and I also discovered that cutting a baby's hair is much harder than we thought. Let's just say that you can tell it was not a professional job!

Goofballs

My friend Leslie came in town last week for a visit and brought her boys Jack and Theo. I can't believe we got such a great pic of all four of them. Last time she was here was in November, so the kids have all grown quite a bit since then.

Mark and Ella have discovered the Tuperware cabinet and they love it. And I must admit, its great to have something for them to play with when they follow me into the kitchen. Mark is all about our stools and loves to pull up on them. He somehow managed to get inside one the other day. He wasn't too happy about it, but I did get him to smile for a picture.

I was looking for a little excitement during bath time on Sunday and decided to play hair dresser. Mark's mohawk didn't show up too well in the picture, but it was pretty darn cute. And Ella's giant curl is just hilarious.

Just Hangin'

Not a whole lot to report in the past 2 weeks. Mark and Ella took forever to get over a cold, but they are feeling pretty good. Mark picked up crawling in about 24 hours and motors around with Ella all over the place. I had to buy a baby gate to keep them contained to the living room/kitchen. Ella sprouted her 2 bottom teeth and the top ones are coming in soon. Mark is no longer The Count since he has his middle top teeth coming in now, too. But thats about all.

Strep

Mark and Ella celebrated their 9 month birthday last week with a lovely case of strep throat. Mark has it worse than Ella, which earned him a 2nd trip to the dr after having a fever of 103.5. Both are feeling better, but still a little under the weather. The first 2 pics of them are on the day after receiving the antibiotic shot. I'm sure glad I haven't put the swing up yet, because that was the only spot Mark would go to without crying, other than me. Poor guy. A few days earlier, I got a picture of Mark's fangs (click on the middle picture to zoom, its pretty darn funny). Just call him The Count.

I've also had to start baby proofing since Ella is everywhere....fast. Mark is picking it up, but he's still doing the army crawl, so he's a little slower. Ella is on her knees crawling, pulling up on everything, and is fascinated with shoes. Crazy girl!

9 month stats

Mark and Ella had their 9 month check up last week. Mark was 20 lbs and 28.5 inches and Ella was 18 1/2 lbs and 28 inches. Though I'm thinking the heights are off a little because he's more than 1/2 inch taller than Ella. Ella was 50% across the board and Mark was 50% for weight and height and 75% for head size.

Ella is really fast with her army crawling now and loves Oatmeal's toys and our shoes. Mark has just started to scoot around and he's picking it up fast. He loves messing with the volume on our amp that is just about eye level for them. Ella hasn't quite figured out that you shouldn't crawl under the jumperoo when someone else is in it! And they have really started to play with each other now. Particularly with things that aren't toys.

Baptism

Mark and Ella were baptized yesterday and did great! Neither cared too much about a stranger holding them (not that Mark ever cares who holds him, as long as its someone) and they barely batted an eye with the water on their heads. They looked awfully darn cute while they were lifted up and shown to everyone. Both grandparents came to watch and so did their Aunt Angela, Uncle John, and cousins Jack and Joseph. We completed the event with fajitas back at home.

Goofy kids

I had to post these pics because they just made me laugh. The first two are how I found Mark and Ella after their naps yesterday. Just as happy as could be! Ella is scooting her way across the floor and her new favorite place is under the jumperoo! Poor Mark just gets bull dozed by his little sister.