Jill > YOUR children won’t nap! Driving me crazy!
Alan > I’m sorry – want me to take them back?
Jill > LOL! Yes, please!
Alan > Ok – find the receipt and I’ll return them tonight.
Jill > I don’t think they’ll fit in the package they came in!

It's been a while since I posted an update on the kids.  Here's something fun that's been going on lately:

Hunter began referring to Gracie as "Gay-gee" months ago.  It's still cute, today, especially when he is looking out for her interests.  Tonight for example, when I gave him a cup of milk, he wouldn't take a sip until "Gay-gee" got her cup, too.  Once she had her cup, all was well.  But, up until Mom handed it to her, Hunter pointed at it with a look of concern and repeated "Gaygee!  Gaygee!"

It's taken Grace a long time to come up with a name for Hunter.  I guess the H sound is more difficult that the G sound.  But, the other day, while Hunter was finishing a nap, Grace blurted out, "Mama, Dada, Gaygee, Haha," then beamed as if she'd just won the Nobel Prize for "Best Spoken Toddler."  It was hilariously cute!

So, Gracie is officially Gaygee.  Both she and Hunter are referring to her that way.  And, Grace is now calling Hunter, "Haha."  (Though, Hunter has yet to refer to himself that way.)

In the days since Grace's revelation, she's repeated the quartet of names several times.  One of these days, I'll have a video or audio recorder handy and capture it.  It's absolutely priceless.

Should have more pictures up soon.  Been organizing our collection lately.  Lots of stuff that hasn't been posted!

Hunter and Grace did a little on camera work a couple of days ago.  It was almost bed time.  So, they're pretty tired looking.  But, this is a pretty good example of their personalities:  (As always, better quality video can be found on our MobileMe gallery.)

Hunter's Helmet

For those of you wondering why Hunter is still wearing his football player Halloween costume, he's actually wearing the helmet to correct a flat spot on his skull. It's a condition known as plagiocephaly. He has a mild case.  His hair would likely cover it up eventually. But, we figured we'd give the helmet a try and see what happens. No sense putting up with all those flat head jokes later in life, if you don't have to. :)

Gracie's Revenge

Both Hunter and Grace are definitely being themselves in these videos. Hunter is generally content to sit and play with a toy. Gracie is into everything. I wonder which is closer to me and which is closer to Jill?

Now that I'm back at work, there's not nearly as much time to take pictures, shoot video, or blog about daily changes.  So, I have no new pictures or video, but I do have a milestone that needs to be reported:

Hunter has a tooth!

We first noticed Hunter's tooth - a lower incisor - late last week.  Not to be outdone...

Gracie has two teeth!

Grace's teeth - also lower incisors - first showed up on Monday.  No more putting our fingers in their mouths as a temporary binky!  (Ouch!)

Have you ever tried baby food?  I swear, if I could get my cooked carrots to taste this good, I'd eat them every day!

Gracie and Hunter have been experimenting with rice cereal for a while now.  But, this week, we introduced them to carrots.  Hunter had his doubts at first.  But, he seems to have adjusted.  Gracie, on the other hand, likes the carrots so much, we have to feed her all her formula before bringing out the oozy, orange goodness!  The minute she starts on the carrots, she doesn't want anything more to do with the bottle...

My bad!  When writing the post below, I hadn't reviewed the nurse's notes from Hunter and Grace's six month checkup.  I have now and I must issue a retraction:  Gracie is not in the 50th percentile.  She is actually in the 50-75th percentile range - the same range as Hunter.  As most people who meet them note - these kids aren't skipping any meals!

Also, I mentioned that we will be taking Hunter to see the head doctor, which I referred to as the "cranial/facial" doctor.  Turns out, they're actually called "craniofacial" doctors.  A thousand pardons...

Gracie and Hunter turned six months old on Sunday.  To celebrate, we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate rice cereal.

Today, the twins granted an audience to their pediatrician who promptly poked them and prodded them and declared that all is well.  The official statistics are as follows:

• Hunter weighed 17 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 26.25 inches.  He is in the 50-75th percentile.
• Gracie weighed 16 pounds, 6 ounces and measured the same as Hunter.  She is in the 50th percentile.

More good news:  Gracie's heart murmur was imperceptible.  But we're still going to take her back to the cardiologist in a couple weeks just to be safe.

A little less-good news:  Hunter has developed a flat spot on the back of his head.  It's been that way for several months.  And, it's not getting better on it's own.  So, we're going to take him to the cranial/facial specialists at Children's Hospital to hear what can be done to correct the problem.  It's purely cosmetic.  But, it's probably better to get it done now, before he develops his Dad's infamously hard head.

All in all, it was a fantastic doctor appointment.  To celebrate, we poked each baby in the leg three times - two immunizations and a flu vaccine.  Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

It's getting harder and harder to get an accurate weight for Hunter and Grace.  They like to wiggle so much that it throws the scale off.  Even just sticking their legs out straight causes the scale to jump.  So, these latest weights are approximate, but should be close:

• Hunter is now 17 pounds, 3 ounces.
• Gracie is now 15 pounds, 8 ounces.

In other words, they're huge!