As expected, we had a great time with the birthday girl this past weekend. In lieu of the weather, we ended up skipping the beach for the covered air conditioning of the Florida Aquarium and Channelside — but between that and a great weekend full of shopping and dining (Buca's and Splitsville), no one was complaining! And I learned that if you decide to play 'chicken' with a Tampa Streetcar, it's wise to put your money on the streetcar.

The boys had their 2-month and 18-month "well baby" visits on Monday. It's been a fun couple of days of fussiness and fevers after their shots, but both are growing like little weeds! The youngest is gaining weight at the rate of an ounce a day right now — he clocked in at 12 lbs., 8 oz. and 23 ¾" tall. He's now 4 lbs., 8 oz. heavier and 4 ¾" longer than at birth! The oldest is now officially 3-feet tall (36" even) at just 18-months — a full 2" taller than at his 15-month checkup. Now wonder he can reach the lightswitch! They say to take a baby's height at 2-years old and double it to approximate their adult height. With 6 months to go, he's already guaranteed himself at least 6 feet. And if he grows at the rate he's consistently grown at since birth (always well above the 100th percentile in height), he could end up 6'8"! (That's entirely possible since I have several cousins between 6'7" and 6''8".) I don't think I'm prepared to look up at the kid in kindergarten!

The newborn days are almost officially behind us now. The itty bitty one has been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks. He's smiling, cooing, rolling over from tummy to back, and we've even heard a giggle or three in recent days. It goes by so quickly! You're never quite prepared for just how fast it really flies... The older one just said his third sentence over the weekend. He can now piece together, "dada up," "go bye-bye," and "help baby". His favorite things in the whole wide world are running back and forth in sync with the "near and far" Grover-skit on Sesame Street, chasing and popping bubbles, and stealing baby brother's binkie.

Just in time for football season, (s)Mack Brown is at it again...so I couldn't resist a little Photochopping. I guess 0-5 means nothing to him.

Last but not least, I think I've found a perfect mommy-assistant so I thought I'd pass it on. We'll be installing it sometime before the weekend hits so I can give a full report then... It's the Fisher-Price "Deluxe Auto Mirror" (we bought the Aquarium series version). What makes this one so special is that it has a remote control that goes on the driver's side sunshade. You can activate lights and music for the baby to look at when they get fussy in the car without having to turn around or stop the car. Brilliant!

Repeat announcement:
To close, just a quick PSA and apology. It's only taken me two four days to get this entry together...and you should see my inbox right now (currently with 198 242 messages)... By all means, fire away with the e-mails as I love reading them and getting the 'adult conversation' when time permits. Just please allow for turn-around time. Lots and lots of turn-around time. I have good intentions on writing back I swear (and I'm sorry if you're still waiting to hear back from me), but unless you are the owner of one of these sets of cute little baby toes (or are the male owner of this fine derrière), unfortunately you don't get first-come, first-serve priority for the next few weeks. Please continue to hold...