Piano trio

Joey had his friends Hannah and Cristian over for a playdate on Thursday and they had some music time on the piano...

Owen's sleep training

We started Owen's sleep training (Dr. Ferber style) last week on Friday the 13th. Although this was the same method we used with Joey, we were still anxious about how things would go with Owen. On the first night when we put him down for bedtime, he cried for just over 30 minutes and then was out until the middle of the night feeding. And after the bottle he went straight back to sleep. With each night his crying time has gotten a bit shorter and as of last night we're down to about 15 minutes of crying. The best part is that he's also been weaned off his pacifier so we don't have to keep putting it back in his mouth and even better is the fact that he's sleeping about 11 hours a night! I heart Dr. Ferber. As was the case with Joey, the naps are not coming along as easily but I will not be defeated.

Here are some new pics of our happy boy!

Joey is a "shear" genius!

Watch how Joey expertly fixes my hair. We are going to see huge savings in a few years once Joey masters the art of cutting and coloring!

Owen's 4-month well check

Owen had his 4-month well check this morning and here are his latest stats:

* Weight: 18 lbs., 3 oz. (95th percentile)
* Length: 24 7/8" (75th-90th percentile)
* Head Circumference: 42.7 cm (50th-75th percentile)

Our little chunky monkey is pretty big and is ready to move into size 3 diapers (it's too bad mommy stocked up on size 2 not too long ago). Owen is currently taking 7 oz. bottles about 5 times a day and the doc suggested maybe bringing that down to 6 oz./bottle and trying to stretch out his feedings a bit. In other surprising news, Owen's head is no longer ginormous compared to the rest of his body as it was at birth. If you'd like to see how Owen compares to Joey at this age, click here.

Here are a couple of pics of our guys dressed up in matching camo shorts. I had to do this while Owen still fit into his shorts!

Brotherly love

California love

We trekked out to the Bay Area last week to visit mommy's side of the family. We were able to introduce Owen to the family and the most special part was that he got to meet his great-grandfather who is spending some time in the U.S. The trip was a lot of fun although we were all thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home. The flights were not terrible - don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy with the two boys - but they were as well behaved as you can expect two little guys can be in a crowded and confined space. Click here to see all of our pictures from the trip - below are some highlights of the visit:

Owen with his great-grandfather

Daddy and Joey looking out onto Half Moon Bay.

Joey vs. really big tree.

A family photo after eating an awesome sushi dinner.

We originally took this picture because I insisted on having a picture of Owen on his first trip. Brian didn't mean to capture us in the photo but I think this is a good illustration of just how tired we all were by the end of the trip. We'll just blame it on Joey's 4:30.m. wake-up calls each morning.