Golf, pants optional

As you may remember, we threw a golf themed 1st birthday party for the boys.  If you need some help recollecting, here is a not-so-subtle reminder:

In order to present an authentic golf party catered to infants, we of course purchased plastic golf bags, clubs and balls for the boys.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the boys didn't get a whole lot of use out of their clubs last spring, but now that temps are a bit more comfortable, they often want to play a hole or two after their nap.  As temps are not always totally comfortable in the early evening, sometimes pants are not required.

Yes, Carter is exactly as much trouble as he appears to be in this photo

Some days though, shorts or even pants are included in the ensemble. 

So happy that he has stolen both clubs from his brother

The love and mystery of the game

Anderson also enjoys swinging his club around, and thankfully he usually chooses to do so when his brother is not around.  Sometimes its used as a sword, sometimes as a bat to crush trucks, and miraculously, sometimes it even looks like its being used as a golf club.

Hanging out with Grandma

Ty has taken a new position at Google and it involves copious amounts of travel.  Fortunately for the boys, this means they sometimes get to have Grandma Jean come down and stay with them.  Unfortunately for me, it also means that I am a single mom fairly often. Anyone who actually is a single parent, you are amazing.  Truly.

Ty recently went to Tokyo and since he was going to be gone for about 10 days, my mom came down for part of it to see the boys and give me a little break.  Anderson is in a huge book phase. I have probably 20 children's books committed to memory as I read them so often.  And that sweet kid makes this face and gets so excited every time he sees his books, even though they are the same books every day.  Anyways, Grandma did her fair share of reading to the boys.

Since Daddy was away for game day, Mommy and Grandma got to select the outfits.  They look pretty amazing in cardinal and white (please disregard their unhappy faces, I have no idea why they wouldn't be happy in these outfits).

Both boys loved hanging out with Grandma, but Carter especially loved getting to spend some quality time with Grandma.  They even took a nap together one day.

I know, how can that be comfortable at all?

Thanks for coming to see us Grandma!!

Someone's getting curly hair like their Daddy....

Reading the paper

The Schlegel boys have a love for reading and couponing that far exceeds their months on this planet.  Perhaps their favorite activity on a Sunday (second only to screaming mercilessly in the church nursery until their parents are forced to leave the service and come get them, at which point they will walk away and begin playing with toys as if nothing happened) is going through the ads to plan their shopping trips for the week.

Front Porches

In their exploration of our front yard, the boys have taken a particular liking to the rocking chairs on the front porch.  This presents many safety issues, but when properly supervised, can elicit pure joy from Carter and Anderson.  I didn't get my camera out quite quick enough to capture the glee on their faces, but this is pretty close:

Please note my hand holding Carter as he tried repeatedly to slide through the side of the chair.  Alas, babies that are normally too small to be walking present unique issues to parents trying to keep them safe.

Tailgating

As I said in the last post, the boys and I have been enjoying some time outside in the afternoon. One day we decided to test out their new tailgating chairs (an awesome birthday present we hadn't been able to use yet). They are ready for the next home game!

Slides

Most people warned me that my life would get infinitely harder when the boys were walking.  Thus far, I'd have to say it's been the opposite.  There were many places I could not take the boys when they weren't walking simply because it was too hard to carry both of them and a double stroller doesn't exactly fit everywhere.  Also, when they started walking, they also decided that not everything needed to go into their mouths, which was a very welcome change.  Coincidentally, this all also happened just as the weather was starting to cool down a bit here in Austin, so the boys and I have enjoyed playing outside most afternoons.  They love getting to explore and I love being outside of the house.

A few weekends ago, Ty and I decided to see if they'd like a playground.  We walked to an elementary school nearby and while the playground as mostly too big for them, we did have fun on the swings, slides, and grabbing playground gravel.  They were having so much fun on the slides that we decided we needed to capture it on video:

Fully Mobile

(This post is about a month and a half late.)  As the title would suggest, the Schlegel boys are fully mobile.  Anderson managed to learn how to walk before Carter; I think this might be the first developmental milestone Anderson reached first, and Carter still seems a bit perturbed by the whole thing.  Since Anderson learned first, Carter spent a significant amount of time pulling Anderson down every time he stood up.  Carter probably started walked a week or two after Anderson.

These days they are not just walking, but even some running when they get really excited or when Mommy is chasing them.  I've managed to catch a little on video, hopefully showing the progression of their first steps to current walking skills.