A Tale of TWO Claytons: Where has the time gone?

The babies turned six months old last Wednesday and if I am honest, their half-birthday hit me pretty hard. In fact, the night may or may not have ended in a few nostalgic tears. It is already getting hard to remember those first few weeks with the babies and there are times where I wish I could just stop time in its tracks and preserve Ashton and Mary Seegars's sweetness and innocence. But, since I do not have a magic clock that allows me to stop time, I guess the best I can do is record what the babies are doing now, six months after they came into our lives and changed our world in the most wonderful of ways.

Ashton: Ashton is one big boy (weighing in at 18.4 pounds when I took him to the doctor for his sinus infection). He is extremely alert and is curious about just about everything. He loves to play, particularly in his exersaucer and johnny jumper. His favorite toy is the turtle attached to his exersaucer that he can pull to hear a variety of songs and sounds. Ashton has great command of his hands and can grab anything big or small. He gets bored very easily and is pretty demanding these days. He has become quite the mama's boy lately and even reaches for me to pick him up (something I must admit I really love). The boy loves to eat. Sweet potatoes are his favorite but he also likes oatmeal and applesauce, avocado and bananas. He is not a fan of carrots or green beans, so I have to be pretty sneaky to make sure his diet has some variety in it. At night, Ashton is all over his crib. He will only sleep on his stomach and sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night just to babble. My favorite part of the day is when I go to get him in the morning and he smiles from ear to ear when he sees Gash and me. Ashton loves his sister and gets so excited when he sees her, often squealing like a pig. He laughs but only occasionally, although he smiles all the time and his smile is to die for (it literally lights up his entire face). To wrap it up, Ashton is all boy, and I would not change one single thing about him!

Mary Seegars: We call Mary Seegars our little peanut and I can not think of a better name for miss priss. In fact, I think she may even believe her name is peanut as she responds to it quite regularly. At first glance, Mary Seegars appears to be half the size of Ashton, although she is starting to fatten up a little. Mary Seegars also loves to play although she is much more patient than her brother and not quite as into everything. She loves the exersaucer but does not have as much command over her hands, so when she wants something she usually flails her arms around sporadically until she finally gets a hold of whatever she is reaching for. She also loves books and magazines and gets excited over the colors and pictures. Mary Seegars loves to play with both Gash and me but when she wants her alone time she lets us know. In fact, she rarely cries unless she is hungry or tired. While Ashton likes to be rocked to sleep, Mary Seegars prefers to be left alone. She goes right to sleep and does not hardly move until we come into the room the next morning. In fact, we often have to wake her up. She may be a little sleepy head, but she always wakes up with a smile and patiently waits her turn to be picked up. Mary Seegars was not a big fan of solids when we first introduced them to her. Instead of eating, she would usually spit them back at us. That is until we introduced carrots. The girl loves her some carrots and has become as good of an eater as her brother (albeit a lot less messy). Mary Seegars gets extremely excited when she sees Ashton and she will do everything she can to get his attention. She is probably her most vocal when she is around her brother, yelling out and smiling at him. Peanut smiles like it is her job and she has the sweetest smile you have ever seen. She also loves to laugh and laughs her most when she is in just her diaper. Her feet are ticklish and her laughter is something I could listen to all day, every day. Now, if Ashton is all boy, Mary Seegars is the quintessential girl. She is so dainty, delicate, and as sweet as pie!

How did we get so lucky to be blessed with two totally different but totally perfect little babies?