Marching into March already! Mason is 6 months and Hannah is 2.5 years old!

"The Mason Man," or "May May" as we sometimes call him. This guy had his big 6 month Dr. appointment today! He is in the 75th percentile for height and 38th percentile for weight. He moved down in both measurements, but is expected to have a growth spurt soon.

This week has been a very busy one! Last weekend, Hannah skied at Pat's Peak on the magic carpet with Daddy, while Mom and Mason basked in the sun (and 65 degree weather!) at the bottom of the hill to spectate. We don't have pictures from this event, as it was a last minute decision to go and we hurried out of the house, forgetting the camera. However, Hannah did a great job and she had a fun time. She has princesses on her boots, and Mom and Dad told her to push against the princesses, helping her to lean forward and carry her own weight. She did this fairly well and managed to take 3 runs! They did go up for a fourth run, but Hannah opted to ride down in Dad's arms for the final descent.

On Monday, Mormor came down to play. She and Hannah spent most of the day outside, in the 55+ degree weather. They went for a walk, chipped away ice on the driveway, and played on the deck. Tuesday morning, we headed up to Lyme to spend the day at Mormor and GP Jimbo's house, where we celebrated Susana and Mummy Karen's birthdays and went to the Montshire on Wednesday, where Hannah particularly liked dancing around with the "air shower" (as she called it). She was also particularly amused and attentive to the "Kitchen Chemistry" demonstration, where we were able to play with and learn about acids and bases using cabbage water, vinegar and baking soda. Before the Montshire excursion, we met up with Mom's friends, Brenda, Alexa, Anik and Patrick at Anik's house in Norwich and also had a tour of Alexa's pottery studio (Alexa Holleran Pottery). Following our adventures with friends at the Montshire, we brought them to King Arthur flour and finally headed home. Needless to say, both kids napped all the way down I89, but of course, woke up as soon as the car stopped and were ready to play again!

The Eck family guys, spending some quality time together!

Mason is a very happy baby. He is incredibly "easy." Everyone who sees him says the same things: "He is always smiling!" or "What a smiley little guy."

Low riding the pants already?! We thought we had at least 12 years before this teeny-bopper style would be an issue?!

We feel so blessed to have these two kids. Hannah and Mason play so well together. Hannah has learned how to be gentle with Mason, and is an extremely helpful sister, always offering to retrieve a diaper or fetch a burp cloth.

Here they are, at tw0-and-a-half and 6 months old!

Nanny and Mason spent some quality time together. Nanny and Gramps came down to spend some time with the kids, so that Mom could run an errand in town, and get some work accomplished at home while Mormor was away visiting Cousin Grace and her family in Virginia. It was great to have them hangout for more of the morning and for lunch. Thanks, Nanny and Gramps!

Everybody's happy! Mason, how do those fingers taste?!

Love this shot: genuine communicative exchange going on here, despite that Mason can't talk.

Hannah got jealous of seeing Mason on Gramp's lap and asked if she could join him.

Here they are!

Nanny read Ten Red Apples to Hannah twice, per her request. Ten red apples, hanging from the tree; fiddle dee fee.

Snuggle time!

The boys, relaxing :)

Okay, so apparently, Hannah can now open her bedroom door. During nap last week, Hannah sneaked very quietly out of her room, into the bathroom and unwrapped several feminine pads left from her body cast experience. This is how I found them (stuck to the bathtub) when she alerted me to the nap time activity by telling me, "Mummy, I stuck some sticky things to my tub."

Hannah "baking" with Mom's spices.

Baking a German Chocolate cake for Opa!

On this particular day, the Nap Time Fairy left a project that entailed making masks out of paper bags. Above you can see the tiger mask that Hannah created and below is...

...the Billy Goat mask. Ironically, Hannah was very excited to show Daddy her masks (and even made the tiger for him!), but she refused to put it on. Still, these masks have not been worn per her request. So, we told her that if she wasn't going to wear them, that we would take a picture of them and then recycle them. She seemed okay with this, although we have yet to act upon it, as they are still sitting under the toy box.

Mason, what's so silly?

Not only is Hannah a focused chef in the kitchen, but also...

...she is an assiduous painter!

This picture was being painted for Susana's birthday.

Look at these two. Do they look alike? Perhaps Mason will be a skier, like GP Jimbo?

Happy Birthday, Susana! Many times, Hannah will end up asking to crawl into your lap once she warms up to you.

We celebrated with a cake that Hannah decorated with Mormor for Susana.

GP Jimbo and the kids.