Avocado Project - Still Growing

I'm a little behind in the avocado update, and there has been some significant growing!! Buck was ready to plant when we last left the little seedlings, and look at him now:

Apologies for the lack of focus... my cell phone camera apparently doesn't view the tall, skinny stick as a worthy focal point. Apparently, according to HGTV and this post, I have actually done it wrong. I quote:

Here’s how to start:

1. Remove the large pit (seed) from inside an avocado, rinse well, and dry (a wet seed will be slippery!).
2. Push three or four toothpicks into the seed at its widest part so that you can suspend the pit over a glass of water with the pointy end sticking up. The water should cover about an inch of the seed.
3. Put in a warm place and make sure to maintain the water level.
4. In 2-6 weeks, roots and a stem will sprout from the seed. When the stem is about six inches long, trim it in half.
5. When the stem leafs again, transplant the seedling to a pot with loose, sandy soil. Plant the seedling root down, leaving the top half of the pit sticking out of the soil.
6. Give your plant frequent, light watering and keep it in a sunny place to encourage growth.
7. Pinch back the newest top leaves every time the stems grow another six inches or so to encourage more growth and a fuller plant.

- See more at: http://www.hgtvgardens.com/guac-n-roll-grow-an-avocado-tree#sthash.XpZkbewt.dpuf

Yep, I totally missed step 4. I think I'll carry on, but perhaps for one of the Austins I will actually follow the above steps.

Ah, but what about the Austins? The first Austin is proceeding at an astonishingly glacial pace with only minimal visual markers to give us any optimism at all.

Honestly, I'm kinda ready to just chuck this one, but I'll give it a couple more weeks.

Austin2 is showing more progress, but then he started out progressing in fruito, as it were.

I've never seen one with a double root, so that's cool. And the crack is large enough that the stem development is also quite interesting. Something that would be great for kids to watch. Besides plant growth, it would be quite a lesson in patience.