Merry Christmas

We had a busy two weeks. The 14th and 15th we went to Lincoln to do our Christmas shopping. Then the following Monday, Landen got his 6 month shot. I had the nurse weigh and measure him, and he has grown a lot in the last month. He now weighs 17# 12oz and is 26 3/4 in. long. The rest of the week, I worked on making my Christmas candy. Friday we went to Pierce to have Christmas with Elliot's family. The fifth picture is Elliot's uncle Jack and Landen in their red jumpsuits. The sixth is a 5 generation picture. Myrtle, Landen's great-great-grandma, was sure excited to meet him. We came home on Sunday and we weren't home long before we went to visit some friends who were up visiting from Texas. On Monday we went to Becker Christmas. It was pretty crazy with 4 babies there. With all of the commotion, Landen was not happy. He is not used to loud, crowed places. Then Tuesday, we went to my grandma's house for Christmas Day.
Pictures: 1- Landen pushing up onto his knees - Christmas Eve; 2- The four babies: My dad is holding Bryson, Justina is holding Braiton, I am holding a cranky Landen, and my mom is holding Sutton. (Justina is my cousin and is an aunt to the twins and Sutton); 3- Landen and Sutton playing and talking; 4- Landen sitting on his John Deere tractor that Grandma and Grandpa Becker gave him; 5 & 6 described above; 7- Landen with his presents from us; 8- Landen is checking out Bryson 9- Sutton and Landen in their Santa suits.

6 months old!

I can't hardly believe that Landen is 6 months old already. We had another busy week. Last Wednesday was my birthday, so we went to Beaver City to have supper with my parents. On Saturday, we went to Beaver City again so that Landen could see Santa Clause. I managed to leave the house without my camera, luckily my mom had her camera. We couldn't get Landen to smile while sitting on Santa's lap, but the picture we got was better than if he was looking at us with a smile. Since we got such a pretty snow, I decided to take some pictures of Landen wearing his snow suit in the snow. Then Elliot had the idea to make a snow angel. It turned out pretty cute! The second picture is Landen's six month picture in the same place on the couch that we take his picture every month. He doesn't look so tiny in that spot anymore. The fourth picture is my dad holding Landen. Landen loves to grab glasses; he has even bent Elliot's glasses. We were lucky to get a picture of Landen smiling while my dad is holding him. Lately Landen has been crying when my dad holds him. He doesn't see my dad very often, so he doesn't really know him. Landen is also starting to get separation anxiety (which could explain why he cries when my dad holds him). He will sometimes starts screaming if I leave him in the living room while I go to another room. It is very difficult to get anything done around the house when he does that. Speaking of screaming...that's all for today.

Landen's laugh

I managed to get Landen's laugh on video. I mentioned it in the previous posting, so be sure to read it. The video is 45 seconds (I was feeding him lunch, so he has peas and carrots all over his face).

Baby on the move!

Landen has discovered that he can go places when he really wants to. He mostly rolls to get around, but if a toy is just out of his reach, he has figured out a way to get it. When he is on his tummy, he will rock himself back and forth and reach until he has scooted enough to reach his toy. It is pretty funny to watch. The first time that Elliot saw him do this, he was worried that Landen was upset that he couldn't reach the toy, so he moved it closer. I told him that Landen is actually learning by struggling to get it and to let him try until he either gets it or gets pissed. The next time, Elliot was surprised when Landen was able to get his toy. Since then, we have seen him move around a lot more easily. He also spins on his tummy to get toys or to look at something. It won't be long and I will probably be finding him in some odd places. I think I might need to get a baby gate soon. Landen is still loving the new perspective he gets while sitting up. He loves to sit and stare a the TV or the Christmas tree. He has also discovered that he can throw his toys. The first few times it surprised him when it went so far. He just looks at me with a puzzled look on his face like he is asking "what happened?" He is starting to giggle when he gets tickled. He also laughs at the TV when we watch Sesame Street. It is hard to describe his laugh. It is like a half giggle with a big grin (that doesn't do it justice). I need to try to get a video of it, but he usually stops as soon as I hold up the camera.

Pictures: 1 - Landen fell asleep in the high chair while I was eating my lunch (he had already eaten); 2 - If I were to put a thought bubble on this picture it would say, "I see it, now how do I get it?"; 3 & 4 - Landen is showing off his Santa suit; 5 - Landen is fascinated by the lights on the tree. You can't really tell, but the room is dark except for the lights on the tree.

I'm falling behind!

It's a good thing that I am not teaching now because I don't know how I would get everything done and still keep my sanity. I know a few of you who read this have multiples, and I don't know how you do it. Lately, Landen has been demanding attention and he gets very upset if I leave the room or don't play with him for a little while. He has been a little happier the last few days because he can sit up on his own for a long time. Today he was actually content to sit and play with a toy and look around for about a 1/2 hour. Wednesday was the first day that he sat up straight for longer than a few seconds and he has just gotten stronger since.

We have had a lot going on since my last post. Last Saturday, Connie, Larry, Landen, Elliot and I went to Grand Island to go shopping for the day. Landen was pretty good. He got a little fussy in the mall because he was hungry and tired. He fell asleep about as soon as we left the parking lot, so Larry sat in the van with him while the rest of us went to the next store. The rest of the day went well and Landen slept all the way home and still slept through the night. Then Sunday we put up Christmas lights. It was such a nice day that we decided to get it over with. Landen enjoyed sitting outside in his activity center wearing his new cowboy hat (see picture). Wednesday I spent the day baking pies for Thanksgiving which we spent at my parents' house. Friday we went to a wedding in Logan, KS for my Dad's uncle...we didn't realize that it would be snowing and the hour trip there took 2 hours to get home (we got stuck behind a scared driver going 30 mph). We spent Saturday at Connie and Larry's house. Sunday, we had Landen's 6 month pictures taken here. I decided to do it early so that they would be ready in time for Christmas cards.

Pictures: 1 - my Dad and Landen on Thanksgiving Day; 2 - showing off horse p.j.s and cowboy hat; 3 - sitting with uncle Wendall (he gave Landen the outfit); 4 - playing outside (explained above); 5 - Sitting up all by himself!; 6 - sitting on the changing table after a bath (look at that tooth)!; 7 - switched hats with uncle Adam...I don't think they fit!; 8 - sitting in the rocking chair that has been in the family for 100 years.

mmmmmm

Today when I was feeding Landen his lunch, I thought of something that I wanted to share. For the past few days, when I put a spoonful of food in Landen's mouth, he "says" 'mmmmm'
as he closes his mouth around the spoon and swallows the food. It is so cute. He started doing this because I would make that sound when I was trying to teach him to eat with a spoon. Now, he eats so well that I am giving him larger portions and nursing a little less. We have also noticed that when he is hungry he makes the 'mmmmmm' noise instead of crying. It's pretty funny.

5 months old!

These past two weeks have been crazy, which is why I have not posted anything new. A lot has happened in those two weeks, so I'll try not to let this get too long. Landen has had a taste of "real" food, and loves it. So far I have given him sweet potatoes and squash. I've also tried apple juice, but he is not crazy about that (it could also be that he doesn't really know what to do with a bottle...yes I am still nursing even though he has a tooth.) I have decided that since I am staying home, I am making my own baby food. I'm glad that I made this decision because Landen doesn't seem to spit up the home made stuff as much as the store bought. Last week I had a good reason for not posting anything new; we had a heat pump installed on Monday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday, so I left. Tuesday I actually went to Norton for a doctor's appointment for Landen. He weighs 16 lbs 8.5 oz and is 25.5 in long. The doctor couldn't say enough good things about him! On Wednesday, I spent the day at my parents' house. That was fun because my dad was actually home for a while and my mom got off work early that day. Saturday was another busy day. We went to a funeral for a close friend of the family in the morning. In the afternoon, we went to Norton to the craft shows. Landen was a real trooper. He was hungry and hot most of the time, but he wasn't too fussy. When we were all shopped out, we went to my grandma's house, and Landen ate and ate and ate some more. He made it as far a my parents' house (half way to Arapahoe) and he got fussy, so we stayed there for a while. He just really needed to lay down and move. Then we decided to go to Beaver City to eat supper. We had to buy some baby food at the grocery store and he ended up eating both containers of squash...he was hungry! Sunday we got to relax and enjoy the nice weather. Monday, I had to make a quick trip to Norton again because Landen had chewed on his thumb enough that it broke the skin. The sore just kept getting bigger and it looked a little red and swollen, so the nurse I talked to said that I needed to bring him in. Luckily, everything is fine. I just have to watch it to make sure that it doesn't get bigger and it doesn't get pussy. Since he sucks it, there is nothing we can do to help it heal faster. Landen is working on some new skills. He can sit on his own for about 30 seconds before falling over. The other night he was getting his knees under him like he was trying to go somewhere. I won't be surprised if he is crawling before Christmas. YIKES!

I actually didn't take a lot of pictures in the last two weeks, so most of the pictures are some that I wanted to share last time. The last three are recent. In the second picture, Landen was helping Daddy drink some wine...well, maybe just making it difficult for him to drink it...he just wanted to chew on the glass. The fourth picture is Landen with Grandma and Grandpa Hoefs on Halloween. In the sixth picture Landen had just finished his sweet potatoes and cereal, and it looked like he had a cereal mustache. The next picture is his 5 month picture. The last one really shows off that tooth! (Yes, he has bit me while nursing, he gets a thump in the cheek and he quits.) He has been fussy the last couple of days and chewing even more than before, so we think he is getting another tooth. We can't feel anything yet, but we didn't feel the one he has for very long before it poked through. I just hope his crabbiness doesn't last too long.

Happy Halloween!

I thought that I would wait a few days to share Halloween pictures, but I soon realized that I had a lot of pictures that I wanted to share. I will post some of the other pictures later. As you can see, Landen was a horse for Halloween. I couldn't resist dressing as a cowboy. I guess you could say our theme was "Save a horse, ride a cowboy!" The day turned out to be pretty nice. Landen's costume was warm and I even got hot walking around. In the other pictures, you can see the pumpkin that I carved. I saw a picture of a baby in a pumpkin on a website, and decided that I had to try it. Landed didn't seem to mind, but I couldn't get him to smile. He was more interested in the scarecrows and chewing on the pumpkin. The glowing picture is what I carved on the back side of that pumpkin. I posted some more very good pictures of Landen in the pumpkin on NTV's website. Go to nebraska.tv, click on community correspondent, click on the gallery tab. The title is Pumpkin Baby. I don't know if he did or will make it on TV, but I wanted to post it anyway.

Last week, my grandma came up to help me can some pepper jelly. My garden went wild with produce this year and my grandma and I canned 5 batches of pepper jelly, 27 jars! (and I still have a lot of peppers left over) I had all different colors, so each batch was a different combination of colors. The prettiest was yellow and orange bell peppers with red jalapeños. The funny thing is, I don't even really like pepper jelly...I make it for Elliot! My grandma and I also made a batch of raspberry jam from some raspberries that didn't get used for wine...now that is my favorite. In other news, Landen has perfected rolling from back to tummy, but has forgotten how to roll back to his back. Once he remembers, he'll be rolling across the house I'm sure! He is also loving his bath even more than before. He kicks and splashed and giggles when I squeak his rubber duck.

Busy week

We had a somewhat busy week...which is why I am a few days late on posting. Last Sunday, my mom, Landen and I went to Waverly to my cousin's wife's baby shower (for twin boys). Landen slept all the way there and didn't eat much all day. He was fussy on the way home after doing a little shopping in Lincoln so we had to stop at a rest stop between Lincoln and York to feed and change him. He ate again in York after we went to Walmart, then sept the rest of the way home. Then Monday was another crazy day. We went to Norton to have lunch with Elliot (he works in Norton) and then to get shots after lunch. I tried to get out of the house early so that I could visit my grandma who lives in Norton, but Landen wouldn't settle down to the point that I was sure he would sleep on the way there. Instead, we went to the bowling alley to visit great-grandma (she's in a bowling league) after shots. He was really fussy that evening and I was having troubles getting him to eat and sleep. To make things worse, on Tuesday, I didn't feel very good and Landen was still feeling the effects of his shots. By Wednesday, both of us were feeling better. However, Landen decided that with all of these interruptions in his schedule, he didn't want to sleep all night from Monday night to Saturday night...a first since he started sleeping through the night. I think it was a combination of shots, growth spurt and being cold. Speaking of growing, Landen now weighs 15 pounds and is still 24.5 inches long. He has become quite the chatter box. He has started "growling" and has really found his voice. He also started blowing bubbles again. He blew bubbles for about a week when he turned 3 months, and the stopped, but he rediscovered this "talent" and is doing it more than ever.

Some exciting news for the week, the twins that I mentioned above were born on Friday October 19. Both boys weighed in at 5 lbs 3 oz. I haven't heard much more about them, but I think they are doing very well. I'm not sure on the spelling of the names, but they are Braiton Wayne and Bryson Eugene. (Congratulations Clint and Bri...I know you guys read this. Let me know if it is alright for me to put a picture of them on here.)

In the first picture above, this was the first time that Landen had "finished" rolling from back to tummy by picking up his head. Since then, I have found him on his stomach in the mornings...kind of scary the first time. The second one, he got a different view of his play mat...standing over it instead of laying under it. The third was just a fun festive picture for Halloween. Grandma Hoefs bought the orange sleeper for him so that he could be all decked out for the holiday. In the last one, Landen rolled over to help daddy do some work on his computer!

4 months old

I was just thinking today about how much Landen has grown and changed. He has been working on rolling from his back to his tummy. He gets most of the way over, he just doesn't get his head picked up. He doesn't really like being on his tummy, so the only time he tries to roll is if he is reaching for a toy. He has gotten really good at grasping the toys. Whether he is in his activity center, on his play mat or if I hold a toy up for him, he is pretty good at grabbing it with one or both hands. Anymore now, if he can get it to his mouth, he'll play with it...including my fingers! Here are some pictures from the week. In the first one, Landen had just woke up from a nap on the couch. In the second one, I was trying to lay him on his tummy on the couch (he is asleep) and this is how he ended up when I put him down. I had to take a picture before I readjusted him. The third one is a good shot of him in his activity center. He LOVES to play in it. We think he looks like a mad scientist hard at work the way he studies some of the objects. In the next picture, we were getting ready for a walk and Landen got Elliot's glasses and, of course, tried to put them in his mouth. The fifth picture is our comparison picture that we take each month to show how much he has grown. Scroll down to see other months and notice where the top of his head is in the first post compared to now. The last picture is about as far as Landen gets in rolling over...he was reaching for toys.

He gets shots on Monday, so we'll find out much he weighs now. He has been eating his cereal much better and getting it twice a day. It was like he decided one day that he would eat his cereal and he has been eating good ever since.