Yet another long update...

Well, once again I have gone several weeks between updates. I could list several excuses, but I won't waste my time (or yours)! I ended my last post saying that Landen had an ear infection and pink eye. None of the rest of us got it, but Landen didn't completely get over it. We finished his antibiotics around the 16th, and about a week later (the 23rd) we went back to the doctor, so Landen is on a different antibiotic. I hope this ear infection gets cleared up this time...I'm ready for Landen to be less crabby! We have also been having some battles with Landen during meals. We are having troubles getting Landen to eat healthier meals. Lately he eats crackers with peanut butter, yogurt, apple sauce and dry cereal. Occasionally I can get him to eat chicken nuggets, re fried beans, and peaches. He won't even eat the Gerber meals that he used to love. I just have to keep reminding myself that he won't let himself starve and he will eventually start eating again. Unfortunately his poor diet has caused him to be constipated. When he does go, he does what we call the 'poopy dance' where he runs frantically around the house and occasionally stops to grunt. It is hilarious to watch. Landen is continuing to show us that he loves his little sister. He loves to give her kisses and has started trying to entertain her now that she has started to respond and watch him. He doesn't do a lot, but I have seen him talking to her and trying to give her a toy or tickle her. Landen has just recently figured out how to open the gate going to the kitchen. It is a hands free gate and he has known for a long time that you have to step on the pedal to open it, but he is not heavy enough to make it work. The other night he was jumping on it and it opened, so now he knows that he can make it open if he tries hard enough. I was hoping that he wouldn't be able to figure it out for a while...oh well.

Adellyn is growing so fast. She has really found her voice and will just sit in her swing and 'talk.' She screams and squeals and has the biggest grin on her face when she is happy. She is also very ticklish and occasionally lets out a giggle. She has also started sucking her fingers or thumb to soothe herself when she starts to get hungry. This is great for me because I don't have to feed her every time she wants a snack. She has even put herself to sleep sucking her fingers. She also examines her hands and feet. She gets pretty intense...her eyes get big and she sticks her tongue out as she stares. I'm still waiting for her to reach out and grab her toes...I saw her do it on ultrasound at 23 weeks! She also loves to watch Landen run around. Sometimes when she is nursing, she will stop and listen if Landen runs through the room screaming...then she grins at me when I ask her if she hears her noisy brother. She is at that age where the slightest unusual noise gets her attention. Speaking of age, we went to the doctor for her 3 month check-up on the 12th. She weighed 13 lbs and 0.5 oz and is 23.75 in. long. She is in or near the 75th percentile for both. I looked at Landen's size at 3 months, and she is 11oz smaller and .75 in. shorter. I thought she would be bigger. Her chubby cheeks make her look bigger than she is. On the 7th, we baptized Adellyn at the Saturday night church service. We thought that having fewer people at church would make it easier for us since Landen doesn't sit very well. Turns out that Adellyn was the bigger problem. Shortly after we got to the church, I tried to feed her and somehow that made her upset...possibly because of the nursing cover. Anyway, she started crying so hard that she could not stop crying. I have never seen her cry so hard and for so long. After she started to settle down, she still had that whimper from crying so hard. My Dad was able to get her to calm down and go to sleep. She slept until it was time to start the baptism. I was worried that she would start her hysterical cry again, but she was fine...I think she even liked having the water poured over her head. I did end up having to go feed her during church and then I just stayed out in the fellowship hall the rest of the time because Connie was out there with Landen. After church, we went to my parents house to continue the celebration...if you know the Becker's...any reason to get together with friends and family! After the kids got baths, Adellyn fell asleep on her tummy on the living room floor while we were playing the Wii! She was tired! The latest thing with Adellyn is that we have been working getting her to take a bottle. Elliot and I are going to a Cattlemen supper on Saturday and the kids can't come, so Adellyn had to be able to take a bottle. We finally got her to take it without fuss on Sunday and she has taken it twice since then...so Connie and Larry should get along ok. I and very proud of myself for going over 3 months without having to offer a bottle...but I am ready for a night away.

In the last few weeks, we have been out and about some. Other than several trips to Norton for doctor appointments, we went to Grand Island on Valentines Day...yes after a snow storm, but the roads weren't too bad. We agreed that the new van was a life saver with the DVD player. Landen usually gets really crabby after a day of shopping, but when I stayed in the van to feed Adellyn, Landen stayed in and watched DVDs. This gave him a chance to relax and he didn't get near as tired. He was also pleasant in Perkins for supper. He colored, cuddled with his blankie and ate really well...I was really proud of him! We also got a new stroller...a double stroller. It came just in time for the nice weather we had. The kids loved the last two days we had and they even fell asleep on our walk on Tuesday! When we got home, we continued to play outside until it was time to go in to fix supper. I really have spring fever after the nice days this week. Sorry this got so long!

busy but not...

When Adellyn was born, I told myself that I would do a little better about posting updates on a more regular basis...she is almost 3 months old and I am not doing so well. I knew I would be busy with 2 kids...but I never imagined how busy I would actually be. Of course, much of my time during the day is spent nursing and I can't really type very well with one hand and she wiggles too much to attempt to prop the computer up behind her. I'm forced to wait until they go to bed at night to update and sometimes that is pretty late...I need my sleep more than I need to update the blog.

We haven't done a lot since my last post. We have enjoyed the occasional nice day by going for walks and even played in the snow the one day it snowed last week. I guess the most exciting news since last time is that we finally decided to trade our Stratus in for a 2008 Chrysler Town & County Touring van. It's pretty cool for a "looser cruiser" (that is what a friend of mine calls mini vans). It has power sliding doors and lift gate (that means I can open them with a remote...awesome), dual DVD players, stow and go seats, ambient lighting, heated leather seats, and a handful of other cool things. If you can't tell, I really like it. The only thing I don't like it the color, but it had everything else we wanted including a reasonable price.

Adellyn is growing like a weed. I don't know how much she weighs now, but I am sure she is over 12 lbs. She is "talking" and smiling a lot. I have even gotten her to laugh a couple of times. I can't believe how much I have forgotten since Landen was that little and it hasn't even been that long ago. She is really strong and holding her head for longer periods of time. She is even starting to like her tummy time! She doesn't really like to be held by anyone but me...which is frustrating. Fortunately, she likes to just lay on the floor and look around. One evening my parents stopped by on their way through town and she cried as soon as my Dad picked her up and stopped as soon as he put her back down. When she allows someone to hold her, she is picky about how she is held...again, she likes to look around, so she has to face away from the person holding her. We have been working on her night time routine. She has gone from going to bed anywhere from 1 to 3am to going to bed closer to 11pm. (Tonight she went to be at 8pm...wow) She is so good in the mornings. She will lay in bed quietly while I get Landen up and fed and dressed. I have left her there for an hour or more and she just drifts in and out of sleep until I get her up. She has had a few mornings where I go to change her diaper and she is completely dry! Even after feeding her she is dry. Then she cries (as if in pain) and then she finally wets her diaper. Then she is fine the rest of the day. This has happened about 3 or 4 times. I called my doctor about it, but she didn't seem concerned unless she was running a fever, which she wasn't.

Whether I am nursing or not , Landen is often trying to lead me around the house saying "cookie," "bankie" (with the emphasis on the "kie" in both words), "o-wow-o-wow-o-wow-o" which means 'I want that' or simply whining about something that I can't figure out. A funny story about 'bankie': I was washing it yesterday and Landen was looking for it and trying to get me to find it for him. I told him it was in the wash and he wasn't very happy about that, but soon got distracted and forgot about it. After a while, I was on the phone with my mom and Landen heard the washing machine and ran back there to watch it. He could see his 'bankie' through the door and he ran to get me crying "bankie, bankie, bankie," (again with the emphasis on kie). I had to take him outside and push him in the swing to get him to forget about it. Luckily Adellyn had fallen asleep on the living room floor and would be fine while I was outside. He is getting better about playing in his room without me, which is nice. I try to go play with him as often as I can. I really just enjoy watching him and seeing how his imagination is growing. He is still playing with the shape sorter about everyday. He has also been stacking rings and he really examines them as he stacks. He is so intense when he plays and I love to watch him. When I think about it, I narrate for him by saying colors or shapes as he picks things up. I have noticed on several occasions that he has excellent hand eye coordination. He can eat a meal using a fork or spoon with little mess. He also has good balance. He climbs into his highchair on his own. He also climbs on this wobbly little table by the couch to look out the window and has not fallen yet (knock on wood!). I have even seen him balance on one foot for a few seconds before falling down! He has been able to get both feet off the ground when he jumps lately.

Yesterday, Landen had some green stuff in his eye and by the afternoon, it had gotten worse, so I called the doctor. They just called a prescription for eye drops into the pharmacy so I didn't have to drive to Norton. Today, I had a dentist appointment in Norton and Landen acted like he didn't feel good (he also woke up a midnight and 6am crying), so I made a doctor appointment for him. Turns out that he has an ear infection that spread to his eye and caused pink eye. I am really hoping the rest of us don't get it. I figured out that he probably picked up the bug last week when I took him to daycare (for the first time) for an hour while I ran some errands and picked up the van to test drive. I didn't leave Adellyn there because my friend who runs the daycare only had room for one more kid that day. I'm hoping that since I am nursing (and I'm on antibiotics for a sinus infection) that she doesn't get sick. She acted a little fussy tonight, but I think it was just a gassy tummy.

I get this feeling that I am forgetting something. I'll add more later if I remember. We are baptizing Adellyn this weekend, so I will post pictures from that.