Happy New Year!

Landen has learned yet another skill starting last Friday. He is crawling now! It is actually more of an inch worm type crawl. With his belly on the floor, he pulls his knees under him, reaches his arms out as far as they will go then pulls with his arms and pushes with his legs at the same time to scoot himself forward. It is pretty funny to watch. He is also surprisingly fast. We spent Friday night with the Hoefs' family for Christmas. Elliot's cousin Erin has triplets (second picture: Xander, Will and Grace) that we actually got to see for the second time in less than a month. It was a nice quiet night compared to the other Christmases that we had. Saturday Elliot and I decided to got to Kearney at the last minute to do a little after Christmas shopping. It was a quick trip, but it was fun. Sunday was relaxed. Monday night we went to a New Year's Eve party at a friends house. Landen was pretty good even though it was very noisy. In the 3rd picture, Landen is playing with noise maker at midnight. He was very tired, but he wouldn't nurse or fall asleep. We all slept late the next morning. Tuesday, once we got up and around, we took down all of the Christmas decorations. Today I took Landen for a sled ride around the yard (last picture). He loved it. He was giggling at the neighbor's dogs when they would bark. The last couple of days, Landen has been cranky. I think it is a combination of teething (no new teeth yet), the crazy holidays with messed up schedules, and separation anxiety. He screams if I set him on the living room floor surrounded by toys, then go to the kitchen for something.

The first picture, Landen is surrounded by all of his new John Deere toys and wearing his new JD shirt and socks.
4th pic: Landen crawled under the coffee table

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.