Happy Earth Day and Easter

For Earth Day weekend, Shane removed the almost dead dogwood tree beside our house and replaced it with a new cherry tree. He was glad to get the stump out and the new tree in place. Now we can just watch it grow.


We celebrated Easter at home. We went to church in the morning and Benton made it all the way through the service just fine in his first trip to the nursery. After church and Adaline's nap time, mom came over and we had a egg hunt in the back yard before dinner. It was more of us pointing at eggs and Adaline running to pick them up. She was excited to fill her basket and even more excited when she had a taste of the candy eggs inside after dinner.



In other news...Adaline got her first bike! It is a starter bike with no pedals that is supposed to help get young kids ready and used to the balance part of riding a bike. She will start off just scooting along with her feet, and eventually will begin to glide and steer. Right now she is still just slightly short but loves to have Shane push her around. She runs to and points at the bike whenever she sees it to initiate a ride.


Benton had his 5 week check up last week and all is well. He has been struggling with a bit of cradle cap and congestion, and his sneezing has us wondering if he has allergies, but overall it was a good visit and everything checked out fine. He weighed in at 9 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long. He really hates getting undressed (diaper changes and bath time) so it was a pretty loud time with his crying. Wonder how the shot visit will go in another month???

Camp is also just around the corner. Shane is busy at work getting prepared, and we are excited for a summer together there. It will be an adventure!

Treasures

Our little man is growing so fast. It is hard to believe a month has almost gone by.


We have enjoyed having Benton around so much. Learning to be parents of two little ones has been challenging at times, but certainly entertaining. Adaline has been wonderful at her role as big sister, and she seems bigger than ever. She always seemed so small until we brought Benton home. Now she is impressing us more and more each day.

Napping arms crossed on the couch / Adaline giving one of her many many kisses to Benton

Here are some videos we have taken recently... The first is just Benton, mostly for family at a distance that hasn't gotten the chance to meet him yet. He is just hanging out, but very alert when awake. He is much more vocal than Adaline was, so we are still getting used to the loud cries (not in video). The second is some tummy time with Benton, and Adaline is showing how much she loves being near by. Every day when Adaline gets home with Shane, she runs to Benton and gives him lots of kisses (not sure if it is pure love or just the praise from us).


As I mentioned, Adaline has been growing so much. She is really improving on her skills with a fork and spoon (videos below), she is showing a great deal of understanding when we speak to her, and she is trying a lot more vocally. She says several words now with consistency and comprehension, including yeah, no, uh oh, ball, shoes, knock knock, and even hello. We are so proud of her accomplishments and love hearing her new found voice. The speech therapy is finally showing progress, and we are excited to get more and more.


We celebrated my 31st birthday this past weekend, and I had a marvelous day. Shane did a project of mine (that I wanted to do years ago) for my gift, and I am so pleased that now I can hang some pictures in our hallway. I will post a picture as soon as we get them up. We were also able to have a night out thanks to Nana coming to stay with the kids. Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone, and we wish you all well!