Videos

Some very belated videos...

Benton crawling...

Benton walking in the beginning...Now Benton is practically running.  He loves to try to climb steps and hills around camp, even though he is still a little unsteady on his feet at times.  He has gotten a few bumps and scrapes, but camp is giving him lots of practice with uneven terrain and different surfaces (grass, carpet, wood floors, gravel).

Finally, this is a video of Adaline singing "Twinkle Twinkle."  She is trying to say all the words when she sings.  This is before we left for camp, and she is getting better all the time.  We even hear her trying to sing camp songs in her bed at night.  We can usually tell what song she is singing, but she does skip a lot of words still.  I will try and get a more recent video of some singing.

Our cookie monster

 With Adaline being newly three, we tried to get her involved in something.  We first took her to a gymnastics class, which she enjoyed, but constantly wanted to do whatever the rest of the class was not doing (When they were on the floor, she whined about the trampoline, and when they got to the trampoline, she whined about the bars, etc.).  She is kind of an independent little lady.  With Shane working for the Y, he was asked if he wanted to coach a 3 and 4 year old soccer team.  So, Adaline joined soccer this spring.

 Watching a 3 and 4 year old soccer practice and their games was pretty entertaining.  Their team was the cookie monsters, complete with a mascot, which terrified Adaline.  Her whole body shook and she had to be as far away as possible if he (Jim, who works for Cheerio as well, dressed up in the costume camp purchased) showed up, even if he was holding a plate of homemade cookies.  Being the independent lady that she is, Adaline didn't get teamwork.  She preferred running and kicking the soccer ball continually until I had to chase her down on another field, playing in the dirt, rolling in the grass, and getting herself entangled in the goal.  The rest of her team had their quirks as well, but being the youngest member, I think she will need another year to be even at their level of play.  However, Adaline talked about soccer at home and in the car a lot ("game, kick ball, cookie monster"), so I am pretty sure she loved being on the team, even if she wasn't contributing much.  :)

Shortly after celebrating the birthday of our sweet boy, we had to morn the loss of another wonderful lady.  My grandmother, Betty Best (my mom's mom), passed away at age 86 on April 1st.  She had been having more and more troubles over the last year, but it was a sad day when she left this world.  She was the sweetest woman anyone could meet, and I will always remember baking with her in the kitchen throughout my childhood and visits to Tennessee in the summers, complete with trips over to Gatlinburg and Dollywood.  We were able to take a few days to travel to Tennessee as a family to gather with other family and friends in order to remember her and be thankful for the joy she brought to our lives.

Happy Birthday Benton...finally posted!

Well, it has only been about four months since Benton's first birthday.  Better very late than never, right?  We are extremely behind on the blogging, but over the next week, I am going to do my best to catch you all up.  March 16th marked Benton's first year, and we were able to celebrate on Saturday, the 17th, St. Patrick's Day.  We had a nice little group of family and friends who were able to join us, and I think Benton really enjoyed the day.

 He ate his first bites of cake, opened more presents than any one year old could manage (mostly playing with the tissue), and had fun with other little friends and his sister.

Birthday Girl!

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Birthday to Adaline! Adaline turned 3 years old today! Too bad she has an ear infection and has had about a 102 degree temperature for the last two days. Poor girl. It is the 2nd year in a row that she has missed her Valentine's Day party at school. Lucky for her, she won't remember the day and will still get to enjoy a birthday treat I send with her tomorrow.

We also celebrated her birthday this past weekend, so all was not lost. First, we got up early on Saturday to take Adaline to her first gymnastics class. It was a trial class, and perhaps she is not yet ready. We think she had a good time, but she did have to take a few time outs. She wanted to try everything, but not in the order the teachers would have liked. When we were doing floor activities, she wanted to try the bars, when we were on the bars, she wanted to move to the trampoline, and of course when on the trampoline, she didn't want to get off. We haven't decided if we will go back yet, or try soccer instead (as she constantly wants to kick balls around the house, the playground, and at school). Whatever we choose, we just want for her to be ready and have fun.

We came back home for lunch and nap, and then had Nana, uncle Ryan, aunt Jennifer, and a few friends over for cake and ice cream. Adaline took out a whole cupcake in only a few minutes, and then enjoyed opening some gifts. It was a really nice day, and we are glad Adaline was feeling good throughout the whole birthday weekend.





Baby Carolina had fun helping with the presents, too.


Benton doesn't look too happy about sharing his toys...but just wait a few years, buddy! ;)

At the end of January, Adaline had an appointment with an eye doctor about her wandering eyes. Sometimes, both of her eyes do not focus in the same direction at the same time. It is not consistent and it happens in both eyes at different times, so the doctor recommended we try an eye patch. She will wear a patch for a few hours each evening for a month or so, with the goal of strengthening her weaker eye. Then we will call with our observations after that time for further instruction. :) So far, Adaline has done surprisingly well with wearing a patch. She hasn't tried to pull it off once (it is like a band-aid), and rarely complains when I put it on or pull it off. She did run into the dresser and fall down because her vision was blocked, but only once.


Adaline also enjoys wearing big sunglasses in the car. She calls them "eyes" and wants them in any weather. Sometimes I look back at her in her glasses and catch her holding hands with Benton between their car seats. I have tried to catch a photo of this because it is so cute, but have yet to get it. One day.


Because Adaline turns three in February, the speech therapy that she receives through the Child Developmental Services ends, and she will transfer to the Guilford County School System. We spent several hours one day in Greensboro doing all kinds of evaluations of her speech and skills with many different new people. She did a super job hanging with it all, and although she got grumpy a few times, made it through, and now has an IEP (for all you teachers out there). She will be classified as delayed in speech and language for now, but my hope is that with this added support, she can be caught up by the time she enters Kindergarten.

We treated ourselves to some frozen yogurt after getting through the long morning of evals.

We still have some trouble getting Adaline to stay in her bed at nap time and bed time. She enjoys dumping out toys, pulling all the clothes out of her dresser (which makes me cRaZy!), trying on her shoes, calling out for "Shane" (We have been working on just "daddy," but think it may be my fault she chooses to use his name.), and getting naked (Hopefully we can catch this one before it leads to extra clean up, but not always.). She takes after us and fights sleep so much, but luckily, also like us, will sleep in.


Potty training is also not catching on. When we can get her to sit on the potty, we must sing a song to keep her sitting for more than a few seconds. Mostly this is "Jesus loves me," as this is the only song she ever wants to sing, and the only one she tries to sing on her own (She sings "Jesus...me"). We have had a few successes, but I think it is mostly luck. She will get there in her own time, I suppose.

Here is Adaline working with daddy on a Saturday morning. She pulled her chair right up with him at the table along with her own computer.

Later that morning, after a strenuous work load, it was time for a rest on the couch to watch some Sesame Street (or as Adaline calls it, "Ig Bird" or "Melmo" :) ).


Adaline still loves her trampoline and loves to "bounce." She likes to look at herself in the mirror while jumping, kick balls while jumping, twirl in circles while jumping, and is trying out new tricks all the time.


Benton is also learning new tricks all the time. He has pretty much stopped the army crawl, and has gotten his tummy off the ground. He can take a few steps while holding my hands or even a push toy. He can clap and wave, too! Benton has 6 teeth now, and is still gaining on Adaline in weight, at 22 pounds.

Benton has been on the move! He is pulling himself up to stand on everything, and over the weekend began stepping along side of things as well (like along the edge of the coffee table). His favorite thing to get on is Adaline's trampoline. All of this has led to more falls, but nothing more than a little ego bust, luckily.

He is also getting better with the sippy cup, but still cannot get much more than about an ounce of water a day from it. Oh well, he will get there.

Adaline thought Benton would look good in her sunglasses...just thought this was funny.

This is a video we made this weekend. Adaline likes to see herself on the phone. It shows how her speech is improving, and you can see a bit of Benton as well. (I think she says "please", not "peace" after watching it.)