Trick or Treat!

Lilly

I'm not sure what all the fuss was about this evening. I slept through most of the activity. Mommy and Daddy put me back in this banana outfit and we went for a stroll. We hung outside until it started to rain.

I'm still sleeping through most of the day and keeping Mommy up at night. I don't think she cares for this scenario, but there isn't much I can do when my stomach is upset all night. Mommy said we'll go back to Dr. Rubin on Monday to see what else he recommends to help me out.

Belle

Wow. I really enjoyed my first night of trick or treating. We visited a few neighbors on our street and then visited neighbors on our usual walk route. Some of the houses we visited were spooky or had scary music playing so I was a little nervous to approach the house. But Mommy or Daddy held my hand and I went up to accept my candy. I carried my pumpking to collect my candle the whole time. I got a lot of candy and a small baby doll. Mommy and Daddy even let me taste some of the softer candy. After our short walk, we returned to our house to hand out candy. I helped put the candy in other kids' bags, including our neighbor Kaitlyn's bag. Our friends Jordan, Jaiden, Jennifer and Jeremy from church visited too. They trick or treat in our neighborhood every year. It was a fun time for sure!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Foreshadowing?

Aunt Sara looks like a natural doesn't she? Could this be a foreshadow of her taking care of her own children in a few years? We had a great visit with Aunt Sara this weekend. I (Belle) sure do love playing with her. Although, she was a little more uptight this time. She didn't want to let me play with the cans in the cabinet! We hope we see Aunt Sara a lot as we grow up. She lives up to her name of fun Aunt Sara!

First Bath

Lilly

Wow. What an experience. As if my life isn't rough enough right now with colic, gas and upset stomach at all hours of the day and night... Mommy and Daddy tortured me with something called a bath! Course, I guess I needed a good cleaning since my cord finally came off and I had quite a messy BM on the way home from Morgantown today. Mommy had to throw out my outfit because it was covered with poo! After the initial shock of the cold air and the wetness on my bum, I actually enjoyed the bath. It felt good to be clean. See how wonderful my hair looks after my bath? The folks discovered I have natural curl!

Belle

This kid sister of mine is starting to grow on me. Tonight, I wanted to help her out. She seemed quite upset about having a bath. I'm not sure why because I just love bath time. I wanted to get in the tub with her and show her how much fun it could be, but the folks wouldn't let me. I like to play with my toy Nemo and other animal friends, read a good book and try to take a swim when I take a bath. Tonight, the residual bubbles stayed on my face after my swim. Mommy and Daddy said eventually Lilly and I can take a bath together and play in the tub. I can't wait for that!

The Great Pumpkin (Monkey)

Everyone sure likes monkeys this time of the year. I mean pumpkins! I sometimes confuse the two words. We visited Grandma and Grandpa again this week. Lilly and I went with them to help pick out pumpkins. I sure like picking them out, but I don't care that much about gutting them. Grandpa let me touch the insides. Yuck! They're gooey.

Mommy, Daddy, Lilly and I picked out our pumpkins last week, but we carved them tonight. Daddy sorted out the seeds and cooked them. I just helped Mommy sort and stack cans while they worked on the pumpkin. Occasionally, I would give them a peek to see what they were up to. Lilly did what Lilly always does -- sleep, of course. She isn't sleeping much at night. Occasionally, she'll cry and wake me up. I then have to make sure Mommy gives me some attention too.

It sure was a fun week at Grandma and Grandpa's. They let me run the house. I played with the cans in their cabinets and chased Penelope around the house. They also let me get dirty when I eat!

Colic & Fries

Lilly

Well, I'm nearly 3 weeks old and life around this house sure has been interesting. Each day, my sister Belle keeps my parents running after her. It's tough to get attention around here. So I like to have "me" time with Mommy at night. I don't think she appreciates being woken up all night long, though.

I haven't been feeling the greatest either. My stomach is constantly in pain and therefore I scream and give the pain right back to Mommy and Daddy! Dr. Rubin (who I had to visit on Friday) says I have colic. He told Mommy not to worry that he can see the "forest" while she's only seeing the trees. He said we'd be out of the forest before we know it. He is impressed with my weight now -- 9 pounds, 4 ounces. I also grew 3/8 of an inch so now I'm 21 and 3/8 inches long. Apparently I broke my collarbone during birth, but the doctor didn't know it. My bone didn't break all the way so it didn't move when they pushed on it. But when the bone heals, it produces more than it needs so now there is a small ridge on my collarbone. Dr. Rubin said it's healed and the bump will eventually go away. Dr. Rubin recommended I take Mylicon before each feeding to reduce the gas and discomfort I have. That appears to be helping because I'm able to sleep more.

Belle

I guess this baby isn't going anywhere anytime soon so I'm going to have to accept her. She's okay, I guess. Sometimes she cries a lot. At first it used to upset me, now I just laugh at her! I try to share my toys and crackers with her, but Mommy says she's too little to have crackers yet. In turn, I also want to share her new toys and her pacifiers.

Tonight, Mommy took me out on a date. We visited the WV Book Festival for a short time. I got a balloon, watched some kids put on a puppet show and ran around the Word Play area. We visited the book sale too late. It was time for the $2 a bag sale and there weren't any good children's books left so we didn't get anything. Then Mommy took me to dinner at Bob Evans. I was so hungry that I got upset that the table next to us had food and we didn't. Mommy let me sit on her lap while we ate. I noticed she was eating these long things that she dipped in this red sauce so I tried it for myself. I found out that I like French Fries. They're especially good for dipping that stuff called ketchup into your mouth!

GG Bunny turns 80!

Lilly

Whew! What a busy weekend we've had. I am just worn out. We visited with lots of relatives this weekend. My great grandmother turned 80 on Saturday and we surprised her with a party. As you can see, I was quite the party animal. My big sister, Belle, entertained the crowd and loved playing trucks with her cousin Jaymeson (who was in visiting as well.)

Today we visited more with Uncle Richard, Aunt Jennifer and cousin Jaymeson. It was a treat to meet them for the first time.

My stomach is still adjusting to food on the outside. I had gas Saturday night and kept Mommy up pretty late. Course, I make up for lost sleep during the day! Mommy keeps trying to wake me and I keep getting aggravated. Tomorrow, we leave for Morgantown to visit more relatives.

Belle

Boy, I'm not sure what all the fuss is around here. People keep coming to visit and making a big deal over this "baby" we have in the house. All I know is that she occasionally cries and she takes up too much of my Mommy's time. She gets so much attention that I sometimes have to take drastic measures to refocus everyone to me -- like throwing my food on the floor or screaming real loud. The only good thing about this "kid sister" is that I keep receiving gifts. I think they're trying to bribe me to be good. Why this weekend alone I received a Care Bear toy cell phone, a Cabbage Patch Kid puppy and a stuffed Dr. Seuss animal.

Daddy keeps talking to me about the "potty." He sure is determined to get me to sit on that thing. He sees me squatting and asks if I have to go potty. Tonight after my bath, I did have to go. So I squatted in the place where he did have my potty and peed. Apparently, I didn't do it right because Daddy got upset that I peed on the rug.

I'm excited to visit Morgantown tomorrow because I'll get to see Penelope (Grandma and Grandpa's cat). The car ride sure isn't fun though!

Sibling rivalry?

Lilly sleeps a lot. And everyone wants to hold her. I just want everyone to pay attention to me so sometimes I'll scream or throw a fit to make sure everyone pays attention to me. I'm having trouble sleeping lately. Mommy and Daddy seem a bit frustrated with me because I don't want to sleep.

I really don't pay much attention to Lilly. Occasionally, when she cries, I'll try to help out by sharing a toy with her. Today I tickled her feet to try to make her happy.

We had to visit Dr. Rubin on Friday so he could check out Lilly. He said she was healthy, just a bit jaundiced, but it should go away soon.

Today I actually had time with Mommy and Daddy all to myself. Granny watched Lilly so I could go to lunch with Daddy and Mommy. I sure enjoyed that. Then Mommy rocked me to sleep for my afternoon nap. I like having her to myself now!

Introducing....

the newest member of the Beckner family -- Lilly Ann June Beckner. My baby sister was finally born on Monday, Oct. 2 at 4:50 p.m. She weighed 9 pounds on the dot and measured 21 inches tall. Grandpa Bott says she already has one up on me because she was born bigger, longer and has one more name than me!

I was fascinated with the "baby" in the beginning, but quickly lost interest when I noticed that the grandparents were too concerned with Lilly and not enough with me. Grandpa and Grandma Bott took care of me for the week while Daddy and Mommy were in the hospital. Mommy came home Wednesday night, but we can't get Lilly until Thursday morning. She has to stay overnight so she can have some more medicine in the morning. Her white blood cell count was high when she was born (like me) so she had to have antibotics. She's doing well though and will be home with us tomorrow. Mommy says it's going to be busy and different at our house. We'll try to keep everyone updated on Lilly's developments as much as we can as we welcome the newest member to our family.