Duo bath

Belle

Lilly still isn't sitting up, but Mommy is doing everything she can to encourage her to become a little independent (like making her sit up in the bathtub). I don't understand why she doesn't want to sit up, or crawl -- or just try to get anywhere. I'm always on the go. In fact, Daddy says I can't sit still for five seconds. I had to visit Dr. Jeff (Whittington) from church again today. My left eye is still infected and swollen. Lucky me! I get to have Mommy and Daddy put their finger in my eye while I sleep to get the medicine down under the flap. I'm also now on oral antibiotics to try to kill the infection. Dr. Jeff -- a whats-a-mologist -- someone who looks at eyes -- says if this doesn't work, then we'll have to have the infection surgically removed. I sure hope it goes away because that doesn't sound like fun. Daddy said I gave him and the doctors a work out today. Even three grown-ups couldn't get me to open my eye for the exam.

Lilly

Boy, Mommy just won't let up. She keeps telling me I'm going to be 7 months old next week and I'm still not sitting up. I mean, what's the big deal? What's the rush to grow up? I like being carried around and cuddled. In fact, I like it so much that I'm demanding extra attention at night now. Belle would be mad if she found out, so don't tell her. But I was up hanging out with Mommy and Daddy at midnight last night. And they gave me a bottle to boot! Woo-hoo! I just laughed and played on the bed. They finally gave up and put me in the swing to get me to go to sleep. I sure like hanging out with Belle. She is funny. We had a good time in the bath together. I suppose Mommy does have a point. I have grown too long to lie down in the infant tub. It was more comfortable to have my feet hanging out of the seat. I really liked playing with the rubber ducky. Belle is funny and I like her, but she sure doesn't like to share her toys with me.

A special note from Mommy: If you haven't yet seen this video, take a minute to watch it. While I sometimes moan about getting up in the middle of the night with one or the other girl, or dealing with one illness or symptom of another, this video made me realize we should celebrate the girls' lives and be thankful for what we have.

"Are you okay?"

That's my new catchphrase -- "Are you okay?" I often ask Puppy (my stuffed dog), or lamb, Mommy or Daddy, "Are you okay," even though they haven't fallen. Then sometimes I decide to throw myself down and ask myself, "Are you okay?" I also say "scuse me" when I burp, cough or make a noise.

You can't tell from this mugshot photo that I've been spending time behind bars, can you? When I say bars, I mean Mommy and Daddy keep sticking me in time out and I get put in my crib. I mean, what's a nearly 2-year-old girl supposed to do to have fun around here? They keep torturing me with different medicines. I'm on my third round of medicine for the sty on my left eye. Can you see the puffiness in the photo?

We've been pretty busy working around the house. We had a nice visit from Grandpa this weekend. I really like it when he comes because he takes me outside to play. I've been pretty unhappy since the weather has turned cold again. But we bundled up this weekend and Grandpa took me out. We went to the neighbor's house where I slid down the slide on my own. Then when we visited Rippling Waters to see Grandma and Sara during their retreat, I played on the big kid gym set outside. I think I've conned Grandpa Bott into getting my own set!! Happy birthday to me! Grandma and Sara attended a spiritual retreat this weekend so we prayed a lot for them. I have my prayers down now. Sometimes, I have to remind Mommy, Daddy and even Grandpa to pray -- like when we had dinner at Wendy's Saturday night. I placed my hands together and say, "I pray. Jesus, I pray. Amen." Then we all applaud!

How I'm growing...

Well, I'm still not sitting up... but Dr. Rubin assures Mommy that I'm not behind schedule. He did ask me today at my 6-month check-up if I'm "milking it." I'm not sure what that means, but yeah, I would have liked to have some milk at that point. The good news is I'm quite healthy. Everything is as it should be. And Dr. Rubin was determined to make me sit up, but I showed him how stubborn I can be and I wouldn't put my hands down for him. I'm measuring "tall and slim." I weigh 15 lbs. 4 oz. and I am 27 3/4 inches long. The bad news (at least for me) was I had two shots and one oral vaccine today. One shot in each leg. Pretty painful stuff. It's made me kind of cranky today.

Other exciting developments... my first tooth broke through the gum this weekend. A tooth is coming in on the bottom right of my mouth. It's exciting, but it adds to my crankiness.

We had a nice visit with Grandpa Bott this weekend. We visited with Aunt Sara and Grandma Bott some too, but they attended a retreat so we didn't see much of them. We did go visit them at certain points though. I enjoyed meeting new friends and helping Mommy serve breakfast to the people on the retreat. Unfortunately it rained all weekend, so we didn't get out much. In fact, the area where the retreat was held flooded a bit. So we hung out in the house with Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy and watched Mommy make Grandpa and Daddy work like slaves as they redecorated our kitchen.

Balancing act

Lilly

Life sure is a balancing act. From the looks of it, Mommy has had some trouble balancing all her duties lately. Daddy was in NY for a week to watch the Mountaineers win the NIT. So Granny watched us a lot again. Mommy spent a lot of time at work, or the grocery store. Now that Daddy is finally home, life is returning to normal a bit. I'm not sure I like all the attention, though. For some reason, the 'rents are really focused on my motor skill development. Mommy said I have three weeks to learn how to sit up. As you can see, I'm not real interested in it. I wobble and fall over onto the boppy. I chatted with Elmo about it tonight and he said I have time and not to sweat it. I turned six months old on Monday. Daddy and Granny discovered why I have been so cranky lately. I have some teeth developing and nearly break through on the top.

Belle

Hiya! Life at the Beckner house has been crazy. Daddy has been gone so much lately. I sure did miss him. When he came home last week, I couldn't wait to get downstairs to see him. I ran to him, hugged him and kissed him. Mommy celebrated a birthday recently. Unfortunately (for both of us), I had to have a serious and very unpleasant test performed on her birthday. I didn't like the test and the results showed that I still have stage two reflux in my left kidney. But because I haven't had a UTI, I don't have to continue taking antibiotics. On top of all that, I have an eye infection. Every day, Mommy and Daddy have to wrestle me to the ground to put the drops in my eyes. The good news is the weather was nice recently and I was very happy to get outdoors. Now, that Mommy and Daddy are home we'll try to write more.