First Half of April: Evelyn 3 months, Easter, and Pensacola Trip

April has been and will continue to be a busy month for us. The first weekend of the month was Evelyn's 3 month birthday, Easter, and Gramps (Parini) was here to visit. The second weekend, we took a family trip to Pensacola so Andrea could run the Gulf Coast Half Marathon. So just from the first 2 weeks of the month, we've got a ton of pictures!

Evelyn is a bundle of sweetness this month with her darling smiles and gurgling laughs (especially when you tickle her belly). She likes to stick her tongue out and blow bubbles and have a conversation of multi-syllable babbles. She's decided that she no longer enjoys tummy time and tends to put her arms back and lift her arms and legs into a boat balancing on her belly rather than push up or roll over. Since she quickly tires of this position, her face smooshes into the ground and she starts to cry. So much for the monthly push-up picture! She does love playing on her back on her playmat and can grasp small toys that I help her with. She's even managed to get a rattle into her mouth on her own, but mostly is happy to look at, play with, and suck on her hands and kick her legs. She enjoys looking at books, into mirrors, and playing with tags. As of mid-month, she is sleeping in her crib in her own room at night sometimes up to 9 hours at a time! She's in size one diapers and in-between 0-3 month and 3-6 month clothes.

Alex is a never-tiring ball of 2 year old energy. When he isn't running or spinning around, he is energetically asserting his own decisions...mostly with the phrase "NO, MINE". He still takes a nap in the afternoon, and when he doesn't get that nap, watch out--we are in for a terrible time full of tantrums! He is completely obsessed with watching Green Eggs and Ham, a video we have in the car. He got a new bike for Easter and likes to ride it downhill, but struggles to push the pedals on the flats or uphills. He is even very good about wearing his helmet. Any play time outside is great for him, until it is time to come inside...this never goes very well. He had a cough and congestion that did not seem to improve but with no other symptoms to indicate if it was allergies or infection, so we went to the doctor last Wednesday, Apr 7th. They thought he had some infection in his sinuses and ears probably due to the extended congestion, so he got some antibiotics and some steroids to lessen the swelling and gunk. He has improved, and is no longer coughing through the night.

Easter was fun, especially with the visit from Gramps. Saturday, we went to a friend's Easter Egg Hunt and Alex enjoyed jumping in the trampoline, playing basketball, and of course hunting for eggs. We went to church Easter morning, then did an indoor egg hunt and Easter baskets at home and also colored hard boiled eggs. Alex had a great time playing trains, catch, basketball, and at the playground with Gramps, and even impressed him with his harmonica playing and whistling skills.

The trip to Pensacola was trying in the lack of rest department. A too small hotel room, and messing up Alex's sleep schedule made for an unhappy family for a lot of the trip. We did enjoy the beach. The water was too cold to do more than get your feet in for a short time, but Alex liked playing in the surf and making sand towers with his bucket and then knocking them over (CRASH is still his favorite word and thing to do). We had some good meals and Andrea survived her second half in two weeks, improving by 10 minutes to a 2:06:47. The knees didn't hold up very well, but the lack of hills on the course was helpful.

No rest for the weary....we still have a trip to see Thomas the Train in "person" and a trip to Panama City for a triathlon for Andy yet this month!