Tuesday Tuesday...

Good day today - Landon enjoyed aquasize, although he didn't have the car 'boat' so he wasn't as completely relaxed as usual :-/ But it was still good. I'm very stiff though, doing weights last night and then aquasize today was not a good move...

I've been forgetting to mention Landon's most astonishing feat so far. Not only can Landon stand up without using anything for support (i.e. get to standing in the middle of the room), but he can do it without using his hands! Yup - he just puts one foot down while on the other knee, and then stands himself up! Even I find it hard to do that!! I think this must've come about as he always seems to be carrying something very important ... like a plastic container, or a slipper, or maybe a cracker... Our little monkey.

We watched a documentary tonight -- The End of Suburbia I think it was called. http://www.endofsuburbia.com/
It was good we thought - focusing on the impending depletion of our oil reserves and our need to find alternative energy sources. James Howard Kunstler was pretty comical with his remarks, in a scary sort of way (he states that we're heading for a $hitstorm). If you get a chance to watch, I'd recommend it. The Corporation is coming up shortly too, so I'll likely watch that one again, just to keep myself duly distressed and depressed.

I had a new friend over for coffee today ... Tasha. Met her in aquasize. It was soooo nice to get a chance to visit with a girlfriend - even if most of the visiting was over trying to keep our monkeys in control! Campbell is 7 months, and not mobile yet, so mostly it was keeping Landon from causing any harm. Funniest thing though - this Landon who hasn't been a soother kid stole Campbell's soother straight off, and I had to give him his own soother for when he was playing and he still kept trying to get Campbell's. Little stinker-pants -- didn't want a soother for 10 months, and now he's stealing any soother he sees :-/ *shaking head*

That's the news here....hope all is well! Until next time....TK

Hard day on the coconut...

Landon had a pretty rough day for his head today. First of all he pulled John's bedside table over onto himself this morning, which in itself didn't hurt too much. But the lamp on the table slid off and smacked him in the head ... left a bruise in the middle of his forehead at the hairline :-(
Then he was playing with the laundry room door - trying to open it while walking backwards (opening and closing doors is another favourite game - so far so good, no pinched fingers ... yet). He tripped over a boot, sat down and then smacked the side of his head on the corner of the door. That one got a few more tears than the lamp...
And the final blow was this evening. He was playing piano with John, and decided he'd see what happens when he pulls on the music stand / keyboard cover. He pulled right down across the bridge of his nose. Now that got the most tears of all three episodes. He cried so hard ... he was barely making sounds :-( Poor little bruiser. We felt his nose before putting him to bed ... he let us touch it and didn't cry, so I'm saying nothing's broken (thinking back to my broken nose, you wouldn't have come within 10" of touching it the night I broke it!).

So our bruiser is blue and purple all over his face tonight :-( *shaking head* Makes me wonder about what joys (and colours) are ahead of us!

I talked to Aunty Laura today and she'll be in town this weekend for a course, so we'll get to spend some time with her. That's a nice surprise -- I'm looking forward to having her here for the weekend. Then my mom and dad are coming on Tuesday for a couple of days, to help us celebrate Landon's first birthday -- I can hardly believe it!! An entire year chasing after this stinky-pants! aiaiaiaiai

Well, that's the news from here....hope all is well. I'll post soon, and maybe I'll even take some pics and get them posted. I've been slacking in that department it seems! Take care...TK

Saturday Report

Landon is a stinker-bug - too damned cute for his own good! LOL He loves getting chased around ... squealing and screaming all over the house. And he's started to chase us back now too, which is pretty cute. What it does mean is that we'd better eat our supper at the same time as Landon or we don't get a chance to eat in peace. As soon as he's done he wants to be chased around all evening long! *shaking head* That gets hard on mom's knees! LOL

Swimming lessons were fun today, it's great to see such improvement in Landon in the water. Next week is our last lesson, so I'm contemplating signing him up for another session. We'll see. I'm definitely signing up for another session of aquasize though - I'm enjoying that too much to drop it now.

Not much else is news here. Just chasing Landon around all day and wondering who's going to do my housework for me. *sigh* Hope all is well with everyone...TK

Landon has taken to this walking thing extremely well -- like there was every any doubt :-P He is walking everywhere now, only resorting to crawling if he's getting tired. And he carries everything with him wherever he goes. Today he took his jammies out of the drawer and took of to our room - to leave them in the middle of the floor, pick up something else and come back to his room. It's like he's running off with newfound treasures all day long!
We went shopping today - bought a couple of french doorknob 'locks' ... particularly for the door leading to the basement. Of all the toys in the store he was most enthralled with a soft ball, so that's the treat he got today :-) He's been carrying that around, chewing on it, and chasing it all over the house. Good deal for $2.99!! lol And a new book today too, the board book "Are You my Mother?" I saw it and remembered how I liked it as a child, so we bought it. He was very excited when we got to the book section - he spends nice quiet times 'reading' throughout the day, which mommy likes too.

The bath seems to be 100% okay again. We are still using the sock on the faucet, but tonight he was trying to pull it off. So he must be over the big scare...*shrug* Thank goodness.

That's the news from here for today. Hope all is well with everyone! until next time...TK

Guess who loves being tossed!

Guess who loves to be tossed in the air!! With this game, mom and dad are sure to get nice strong arms in very short order!! LOL

Uncle Bob and Aunt Rosemary were here Sat through Mon for a visit. It was so nice to see them! Landon was in high gear, showing off his new-found abilities in the walking department.

Landon's favourite game these days is getting chased, or chasing, whichever he feels like at that moment. He squeals and screams - too funny. But it tires mommy out!! LOL

Swimming was fun - Landon will 'swim' on his front, the whole time trying to drink as much water as possible, splashing with his hands and kicking with his feet. Pretty fun ... and tiring for him too, as he has nice naps as soon as we come home!

I've been having trouble logging in to blog, which is why there's been a gap. I think I've got it figured out now, so hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more often. Until next time...TK

What a walker!

Landon is walking all over the place now ... he's about 50/50 on walking and crawling. If he's in a hurry, it's still time to crawl. But he's getting much better, and when we're 'chasing' him (a game he absolutely LOVES!) he will crawl super fast to the couch until his head hits it (:-/), and then uses it to get to his feet so he can walk. But he's usually so darned excited that he just falls over as soon as he stands up anyways! lol He is getting better though.
He does love to get chased though - holy smokes! He is squealing and screaming all over the place ... we just crawl after him (slllloooooooooooooowly) and he gets himself all riled up. A great game to play just before bed :-/ lol It is fun, for Landon and for us.

I made Kirby's ribs tonight - so very good! Thank you so much for your secrets Kirby, yours will be the only way I prepare ribs forever more!!

I talked to Trish today - her knee surgery went well, she's recuperating at home. Getting cabin fever (I can relate!!), but she should be more mobile very shortly. Hopefully she can fandangle a way to get down to Minot so I can see her in a month :-D

That's the news here. Not much. We went sledding today, threw Landon in the snow (made a sort of snow angel, much to his dismay), and we all had nice afternoon naps. As such, Landon just finally went to sleep, John's watching tv and I'm playing on the computer!! Tomorrow Aunty Rosemary and Uncle Bob arrive after a few days of skiing with friends. They stay until Monday, we are very much looking forward to seeing them!

Until next time...TK

PS and I don't remember if I posted this yet - Landon got his 7th tooth on the 13 ... upper left, beside the front tooth. Finally, a new tooth to celebrate! lol

He's a walker...

Landon is walking around full-steam ahead these days...and it's adorable. He loves getting chased now (usually ending up on his head), squealing and screaming all over the place! It is too much fun. Now when we hear the 'pat pat pat', it's usually his feet, not his hands and feet, coming our way.

And he's finally got enough hair for a miniature mohawk, sort of :-/ Cute little monkey!!

Fun with Toilet paper...

Landon had quite the time with the toilet paper the other day. He started playing, and I thought "hey, I'm just gonna' let him go!". It was worth it. Only half a roll of toilet paper (!!), but all of this FUN! LOL He didn't like the taste (or the texture) of it though ... heh heh. But he had so much fun making this relatively minor mess :-)

Funny Landon...

I just love every day with this kid ... he's always doing something new :-)
When he wants to stand up and use the couch to help him, he crawls towards the couch until his head hits it, then he knows he's close enough so he lifts his head and then uses the couch to stand up. Must be so much easier than lifting his head while crawling...ahem. I think he does it because when he just puts his head down and crawls he can crawl faster!
Today he was 'helping' me with laundry - he loved playing with the dirty laundry. *shaking head* Pulling stuff out of the washer as I put it in ...

I had to drive to the health clinic today to fill out a form so that they can phone me for an appointment for Landon's 1 year shots. Does that make sense ... drive there so that they can phone me? hoo boy!

Happy birthday to T -Gall today :-)

Happy birthday to Aunty Tanya and Aunty Liz tomorrow :-)

All us Aquarian gals ... heh heh

Not much news really. It's nice out finally ... I felt so much more energetic today with the nicer weather and the sun out. Even shovelled the driveway and sidewalk so that we don't get fined (walks have to be shovelled within 24 hours of snowfall, or you risk a $150 fine and if the city has to come out and shovel for you they charge $100 per hour!). Also bought groceries, excitement here, let me tell you!!

That's the news ... until next time! TK

Happy Valentine's Day

Guess who's WALKING! Yup - Landon started walking on the weekend. He was taking a few steps Saturday, but on Sunday he really started steppin' it up :-) And he's been very busy practising ever since! It's so cute to watch, all stiff-legged, almost like a robot imitation! LOL We are really enjoying it.
Of course with more (and taller) mobility comes more bumps and bruises. He got a good bruise on his ear on Monday, smacked his face on the table leg last night, and cut his eyelid somewhere in all of this. We usually have a couple of good sets of tears throughout the day :-(

Sunday my old friend Nikki, her husband Fabian, and their kids Taylor (2.5) and Eastynn (8 weeks) stopped by for the day. It was so nice to visit with Nikki again, and to meet the rest of the her family! Taylor is adorable, babbling and playing. She calls all baby boys 'Sy', and all women 'mom', makes me giggle. We had fun watching Landon watching her ... whatever toy Taylor had, Landon wanted! And Eastynn -- so little and sweet and adorable! I certainly don't remember Landon being so small, even though I know he was! It was great to have them here, and hopefully we'll get to visit with each other more often now that we're in the same province!!

My birthday was fine yesterday - pretty relaxing. Landon and I went to aquasize, where he relaxed in his car-boat (such a monkey), and then we practises swimming again. Then we hung out at home all day, as it was pretty chilly still. John made me a wonderful dinner last night, and I am the proud owner of a beautiful new jewellery box too :-) Lucky and spoiled, that's me!!

Today is again a pretty quiet day. Landon and I may venture out for some groceries. Uncle Bob and Aunty Rosemary are coming this weekend, and we'll want to eat something I'm sure. Landon's just busy walking everywhere he can (whenever he falls, he looks to see if we've been watching him, like "did you see that?"). I play volleyball tonight, which I'm looking forward to.

That's about it from here. Sorry it's been so long ... I've been having trouble posting (I write it all, then there's some error and everything's lost). Very frustrating!! Hopefully these problems get fixed soon! Take care....until next time! TK

PS Oh yeah, on the bath front - I think we've solved the scaries. We put a sock over the faucet ... now Landon seems to be okay in there. Phew! Two good baths so far, thanks to the sock! LOL

YAY - Swimming!

Landon enjoyed swimming lessons this morning, it was great! He sort of floated on his tummy, on his back (as long as his head is by my chest, he'll relax on his back), and he even put his face in the water!! Not his whole head (yet), but I dunked his face about 5 times, and no crying :-D I was very proud of him. He even kept him mouth relatively closed ... heh heh ... so no water spouting when he came up either! lol
It only took about 10 minutes for him to relax and start enjoying himself and splashing around today ... so it was lots of fun. He was 'swimming' when we went through the river - I had him on his tummy, and he had his legs straight out to the back (versus hanging down like usual), and he was moving his arms and kicking like he was really trying to swim. That and he was trying to drink the water :-/ But I was very very proud of him - he made a big improvement over the past weeks! Must've been the close to 12 hours of sleep he got last night :-)

So he's down for a good nap now - he's so tired when we get home from swimming ... I nurse him and he can barely keep his eyes open for 2 minutes. So sweet. John's having a snooze too as he worked out while Landon and I were swimming.

Even I made a trip to the gym this week - once. Last night, I rode the bike for awhile. It was nice to do some straight cardio for once ... it's been quite awhile! It's quite a nice facility, hopefully I'll get chances to go much more often.

Yesterday Landon got a nice surprise in the mail. Grandma Leisle sent him some books ... Goodnight Moon and Alligator Pie, very nice to get in the mail. Landon was FAR too hyper last night to really enjoy them, but maybe today he'll be more calm.
Last night he was bonkers -- he was turning circles all over the living room, jumping over John and I, 'running' while holding on to furniture and then doing face-plants. He was so hyped up, it was pretty funny. The good part about that is that he went to sleep ~9:30, and slept until 9 this morning! He did wake up a few times over night, I heard him cry out and grunting, but that's it. What a monkey! When he's up and playing, he's playing HARD. There's no slow-motion for Landon these days. I think it's being sooooo close to walking - must be very exciting to be so close to that much more mobility....

That's the news here. We'll be trying another bath today - so we'll see where we're at with those fears. I've been 'playing' at the tub with Landon, having him stand outside the tub I'll turn it on, splash around a bit. He's not scared of the water, and wants to play with the water and the toys. It's either the drain or the faucet or the tap ... not sure which one. I'm thinking either the tap or the faucet, as the drain doesn't seem to bother him too much. But we'll just keep trying and taking it slow ...

That's it ... hope all is well with everyone! Until next time...

11 months old...

Well, Landon is officially 11 months old (yesterday). So very hard to believe! So much has happened over the past 11 months ... but I'll leave the full reminiscing for the one year post ;-)

Here are a couple pics of my sleeper-head. He still likes to sleep with the blanket over his face :-P If he's on his back, his face is usually buried some way or other, and if he's on his tummy (or knees + face), his face is either buried into the mattress, a blanket, or the bumper pads. Too funny. I love it.

I was spying on him in his crib when he went down for his nap this morning. He had been playing in there for awhile, I wanted to see what he was doing. He was sitting up trying to play, but his eyes kept closing. So he'd rub them, try to play with the puppy or a blanket or something, and his eyes would go closed again...repeat. lol What a punkin ... he could've just laid down and gone to sleep, but no, he's gotta try to stay awake to keep playing! Made me smile.

That's the news for now ... not much happening, but I guess that's just the way it is this time of year :-) until next time...TK

Tuesday night...

And it's snowy outside. It'll be messy tomorrow - first freezing rain, then snow... YUCK! Much better than Winnipeg though -- heh heh. Hello to all our freezing friends back there ... aiaiaiai!!

Life is just going along these days. Landon is cute as can be - of course. Aquasize was fine today - no freak-outs in the pool. He just laid back in his little car-boat floaty thingy ... all relaxed, watching the ceiling or whatever happened to catch his eye. It was pretty cute to watch him, he hasn't been that relaxed for that long and still awake for I don't know how long!! LOL Because when he's awake these days, he's pretty darned busy. There's so much to do ... chase things around that he bats with his hands, explore toys in many different ways, wrestle with his stuffed animals (the turtle from Granddad and Grandma is a most recent favourite), and of course practise walking. He has taken a few steps successfully before crashing down on his butt - so we're thinking it won't be much longer now. Tonight he took about 4 steps. Big Boy! He's using his push-toy activity walker a bit more now, sometimes pushing it the proper way, sometimes backwards, sometimes pulling it while he walks backwards. I think once he catches on to walking, he'll be 100% full-steam ahead, just like crawling. *sigh*

He had a bath tonight. He didn't like it, but he had one. John said he sat in the tub scared stiff, his heart racing. He made it for a few minutes, then started crying so out he came. But he did sit in there, so that's a start... We'll just keep being patient I guess.

And more often Landon is eating meals of 'real' food (not jarred foods). Last night and tonight, including 'real' beef too. He wasn't too keen on the roast tonight, I think that's pretty tough for him to gum down, but he liked the scramble-fried beef last night. He's eating lots more though .. .little piggy. He LOVES bananas ... we pull a banana out and he starts fidgeting around. Then you'd better not mess around, because he wants the banana NOW. lol

That's the news ... John wants the computer, so I'm off. until next time...TK

Bathtub saga continues...

Landon still isn't too fond of the tub. Tonight he cried when we first put him in there...so we had to take it really (REALLY) slowly. First he just sat on my lap with both arms around my neck (in case I thought I might move...), I splashed. Then I was able to set him down, he would stand at the side of the tub and watch me play with the toys (a glass and a rubber ducky). He started moving his hands in towards the tub, so I put him in. He was very hesitant ... but sat for about 30 seconds before panicking. I pulled him out and consoled him, and repeated the process. The next time he stayed in long enough to be washed ... even his hair and I just dumped a glassful of water over his head and he was fine with that. So he was in there likely 8 or 10 minutes. He was just starting to get that panicked look again so we pulled him out. *shrug* We made a big deal of him being such a big boy having a bath, and were all smiles and stuff when we pulled him out. So we'll see what the next bath brings I guess...

Other than that - pretty nice, slow Sunday. We went sledding, Landon did some 'downhill sledding' ... he's still pretty much "meh" with the whole thing. He did stretch himself right out the back of the sled too, twisted just enough to do a faceplant in the snow :-) It was pretty funny to watch. We just let him get his bearings on the ground, he was on hands and knees, and eventually kind of stood up. He didn't cry or anything ... I think it was more of a 'what the hell happened here?' Heh heh But he stayed in the sled after that.

Bad news on the dental front for me ... I have a cracked tooth that will need to be crowned. The dentist in Wpg did some sort of gluing thing that hasn't worked, so it's crown time for me. After insurance approves it we'll get to work ... likely 2 to 6 weeks. *sigh* Must've been all those beer bottles I opened with my teeth.

That's the news from here ... nice and toasty warm (love Calgary) ... hopefully Landon will go to sleep soon (was 11:50 last night!!), and we'll get shortly behind him. TK

Swimming was fine...

Landon managed swimming just fine - no hysterics, no drama... So it was the tub last night. We didn't bath him tonight, we will tomorrow and we'll see if the tub's still very scary.

We learned at swimming today that Landon does not have the 'close-mouth' reflex that most kids have at his age (he must be very advanced...) ... given this picture, are you surprised? LOL (this was taken back in October in front of our house in Wpg ... he just looks like such a dope ... tee hee, I love it!).

So he doesn't close his mouth, when I put him under water he comes up with water pouring out of his mouth :-/ The instructor said to take it slow, not to dunk him right under quite yet, and hopefully he'll 'learn'. heh heh ... he'll learn all right! aiaiaiai What a monkey .... So we'll by trying that.

Other than that - the day's been good, somewhat lazy. John bought a 4-month membership at the gym, so now we GOTTA go... Hopefully we can go tomorrow :-) I'm looking forward to doing some cardio ... even though it will likely exhaust me.

And...Landon is still awake. I can hear him playing in his crib :-/ He was soooo tired when we put him to bed, but then he gets in there and it's playtime! I think he likes it because it's quiet, he can kind of sit and play ... maybe when he's fussing at night it is because he wants to go play in his crib by himself :-? who knows ... He should go to sleep soon ... I can hear him babbling, and that's usually a sign that sleep is just around the corner.

Hard to believe he's almost 11 months already! aiaiaiai Where has the time gone?

Anyways, that's the quick post for tonight...later...TK

Finally - asleep before 11

Landon made it to sleep before 11 pm tonight - YAY He had two shorter naps today (45 mins and 1 hour), so perhaps that helped? But at least he'll have a good sleep before going go swimming in the morning.
I'm worried about the swimming - Landon freaked out in the tub tonight. Don't really know exactly why - I'm thinking it stems from him getting scared in the tub on Wed night (John blew his nose and Landon flipped). Tonight we put him in and he started crying so we pulled him out. John got in, but that didn't help. Finally I got into our bathtub off of our room ... he sat on my knee for awhile, and when I splashed the water with my fingers he relaxed a bit, and after about 10 minutes he would sit in the water. By the end he splashed around and played a bit, but he was still reaching around for me like he was scared *shrug* I've read that kids around the age may suddenly be scared or fearful of something that has never bothered them before - so maybe this is it. Or maybe the nose-blowing incident was much more traumatic than we realized. Poor little stinker-bug. So now I have no idea what to expect tomorrow morning - I will try to get there early to get him acclimatized to the water slowly. That's about all I can do - and if he's scared, then I guess we skip the lesson. I don't want to skip aquasize though if I can help it ... I really do enjoy that class.

That's the news from here tonight ... just water scares and a bit better of a bedtime :-) Later...TK

Friday update...

Blogger has been acting up lately, my last 2 attempts have not posted. So this will be short because I'm sick of repeating everything (even though this is the first you're seeing of it!).
Dinner was wonderful - at the Keg. It was so nice for John and I to go out together and not worry about Landon :-) We even had wine with dinner!!
Landon behaved pretty well for Wes, he was a bit whiny, but he's always whiny!! And he gave Wes a big pooey pants too, which was good practise for Wes I guess :-P

Things have been well the past few days. I played volleyball Wed night - it was nice to get out there again. It's not that good of volleyball, but at least I can get on the court and I won't be too rusty for my much anticipated trip to Minot in March :-)

Landon has been the usual, although he went to sleep for John soooo well the other night - at 9:30. But it might've been because he'd had 3 melt-downs that night (while I was at v'ball) that tired him out so much that he went to sleep 'early'. The other nights it's been ~11 pm, although we've been putting him to bed between 9:30 and 10 :-/ He plays quite happily in his crib, then goes to sleep ~11. Again, the talk of getting him up earlier has come up, so that maybe, just maybe, he'll go to sleep ~9-ish again (?). He's been napping fairly well though, 1 - 1.5 hours each time. And he's enjoying his crib, which is good. He's a tummy sleeper now (no wonder he was sick of the Amby!!) ... well sort of tummy. He either falls over while sitting on his bum, or has his knees under him and his face planted in the bed. So not really on his tummy ... maybe I should call him a face sleeper! lol

That's the news from here. The wind has finally gone down, and we have beautiful, snowy winterland again :-) I do have to admit that I love the snow. Hopefully it'll warm up shortly and we can take Landon for a sled-ride :-) Take care...TK