I've been reading labels, and have noticed that we don't list hfcs here in Canada, but rather glucose/fructose, which according to the below ag canada link is the "generic term used for high fructose corn syrup". crappy - here I was thinking we're doing 'better' in Canada!!

http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:DQD0ZFf8YFMJ:www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do%3Fid%3D1172167862291%26lang%3De+canadian+soda+HFCS+glucose-fructose&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=ca

so, based on this fact (which I've confirmed by continuing me search and more sources state that hfcs is glucose-fructose in Canada), it IS in everything (well, maybe not quite, but close!). And to think, it's not even used in many countries in the world (EU, Asia, NZ....).

So if you would like to sign an on-line petition asking the gov't to ban the use of hfcs, click here. I doubt it's use will diminish any other way, given the economic advantages to using this cheap sweetener, and our penchant for sweet (not to mention convenient). *sigh*

http://www.petitiononline.com/banhfcgf/petition.html

Ok, I think I might be done my rant. I'm going to make supper ... hfcs free!

High Fructose Corn Syrup

This is something we've been hearing about for years, but again it's made the news.

http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/health-fitness/articles/diet/greenliving/healthnutrition--corn_is_making_us_fat

Now - some of this is a bit over the top (it always is), corn itself doesn't make you fat. But most products containing high fructose corn syrup (hfcs) are 'convenience' foods that tend to be considerably less healthy food choices than say -- making something from scratch, or buying more 'natural' or 'pure' products (I use quotation marks there because there's definitely some issues with products labelled as 'natural' or 'organic' or 'pure' not being as natural or organic or as pure as they may lead you to believe ... but that's a different day).

But in this article there's a link to a list of foods containing hfcs --

http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2005/06/09/foods_and_products_containing_high_fruct

-- it's far from an exhaustive list, but it'll get you thinking about checking your own labels. These products are US ... and I checked a couple of things that I thought would for sure contain it but didn't (Yop by Yoplait, for example). But it's a starting point - and maybe it'll get us checking some labels? A friend asked me yesterday what my New Years Resolution is ... today I know what it is. Reducing (I doubt I'll completely eliminate) products with hfcs in my house.

Anyways ... this is just info ... thought I'd share. Since it has to do with the health of my boys, I thought it'd be ok to share on the blog ;-)

Editted to add: here's another article from CBC in Nov.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/11/19/f-fructosecornsyrup.html
I'm just trying to find a comprehensive list of what it's called in our ingredient lists, so we don't get fooled by terms like "liquid sugar". When I find that, I'll post it too.
Ahhh ... here it is - in the first paragraph of this 'report':
http://www.wellnesstips.ca/high%20fructose%20corn%20syrup.htm
Mom - you'll be interested to find that 'agave syrup' is a term for hfcs!!

some other photos from the past week

Here's our mantel Xmas Eve, and our Christmas tree with the presents under it. Looking at it now, I wish I would've plugged the lights in for the picture LOL But then you'd see our little section close to the top where the lights don't work!! frustrating thing ...
But ah well... The angel on top is a homemade gift from Aunty Yvonne last year. And of course, those big gifts in front are from Santa.

Here's Arlan and Grandma hanging out this morning before Grandma and Grandpa left. This was one of Arlan's favourite places to be ... sitting on the couch beside Grandma and he was very happy :-) Oh yeah - and he's playing with his new octoplush ... his fave gift!!

Here's Landon mid-somersault ... I think this is Xmas Eve. I don't know how he didn't hurt himself on this one, given how close he is to the futon. *shrug* He LOVES to do somersaults.

And a few days before Christmas, Landon decided he didn't need to nap. He was in bed for about an hour, but didn't go to sleep. When I checked on him he said "I no need to sleep. I wake up now!" ... so I let him get up. He was miserable!! So finally we told him to go upstairs until he could feel better (he likes to go to the computer/bonus room if Arlan's making too much noise, or if he's just overwhelmed with the world at the moment). John and I continued to eat our supper, then I noticed just how quiet it was. John came up to check on Landon, and well ... I guess he did need a nap after all!! Of course, this is now at 6:00 at night, so the question became how long to let him sleep. But we left him for about half an hour and it didn't seem to disturb his sleep too much that night. Stinker!! I think that is the only time he's ever fallen asleep outside of bed on his own (he has fallen asleep on either John or I a couple of times, and oh yeah - once in his high chair!). It was cute, I must admit!

Landon's Christmas (and it was a GOOD one!)

Landon and Grandpa, just hanging out this morning before Grandma and Grandpa left for the farm (and the grain truck and the peas). Landon enjoyed snuggling up with Grandpa in the mornings.

It's a GARBAGE TRUCK - from SANTA!! yes, Landon was quite excited and very pleased that Santa brought him the exact garbage truck that he wanted and asked for. This was definitely the hit toy of the day. While Landon loved to open up presents, he would always go back to the garbage truck to play for awhile ... then come back to open more presents.

Among the popular toys of the day was this play-doh set. Landon had fun (along with Kyle, and Grandma) playing with this play-doh. It was a good gift for him, as he's always enjoyed play-doh, and this gives him some tools for play -- stamps, and cutters, and 3 little animals where the play-doh gets pushed through them and becomes hair ... even mom has fun playing with this thing!! LOL

This is Landon opening up the garbage truck - when he came downstairs Christmas morning, he didn't even see the presents under the tree. Finally we asked him if there were any over there (he had obviously forgotten that Santa was to have come overnight!! lol), and he saw this big present and dropped to his knees to rip it open right away. There was NO DOUBT in his mind that the biggest gift must be for him!

On Christmas Eve Landon got to open 2 gifts: one contained 2 story books - A Christmas Carol and Twas the Night Before Christmas; the other had a musical Rudolph ornament. I never though that ornament would be such a hit (I should've known though - it does make noise!!). And the stories - well, he was WAY too wound up to want to sit for stories. They haven't gotten much attention at all actually :-/ Ah well ... they'll be great books to pull out next December to read to the boys and get them all excited for Christmas again next year!!

Among the big 'hits' for Landon this year were: the garbage truck; the CARS movie (thanks Uncle Greg and Aunty Yvonne & Kyle); the play-doh bucket; the Quarry Mine Tunnel (thanks Grandma and Grandpa); and Jack, Alfie, Max, Monty and Salty (Thomas toys). He's also starting to figure out his hop ball (hope THAT thing tires him out some!! LOL), and he likes to play with his bee game, although he just plays with the bees, not yet understanding the 'game' aspect of it -- that'll come I'm sure!! Oh yeah - and any toys that Arlan got are also a HUGE hit with Landon!! LOL Especially the musical drop toy from Uncle Rob and Aunty Liz. What a kid :-)

So Landon was absolutely SPOILED for Christmas - so many toys he doesn't know which one to play with first. And while I was typing this I realized there's another gift somewhere in the basement that I guess I forgot to put under the tree :-/ It's a playmat for cars ... maybe I'll just pull it out in a few weeks for him!! LOL My good gawd -- next year I will have to control myself a LOT better!! But it was so fun to shop for him this year, because he gets it so much more! But it really was overwhelming for him. I'm thinking he'll be rediscovering toys / gifts over the upcoming weeks as he plays with some things and then moves on to something else. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get through a day without watching CARS movie sometime in the next month or so too!! LOL

Arlan's Christmas

Arlan had a darned good first Christmas - he was almost as spoiled as his brother (although I think Landon may have been the most spoiled kid in Canada!!).
It is nice that Arlan wakes earlier than Landon (and we let Landon sleep in a bit too), so he got to experience his first presents without Landon rip-roaring around. Mostly Arlan wanted to chew on the paper. But he seemed pretty happy with the toys he found in the paper too.


Doesn't this face just say it all?

I love this look of concentration. He was trying to figure out how to get the most paper in his mouth at one time I'm sure!!

Arlan successfully opened his very first present from Santa Claus. Although this wasn't the big 'hit' ... that came from our neighbours Trevor and Wendy who gave him a Little Einsteins octoplush -- now THAT toy is getting lots of chew-time :-)

So Arlan had a good Christmas. He was a smiley-happy baby (like usual). At first he made a bit of strange with all those people in the house, but by the end of Christmas day (when everyone had been here for a full day) he was doing much better and would go to most people, if only for a few minutes. Thankfully he slept well (although I will be glad to see those sleeping-through-the-nights nights that I hope are coming sooner rather than later), and he even 'slept in' yesterday and today (until 8:30) -- giving mom and dad some much needed extra sleep in the mornings.

Everyone left this morning, and unlike Landon was two years ago (sitting at the front door, looking out as if to say "where did they go? are they coming back?") he seems quite content to have the house back to himself (so to speak). Not that it really changed his life too much, but he did get more playtime on the floor, and with Arlan he really does enjoy being left alone to play by himself at times (I'm still trying to get used to that!!). Also, he got to play in the exersaucer while I was on the computer today - and he was VERY excited to be in there after a few days hiatus :-)

Are we Ready

Well, not quite yet ... but really we are. If everyone arrived in 5 minutes, it'd all be good I guess. I am hoping to get some salads mixed up tonight, and tomorrow will be a big day of cooking -- ham for dinner, then preps for Xmas day so that hopefully our Xmas isn't too overfilled with cooking :-/

Landon is sort of excited, but since he doesn't really have a great grasp of future time (i.e. tomorrow and next week are the same in his mind), he doesn't really know when things will happen. I think he's sort of 'got it' that Grandma and Grandpa will be coming tomorrow. But he keeps asking for Brian, who won't be here ... hope he's not too disappointed!! LOL

So I should get back to getting ready. Thank goodness Arlan goes to sleep so nice and early - at least I can get some stuff done at night (as long as Wall-E movie is on, we can do WHATEVER !! LOL).

Merry Christmas ! (In case I don't post tomorrow)

6 months old ... so fast!

Here's our little stinker - already 6 months old! I can hardly believe it - so exciting, yet sad too as our littlest baby is getting to be so big.

He is quite happy with his latest accomplishment though - sitting up on his own! He loves his new vantage point ... playing with toys (he can pick his own toys out of his basket now) and watching his big brother (who is an endless source of entertainment!). So Arlan sits most of the time to play, although every now and again he's tired enough to want to lay back and relax.

and Arlan is still the super-smiliest guy around. It seems he's always smiling! LOL Love it - it's certainly not hard to get a smiley picture, that's for sure.

Now we're just getting ready for that final push for Xmas preparations. I still have to wrap Landon and Arlan's gifts - I keep trying to find the energy, but when the boys lay down in the afternoon I take that chance to lay down too. But I will get it done this weekend I'm hoping. Arlan was up twice to eat last night, so I am definitely laying down today (sounds funny - twice was a good night not that long ago, now it's oh-so-tiring!! heh ). Tomorrow morning we're off to buy bathroom fixtures, then John has his project lined up for him for the next couple of days. for me it'll be xmas planning for meals and gift wrapping. Then on Wed the crew arrives and the festivities begin! I can hardly wait!!!

until next time...

Arlan's getting SO big!

We had Arlan's 6 month check-up today. He's 17 pounds, 7 ounces (yup - he's back to growing!), and 27" long. Getting SO big. So he's doubled his birthweight in 6 months, just like he's supposed to (more than doubled, actually), and is just above the 50th percentile (like he's been all along). And he's getting taller, getting closer to the 75th percentile than he has been previously.

He was pretty cute in the doc's office too. The doctor was trying to flex his hips (just to double-check this hip-clicking thing) ... well Arlan was having none of it! He kept straightening his legs, so the doc would try again, and Arlan would straighten again and laugh laugh laugh at the doctor. So cute. So he only got his hips flexed a couple of times, but the doctor didn't feel any clicking and really isn't too concerned with it as the x-rays we had last month are all clear.

Other than that, Arlan is doing just what he's supposed to be doing. Sitting up (he showed off for the doctor), chewing and drooling with the promise to teeth to come soon, and we are to keep on trying to add new solids to his diet (but the fact that he's eating cereals is good, and the amount is just fine given that he's growing well). So a good check-up all around. Let's hope Arlan stays nice and healthy (Landon too) so that we don't have to see the doctor again until March ... for Landon's 3 year checkup and Arlan's 9 month checkup.

It was actually nice today - the doctor might actually be starting to recognize / remember us as patients as he asked where older brother was today (Landon was at home with John, who had taken the morning off to watch him as opposed to drive an hour to work and home again given the CRAPPY roads).

So that's our news for today (so far, anyways). until next time...

Outside is FUN!

Landon officially LOVES playing outside in the snow. Just look at those cheeks :-) He was crying when we made him come in tonight, poor kid. And it's supposed to get colder again for the next week - yuck! He has so much fun, and his clothes must keep him plenty warm because the only complaint he has is snow getting in his mitts! Well, he complains when he does face plants too - but once we wipe the snow off of his face he's right back at it ('it' being whatever sort of shenanigans had him faceplanting in the first place!!).

And here's Arlan, practising STANDING! Yup - John propped him up against the couch last night, and he stood there, for quite awhile I guess ( I was at volleyball). Little stinker! He now sits up to play most of the day - with the Boppy pillow behind him to catch him when he inevitably falls back. We then prop him back up and he plays some more. He does a couple of face plants, but nothing that hurts him, thankfully. Yesterday he sat and watched me vacuum -- fascinated by that noisy machine! He sure was cute though - sitting there, his head going back and forth and back and forth! Heh heh

Anyways, must go read Landon bedtime stories, just wanted to post a couple of pics...

the sauna

Here's a pic of John in the sauna - he's so proud of it. I'm actually liking it a lot too ... we keep it not so hot for me (John heats it up after I get out I think), but it is very relaxing, and a nice way to end the day. Just John and I sitting there with no distractions, able to talk, and then I'm nice and snuggly warm to go to bed :-)

That's all for now ..

oh baby it's COLD outside!

Welcome to the deep freeze ... aiaiai We're spending our days indoors, and are even more thankful for the basement to play in!!! We spend time down there every day, I'm hoping Landon gets so used to it that he'll be confident enough to play down there by himself soon. Right now if we go upstairs even for a moment he is running up those stairs with us. Which isn't that bad - running stairs should tire him out, right? Heh heh But I'm enjoying having all of the toys in the basement, that's for sure. And Landon loves having his own play space. His favourites right now are drawing with chalk (thanks again Aunty Yvonne for the easel & chalk), trains (of course) and doing yoga with mommy (he rolled out paper yesterday to play yoga too! LOL). Oh yeah, and running around and around and around....

Landon has also fallen in love with playing outside. We were outside Thursday for over an hour, and he cried when I made him come inside. He was having WAY too much fun to want to come in the house! We shoveled off the deck (John found Landon his very own shovel, just his size, which he loves), and he pulled his sled around the backyard. Then he swung for awhile (yup - we're using that swing, even in the snow!). But the most fun of all was when I'd throw a shovel-full of snow in the air and it would fall down on him - he thought that was the bestest!! We also learned through this game why it is so good to do our jacket right up (snow down the front - or back- of the jacket is COLD!). He also continued his mitten experiment, taking them off about 12 times, only to realize that snow is still cold -- so he'd cry to get them put on. Thankfully I'm getting MUCH better at getting his mitts on him, so they stay on a lot better, and probably feel better too (we are getting lots of practise getting our thumbs in the thumbslots!).

Arlan is a cutie-pie, even if he wakes me up at 6:30 am! Silly kid! But he is cute as a button, with those chubby chubby cheeks and big smiles all of the time. I've been trying to give him some foods other than cereals the past week or so - but he's having none of it. While he showed mild dislike for sweet potatoes, he downright grimaced for the apples. I thought ' what kid doesn't like applesauce?' ... the answer: Arlan. LOL So I'm just going to stick with cereals for a few more weeks and maybe try some other stuff after Christmas. He's still happy with the cereals anyways, only eating between 6 and 10 Tbsp a day (between 2 or 3 feedings), so I'm not feeling that we need to introduce anything else yet anyways. He is, after all, not quite 6 months yet. And while I say that he likes cereals ... he likes cereals mixed with breastmilk -- not formula, not water, just breastmilk. So it looks like I'll be pumping until at least the New Year, which isn't too bad as long as I can keep providing enough milk for his cereal needs.

And we have our tree up, and presents under the tree. I'm wondering how long til Landon rips them open!! LOL Last night I wrapped presents with Landon playing (in the basement, of course!), so he saw what was inside and what was going on. So we put those under the tree. Should he open them, he'll find 'boring' gifts - -the stuff for Aunty Yvonne, Uncle Greg, Grandma and Grandpa -- so maybe he'll be disinclined to open any other gifts. *shrug* We'll see ... it's worth a try. The worst thing he could do is open them all, then I'd have to rewrap ... not exactly the end of the world. His gifts (and Arlan's too, as Landon LOVES Arlan's toys almost as much as his own) will not go under the tree until Christmas Eve ... that's too much temptation (even if we didn't tell them they are for him). Also - should he rip open gifts and find stuff for himself, that he likes, he would want to rip open all gifts, all the time. So we'll just leave them.

I made a 'Christmas calendar' for Landon last night in the basement ... just on a big piece of paper with markers. So that we can 'count down' to Christmas ... see how excited I can really get him ... heh heh.

Oh yeah, and we got Santa pics done on Friday. Arlan was like 'whatever', just sitting on Santa no problem. Landon, however, wanted nothing to do with Santa!! LOL He wanted to open the presents, and pet the penguins, but not sit on Santa's knee. At least last year I got him propped on Santa's knee for the pic. Not this year -- you can see my hands in the picture trying to push Landon away from me!! LOL Poor kid. But he's in there, and he's looking at the camera. And he managed to tell Santa that he wants a garbage truck for Christmas, so maybe Santa will bring him one :-)

That's the news from here .... just staying inside where it's a bit warmer! aiaiai The fireplace AND the furnace are running very frequently in this house ... the north winds come across the prairie behind us and lambast us, so I only feel warm in the sauna these days! Maybe I am a little glad John insisted on that thing ... but don't tell him that!! LOL

Until next time...

first sled ride...

Here's Arlan 'enjoying' his first sled ride. Landon was sleeping in the house, so I just pulled Arlan around the backyard. I can't say he really loved it, but he didn't seem to hate it either. Yesterday we went out to the open space behind our house - Landon had fun running through the snow, but Arlan started crying after about 5 minutes (might've been that he was getting close to nap time too...). Anyways, we'll be trying to get outside these next couple of days, because after that it's supposed to get super cold! Maybe today the snow will be such that we can build a snowman - Landon's been talking about building "snowmans" for a couple of months already!! LOL

SNOW!

And lots of it. Snowed lots yesterday, and we're supposed to get more tonight I think.

So I went out to shovel the driveway today, taking Landon with me in his new (to us) jacket and ski pants, brand new boots and mitts, and toque. FINALLY -- Landon had fun in the snow!! YAYAYAY! All last year he didn't like to play outside in the snow ... it's like he didn't 'get' it. But today he played and played ... running and falling, and throwing snow and sliding around. And that was just in the front yard while I shoveled :-) John's going to try to find him a little shovel so he can 'help' me a bit better (today he had his sand shovel out there ..... ). I'm just SO happy he had fun outside, stayed nice and warm, and will want to go out more often.
I did have to laugh. He of course wanted Thomas shoes on, I explained that he needed boots because of all the snow. When we came in, he agreed that the boots were good because his feet were dry and fairly warm. But the mitts. Poor kid - they're a bit big, so he had trouble picking up his shovel, or trying to grab at things (like what I don't know ... it's snow, just stick your hand in and pull it out!!). So he experimented by throwing them off every chance he had. And he'd regret it right away every time ... crying for his mitts to be put back on! So I would put them on, and he'd decide to repeat the experiment ... to the same ends. So maybe next time he'll keep his mitts on longer (and maybe I'll put mitts on that fit a bit better).

I also took Arlan out to the backyard this afternoon while Landon was sleeping. I just walked him around in the sled ... he was like 'meh'. But I really just wanted to get him outside, even for just 15 minutes. I think it helped ... he actually had a third nap!! He most enjoyed watching the very noisy geese flying overhead though. He's so CUTE!

We put up our tree last night ... with lots of 'help' from Landon. He mostly just took ornaments off, or hit the tree :-/ But most things stayed on there. It looks pretty good. We put up a couple of other decorations, but I'm not doing too much because they'll just get destroyed. I told John that in about 4 years we'll get new decorations and make the house really merry :-) heh heh

Landon got his first Xmas gift yesterday -- Brian and Patricia came over for lunch, and brought the boys gifts. Landon is in L-O-V-E. They bought the perfect toy for him - - a Caterpillar dumptruck, that comes apart! There's a little drill, with three drill bits (all work on all screws), and you take the tires off, the box, the cab and the engine. That thing has been apart and put back together (with help still) and apart and .... We've already replaced the batteries in the drill, let's put it that way. Plus it slept with him yesterday afternoon and all night too. Heh heh

Arlan got a shape-sorter, he loves chewing the pieces. And Landon seems to think that's his present too - he's been sorting shapes off and on (when he's not playing with his dumptruck). Goof!

Anyways, I should get going. I play v'ball tonight, and so will have my first drive where I'm wishing I would've been able to find snow tires .............. I'm leaving early and driving slow and praying for no accidents on the Deerfoot....

Until next time (I'll hopefully have some pics of the snow, and Arlan in the sled, and maybe even the tree....)

Basement photos!

We've come a LONG way! These two shots are from the same spot ... the 'before we drove a nail' shot, and one from last night with the brand new carpeting :-) The closed door is the bathroom (silicone on the floor was drying, so door was closed to keep curious george out!). The image of Landon was, well, exactly him all night - running all over the basement as much and as fast as he could!

Here's looking back into the main room (was taken from hallway in front of bathroom door). This will be our toy room for now ... Landon and I already took loads of toys down there today, and he is LOVING playing down there. All that ROOM! We will be buying a big toyshelf shortly, and will get him all set up. Of course, we'll be spending plenty of time down there with him, as right now every squeak, creak, and crack scares him (go figure!). But it's looking pretty sweet - we are excited!!

a couple of pics

Here are a couple of pics from the past few days. Landon enjoying the newly carpetted basement ... he runs and runs and runs. He is enjoying it so much - he helped me take his toys downstairs first thing this morning, and when he woke from his nap he said he wanted to go in the basement (vs watch Treehouse which is what he always says!).

And some story time with mommy. Landon got a couple of new story books, so we were reading it. Arlan's just starting to hang out with us for reading ... he always wants to grab the books now!! Last night he had one helluva good time destroying a magazine! So cute. But for anyone who says how different Landon and Arlan look - well, not in this picture!

conversation with a 2-year-old

Mom: "Landon, quit playing with that. It's not a toy!"
Landon: "Mom! BUZZ OFF!"
Mom: "Landon, buzz off!"
Landon: "Mom! Get out of here!!"
Mom: "Landon, get out of here!"
Landon: "Mom, you're driving me NUTS!"
Mom (surpressing belly laughter at this point): "Landon, you're driving me NUTS!"

Then fits of giggles for both parties, while Arlan looks on thinking we're both insane.

From the farm

Wow - I didn't take too many pictures on our trip to Sask!! I know of Sunday I was just too tired, but Saturday I sure could've!! Ah well...
Here's a pic of Johnny and I as we were leaving for the wedding dance. It's been a LONG time since we were both dressed up at the same time, so we had to take a pic :-)
And a pic of Landon and grandpa in the big truck. Landon said the auger was noisy, but he had so much fun going with Grandpa in the truck. There's always so many exciting things to do at the farm ... no wonder he loves going to 'grandpa grandpa's' house.

Home Again, home Again

We had a fabulous trip back to Sask on the weekend. We managed to get up and leave on Fri morn at a decent time (just after 9). We stopped in the Hat for lunch, and then made it all the way to the farm without stopping again. Arlan was on the verge of a meltdown, but Landon entertained him in the back and all was good.
Both boys had so much fun at Grandma and Grandpa's. Landon got to go for a ride in the grain truck, all the way to the elevator! Plus he checked out the kitties in the barn, watched the birdies eating out the window (from Grandma's bird feeder), and inspected bins with Grandpa (he got to feel durum and peas, but didn't like the chaff on his mittens). Arlan was his usual smiling, talking self ... revelling in the attention from everyone.
We came home yesterday, again managing to leave at a relatively decent time. Both boys were SO good in the car both on the way down and back again. We stopped in Med Hat for lunch again, and made one more stop in Bassano to feed Arlan briefly and to stretch our legs. No meltdowns this time (that extra stop was a good thing).
Plus, John & I enjoyed a night out together, going to Natasha and Shane's wedding while the boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. SO nice ... we even spent the night in Swift at Carla and Dave's (thanks again guys). Both boys were so good for Grandma. Landon wasn't even upset when we left - he gave me a big kiss and gave me a quick wave good-by before returning his attention to much more important things (like playing). Arlan took awhile to fall asleep for Grandma, but she was able to just lay with him on the bed, and he eventually fell asleep stroking her face (he's so cute!!). He only woke once to eat too, which is just wonderful. Landon enjoyed some time with Grandpa in bed before heading back to his Thomas bed for the night. So both kids were well behaved, went to sleep and slept well, and were VERY happy to see John and I in the morning too.
I was very relieved that Arlan napped with me on Sunday for about 3 hours!! I can't remember the last time he and I hung out in bed for that long!!! He'd wake up, I'd nurse him a bit, we'd both go back to sleep. It was so nice :-) And Grandma managed to keep Landon entertained so both John and I got some recuperative sleep on Sunday (as we didn't get much sleep Sat night ... heh heh).

So we're home again ... I'm wondering what to do first, laundry, cleaning, blah! ah well ... it's now December and the countdown to Christmas is on! So I'll be doing lots of cleaning in upcoming weeks :-) Thankfully I'm almost completely done Xmas shopping... AND all my Xmas cards are mailed out already -- PHEW! Much better than last year, when I didn't even get my cards until 3 days before Xmas or some thing like that LOL

Anyways, that's the quick post for today - will get some pics uploaded hopefully soon ... until next time....

Hips are just fine :-)

We saw the doc this morning, and the x-ray results for Arlan's hips show that he is just fine. The doc checked for clicking again, and there isn't any. So our little monkey is good good good.
Landon's excited, I bought him the Wall-E movie after the doc appt. Well, I really liked the movie too, and so we're going to watch it together ... plus we'll take it to Grandma's house this weekend and he can watch with her too.
I also bought Landon a second bed rail -- we are hoping to move his bed more to the middle of his room so we'll need a rail on both sides. It's just too darned drafty under that window! Although Landon has been cold enough to actually sleep UNDER blankets these past weeks ... but I'll still prefer the bed away from the window.

That's it, that's all, until we get back from Saskie ...

Getting ready...

We will be spending the day getting ready for our roadtrip back to sask. First though, we go to the doc for follow-up on Arlan's hip x-rays ... I hope the news is positive! That's at 11:30. And Iden will be here this afternoon, so either the boys will nap and not be nuisances, or they'll play and be only minor nuisances :-) heh heh We are hoping to be up and on the road by 9 or 9:30 tomorrow morning -- pray for us!LOL

Other than that, our week has been pretty low-key. We continue to explore cereals with Arlan - he likes oat cereal more than rice cereal, that's for sure. I fed him twice yesterday, once oats and once rice ... that will continue as he ate well both times. He usually eats between 1.5 and 3 Tbsp per feeding, so we're working our way up. He slept really well last night too -- I managed to get him down for a third nap in the afternoon, so he went to bed shortly at 7 pm. He woke to eat at 2, and then woke for the day at 7:30 -- with no hour long playing session in the middle of the night YAY Hopefully we can continue with that sort of a pattern :-/ Although I fully recognize that we're travelling this weekend and so whatever we're doing this week is likely to change next week!! LOL

Landon's a little monkey and I love it. He just plays play plays. I ask him if he wants something to eat, he replies "NO! I'm PLAYING!" heh heh He's doing much better on the potty front again -- we still have accidents, but not too many which is good. Now if we could just convince him to poop on the toilet ...

Anyways, that's the quick post. I will try to post results from Arlan's x-rays this aft, but if not, look for it next week when we get back from the farm. Cheerio .. :-D

Monday update...

Well, I took Arlan to get his hip x-rays today. At his 4 month shots, the nurse noted some clicking and asked me to follow-up with our doctor. Which I did, and he thought that there might be clicking too, although it could be in the knees, but he sent us for x-rays. I went today to get it done. It was a bit of a pain because after waiting 30 minutes to be called in, they told me that Landon couldn't go in with us, but I needed to be in there with Arlan. Kind of hard to be 2 places at once ... wish they'd have mentioned that when I arrived (grr). But I phoned John and he was able to come to watch Landon while Arlan was x-rayed, thankfully. Of course, this meant waiting some more - first for John to show up (took him only 20 mins to get there), then for our turn to come around again.
But our turn did come around, right when Arlan was snoozing peacefully away in the stroller of course :-/ I thought he'd start yelling as soon as we pulled him out of there. But he'd gotten about 30 minutes of sleeping in, so it must've been enough because he was all talking and gooing and arghing when I pulled him out. And he didn't stop - even when he was getting x-rayed! He had a look of concern when I first got him undressed, but I held on to him (he was warily eyeing the tech ... like he was thinking "you're ok where you are, but don't you dare try to touch me!!") and maintained eye contact while holding him down (the tech held his legs how she wanted them, I held his arms out of the way). He babbled and cooed ... so frickin' cute I could hardly stand it!!!! LOL So not a tear was shed.
And Landon - what a good big boy he is. He is finally back to wanting to wear gotchies (especially since I bought him some new Curious George gotch yesterday ... that's all he wants to wear). And he wore gotchies out for this xray trip, even drinking water while we were waiting, etc, and no accidents. Of course, he did pee himself this morning -- he told me he didn't want to take his Curious George gotchies off to pee on the pot, so he just peed!! I helped him to understand that faulty logic by putting those now wet gotchies in the wash - better to take them off to pee than to pee in them and have them have to go in the wash. Poor kid, it's tough to be 2!

Yesterday I went shopping - by myself. What a treat!! :-D I thoroughly enjoyed going through the mall without a stroller or yelling at a 2-year old. I bought stuff for the boys - bibs, gotch, socks - and a new dress for myself. It's been a long time since I bought a new dress and I'm very excited. I'll be wearing it for Tilly's wedding, and for New Years Eve too. Fun stuff!!

And that's about all the news we have for this Monday. Until next time.....

p.s. oh yeah, and Arlan tried oat cereal this morning. His face was pretty cute ... he was like "oh! what's this? I like it...give me more!!" lol I'm going to start giving him cereal at noon, and again mid-afternoon, in the hopes that he'll take in a bit more as I find he wants to get an extra nursing in during the afternoon. We'll see *shrug* I'm just taking it very slowly for now - he's still so little so I don't feel the need to rush it along. Unlike Landon who was eating 12 Tbsp of cereal a day about a week after we started him!! LOL

the boys

Here's a picture of Arlan snoozing in the swing. He was happy sitting in here, watching me make supper, listening to music. Then his eyes got heavier and heavier ... until I looked over and he was snoozing -- so cute, I just love it!

Landon was having fun playing static with dad ... John would cover him with a blanket, then flip it up off his head, and this hairdo was the result. It was pretty funny, and Landon was giggling the entire time!

FIVE months old ... already!

Here's a pic of me with my boys from yesterday ... actually got Landon to sit with us (pretty impressive ... he's usually moving FAR too fast for us to get a pic of him!! LOL).

And a pic of me with my little stinker ... he's so cute!

And Arlan sitting up on his own. This was on Tuesday (his 5th month birthday). He was falling over by the time I got the camera, but he is starting to sit on his own for short bursts (30 seconds to a minute). Can hardly believe it. He's getting SO big :-D

Chewing on the links is one of Arlan's favourite things. You should see how excited he gets when I pull those things out!! LOL

And just a picture of my smiler. Again from Tuesday -- exactly 5 months old. He is such a smiler all the time :-)

Tuesday tidbits...

Not much news, but thought I'd post a quick one waiting for Arlan to wake up from a nap. I've certainly discovered that when John puts Arlan down for a nap, Arlan sleeps longer! Weird ... but true. When I put Arlan down, he naps for only 45 minutes or so. When John put him down, he sleeps for 1 1/2 hours! I like it when John puts him down!! LOL Yesterday Arlan refused to nap all afternoon, so was up from 1:40 until 6 pm when I put him to bed for the night! That is the longest he's ever stayed awake (I can't say he was completely content / happy the whole time, but for the majority of that time he was pretty good). Then he slept from 6 until 3 am (John plugged the soother in twice ... at 6:45 and 8 pm, but that's it!).

So maybe this solids thing has some merit ... his longest awake period and his longest sleep period happened after his second feeding of cereals. He has eaten fairly well. I don't think he was quite as hungry as Landon when we started him (he sat there like a bird with his mouth open, we couldn't feed him fast enough, and he ate aLOT right away too), but he's getting ~ 1 Tbsp down per feeding, with not too much of a mess :-)

Landon's imagination is in full swing these days. All of his toys have brand news uses. I love watching him play and make things up ... it's very pleasurable to watch, as well as purely entertaining to see what he'll come up with next!! He is also loving the foam blocks that Aunty Yvonne and Uncle Greg gave him for his first Xmas ... they get build into many many things these days -> mostly bridges and tunnels for his trains to travel through (and around and over). But he also loves when John or I stack them up and he can smash them down.

I'm slowly recovering from the painting weekend :-P I played v'ball last night, so now my right shoulder is really tired!! LOL It sucks getting old(er). But that basement looks so great, I absolutely LOVE it!! John was also pleased to take him first sauna on Sunday night - so that thing's getting some use now.

Anyways, it's time to put Landon down for his snoozers, so I'm off. Of course, when I told him it was time for a snooze, he said "yes, let's go to the ZOO!" Not quite the same......*sigh*

Arlan's getting SO big!

Here's a cute picture of Arlan, practising standing up with dad. He is all smiles when you help him stand. John even had him 'walking' yesterday -- my heart leapt into my throat when I saw that.

Notice John's nice painty-pants? Well, that's because we got the basement painted this weekend. It's been a long weekend, but it's completely done! YAY Very exciting. Now we're waiting for carpet install (scheduled for Dec 4), then we'll put in the bathroom pieces (toilet, sink, vanity, ets). We are hoping to get light fixtures up maybe even before the carpet is installed .... it's really coming together nicely! I can hardly wait to move the toys down there!!! LOL

OMG - FIRST CEREALS!!

We fed our little Arlan his first taste of rice cereal today. I am so excited, and happy, and sad at the same time. Little stinker is growing up WAY too quickly for my liking.
Anyways, he rather liked the cereal. He liked the spoon more I think. But he ate about 2 tsp of cereal altogether. Then he looked like this:

These are the pics of his first spoonful. Do you think he was ready to try some solids, look at his face when I was getting it ready for him. I also love Landon - he's in there like a dirty shirt, checking out that action!! LOL He didn't stick around long, I think by the third spoonful he'd decided it wasn't that exciting after all.

Pics of Arlan ...

Here are some pics -- I was noticing we haven't posted any for awhile.
First we have Arlan playing in the Jumperoo. While he does like this thing, he isn't as enamoured as Landon was...but he will play in there for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. He likes the music part, and being upright. But he really doesn't jump too much ... yet.

Arlan is learning to roll around to play. Many times I put him on the play mat one way, to find him switched completely around within a few minutes. Particularly to get to his favourite toy of the day, which recently has been the rainbow (seen in the background), and this sea horse in the picture.

Arlan finds dad's watch to be quite interesting too. This is a toy that Landon played with plenty at this age, and Arlan has now discovered it as well. I was trying to capture his look of concentration, but the darned kid kept looking up and smiling!! LOL

And here's a pic of Arlan on his first walk facing front in the stroller. It was a windy yucky day, so we didn't last long at the park. But I've since taken him on several more walks like this, and he likes being able to check everything out. Makes the stroller a bit lighter too, which mom likes :-)

Stats and stuff...

Well, Arlan's growth has definitely slowed down! He's 16 pounds, 2 ounces ... only 3 ounces gained in the past 2 weeks! Of course, I had the flu in there which likely impacted that a bit. But I discussed starting solids with the nurse, and I think we'll give it a go on the weekend. Start with some rice cereal. Makes me sad -- my little man is getting bigger (too big too fast!!). Stinker. But maybe he'll sleep a bit better?
He did sleep well last night though, after getting his shots. I gave him Tylenol, he woke up once to eat (woke another time and a soother put him back to sleep). He was up at 5:30 playing for about 20 minutes until I soothered him, then again at 6:30 and John soothered him about 6:50. Then he slept until 8:30!! YAY Mommy needed that 'sleep in' again ... trying to recover from that danged flu!

Arlan's hip was also cracking, so the nurse urged us to make an appt with the doc. We went to he doc this morning, and have been referred for an ultrasound. It might be a shallow hip joint, which could cause problems in the future (dislocation of hip), but it's easily cured if detected so young ... therefore the ultrasound. Because it hasn't been noted before (and it's checked at every doc appt and when he gets his vaccinations), the doc thinks it might be just the knee clicking, which isn't serious at all. But since we can't tell for sure, it's better to be safe than sorry. So we're waiting to hear when the ultrasound appointment will be. Hopefully before Xmas.

The rest of us got flu shots too - the first time for us. But after that bout last week, if I can prevent even one flu I'll be pleased!! Landon didn't even flinch at the needle. He watched mommy and daddy get a needle, then picked his bandaid colour (yellow, not blue!), and got his needle.
But Landon sure has been crying lots. He cries whenever Arlan makes a squeal or a squeak. So annoying for us. I've been telling him that if he doesn't like the sounds Arlan makes, he can go play in his room by himself. So far, he's managed to tolerate Arlan's sounds since that came into effect :-/ Silly kid.

Anyways, that's the news here. I'm amazed to be watching Arlan playing in his exersaucer right now. For a kid that never used to be able to stay up for even 2 hours, he's going on 2 1/2 here and completely happy. but Landon just told me to "start paying attention to [him]", so I'd better go. Until next time....

4 month shots coming up today...

We made it through another day with Landon not being sick. His appetite is slowly coming back, but not nearly as ravenous as usual. And while he does have periods of active play throughout the day, it's not nearly as active as before, and he then needs to spend some time on the couch recovering. But all in all he's on the mend ... it's just taking him a bit longer I guess. I will be glad when the poops firm up though .....


We get Arlan's 4 month shots today. At 5:40 pm. When I made the appt he went to bed between 7:30 & 8. Now I've usually got him in jammies and am settling him down for the night at that time :-/ We'll see how it goes -- he'll be plenty tired I'm sure, poor thing. But we'll just get him home and get him to bed and see what happens. I will likely have to do the Tylenol every 4 hours thing again (to protect against fever since Landon has a history of febrile seizures), but he's been waking frequently enough to feed that that shouldn't be an issue. He did let mommy get some sleep last night, although he was awake for about 45 minutes at 5 am!! He just gooed and giggled in his crib for about 30 minutes, then he started fussing so I went in and fed him and he went right back to sleep - thankfully until 8 am, so I got to 'sleep in' this morning (never thought I'd see the day when I said sleeping until 8 am was sleeping in!! LOL).

Anyways, we'll post some stats when we get 'em today. I'm going to phone to see if they'll even give Landon a flu shot, since he's just recovering from a flu. Likely not, so he and dad can stay home and chill out. I think I will get a flu shot if I can though ... if I can avoid another flu this winter I'll be pleased. But I need to check if they'll even give me one, since I was just sick as well :-/

Until next time....

scary squeaky door!

Forgot about the scary squeaky door....

Last night I played volleyball (and was it GREAT to get out of the house!). On my way home I called to see how things were going. Well, it seems that Landon was snuggled into our bed because he was so scared of the squeaking door! When our front screen door isn't latched, and the wind hits it just right, it squeaks. John didn't know this though - so he hadn't been able to locate the squeak for quite some time ... giving Landon enough time to work himself into quite the fright!! Poor kid! LOL That imagination is kicking into overdrive.
So I got home, pulled Landon out of our bed and we went and showed him how the door squeaks when not shut tight, and then we shut it tight and the squeaking stopped. Still Landon was pretty scared, so he snuggled back into our bed while I showered. But after that he was ready for sleep and happily went back into his own room -- PHEW! I thought I was going to have to sit in his room until he fell asleep, but he just snuggled into bed and said 'leave the door OPEN!' like he does every night.

So that's the story of the scary squeaky door. Makes me giggle a bit, and a bit sad because our little Landon just keeps on growing - this imagination that he's recently developed if proof of that.

and the toy battles have begun!

Landon is finally feeling better, although he is still not the energetic little firebomb we're used to. He's pretty quiet most of the day, he'll play for awhile, then hit the couch for awhile. But he hasn't thrown up since Sunday, so my hopes are up that he's beat this bug and is now just getting his energy back. He ate well yesterday, but hasn't eaten well today. His tummy is still a bit sore I'm thinking....But we made a trip out of the house this morning - to the grocery store - with no major calamities (i.e. no puking, no peeing pants, and only a minor melt-down at the check-out when I wouldn't let him have smarties).

And the toy battles have already begun! I thought I'd have a few more months of peace!! LOL Landon has been loving all the toys I've gotten out for Arlan - playing IN the exersaucer, and stacking rings, and loving that ever-lovable giraffe. Well today Arlan was getting him back, by snatching a piece of train track!! LOL He was happily slobbering all over it and Landon was near tears because his poor train track was 'broken'! Thankfully mom was able to come to the rescue, giving Arlan a different piece of track to drool over and fixing Landon's bridge. Poor Landon -- he's going to have some lessons in patience and sharing over the upcoming months (actually, mommy is going to have the lessons in patience, I'm sure!!).

Well Arlan is just as adorable as ever - gotta' love that little stinker!! He was busy oohing and gooing in the grocery store today - I love it! (And with Landon decreased energy levels, grocery shopping wasn't all that bad). I'm just hoping for a dual nap this afternoon as I'm still super-tired (I can understand what Landon's dealing with in recovering from this flu bug). Yesterday I got a nice sleep in ... let's hope it repeats!

spoke too soon :-(

Poor Landon was sick again last night ... threw up in his bed. So he got to sleep with mom again - poor dad gets stuck on the futon! Hopefully tonight Landon can sleep in his own bed, and hopefully we'll all get better sleeps!! He was fine the rest of the night and is back to 'normal' this morning -- maybe not quite as super-charged as usual, but is playing and bugging us again!

Arlan woke up lots to eat last night too, which makes mommy tired today. But I guess I'll just keep plugging away.

That's the tidbit for today...

Finally - healthy again!

Landon and I have been down with the flu since Wednesday morning .... YUCK! I woke up about 2:45 am, Landon at 6:30. I was pretty much done with the disgusting stuff by 8 am or so, and spent the rest of the day in bed (John stayed home from work). I just nursed Arlan and slept as much as possible.
Poor Landon however, he was throwing up most of the morning, then again throughout the evening and overnight. Thursday he was sick in the morning, but then seemed to be on the mend. But Friday night he was sick again about 5 times :-( Poor kid. Every time he had to puke, he'd cry so hard and say "No puke! I don't wanna puke!!" I think he thought our putting a bucket in front of him caused him to puke. I tried to explain to him that there were bad germs in his tummy and his tummy was getting rid of them by puking, but he didn't care to hear about that.
So Landon slept with me Wed night and again Fri night ... aside from the waking up to catch his puke all night Wed, I must admit I enjoyed snuggling with him all night long. That's not to say that I want him to get sick like that again anytime soon! Yikes.
We were actually quite worried about him last night as he hadn't peed all day, and when I phoned HealthLink they wanted us to take him in to the hospital. I requested that the doctor on call call me as well - he did and recommended we wait until morning. I'm glad he said that, because of course Landon got up and peed :-) So we didn't have to take him in at all ... thankfully. Although I was plenty worried when he started up puking again last night. And of course, John was playing so I was home alone with both boys :-/

Arlan has managed to avoid catching this one -- thank goodness!! I attribute that to breastfeeding -- gotta love me protecting him through my milk! He was SO good too when we were focusing on Landon...he slept so well when Landon wasn't sleeping so well. Of course, Thursday night Landon slept really well and Arlan was up all night. But I can handle that!
John also avoided this flu too ... which is good because he's been busy taking care of us! LOL

So that's our news - not much of it, but at least we're recovered. Landon has recovered now I'm sure - he was full throttle tonight!! Which is a relief - and tiring! I liked the past couple of nights when I put him to bed and he went to sleep! Last night I was advised to keep pushing fluids on him, so was actually trying to keep him up to get him to drink more! Very unusual situation for us... By 11 pm Landon was so tired he was refusing the drinks and just going to sleep! Poor kid ... after he puked in his bed I moved him to mine and let him sleep.

So, I'm off to bed to hopefully get a good night's sleep tonight. John let me sleep in this morning, but I'm still exhausted. Hopefully tomorrow will be less tiring ... less cleaning up of pukey things for sure! Until next time...

Not so much news...

Life has just been plugging along here. We had the time change on the weekend, so now Arlan is going to bed at 6 pm, waking between 6:30 and 7 am. I'm hoping he'll gradually move back ... I liked 7 pm to 8 am ... but I can live with this. He's had some good nights too, where he's woken only once or twice (and when the first awakening is before I go to sleep, that makes the second one much easier to handle). In fact last night I would've had 6 solid hours, had Landon not woken me up moaning and groaning cold!! :-/

The potty training continues to progress very well. Landon wears a diaper to bed overnight and at naps, but has woken up dry from his naps the past 3 days in a row. He is wearing diapers at all other times, including today when we were out running errands for 2 1/2 hours (no accidents!!). Of course, he's slightly dehydrated now as I am not as liberal with the juiceboxes!! But we're getting better :-) Now if we can get him comfortable with pulling his own gotches down to pee (so that we don't have to take him to the pot every time) that will be good ... but hey, this is significant progress and I'm happy to make it!!

Landon seems to have recovered from the Hallowe'en scare :-/ At least he hasn't mentioned the green paint again!! LOL But he's still scared of the Thomas Hallowe'en episode ... maybe I'll have one of those kids that just doesn't like Hallowe'en (could I be so lucky? Maybe ... then Arlan will LOVE Hallowe'en right!! LOL)

We bought a replacement betta fish today ... half price Tuesday at Petland (call me a mennonite ;-D ). He's beautiful ... an irridescent teal colour, I love it. Landon couldn't have cared less ... he was way more excited to see the crickets in the frog container (luckily the frog didn't eat any of them while Landon was watching!!). So let's hope I don't kill this betta as quickly as the last one :-/

We picked out flooring for the basement on Saturday, they came to measure today. We should have a quote in the next day or two, and then we can get it ordered and a target install date. That means we'll be getting our butts in gear to paint. We've picked our colours, I plan to go and buy the paint and supplies tomorrow. That'll make for some tiring times!!

And my Xmas parcels have almost all arrived (I ordered so much online ... WAY easier with 2 little ones!). I'm just waiting for 2 e-bay purchases, and I'm set. I still have to buy a couple of things that I need to go to the store for, but then I'll be done. Except maybe for a garbage truck that Landon insists Santa NEEDS to bring for him ... he just might wear me down because I'd love to see the look on his face. *shrug* Am I a soft touch or what!! LOL

And really, that's all the news there is. Lots happening, nothing too major. Until next time....

Hallowe'en 2008

Well, Hallowe'en was a bit different this year than last, that's for sure. Firstly, I actually went through the trouble of getting dressed up as the Hulk ... and I think my costume was pretty good (except for the hair, didn't have time to do the hair :-/). apparently it was too good -- Landon was scared $hitle$$ of me!! LOL So I had to wash my face off - with Landon watching so that he knew that it really was me - and remove the muscles. I was the Hulk, from the waist down heh heh
Incidentally, Arlan was fine with me ... he must've been cueing on my scent and sound more than sight *shrug*

Here's our jack-0-lantern. Landon sort of helped to carve it this year. Well, he stuck his spoon into the pumpkin twice to help clean it out!! LOL Then he ran around the house, as usual. But he was adamant "No (s)cary faces!!" So we did a goofy one (much to John's disappointment).

And here is Landon as the black cat. This was taken this morning as we were getting ready to go for a walk. He was very excited to be a kitty! But it was so warm out that he ended up taking the kitty costume off as soon as we got to the store :-/

Tonight however, Landon was Tigger. He was so traumatized from the Hulk costume that he didn't want to go trick-or-treating at all, and certainly wasn't going to wear the black cat costume even if we did go outside with mommy (who had already washed her face!). But he did think he could handle the Tigger costume (same as last year) ... so we squeezed him into it. Poor kid. He wouldn't have gone trick-or-treating at all except some kids came to the door and got candy -- he wanted the candy and we told him the only way to get candy was to go out with mommy. So we did ... to about 15 houses or so. We didn't even finish one side of the crescent and he was ready to go home. But I guess ... enjoy the short nights while I can, right??

And here is the cutest little dalmation ever!!! I may be biased, but man is he CUTE!! Arlan was wearing this all day long ... from our first walk this morning, and then to the carpet store in the afternoon, and to go trick-or-treating with Landon. Arlan's such a happy baby ... Landon's melting down and we're trying to placate him and wash my face etc, the whole time Arlan's just hanging out on the floor with his costume on waiting to go!! And when Landon was ready to come home it worked well as Arlan was ready for bed too. But I gotta' admit, he is frickin' CUTE!! Did I mention...heh heh

weights, measures and potty

I weighed Arlan today ... 15 pounds, 15 ounces. I was kind of shocked - I thought he would've been well over 16 pounds by now, he's gained only a pound this entire month. Could explain why he's eating so much these days!! Maybe he is ready for cereals :-/ That thought makes me kind of sad, I want my baby to stay my baby!!! *sigh* I'm trying to hold off until he's 5 months old, and will simply increase the number of times I nurse throughout the day (hoping that he'll sleep better at night too!!). But I did buy some cereal today ....

He's also 26 1/2" long. So he's still getting longer, and I am not actually worried at all about his growth.

Landon has been making great progress on the potty end of things. He still has accidents, mostly when he's wearing pants and is playing upstairs. Luckily the pants soak up most of the pee!! But if he's naked downstairs he goes potty all by himself, and will dump the pot and everything. It seems that the pants confuse him, but he's going to have to learn with pants on too because we don't live in a nudist colony LOL
But he's made a couple of grocery store trips and 2 car trips (to drop John's car off and pick it up from mechanic) with no problems. So that's looking good.

But I hear Arlan waking to eat (surprise surprise) so off I go. Until next time (which hopefully will be soon with Hallowe'en pics)...

broccoli crashing and dirty movies!

Landon always makes me laugh it seems. The other night we were watching ... wait for it ... THOMAS of course. Thomas did not puff with care around the dangerous bend and crashed into the bushes. Landon looked at me very seriously and explained "Thomas crashed into the broccoli mom!!" Of course ...

Then we were at the library on Saturday afternoon, and I let Landon pick out two Thomas videos to bring home. While we were checking through the videos, I would open them up to see just how scratched they actually were (I hate library videos, but it does break up the monotony of the videos we have here), telling Landon I was looking for scratches. We find a couple that didn't seem to be too bad. Landon then goes ripping through the library yelling excitedly "Let's go home and watch dirty videos mom!!" Of course ...

Another cute story from a few weeks back. Landon was running around ... wait for it ... naked, I was upstairs. Then I heard him "I peed a bunny mom!" Wondering just what he was trying to explain, I went downstairs getting ready to mop up a pee accident. There was an accident all right, and Landon's exclamation was a perfect description. There in the carpet was a wet spot shaped exactly like a bunny head, big pointy ears and all .....

So yes, Landon makes me laugh, and blush occassionally too. But it's all fun! LOL

Potty training - a bit slower these days...Landon peed his pants yesterday and today, and then wants diapers on because he feels bad. He is 100% when he runs around naked without gotches or anything. But put gotches, and esp gotches and pants on, and he forgets he's got to use the pot. *sigh* Ah well, we just mop up the messes and keep trying ...

Arlan is perfectly adorable, of course! He was laughing laughing laughing today as I tickled him. Sooooo cute. He's such a happy little man, I love it. He's been going to bed nicely at 7 pm, wakes up 3 times to eat, and wakes in the morning at 8 am for the day. Gotta' love that schedule. He has only short naps throughout the day, but with that nighttime schedule I think I can survive it!

Until next time...

LANDON puzzle

Almost forgot about this shot ...

Last night we found the LANDON puzzle that Uncle Greg and Aunty Yvonne gave Landon last year ... it was hiding in the basement! So Landon had a blast doing the puzzle of his name, and telling me the letters ... over and over again. It's a great puzzle though - I think it will be very helpful in teaching Landon to spell his own name. And does he loves puzzles!!!

Saturday news...

Well, things are going well here, I think. Arlan seems to be settling back into a pattern of sorts. Unfortunately that pattern involves 2 overnight feeds, followed by feeding in mommy's bed at 6:30 or 7 (I do get another 45 mins to an hour snooze after that third feed though!). We've been getting up at 8, and he's been going to bed at 7:30. I guess I can't complain too much!! LOL Especially thinking back to Landon at this age ... ummm, bedtime at 1 am? *sigh* But I am hoping that the overnight feeds cut back a bit - I don't mind once, but twice? The good side of that is usually the first one is before I fall asleep (10:30 or so), then between 3 & 4, then at 6:30 or 7.
He nurses so much better overnight than throughout the day, I can see why he wants to eat overnight. During the day he fusses and pulls off (and my nipples bloody HURT!). At night he eats and goes back to sleep. I haven't had as much of a 'let-down' sensation this week, and when I pumped I was getting less milk than before, so I am wondering if that led to his day-time nursing fussiness? I know one time I nursed him and it was 5 minutes before I had a let-down ... both Arlan and I were pretty frustrated by that point, needless to say. But yesterday seemed better, and I've gotten milk when I pumped yesterday and today (Wed I got NO milk at all!!). So maybe it was the phase of the moon, or a low pressure system or something? the chinook?? I don't know ... I ordered more nursing tea on-line just in case -- my neighbour (who has twins) wants more too, so we'll share the bag when it arrives. She noticed a decrease in her milk this week too ... makes me wonder about weather phenomenon...

Anyways...

Landon has been doing so well re: potty training!! He has been wearing gotchies for at least part of the day the past couple of days, and no accidents! He still is a bit tentative around pulling his gotchies down to use the pot -- although he's proficient at using the pot when he's naked. He will go pee, dump the pot into the toilet and flush, rinse the pot out, wash his hands, and then return the pot to the living room!! LOL one time he did all this and John didn't get a chance to see if there was even pee in the pot - but there must've been based on him doing this process several times since then!!
He still has a diaper on for part of the day. We put one on for naps, and he will pee in that before we take it off when he wakes up. He also wears a diaper for poops (you know he's gotta' poop because he comes running "NEED diaper ON!!"), but when he's done we take it off and put gotches back on again. And of course he wears a diaper overnight, and pees in that in the morning before we take it off. But I think it's wonderful progress :-)

John's putting the sauna in the basement this weekend ... he's got the big back wall up, and is hoping to get all the walls up today. Smells pretty damned nice in the basement, I gotta' admit :-)

That's the news from here ... until next time...