Various phases of mobility

We got a double chariot from Liz & Rob when we were in Toronto. The boys absolutely LOVE it -- especially when John pulls them behind the bike (they get to go really fast!). Plus it's quite nice even just for walking. I think we're going to get ALOT of use out of this stroller!!



Arlan loves to crawl around, especially outside. But he does NOT like the feel of grass on his knees! So he sticks his bum in the air and crawls for all he's worth :-)




Arlan's so proud to be able to walk behind his walker toys -- the activity walker on the main floor, the "peek-a-block" hippo in the computer room. SO proud.

What I don't have a picture of is Arlan's very first steps -- taken yesterday (June 22). He took 3 steps to mom, before collapsing in my arms giggling and laughing. It won't be long and he'll be running, I'm sure!

Another week's gone by!

Time really is flying! my oh my

John and the boys survived their weekend together. I don't think there was too much trouble ... the weather was great so they spent time outside. John and Landon built a snowman - a big one, not like the piddly little ones that I built with Landon!! And Landon was excited to tell me all about his weekend with dad :-D

Arlan did quite a few double-takes when he saw it was me nursing him instead of dad with the bottle too - pretty cute. I think my milk supply was down a bit when I got home, but now Arlan is actually nursing better than he has for several weeks, so maybe the break was good. I was worried he was weaning himself. The only feed that isn't me now is right before bed - he wasn't nursing at all :-( He only takes 3 or 4 ounces of milk, but that's 3 or 4 ounces more than he was getting from me. So we'll see...

And of course Arlan started all-out crawling the morning that I left!! Thankfully John got some video of the little stinker! lol So now he's motoring around the house, mostly pestering Landon as much as possible. He's getting pretty quick too.

Arlan is most proud when he gets himself up on his knees. He's able to pull himself up to his knees on the couch, the stool, and in his crib. What a proud little smiler when he gets that figured out. Then he just waits for me to come and get him! So we moved the crib mattress down to the lowest setting today, just to be safe(r).

Arlan took his first tumble down the stairs last night. The door to the basement got left open (!!) and away he went. Thankfully he's crawling only, so he mostly rolled down the stairs. There were no injuries that I can see (no bruises even), just scared the bejeesus out of him (not to mention out of mommy). So, I guess the first big fall is behind us :-/

Uncle Bob & Aunty Rosemary were visiting this weekend. It was a great visit, like always. They enjoyed the boys, especially Arlan as they hadn't seen him since October. Aunty R and I went shopping yesterday -- for some material for Aunty R ... somehow I bought a new winter coat and she came home empty-handed :-/ Go figure!! LOL But the coat is from Grandpa Leisle and mom & dad for my b'day (thanks guys!!), so I'm pleased.

That's the news from here. Will get some pics posted soon...Until then...

Arlan's Weekend!

Arlan had a busy weekend, and he handled it very well!! When Grandma and Grandpa first arrived on Friday, he sure checked them out. But within a very short time he figured out they were ok, and then he was all smiles!! He played with Grandpa on the floor, and told him many stories!! He is SO close to crawling ... well I guess you could say that he is crawling, as he can really motor around the house in an inch-worm fashion!! He has one knee figured out, and pushes off with the toes of his other leg, then lays on his tummy and stretches him arms out again. Repeat. He gets around pretty well - and has explored most of the main floor fully. This morning when Grandma and Grandpa left, he inched his way to the front door with Landon to see them off. And when we put him down upstairs, he goes straight for the gate - there is no getting away with not closing that gate, that's for sure!!

Arlan also handled Landon's birthday party well. He enjoyed watching all the kids playing :-) Smiling for everyone, as usual. He also adjusted to the time change like a champ!

Now I think we are going to be seeing at least one, if not two, new teeth on the top in the next week or so. He got his second tooth late last week, but he's still chewing chewing!! We'll see. At least his eczema is cleared right up :-D

Another Tooth!

Arlan popped through another tooth yesterday - finally!! The second one on the bottom in the front. He's still chew-chewing, so maybe the top ones are working their way in now too, but for now his bum (eczema) has cleared up a bit which is nice.
He's busy pulling himself all over the place now - so adorable. Hard to believe my littlest boy is almost crawling. Tonight at supper he started out by my chair, and made his way to the tv, to the piano, and then settled in to watch Landon rip around. Very sweet (and mobile!! my gosh!).

Landon's super pumped b/c Grandma and Grandpa are here - arrived this afternoon. He is WAY more excited about them being here than for his birthday. But he is even MORE excited to have (and eat) his Wall-E cake. I got it finished up just a bit ago - much better planning this year than last when I was up until 2 am decorating Thomas!!

So hopefully tomorrow goes well. Will post some pics when I next get a chance (likely Sunday, or later). Until then...

What you get when...

Landon is beautifully displaying what happens when you suck on mom's 'bell' (known to the rest of the world as a candle-snuffer!). Nice mustache Landon!!

And Arlan has finally figured out that jolly-jumper thing is actually kind of fun! Smiles all around as he bounces a bit, although he isn't nearly as 'jumpy' as Landon was in that thing!!

Arlan still isn't crawling! He is moving himself around very well though, so maybe he'll just do this arm-pull thing for awhile? Fine with me, he gets around enough to explore and be occupied, without moving fast enough to get into too much trouble! LOL

And who'da thunk ... Arlan's favourite food thus far (since we've had more trouble getting him to accept foods than we ever did with Landon, this one is a real shocker for me) -- SPINACH!! That's right, the kid loves boiled spinach! LOL Easy enough...

Oh yeah, and it looks like there's another tooth just about ready to pop through on the bottom. Just a little white line there. We'll see if he pops a tooth for his bro's birthday ...

That's a quick post for tonight, until next time...

oopsie!

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted !! OOPS!

I do think the title of this post should really be "don't bite the gland that feeds you!" Damned kid! Drew blood too, if you can believe it!!! I sure hope there's not much more of that in the future.

I do wonder if Arlan's getting some teeth - I keep checking and there's nothing in there. He has had eczema bum since ~Feb 10 or so, and if that's supposed to be related to teething, well where are the TEETH?? I have been putting Nutri-Rich Oil (stuff I sell) and Burt's Bees diaper creme on his bum and that is keeping it from going crazy - but it's still there. My Lunar Eclipse diaper creme went rancid -- gotta' love the natural stuff, there's $20 down the drain :-/ So I went with Burt's Bees this time, and so far so good.

Arlan is still on the verge of crawling. He is up on hands and knees, rocking back and forth. He can pick toys up and chew them from this position (a three-point stand I guess). But no forward movement while keeping his belly off the floor. Belly on the floor --> LOTS Of forward movement. He uses his hands to pull himself soldier-style, and is starting to use one foot to help propel himself, but that other leg stays straight and he just drags it along. Pretty cute though. His eyes are sparkling, he's so curious and SO wants to get all those fun-looking toys that Landon keeps taking away from him!! LOL Maybe by Landon's birthday he'll be crawling - steal the show from his older brother (that might be exactly what he's planning!! LOL

Other than that - Landon's busy as always. He's finally starting to go in the basement by himself ... only to get toys at this point, but it's getting better. Tonight he played down there on his own a bit before John went down - it was on the stairs, but better than nothing. Hopefully soon he'll be comfortable to play down there. And I'm so glad John bought a locking door knob for the furnace room for when that day comes LOL

I can hardly believe Landon will be three on Saturday!! We're having a Wall-E birthday party - he's so excited for a Wall-E cake!! I'm looking forward to it too - I'm starting to understand why people get excited for their kids birthdays, in spite of all the work they are!! Grandma and Grandpa will be up here too - I'm sure Landon will be bouncing off the walls when they arrive he's been asking to see them for weeks. Should be a very fun weekend (if a busy week preparing!!).

Well, that's that for now. I will try to post more frequently. This new 'job' has me busy :-) But I like that. And I'll get some pics up soon too - Arlan has finally learned what that jolly-jumper thing is for !! LOL until then...

8 MONTHS!!

My little Arlan is ALREADY 8 months old! So hard to believe!!

Here are some pics I took tonight. I love the cocked eyebrow picture - too funny! Can't believe I caught that expression so well :-)
Landon and Arlan play together sometimes. Mostly it's Arlan trying to maneuvre over to Landon, and watching Landon's antics (I am SO in for it!!). But every now and again Landon will play back ... tonight he was "tickling" Arlan's tummy saying "snuggly baby!". The tickling can get pretty rough, so I do have to watch, but so far Arlan just absolutely loves it!! LOL

So I just kept snapping photos as Arlan skootled himself around the bedroom tonight. We will be putting gates up very shortly as he is SO close to crawling. you can see that knee is getting under him, and he can get up on all 4's for brief periods already. Soon (too soon!!) he will figure it all out, and then ... *sigh* makes me want to cry :-( My little baby is growing too quickly ... Of course, maybe all this growing will have him sleeping through the night sometime soon - and I guess I am looking forward to THAT development!!

Busy Busy days!

We have had several busy days, and are quite happy to be at home for Family Day!!
Sherry came in from Winnipeg on Thursday morning and spent Thursday and Friday with us. We hung out at home for the most part ... although we did pick up Landon's Wall-E cake pan for his birthday cake. Landon LOVES Sherry ... he wanted Sherry to read him his stories at nap time and bed time and everything!!
Friday was a nice day - John and Sherry made a yummy steak supper and cleaned up too, the best birthday present ever!! We played some cards, yapped our faces off, and drank too much wine.

Saturday we were up and on the road to Lethbridge for a wedding. We stayed at Paulette's house - I hadn't seen Paulette in about 10 years, so it was great to have a chance to catch up. Landon and Arlan stayed with Paulette while John & I went to the wedding, and I think they were fairly well behaved. Landon had missed his nap so was pretty wired all night, thankfully Amy got him convinced to finally go to bed (he said he couldn't go to sleep until mommy & daddy got home - she told him mommy & daddy were like Santa Claus that night, and couldn't come home until he went to sleep!). Landon did break one candle ... but overall was good. Arlan was an angel of course - going to sleep well and everything. The only frustration came when we got home -- Arlan was up to eat, and spent the next hour gooing and playing in the playpen while I tried to go to sleep beside him. Then he was awake for the day at 6 am!! aiaiaiaiai

But we got up and came back home yesterday - it was nice to come home and get unpacked and settled again. I enjoyed a LOT more sleep last night, and we are just hanging out all day. I think Arlan will maybe be getting another tooth shortly as his cheeks are red and he has dry skin patches on his bum again. I've been putting Nutri-Rich Oil on them to see if that works (as opposed to prescription cream). We'll watch that mouth of his.

Arlan is on the verge of crawling too ... today for the first time he was up on all fours ... so it's gotta come soon!! Now when he's on the floor, he's all over the place exploring!! we will be needing to dig the gates out of the basement in the next few days for SURE!!

Anyways, that's the quick post for now ... I'll keep you posted on the crawling and toothing developments...