Fun at Aunty Rosemary's

We had an absolutely fabulous weekend in Saskatoon visiting with Uncle Bob and Aunty Rosemary for Thanksgiving. Landon particularly enjoyed Aunty Rosemary's incredibly beautiful backyard. He ran and ran and ran. He exploted all of the plants, flowers and bushes. He climbed up and down from the deck. And he had some fun rocking with Aunty Rosemary too (I LOVE this picture of them).

Of course, the biggest shock of the weekend came when I checked out the second picture here, and realized just how much Landon looks like Uncle Neville!! LOL Just like a little mini-Neville running around -- watch out everyone!!

Artwork!

Perhaps Landon has been refusing to colour on paper all along because it moves. He liked the stationary high chair!! LOL Here we have captured Landon's first 'picture' that he created all by himself :-) I love his use of colour, and the lines show remarkable vision - don't you think? heh heh

S-L-O-W times...

Not much has been happening here. I've been preparing for John's birthday - baked a cake, made nice dinner, etc, and that's kept me occupied (his birthday is today). *shrug* Landon is cute as all get-out of course. He says 'bubble' all the day long - I think he likes bubble baths :-) He is started to say more, and juice; well really he's starting to make sounds that stand for these words - I have trouble recognizing them so I don't think anyone else would. But at least I'm starting to catch on to his garble. He loves juice, and he always wants more of it :-D

Landon is loving trains too - thanks to Thomas! He says 'toot toot' whenever he sees a train, or anything looking remotely like a train. He loves the C-train when we drive by it, that's for sure. And I bought a little train thing last week for him to, which he's loving. Aunty Liz sent a Thomas puzzle which is a big hit too!!

Tonight we had a snowball-shower here. Really. It was like miniature snowballs falling down (or super soft, fluffy hail if you prefer). Landon was mesmerized. So we let him outside for a bit - he was running around the backyard laughing and giggling, watching the snowballs fall. It was adorable! I took some video - will post on the other site hopefully tomorrow (?).

That's really all the news today. Tomorrow we'll be getting ready for our trip to Saskatoon for the weekend! YAY Looking forward to it :-) Might not post before we leave, but I will when we get back. Until next time...

pics from Elkwater

Despite his earlier fears, there were moments when all of the kids played together. usually with toys we didn't really want them to have -like a dominoes game :-/ But that's the way...

And you just gotta' love the hairdo here....

pics from Elkwater

Landon explored and explored. I love the picture of him running in the trees -- that is Landon!! And so is the hanging from the rope picture. And so is the splashing int he puddle picture... LOL but as long as he had fun!!

Home again Home again...

Home again after a nice weekend in Elkwater with Nikki, Fabian and the girls! We had a foggy day yesterday, but it was still a good weekend :-) Once Landon got used to the girls heh heh For awhile he'd be scared of Eastynn, then he'd be scared of Taylor, what a sucky-pants! aiaiaiai But by this morning he was pretty used to the situation ... of course, because we were leaving!

Let's see -- what did Landon do? Well, he learned how to sleep with mom, as there wasn't room for the playpen in the bedroom. The first couple of nights it took quite awhile, but by Saturday night it wasn't as bad (still not as nice as parking him in his crib until he falls asleep, but much better). He jumped in some mud puddles (of course). He saw deer, and cows (on the trip home today -- LOTS of cows, which he squealed at then moo'd). He learned that Eastynn is ok, despite the fact that she crawls. He learned that it's ok to play with Taylor, finally. I don't think he really picked up any new words ... but I'll have to think about that. Anyways...

Here's a picture Nikki took when we were at the park. Landon had a blast there - running like crazy!! I will post more pics once I get them uploaded. For tonight I'm just relaxing ....

And getting pumped for our trip to Saskatoon next weekend! Woo Hoo! Looking forward to it :-)

Well, Not much News I guess...

Here's a picture from last month when Howie and I took Landon to Heritage Park. He wasn't so sure about petting that horse LOL But he did touch the horse's nose slightly, once. Cutie.

Not much news from here. Landon still has a runny nose, but it seems to be bugging him less. I just hope that he figures out how to blow his nose one of these days. Tonight it looked promising - he picked up a kleenex, put it close to his face, blew, then threw the kleenex on the floor. Some snot made it into the kleenex, although most of it just stayed on his face for me to clean up. but it's a start right?!

We had a good weekend. I went to Ricki's on Friday night, and didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning. It felt SO good to get out without Landon!! LOL Saturday I had a headache, but it was very much worthwhile!!

Other than that, we didn't do too much on the weekend. *shrug*

Went to gym and swim today - Landon fell during the gym part and smacked his head really hard on the floor, so he was a suck the rest of the time. But he did enjoy the water a bit - especially sitting on the edge of the pool and letting himself fall in for me to catch him. And he loved going down the slide too.

Tonight Landon went to the park and for the very first time he went down the slide by himself (well, except that one time when Grandpa didn't catch him at the Children's Museum heh heh). He climbed the stairs up, then sat down and went down the slide. BIG BOY! He did it about 20 more times after that too - I think he might've just figured out how the park can be fun, right when it's going to get cold of course!!

So that's the scoop from here. Tomorrow off to the zoo with Ricki, Tasha, Keaton and Parker. Need to get another trip in before the cold weather sets in :-/ Until next time....TK

Another loooong night...

Landon was up again last night, from 2 - 5 am! *sigh* Poor kid - had a 'croupy' cough and everything. The only saving grace: I simply curl up on the couch with him and turn on treehouse. That keeps him occupied while I doze beside him. He dozes too, I know because he does that falling asleep twitching thing. But he wakes right up again. Finally, when he felt well enough for a rousing game of 'catch me', I put him into bed and went to bed myself. We slept 'til noon, and he's snoozing now, so I anticipate tonight will be late. But hopefully we won't be up all night again :-/
He woke up today in good spirits, minimal cough, and played well. He also ate well, so I'm hoping last night was the worst we'll see (cross your fingers for us!). Unfortunately I had to reschedule his vaccinations (was supposed to get them tonight) for next week, which has royally screwed up our travel plans to Elkwater. I won't be going out there until Thursday (gets shots on Wed). At least we'll still have the weekend out there. I just hope Landon gets to feeling better shortly...I feel so bad for him when he coughs like that - it sounds bloody awful!

So I've had a la-ZEE day today too. But I'm sure I'll make up for it with a late night tonight.
Until next time....TK

Not feeling so well :-(

Landon isn't feeling so well today. He had me up all night long (well, until 2 am, then he woke me up again at 4 when his leg was stuck in the bars of the crib, and then again at 5:30 and 6:15 when he just cried out but didn't really need me). Today he is very stuffed up and his nose is running. So maybe another cold, maybe a molar coming through. We'll see. He's having a good afternoon nap, so that should help his attitude tonight (hopefully). It'll be nice to have dad home tonight, as Monday and Tuesday he's gone in the evenings. I love Landon to bits, but I love to have a bit of time away from him too when dad's home and can help out. Not that that usually happens - Landon is a mama's boy these days, and will usually follow me to wherever I am in the house versus hanging out with John :-/

And my first experience with being impacted by recalls. Well, I guess these bibs aren't exactly recalled, but Toys R Us has voluntarily pulled vinyl bibs from the shelves. And since I purchased 2 of them, I can return them for a full refund - no receipt needed, doesn't matter when they were purchased, nor what shape they're in. That sounds like a recall to me ... call it whatever you want. So I'll be heading to Toys R Us in the next day or so to take these bibs back.
http://www.babyzone.com/safety/toy_gear/a2408

Anyways, Landon just woke up and doesn't sound thrilled about it. I better go and get him. Until next time...TK

New fun and games...

Yesterday I noticed that Landon is really starting to play with his toys in the manner in which they were intended (versus just chewing on them and throwing them around, or banging them together). Like his shape-sorters. Aunty Liz gave him a truck shape-sorter for Christmas. Now he's enjoyed that truck, driving it around, pushing the sounds to make buttons, and even putting the shapes in (with lots of help from me). But yesterday he was really 'getting' it with the shapes - understanding that the square goes in the side so he has to turn the truck, etc.

We also bought a shape-sorter toy (actually got it through the Pampers Gifts-to-Grow campaign) almost a year ago already. He's played a bit with it, but now he sorts the shapes and last night he figured out how to stack the lego pieces. You should've seen his face. Here's a picture, but it really doesn't do it justice. The moment he sat back and looked at the tower that he built (I held it so it wouldn't fall over, but he built it) ... well his eyes lit up, he had the hugest smile, and he put his arms up "ta-da!". It was soooo cute. Made me proud too :-)

And this morning he figured out the fun of putting the rings on his ring-toy thingy ( I don't know what it's called ... you know, where you stack the 5 rings ... *sigh* *shrug*). So he was doing that for awhile and loving it.

And the fun stage has begun in that he has also realized the sheer joy in pulling every single toy out of his closet that he can. And he knows how to open and close the closet doors himself (no pinched fingers ... yet) so he gets in there whenever he wants to. His room is looking like a cyclone has gone through it, and I'm thinking it will look like that every day for the rest of our lives!! LOL

This morning we had gym + swim again (every Mon til the end of Oct). Today he enjoyed the gym part more, especially the small trampoline where he jumped jumped jumped. The pool he wasn't as interested in, but I think that's because he played himself out in the gym :-) He really clung onto me in the pool. Also, he woke up a bit earlier today (now hold on to your hats -- he woke up at 9:30 am!!), and he felt a bit warm, so I'm thinking he might be getting teeth or getting sick. Last night his cheeks were sooooo red when he went to bed! You can see it in the pic above too, how red his cheeks were. So maybe some new teeth coming (which would explain his waking up in the night a couple of weeks ago - he tends to be fussy a couple of weeks before his teeth come, versus when they're actually coming in.

That's the news - not much really...but that's the news. Will post again soon...until next time! TK

couple more pics

I caught a picture of Landon today as he was concentrating on just how that footstool works :-) And another from last night playing in his room. He was having so much fun trying to get the camera away from mom!

Fun things!

Landon had an absolute BLAST at the Childrens Creative Museum with Grandma and Grandpa. I didn't take many still pictures of him because, quite frankly, he rarely sat still!! Check the other site for some video clips.

Another favourite toy are washcloths. These have been faves for a long time, Landon loves to sort them out, lay them flat, bunch them up, and wear them on his head too. He's learned how to say 'ta-da' in this last picture :-)

Grandma and Grandpa have left the building...

A nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa - Landon was showing off from the moment they arrived! Monkey! He showed them how he jumps on the couches, does pirouettes in the living room until he falls down dizzy, eats so well with a spoon, runs runs runs when we let him out the back gate, climbs and falls down the shale piles behind the house, does pirouettes with the blanket over his face until he gets dizzy and falls down, climbs stairs, falls down stairs, falls off kitchen chairs on top of his head, and crawls out of his carseat, out of the car, closes the door and then climbs the stairs to the door of the house all by himself. What a big boy

We went to the Telus World of Science on Wed. A lot of the exhibits were closed as they are assembling a new one (and it's lego world or something, so it will take awhile). But we checked out the Childrens Creative Museum and Landon had a BLAST! He ran until he couldn't run anymore in that thing. There were so many things to see and do -- too funny. he even went down the curvy slide by himself (when Grandpa missed him) - he eyes were pretty big and his hair was pretty staticky, but he made it :-)

Yesterday we went to Butterfield Acres which is like a farm you can explore and pet the animals. It wasn't quite a petting zoo, which is maybe what I was expecting, as I was disappointed. Many animals weren't around, you couldn't access others to pet them, and most of the animals you could access weren't particularly open to being petted (the roaming goats and baby piglets being the exceptiong). Landon had the most fun climbing and running down one of the hills, and climbing the stairs for their outdoor stage. I might go back in several years - it would be a good place for a large group of kids (say a birthday party), but I'd much rather go to Jackson's Barnyard (Carla's petting zoo) to see animals.

And then this morning Grandma and Grandpa left. So Landon and I have had a nice quiet day at home thus far. The good news is that Landon has slept right through the night the past 3 nights - thank goodness! I have slept through the nights as well - I'm feeling much better than last week when he kept waking up.

I will have to get some pics up soon - have to upload them first. Will post again soon as well...until next time...TK

Gym and Swim

We had our first 'gym and swim' class today. Landon was okay with the gym part - but it was the swimming that he really enjoyed. Actually, as soon as he saw the pool he was trying to escape from the gym to get to it :-) And once we were in the pool, he didn't really want to just hang out and do the songs and games, he wanted to do his own thing! Poor kid. He enjoyed running around the shallow part, doing some frontal floats (accidentally), and he still loves the river part. Thankfully he tolerated the games and songs too, so that wasn't too bad I guess. He'll likely get more used to it as the weeks go on.

We had a fun visit with Aunty Laura. So fun that Landon didn't want to go to sleep Sat night (of course). We are struggling to get his schedule moved up earlier ... but it's getting a bit better. We have been up at 10 or shortly after the past few days, and we'll move it up to 9:30 shortly. That's where we'll leave it I'm thinking, and when daylight savings kicks in we'll be getting up at 8:30. Maybe, we'll see how this all goes! LOL

Grandma and Grandpa are coming up for a visit this week. Will be here tomorrow -- YAY! We are planning some outings, but it's supposed to rain on Wed, yuck! But hopefully we'll get to either Butterfield Acres or to Heritage Park, and maybe the Telus Center if it's rainy Wed.

So not too much news really I guess. My chair is all pen-free and beautiful again (now that it's dry, there's no hairspray stains either). I'm still enjoying doing my yoga. John starts jamming with his new band tonight (he's been practising LOTS the past few days), and he starts his university class tomorrow night. That's that - will post again after Grandma and Grandpa are here....TK

Landon faces :-)

Landon was having so much fun with the spray bottle today (I had it out to clean up my hairspray which was out to clean up my chair cushions -- see previous post). In this picture you can see just how wet his face is (and that's all due to himself!!).

And a couple of days ago I snapped some pictures of him being all proud and happy because he was on the computer chair. If you don't know where Landon is, all you have to do is come up to the bonus room and he'll be on the computer chair, pleased as punch.

My mom was right (again)

Landon, the budding artist, took to our beautiful rocking chair with a pen ... twice. You can see his artistic creation, in all it's glory *sigh* I had no idea how to get this out, so I of course called Grandma. She told me hairspray (!!!!!). I doubted her, but after looking up "cleaning pen ink from upholstery" on google and finding everyone else agreed with her, I gave it a shot. And guess what -- it WORKED!! Like a charm! I couldn't believe it.

so now the chair has been restored (for the most part ... after the hairspray I soaked it down with a spraybottle of water, it's still drying, but I don't think there will be hairspray stains left behind). I'm amazed, and once again humbled that truly, mom does know best.

"Hi" and other fun things...

Landon really likes to say 'hi' now. He will walk up to us and say 'hi' when he enters the room (or comes back downstairs from hiding his nightlight). Pretty cute. I love that he's saying more and more words.

It is funny how they show us what we do. Kind of like a coworker of mine describing his daughter on the potty one day...every time she strained she'd mutter 'Jesus!' under her breath. Ever since hearing that story, I've caught myself muttering 'Jesus' a time or two as well (not on the pot, mind you, just in every day life, like lifting a heavy box or something...ahem).
Landon has shown me that when I finish a task, like buttoning his coat, or putting his shoes on, or serving his royal highness a meal, I say 'there'. Like 'there, that's done' but without the 'that's done' part. Now, you guessed it, Landon will be playing with things, like sorting washcloths, or taking every single book out of a box, and he'll be saying 'there' the entire time. It comes out more like 'dere', but the meaning is pretty clear.

The best so far came about last night. John and I were watching a "Happy 2-4" anniversary celebration for the Hosers ... Bob and Doug MacKenzie. Landon walked around trying to imitate the 'coo-oo-coo-coo-co-oo-coo-coo' (if you don't know what I'm talking about here, you'll just have to find a tape of Bob and Doug to learn about it...). Pretty cute to watch our own little hoser walking around coo-oo-coo-cooing. Take off 'eh.

And I think we may have misnamed Landon after all. I'm thinking Stewie might've been more appropriate. As I was putting Landon down tonight, he sat up on my knee facing me. Then proceeding to try to smother me with his puppy blanket. He would put the blanket up over my face, then hug me really tightly with his face smashed into his blanket which was smashed into my face. If I by chance could actually see (given away by my making eye contact with him), he would lift the blanket higher and hold it even tighter. That, combined with the hypnotic coo-oo-coo-coo-coo-oo-coo-coo -ing, and I think Landon may just be working on plans for world domination. (If you don't catch the Stewie reference, please visit http://www.familyguy.com/).

So that's been our day or two with Landon. He's definitely keeping us busy. I'm hoping this cold hasn't settled in too much for him - his nose didn't run as much today, but he woke up VERY grumpy from his nap this afternoon (and now is still pissing around in bed, not asleep yet! *sigh*). So I drugged him up again tonight with Advil, hopefully we'll get another good night's sleep in. I don't want him to be grumpy for visiting with Great Aunty Laura tomorrow!!

Will post again soon...TK

Bad dreams?

I am thinking Landon might be having bad dreams at night or something. For the past week or so, he wakes up typically between 2 and 3 am, sometimes only for a few minutes of moaning and groaning, but other nights crying hard and it takes a long time to get him back to sleep. Last night was the worst so far. He woke up crying hysterically at 2 am, poor little bugger, you know that cry when they're sobbing and can't catch their breath? He cried so hard that I was starting to worry maybe there was something medically wrong (long enough that I noted the time so that we would call Healthlink in another 15 minutes if he couldn't settle down). Finally he calmed down, he was soooo sleepy, he went to sleep in my arms almost right away again. But when I put him into bed he was awake within 5 minutes crying again. I tried to put him down 2 more times, with no luck. So I took him downstairs and he watched cartoons until 5 AM!!!!! I was dozing on the couch, but I don't think he went to sleep at all. Then I put him back to bed and he was good until 10:15. He woke up crying (which in itself is very unusual), so I brought him into my bed so he could wake up happier, and we both fell right back to sleep until 11:20! My good gawd! And he was very difficult to wake up at that time too! I guess so though, he did miss a big chunk of sleep overnight.
So he went down for his nap very nicely at 2:20 this afternoon. Hopefully tonight we'll get him to bed at a decent time (last night was a bit late as we had company), and maybe, just maybe, he'll sleep through. I feel so bad for him, waking up like that. I just think it must be nightmares ... the kind where if you don't wake up fully, you just go right back into the nightmare when you fall back to sleep. He seems to need to really wake up before he can settle back in to sleep again.

On the good side -- I got to snuggle with him in bed for an hour this morning. God I love that!! LOL

John's back from camping - it was a great trip. The pictures are incredible. I'll find a couple to post here. It sure is nice to have him home again. And now that his office has moved closer to home, he's able to come home for lunch. So that's a great treat to have him here at lunchtime. Landon was soo happy to see him when he came through the door today!!

Landon's getting to be good when playing outside too. We were in the backyard, and he knows to stay back there, he doesn't even try to run to the street very much. And when he does start that way and I say 'no', he comes right back. We did eventually move to the front as I was picking weeds, and he played very well up front without going onto the street even once. He does want to go and visit the neighbours all the time, but at least he doesn't run onto the street!! He's getting to be such a good, big boy!

Oh yeah, and he says 'hi' now. He'd run by and I'd say hi, he'd say hi, I'd say hi, he'd say hi. Pretty cute :-) That, and 'hot' (which comes out 'dhot')...he learned that with Aunty Rosemary I think (that's the first I'd heard him say it anyways). So more words ... and lots of babbling!! We love it!

Until next time...TK

Visiting with Prue

Here are some pics from visiting with Prue on Friday night. These two little monkeys love to climb all over everywhere! Prue is about 3 months older than Landon, so I enjoy seeing her as I get a glimpse of what to expect with Landon a few weeks hence.

So these two climbed all over everything in the hotel room, even standing in the window sill overlooking downtown Calgary from the 9th floor (no fear!). It is just so cute to watch them play together :-) Although Landon wasn't too sure about that kissing thing ... lol

He'll be talking soon, I'm sure

Landon babbles non-stop these days! I have no idea what he's saying, but he's meaning it! lol

We've had some good days with Johnny-cakes being gone. Last night Trish was over for a visit - it was nice to see her again before she heads back to Wpg today. Well, actually I saw her today too as I drove her to the airport :-/ So two visits - even better!

Landon and I have been sleeping in like sinners these past few days ... aiaiaiai Tomorrow morning we have to start getting up earlier, it's getting a bit ridiculous (and for all of you who know how much I love to sleep in, if even I'm saying it's ridiculous you can only imagine how bad it really is....).

So I'm trying to figure out how to fill our day tomorrow ... not sure what we'll do. Tonight - I don't really know either. Without John it's just sort of, well, I don't know what to do with us...lol I'll be glad when John's home on Sunday, that's all.
But with John gone, I did pull Landon into bed with me in the night for a few hours -- I felt like I was sneaking something forbidden - I've never done that (except when he's been sick and I've slept in the chair in his room with him, or on the couch). I couldn't sleep, so I got him into bed and laid there watching him sleep. Such a sweetie. Then when he started grunting and moving around I put him back into his bed. But it was very nice just to have him so close for a couple of hours.

Anyways, that's the news here. Not much unfortunately, we're just going through our days, playing, climbing, running, and giving / getting grey hairs! Until next time...TK

Old picture

Here's a pic my cousin just sent to me ... it's my sis, my cousins, and me at my Grandma's house I think? I say that because I think it's my Grandma ducking down behind us! LOL Tooooo funny!

Wednesday news...

We had a wonderful visit with Uncle Bob and Aunty Rosemary this week - although they didn't stay nearly long enough. They arrived Monday afternoon and already left us this morning :-( But we did get a nice visit in while we could. Yesterday we went off to the zoo, which Landon is enjoying more every time he goes. We tried out the new 'leash' for him, it works so-so, but he still doesn't particularly want to go in any direction we want to, so it can be frustrating for him and for me. Aunty Rosemary and I did some shopping yesterday afternoon as well, leaving Uncle Bob and Landon napping. Now John and I REALLY need to get to Saskatoon for a visit ... especially once Julie has her baby as I'll need a baby fix :-)

Landon and I are baching for a few days while John and his friend Matt are canoeing down the Kootenay River. They'll be back Sunday night, so Landon and I have several days to just kick back :-) Tonight we went out for a walk (well, Landon ran and ran and ran). Landon ran all the way to the park, and around the park, and part of the way home. When finally he demanded 'bup', he was sweating! Little stinker!! Of course, it wasn't nearly enough as it took him quite awhile to fall asleep tonight. He's pretty funny, when I finish reading him a story he immediately jumps down to pick out another book, not wanting me to be done reading bedtime stories quite yet. LOL Then he lays in bed babbling and talking forever before he falls asleep - tonight it was ~11:30. Poor kid - he's doomed to night-owlness like his mother (as I glance at the time....(*sigh*)

I signed Landon and I up for some Cardel programs, starting in a couple of weeks. We'll be doing a 'gym and swim' class, and I'm hoping to take him to more of the drop-ins as well. And starting in late October we'll do his next level of swimming lessons. He so much loves to swim!

I was going to sign up for a yoga class, but it was getting to be too many nights away. So today I bought a yoga book - we'll see if I can do some at home. I definitely need to do it when Landon's sleeping. I tried tonight, he was playing with my ponytail whenever my head was down, and as soon as I hit the floor for some moves he was on my back giggling and laughing as I tried to move. Soon enough I was laughing so hard that all yoga 'concentration' was lost. But laughing good too.

Anyways, that's the post for now. Landon continues to crack me up all the time - I just love the faces he makes, and he is such a little stinker! I won't have any new pics for a few days, John took the camera. But I will try to post again later on this week. until next time...TK

And it's Sunday...

A nice quiet, rainy Sunday it has been. Landon's only excitement was grocery shopping today - poor kid! lol Ah well, he's pretty good at running off steam by running around and around and around the kitchen. Cracks us up - he just runs and runs, huffing and puffing. He pretends we're after him even when we're not. We can be just sitting at the table, he runs one way, stops and squeals when he gets close to us, then turns around and runs the other way, repeating the entire process. Goofus!

What else have we been up to? Well, just watching Landon. He's starting to get more interested in 'colouring'. Not really colouring, but using a pen to make lines on paper. And to just chew on as well. Tonight he played at the table 'colouring' with a pen and flipping through a pad of paper for about 20 minutes. That might not seem like a long time, but it most definitely is in Landon's world! We also sat and coloured with crayons earlier in the day, but when it comes to crayons, Landon is more interested in seeing if he can hold all 8 of them at once or not, and then setting them down and picking them up, as opposed to actually colouring (which is what I did :-D).

We're preparing for Uncle Bob and Aunty Rosemary's visit tomorrow YAY! They will arrive sometime during the daytime. Landon will be so happy to have a larger audience for his antics, I'm sure! lol

So that's the news - it's not much, but c'est la vie. Until next time...TK

Forgot about the Great Sand Hills

Monday was a dismal day, so Landon and I headed across the ferry at Lancer to the Great Sand Hills. It was so incredibly windy there that we didn't spend much time ... we were getting sandblasted and Landon wouldn't even get out of my arms to run around. Until we found a bit of a hollow where he had run trying to climb.

The Hills were pretty neat ... to see these desert-like sand dunes rolling through the prairies. It's hard to show in pictures, so I only posted a couple. I found playing with the colours and contrasts makes it stand out more, even if the colours aren't necessarily 'true'.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Sceptre, visiting the museum, and then having a bite to eat at the local cafe / second hand store. I even found a treasure for myself -- a Yahtzee game exactly like Grandma Leisle's, brings back memories and Yvonne and I played a few games on Monday night.

We went back on the Lemsford ferry, and got back to Eston Park about 5 pm. That was our last day in Sask :-( We had a nice night visiting with Aunty Yvonne, and then Tuesday morning we packed up to head west again. The trip home was a bit quicker as we followed John's route straight through God's Country ... we'd have been home in just over 4 hours if it wasn't for the construction LOL

Learning Learning Learning

A couple of other things that Landon has been learning. John taught him how to drink from a straw at the river. We had tried a couple of times before, but not for a few months. So now Landon can drink juice boxes (and he loves them too -- much better than watered down juice!!).

Also, Landon is starting to feed himself. Last night he fed himself most of his applesauce (with a bit of help from mom and dad). And this morning he fed himself his cereal (Rice Krispies). I am pretty proud of him for that. He certainly seems to be a kid that sits and watches things to learn, then just picks up whatever the skill is he's been observing and performs it very well. He has shown very little interest in feeding himself thus far, and now in basically a day he's gone to feeding himself with very little spillage. But that's fine with me :-)

I think I'm catching a cold :-( I've been feeling miserable, and this afternoon I realized why. Silly! Landon was moaning and crying on and off for about 1.5 hours in the middle of the night as well, so I'm thinking he's not feeling particularly great either. Could be a fun weekend if we're both sick :-/ Hopefully John will avoid it and he can take care of us lol

That's all for now ...

Cabin Fun!!

Landon was lucky enough to get to go on the quad with Carla. His face never really changed from this expression - we think he liked it, he never cried or anything, but he never really laughed either. Funny kid.

Landon learned new things at the cabin too. Like popcorn twists are YUMMY! He ate many many popcorn twists, and even approached the bowl as if it was a trough :-)

He also had fun giving everyone 'five'. He was learning how to open beer cans with Dave as well ... a skill that may come in very handy in a few years...

Landon had so much fun just being able to run and explore. This last picture he's just running on down the road ahead of Aunty Yvonne. He sure enjoyed exploring everything, and amazingly he never landed in any cactus.

Like two peas in a pod

Whether Ryder likes it or not, he has a devoted follower in Landon. Whatever Ryder was doing, wherever he was doing it, Landon wanted to be there. From watching dvd's with Jackson, to doing headstands on the chairs, to just hanging out on the coffee table. You can just see the gears turning in both of their heads as they figure out some more mischief to get into!!

Still loves to help pack!

Landon still has tons of fun playing in the suitcase when I'm trying to pack. Last week he discovered how to pull the suitcase closed on himself...one of these times I'll be wondering where he is and he'll be stuck in the suitcase!!

Home again...

Well, we are home again after spending 5 days at Eston Park. It was quite nice - peaceful, relaxing. We went swimming several times, which Landon loved. He kicked, splashed, dunked his face in the water, blew bubbles (sort of). The pool was great, with a paddling pool, then a very shallow end of the big pool. So Landon splashed and ran in the paddling pool, and then in the big pool he'd run into the deeper water until it was up to his neck, then I'd catch him and we'd do it all again. He really really had fun.

We also did lots of walking around, it was very quiet out there so Landon was pretty free to run around. Makes it harder now that we're back home, he doesn't want to walk where we are at all, but it was great while there.

Carla and Dave, Jackson and Ryder were up for a few days too (to Eston). So Landon LOVED playing with Jackson and Ryder ... Ryder and Landon will be trouble-makers together for many many years I'm thinking :-/ They brought their quad up too, so Landon got to go for rides and he thought that was pretty cool.

We did some golfing as well on their very nice 9-hole course. And the kids did some mini-golfing too.
John was down for the weekend, it was a lot of driving for only one full day, but he enjoyed it too. And Yvonne was there for most nights (had to work during the day), and even Greg and Kyle came out on Friday for a visit too.
So it was a great weekend in Eston. Has John and I dreaming of buying a cabin again .... *sigh* We're just debating if the 4.5 hour drive is worth investing in a cabin or not .... hmmmm

So now we're glad to be home again. Funny how that works - you look forward to going away for a few days, then you're glad to be home again. Huh. Uncle Bob and Aunty Rosemary are planning to come next week Monday. And I'm debating about heading to the farm for the long weekend --- maybe I'll just stay home, that's a lot of driving. We'll see ... it all depends on how long it takes me to recover from this last trip. Even though Landon travels incredibly well.

On to other news...
Landon's learning to feed himself now, he did pretty well with apple sauce tonight. At least there wasn't any applesauce all over the house.... So that's good stuff I'm thinking, I'll be glad when he gets better at that.

That's the news from here for today. I'll get some pics up soon...until next time! TK

What we're up to now...

Landon is a stinker. There's no two ways about it. But he's fun too. He still loves birds (pronounced buhhhrs), and points to them all the day long. He's starting to notice the airplanes too, so I'm sure that will provide us with lots of entertainment in the months to come.
He is starting to work on two syllable words now, he intonates more than pronounces I guess, imitating our sounds, pitch, etc more than the phonics of it all. But he says something like 'dahkder' for tractor, still 'guck' for truck and duck, although now he'll tell you ducks say 'kack kack'. Sheep say 'baa baa' too, don't you know. And he distinguishes between 'gucks' and 'gars' too, which is fun because he's always yelling about something he sees through the windshield.

The last few nights he has really cracked us up. He must be over his growth spurt as he isn't eating as much, and when we put him to bed he's not quite ready to sleep yet. So he lays in bed for an hour or so, most of the time playing quietly. But every now and again a rousing chorus of either 'baa baa black sheep' or the 'a-b-c song' comes from his room. Now imagine, he only says 'baa baa baa baa', but to the tune of baa baa black sheep / a-b-c song. He goes to about l-m-n-o-p ... then stops for a minute or two, and starts over again. Loudly. It's pretty funny - although I'd much rather he was going to sleep :-/

Another fun trick of Landon's is to jump around the house ... jump jump jump. Both feet off the floor, he jumps around. Pretty cute. Add this to jumping from whatever he can stand on onto the couches, sometimes from the couches to the floor, and often enough right onto his head, and I'm getting plenty of grey hair!!

So tomorrow Landon and I are off to Eston Park for 5 days or so. Very much looking forward to it. We'll have a couple of cooler days, to be followed by a HOT weekend (if the forecast is at all accurate), so I'm glad about that!! Lots of swimming for us :-) Yippee!! John will join us for the weekend, Aunty Yvonne will be there for several nights (except the weekend, when she's off to S'toon for a wedding), and I think even Carla, Dave and the boys will make an appearance for a day or two as well. Should be tons of fun!! Which reminds me, I'd better get packing...

until next week -- I'll post again when we get home. Have a great weekend! TK

Heritage Park - Monday

Yesterday we went to Heritage Park with our friend Howie from Winnipeg (in visiting his sis for a week). It was a cool day, which was probably good because that meant it wasn't too busy. Landon had a pretty good time exploring and seeing things :-) We explored through some train cars from the early 1900's, and he even sat on the seats (he fits quite nicely under the ropes meant to keep people off the seats). And we went for a boat ride on a paddle-wheeler. Landon loved the birds, as usual, and was pointing at a sail boat I believe in this picture. (He points at everything and nothing these days, I usually have no clue what he's trying to show me).

We also went for a ride on the real train - Landon was glued to the window watching everything go by. The first time he heard the whistle (we were outside the train) it scared him, but after that he was good.

Heritage Park was really nice, and is definitely someplace that we'll take Grandma and Grandpa when they come to visit again. I think Grandpa would really get a kick out of it :-)

PICTURES!

Landon has been enjoying his new drums (did I say thank you, Grandma and Aunty Vonnie ... let me thank you again!!). He and dad play with them often, although the drumsticks are still hidden (Landon likes to drum on everything in the house!!).

And isn't that a troublemaker smile! aiaiai He was having fun climbing all over the patio furniture last week. He has fun climbing all over everything, man oh man.

We went swimming this morning - first time in quite awhile at the pool. Landon loved it. He's now big enough to walk and splash and stuff. So we 'swam' for awhile, playing and singing, then I let him play in the shallow water, climbing in and out (of course!). He did a full head-under-the-water event when he got all excited and fell face first. Didn't bug him though, he just sputtered, laughed, and kept on going. Then a few minutes in the hot tub and we came home. He was pretty hungry and very tired when we got home, that's for sure. But I am very much looking forward to lots of swimming at Eston next week!! YAY -- only 5 days 'til we leave!

Grandma - you're welcome ;-)

TK

Lots of fun at the zoo...

Landon has been having so much fun the last day or so! Last night, Pam & Kevin and the girls were here (on way through to Banff), so Landon, Taya and Frankie played played played. Then this morning Sheri stopped by with her girls, Ava and Prue. We had some lunch and headed off to the zoo. Prue and Landon are 2.5 months apart, so it was fun to watch those two play together. They are both climbing monkeys :-)

Tonight a friend of John's is stopping for dinner as well, with her daughter. We've had a lot of company within 24 hours -- when it rains it pours! After that I think our week slows down, so hopefully I'll get a chance to go over to Ricki's so that Landon and Keaton can play in the backyard.

And I play volleyball tonight too ... I'm a bit hungover today, so I'm not really looking forward to it. But I'm sure I'll survive. Heh heh...

Anyways, just a quick post for today...will post again soon and will see if I can get some pics uploaded too. Until next time...TK

Landon - the MAN

Ha, this little stinker drives me nuts every day (yup mom, I knew you'd like to hear that!). But he's pretty darned cute too, so we'll survive.
Last night he cracked me up. I was wiping the kitchen table off, and got distracted with something. I walked away, leaving the cloth on the table. Up the chair scrambles Landon, to grab the cloth and finish wiping for me. All the while with a huge grin on his face. So if this is the 'helper' phase, I'm welcoming it -- I think.

Tonight Landon grabbed the vacuum cleaner and ran all over the house with it. He was making 'vroooom' sounds, like it's a car or something. This is a BIG change from the Landon that was sooo very scared of the vacuum as recently as last week!

And I've been wondering when he'll start using a fork or spoon to feed himself. He's great with his hands, but when it comes to cereal or mushy stuff, we still feed him because he has shown very little interest in feeding himself using utensils. Until last night. Again, I got distracted after getting his cereal ready and putting it on the table. And again Landon scrambled up on the chair, and while standing on the chair grabbed the spoon and got some cereal into his mouth!! When I got back he was a bit shy or something I guess (or lazy, wanting mom to feed him...). But I sat him on my lap, and keeping his hand on the spoon I just guided it for him from the bowl to his mouth. And if I was too slow in getting the spoon to his mouth, he did it for himself. So maybe, just maybe, eating will get a whole bunch messier very soon!!

I had a pretty busy last 24 hours. I finally found a colour and painted our great room. I started prepping last night, filling holes, washing, taping, etc. I finished that at 1:30 am, got up this morning, and painted 2 coats by 3 pm. My arms and legs are tiiiired!! But we got the tape off, the drop cloths put away, and all the furniture back tonight and the room looks GREAT! I love the colour (I love any colour down there....that white on white was a bit too stark for my tastes!). We are also getting some new blinds for the living room, which should be here in a couple of weeks. Tomorrow we'll hang pictures (I wanted one night with hole-free walls!! lol), and then I'll start contemplating when I'll move on to the entryway, hallways, laundryroom, bathrooms, staircase, bonus room, and bedrooms. Aiaiaiai ... I might tackle the entryway and downstairs hallway next week, but I know I'll be avoiding bathrooms for as long as possible! lol Bedrooms - well, maybe later in the fall. Although they are a bit easier to paint it seems, less windows and fireplaces and cupboards to go around :-)

So that's the news from here. Just glad to be home on this August long weekend :-) Hope all is well with everyone! Until next time...TK

Back on the computer...

Had a computer 'glitch' for the past couple of days - sorry if you've tried to reach me and I haven't been able to respond. It's fixed now, thanks to ~3 hours on the phone with Dell Tech Support today.

Things are going well here. Warmer again, but not as hot as it was so we're managing to stay cool enough. Landon is climbing and jumping all over the house, non-stop. Tires me out!! lol He's pretty entertaining though. Today he had a rough day - had to cry about 5 times because he'd hurt himself on various things: slammed his hand in a drawer, hit his head, fell down I don't know how many times. Poor guy - real, big, alligator tears :-( But a snuggle with mom usually fixes it all up again.
It's funny how he has to be around me all the time now ... dad just isn't good enough right now. I'm looking forward to dad being the be all and end all - give me a break. As it is, I don't even get a break when John gets home from work because Landon just follows me around everywhere I go. Stinker!

So that's that. Just a quick note...hope all is well with everyone! Until next time...TK