that Arlan :-)

Now Arlan insists on feeding himself at mealtimes. It's a WHOLE lot messier, and about three times as long! LOL I started out giving him squished bananas, but within two days he's graduated up to chunks of banana (he bites pieces off), baked potatoes, avocado, and just about anything else he can actually grab. He gets mad when I put cereal on the tray for him -- he can't grab it! So I juggle getting spoonfuls of mush into his face while he's focusing on getting chunks to his mouth. He's so cute - he concentrates so hard, mouth open waiting, waiting, waiting for those fingers to hold something long enough to make it there! I've some pics, I'll hopefully upload shortly.

Landon has been good. He is back to more regular napping. He was skipping a day about every three days for awhile, but seems to be napping a bit better now. We do like the days he skips the nap though - nice, early bed time! But he tends to hurt himself more because he's tired and clumsy, but he insists on being even more rambunctious through the evening (because, I think, if he sat still he'd fall asleep). So I'm glad I stuck to my guns and kept insisting that he nap (or at least spend an hour of quiet time in his room).

We are slowly clearing out the baby gear :-( SO SAD! I have to not think about it, and just get it done! We sold the bassinet, swing, breastfeeding pillow, and playmat. I will advertise the Bumbo, baby bathtub, Bjorn, and re-list the crib toy and bouncy chair. SO many things. But it is nice to clear some of it out. It's just sad ... I have SO enjoyed Arlan's baby-hood, and he's growing up WAY too quickly. I have to more on, or I'll cry.......

Other than that - it's winter again, with a vengeance. I'll be glad when spring finally arrives. Landon needs to play outside! lol I've been looking at getting Landon into some summer 'camps' ... he'll go 9 am - noon every day for a week. We'll see how he takes it. I'm going to sign him up for 2 weeks worth - one in July, one in August. It'll be nice if he adjusts well, then just me and Arlan for a few hours in the morning :-) I'm also going to put him into Sat am swim lessons -- either John or I can take him without having to worry about Arlan at the day care. Landon will LOVE being in the pool again I'm sure (so will I to be honest).

And that's about it. Life is ticking along, busy busy busy, and fun too. Just looking forward to spring!

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...

I think the warm weather is on it's way

And none to soon for John as he will have both boys on the weekend ... I'm off to Minot for a v'ball tourny with the Tremendons and am VERY excited for it!! So the boyz will be baching it ... hope it goes smoothly.

This week has been uneventful. Just waiting for warmer weather so that Landon doesn't go insane with cabin fever! The last couple of days they've been moving snow behind our house, so Landon's had lots of fun watching the bobcat loaders, bulldozer, HUGE loader and backhoe working away.

Yesterday the boys had their check-ups -- Landon's 3 year and Arlan's 9 month. Here are their stats:

Landon: 34 lbs, 2 oz; 39" tall
Arlan: 19 lbs, 8 oz; 28.6" tall

So they're growing. Arlan has dipped a bit on the growth chart for weight ... likely because he's just started moving around. The doc wasn't at all concerned for either of them as they are healthy and happy (well, Arlan wasn't too happy at the doc, he was TIRED, it was nap time!!).

So that's the bit of news from here.....will post next week when I'm back from a weekend away :-D until then...

Landon is THREE!

It was a paper-flinging extravaganza for Landon on Saturday!! He was soooo lucky to get sooo many nice presents!! In usual kid style, he was asking for more presents on Sunday :-/ But he LOVES his new CARS toybox from Aunty Yvonne & Uncle Greg and Kyle; and his Mack, Lightning, and Mater Mega Bloks from Grandma and Grandpa!! Mostly the Mack and Lightning - which is what he'd been asking for since Christmas :-) He got lots of great presents, hopefully it'll hold him over for awhile! lol

We had a bit of a birthday party for Landon. The neighbours came over with their girls -- and Landon got SPOILED by them as well! Thomson will be so happy to know that Landon now has mini hockey sticks along with nets so that they can play hockey when he gets here!! Landon also really liked his Wall-E cake. He'd known all along it was coming, and was so happy to finally be able to eat it :-D He blew the candle out before I even got the cake on the table LOL

So today we are re-grouping and relaxing a bit. Hopefully Landon will catch up on some sleep. Such a big weekend, plus the timechange. But he managed to get out of bed at 9 am this morning (which is 8 am in his pre-timechange world). He didn't nap Friday or Sunday, and Saturday's was horribly inadequate given the level of excitement he had all weekend. So this week will be recovery week...

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...