Haircuts!!

Here's Landon getting his hair cut nice and short for summer. It really is short - hard for me to get used to.

But not as big a change as Arlan!! Where did my baby go? Here's my little man though ...
His hair is still curly, but it's so short it's only a wave right now :-) And still so baby-soft. But he sure looks like a little boy now instead of a baby!! I kept his curls from by his ears though ... they've been so long for so long!! LOL Now we've got them forever.

The Adventures of Arlan

Arlan LOVES to explore the fridge. And he was rewarded for his efforts yesterday when he found a yummy nectarine. So he ate it! So funny. I looked over and he was happily dribbling nectarine juice down his chin while munching away!!















Grandpa and his boys. This is on Father's Day - Arlan's playing with Grandpa's gift. He thoroughly tested the box, and it holds up just fine :-)

Here's Arlan's birthday cake. It's supposed to be a rainbow, but John thought it looked more like a rainbow caterpillar :-/

Arlan was interested in looking at the cake, but he didn't care to eat any of it (on our first attempt). The ice cream was just too cold, and well, he wasn't that hungry I guess. More sleepy I think - it was a pretty big day!

This picture of the 'cake face' is from Sunday - that's when he finally decided to try the cake. And you know what? It wasn't half-bad. The ice cream was still too cold though!


Singing happy birthday to Arlan.















Arlan after his birthday lunch. It was such a beautiful weekend we were able to eat outside.

Arlan's Birthday Present

Grandma and Grandpa bought Arlan a picnic table for his birthday. He loved the one at Uncle Rob and Aunty Liz's so much! It was (well, is) a big hit with both of them!!



While the table itself was a hit, the box was even BETTER!



Both Landon and Arlan liked the box!!



Arlan's got the instructions for dad...see?!!



Dad had quite a helper when putting the picnic table together :-)

Yup - Landon still loves to wear his Tigger suit. That was a great investment on my part! On this occassion, he was posing for me - I have about 6 different facial expressions captured, he wanted to check them all out I guess!! LOL



Landon 'helped' me make icing for Arlan's birthday cake. Quite the mess ... Firstly, he finished sifting the icing sugar onto the cupboard, then wiped it everywhere, then discovered he could blow it, and finally learned that it tasted good so he licked it off the cupboard!! LOL He had fun, that's for sure :-) And I got Arlan's icing made, thankfully



Landon and Arlan are starting to play somewhat 'together' ... like when Landon pulls Arlan around the yard (at top speed I might add) in this little wagon. It seems that the more Landon's 'playing' worries me, the more Arlan likes it. I find that when it gets to be too much and I admonish Landon, Arlan is usually laughing the hardest.

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!

Dare I say it???

Landon is pooping in the toilet these days! WOW! Hoping this continues :-) We've always been giving him the option, but he kept choosing the diaper. The last week or so he's been more agreeable to having us take his poopy diaper off right after pooping (WHY would anyone refuse to have their poopy diaper removed asap? Beats me ... we'll have to ask him when he's older ...). And then yesterday he said he needed to poop on the toilet! And he did! TWICE!!
So he got two special trucks, and another one today. Then when I was out shopping he pooped all by himself, and didn't even ask for a special truck. So hopefully we won't have to be stocking up on hotwheels to keep the poop trend on track! LOL But really ... do I care if we get a few more hotwheels? Not one bit!

So that's the good stuff there. He has been peeing more overnight though - we didn't have a diaper on him one night and he peed. That's not a big deal, but he had been dry for so many nights. But maybe he'll be set back a bit on overnight dryness while he gets the poop thing figured out. And again ... do I care? Not at all! If he needs a diaper overnight for a bit longer, I can most definitely live with that.

Arlan is so bloody cute it's ridiculous! What a happy camper :-) He MUST be getting another tooth soon though - he's biting everything! Then when you say "Arlan, no biting!" he just looks at you and laughs. Cute, but scary too! LOL

I'm starting to get plans together for Arlan's first birthday. We're having a small party on the Sat (June 20) for him ... cake and stuff, nothing too crazy, though. Grandma and Grandpa will be coming up, but I don't know if anyone else will make it. Right now I'm on the hunt for a cake pan ... then I'll spend next weekend making my icings, etc. Fun stuff -

Anyways, better head off to bed. Until next time...

Some other pics of the boys...

I love this picture of Arlan - smiling with his double-dimples!! Soooo cute! And look how proud Arlan is to be walking behind his activity walker. This was from last night - the first time he walked behind it without us helping him out. He was giggling and laughing and so proud!!!! He just might be walking for his first birthday ...

And Landon wearing mommy's sunglasses. Won't wear his own, but will put mine on, and pose no less!!

Landon loved playing at the parks!!

Landon was in his glory, going to parks to play with his cousins!! YAY We went to a park with a pirate ship one day, but I forgot my camera :-/ I wasn't so silly when we went to the castle park though! I love the looks on his face as he was doing the different things. The concentration while climbing the ropes. The almost-scared thrill-seeker as he's ready to come down the tunnel slide! I think Landon could've stayed there ALL day!!

Landon loves his cousins!!

Some pics of Landon with his cousins. The pic with Landon and Issy on the slide -- well that's Landon's smile for mom!! LOL We had so much fun at the park ... the slides, the teeter-totter. It was great.

Now, Thomson and Landon ... definitely twins, just born in different years, and to different mothers ... but still!!

Arlan loves his cousins

Arlan absolutely LOVED playing with his cousins! Issy spent a ton of time playing with Arlan too - I love the picture where she's nuzzling him, he was giggling and laughing and loving it so much! And they had a bunch of fun in the bath together too!!
And my fave is me snuggled onto the couch with all the kids ... they were such monkeys, it was nice that they actually all sat down at the same time for once!

Backyard fun

Liz & Rob's backyard was just gorgous. The trees, the plants, it was all so nice - the weather was perfect too! It was just wonderful to be able to go outside and enjoy greenery - I'm so tree-starved in this new sub-division!!
Landon and Aunty Liz played red-light/green-light with Thomson. Thomson and Landon had fun taking all of the light covers off going up the stairs in the garden too :-/ But Landon managed to put them all back on.
The swing was a big hit too - both Landon and Arlan had a blast while dad pushed them. And Landon discovered a sandbox in the backyard too - which occupied him for several hours!! LOL

Arlan enjoyed climbing up and down the kids picnic table on the deck. He did spend hours doing just that - he'd climb in and out of the house, and up and down the picnic table, giggling and laughing and oh-so-proud of himself!! Made entertaining him real simple :-)

our arrival

As soon as we arrived, Isabel was in love with Arlan, and vice-versa. Arlan was hungry after our big travels, so Isabel fed him some yogurt!! The kids were so cute ... I love them all lined up on one side of the table - watching tv while they snack! In the pic with the kids on the couch - do you think they were a bit sleepy?? lol This was only the second day we were there - I don't know how they survived the whole trip :-) Actually, I think Isabel napped every day we were there, which helped her a lot. But Landon did not nap once while we were in Toronto - WAY too much to do!

On the way to TO

Two sleeping pics of Arlan for our trip to TO. The first is Arlan sleeping in his bed before we woke him up (at 6 am) to leave for our flight! I am so amazed at how easily he woke up that early, but I guess he's usually making some noise by then, even if most mornings he goes back to sleep again. Landon actually woke up quite easily too, as he was very excited to go see his cousins!!

And Arlan & John had a nap on the plane. I just thought they looked so sweet - and so much alike!! LOL Arlan actually slept right through descent and landing, he didn't wake up until we picked him up to get off the plane. John just put him down on the seat beside him (as John's neck got sore sleeping like this ... can't imagine why?), and the flight attendants were kind enough to not make John wake him up for landing (usually you have to hold your baby facing you during take off and landing).