Playing playing playing

The boys are starting to enjoy bathing together. Well, Arlan usually hates baths, until he sees Landon in there!! Splashing and making as big a mess as possible....
Landon's absolute fave is to play in the shale pile in the field behind our house. Arlan gets a kick out of trying to climb it, Landon is busy moving as much of it around as he possibly can!! Every day "Let's go play in the dirt pile!" I only wish it was closer to the house so we could go out while Arlan naps, but c'est la vie.



And Arlan is getting pretty good at running. Especially for meal-times! Ask him if he wants to sit in his chair and eat, and he drops whatever he's doing to run to his highchair. He'll then stand with his back to his chair, sticking his butt out, like "ok, put me in. I'm ready!"

A couple of shots from September...

Arlan LOVES to wear our shoes. He's always slipping some on and then attempting to walk. Here he is this morning with John's shoes on!! LOL

Landon loves dad's new workbench. He was very proud of his organization job, and was showing it to me yesterday like a peacock with his chest puffed out!!! LOL He sat up there for 45 minutes or so, rearranging the wrenches. Too funny

On another note, we discovered last night that Arlan likes sushi of all things! Yup - he had some of my california roll and was quite pleased with it. Stinker. Landon still won't even come close to a piece of sushi ...

Arlan LOVES to feed himself!

As you can tell, some of my favourite moments are when Arlan's feeding himself. He's just so DARNED CUTE!! LOL He loves bananas, spinach, Mum-Mum crackers, Cheerios, and his most recent favourite is whole wheat toast with butter. He can't get enough of that. But I just love watching him concentrate SO hard to get that food into his chubby little cheeks ...

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!

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...

Some pics of the cuties!!

A few pics of the boys, and even me with them!

On Feb 4, Landon and I made some cookies with my new heart-shaped cookie cutter. I enjoyed it, but I think Landon loved it even more!! He was SUCH a good helper, dipping the cookie cutter in flour for me, then helping me to press down to cut the cookies. Of course, it made for some great moments together, and I loved his 'look'!

And Arlan is getting better at eating ... not quite so fussy. I have recently discovered that he will eat peas when mixed with carrots, so I can finally get some 'greens' into him!! LOL Little stinker!

Arlan rolls over!

Arlan rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time today. We were downstairs cleaning up toys (so that you could walk without stepping on something ... and I mean that LITERALLY!!! aiaiaiai). Arlan was on his back having fun ... but he loves to play on his tummy SO much that he just rolled on over by himself. Then he kept right on playing.
He LOVES to play on his tummy - preferring that to his back for the most part, unless he's quite tired. His favourite right now is to be on his tummy on the play-blanket Grandma made, batting balls around with his hands (the play-blanket is perfect as it has a 'stuffed edge' so the balls are less likely to roll away -- by 'stuffed' I mean there's quilting sown into the edge of the blanket, making it about 1.5" high).

We've also been able to feed Arlan more 'stuff' lately. He likes sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. Today he even ate some apples, although he wasn't particularly excited about the oatmeal at that time (first time he ever wasn't gung-ho for oatmeal). He has been sleeping funny all day too ... hope it's not teeth bugging him, although I keep waiting for that day when they do start to come in. I'm very curious (anxious) to see how he reacts. Landon was bad for the first one, and for the week he got 6 at once, but other than that teething wasn't too big a deal for him. I wonder what Arlan will react like?
Anyways, he's having a 3rd nap right now, as he had short naps earlier in the day. Likely means a bit later of a night for him, but really ... 7 or 7:30 still isn't THAT late!! LOL This kid amazes me every day with his going to bed at night - it's a lesson everyone else in this house sure could learn ;-)

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

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*

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)...

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...

Finally I feel a bit more human!

Saturday was a fun day, but it sure tuckered me out!!
Trish and I went for pedicures on Sat afternoon -- my first trip out of the house without any kids in a LONG time! It was nice :-) John had it pretty easy I think ... Arlan slept almost all the time we were gone, and Landon went down for a nap for a good part of it too. It was such a treat to get out and have a good visit with Trish and not be nursing / answering questions / opening juiceboxes, etc....

Then I took the boys to Iden's 2nd birthday party. That was a lot of fun, but tiring!! Landon had a blast playing with the kids, and eating hamburgers and cake. Arlan ate lots too while we were there, which is likely why it was so tiring for me :-/ We came home at 8, and all three of us were snuggled in bed by 10 pm!!

Last night wasn't as rosy though - I tried to put Landon to bed while John was in the basement (had a guy here to estimate mudding and taping) ... MISTAKE!! Arlan started screaming, then Landon got all wound up and I had a POUNDING headache that Tylenol wouldn't even touch -- with both kids yowling I was ready to run away VERY quickly!! Finally Landon shut up after I threatened him to within an inch of his life, and with some help from John we got Arlan calmed down and sleeping by 11. I was asleep at exactly 11:01:15 I'm sure!!
The good news is that Arlan seems to be sleeping longer periods at night. Usually at least 3 or 4 hours of sleep, sometimes a bit longer. He's a noisy sleeper -- much noisier than Landon was at this young age ... he grunts and squirms and farts all night long. I am starting to think he'll be in his own room at an earlier age than Landon was too ... although I don't want to jinx that possibility!! Landon moved into his own room at about 6 1/2 to 7 months I think it was. Maybe Arlan will be earlier -- he does seem to sleep on his own a lot better thus far, so maybe it'll be easier? He's already napping in his crib occassionally, so we'll see.

But - little tummies are rumbly, so I need to get going.... 6-week doc appt tomorrow, so stats update will come soon...

our monk?

I cut Landon's bangs yesterday ... the first time I've cut hair since I cut off my Wendy Walker's hair at about age 6. The results of both haircuts are surprisingly similar actually. John thinks Landon looks like a monk! LOL I made only one snip ... I held his bangs up and snipped them straight across. It's a teensy bit short ... *sigh* Maybe I'll have to just keep taking him to get his hair cut at Beaners!! LOL

I went out to a movie today ... the Stars and Strollers movie was Wall-E. It was actually pretty good -- and it was nice to get out for the afternoon. I went with the neighbour, we had a good visit too. Arlan was very good - he woke up when the movie started (after 20 minutes of trailers), ate and then slept for the rest of the movie and the shopping that followed. Of course now tonight he's eating non-stop to make up for 'lost' time, but that's ok with me.

And Arlan's looking for food again, so I'm off. Until next time....

One week, and counting...

Well, we've made it through the first week of adjustment with Arlan. He's pretty darned cute -albeit in a loud, demanding sort of way. He's much more content than Landon was in some ways though - he'll sleep somewhere other than on us, and when he's awake he's more content to watch a mobile or stare at the window or just listen to Landon be rambunctious! But I'm thankful for that - I can actually put Arlan down and do something while he's napping! LOL Which means I get to spend some time with Landon too - which is very important.
So all things are going pretty well I think. Dr appt on Tues - Arlan's healthy which is good. Mom's healing well, which is a blessing. Nursing is going pretty well -- a bit sore, but overall pretty good. I'm getting a bit of sleep, with Arlan doing his cluster feeding into the early morning hours and then giving me some time off. Now if he would just quit yowling every time we change his diapers! LOL

Landon is adjusting pretty well we think. He is jealous at times - who wouldn't be? A couple of times a day he demands that I put the baby down to play with him, and thankfully with Arlan's demeanor I can usually comply - unless I'm nursing. John and Landon are having fun though - playing in the backyard, going to the store, even doing some stuff in the basement. If it wasn't for the G-D mosquitoes, I don't think we'd have to do anything to entertain Landon! But they are so bad at times that even Landon comes running in the house "Bad mosquitoes!". The picture of him running below is Landon running from the "noisy lawnmower" (even though John and the mower are on the other side of the fence). And he's been enjoying his little swing / slide structure more and more too, which is nice. He's even started to sit in the swing a bit, although he doesn't like it as much as he likes the swing at the park. John's trying to teach him to pump his feet to swing himself - I hope he succeeds because 20 minutes of standing there pushing Landon on the swing ... we'll let's just say I'd rather be relaxing!

Little pisser!

That Landon - aiaiaiai. Last night, not once but TWICE, he took off his diaper and then peed in his bed! *shaking head* Now ... shame on me for not realizing the first time that he still had more pee in him. And maybe I shouldn't be quite so stern on the 'stay in bed' command ... I tried to explain to him that if he wants to pee on his potty he can get out of bed to do that, although I'd much rather he just went to sleep and peed in his diaper - that's what it's there for after all!! LOL Good thing we had extra clean sheets, and I could wash them all up right away today in preparation for tonight's waterworks (if there are any).

We went to the Telus Science Centre yesterday - met a friend from University there with her two kids. It was GREAT to see her and to watch the boys playing (it's a Bob the Builder display right now). It was WAY packed in there, but so much fun. We didn't go to the Children's Museum at all, and didn't even see all there was to see of the Science Centre, so I'm hoping to go back again before Bob the Builder is gone. It was lots of fun though. Landon loved the bulldozer (I guess that's the next toy we'll have to buy for him!), and then we discovered a farming section too with a tractor and everything right when we were leaving, so I'll have to take him back to explore that!

Landon did a bit better at swimming lessons on Wed. He didn't like it at the start, but by the end he was having more fun. So we'll see how it goes on this upcoming (last) week of lessons ... he'll probably start liking it now! It made me realize how I need to get him into some group things so that he can learn to appreciate doing activities as a group (vs always individually). Of course his favourite was playing in the toddler pool after his lesson - we were there for another hour. But at least we're there and don't get turned away for the pool being full (they were turning people away again Wed, just like on Mon when we went and were turned away).

On the sleeping front, things seem to be turning around. Landon is going to sleep easier (even with the peeing the bed thing!), and today he was awake and up all by himself at 9:30 (I don't remember the last time THAT happened). So maybe, just maybe, we're turning a corner? Maybe. We'll see. He's been fighting naps harder recently, although this afternoon he went down easier. If it's not one thing it's another I guess. At least right now he's eating his meals really well too - instead of fighting us at suppertime like he did for a few weeks!!

And YAY - they're putting up our fence posts today (yup - digging through the snow!!)!! So we should have a fence complete by next week! Hallellujia!! I can hardly wait :-) That and we're getting lumber / drywall / etc delivered today so John has his work cut out for him in the basement. We'll be working in the basement and in the backyard for the whole month of May (well, in the backyard assuming it stops snowing!! LOL)! I'm looking forward to it, sort of. Hopefully my back holds out - that's the only part of me that gets sore when I do too much. But I'm sure Landon and I will be spending plenty of time outside in upcoming weeks.

That's the news today. Oh yeah, other good news is that John doesn't have to go on his business trip next week (PHEW!) so Landon doesn't have to be all put-out that John's not home. I am VERY pleased about that. Until next time...

We Missed our Weekend Trip :-(

Nice weather, Calgary!! We ended up not going back to Sk for mom & dad's anniversary on the weekend, the weather was too miserable. It's been snowing (!!) in Calgary since Friday ... today's DAY 5! Enough already!!
But we had a nice weekend at home. I looked back and it's our first weekend without visitors or traveling since early Feb (and then Landon and I were sick, so does that even count?). No wonder it felt so good to just hang out at home! LOL

Landon wasn't too bad - I thought he'd suffer more from cabin-fever than he did. But we managed to get him out every day, even if it was just to the store with dad (he asks to do that now ... he must've had fun with dad!). We were going to go swimming yesterday, but the pool was 'full' (yeah, full ... wtf? they had only 2 lifeguards on for toddler swim time, so wouldn't accept any more kids ... like, get some more lifeguards on duty - don't they know it's been snowing for days!!??). So we just grocery shopped instead :-/ Landon was so disappointed though - he was standing at the glass looking in at the pool "swimming! swimming!" Poor guy. Instead he got to buy a loader tractor at Superstore. heh heh

We went to the doc today and FINALLY Landon does NOT have an ear infection!! YAY It's all cleared up. And he's done his 2-weeks of Sinulair, so now we see if this post-nasal drip returns. If so, he's likely got allergies. If not, he just had an infection that just wouldn't quit. He's eating WAY better now, at mealtimes even, so hopefully that's all it was and we're out of the woods.

Sleep - different story. He just keeps pushing at night and won't go to sleep forEVER when we put him to bed. I've been keeping him up later and later, hoping he'll go to sleep faster, but to no avail. Last night I put him to bed 1 hour earlier and he went to sleep 1.5 hours earlier, so maybe he's just been so wound up and overtired that he fought sleep that much harder? Who knows. He fought his nap today again ... grrrr. But we'll put him to bed at the same time as last night again tonight and see if that helps. It's a good thing he's so good natured, even so late at night. He's always in a good mood it seems, so it's easier to handle the wonky hours!! LOL

That seems to be the news for today ... still snowing, hopefully that will quit soon!

counting!

an exciting new advancement for Landon - he's been counting to TEN for us these days! We start him off by saying 'one', then he counts (we repeat each number back to him) right up to 10. Now - not everyone would recognize what he says as the actual number, but we sure do. And he giggles and laughs and is very proud of himself when he reaches 10!! lol

He talks almost non-stop actually. Telling us about trucks and planes and helicopters. Today in the car was passed construction, and he pointed out the back-hoe and the bull-dozers to me! Too funny.

We're also thinking more and more about potty-training. He is starting to tell us when he's gone pee and poop, which is a good sign. So we'll be buying potty's soon.

And I'm going to buy a booster seat for him so that he can sit up at the table with us to eat. He isn't liking his highchair nearly as much (besides being able to now crawl right up into the highchair all by himself), and is eating some of his meals just sitting in a normal chair. So I think a booster seat is called for - and we can then put the high chair away for a year or so!! Clean up the kitchen a bit ... heh heh

Pics to come soon ... promise....

Is this cool or what?

Can you still be cool when you have pizza on your face?
How about when you are still sucking your soother when you put your sunglasses on for the day?
Landon has become even more attached to that soother these days... it used to be he didn't even think about it when he was out of bed, now he'll be playing downstairs and will go upstairs just to get a soosie. I don't know if it's because his teeth are bugging him, or if he's just turning into a bigger sucky-pants...
This morning Landon was loving his cheerios so much that he was double-fisting!! LOL He LOVES his cheerios in the morning, that's for sure. Almost as much as he loves rice-krispie treats in the evening!

The Tree is the BEST plaything EVER

Landon is having far too much fun playing with and around the tree!! Tonight I was working at the cupboard when I hear behind me "Where go?" I turn around and Landon's hiding under the tree, giggling away like I can't see his feet sticking out!! Then he crawls right through and of course he can't see me from the other side, so again he thinks he's hiding. I might've been a bit slow with the camera, but I did catch him on the trip back under the tree though. Look at that face - he was having WAY too much fun!!

And earlier in the day I couldn't figure out where Landon was ... should've known to look behind the tree. Here are a couple of pics of him - he was happy as can be to play with his trucks back there!

First thing when we go downstairs in the morning, the tree has to be plugged in, the lights on the mantel, and now I have two lit snowmen up that have to be plugged in too. And they are supposed to stay on all day, and it's become part of our nighttime routine to unplug everything when we're going to bed. *shaking head* He just loves the 'pretty light' (and yes, that's what he says, all day long!).

We are thinking he's on a growth spurt again, as he's been eating like a horse for the past few days (and pooping like one too, ahem). Where before we sometimes wondered if he was getting enough, now we are wondering what to feed him next!! LOL But that's a good thing. We have learned that he REALLY likes vanilla pudding - he'll eat 1/2 a cup (after eating a good meal) and ask for "more". He has also polished off a little watermelon too - another newfound fave. heh heh

The other night we counted up the words that Landon knows, and we are up to 100 or more. He says some phrases too, like "where go?" (as in where did the cat go, or where did Landon go), and following that "there 'tis". He has said "all done" for quite awhile now, mostly when he's done eating, but sometimes when he's done playing with something. He is starting to tell us when he's going to "poo poo" so we are thinking more about potty training. But it's pretty amazing to watch him picking up so many new words so often. I can really tell when he's concentrating on learning what I'm saying - he gets a very serious look on his face. I was amazed when we pulled out a small book that we haven't seen for weeks, maybe a couple of months, that has pictures of objects and the sounds they make. Landon knew and could make the sounds for over half of the objects, and now today he does them all (for example, a kettle say wheeeeeee, vacuum cleaner whooooosh, toaster pop!, fire crackle crackle, frying pan sssssizzzzzle, and telephone rrrring rrrring).

Hiding is lots of fun for Landon too. He'll be walking around with his hands over his eyes, then pull them away yelling 'peek-a-boo!'. This evening I came upstairs and wondered where he went as he climbed the stairs just ahead of me. Well, he had crawled up on our bed and put a pillow over himself! So I walked around saying "where did Landon go? Where is Landon?" I would've found him eventually, even if I couldn't have seen his feet, because he was snorting he was giggling to hard!! Too funny - I am loving this playful little creature!!

Anyways, that's the long blog for the everning....will post again in the next few days....until next time...TK