Busy, Busy, Busy Boy

I simply adore Fall: caramel apples, earthy colors, cooler weather, scarfs...so much more. Spencer and I were so excited to take Landon to his first "real" pumpkin patch (we made an appearance to a parking lot pumpkin patch last year...but we all know those don't really count). This year we headed to Wheatland's Bishop Pumpkin Patch, free train tickets in hand. The weather was gorgeous! Landon had so much fun visiting all the goats, pigs, donkeys, and chickens. He wasn't too sure about bouncing on the hay, but gave it a try. The train ride was so exciting - he especially loved when it blew its horn! But his favorite thing of all was exploring the pumpkin fields. He was running from pumpkin to pumpkin yelling, "pum-pum!" He even decided to kiss a few :) We left that day exhausted, but full of life-long memories. I love family traditions, especially around the holidays.

One Year!

I am blown away that my baby is already a year old. I find myself already reminiscent as I look back on pictures from this past year and can't believe the enormity of the changes he's gone through. The human body and especially a baby's development in the first year of life is simply incredible. I've always known this in some capacity, but it's so different seeing it first hand in a life that was started in some small way by me.

We've had so many incredibly memories in the past few months...so many that our world has been too busy for me to keep up this blog as much as I intended and wanted to. We finished out our summer with gymnastics class, lots and lots of tomatoes from Grandma's garden, and Landon's first Rivercats game. He couldn't sit still in gymnastics class and loved every minute of it, and he spent the duration of the Rivercats game running up and down the cement walkway and the grassy hill. He wanted to have two tomatoes in his hands at all times and refused to share, even when he was frustrated at not being able to hold one and eat the other at the same time...so so stubborn.

School then started and I again had to hit the ground running. Landon's 1st birthday fell on the Wednesday night of the first week of school, and we celebrated at home with family and frog cupcakes made by Nanny. (Of course, even with just the grandparents over...three sets + great grandparents...it was a packed house.) Landon was so lucky to have Grandpa and Poppy visit for over a week. Then, we celebrated again this past weekend. Landon completely enjoyed entertaining a house full of guests and devoured more cake (icing) than he needed for a whole year. He has some really great friends who came and played with his new car and blessed him with some really great new toys and clothes. Thank you all :)

Hopefully as things begin to settle back into routine, I'll find more time to keep up with the everyday laughs and adventures of our family.

Shampoopie

It's amazing how much this little man already makes me laugh every day. This one was good for a real good belly laugh :) So, whenever Landon is working on a nice poopie diaper, he grunts a lot and his little face reddens. This is when I usually say, "Are you pooping?". Well, apparently we do this little scene enough that now if I simply ask if he's pooping, he responds with a grunt whether he's pooping or not. This in itself makes me laugh and he smiles along with me, proud that he understands exactly what I'm talking about. (I know, classy huh?) Well...the other day we were hanging out at my mom's salon and Landon was VERY interested in the bright colorful bottles of shampoo on the shelves lining the hallway. He, of course, said, "dat? dat?" repeatedly until I told him that those were bottles of shampoo. His response??? A BIG grunt and a smile. Clearly I put a little too much emphasis on the POO part of shampoo.

Say, Peas!

It's hard to believe that someone with a face like this could be so incredibly sneaky. During dinner tonight, I actually caught Landon dropping some of his peas on the floor for the dogs! I thought it was supposed to be a few years until he started hiding his veggies :) When I turned around and caught him in the act, he just grinned at me...probably wanting to remind me of just how adorable he is...good thing, too.

My Little Monster :)

First of all, I'm beginning to think we've created a monster, an adorable monster, but a monster nonetheless. I say that affectionately, of course :) We were elated when Landon began signing his first few words and have been eagerly teaching him more and more. His favorite of all signs has been "light"...and this is where our little monster comes in :) He knows light so well and has to point them out everywhere...EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah, and EVERY time. We pass no fewer than 10 lights on our way from his crib, down the stairs, and into the living room, and he points them out and signs "light" for all of them...every time we pass them. First thing when he wakes up, he no longer wants to smile at mommy. No, he wants to make sure that I've seen the light in his room...the same one we talked about before his nap. Imagine his astonishment when we took a trip to the hardware store last weekend and took him to the lighting department. OMG! His legs were kicking like mad and he was signing frantically with both hands :)

Second of all, he has learned that he can control his eyebrows, with which he makes GREAT angry eyes. He enjoys making this face anytime something doesn't go his way and uses it at will to manipulate whomever he can. He also uses these angry eyes on poor unsuspecting, ogling strangers at the supermarket. They admire his cuteness and try talking to him sweetly, and then...all of a sudden...he gives them the angry eyes. They never know quite what to do at this point...I try to reassure them that he's just practicing a new trick he's learned, but...
The look he's giving in the picture isn't quite the same one I'm describing, (the usual one includes a closed mouth with pouty lips) but it is another variation...and also very fake :)

Ready or Not...He's Walking

I can't believe my baby is walking already! I'm not ready for this, physically, mentally, OR emotionally. We first caught him taking a few steps early last week. He would "walk" from the couch or chair toward a toy on the ground, taking one or two steps and then plopping himself down on his butt. Late last week, Somer and I saw him take 5 in a row before falling and couldn't believe it. It's crazy to me how quickly two little steps have turned into walking all the way across the living room. He seems so thrilled to be able to balance himself so well and loves practicing. I won't deny that he usually resembles a little drunken man as he does so, which almost always results in a good family laugh :) Good job, little man!

Yummy Tomato!

We planted a yummy salsa garden in our yard this year. Unfortunately, I seem to only be able to grow tomatoes...and LOTS of them! Then tend to grow wild and take over everything else I attempt to grow, in this case my peppers and jalepenos. Landon and I have been checking on the garden's progress and watching the tomatoes grow and grow and finally turn red. The other day we went out to pick one that had fully ripened. I intended to make myself a delicious tomato sandwich with it, but instead, Landon kept pointing to it saying, "dat, dat, dat?" I kept explaining to him that it was a tomato that we had grown but evidently that wasn't satisfying his curiosity. I finally pulled it off of the counter and handed it to him, thinking to myself that he was going to examine it as he often does with other things, and I was pretty sure that it would at some point wind up in his mouth. What I wasn't prepared for was that he was going to be able to take giant bites out of it (with only 2 teeth...on the bottom!) or that he was going to LOVE it! He was so funny to watch as he opened his mouth up wide, bit down, and slurped all the juices out of it. By the end, I couldn't believe how much he had eaten...and I guess I'll wait on that tomato sandwich.

Lights, Camera, Fireworks

This past 4th of July weekend we traveled the long way up to Crescent City for our first visit to Spencer's hometown since Landon was born. I loved getting away from all of the heat and the business of Sacramento and enjoying the beach for a few days, and Landon loved getting spoiled by his Nanny, Grandpa, and Poppy! Their house was, of course, stocked with new toys and two very entertaining little doggies :) We made lots of visits to family friends, enjoyed the annual parade of fire trucks, floats, and cars, and ate way too much! As you saw from my previous post, Landon has been busily learning new baby signs, and this 4th of July weekend was no exception. Landon has always been very mesmerized with lights and continually points to them, saying "dat? dat?". We'd been practicing showing him how to sign "light" by opening and closing his hand up in the air. He would watch us but hadn't really tried it out himself....until we went down to the docks to watch the fireworks the night of the 4th. As the fireworks burst, he looked up into the sky and signed "light"! We were so excited and impressed with the connection he'd made. It's just incredible to think about how much really is going on inside his mind. It's been remarkable realizing how much he has the desire to communicate with us and thinking about how frustrating it must be to not have the ability to "say" what he wants/needs. You should see the satisfaction on his face as he correctly communicates something to us...pure delight.

Baby Signs

Ok, so I may be a little biased, but I'm quite certain that Landon is a genius! :) A few weeks ago, he excitedly learned the sign for "milk". After he realized that the little movement of his hand held powerful meaning (as in, whenever he did the sign...he got a bottle of milk) it was like a lightbulb went off. He has been obsessively pointing at everything he sees and saying, "dat, dat" wanting to know what things are. He has also mastered 6 new signs! He is amazing me with how fast he picks them up. My favorite is the newest of them all, "frog". He has a favorite stuffed frog, and we've been modeling the baby sign (sticking your tongue out repeatedly) for him the past few days. Then I went into his room this morning and laughed at finding him sticking his tongue out super far as he snuggled his froggie :) I can't wait to keep teaching him more---the light in his eyes as he takes in new things is absolutely priceless.

Happy 10 Months, Landon!

Ten months old today, and I can hardly believe it! He's truly turning into a kid lately rather than a baby. It's incredible to me as I watch him interact with his toys now--his current favorite...cars! He actually drives them around the house. And when I say, "Landon, where is your car?" he knows what I'm talking about and goes to find it. I don't know why this has seemed like such a big deal, but I just can't get over how much he's actually able to understand now. It's such a blessing getting to have the summer off to catch every little moment in his world :)


He's been working hard lately on learning some baby signs, and has been almost obsessive with his use of the "milk" sign these past few weeks. We've even caught him signing "milk" in his sleep! :) I think I have it on video, but these pics show it pretty well too. He likes and knows that one the best, but can also sign "more" when he feels like it.

Daddy's Work

It's only been a few days since summer break began, but they have been incredible. We haven't done anything extraordinary, but it's been so rewarding just being around in the mornings when he wakes up and getting to do everyday things together all day. We've gone on long walks, done a little grocery shopping, checked out books at the library, and played with the dogs. Yesterday, we even went to visit Daddy at work and had so much fun hanging out on the lawn outside his office. We blew raspberries at each other (note the lips in the picture), explored the sidewalk (we found dirt, sticks, and even dead bugs!), and played in the grass with a plastic spoon. We were full of giggles and smiles and Daddy was really excited that we came to see him. I'm pretty sure that when I have to go back to work at the end of the summer, it's going to be so much more difficult than when I went back the first time...For now, I'll try not to think about it and focus instead on what to do with the many more days we have together this summer!

Noodles!

Ok, so I have realized that I've written a lot lately about food...but I think the little man likes to eat :) Feeding time has been getting a lot more interesting lately to say the least. Although Landon still likes to eat pureed foods, he definitely prefers to eat things that he can pick up himself. As a result, we've had a lot of fun introducing new foods. The other night we decided to introduce some whole wheat pasta. From the first picture, I think we can tell that it was a hit! He had noodles EVERYWHERE. The second picture shows him doing his new hilarious trick...sucking the food off of his top lip :) So funny. He grabs them by the handful, puts his hand up to his mouth, and then shoves them inside--smearing them all over his face in the process of trying to make sure they all get in. By the end of dinner he was completely covered in noodles. I tried to pick them off of his lap, out of his hair, ears, and nose noodle by noodle, but in the end we had to take him outside and brush him off.

Summer!

Summer is finally here! I'm finally off of work for a while and the weather has been absolutely gorgeous. We went to Papa's house to visit with everyone and have some yummy BBQ. Landon got to try watermelon for the first time and LOVED it! I think he must have felt like such a big boy, getting to hold the rind himself...we had to remind him to pace himself as he tried to fill his little mouth with too much at a time.
At first he was like a little bird, opening his mouth really wide and leaning in to get more...and more...and more!
By the end, we had to pry the rind out of his hands so that he wouldn't eat the "green part".

9 Months

Landon came to mommy's school to watch the kids' science fair. The 6th graders taught him all about acid rain, electromagnets, the exciting reaction of Mentos and Diet Coke (SOO fun to watch!), and lots, lots more. (He even dressed up for our spirit day, Sports Day)

Landon and Poppy (great-grandpa)

Landon was outside with daddy practicing his new skill of clapping.

Landon and Grandpa Joe at the zoo--he still loves the giraffes the best!

Full Moon

Spencer woke up this morning as usual to get ready for work. Landon was stirring in his bed, rolling around but not really quite awake. While he went downstairs to make a bottle and start coffee, our mischievous son was busy "exploring". When Spencer heard him beginning to talk to himself, he ran upstairs to check him out in the video monitor. To his surprise, he was greeted with a full moon! That's right...Landon had somehow managed to remove his diaper and was sticking his little cheeks fully up into the air! Hilarious...I wish I could have seen, but it was still good for a great laugh after my long day at work :)

My Little Comedian

I hate the time of night when I have to walk out of Landon's room. Not because he's difficult to put to sleep or because he cries but because I just love spending time with him so much sometimes I want him to stay awake! He normally just hangs out in his bed for a while, walking the perimeter of the crib and laughing at himself in the mirror...doesn't normally make too big of a deal about my leaving. The other night, however, as soon as I left the room he started crying and saying, "mamamama." I quickly walked back into his room (I know, sucker, right?) and said, "Did you say mama?" He of course looked at me, squealed with delight, and replied, "dadadada". So, I kissed him, told him I loved him, and walked back out. Once again, he cried out, "mamamama." I, of course, went back in and asked him again if he said mama. What does my precious son say??? "Dadadadada"......and then he belly laughs, like this is the funniest game he's played all day. Does he really know what he's doing/saying? Sure seemed like it that day...and he was playing mom for sure! ......Oh yeah, and in case you can't read his shirt, it appropriately reads "Tugging on Mommy's Heart"...That's for sure!

Splish Splash

The incredible heat of this past weekend provided the perfect opportunity for us to try out Landon's new swim trunks (adorable by the way) and introduce him to his little pool. He's the kid who always tries to JUMP into the bathtub before I'm even done undressing him, so I was pretty sure he'd like being in the water; however, this being cold water...we weren't 100% sure. He was very excited to see his familiar bath toys had joined him for the swim and seemed fascinated that we were outside in the water. He, of course, at one point decided that mom looked a little too dry and climbed out onto my lap. Once I had been successfully soaked, he decided he really liked being in the pool better and climbed back in...so thoughtful to cool me down, huh? I can't wait to take him into a "big" pool...now if only my mom would get a solar cover for theirs so we could actually bear the temperature...........

Come on Summer!

The weather is gorgeous, Landon is mobile and interested in EVERYTHING, and I cannot wait for summer break to arrive! I have so many things in mind for us to do this summer, and I simply cannot wait...only 34 school days to go (not that I'm counting). I'm hoping the days fly by and then magically slow down for my time off.

Also, due to the weather, we've had to cut Landon off of being swaddled cold turkey. We put him to sleep every once in a while without it anyway, but he still sleeps so much better with it. He's able to go to sleep on his own without it (yeah!) It just took 2 hours for him to go to sleep for his nap yesterday (yikes!) Let's hope that gets a little easier really soon. He's so excited about being able to stand up and walk along the side of the crib that he just fights going to sleep. It's hilarious (and exhausting) to watch him stand up on one side, talk and babble to himself for a while, crawl to the other side, stand up....back and forth. I've even woken up in the middle of the night to see him in the monitor standing up and "practicing".

Speaking of practicing...he must be getting stronger from all of the standing up, 'cause he's become a surprisingly fast crawler! There's no more hesitation...he sees something he wants, and he's after it, lickity split. It seems like I hardly blink my eyes and he's across the room, standing up to get something. He wants to move around and explore things so badly that he can't even stand to sit long enough to drink his bottle. He gets antsy and tries to crawl away...until he realizes that he's hungry and then cries at me for not feeding him. I'm pretty sure he can't decide which one he wants more :) I think if he could figure out a way to use one of those straw helmets so he never had to stop moving, he would...I'm kinda hoping the novelty of being mobile wears off, but I have a feeling he's just going to be an active kid.

Boy Meets Grass

Landon got to experience crawling on grass today for the first time. He was so intrigued by all of the new textures of it and even tried tasting a little :) It was so fun to watch him feel the blades of grass between his fingers and squish the mud in his hands, and although he seemed a little hesitant to move very much, I think he liked it a lot. Now, let's hope he doesn't break out in a rash!

Playing with Papa

Landon loves spending time with Papa in their backyard. It was a beautiful weekend and their backyard was tons of fun. He loved looking at their garden, going down the slide, and especially loved "driving the boat" at the top of the slide. I think we'll have lots of fun hanging out over there this summer with the cousins.