16 months

This time raising my toddler is so special, and going by so quick, that every once and a while I try to take a bunch of pictures to capture the essence of little Landon. This way when he's 18 and going off to college I can flip through the old blog and get all weepy over how precious he was. :)


He only had 4 teeth and on his 16 month b-day he cut two more and this was me trying to get him to show them for the camera. Not too successful.
This is also a common scene.
He is always trying to read all my books too. :)

Obsessed Much?

Not too surprising, but this kid would rather be playing basketball...
He also like hats. He gets especially excited to wear them when we say he looks "just like daddy." (Even though we know he really looks just like Mommy, only with a hat on--but what little boy wants to hear that, honestly?)
I have to say, he is getting rather good.
And don't forget, cute. :)

Beyond Belief.

So did I mention we are moving? AGAIN!?!?! I know. It's BEYOND ridiculous. This will be the 4th move in 9 months. Visalia-Utah-Visalia-San Jose-?

I know it's excessive, especially because when I tell my friends, THEY get mad about it for me. (thanks guys). We still don't know where we are going yet and probably won't know until the end of the month. Most likely somewhere in northern California. But honestly, yeah--its stupid, and I'm sooooooo over it.

Apparently this will be the last move for a while and it should happen sometime in May-ish. (Although, I'm not getting my hopes up). I am sad to be leaving the Bay area, especially when we are just getting settled and I love my little house.

HOWEVER, there are always new adventures in store and we seem to be headed in the right direction. Every move, I have been pleasantly surprised at the friends I have made and the fun things to do in new areas. I am thinking I might have to open up a moving consultation business because I am getting to be such an expert at it. Except I would never do that.

Anyway...that is my scintillating info for the day. I am looking forward to being settled. Whenever that is. In the meantime, I am learning how to exist in the chaos and be okay about it. So that's something, right? Now comes the waiting...

Here's to new adventures, wherever they may be...

photo credit here.

Some things we do...occasionally

Some of my favorite memories growing up are of when my Dad used to take me and my brothers on walks/hikes in the mountains and nature preserves in the Denver area. I love some good nostalgia, and since I'm terrible at doing holiday crafts, I am trying to drag my husband out for little family walks once a week or so for our own little family traditions. Luckily my cousin Melanie, who is practically a Bay Area native, introduced me to this lovely park/nature preserve (right off the freeway...you'd never know it) called Rancho San Antonio. Look at that GREEN?! It almost hurts my eyes. I love.
Dorky pic of me (probably should have put on some make-up)...but since I am the designated family photographer, every once and a while I like to prove that I was there too, you know? Look at Rod in the back, he's like "Hurry up! Let's get this hike over with!"
Did I mention we ran into God on the hike?
At the end of the walk, there is a little farm and usually the kids can walk up to the animals and see them. Landon loves this, but what this experience has taught me is that pigs are just kind of huge, disgusting animals. Sorry to you pig lovers out there, but look at this gal.
Even Landon looked amazed at her grossness.

This is Landon's favorite guy. Ah, the memories. :)

Butchered.

Little buddy got a hair cut on Friday. It always makes me sad to do it because I think it makes him look and seem SO much OLDER. And he kind of looks like he's a Marine on his first day of boot camp.

{sigh}

Luckily little kids don't know when they have a terrible hair cut.
They are just pumped to get a bubble bath.

Hello Snail Breath

Landon has been known to put a few handfuls of dirt in his mouth or chew on a few rocks every now and again. B.O.Y. Clearly the reason for "stick and snails and puppy dogs tails" types of nursery rhymes.

Anyway, the other day I saw him gagging while he was standing over by the vegetable garden. Of course my first instinct is to have a heart attack. The next is to panic and think that he is choking on a rock. As I rush to his side, I notice something sticky in his hand and half of a crushed snail on the bed of rocks under his feet.

I shove my finger in the shape of a hook in his mouth and dig for anything I can. But of course he bites down with all his might, not wanting to let go of his French culinary brunch that he found in the garden.

I peel whatever was left of the snail out of his hand and throw it on the ground, trying to contain my gag reflex, and dive in for round two.

Ugh. I hit something hard at the roof of his mouth. Slowly pulling it out for examination...yes, just as I feared: Snail shell.

Now comes the dry heaving. By me, not him.

Landon, safe from choking, now smiles big and moves in for a kiss. Kids get over the most traumatic events with the greatest of ease.

Why thank you little pants-less snail breath.

Biding time...

Warning: Long boring post detailing our lives...

{sigh}

Rod takes his final test on Wednesday for his administrator licensing exam. I am so excited for things to settle down. We have definitely been in a grind.

Age 13 and 14 months was definitely tough with Landon. Lots of tantrums. Lots of running toward the street. Lots of food throwing. Lots of me asking, "Why me?!?!"
Thankfully, the last two weeks have seemed to even out. Landon is such a little joy factory lately. He's talking way more, he's totally getting a hilarious sense of humor, and making way more "whoas," "wows," and half giggles when he gets excited. He's also playing way better with other kids--not throwing blocks at their faces and such. While I still find the occasional load of junk mail or socks in the toilet, he is learning to take direction a little better now--which I'm sure will ebb and flow has he grows up.

A few things about little L. He is still obsessed with Elmo or "Melmo" (which he now calls "La, la, la"--because of "Elmo's Song,"--Moms of toddlers will understand this). It is literally the first thing out of his mouth when he wakes up.

He's really into reading. Only he wants to read the SAME books over and over again. I go to the library to check out some new ones and that is definitely not what he wants...occasionally he just wants to read UsWeekly like the rest of us.

He loves "Puppy" which is a half dog/half pillow thing my Mom gave him. He will not go to bed without it.

A typical day in the life starts like this:
5:45am Wake up to a jarring cry at 5:45 am.
Bring Landon in our bed and pat his chest to desperately get him to try to sleep a little longer. This works until 6:30am.
6:30am: Landon starts demanding "La, la, la"--this is where we (or I) deliriously grab our smart phones and show him as many Youtube clips of Elmo that we can while trying to stay in a half-sleep state.
7:00am: Landon starts asking for "foody," "Moonie" (smoothie), " wa-dol" (waffle), "eggy" (egg), and "wa-dee" (water). I get up and make him some breakfast.

The rest of the day is filled with Landon's trips "side" (outside), reading books, and watching probably more Sesame Street than I should be comfortable with, taking him to the garage to sit in the drivers seat of the car (this happens at least 4 times a day). etc. It is very rewarding to watch your child grow and gain more understanding. Obviously it can be monotonous, but it is such a short time and I love Landon so much that it's worth every second.

Its fun to see him grow and change. He runs really fast and is really starting to like playing with other kids, and especially other kids toys.
Hopefully my kid isn't the "bully."

I can't believe he is already such a little boy. 16 months is right around the corner.