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.

Pixar, wet shoes, and a canole {from ScarJo}

It all started out with a really wet, really unnecessary drive to Berkeley to look at a holistic-based culinary school. (I've been stalking this idea for a LONG time now and decided to take some necessary steps to give it a try).

Of course I picked the wettest day of the year. And wore mary janes for the occasion. Genius.

Anyway, after parking, walking (with a toddler in my arms) for 6 blocks in a driving deluge of rain with my inverted umbrella (which blew up because of the hurricane-like winds); I arrived for my "interest" meeting looking like a chihuahua who had been hosed down with high-powered sprinkler head, and a blue-lipped, shivering child on my hip.

The meeting was supposed to last an hour, but because my toddler wouldn't stop yelling and pulling glass items off the metal industrial shelving hanging around, the counselor I spoke to said, "You know what? I'm a little distracted. I think we should reschedule for a phone interview."

This, after the lady told me that she was a grandma and great with kids.

Hmmm. Wish I would have known that a phone interview was a possibility BEFORE I drove over an hour and braved the highway water slide to "check out the campus" during nap time. Love that.

The day wasn't a total bust. My friend from the BYU dance days has been working as an animator for Pixar (because he's amazing like that) for the last few years and, in spite of my swamp-thing appearance--he invited us to Pixar for lunch.
I think Pixar is maybe the next best place to Disneyland because they have all these life-sized statues and really cool sketches from all the great movies they make. Plus they have a really amazing food court with all compostable utensils and gourmet health food. Landon's happy and so was Mom.
Cute little pic of Emron and Landon. We ate lunch at said food court and in the middle of our deliciousness, one of Emron's coworkers came by and said, "Here's a Scarlett Johansson canole for the baby." I figured it was some inside joke that they had. Emron told me that Scarlett Johansson had been into to meet with casting (this delightful canole-giver was apparently in charge of casting) so we figured he was just making reference to the previous day.

Don't worry, Landon wolfed that canole down and even did the double "more"--saying it and the "more" in sign language--which I equate with something like, "More! Damn it!"
Me and Landon with the Incredibles.
Don't worry, the shark wasn't real.
He didn't quite know what to make of these.
Why is this so hilarious?
Landon was going crazy with the toy packaging.

After our little tour of Pixar and nice visit with Emron, he texts me to say that the canole actually was FROM Scarlett Johansson. She apparently sent it to casting as a "thank you" after the meeting. It was fun to have a little Hollywood experience even though I have been out of Hollywood for a few years now. If I had only known that canole's secured roles...

Jesus at Best Buy

We've been working with Landon on understanding who the Savior is on the most basic level. We read him stories, show him pictures, and he seems to like it. He has gotten in the habit of seeing pictures of Christ at church and he always gets excited, jumps around, points and yells (usually during the sacrament or when everyone is really quiet) "Jeejus!" He will see pictures and images that look kind of like Christ, but aren't, and still scream, "Jeejus!!!! Jeejus!" I can tell he's proud of himself. Probably because Mommy gets REALLY excited that he is picking up on not only objects and colors but also church stuff;)

As most things are with kids, his vocab words ebb and flow. Some weeks it's all about dogs, some weeks it's trains, and some weeks it's Jesus.

Well, I hadn't heard about "Jeejus" in a while and I was having a particularly difficult "toddler day" trying to entertain/distract him to avoid a tantrum while running errands. I had gone into Best Buy to look at a camera (to replace my phone cam...) and of course it was just one hazard after another with him. Escalators, TVs, cameras...never a good idea to take a toddler to an electronics store without back-up.

I had gone through all the animal crackers and 2 different sales people, who were noticeably flustered with how rambunctious he was being while they were delivering their sermon on the Canon dlsr'--and mid-sentence--would pawn me off on another person to take over. Finally the third sales person showed up about the time I had gotten Landon sitting down, reading a book in the middle of the aisle.

The sales guy was really helpful and I was just about to purchase the camera when I hear a piercing yell, "JEEEEejus!!! JEEJUS!" The sales person, of course, couldn't really understand what he was saying, but was surprised by the sudden hysteria. Landon didn't stop. "JEEE-jus!!!! JEEEJUUUUUS!" Pointing and jumping! (He has an astoundingly LOUD voice).

Clearly he wanted my acknowldgement. The usual round of applause he gets when he gets something right.

You see, the sales guy looked EXACTLY like Jesus. 6 feet tall, long, slightly wavy, brown hair flowing loosely to about 3 inches below the shoulders, olive skin, long nose, subtle facial hair, and a kind demeanor. Landon was dead on (except for the blue Best Buy shirt). No wonder he was so excited. In his mind, he was actually seeing Jesus--THE JESUS that mommy won't shut up about--in person.

The sales guy kept looking at me funny, like, "Lady, what is is this kid saying?"

Of course, I'm a little worried now...what is the politically correct thing to say? We are in the Bay area, after all, I don't want to be disrespectful. While the inner dialogue continues there is the ever-present toddler screaming at the top of his lungs "JEEJUSS!"

Hilary: "Yes, honey, he looks just like Jesus, huh?"

Landon: Huge grin. Clapping.

Sales Guy: Laughing (Hilary--thankfully) "I haven't heard that one before," as he does the Catholic Cross thing.

Luckily we all had a good chuckle. My biggest regret is that I didn't ask to take a picture with the guy, as tacky as it would have been to do so. I did take a pic when we went back later with Rod of Landon on the escalator.

I realized this was a momentous occasion not just for Landon getting to meet the Savior at Best Buy in the same way he could meet Mickey Mouse at Disneyland, but also it signified the first time that my child successfully embarrassed me because of something he said. This, I'm sure, will not be the last.

I am very happy that he thinks about the Savior. For all the things I am no-doubt doing wrong, at least I am doing something right...maybe.

Welcome to the Jungle

It's always a little difficult and exciting to to move to a new place for somewhat the same reasons: making new friends, finding your way around, and creating a new schedule so that your days aren't spent in sweats with no make-up. (I might be speaking from experience on that last one, despite the MADE teachings...)
Luckily, I knew a few nice people when I moved here (one being my cousin and another a girl I went to HIGH SCHOOL with...this is really crazy because I went to a teensy-tiny high school in Kamas, UT). Anyway, Megan (girl from high school), was very nice to invite us to this beyond WONDERFUL place called "The Jungle" where for $3 on Tuesday all of my dreams come true. Landon plays in what I am sure is a disgusting, germ infested, but oh-so-fun sea of balls, while I can talk to adults for an hour.
Little buddy thought he had died an gone to heaven. I love the little blondie competing for playtime surrounded by Asian babies. Welcome to Cupertino. :) He better get used to competing with Asians if we stay here, apparently they are the reason "the schools are so amazing" here. (which makes me happy--another reason I like the Bay area--diversity) That's all anyone talks about in the Bay area...I didn't realize how competitive PUBLIC SCHOOL was until I moved here.

Where I grew up, you just went to the closest, super pimped-out school building and received your sub-par education from 20% of teachers who cared and 80% of teachers who were just there to coach sports and ride horses. 80% of the students got between a 3.75-4.0 GPA, were involved in 25 extra-curricular activities, and never did homework--which was awesome--until the ACT came around and everyone got a 19. In California, these schools look like run-down, dilapidated bomb shelters but apparently everyone in attendance is going to Harvard someday. Or so I hear.
How cute are all those little babies!?! I digress.
Aside from the "ball-pit" we found a little snoopy truck. He's totally obsessed with driving anything, so this was especially fun for him. I couldn't get any big smiles because when he is around trucks and cars its more of a "Get out of the way Mom! I've got a job to do," mentality, rather than a "whee! this is fun," kind of a thing.
We will be returning to this place for sure...maybe after pre-school prep class. (wink, wink).

Dirt.

I knew this post would eventually happen, I was just kind of hoping it would be closer to age 2. Landon has discovered the joys of the backyard. Especially the joy of emptying all the planters of their top soil and throwing it in the grass or on the concrete.
I figure it must be good for the little ones' development to explore all the different textures of the back yard. And look how happy it makes him.
Those teeth kill me. :) This is the part that gets annoying...but that's what little boys are for, right? Getting dirty, and having to give multiple baths.
He's NEVER excited when dirt playing is over.
Look at that precious little evil eye. Thanks little boy for making life so much fun (and sometimes so much work) but mostly fun. :)
And this is a pic Rod took of Landon after he finished eating a fair share of topsoil. Yum.