Funniest Photo Ever

So, maybe he is a little confused, but at least he is funny! Remotes make great phones too, according to Landon. Thanks Uncle Bret for the great photo.

Love you, sweet boy.

Say cheese!

Happiness is.

Landon at 17 Months

Bad, bad mommy I am, not keeping up with this blog. If anything, I should post daily. The physical changes, mental and language development are miraculous. I wish life would move slower so I could stop and cherish each moment. I am doing my best. Here is what our little dude is up to:

• Weighs 22lb. Need to come back and update height. 14% and 40%, respectively. I guess my kid needs some twinkies (wink, wink).
• Last week at the supermarket he saw bananas and screamed, "Nee-nas!" He now asks for them.
• He can point to and say, "ears," "nose," and "mouth."
• He saw Elmo on his box of crackers and said, "Elmo!" We have no Elmo books or Elmo toys, so this was a shocker. Apparently Elmo is his favorite toy at Pooh's.
• He pointed to the letters on his cup that is labeled Landon and said, "Nanon." He also points to himself in the mirror and says this too.
• He pointed to a picture of his buddy Jack at Pooh's and said, "Ack!"
• Says "doggee" and pants
• Sees fire or anything fire related (like our non working fireplace) and says HHHOTT!
• This week he does not want to be carried at all. He has been walking from the car into the house and from the car into Pooh's.
• He loves to inspect his tummy.
• Other words: up,down, cracker, juice, shoe, shoes, sock, mommy, auntie, ry-ry, nanny, papa, meemah (grandma) daddee, auntie, kristie, anya (for tanya at Pooh's), soup, mine, ah choo, Nanon no (copies us saying, "Landon, no!"), gock (block), gook (book), bear, bath.
• Blows kisses and says "Uv You"
• Needs another haircut!
• Loves to sit in laps to read and eat snacks

Landon at 15 Months

What a little man our baby is turning into! This month the mental and physical changes have been extraordinary. Of course I am late on uploading photos, but for now a listing of accomplishments will do:

• New words include: mine (oh dear . . ), block, Addy, Diddee (my mother), Jack (his best friend at poohs), Bella, ess you (for bless you), all done, up, ez (for eyes), Steve
• Has been waving his finger, "No, no" to the little babies at daycare. Eeks!
• Shakes head when says, "No"
• Is learning a lot from the other kiddies at Poohs! Yesterday I was blowing him kisses good-bye and while he very well knows how to do this, he never seems to respond when I do so at daycare. Of course all the other kids were blowing them back to me but him. However, yesterday he noticed them doing so and copied them! Finally!
• Face is looking more mature
• Has a protruding tummy.
• Is getting taller! His 12-18 month shirts are getting small, and his pants no longer need to be cuffed.
• Adores his daycare. Half the time he cries when I carry him out of there.
• Does kunckle fives
• My favorite - will pick up a book, walk backwards and plop his tush down in my indian-style lap. Be still my heart!
• Runs around the house saying "woooooooooow!"
• Swats at Chloe :(. Poor girl.
• Points at eyes in a book and says "eyes".
• Runs in place when you say to him "hot feet!". Uncle Ryan taught him that one.
• Loves to push his lawn mower and ride his bulldozer.
• Teases by offering to give you something and taking it back when you reach for it saying "No!".
• Favorite book is "I Love You Through and Through" This is the book he picks up to read and then sits in my lap with.
• Eyes still blue, hair is looking more brown than blond.
• Adores Italian food, meatballs are the favorite
• Has somewhere between 13-15 teeth.
  

Landon at 14 Months

The changes continue, what fun we are having! I thought I'd be sad to see my little guy grow out of baby and into toddler, but I have to say we are enjoying this time more than ever. At 14 months Landon is a running parrot. Specifically he:

• Speed walks everywhere and in all directions. Often times you can tell his mind is working faster than his body and that's when he'll trip and fall.
• Repeats everything we say. His main vocab right now is: mama, daddee, dada, mommie, two, three, four, a boo (peek-a-bow), Hi Boo (for Chloe), ah choo (sneeze), up, Nanny, Papa, Auntie, shoe (his favorite), sock, Ry-Ry, cracker, please, yah, no no
• Waves, gives kisses, plays beek a boo, gives high and low fives, claps hands, smiles and laughs
• Crouches down to look under doors and the coffee table for things that may have rolled.
• Loves to be chased and to play hide and seek with me.
• Is learning to climb down the stairs
• Insists upon feeding self with spoon yoghurt and apple sauce
• Is a diva . .when he doesn't get his way his whole body goes limp and he stretches as if to fling himself backwards on the ground like the cover of a trashy romance novel
• Loves juice. Sometimes will reject water
• Is drinking well out of cup that is not a sippee
• Has been reaching for books. Sometimes will sit still to listen to a story, sometimes not.
• Favorite songs are "On Top of Spaghetti, Monkeys on the Bed and Old McDonald"
• Somehow misplaced his green shoe yesterday
• Is ready for bed by 7 pm sharp. Sometimes I try to give him quiet time with the rocker and a story, but he wants none of it, just wants to be put in the crib, cries for about 5 minutes and then is out for 10-12 hours.
• Is clingy to me in the mornings, when he is tired and when he gets hurt
• Is obsessed with going both up and down stairs
• Loves toys that have tiny buttons and make music
• Insists upon carrying both remotes - the one with batteries and the one without
• Likes baths, but despises getting his face washed
• Sings, "Bye, bye baby, Bye, Bye" and "Ei, Ei, O"
• Can identify my nose, eyes and ears
• Points to things all the time, not sure exactly what they are

Santa Baby

So, photos with Santa did not go that well. Nonetheless, they are totally classic!

Instead, Landon had much more fun hanging out in the baby room at daycare with the toys he sees every day, go figure!


A first for the both of us, a polar bear ride!


Happy Holidays,

-L

Weekend Recap, Part II

I truly haven't forgotten about my blog, so here I go catching up.

Later on that evening, we went to Steve's housewarming party where Landon was reunited with his girlfriend Anastacia. What a pair!

This little flirt shimmied herself right up to our little guy to inspect his ears. It was his first spoon too!

Mommies and babes!

Weekend Recap, Part I

What a weekend! Landon went to 4 parties, including his own.

First ride in Daddy's car with the seat forward!

Party #1 was Billy and Alissa's engagement party. The light outside was perfect and I got some great photos of "the Don" in the leaves.

More to come soon!
~L

On His Feet

Only one pic at the current time to post, but just wanted to jot down Landon has been doing the following things for the past week:

• Walking more than crawling
  
• Using his bum to go down stairs while using the stair rails to lower himself


• Saying "no, no, mama, dada, uh oh, ei, ei and dn dn, which I *think* could be his way of saying Landon??"


• Can do a full pivot while standing


• Can get self into a standing position without using something else to pull himself up with. He sort of does a summo wrestler's squat to get up.


• We also said "bye, bye" to bottles. Yippee!

He changes so much each day, I honestly can't keep up.

One Year Old Today

I can barely believe my once tiny baby is one year old today! How time flies. How challenging parenthood can be. How happy we are to have such an amazing little person in our lives and how good it feels to love this much.

I'll never forget Wednesday, January 31, 2007 for the rest of my life. I was at the doctor for a routine visit and I found out I was pregnant. 8.5 months later Landon was born one week overdue after he put me through a grueling 24 hours in labor. Doesn't matter; as I always say, he is a dream come true.

We celebrated with Grandpa Steve and Grandma Mary Ann. They brought Landon a cake all for himself and he LOOVED the frosting. Didn't care much for the cake, but couldn't get enough of the sugary stuff; obviously my child.

Happy Birthday to me!

First wish:
Examining the cake:


The fun begins!



Thirsty!

Very happy!

Lots of hugs and kisses to all the grandparents, family and friends for all their calls, emails, songs and love.
xoxo,

Lindsay, Stephen and Landon

This was me, then.

This time last year, I was 3 days overdue and just about to go ring shopping with Shelby. That night my water broke.

How life changes in one year.

Safe to say I'm feeling pretty nostalgic today.

Oldie But Goodie

Taken in late July. How cute is my kid?


In other news, this has not been the best few days for Landon. He's been crying, and crying and crying . . . . Last night he cried from 2 am to 4 am, and then I had to get up at 5 am! Literally, he falls asleep in my arms and the minute I put him down in the crib he is hysterical. What gives Lando??

In fun news, his latest game is pushing the dining room chairs about the house and banging them into everything and anything. I used to be very precious about all my furniture. How a baby changes this perspective!

He also crawls very fast, sometimes so fast he flips himself over and wonk! his head hits the floor. Poor little chap, it happened about 5 times on Saturday.

More later.

Beach Baby

For the past twenty+ years (literally ever since Kim and I ate 10lb of raw clams on the CT shoreline between the two of us), I have been lucky enough to be invited to the annual beach vacation of my best friend's family. It's a non-stop week of pure gluttony and nothing at all compares to it. It's also a bittersweet vacation as well as it marks the end of summer to our teacher mothers and the minute it is over, we start looking forward to next year.

This year was extra special because we were able to bring along Landon to share in the grand tradition. It was also superb for me because I got to eat cherrystones AND drink sangria - YUM. This year has been so busy with me going back to work, Steve making a career change and us in between homes, that life at home is just one giant race. Thus, it was incredibly meaningful for us to be able to settle down for less than 24 hours and just enjoy one another and Landon, who is becoming more and more a little person by the day.

It was a long and exaggerated trip to Rhode Island, complicated by a new car seat installation issue, but we finally made it! My two favorite guys:

Nothin' like a madras sun hat to make a dude look cute!


Walking to the beach. Landon loves being on shoulders. Let's face it, with Steve and I as his parents, he's not up this high on a daily basis!


Unfortunately, the first time Landon felt the water it was not a grand success. He loves the bath, but this was certainly much colder!


And of course he needed his mommy after . . .


and Daddy too!


Back at the house he had loads of fun pulling himself up on everything and anything:


Very proud of himself!


Catching some evening rays with Aunt Kim:

Next day at the beach . . . never one to sit still, Landon attemp standing up in the tent!

And finally a nap!

Just think, next year he'll be walking (no, running) and talking. FUN!

Landon @ 10 Months

I can't believe another month has gone by. It seems like just yesterday we brought our not so little little baby home from the hospital and now he is less than two months away from being one! Specificially he is:

• sleeping the night off and on (literally one week he sleeps, another he doesn't)



• is still 20lb, but has grown to (need to fill in)



• likes eating table foods for dinner such as pieced up chicken, pasta and bread. He really enjoys feeding himself!



• is constantly pulling himself up on everything and anything.



• tantrums when he doesn't like the position he is in



• has 5 teeth



• will not sit still to be changed



• continuously babbles "mama, dada, la, da, ahh, ehh" and lots of other noises, but no real words yet



• fits into 12-18 month clothing presently



• loves toys that make a shaking sound



• enjoys playing with the laundry basket



• walks from furniture to furniture



• does not like Stage 3 meals

• loves to hiss like a snake. We sing, "Lannndon the snake!" to him.
  


• still crawling like a silly monkey, although from time to time he crawls like a normal baby too.



• has no fear



• is eyeing the stairs

• is getting quite attached to me, in particular. Last week when I came home I put my things down and greeted Chloe first before picking him up and he started to cry in anticipation. He also loves to be held by me when he is cranky and to put his head on my shoulder.

A No Good, Very Bad Day

That's what Landon had yesterday, poor chap . . .

He cried (no, screamed) the night before for an hour at 11pm.

Then he woke up at 5:00am and screamed some more.

During the day he was ok, but the screaming started again in the evening and went on and off for the rest of the night until he finally went down around 9pm. At one point I brought him to the kitchen to fix him a bottle and just as I put him into a sitting position on the floor, his little body flopped back and wonk, he hit his head hard! He gave me a look that said, "Mommy, nothing is going my way today."

A screaming baby is tough on everyone in the house, no matter how cute he is when awake.

But then, as I watched him sleep, I was once again reminded what a joy he is to us, and how much he has brought to our lives.

We love you sweet boy. And we are very happy to report that you woke up today with a big fat toothy grin!

Landon's New Digs

We've officially moved into our new home, which means only one thing - Landon now has his own room - yippee!! Even better, the transition from him sleeping in our old shared room to solo was seamless.

We were lucky enough to buy a house from a family with two children under the age of 3. Landon's room is pretty close to perfect with the exceptions being:

1. Despite the top of the walls being painted blue, it was originally decorated for a girl, and has pink paint on the lower crown moulding squares:

2. It has the oldest lighting fixture in the universe. Seriously, it's circa 1935.

Nothing a little paint and a new chandelier can't fix!

I'm thinking this paint for the little crown moulding boxes:

And this fun hanging lantern for his light (the white):

Stay tuned!