Thursday, March 17, 2011

growing...learning...8 months old.

My boy is 8 months old!  Actually in less than a couple of weeks, he'll be 9 months old!  Where has the last 3/4 of a year gone?  And while the time has gone fast, his growing, and learning, and changing has happened even faster.

As soon as he learned to sit, just a few day before Christmas, his development has just taken off and everything started happening faster than I can almost keep up with.  I am so thankful that I get to stay home and watch him grow, something I missed out on with Alyssa.  His little personality is really starting to shine through also.  He is the sweetest, most lovable little man I know.  I can see hints of stubbornness, but with Jason and I as his parents, that probably just comes natural to him. :) 

He is both talkative and quiet, depending on his mood.  I find he is a bit more talkative in the evenings.  And as soon as you talk back, he is very still, just listening.  I am sure he is just soaking it all in.  The sounds he makes have really developed over the last month.  His first sound was bubba, then momma, then dada.  Now he is talking all sorts of gibberish.  I just love it!  And the raspberries... oh how I love when he blows little raspberries.  :) 
He is really starting to love his toys and is learning to play with them.  The more noise they make, the better.  It's fun to watch him explore his little world. 

He loves music, and will rock on his bottom (dance) to a beat. 
He also loves commercials on tv, the strangest ones too.  His favorite, the Nationwide Insurance commercial.  I haven't quite figured it out yet, maybe it's the white background that makes everything else pop, maybe it's the little tune that they play.  But whenever it comes on, he will stop whatever else he is doing and watch it. 
Oh, and the vacuum!!  Landon is a big fan of the vacuum.  He gets so excited every time it runs.  And if it's just sitting out, he will talk to it with loads of excitement in his little voice.  It's times like that, I really wish I could know what is going on in his little head.  I wonder just what his thoughts are.
After quite a few months of rocking on his hands and knees, he started crawling... the day after his 8 month birthday.  When he crawls, he turns his little hands inward and looks like a bulldog.  Jason, of course, loves this!  Jason loves bulldogs and now he has his very own... well, sort of. :)

Landon loves to open and close anything that he can, doors, books, some of his toys.  But in the last couple of weeks, his curiosity has grown and he is starting to become a little more interested in what is behind all those doors he is opening and closing.  I am now picking up our dvds at least a couple of times a day. 
With his new found crawling skills and my lack in judgement as to how fast he can actually move now, he fell down the stairs last week.  Ugh.  One of the worst mom moments ever!  I stripped his jammies off and checked all over for injuries.  None to be found.  The kid is tough! :)  Thank goodness, because I just about had a heart attack and poor Alyssa cried worse than her brother.
We started feeding him foods at about 6 months old.  He still isn't eating much though.  Maybe a couple of tablespoons once, sometimes twice a day.  And that is fine with me.  He is still nursing and I plan on that being his main source of food for at least his first year.  There really hasn't been much food that he doesn't like, except apples, and I'm thinking it's more of a texture issue.  He isn't quite ready to eat anything that isn't fully mashed up.  We've tried cut up bananas, peas... he just isn't ready.  His favorite foods so far are peas, spinach and bananas.  Funny, right?  Alyssa loved all things orange as a baby and her brother loves his greens.  I hope he grows up to love all fruits and veggies like his sister, I have been so blessed by her eating habits.

Landon started off his life being the best little sleeper I could ask for.  By week two he was sleeping through the night and only waking once or twice.  I was only lucky enough to have that last for the first four months though. :(  Now he is up periodically, some nights worse than others.  I hear he takes after his dad that way though.  Jason, I guess, wasn't much of a sleeper either.  We started putting him in his crib around 6 months to see if that would help...not so much.  Halfway through the night, he usually ends up back in our bed.  We went out and bought him a Sophie to keep in his crib because he started refusing his pacifier and I really wanted him to have something that would offer some sort of comfort to him.  His sleeping could definitely be worse, so I wont complain too much.  And I am almost certain it has a lot to do with his development.  As soon as all of that started really taking off is when his sleep patterns also changed.  I will say, the last week or so, he has taken some really great naps though!  And I have to remember that it will get better.

I am in love with the way he reaches up to me now.  He loves his daddy, and is so happy to see Jason when he gets home from work every day, but Landon is a total momma's boy through and through right now.  And that is just fine with me!  I feel a little selfish, but my heart just swells every time he reaches for me when he is in someone else's arms.
Landon also loves sweatshirt strings, well, any strings really.  But especially sweatshirt strings.  Teething (he has his two bottom front teeth) would have probably been less tolerable if it weren't for the strings.  It's one of the first things he looks for when Jason picks him up.  He also likes to untie the strings on the chair cushions at the dining table and chew on them.  He is constantly making me smile. :)

Landon's newest trick that really has me on edge lately is his new found ability to pull himself up on things to stand.  He still isn't quite tall enough to reach the chairs, or the couches, or the coffee table, but he does use his toys, the bricks in front of the fireplace, and as of yesterday, he discovered he can also use the tv stand.  It scares me a little, okay, sometimes it scares me a lot.  Now I am wondering how much longer it will be before he is walking?  Jason was an early walker, 9 months.  I was a late walker, 13 months.  And Alyssa was in between, 11 months.

I have to say, even though he keeps me on my toes, he fills my heart with SO much joy.  I am so thankful that God decided that he was the one for our family.  I cannot imagine life without him.  It's hard to remember life before him.  He just fits.

Friday, March 4, 2011

February 2011

February is a great month in our household.  So many great things to celebrate in February.

The month started off with a great gathering of some of my best girls.  It's not often, that we all get together at the same time...so when we do, well, it's just great.  (great must be the word of the day. ha!)  Sitting around reminiscing of the past and catching up on the current events in each others lives, I always have such a good time when I am surrounded by them. 

Mid February is where it's at though!  We've got Jason's birthday, Valentine's Day, our first meeting anniversary, and the anniversary of our engagement.

Jason's birthday is the day before Valentine's Day... he is a love baby. :)  It's hard to do much though with all of the Valentine's Day crowd out and about.  So this year we stayed home.  I made dinner and Alyssa helped with dessert.  Blondies with butterscotch chips and vanilla ice cream.  Delish!
My mom came over for dinner and we exchanged Valentine's with her since Valentine's Day was the next day anyway.  My mom had decided to get the kids clothes this year since Landon obviously isn't old enough for chocolate and none of us really need it anyway.  Landon didn't care too much about the clothes but oh boy, he sure did love him some tissue paper!

  And who could forget the hangers?

Alyssa is very much a girly girl and developing a love of clothes and shoes and accessories.  She wore her new sweater to school right away.

I gave my mom her Valentine after dinner.  Tickets to Elton John!!!  Yay!!  That is right... I said tickets... guess who has the other one?  Me, of course!!  I'm so excited!  Mom is too!!  We are going to have such a great time, I can hardly wait!  I was debating getting a ticket for Alyssa as well, and make it a true girls night out.  I mean it IS Elton John after all!  But as I played some of his music for her, she just sat there with a blank look on her face and said she would rather see someone that she actually knew.  So it's just me and my mom and that is okay.  It's been a long time since we have done something, just the two of us.
We, of course, had to serve Jason his dessert with a candle.  Alyssa sang him Happy Birthday.  And then we surprised him with a gift of his own.  A new pair of jeans that he so desperately needed and the new Toby Keith CD.  I think if Jason could be anyone other than Jason, he'd love to be Toby Keith.  I don't get it... but that is fine.  Sort of like the fact that he doesn't get my love for Kieth Urban.  Both Keiths!!  What do you know? :)  Mine is still the better Keith though. ;)

This year for Valentine's Day, we decided to make our Valentines for each other.  I love making cards!  I cannot scrapbook to save my life, but cards... that is a whole different story.  Jason even made his card to me.  I think it challenged him a bit.  But I think he was also proud of himself and the masterpiece that he came up with and he should be.  It was great. :) 
Alyssa made hers to both Jason and myself from her and Landon.  So cute!  She did a great job too.

And here are the ones I made for them...


We also made some for school and Girl Scouts

Needless to say... we were really busy being crafty in this house.  It was fun... something that I really haven't taken the time to do since I've had Landon.  I think making each other Valentines is something we will do every year.  I'd much rather get one of those than something anyone can buy in a store.

February was also the beginning of Girl Scout cookie selling season.  Alyssa has a goal this year to sell 700 boxes!  My more reasonable goal for her is 500, but I am fairly certain that she will surpass that.  Just after pre-sales, she is at 430!  A big thank you to all of our friends and family for their support!  And especially to her grandmas... we couldn't have gotten this far without you! 

The rest of the month was filled with regionals high school wrestling, the boat show, dinner at the Steam Plant Grill with friends, our niece's birthday, and Jason registering for school!  Yep!  Jason will be going back to school this fall.  As long as there is no waiting list for the program he has chosen which is HVAC.  I couldn't be more proud of him!  He still has to go in and take the placement test and apply for financial aid, but we are keeping our fingers crossed and sending up lots of prayers that the path will be cleared for him to start this new journey in life.  So anyone else who would like to also keep him in your prayers... well, that would just be awesome.

So that was our February.  Fun as always.  I cannot believe March is here already!  Spring is right around the corner.  Whoot!!