Summer Pictures

Here are some pictures from Landon's first birthday party, some summer pictures, and some sweet video of Landon's first steps (it's at the very end, just hit play). Enjoy!

On the move!

As usual, I have lots of fun pictures of my boys hanging out. This first picture is what I affectionate-ly call "the cleanup crew". This is the typical scene after virtually every meal. Bailey makes sure that each and every crumb has been accounted for and Landon acts as the supervisor. The next two pictures are unusual in that Landon isn't trying to love (attack) Bailey, as seen in the third picture!

These days, Landon is exploring everything in the house. One of his favorite games to play is "Can I fit my head there???" He plays this little game by ducking his head and pushing really hard with his legs. This usually takes place under my kitchen chairs. Most of the time he gets stuck and I have to fish him out. He also likes to push the kitchen chairs around. He's already showing great offensive lineman technique!!! We are very excited about our trip next week to Tennessee, Kentucky, and Cincinnati. I'm praying Landon will sleep better this time than he did at Christmas. If he doesn't, I may need to take a taxi back home!

Haircuts and Bunny Rabbits!

These last two months have been a series of firsts for our little Landon. Two of the most recent include his first haircut--(because Daddy insisted) and his first Easter. He did very well during his haircut and didn't cry one bit. Bebe (my mom) held him so I could get some pictures and video. Easter morning was very fun!! As you can see, everyone got a basket! We almost had a fight when Landon tried to take Bailey's bunny away from him, but we got things smoothed things over. Since Landon's still too little for candy, he got some Gerber puffs and toys! Bailey got some treats and a pig/bunny chew toy.

Back In The Land of the Living!

Landon is feeling much better now and we are starting to function normally except for the fact that he's teething and getting up at 5 am. At least he's not coughing all night any more! These are the few pictures I've taken in the last month.

My boys helping me with laundry!

Very helpful, indeed!

This was the spectacular view from the entrance of our subdivision after our brief snow.

It was just too beautiful to pass up getting a picture!

One more view!!

And last, but certainly not least...... During Landon's most recent bout of sickness, he decided that he no longer liked to eat carrots, which is evident in this video. All the books say to keep trying to feed them foods they refuse to eat, so I did.....rather unsuccessfully, I might add! Please note the dramatic gagging.

Sickness, Yet Again

I feel like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day, where the poor man keeps re-living the same day over and over......I hated that movie. It drove me crazy because I never knew when it would end. That's kind of like the sickness that has descended on our home. We're going on week number 3 now, and I'm so over it!! Landon got it first, the coughing, sneezing, misery, etc. He was better the following week. Then at some point Mike and I both got it (and are still trying to get completely over the coughing portion)...and as luck would have it, Landon now has it- or something else AGAIN!! For a couple of days, we put Bailey in charge because he was the only one who wasn't sick! I have completely disinfected every stationary surface in my home with Lysol. Yesterday, Landon and I spent 2 hours at the pediatrician's office and left with 3 prescriptions...one for pink eye (oh yeah!), one for an ear infection, and one for the croup! That doesn't include anything for the diarrhea he had for over a week. The doctor seemed to think the pink eye, ear infection, cough, and diarrhea were caused by the same bug. His pink eye doesn't really look like traditional pink eye, but that's what we're treating it as. Unfortunately for my faithful blog followers, I have no cute pictures or videos to share, just a prayer request for good health and a little extra sanity. Oh my, summer can't possibly come soon enough!

SNOW!!!!

Sunday we finally had some snow in Georgia. I had given up hope of Landon actually seeing some snow before his first birthday. Our family and friends north of us who have had more than their fair share of snow this winter may laugh at our piddly little amount. To that I say, it's white and frozen, so it counts even if it was just a dusting and stuck around for all of 45 minutes !!! As you can see, my boys thoroughly enjoyed watching it come down from their perch in my kitchen window.
















Landon and Bailey enjoying the snow

More Snow watching

The best hideout in the house!! Landon has invaded

Bailey's command post. This is where Bailey

"observes" my parenting skills during the

day. Now, it's their version of

Mike's "man cave". Please note the messy pile of

books next to them on the floor. This was neatly stacked

before Landon got a hold of it, which is usually the

first order of business when he crawls under the table for a visit!

And finally, Landon's first snow song and dance.

Please note that the temperature inside our house was a

balmy 76 degrees while my sniffling, sick child was sockless.

His pants are rolled up for the flood because he's wearing

12 month clothes now due to his height. His waist is still

small (wish I had that problem!) and the pants fall down

when he crawls, causing a slip and slide hazard on the hardwood

kitchen floor. I need some baby suspenders!

The Call

Since I only work two days a week, I kind of look forward to seeing my patients and having some adult conversation. I had my day scheduled, organized, and planned out to the minute (pretty much). Then, I got the daycare call that every parent fears....."Mrs. Riddle, Landon just threw up all over the place and is running a fever, can you please come get him??" "Sure, I'd love to," I said, cringing at the mere thought of it. The dreaded stomach flu! I was pretty confident in my ability to battle any type of respiratory infection, but the stomach flu is a horse of a different color. "Could I handle this?", I wondered, as my own stomach started to churn with anxiety. I'd been on high alert for this since last week when I found out the bug had descended on Gainesville and was sweeping through my office. I'd heard stories of entire families getting sick for days on end. In route to pick Landon up, I tried to mentally prepare myself for the day (or days) to come. I called my mom for some advice on preventing dehydration. Since I've tried giving him Pedialite before with no luck, I knew it would likely be rejected again. So, with visions of ER's and IV's dancing through my head, I steered into the Publix parking lot to load up on supplies. I arrived at Primrose on two wheels only to find my little prince sleeping peacefully in his crib. Luckily, I think he just gagged during a coughing fit, which resulted in the nasty daycare incident. He gags on cheerios, for heaven's sake! He's definately sick with something (fever went up to 103), but I think we've dodged the stomach flu for now. WHEW!!! I am now stocked up on pedialite just in case- not that he'll drink it! Today's events served as a Tornado drill of sorts for the real flu.....you don't want to be unprepared!! Ah, motherhood, you just never know what fun adventure is in store for you !!!

Favorite Things

First of all, please notice the two tiny baby teeth in this first picture. They're still small, but they're there and very sharp! I normally don't use my blog for actual blogging, as I'm sure most of you have figured out. It's my way of keeping all our friends and family updated on Landon's pictures and growing experiences. With that being said, I decided to write a little bit about Landon's current favorite things. It's easier just to list them in no particular order:
1. Waking up with the roosters--around 5:30-6 am almost every day. I'm trying to teach him about weekends and sleeping later. One of the few traits he got from me, early to bed and early to rise!
2. Pulling up on anything that stands still long enough, that includes Bailey
3. Bath Time and his rubber ducky! He especially loves splashing as much water out of the tub as possible. Also, he wants ALL of his bath toys in the water. He doesn't stop searching until they're all in there with him.
4. Bailey--what can I say about my boy and his dog? To quote Forrest Gump, they're like peas and carrots. Bailey's favorite hang out used to be under the guest bed, but since he still hasn't given me the motherhood seal of approval, he feels I need constant supervision. So, he refuses to go in "his room" until Landon goes to bed for the night.
5. Daddy--the man of the hour. Those two have their own secret language. Landon can be throwing the biggest fit in history and will immediately start laughing if Mike walks into the room. Must be a guy thing!
6. Favorite books---Elmo's easy as 1,2,3 with the Count. He loves to pull the little tabs back to see the hidden pictures, also Peek a Boo Animals where he can pet the bunny and horse.
7. Banging objects together--the louder the better
8. Toys that play music, especially his piano and Vtech alphabet train that plays songs. He does a little rocking dance when the music comes on.
9. Crawling....everywhere. He's able to crawl up on hands and knees, but has figured out that he's much faster with the army crawl. So, if he's after Bailey, it's the army crawl.
10. Having his clothes off. What can I say, if he's fussing and nothing else works, the pants come off and we have a happy boy!
11. Taking his socks off and putting them in his mouth. He started this a daycare, don't ask me why!!
12. His blue blanket, AKA "the woobie" (from Mr. Mom). He gets very excited when he sees it. He shoves it in his mouth and growls. His woobie hangs out in his bed all day until nap or bed time.
13. It's a toss up between the cell phone and the remote. He likes both, but I think the cell might be the favorite between the two because it talks to him. If I'm desperate during a teething melt down, I'll call and check my messages and put it on speaker phone. The voice command lady is a big hit with him!

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can come up with at the moment. Here's some pictures from the week with a few of his favorite things!

Cruisin'

I discovered today, much to my surprise, that my little guy is not only standing in his crib, he's cruising in it!!! Thought the grandparents would like a peek!

UP and Running AGAIN!!!!

I am so glad to finally have my video back!!! I'm not sure what went wrong or how it got fixed, but here it is!!!! Landon is pulling up on everything these days. He is no longer content to sit in his infant seat (as you can see in the picture above) He'll sit in it for about a minute before he starts climbing out. He's also saying da-da now and has 3 teeth coming in. He has a lot going on!!!

Testing 1, 2, 3

It seems that our blog is having technical difficulties!! For some reason, I am unable to upload our most recent video. I must say the the customer support is terrible!!!! I have tried so many times to get help that I've gotten myself kicked out of the system because they think my computer is a virus!!!! Anyway, I hope to get this fixed soon so everyone can see Landon pulling up. Until then, here's a picture of the newly lowered mattress in the crib. My boys like it because they're practically eye to eye now.

"Bed Head" and Breakfast

Landon turns 8 months old this Thursday. I can hardly believe it!!! His little personality is really starting to shine! He is always on the go and hates to sit still. The other day after Landon woke up from his nap, his hair was sticking out in every direction. I just had to get a picture. Of course, we couldn't leave teddy bear out of the shot! Virtually every picture of Landon is blurry these days because he never sits still. Mike is campaigning pretty hard for Landon to have his hair trimmed, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to do it. It's too precious! When you watch the video, you'll hear what sounds like a ticking sound in the background. That is the rhythmic motion of tiny feet in constant motion, kicking the highchair. The head shaking started when he got the highchair, for two reasons: 1. The highchair came with a musical toy and one day he just started "dancing" to the music, 2. He really enjoys the sound of his head rubbing against the seat cushion.

Giggles

Let me first say that this video did not look this dark when I took it. That being said, the audio was too precious not to share. I learned this week that Landon thinks it's really funny when you gasp and look surprised. I made the face and sound in response to him peeing on me the other day and he just cackled! I figured I'd try to capture it on video for our families surviving the snow and ice!! Here are some warm fuzzy giggles from Landon!

January in Georgia

I wanted to post a couple more pictures and a recent video. We went to the doctor today for Landon's vaccinations and checkup. Everything is as it should be, 18 lbs and 28 inches. If we could skip the weekly trips to the pediatrician with "daycare-itis," we'd be perfect!!! I asked them if they needed a PT on staff since I was there every week anyway! The doctor recommended giving him puffed cereal that melts in your mouth instead of Cheerios to develop his fine motor skills and get him used to crunchy food. As you can see in the video, Landon's not a fan. We recently went to the Georgia Aquarium and Coca-Cola museum which are conveniently located right next to one another. Landon especially enjoyed meeting the Coke Polar Bear who was HUGE!! That bear was at least 7 feet tall and his eyes blinked! So cute!!! He sat on the floor to take pictures with the kids. I think Landon wasn't scared because he looked sort of like a giant version of Bailey. He loved seeing all the fish in the aquarium too. He just kept swinging his little feet in delight as I carried him around the place.

7 Months

Our little boy is growing so fast! It is hard to believe he is 7 months old now. He is sitting up much better now as long as something can occupy his attention, otherwise, he is not content to just sit there and is on the move. He is getting up on his hands and knees and is so close to crawling. Right now he's a little inch worm wriggling across the floor. Landon loves his new highchair, especially the noise it makes when he smacks the tray. His favorite outfit is shown above, nothing but a diaper. He gets so excited right before his bath because he gets to wear just a diaper for a couple minutes. He is babbling much more and continues to growl for everybody, especailly during my meetings at work!

Christmas Vacation 2008

Let me first say that I cannot figure out how to arrange pictures on this blog and after much frustration, I'm letting it go and just allowing them to be totally mixed up. Otherwise, the computer is going to be in my front yard next to the "for sale" sign. Anyway, Landon's first Christmas was a blast, exhausting at times because he didn't exactly travel well, but very memorable. Since the pictures are all jumbled up, I'll tell the story and you get to find the corresponding picture--like a little seek and find game! Our journey started the Sunday before Christmas when we went to visit Uncle Brad and Aunt Christy, Jackson, and Savannah in Tennessee. We had such a great time watching the kids play and spending time together. Then, we spent Monday through Christmas morning in Louisville at BeBe and Poppy's house. On Christmas Eve night, Landon got to meet my aunt, uncle, and cousins (Denise and Rusty, Ashley and Trey) and my grandma for the first time--sorry no pictures- I goofed and forgot to take pictures! The Christmas morning pictures are pretty easy to find- Landon's wearing the Santa hat and then with BeBe and Poppy in front of the tree. Then, we headed to Uncle Bill and Aunt Kim's house to celebrate Christmas in Cincinnati. There's a great picture of Benjamin, Nathan, David, and Ruthie patiently waiting on Great Grandma to finish opening her gifts before they got to open theirs..... I entitled it "Waiting". Landon got to meet Great Grandma for the first time Christmas Day. She really wanted him to eat some mashed potatoes! He also got to spend some quality time hanging out with Nana, Aunt Lora, Uncle Jerry, David, and Ruthie. Landon really enjoyed looking at David's puppets. He kept trying to eat them! Just before we left Cincinnati, I was afraid Landon was getting sick with an ear infection, but when I took him to the doctor, his ears were just fine. He's just teething! Daddy says we're not going anywhere for a very long time because Landon doesn't sleep well in his pack and play, which means we don't sleep either. We did have a great time visiting with everyone and making some great memories of Landon's first Christmas!! Thanks to everyone for making our trip so special!!!