A Little Catch Up

Soccer is in full swing and Landon is loving every minute of it. It took him two games to come out of his shell, but he scored two goals his last game. 

The past couple of weeks have been filled with sickness. Landon had a really bad stomach virus for a week and a half and then followed that up with a bad cold. We've been down and out for a couple of weeks now. I managed to not catch the stomach virus, but this cold has hit me hard. Landon was upset over the fact that he was sick yet again so I tried cheering him up by doing a couple of nice things for him. I baked him a cake, cleaned his room, and assembled all of his dinosaurs for him. Those simple little things made him very happy and it reminded me that sometimes the little gestures mean more than the grand ones. 

 

Landon is doing really well in school. He's learning Spanish and sign language. I love hearing about his day. He now knows all of the colors and the days of the week in Spanish. He also learned the Pledge of Allegiance. He's learning so much more than I ever thought he would in pre-school. His first field trip is coming up, which he is looking forward to. 

School and Soccer

The first two weeks of pre-school have come to an end. The first couple of days were a bit touch and go on whether Landon liked going. He would say that he had fun and would tell everyone that he wanted to go back, but he would come up to me as "Batman" to tell me otherwise. Batman would tell me that Landon didn't like going to school because it was "soooo long" and he missed his Mommy. I made sure to give Batman extra hugs on those days. Even if he said those things at nighttime, by the time we pulled into the school parking lot he was all smiles and shouting "yay yay yay" over and over again. I think it was just an adjustment for him those first couple of days. This is the first time Landon has ever spent any amount of time without an immediate family member caring for him. I think it also helps that Landon's best friend was able to get into the same class as him so he has a familiar face while at school. Plus, he's only there for three hours a day so he knows that he'll be back home shortly. His teachers tell me great things about him every afternoon at pick up. He listens well, he cleans up after himself and others, and he seems to always be on his best behavior while at school. I love hearing those reports. He may misbehave at times at home, but what four year old doesn't? The feedback I receive from his teachers reassures me that Landon is receiving the proper guidance and discipline from home. He knows how to behave and he knows how to respect authority. Yes, he may push my buttons or Kevin's buttons, but he definitely knows how to be on his best behavior while he's out of our care. 

This week was also Landon's first week of soccer practice. I was a little nervous just because I didn't know how it would be coaching a bunch of four year olds, let alone my own child. Things went well and I'm looking forward to this soccer season. Landon had so much fun and is asking every day if today is soccer day. I can't wait until his first game when he's in his uniform! 

Alligator Fun

We recently went to the Alligator Farm and Landon had a blast. That morning I watched as Landon started pulling all of his clothing out of his dresser drawers. I asked him what he was doing and he told me that he was looking for his alligator shirt. The only one he had was becoming too small so I placed it in a bin to donate. He was adamant about wearing his alligator shirt to see the alligators so I had to unpack it for him. We couldn't pull into a parking spot fast enough. Landon asked to get out of the car as we were still driving looking around for a place to park. He was so excited and the thought of waiting to park the car was just too much for him to handle! He ran to the first exhibit while yelling "come on guys" to those of us left behind in his dust.

Landon was able to pet a baby alligator. He then found out that he could hold that same alligator. His eyes lit up at the thought of it. That was, until he was informed that he was too small to hold the alligator all by himself. Landon was so offended by that, but his Uncle Matt came to his rescue and stepped up to the plate. I was going to hold it with him, but the second the thing was brought out of the cage and its head whipped around at me I screamed and stepped back. I knew right then that I wasn't a good candidate to hold its head. I took the picture instead from a safe distance away.

This baby alligator made Matt think that he could take on a 12 1/2 foot, 650 pound alligator. He paid money to potentially lose an arm or leg. Completely ridiculous, but he was Landon's hero for the remainder of the day. Matt made it out alive and Landon's first words to him were "Can I go down there now?" I think not, Landon! 

Once we saw all of the exhibits, we had to go around for a second time for Landon to lead us on an expedition with his binoculars!

First Day of Pre-K

Landon's first day of school was today. He did so well and kept telling me that he was going to be brave. And brave he was. He didn't shed a single tear. Me, not so much. I thought he was going to have a complete meltdown based on his reaction the night before, but he did really well when it came time for me to leave his classroom. The night before I made Landon cupcakes to celebrate the summer coming to an end. I invited one of his friends over to enjoy the cupcakes as well.

I then read a book to him that was read to me when I was a child. I love that this book was saved over the years and that I was able to share it with Landon. It was during this story that Landon became hesitant about going to school. In the story the mama bear leaves her bear cub at school. Landon realized at that very moment that I would actually be leaving him in his classroom with just his classmates and teacher. Before that point, he believed that I would be in class with him. The second I read that sentence his mouth dropped and his eyes grew wide. I reassured him that I would be back in just a couple of hours to pick him up and he promised to be brave. He made good on his promise and I of course made good on mine and came to pick him up.

 

 Landon was all smiles before leaving. I had a hard time containing his excitement.

 

 

I think this may just be the cutest backpack ever!

Random Pictures

This is going to be a post of several random pictures just because. I came across this little set up in the living room and it gave me a smile:

I would love to get into Landon's head one day. He has quite the imagination. I had him explain to me why the rhino was being surrounded by bugs and crayons. He said that the rhino was bad and the bugs were keeping him in his cage. Sounds good to me!

Back to school sales are always a great time to re-stock our arts and crafts supplies. I stocked up on crayons, colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, those sorts of things.  I organized Landon's desk and topped it with a couple of new coloring books and some drawing paper. Ever since, Landon has been spending much of his time coloring and drawing. I came across these pictures one night while I was picking up his room:

A snake slithering through bushes

 A giraffe eating from a tree

 A lion