Mommy Confessions

There are so many mommy moments that we are all afraid to admit. Why? Because we are afraid of being judged. I'm putting it all out there so that I can let go of some of my mommy guilt.

I feed Landon cake for breakfast, kind of! Landon calls his favorite muffins "peanut butter cake". I bake a batch of peanut butter muffins every three days or so. Landon loves them and I can't bake them quickly enough. They are made with whole wheat flour and are loaded with bananas and carrots. Landon eats several a day and always asks for his peanut butter cake every morning upon waking. Other mornings I feed him apple flavored fig newtons (after all, they have apples in them!). He doesn't get these things every morning for breakfast. Some mornings it's pancakes, some mornings sausage, some mornings just a glass of soy milk. It's all up to Landon what he eats for breakfast. He's not a morning person, nor am I. Neither one of us have much fight in us in the morning so breakfast is pretty low key.

When I'm at my wits end and the weather is yucky outside I fill up the bathtub. I no longer care about water conservation at that point. Landon loves to play in the tub and it is my tried and true method for calming us both. Even the hard core environmental conservationist would be filling up the tub five times a day if they were in charge of Landon on one of those days.

I often forget about Landon's nightly sippy cup until the following night. They almost always roll under the bed out of sight. I always regret this the next day when I realize how bad sour milk smells. Even soy milk has a terrible smell when it sours. There are times when I just throw the sippy cup out instead of dealing with the smell and cleaning it. Thank goodness for those cheap disposable ones that Landon can now use.

I refuse to turn meal time into a battle. It's just one fight that I choose not to have with Landon. Instead I sneak pureed fruits and vegetables into Landon's food. Call it lazy parenting if you want like some have, but at least I know that Landon is getting his vitamins and daily needs met when most toddlers are not. I am also a firm believer that meal time should be an enjoyable time.

I have on occasion gone to bed with dinner dishes still in the sink. On these days, I will wash them the next day with the breakfast dishes. There are some evenings when I am just too tired to be bothered with them.

At times, I run the clothes in the dryer twice to try to get the wrinkles out. I hate ironing and always try the dryer method first. I then curse the dryer when wrinkles are still in the clothing and I have to pull out the ironing board.

I prefer Landon to eat healthy snacks. Yet, I have a secret stash of sugar filled snacks for when Landon goes to bed. It's my treat after a long day. I'm a hypocrite.

I allow Landon to take his portable DVD player with us while we're at the store. He will watch a movie while in the shopping cart at the grocery store or in his stroller while browsing through department stores. It keeps him entertained while I shop in peace. Fellow shoppers thank me as well since he's not screaming throughout the store like other children!

I often allow Landon to play outside after the rain has ended to jump in the puddles. It always crosses my mind that I should just throw soap into the puddle so that I can skip bath time!

Sometimes we even play outside when there is a light drizzle. It's so hard to stay in all day on rainy days so I try to make the best of it and if there is a real light rain, then I allow Landon to play on the covered back porch.

Cheese!

Day 31: A picture of myself.

I don't have a picture of myself on this computer. The closest thing that I have is a picture of Landon and I from the web cam. Every time that I'm on the computer while Landon is up he waves at the computer and says "cheese"- my cue to take his picture or video with the web cam. I love my camera loving boy!

Gone, but not Forgotten

Finally! I am finally finishing up that 30 day challenge that has now turned into a 60 day challenge. It's been bugging me that I never finished it. I didn't have access to a scanner for this post. I finally went to my mom's to use her scanner so that I could complete this challenge. I know no one else really cares, but I now feel better that it is complete. So here it goes:

Day 30: A picture of someone that I miss.

The person I miss most is the man that I called Dad for many years. He was my step-dad, but he was a part of my life at an early age so calling him Dad just came naturally. He died when I was 16. It has been almost 12 years now. There's still not a single day that goes by that I don't think about him. I miss my fellow prankster (my poor siblings) and his silly "ants in my pants" songs. I also miss my fellow Halloween and Easter candy bandit (sorry Matt and Jenn), his sweet tooth was just as big as mine! I know his presence is still with us. All I have to do is look at Alex to be reminded- he's the spitting image of our dad down to his mannerisms. I sometimes find myself doing a double take, especially now that Alex is older and becoming a man himself.

Late Night, Old Video

Landon and I were up late last night due to his coughing. I was so excited about how easily he went down to sleep and had grand plans of ironing when I heard Landon crying. I went to try to put him back to sleep, but he wasn't having any of it. We sat in the rocking chair for a long while looking through some old photos and videos that were recovered on an old memory card. I came across a video of Landon eating oatmeal. It's a really short video, but we couldn't stop watching it. Landon made such a mess with that oatmeal. He sure was enjoying himself though. That is made apparent by his happy dance! Landon had me play this over and over again last night until we both fell asleep.

  

Bubblin' Around

The weather was near perfect today. It was one of those days where I didn't want to spend a single second indoors. We did almost everything outside today. We ate lunch and dinner outside, we read outside, we colored outside, and we did a whole lot of playing outside today. Once again Landon was able to choose his clothing. I was the first one outside this morning (raking up tree branches from the neighbor) and Landon asked to come out. When I told him yes he ran to get some pants and shoes. He came back with animal pajama bottoms and blue sneakers. What I love most is the fact that he really takes time to decide what he's going to wear. Whenever I go into his room I always see all of his dresser drawers wide open. He goes through every single drawer until he finds just what he wants to wear. So out he came to play in his pajama bottoms. At least he had bottoms on today!

Landon loves to help Mommy in the yard.

Slamdunk!

The majority of our days are spent playing with chalk and bubbles. Landon loves bubbles. We go through a lot of bubbles. We tend to go through one large container of bubbles a week.

 I'm not really sure why, but Landon started to punch the bubbles and growl at them!

 Tink hiding from the bubbles!

 Landon chasing Mommy with the bubble blower.

Vacuum the Grass?

On most days Landon is able to choose his clothing. He always picks a t-shirt of some sort. It's usually a Toy Story one or one with animals on it. When we're just staying home, then he even has his choice of bottoms. There's no surprise here- Landon's bottom choice is usually none. When he gets to choose his pants or shorts, then he usually says "no pants". So no pants it is when we are at home. He is also allowed to choose his own shoes on most days. Usually he chooses his Croc's. Some days he chooses his Toy Story shoes, but today he chose something completely different. He chose his Mickey Mouse slippers. The other week he even insisted on walking around in them and he received quite a few compliments on them from the neighbors, which I think prompted him to wear them more often! This is how he spent the afternoon:

"Vacuuming" the grass while wearing his Mickey slippers, a dinosaur t-shirt, and a Toy Story Pull-Up. If only his bubble mower would actually cut the grass!

Running, Running, Running

No one ever told me that to be a parent of a potty training toddler that being a sprinter and cross country runner was a pre-requisite. Man oh man have I had my share of running these past couple of days. Landon and I have been out and about a lot this past week. I think he is almost potty trained. I'm saying "almost" because I don't want to jinx myself! He's gone all week without a single accident (besides bed time). The other day we were out shopping with my mom. First we went to look at plants. It was just a tent set up to sell plants. Landon informed me that he had to pee. I looked around and thought "oh crap". There were no bathrooms to be found. I had to run him across the parking lot to the restaurant. The whole time I'm running him across I'm telling him to try to hold it. He did just that and we made it on time, but boy was I worn out after that run. The next stop was to the mall. We were in a store that was connected to the mall, but not part of the actual mall. Of course they had no bathroom for us to use. I had to run Landon from that store to the center of the mall where the food court was. Luckily, we made it once again. Just an hour later Landon and I were in Target when he had to pee again. Of course we were in the back of the store in the toy aisle. I put Landon in the cart and once again sprinted through the store to get him to the bathroom on time. The whole time we are running Landon is yelling "hurry, hurry. Go quickly. Boy pee!" That was a lot of running for one day! Then today we were at Home Depot in the garden center once again looking at plants. Landon said that he had to pee again. We had to run into the store and find the bathroom. We round the corner where the bathroom is and Landon informs me that "boy can't hold it". I kept telling him to try to hold it for just another second. We reach the bathroom and Landon says "phewie" and wipes his hand across his forehead! I think there is a whole lot more running in my future. If only stores were designed by a mom. There would be a lot more bathrooms. Preferably one in the front and one in the back of every store. Now that Landon is potty trained we have to work on him telling me sooner when he has to go. Then we can slow down to a jog instead of a sprint!

Unsolicited Solicitor

I'm sure we have all had those days. You know the type. When you are running around the house trying to clean faster than the mess that your toddler is creating behind you. You are in sweats with unbrushed hair. Heck, who am I kidding? Your teeth are probably unbrushed as well! You are wading ankle deep through the laundry pile and only have 20 minutes to get lunch on or nap time will be ruined. Then it happens, the door bell rings. Everything has to be put on pause. You answer the door and hope that you are not scaring them away with your "mom" look. You quickly try to pull yourself together and answer the door. Just when you think you are actually pulling off a somewhat polished look your toddler greets the person at the door butt naked! Yes, that happens here quite often. It happened just yesterday to the alarm company that was coming around offering "free" service. I politely turned them away and then thought to myself that they must have a pretty interesting job. I can't be the only one who answers the door in such a way. I would love to be an unwelcomed solicitor just for one day. Just so I could reassure myself that I'm not the only one going around in t-shirts, unbrushed hair, and a naked toddler running amok on a daily basis. I'm sure these sort of sights are more common than someone answering the door in pearls with neatly brushed hair, a neatly polished toddler standing calmly at her side, with the smell of freshly baked biscuits greeting the solicitor. That's what I tell myself at least! Consider this as your warning that if you come over unannounced, then there is no telling what you will see when I open my front door.

Landon Facts

With Landon being two going on three, he has definitely developed quite the personality. There are many things about Landon that make him unique. I figured I'd share of few random Landon facts with everyone:

• Landon loves playing in the dirt, but hates to be dirty. He loves taking a stick and drawing in the dirt, but once he realizes that his hands are dirty he starts to freak out. He also has to have wipes or napkins with him while he's eating. He likes to wipe his hands off in between bites.
   
• Landon hates to eat anything yellow. This doesn't just mean that he refuses to eat bananas. It also pertains to yellow skittles, yellow fruit snacks, and yellow popsicles. Yellow skittles are always the ones that Landon offers to people because he doesn't want to eat them.
  
  
• Landon is a hard core hide and seek player. He hasn't quite grasped the seeking concept, but he sure can hide. We played hide and seek this evening and Landon peed in the pantry. He told me that he couldn't come out to go to the bathroom because he was hiding!
  
  
• Landon is very sensitive. He gets incredibly upset when a character on a movie is upset or hurt, even more upset when a person in real life is hurt or upset.
  
  
• Landon loves re-enacting scenes from movies (especially Toy Story). Every morning he goes around saying, "Mom, where Buzz is?" On Toy Story 1, Andy can't find Buzz and asks his mom where he is. I hear this from Landon every morning upon awakening and we then go to his toy area together to find Buzz.
  
  
• Landon loves the color green, but if you ask him what his favorite color is his usual response is "black"....not really sure why.
  

This was actually quite fun. I think I will add to it over time.

Milk Allergy Update

Today was Landon's annual allergist appointment. It was as expected- Landon is still allergic to milk. Somehow he is more allergic to milk now than he was previously. His allergist reassured me that there is still a chance of Landon outgrowing his milk allergy in the next couple of years. She has seen increased allergy levels in children two to three years of age before and by four to five they slowly drop back down. His increased milk allergy levels are not unheard of, but it's definitely not the news that we were wanting to hear. Landon was a handful during the skin test. He started screaming and protesting as soon as the nurse wiped an alcohol swab on his back. He kept saying "ouch" and "hurts" over and over again just from her wiping the alcohol swab on him. Landon then proceeded to say that the marks the nurse drew on his back with a marker hurt and started crying. He's one dramatic boy! The real fun began once they pricked his back. Thankfully it was only three pricks today. Daddy colored with Landon as Mommy made his boo boos go away by blowing on his back. I think the slight wind made the itching/burning go away. After a few he was back playing with his Toy Story toys to pass the time. Half way through the test we knew it wasn't good news. The spot was huge. Larger than previous tests. The nurse came in at the half way point to check on him and said that it was definitely positive and quite a reaction for only being 7 minutes in to it. Landon was a trooper and after 15 long minutes we were able to wipe his back off and apply some Benadryl cream. We then spent a good portion of the afternoon at Landon Park. We love that park. Not only does it share our Landon's name, but it is right on the water. Landon has also been asking to go to the beach. Every time we get into the car Landon tells me to drive to the beach. I may just have to make that happen this week since he was such a good boy today.

Alligators and Apples

Landon is really starting to enjoy making little art projects. I've been teaching him his letters. He's getting really good at knowing which letter is which. To try to really teach him his letters, I have been having him do arts and crafts around the letters. This week was the letter "A". I only do one letter a week. We work with all letters throughout the week, but we focus on just one letter so that he really learns them without becoming confused. I cut out two letter "A"s. At the beginning of the week Landon placed foam alligator stickers onto the "A". The rest of the week I pointed out all things that started with "A". On walks I would show him acorns and ants and everyday I would point to his alligator picture and ask him what letter it was. Later on in the week we made one more "A". We made apples out of play-doh and glued them to the "A".

He also makes random pictures on most days. He made one the other day with foam stickers. He was so proud of his picture.

 

Day 29: Silly Landon

Day 29: A picture that can always make me smile.

This picture is from when Landon was about 15 months old. It always makes me smile. He has always been so silly. He was walking around with me outside and decided to stick his tongue out at me. I managed to capture it on camera. I love this little guy so much!

Day 28: Biscuits

I've been a huge blog slacker. I guess once I fell out of the swing of things, it's been hard to get back to it. I guess I'll start off with finishing my 31 day challenge. So here it goes:

Day 28: A picture of something that I am afraid of.

I know this will probably cause a ton of laughs, but I am terrified of opening the biscuit canisters. Up until now only family has known about this crazy phobia of mine. I can not make myself open those darn things. The popping noise (or the anticipation of it coming) completely terrifies me. If I have to open them, then I will end up screaming and dropping the biscuits all over the floor. Thank goodness those yummy biscuits now come in re-sealable freezer bags, no popping of canisters required!