Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday. All in all it was a pretty good day. Very laid back and relaxed- just what I needed that day. The weather was way too hot for the zoo like our original plan so we did the next best thing. A shopping trip at Michael's! My mom told me that I could pick anything out. I almost tried pushing my luck by throwing a Cricuit machine into the cart, but the sensible side of me won out and opted for something smaller. I've had my eye on a wreath for the front door for months now. I was able to get all of the supplies to make my wreath and I'm really happy about the final product. I can't wait to hang it on my door. 

 I came across this picture that was taken May 22, 2001:

May 22, 2011- my how we have changed!

I spent the day with my family and couldn't have asked for anything better. It was a great way to spend my birthday! I was even serenaded by Landon. When we woke up he started singing "Happy Birthday" to me! It was the sweetest thing. Then he topped it and even managed to make me cry- not very hard I know, but he really was sweet. After he finished singing "Happy Birthday" he said, "wait Mommy" and ran off to his room. He came back a few seconds later and shouted, "Surprise Mommy!" He was pushing his Pooh firetruck and opened it up for me to see. He put some of his small toys inside of it as my surprise! I have a picture of my birthday surprise back at home. I will upload it later. He really was the cutest thing yesterday. I love my little boy so much!

Role Playing

Landon loves playing pretend. Every day he is a different animal. Most days he is a cat. He becomes upset if I refer to him as Landon while he is in cat mode. He will only respond to me if I call him cat and his response will often be in a series of meows! He gives me a good laugh every single day. He can go from this...

...to this in a matter of seconds.

 His personality is constantly changing. The one constant is the amount of fun that Landon can have with the simplest things. His Cookie Monster Play-doh set is one of his favorite activities. We play with it almost daily. He makes different fruits, veggies, and letters and feeds them to Cookie Monster. Today Landon even insisted on brushing Cookie Monster's teeth once he was done eating.

He then wanted to give him a bath, but I assured him that Cookie Monster doesn't need a bath. Landon settled on just putting a t-shirt on Cookie Monster and then went on to do his next silly thing.  The other day while I was cleaning up after our lunch dishes Landon came into the kitchen. He yelled,"Surprise! I Mommy!" I turned around and sure enough he looked just like me, kind of! He put on the t-shirt that I had worn to bed the night before and pretended to be like Mommy for the rest of the afternoon. I even had to refer to him as Mommy for most of the afternoon. He sure does keep me on my toes and laughing. Landon is the perfect pick-me-up each morning and evening.  

Three Year Photos

I recently had the privilege of meeting with a local photographer for Landon's three year photos. Every year we have Landon's pictures taken in a studio. We have always walked away with good shots, but the process is always rather stressful. This time around we were able to have candid shots taken at one of Landon's favorite parks. I am so excited over the end results. We wound up with a number of amazing shots. Here is the link to Landon's photo shoot:

http://britperkins.smugmug.com/Children/landon/17132673_VCJ9jd#1298323935_dh3b935

If you are in need of a photography in the Jacksonville area, then please contact Brittany Perkins at bajperkins@gmail.com. She did an amazing job with Landon. She was so pleasant to be around and Landon really warmed up to her.

Early Morning Road Construction

Today has been a long day and it is not even 10:00 a.m.! Landon woke up at 5:30 this morning and I woke up with a horrible headache. It was due from the combination of the lack of sleep over the past two weeks and the sinus pressure that I was having. I tried to persuade Landon to fall back to sleep, but he refused. He kept telling me that the sun woke him up. I told him that even the sun is still asleep. Landon's response was, "Oh, right. Moon wake me up!" I managed to stumble my way into the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. At this hour there was no point in a coffee mug. I put a straw in the coffee pot and was good to go! If only my coffee maker actually had a coffee pot. It would have been a time saver saving me from making several trips back into the kitchen for refills! With caffeine in hand I was ready to face the day. By 7:00 a.m. we had already made a tropical island out of Moon Dough complete with palm trees and monkeys. By 7:03 a.m. Landon was becoming bored. He was begging to watch cartoons. I wasn't fond with the idea of cartoon watching. I didn't want the day to be wasted in front of the tv. I also couldn't imagine going outside to play. I knew the outside allergens would have made my headache worse. Landon started playing with his toy cars. I kept thinking to myself that it'd be great if Landon had one of those floor road mats to play on. Then an idea came to me. I could make one. With duct tape in hand I set out to make a road way. The duct tape didn't go as far as I thought it would. The roll size was deceiving. I had planned on making a road wrap around the hallway and pass under the dining room chairs. I quickly learned that the road was only going to be a short one and only passing through one tunnel. Landon didn't seem to mind. He had a blast and it kept him busy for quite some time. Now I am wishfully hoping that it tires him out so that we can take a nice long nap this afternoon!

New Words

Landon's vocab has more than quadrupled over the past several months. There isn't a word that he can't say. This can sometimes be a bad thing. I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes and Landon was screaming, "Look Mommy, damn! Damn, damn, look Mommy!" I immediately stopped what I was doing and walked into the living room with the intention of explaining to Landon that we don't use that word. As soon as Landon saw me he said, "Beaver dam Mommy! Look look!" Phew! Crisis adverted (at least this time!). A beaver was building a dam on the tv show and Landon wanted to show it to me.

We did recently have the conversation that "crap" is not allowed. I try to not give bad words power. I know the more power I give to the offensive word, then the more Landon will want to use it. When the Jungle Book taught Landon "stupid" I ignored it and the word was quickly forgotten about. The same can not be said for "crap." Aunt TT uses that word a lot. I've asked her not to, but Landon picked up on it very quickly. If something doesn't go his way he says "oh crap" or if he's mad he'll say "crap" and stomp his foot. It happened so frequently that I could no longer ignore it. I explained to him that we don't use that word. Just yesterday Landon has been heard saying, "drap." That's right- my smart alec three year old replaced the "c" with a "d" in hopes of making it ok to say. Oh the joys of toddler hood!

Happy Birthday To You!

The night of Landon's birthday party he became really upset. He started crying because his party was over. He wanted everyone to come back over for another party. He picked up some of his balloons and started singing the Happy Birthday song. It was the cutest thing! He sang it for three days straight! I had the dining room light on when I took the video. It even looked really bright on the camera. Now that I uploaded it, it appears to be really dark. Hopefully it is not that big of an issue for anyone.

This will actually post on Kevin's birthday- Happy Birthday Daddy! Love, Landon.

3 Year Stats

Landon's three year check up went rather well. He is now 37 pounds and 39 1/2 inches tall. He's wearing a size 11 shoe and 3T-4T clothing. His speech is no longer behind and right on target. He's ahead of the game with his letters, colors, and numbers, probably because we make every single experience into a learning experience. Even when we take walks I'll ask him to find Mommy three sticks or four leaves. I try to make learning a fun and continuous thing. The only issue of concern that I had for his pediatrician was the fact that Landon throws up, a lot. He's always throwing up. At first I thought it was car sickness. Then it started happening at bed time and I was beginning to think that it was Landon's tactic to stalling bed time. It then started happening more and more even while he was running around. It looks like it's Gerd causing the issue. His pediatrician isn't concerned about it because it's not restricting his growth. I guess not at almost 40 inches tall! I've been stopping his milk come dinner time. He's no longer allowed to have a sippy cup of milk at bed. If he protests it, then I give him a cup of water and this seems to be ok with him. The throwing up at night time has only occurred twice this week since I've cut out the bed time milk. He does have a slight cold and is really congested so it may have been from that as well. Other than that small issue Landon is doing great. He's growing like a weed and is smart as a whip!

Dino-mite Birthday!

This past weekend was super busy and loads of fun. Landon's birthday was on Friday followed by his party on Saturday. Our baby boy is now officially a three year old! 

Landon's first picture as a three year old!

His actual birthday was a great day. We continued our Toys R Us tradition. Last year Kevin and I took Landon to Toys R Us to pick out anything he wanted. We did the same thing again this year. It was extra fun this year because Aunt TT and Aunt Keyko came along as well. Landon had a mini shopping spree at Toys R Us courtesy of his Aunt Keyko. It sure is going to be hard telling Landon that his toys have to go back to the shelves to go "night night" upon leaving a store now. He was able to walk away with anything that his little heart desired on his birthday. He was definitely one spoiled little boy on his birthday. We all had a blast and Landon was smiles most of the day while shopping. After lunch and shopping we came back home to cake and more presents.

 Telling us that he is 3!

The following day was Landon's birthday party. I think it was the most laid back party to date. I didn't stress a single bit. I even held my composure when Landon's cake fell apart during set up. I shrugged it off and continued to enjoy the day. Landon had a lot of fun at his dinosaur party. He was blessed once again with a ton of presents. He has a toy for every occasion:

Outdoor activities

Indoor activities

Learning games

Landon's cake worked out in the end. The dinosaurs broke in half so we placed toy dinosaurs on top of it. The volcano smoke cloud then broke so my mom made it look like lava split it in half. It all worked out in the end and it tasted super yummy! I was even able to make his Dinosaur Train track fit around the cake stand for the finishing touch. 

 L

Landon loved opening up his presents. He would quickly tear one open, toss it aside, and then ask Daddy for "one more." He had so much fun opening his presents!

 

It really was a great birthday weekend. Happy 3rd Birthday Landon Love! We love you to the moon and back, lots much!

Happy 3rd Birthday Landon!

Wow! I can't believe that it's been three years since our Landon Love was born. I have mixed feelings about Landon turning three. I am sad that the baby stages are completely gone. Late night feedings have been long gone, baby sign language has been replaced with full on sentences, and diapers are even a thing of the past. Who would have thought that I would miss diaper changes! When I look at Landon I no longer see a baby face. I now see a boy who is full of so much energy and life. The energy and spunk that Landon has makes this stage so much fun. That is definitely the bright side to Landon getting older. The amount of fun that we have on a daily basis is endless. Landon is always smiling and laughing. He's always looking for ways to have fun. He can turn the most basic of tasks like teeth brushing into a laugh fest. Landon's zest for life is going to make this next stage in his life so much fun. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us. The past three years have been simply amazing. The fourth year of Landon's life is bound to be amazing as well.

Happy 3rd Birthday Landon! Mommy and Daddy (and Tinkie too!) love you very much!

Here I Am!

The other day I was walking around calling for Landon. I couldn't find him anywhere. I knew that he couldn't get out of the front door and the back yard is completely fenced in with no exit. He had to be in the house somewhere, but I couldn't find him. After calling out for him several times I hear Landon say, "Here I am. Boy in chair room." I could not figure out what he was talking about by "chair room" so I followed his little voice. Sure enough I found Landon in the chair room. He was underneath the dining room chair that has a floor length chair cover. He was playing with his animal toys under the chair. When I said "found you" Landon wouldn't come out, but he did show me what he was doing.

I think I may make a tent out of the dining chairs and we'll have a picnic lunch sometime this week. The simple ways that Landon can have fun amazes me. How quickly we forget the simple ways that fun can be had once we become adults. Speaking of fun, Landon's toys drive me nuts. I can't stand seeing toys in the living room. Just because I am a mom does not mean that my life has to revolve around toys. There is no need to step on a toy or to sit on a toy or even to have a living room being cluttered with toys. I think I finally found a good balance between toys and a clutter free living room. 

Target had these storage cubes on sale one week. I picked one up along with four colored bins. The bins are in cream and purple of course. Landon knows that all of his living room toys must fit into these four bins. Whatever toys do not fit must be placed in his room. He's allowed to bring his toys out into the living room, but at the end of play time he knows the toys that do not fit in the bins must go back into his room. It's an amazingly simple solution to all of the toy clutter. My life has been much easier since coming across this toy solution.

Boy Oh Boy!

It's no secret that I wasn't thrilled when we found out that Landon was a boy. I've written about my disappointment before. I really, really wanted a baby girl. My heart was set on a baby girl. I had a girl name picked out, the bedroom decor already saved in an online shopping bag, and my thoughts were entirely consumed with purple and pink frilly dresses. I couldn't fathom having a boy. Once Landon was born I realized how silly I was being. I couldn't imagine not having my baby boy in my life. I was meant to be the mommy of this rambunctious, amazingly adorable boy. I am in complete denial that in just one week our baby boy will be three. THREE! I can't believe it. That being said, I am really looking forward to the boy stage. I never thought I'd get so excited over Landon hitting a ball with a baseball bat on just his third swing ever. I never thought I would enjoy playing with cars instead of dolls and tea parties. I never thought I would absolutely love wrestling with him instead of braiding hair. I love being the mommy of a little boy. And boy oh boy is Landon all boy.

 It was hot out the other day- surprise, surprise seeing as how we live in Florida. I couldn't stand being indoors any longer, but Landon kept saying he was hot when we went outside to play. I pulled out his blow up pool determined to spend some more time outdoors. I went to hook the hose up to the back spigot, but it wasn't working. For some reason the spigot in the back yard wouldn't turn on. I didn't have the right tools to hook the hose up to the washer and the hose was way too short to run from the front yard to the back yard. So I had to improvise. I walked pot after pot of water to the pool out back. After about the 30th full pot of water, I still only managed to fill a small portion of the pool. Landon was already busy splashing in it before I could even get his bathing suit on him so I just went with it. He splashed in about 1/2 inch of water and had a blast. He didn't just splash in the water though. He would run to a pile of dirt and cover his feet in it. He would then run back to the pool to clean his feet off in the water. I kept telling him that the water was getting dirty and that it was gross. I finally gave up on it and allowed him to play in the dirty water because he was having so much fun making the water dirty. I then couldn't believe what he did next. He caught a glimpse of his slide and I could see the wheels turning in his head. I just sat back and watched him do his thing. Landon went over to his slide and pushed it across the yard to the pool. He then lifted the slide into the pool and slid down it. I couldn't believe he had thought of such a thing. Landon is definitely all boy and an adventurous one at that!