Landon and Parker are being pretty darn cute these days. Now that Parker is more responsive, Landon is treating him more like a friend and less like a baby. It is too cute to see these guys in their own little secret world, and I feel like I'm witnessing the beginning of a very special relationship. Here are just a few of the pics I've taken with my phone recently. Enjoy :)
Sometimes I refer to them as "Little Big" and "Big Little":
Boys will be boys ;)
Two healthy boys at their check-up:
Finally, my FAVORITE thing is when Landon makes Parker laugh. As I've said before, I'm pretty sure he is better at making Parker laugh than anyone else. This was a moment during last night's dinner:
Not only was September 6th a big day for Landon because he turned 2, it also marked his first day Preschool. It's nothing too crazy; just three hours two days a week, but there is one thing for sure, Landon LOVES going to school.
Here was our little man in his very first "First day of School" pic:
We had met his teachers a couple days earlier and Landon had already got the chance to take a gander around his classroom. All this made for a very smooth transition.... I wish I could say that was the case for all the kids in his class :/ When I dropped Landon off, he headed straight for the trains and didn't look twice as I walked out.
When I came to pick him up, he still had a huge smile on his face... and a birthday crown"!
Mrs. April said he was a champion and didn't cry once. I actually had expected this since we have such a social dude on our hands.
Since then, Lando is still loving Preschool. When we arrive in the parking lot, he proudly exclaims, "Landon's Skoo!" And as we make our way to his classroom, walking is never fast enough- "Landon running!" It's a great feeling knowing that Lando is loving school so much. He loves his teachers and already I'm seeing changes in him ( FINALLY my child can sit through story-time!!). I can't believe he is old enough to be there, but it's also exciting that he is turning from toddler to super cool, awesome, CHATTY kid :)
Bonus pic - Landon all dressed up for Picture Day:
At the beginning of the month we had Lando's 2nd birthday party. Because Landon had been hooked on Dumbo at the time I went for a classic circus theme. With the cutest invites ever from my friend Lauren at Papercutinvites.com and some of my own little touches, Landon had a great birthday at the "Butler Big Top"! Here are some of the pics from our little man's day...
The "Concession Stand" (someday I will remember to take pictures BEFORE things start getting moved around :/):
The party favors:
Auntie Lauren and Auntie Sha with cuties, Nolan and Ewan:
What's a circus party without clown noses??:
Friends and outdoor fun:
More friends and cousins:
Presents, presents, and more presents (Landon was spoiled by his loved ones):
And, of course, cupcakes:
I'd say Lando enjoyed his:
REALLY enjoyed his:
Even Parker had a great time... making his own love connection ;)
Well we thought we were gonna get away with it, but our results or so obvious, we have to come clean. Truth is, we clone our babies. That's right... clone. I mean how else could we have two boys that are seemingly impossible to tell apart? Exhibit A: Guess who's who?
Uncertain? You're not the only one. We already can tell that we will have a VERY hard time telling our boys' baby pics apart. And while I am obviously kidding about the cloning, it is pretty uncanny how similar the two are. Oh, and in case you are wondering, Parker is the first pic, Lando the second.
The differences can only really be seen in their size (the two pics above are actually a two week difference- Lando was soo skinny), their skin tone (Landon was more yellow, Parker is a bright pink), and, of course, their awesome hairstyles. Both have sweet rocker 'dos, but where Parker rocks the natural fo-hawk (1st), Landon had the more all-over-stickin'-up style (2nd).
I know as Parker grows he will have his own look, but it's been crazy to have him so like his bro :)
Time is ticking away and before we know it #2 will be here! In the meantime, I'm trying to take in all the solo-Lando time I can knowing that after #2 gets here things will inevitably change. So what's up with our little dude? Welllll:
He has a lot of character. He's so funny and loves getting a reaction out of people.
He is go go go all the time. Believe me, I am happy to have an active, curious little guy... but at 36 weeks pregnant he can be just a teensy bit exhausting. Don't worry, I have my secret weapon - the park :)
He LOVES his cousins. Since being back from Italy, he's had plenty of cousin-time and, boy, does he love it. Kaylee and Landon's new favorite thing is to get in the dog bowl and make a watery mess (if only I had a pic).
He loves swimming in the pool. I CAN NOT wait to start swim lessons with him as soon as we are settled. I've never seen him smile as big as when his dad throws him up high and catches him as he hits the water.
He's going to be a great big brother. He loves other kids and babies and I just know that he is going to take good care of his little bro. We are so lucky to have such a sweet little boy to be an example for #2.
Here are a couple of pictures of Lando I've taken using Istagram. I love these pics, but mostly because I love the little guy who is in them.
It's hard to imagine that in less than a month we will have two little guys consuming our lives. Can't wait to see what #2 is all about :)
I figured that since many of you aren't able to see Landon right now, you'd like to know what's been going on with our little man. So here it is, all you need to know about Landon.
-First off, he is a crazy man. This kid is go, go, go until Nate and I finally get to him to bed and then collapse into our own bed from exhaustion. Exhibit A- Landon running wild in Siena:
-Speaking of bed, because Italians eat dinner so late here and restaurants don't even open until 8, we put him down at 9:30pm. It leaves less time for Nate and I to get our baby-free night time (like we got in the States when bedtime was 7), but it's temporary.
-He is a talking and word machine. Landon is picking up new words daily. One day I asked him if something tickled and he repeated, "tickle." It's crazy how much his vocabulary has grown in the last few months, and it was good to begin with. He loves being able to communicate with us and we like being able to understand what he needs. A few of his favorites include "Barney" (see below), "snack," "poopoo" (yes, he tells us when he is working on a little something. Hoping that will be good for potty training when we get back), "milk," and those two he can never say too much, "mama" and "dada." Of course, my favorites are "please," "thank you," and "I love you." They aren't enunciated perfectly, but close enough :)
- Ugh. Barney. Unfortunately, Barney has become somewhat of an obsession and the thing is it's really the only option we have to give him. I think he likes it because of all the singing and music, and there's even a couple songs he can sing along to.
-He's into animal noises. Landon loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear and because we were reading it so often we started teaching him the sounds of each animal. Once he got those, we've moved onto other books with other animals. I'd say the two cutest ones are his "baaaa" and "mooo," although his "woof" is pretty darn cute, too.
-Landon is getting sillier by the second. He loves dancing around and goofing off. And once he notices he's gotten a laugh out of you, he's going to keep with whatever is provoking it. Exhibit B- Landon at the park, making his Mama laugh:
-He almost has a full mouth of teeth. Since being here, I think Landon has gotten all four molars and his incisors. Now he is just missing a couple on bottom and he'll be good to go.
-Landon thinks it's funny to follow commands. Sometimes I do it just so I can get him to stay in one place for a minute (secret's out). Exhibit C - Landon following commands:
-He loves Italian food. Fortunately, our boy has not gotten sick of pasta and I don't see it happening anytime soon. I just know one day my 20 year old son is going to ask me where his love for Italian food came from.
So that's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I missed a bunch of stuff, but you know, I can only remember so much these days. We love our little man and think he's been such a trooper on this trip. We can't wait to see him in his new role as big brother. I'm sure he'll be amazing at it :)
When we were leaving for Italy people kept saying how they couldn't wait to hear Landon speak Italian when he returned... which I totally scoffed at. Our boy is definitely strong verbally, but I didn't think 3 months in Italy would really be enough time to pick anything up.... Until the second night we were here!
Watch Landon's first Italian word :)
"Ciao" in Italy means both hello and goodbye, and seeing as how Italians LOVE kids Landon did hear a lot of them right off the bat. Can't wait to see what he learns next!
Today at the grocery store we got a new, "You know who he looks like?" comment. And guess who it was?? Brad Pitt!! Haha. I thought it was too funny not to share. She went on, "He's got the eyes, the lips, the nose.. everything!" Ha. You be the judge:
Landon LOVES when we sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. He's even getting some of the hand motions down (in his own way). I get a kick out of it so I had to share:
Since Landon was born I've heard it a million time, "He looks like a little elf!" So for this year's Christmas card I played it up and dressed our little guy as an Elf. Only three pictures made it onto the Christmas card so I had to share some more. I'm happy to say that I've heard great feedback that the card is bringing laughter and smiles to people's faces... just what I had hoped. I hope these images do the same :)
Introducing... Lando the Elf! Possibly my favorite pic! Check out his pose! (Unfortunately it didn't catch the natural light, the others did): A close runner-up: He's a So Cal elf... they're hard to come by, but they do exist! So jolly! Ooo, love this one, too: "I'm outta here mom!" A special thanks to my hand model, Turi, who helped make this photo shoot happen :)
Today marks the day I met the one and only Santa Claus. Here are some pics from this ginormous event in my life.
My moms and I posing for the camera: Kisses for dad: I waited very patiently in line.... or as patiently as a one year old can wait, anyways: "Is that him?!" "What are you all about?" My official 1st photo with Santa"
I didn't know what to think of the big guy. I wasn't scared, but I also wasn't too impressed. Maybe I'll like him more after I see what he brings me at Christmas.
Hope you are all enjoying the holidays as much as I am.
This is our first X-Mas with a very mobile, at-times rambunctious, curious little guy, so the question is- can we get a tree? So far he has done alright with the X-Mas decorations I have put out, but how will an 8 foot tree go? He is obsessed with leaves and bushes when we walk the dog so I could see him tampering with the tree. That said, can I really feel like it's X-Mas without one??
I need advice. What do you think- tree or no tree?
Just for fun - Landon, a year ago today exactly :) Remember when I had a brunette baby? Ha.
Well, Halloween is about over and after today I've come to one conclusion: Halloween is just more fun with a toddler. Nate's family has had a bat costume passed down from generation to generation... okay, not quite so dramatic, but the hat was once worn by the one and only Uncle Pete and has hit many cousins since. This year it was Landon's turn to wear it and after I put him in it, I just couldn't get enough. Hope you all had a great Halloween, and if you didn't maybe these pics will at least bring a smile to your face.
The cute little bat, Lando: Exiting the bat cave (and REAL excited about it): Showing his bat speed: Having a snack, watching his bat mom get her work out on: Enjoying the fun Stroller Strides Halloween festivities: Silly little bat: Things are always better once bat dad is home from work because we get to do stuff like carve a pumpkin: Meet Jack-O: Can't wait to see what next year brings :)
