Our little man just turned TWO! Although if you've asked him how old he is during the past month or so he'd have already said two. We started practicing early so that he'd be ready, but it's weird that he actually is two now. It's funny because people think he's so smart that he knows yet if you ask him anything that starts with "how" and ends with "you"(e.g. how tall are you?) he will answer "two"! It's quite cute. For some reason this birthday hit us more than his first. Maybe because he still felt like a baby at one year. At two though, we feel like he's such a big boy and definitely lost the baby. It's fun and also sad to realize how fast the two years went. Then to think in two months we'll have two kids, yikes!
Landon enjoying his forward facing car-seat now that he's TWO!
Anyway, we still do believe he is a smart boy :-) The other day John looked up toddler milestones and we were actually quite impressed with how well Landon is doing. Although his speech definitely has room for improvement, he is putting 3-4 words together, knows above the 50 minimum amount words, knows 10 colors (they say 1 color at 33 months), can for the most part count (although he's starting to skip around again), can stack at least the 5 blocks, has essentially been potty trained for the past 5 months (minus poo poo), and many more. We've never really cared where he was and figured that he would be where he needs to be and we would just encourage his growth and development, but it's nice to know he's doing pretty well. Last year Landon ended up with Roseola for his first birthday which had him fevering over 103. Not the first birthday Shani had in mind for him. Although we know he wouldn't remember a thing, it was sad for us to not really celebrate and have a fun day with him. This year we made sure was much different! We started the day by going to breakfast with Nonni and Papa at the train restaurant that Landon likes. Then we went downtown to a place called ArtBeast studio where they have all kinds of great activities for kids. There is a drama room with dress-up, instruments, puppets, etc, an art room with paint, play-dough, moon sand, clay, craft paper, etc, a playhouse type kitchen room, tumbling room, and outside they had water and sand activities. It was a great place and he loved it. So after playing there for 2.5 hours we got some lunch and headed home for his nap.
Once he woke up we played around the house for awhile, made chocolate chip pancakes and cut out shapes using cookie cutters, then we made a healthy dinner (you'll understand the need for it to be healthy in a second).
Then for the most exciting part, we went to Leatherby's for ice cream! Landon probably had more sugar that night than he's had in his 2 years of existence! Shani was really good at letting him just enjoy his birthday ice cream and the "cancer berries" (a.k.a. maraschino cherries) that were on it. It cracked us up because everyone already had their ice cream before they brought out Landon's. Then the waiter brought Landon's clown ice cream with a candle on it and he kept saying "pretty please" and pointing to the spot in front of him. We have no idea how he knew that was his or that he'd enjoy it, but he just knew. They had everyone singing Happy Birthday (the place was packed because of Valentine's day) and then he was ready to dig in. It was so much fun to see our boy so happy! Landon, we love you so much and we hope you had as great of a day as we've had with you! Happy birthday bud-bud!
The other day Shani was changing Landon and without prompting he says to her "Biiiig tummy." Two words we've used plenty, but never together. Of course Shani laughed, gave him a look of surprise, and then reminded him that it's because the baby is in there. Landon knows there is a baby in Shani's belly and will give her tummy kisses and rub it without us asking, but apparently it's starting to get BIG. Shani feels like the belly has become big and can't believe we still have 2.5 months to go because that's a lot more growing for the belly (she means baby) to go through. Here is a comparison of her pregnancy with Landon to where she is currently.
It's mid-January, the weather is beautiful but cold, what could be better than going hiking...in the snow? NOTHING! (but warmth :-) Shani is feeling rather large with this pregnancy (John rolls his eyes ans says she's the same as the last time) and she told John that she wants to try to be better with her sweet tooth and to exercise more. She has been exercising much less than when she was pregnant with Landon. John's response, "Let's go for a hike." We hiked a lot during Landon's pregnancy and as most of you know, we love this activity together so Shani agreed. John then adds, "How about in the snow?" Not exactly what Shani had in mind, but John did just get some new snow boots and we've been wanting to give them a try. So within an hour of waking up on a Sunday, we were getting packed up to go hiking up near Donner Pass. John found us a well-traveled snow-shoeing trail making it easier to hike in since we don't have snow shoes (yet!). Like we said, it was a beautiful, sunny day, but very cold. The car registered the outside temperature as 17 degrees when we got there. We got our day pass, bundled up, threw Landon on John's back and started our hike at Castle Peak rd. We passed quite a few snow-shoers on the trail as well as cross-country skiers. We couldn't figure out if they thought were were crazy because we were hiking in just boots or because we were hiking with a toddler on our back. Crazy or not it was fun. Landon was very content in the pack and rather enjoyed passing all the people. The way up was nice with very little wind. Although we passed some people we also felt isolated which was nice. We hiked for about 45 minutes before we decided to turn-around and head back down. Down was a different story. Although it wasn't tough to hike, the wind, although very slight, was much more noticeable. This bothered Landon the most. He was not having it being on John's back. We think his poor exposed face was feeling very cold and his hands were a bit chilled too despite his mittens. Landon wanted to be held which we think is so he could then look backwards so the wind wasn't bothering him as much. Shani ended up holding him for a bit before getting tired and then John hiked the whole way back holding Landon in his arms. Back at the beginning of the trail we ran into another outdoors couple with a toddler on his dad's back. Turns out they are from Rocklin, their son is 2 weeks younger than Landon, and they are expecting another child only a couple weeks after us. Pretty crazy! Once we were back in the car Landon was much much happier. He was warm and could now eat the sushi he kept asking for. Although we will probably make sure to have Landon's face covered more, this is something we definitely want to do again soon. John loves his new boots, Shani loved getting out and exercising, and together we had fun doing something as a family. Keep checking back because I'm sure we'll have more hiking adventures before this next baby arrives!
Shani and Landon in their "under-layers"- yes we put a diaper on Lando before we left
We’ve been blessed with another great babysitter whom Landon loves. We had a mini Christmas dinner with him and his sweet girlfriend (Landon loves her too!). They spoiled him rotten with a wooden train, cute book, dinosaur comb, and play pots/pans and accessories. They also spoiled John with bottles of beer from Loomis Basin Brewing Company and Shani with a photo album of pictures of Landon dating back to the first day Andy started babysitting Landon. We had a great time together and are very thankful for them!
Landon and Andy
Landon opening another one of his presents
Landon and Tori
Christmas with the Buhs family:
We got to celebrate a very relaxing Christmas with John’s side of the family a few days before Christmas. With Landon’s naps being in the middle of the day, running from one family to the next was going to feel insane. This plan made things so much less stressful for the day of as well as a wonderful time hanging out together. Landon got an awesome balance bike from his cousin (its a bike with no pedals). He loved being pushed around the house on it. We think he enlisted everyone’s help (including Morgan’s) to ride it. He has a tad bit more growing to do before he can officially do it on his own as his little feet don't reach the ground yet, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to ride. John smoked a ham that was amazing and he and Kim drank a good variety of different beers (including splitting a $20 for a 12oz bottle of Westvleteren XII (a Belgium beer that was recently shipped to the US for the first ever)). We ended the night with homemade coconut milk candy cane ice cream, Yum!
Landon and cousin Morgan
Christmas Eve:
We had a fun day together as a family. There were no big plans for us so it was nice. We took Landon to the park to ride his bike. He was such a trooper considering he took a good spill. He did get back on though! Shani was a little bummed because Landon was starting to get a little sick and she didn’t want to miss Christmas Eve service. John said he thought it would be fine to take him to big service for as long as he could last. Well Landon made it through the whole service (minus 5 minutes while John took him out during the sermon). It was a very fun service and a great way to celebrate together. We then headed to the Folsom Lake Estates for our annual drive to see the luminaries and Christmas lights. We were bad and let Landon sit on Shani’s lap since we go so slow through there. Landon loved the lights and really enjoyed being out of his car seat to see them. Since then he asks for us to “hold you” while we are driving and have to remind him that we stay in our seat while driving (we know, so confusing).
Big Boy
Riding a bike with Daddy's help
Riding a bike with Mommy's help
Christmas:
Besides the fact that Shani slept on the floor in Landon’s room for 2 hours before getting up (John’s snoring was driving her crazy--in his defense he has had a cold), Christmas started out great! We sang “Happy Birthday” to Jesus then opened stockings and presents at our house before heading to Shani’s family's. Landon was definitely more into unwrapping the presents but would get fixated on a present and didn’t want to move on (especially a Leap Frog house from his Grandma and Grandpa Mac). Santa brought him a scooter that we should have had him open before the house as he sat on it for a second before going back to playing with the house. Since then he’s definitely enjoyed the scooter (the house continues to be a top toy as well). We finished getting ready then drove to Nonni and Papa’s. We had a very relaxing Christmas including a good nap (for all of us!). Landon got a toy kitchen from Nonni and Papa which kept him occupied the entire day! It was a very Merry Christmas!
Baby #2:
We haven’t updated much on our next little one on the way but only because we’ve been so busy running after Landon that we kind of forget we are pregnant with another one. It also helps that Shani continues to feel great and the pregnancy hasn’t slowed her down. We had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago and everything looked good. Baby was head-down already just like Landon's (yes that’s what Shani thinks) was at this time. The midwives are keeping the DVD for us so that Shani isn’t tempted to watch it and it continues to be a surprise like she wants. John is still trying to find reasons why we should find out early, but none have been good enough yet. We just had another midwife appointment and everything still looks great. The baby’s heartrate is 144 bpm (another reason why Shani thinks it’s a boy), the baby seems to be head-down still, and Shani’s belly is growing right on scale (although she feels it’s much bigger). It’s so weird to think that in 3.5 months we are going to meet this new one. Most of the time we feel like it was yesterday that we were having Landon. So crazy and so much fun!
Snow day:
We headed up to the snow with Nonni and Papa. We didn’t have to go too far and found a great area to play. Landon loved playing in the snow although he wasn’t too fond of walking in it. Then again it was hard for all of us to walk in it so no wonder he didn’t enjoy it. He had fun sledding and using his shovel. The weather was absolutely beautiful and a perfect day to go. Landon had so much fun that it gives us the incentive to go up more this winter especially since we are so close. John is hoping he can find a few good trails for us to go hiking in the snow which will also be great fun.
Goodbye 2012:
This has been a great year for our family! We’ve been busier than heck, suffered a couple loses, but have also had many joys. Landon has gone from a baby to a big boy this year and we’ve fallen more and more in love with him. He brings us so much joy and has brought so much laughter and love to our lives. It’s crazy to us that soon he will be 2! We made a small list of goals for 2012 and only accomplished one (a family trip together) but it was by far the best one! We’ll see what goals we make for this coming year and how many we are able to do, but no matter what we are lucky to have each other and be going through this life together. 2013 will bring some very big changes in our family and we look forward to another great year. We hope all our friends and family had a good 2012 and we wish you a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
