We might have a climber...

Just tonight, Jimmy and I were talking as we were playing with the kids on the bed in Caleb's room.  I don't have any pictures handy of his actual bed right now, but here are a few from Google Images...  It's a reversible bed that can be flipped upside down to be a bunk bed, but right now it is just a single bed with a frame around it (see below).

Below is an Ikea photo of how it can be used for two mattresses to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.  This is how it will be once we flip it.

We were telling Caleb that when he turns three in July we are going to flip his bed over, which he didn't really tune into because he doesn't yet know it can be used any other way.  We were talking about just using the bottom part as a play area for a while until Landon is older and then they can share the bunks - at least waiting until he is two in November before thinking about putting him in a bed.

Well, about an hour later, once Landon was in his crib for the night, he started to cry in a panicked tone, so I went in to check on him, only to find him on top of the crib rail, with one leg on the outside and one on the inside of the rail, laying on his tummy clinging on for dear life.  It appears as though he tried to climb out, and got stuck and scared when he was half way there.  When I put him back into his crib, he laid right down on his pillow, and didn't move an inch.  I think it might have really scared him based on his reaction once he was back down.  Really hoping that it startled him enough to not try it again, and hoping that we will still be able to keep him in the crib for many months to come!  He is our good sleeper who takes nice long naps and we do not want to lose that by having to put him into a bed any sooner than necessary!!   Oh the fun...

Silly boys dancing

Daddy took the boys in to get them dressed one morning last week.  Minutes later, they came running into the kitchen doing this...
(See below or click here)

A Fun Start to Our Memorial Day Weekend!

It's cherry season, but since Jimmy's role at his new job is with a different role in the cherry world, it is the second year that he will get to enjoy the day off for Memorial Day.  Last year he actually asked "What do people do on Memorial Day weekend??" because it had been so long since he hadn't had to work then.  This year, though we didn't make plans ahead of time, we wanted to go and do something fun with the kids during the long weekend, so this morning we made a last-minute decision to check out the Discovery Bay Kids Museum in Sausalito with a Groupon we had.  Turned out to be the best weekend for us before its expiration, and added bonus, our friends, the Walters, were going the same day so it was extra fun for Caleb and Landon to have good friends there, too!

This museum was recommended by a friend and we had a lot of fun!  It is at Fort Baker in Sausalito - some parts in the old buildings, and part outdoors.  It was a fantastic setting being right next to the Golden Gate Bridge, and the weather was awesome!

Inside the Bay Room... Made to be like a mini Bay Area with train tables that had a Ferry Boat, and a Golden Gate Bridge, a cargo ship with a moveable crane lift and 'shipping containers' that could be lifted onto it, a big fishing boat where the kids could pretend to reel the line in and out and 'catch' fish (they had a hook to take them on and off the line), and a crawl through tunnel that looked like you were under the ocean.

Jimmy helped Caleb let the line down to me below so he could 'catch' a fish (I connected it onto the hook)

Buildable foam boats in a long trough with a wind machine at one end of it

Landon pounding on the button that turned on a wave machine

Giant foam blocks

Borrowing another little boy's firefighter hat while playing on a fishing boat in the outdoor play area

Sunken pirate ship

Instead of a sandbox, this place had a gravel box, complete with hard hats, shovels, big metal dump trucks, and these tables with funnels to scoop and pour the rocks through.  I think Jimmy plans to build one soon for the boys... :)

Lots of washers spin circles as they fall back down to the bottom of each pole.

Jen called this a serenity room for kids...  There were three play corners that basically had waterbeds for the kids to jump on.  They probably spent twenty minutes just running from one to the next and bouncing all around together.

Video of the boys having fun on the giant waterbeds (video):

The black foot pump buttons on each side make bubbles come out of frogs mouths that are in acrylic tubes.

Cute (and tired!) boys after playing for two and a half hours.  Love how they just stood there, no pose.  Guess we have to teach them how to pose for pictures, too :)

Landon trying to escape.  He is definite a fearless climber, much more than Caleb ever was.

Our Fam!

It was fun to have Landon be slightly older now than when we were in Chile, and he can enjoy these day trips even more and participate instead of hang out in the stroller.  We also really enjoyed watching Caleb run from one area to the next with his little buddy Jake.

Landon's look-alikes

Everyone has their opinions of who Landon resembles most, Jimmy, me, or some other member of our family.  We have our opinions, too, but the most agreed upon consensus seems to be that he looks quite a bit like our nephew Deacon, and Evan (our neighbors in Santiago, Matt and Jessica's baby).  Here are a few pictures to compare:

Do you see any of the resemblance??  :)

Landon at 18 months

Of all the things that Landon has been up to this past month, the most obvious change has been with his speaking.  He has really picked up speed in the past two months on saying new words, and lots of full gibberish sentences as he tries to put things all together.  Here are some of the ones I can remember...

English words:
- dow - down
- up
- ohhh
- bunny
- cotter/copter - helicopter
- car
- melmo - elmo
- baby
- color
- pi-ta (pizza)
- more
- peer (pear)
- several animals sounds when we look at books or play with animals...moo, baaa, quack, woof...

Beginning to combine two words together:
- Bye daddy!!
- A ladder - while building fire trucks with blocks he repeated it after Caleb
- Uh-oh daddy
- Choo-choo Train
- ah dah - all done

New Spanish words:
- bo be ba - bombero (fire fighter and fire trucks, but he uses it mostly for fire trucks - He is VERY into fire trucks right now, and will say this word if he hears the sirens, and also loves to find pictures of the trucks in our books and he brings it over to point out to us as he says the word)
- caballo (horse - Landon says 'ballo')
- coche (car)
- hola - not a new one, but he still loves to hold anything up to his ear and say "Hola!" - phones, trucks, shoes, or just his hand.

Landon has figured out how to drink out of a straw.  Maybe he will also like the straw sippy cups...

Landon's favorite thing to do right now is 'read' and be read to.  He will grab a book and come show us something, or grab our hand and pull us over to where he wants to sit down and read, then he backs up into our lap and sits down.

I would guess that he is pushing 30 lbs now... When we took him to the pediatrician at the beginning of April he was 28 or 29 lbs, and we will have his 18 month appointment soon to see where he stands for all the baby stats...

Experimenting with balance as he has figured out how to spin, and of course, also gets dizzy.  He doesn't quite know what's happening, so he has a big grin on his face at his accomplishment and the feeling it gives him.

Another cute smoothie mustache...

Landon loves sitting on people.  Anyone in that position he thinks is fair game and that they must be there to play with him!

He does this position a lot (do yoga people call this Downward Dog maybe?).  Any time now he will push hard enough with his toes (accidentally) to go over into a somersault.

The aftermath of a birthday cupcake

We took the boys to get barber shop hair cuts shortly after getting home, and it was Landon's first time after my attempt at our house in Chile.  Poor planning on mommy and daddy's part because we went just before lunch without any snacks or pacifier.  Don't know what we were thinking there.  Although he cried he did sit very still, and was completely fine as soon as the lady was done.

My handsome boys  :)

Landon continues to be a dog lover.  He has so much fun with Gio and Bella, likes to give them hugs and lay on them as you can see below.

Carrying and pushing the Elmo potty around the house is loads of fun...

Landon is really into the tee ball this past month.  He likes to go grab the tee, bat, and ball out of the garage by himself, set up the ball, and knock the ball off, all by himself, and he is content playing with it alone.  So far he bats mostly righty...

Practicing with Papa Jim

Landon loves to love on babies... cousin Beau, the Auerbach twins, and even random ones we see in public...  He gets a big smile and says "Beebee!"  He also likes to point to baby pictures of he and Caleb hanging around the house to say baby.

Starting to figure out how to get his feet off the ground just a little bit when he does his "salta" (Jump).

He also LOVES jumping on the trampoline, at home and at the kids gym. See video below, or click here.