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| Landon the eater... Here he is taking bites (plural) out of MY lunch, which he does often to any plate within his reach. |
Impromptu outing to Tower Park on 4th of July weekend to see some boats and get an ice cream was a fun time, and we saw this super-red-and-tan 49er boat (with logos and all).
This year we made it to the the annual family reunion for Jimmy's mom's side of the family. It is always the second weekend in July, which is when we are usually celebrating Caleb's birthday, but this year it finally worked out to go! We had a nice time, and the boys liked getting wet in a river (new for them I think), although next time we will come better prepared with some floaties and maybe flip flops because Caleb did not like walking on the rocks and sliminess of the riverbed.
Our neighbor, Jacob, got a new bike for his birthday in June, and in July Mary decided they wanted to give his old bike to Landon - the perfect size for Landon! He loves it, and switches back and forth between this 'new' red bike and his blue balance bike, which he flies on! If I can ever figure out how to upload iphone videos to YouTube maybe I can share a video of him riding...
Landon:
- "That makes me happy", and "That not make me happy"... he regularly lets us know when he is happy or unhappy with something in this way. It took me a bit until I realized how it is that Landon started saying this. I have found myself telling him that certain behavior makes me happy or not happy with him, and he has started using it to say he likes or doesn't like something.
- "When I grow up I want to be a.... " - His recent answers have been: "horsie"; "racecar"; "Superboy"
- For the past few months, he has consistently been calling red, 'pink' - does make me wonder if he might have some of my dad's colorblindness, or maybe he is just still figuring his colors out.
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| Making their own pizzas |
The boys are now both able to make it all the way to Nonni and Papa's house on their bikes (with one of us, of course). The way home after swimming is still tough for Landon, but he makes it.
Been having some napping frustrations with Landon lately... Awake in his room for 1-1.5 hours, sometimes leaving it looking as you see below, and finally falling asleep around 2:30 with the shades wide open and sunlight pouring in. Silly boy. Hoping this trend will be ending soon and that its not the beginning of the end (of napping).
At the end of July Jimmy and I had the opportunity to get away for an entire weekend together, just us - first time being gone for more than one night together since Landon was born. It was SOOOO nice having three whole days to ourselves! It was a great reminder of why it is so important for relationships to have time away from children periodically.
We had a wedding to attend in Los Angeles, and took a scenic detour to get to SoCal - on Friday we did some wine tasting in the Paso Robles / Edna Valley areas, stayed the night with gracious hosts in Arroyo Grande, and made our way down at a leisurely pace to L.A. for the wedding, stopping at a few random places along the way just because we could. A fun and refreshing time away!
The following Monday after our trip was Caleb's first day of Pre-K (4-yr-old preschool). He was excited to go back to school, and Landon and I headed out to Philips' Farms to cut some fresh flowers. Landon had fun helping me in between eating his snack, and on our way back in he wanted to climb the big tree.
Landon was totally ready for his first day of school, too, and for the first week, kept asking "I go to school too? I go to my class?" (More to come on that soon...)
He wanted his picture taken like Caleb with the sign.
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| My little helper :) $2 for all these flowers |
It doesn't cease to amaze me how things just suddenly click for kids when they pass the developmental thresholds, so to speak. What I mean is there are often frustrations with wanting our kids to try a certain thing, or accomplish a specific milestone, and we get frustrated when they aren't interested or just aren't ready yet, and then one day they just are. I have seen this happen overnight with Caleb - I always remember how the very first Sunday after he turned 3 he walked into Sunday school without batting an eye and said goodbye to me, when every drop-off prior had been full of tears, clinging limbs, and screaming. Something clicked when he turned three, literally. More recent occurrences include Caleb being done with night diapers (our house is now 100% diaper free!), Caleb having an interest in practicing writing his letters, and we're still waiting on the training wheels one. Its nothing revolutionary that this happens, and everyone experiences it I'm sure, but its just amazing to me to see the difference once they are ready for something just how effortless and enjoyable it can be for it to happen!
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| Somewhere on this paper are all the letters to spell out 'Happy Birthday' and his name signed 'Caleb'. I showed him how to do each letter and he watched and copied it to make this card for a friend. Two months ago he wanted nothing to do with writing letters. |
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| Thought this was cute as his drawing are becoming more recognizable. Its a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. |
