My sweet baby turned 15 months old on Monday!  And he is quite the little man nowadays.  When you ask him how old he is he sticks up one chubby little finger and grins from ear to ear because he knows he's going to be praised for his answer!  Just this morning, as I was leaving him at my grandmother's so that I could finish getting us ready to fly out tomorrow I blew him a kiss and for the first time, he blew one back!  I melted.  He still isn't a full blown walker but he has upped his record from 3 steps to 7!  He now has 10 teeth and 2 more breaking through.  His molars are almost fully in.  His favorite game is when he looks at Josh and says "mama" and Josh tickles him and says "no dada".  Or he says "dada" to me or sometimes "bubba".  I think "bubba" is his only new word since 14 months.  Landen loves to make car noises as he rolls them around on the floor.  He loves to sit beside us and watch TV but wants to hold your hand while he does...it's the sweetest thing!  Baby food is pretty much a thing of the past.  He loves table food and will only eat the baby food fruit once in a while.  He is wearing a size 6 diaper now!  And we are buying a shoe size 4 and a half to 5 wide and 2t-3t clothes.  I kid you not, I put a 3t outfit on him last week when it was really warm and it fit!  We go to the pediatrician for his 15 month check-up the Monday after we get back from California and I will give you height and weight stats then.  All in all, Landen is a ham.....but we love him so!

Oh and I forgot to add that he LOVES McDonald's sweet tea!!!  I know, I know, it isn't a good thing because it has a TON of sugar in it but he would drink the entire thing if I would let him!  When I put the cup in the cup holder he starts fussing and by the time we get home he is screaming for it.  Once I get him inside and put the straw in it he gulps it down like it's the best thing he has EVER had......

Ethan brought home his report card this week and once again he is doing wonderful in school!  He loves to read and now reads book all by himself.  He had baseball practice on Tuesday and as soon as he got up to bat it started pouring down rain...but he wasn't disappointed at all because his buddy, Roddick, got to sit in our truck until his dad got there and that was "awesome"!  Ethan has been telling everyone about what all he's going to do while he is in San Diego, so I am praying that it lives up to his expectations.  I've never been to Sea World but Josh said that he loved it as a kid and he is thrilled to take the boys there.  Ethan is quite the little entertainer....Tuesday after practice he went into Pizza Hut to pick up his Book It personal pan and when he came back out I could see the workers and customers all cracking up! 

Landen the Little Laundry Lad & the Tooth Fairy Visit Again!

This is my "Little Laundry Lad"....he LOVES to help me do laundry.  His favorite part is pulling the laundry out of the dryer and handing it to me to fold.  When he comes across a sock (no matter who it beloelongs to) he sits down and tries to put it on his foot.  It is the cutest thing!  I enjoy it so much that I don't dread doing laundry quite as much as I used to....now that's saying' something!!!

As you can see, Ethan has lost another tooth (his second in two weeks!). I think I am driving him nuts telling him to smile for me all of the time but he is just so cute with those missing teeth.  This one his dad pulled Sunday morning before church.  He forgot to put it under his pillow Sunday night because he fell asleep on the couch but Monday night he made sure it was there for the tooth fairy to come pick up.  He was pleasantly suprised on Tuesday morning to find ten dollars and a two little workbooks.  One was Dinosaur Mazes and the other (his favorite) was about the United States of America.  It had Abraham Lincoln on the front along with the liberty bell and he is very interested in the history of America right now.  Trying to save them for the plan ride to San Diego next week has been no easy feat so far!  We put them out of sight so maybe he will forget about them until then.  Ethan, you are getting to be SUCH a big boy and we love watching you grow and change....now smile for me, haha!

Baseball, Tooth Fairies, and Playtime

Ethan has began baseball practice.  He is playing Peewee this year and is on the Angels.  He really loves to play and enjoys the camaraderie with the other boys but we now practice an hour and a half which is a big jump from tee-ball and his attention span is just very minimal by the time practice is half over (keep in mind practice is always on a weekday after he's already been in school all day).  Anyway, we are enjoying the fresh air and the smell of Spring approaching. 

On Monday, Ethan had an appointment to get his teeth cleaned and the dentist ended up pulling his tooth that has been VERY loose for the last two weeks!  Ethan couldn't wait to get home and get ready for bed so that he could put his tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy.  He was very pleased to find his ten dollars and a Thomas the Train pez dispenser and he already has another one loose and is wigging it daily in hopes of receiving another visit from the tooth fairy (who he is convinced is a boy, lol).  I love to see his little snaggle toothed grin....he looks so different!

Isn't he cute with that tooth missing?  Btw, he desperately needed a haircut in this pic.....that is where we went as soon as we left the dentist!

Landen is cutting his molars and Orajel has been our BEST friend here lately!  They really hurt him at night for some reason.  He is still as happy as ever during the day though and plays up a storm.....

Barney, Loose Tooth, & 14 Months!!!

We ended February pretty quietly but I thought I'd share a few things with you all.  On Saturday February 19th we along with Josh's grandmother took the boys to see the Barney live show in Nashville.  It was really cute and Landen loved it but Ethan was a little bored.  I was afraid that Ethan was a little too old for it (even though he still enjoys the songs) but I was trying to find something that both boys would enjoy.





I must not watch enough Barney because I didn't know who the orange one was.  His name is Riff.

On Tuesday February 22nd, I attended Ethan's parent teacher conference (Josh was in Alabama for work).  Ethan is such a wonderful boy and his teachers said he is a "joy to have in class".  They gave me a progress report and he is doing very well on most everything.  He can identify beginning and ending sounds, sound out words, write simple phrases, identify all color words and all basic sight words, read his AR books independently, identify all numbers, count by 5's-10's-and from 1 to 100, and his work habits and attitude are  good.  The only things that we need to work on are counting by 2's and his "self help skills".  I admitted to his teacher that his "self help skills" being poor is totally my fault.  I do things for him that he can do for himself.  I  realized this even before the conference and have been working on it diligently.  He is my firstborn and I tend to "baby" him.  I never want to hinder my children in any way!  Therefore, we are working hard on building Ethan's "self help skills". 

On a more exciting note, Ethan has a loose tooth!  He has been waiting to lose a tooth for a while now and I don't think it will be much longer.  Ethan is absolutely thrilled and is wiggling the tooth constantly!  He told Josh last night at dinner that he should eat either corn on the cob or "hot dog on the cob" to make his tooth come out.  Josh asked him what a "hot dog on the cob" was and he explained that it has the hard bread around a hot dog and then the whole thing is on a stick, LoL!  Josh told him that was called a corndog and Ethan just didn't get why we were laughing.  He has seen corn on the cob come on a stick at some resteraunts......maybe that's where this "hot dog on the cob" idea came from!?!?


I have a few recent pictures to share with you....

Ethan yelled for me to come take a pic because he had gotten Landen onto the dinosaur with him!

This is how I found them this morning. I just thought it was the sweetest thing! You know, God's plan is always the best plan.  At the beginning of my pregnancy with Landen I was kind of hoping for a girl but immediately fell in love with the idea of two boys after my ultrasound. Their entire lives these two will always be BROTHERS!!

Landen is 14 months old!

Landen has been practicing going from sitting to standing on his own.  He holds his arms out for balance and he smiles a big proud smile! 

Even when he falls he just gets right back up.  He is still practicing taking steps but three is the most that he has gotten at once without falling.  He is such a big boy!

Yesterday (February 28th) Landen turned 14 months old!  Is it just me or do the months keep going by faster and faster? 

Landen is now drinking milk from a sippy cup.  He has been drinking juice and water from them for a while but refused to drink milk out of a sippy until a week or so ago.  Since this new advancement, he is only taking one sometimes two bottles a day (at nap time and bedtime).  Sometimes he goes down for nap time without one but sometimes he will not.  He is now only taking one nap most days (but it's a good 2-3 hour one most of the time).  Landen is eating any type of table food that we will give him but still eats baby food veges and fruit at lunch. 

We had to go see the pediatrician last Wednesday, February 23rd because he had been struggling with a cold along with cutting his stomach and eye teeth for about two weeks when I noticed him tugging at his ears.  Turned out he had a double ear infection (only his second ear infection so not bad, Ethan had literally had 15 by this point). So, we are still taking the antibiotic for that and we go back next week to be sure the ear infections are gone. 

Landen weighs 30 pounds but I am not sure about his length because they don't measure that at "sick visits".  I can tell you that 18 month sleepers are now too short.  He can still wear a few 18 months clothes.  The 18-24 months clothes fit him better and he is wearing some just 24 months.  He is still in a size 5 diaper and his size 4 shoes are slowly becoming to small a pair at a time.  I am hoping not to have to buy the next size until we are ready for Spring/Summer shoes.  But at this rate......I don't know if we will make it until then.

Landen's vocabulary now consists of  "mama", "dada", "bubba", "ba-ba", "dog", and lots of gibberish.  Of course he is waving, nodding, crawling, standing, giving five, and dancing.  He really tells stories now and waits for you to respond.  He is very good at communicating what he wants.  He waves toward whatever he wants as if he is saying "come here".  He also grunts and mumbles at it.  Landen's favorite TV shows are Sesame Street, Jack's Big Music Show (he dances the entire time), and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.   He plays the most with his cars, blocks, and anything that makes music/noise.  He has eight teeth and four more on the way through. 

Landen loves to help me with laundry and loading/unloading the dishwasher.  He is amazed by our dog and chases him all over the house.  He enjoys playing with anything that doesn't belong to him and leaves a path of destruction in whatever room he is playing in.  The great thing is though, once he sees me picking up he comes over to help. I think he has decided that putting things back where he has pulled them out from is almost as much fun as pulling them out :)

Oh Landen, my sweet monkey boy.  You have every single one of us wrapped around your chubby little fingers.  And the thing is, you are starting to realize it and use it to your full advantage!  We thank God for you and could not imagine this life without your infectious smile.