Melt Downs & The Zoo

Yesterday Landon had a major melt down. It was my first day of training at the gym in Maple Valley and my friend Shellee was a saint and watched him from 7:30am to 12:45pm! She said that he was happy the entire time and played with her son Sutton. I was so happy to hear that and I was so excited to see him when I was done. He gave me a huge hug when I got there and we quickly went to the grocery store before taking him home and putting him down for a nap. He slept for 2 hours. He obviously needed to sleep longer because he was totally cranky when he got up. Then when Dad got home, changed his clothes, and was ready to go on a walk, Landon totally broke down and started crying. It was as if he had fallen really hard or thrown up or something like that because it was an emotional crying meltdown that seemed to last for 20 minutes! It probably was only 5 minutes, but it seemed like FOREVER! We kept trying to calm him down and tried to tell him that we were going to his favorite place (the park), but nothing was working. He suddenly just started to calm down and we went on our walk to the park. But when we got there, he wouldn't go down the slide. He acted as though he was scared of the slide. He was just in a funk, I guess. It was hard on me because I hate to see him upset, but at the same time, I don't want to feed his tantrum or give him his own way all the time...

Today the crankiness was not over. We were invited to the Woodland Park Zoo by some friends of ours, the Crossleys and Scmalles. And of course I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to go to the zoo just because Landon was being cranky. We left our house at 9am and luckily Landon napped on the way there. He NEVER takes morning naps. But that seemed to help a bit because he was happier when we got there. He was fine in the stroller for a while but once we took him out to see some of the animals, it was a challenge getting to sit back in it.

Landon & Daddy's first time to Woodland Park Zoo!

Yes, this is the sense of humor that made me fall in love and marry this man ;)

This was what I was talking about when I said it was hard getting Landon back in his stroller. We'd say, "bye bye Landon, we're leaving", and he'd wave at us and walk off the other way...like I've said in previous posts, this kid has no fear anymore!

"Look momma! EGGS!" I love the look of excitement/surprise on his face!

He was very excited to see the gorillas...

I love the look on this tiger's face...I can't believe I caught it on camera. Landon was pretty excited about the tigers too. He's familiar with gorillas, tigers, elephants, and hippos because they're in his favorite video and book.

Landon and Logan had a great time together on their first trip to the zoo. But Landon was definitely in need of a nap.

He should have followed the example of these brown bears.

Little buddies sitting on the Komodo Dragon!

Landon was intrigued by this lion...

So much, that he gave him a hug before leaving...

My favorite! I LOVE giraffes!!! And I told you that Landon was in need of a nap ;)

We all had a great time and it didn't even rain like it was supposed to. I'm definitely taking Landon back when he gets a little bit older. That way he'll get even more excited about the animals. I just love it when he gets excited about things.

15 MONTHS!!!

I say it every month, but I still can't believe how fast Landon is growing up. He is 15 months old now and curious as ever. We had his check up today and he is in the 75% for height and 25% for weight now. He is 2'8" (32") and 23 pounds. He had to have 2 shots today so I decided to take him for his first McDonald's Happy Meal because he got more emotional than he has in the past. He loves McD's cheeseburgers for sure!

My friend Carly started doing this thing on her blog and yes, I totally stole her idea, but I think it's a great idea and something fun to look back on. Anyway, I don't know if I've posted it before but I started it in my "Landon" journal (the hardbound book that I've written in ever since the day he was born).

Latest Words: "Daddy", "Momma", "Baby","Jesus" (and he points to a picture of Jesus and then kisses it...I LOVE IT), "Thank You" (sounds more like tee too...and he signs it with his hand too), "Bubble", "No No", "Boo" (and he totally tries to scare me by popping around the corner...it cracks me up), "Shoe", "Kick", "Ball", "Sticker", "Hi", and "Eye" (as he points to his eye).
Favorite Things: His stuffed animals. Especially Elmo, his blue Britt Bear, my pink bear from Potterybarn Kids, Koala bear from My Lola and Papa Dirt, and also his white teddy bear from my friend Sara, who I used to work with. His new blue golf club from the Wallises (we sent the other half home with My Lola & Papa Dirt, so that he'd have some toys to play with when we go over there this summer), the nose sucker (the blue bulb to suck out snot with), watching his reading video, airplanes...not riding on them, he loves seeing them take off and when they pass by in the air, getting his teeth brushed (doesn't matter if its the electric toothbrush or just the one that slips over your finger...he LOVES it!)

Favorite Foods: Italian Chicken, Mom's Enchilladas, Pizza (don't judge me ;)), fishy crackers, string cheese, pasta shells & cheese.

Dislikes: Getting his diaper changed, getting his nose wiped, when Mommy is on the computer, being in the stroller for too long, sitting still in church, riding on airplanes, having to go home from the park, sitting on the "time out" stair.

Accomplishments: Knowing who Jesus is...at least in a picture, Jumping, putting things away (with help from me, of course), going down slides on his own (this kid has no fear anymore), drumming without sitting on Daddy's lap (he can sit at the drum kit, on the chair on his own). Blowing his NOSE, not blowing through his mouth, when I say "blow" when I hold a tissue up to his nose.

Highs: Seeing Mommy in the morning, when Daddy walks through the door when he comes home from work, playing peek-a-boo with a blanket, chasing each other around the island in the middle of our kitchen, playing with friends, going to the park (mainly going down the slides), when he sees a dog (and I just started to realize that I need to have a little talk with him and try to teach him that not all dogs are nice, because he sticks out his open hand to every dog that comes close to him or he runs up to...kinda scary...I know he doesn't really understand right now, but hopefully soon)

Lows: Teething (those molars are really wretched!), being sick, going to the doctor...

Tender Moments: When he gives me a kiss and cuddles into me. The best is when I'm sitting in the chair in the tv room and he walks by to go to his playroom (right behind where I'm sitting...it doesn't really even qualify as a playroom) and stops and gives me a kiss and then goes off to play with his toys...its the best thing EVER!!! When he wants to climb into my lap to read him a book or put on his shoes. When he holds my hand when we walk to the park or just comes and grabs my hand and wants to take me somewhere in the house (up the stairs or over to his toys).

Last Week, Palm Springs & Easter

Last Saturday Landon was invited to his friend Kai's birthday party at Bouncy Place. He HATED it at first, but eventually warmed up to it after 45 minutes.

Notice Landon's face, he's totally fussing.

This is one of my favorite pictures...he's such a little sweetheart!

Last week Landon and I joined my parents and sisters in Palm Springs for their spring break. We had a great time. We got there early morning on Tuesday and we hit the pool right away. I love this picture...he looks so funny and reminds me of a Teddy Graham for some reason...Me and my baby sister Emma...who's totally not a baby anymore...but I still think she's 8 years old (she's actually 16 now). I'm never going to let her grow up ;)Some family friends, the Wallises, came over for the day and evening and brought Landon a life jacket and a little golf set.

Landon and Papa Dirt...they are such buddies!

They're so sweet. On Wednesday we went to the airport to pick up Aunt Beta (my sister Rebecca) and then we went to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. Landon LOVED it! He was so amazed by the fish tanks and the "realistic" animals. We sat by the gorillas and Landon would get really excited when they came to life.

My sister Rachel's best friend Lawranne from growing up. We bumped into her after eating at the Rainforest Cafe...how random is that.We went on walks on the golf course and Landon loved catching the players off guard with his squealing. Future pro-golfer...I think my dad was in heaven.Landon kept doing this thing where he'd walk around with his hands behind his back...it was hilarious!We found this lemon off a lemon tree on our walk...it was practically the size of Landon's head. I'd never seen such big lemons!!!We went in the pool and then after a little while Landon got out and decided to go over to the spa tub with my dad. He was standing on the first step and I told my dad that he needed to hold onto his hand or something because he would end up falling in. My dad was busy on his Blackberry. The bubbles turned on and the blue floating thing that holds the chlorine started going around the tub and Landon was determined to catch it. He reached out when it got close to him and, of course, fell in. He was in there for about 5 seconds...but it felt like forever and my dad jumped in, slacks and all, and pulled him out. I was at the other end of the yard, so I wasn't able to jump in after him. It was a little scary, but he was fine.

Landon and his M&M face. He loves those things.

Later that evening we went out to dinner at this place called the Jackal. I think that's what it was called. Then we went home and watched The Office. We did a little bit of shopping and went out again on Friday to Hog's Breath...Clint Eastwood's restaurant. Landon was acting like a pill the entire time.

Landon and Aunt Beta

That night my parents and sisters went to the airport to go home because they had a flight at 1am. Landon and I stayed at the condo because our flight wasn't until 10:20am the next morning and I got a cab to go to the airport. It was so weird because we had the air conditioning going in the house but that night heat started blowing in my room. Landon had to sleep with me in my bed because my parents took the Pack n' Play home with them. He just kept moving around and was so warm. So I took his pajamas off to see if that would help and he just slept in his onesie. He woke up about every hour and was just so hot and I decided to move us out to the couch because I thought it might help being in the AC. It still didn't help. I was so worried that he had a fever because he wasn't cooling down. I usually keep infant Tylenol in the diaper bag, but I didn't have any on me this time. I couldn't go to the store to get some because I didn't have a car, so I just prayed that his body temperature would go down. I swear I got about 3 hours of sleep that night because I was worrying so much. The next morning I thought he was fine because he was in good spirits. We got on the plane and he slept for the first 2 hours of the flight. The last 45 minutes was very frustrating because he was whining and fussing and when I'd give him something to try to make him happy, he'd just throw it on the floor. Ben came and got us and I asked him to bring Tylenol. It had been in his system for about 40 minutes by the time we got home and I took his temperature and it was 101.6 degrees. Later that night, after the Tylenol had worn off, I took his temp again and it was 103.2 degrees. I felt so bad for him.

I decided to make a fondant cake for Easter when I got home from Palm Springs, to take over to my in-law's house. It's the first one that I've ever made using marshmellow fondant, but I think it turned out pretty well, considering it was my first one. I thought it was going to take all night to make but it only took about 2.5-3 hours. That was including making the actual cake, the frosting, and cooling and dying the fondant. It was really fun and I can't wait to make another one.

Easter morning came and the Easter Bunny had visited Landon ;) He had his first own little egg hunt and it was so cute to watch. I got it all on video which you can check out below.