Saturday, August 13, 2011

Two growing boys!

Landon is set to start preschool next month, Sam is growing and changing by leaps and bounds every day, and life is ever-changing at home in our house! I wouldn't have it any other way and feel like we're all right where we're supposed to be. Well, minus a few piles of laundry and the dust bunnies in the corner.

Landon's love affair with all things construction and heavy equipment continues. Tonight after we had dinner we all went outside to play in the backyard before bedtime. Landon lined up every single Tonka truck that Mark and Uncle Erik passed along to Landon. When they were all in a row across the patio I asked Landon to count them (total mommy thing to do, I know...always a teaching moment), that kid has no less than fifteen mini loaders, bulldozers, diggers, dump trucks, etc. I pity any fool who tries to scale our fence and parade around our backyard tonight, it's like an obstacle course out there right now. Anytime we're in the car and happen upon what looks like a construction yard Landon declares it his work. Currently he has several locations throughout the East Bay. He's also the helmet police; when he sees anyone riding their bike he lets us know whether or not they're wearing their helmet. If they're not protecting their head he'll tell us that it's not safe and they'd better get a ticket from the police.

Landon wins the prize every time for being the most enthusiastic. About anything. And everything. You would think that his cup of severely watered down juice was being served to him from Mickey Mouse himself or that Sammy waking up was something that happened once each decade. I love watching him experience new things and taking it all in. Recently Uncle John took Landon to the Lawrence Hall of Science. I think Uncle John is trying to make a scientist out of our little guy, and it might be working. Oh, the stories he told us when they returned home. He loved ever single bit of it from the hot chocolate store (Starbucks) on the way to the whale and DNA outside and dinosaurs throughout. Landon still loves his "Drumming Song" (Train's Save Me San Francisco) and now tries to remember the words to any song that comes on the radio. He's also exercising his imagination frequently and makes up the words to his own songs. He named the fake owl outside that Daddy put up on the patio cover in a (silly) attempt to scare the birds away from pooping on the swings.

Each day Landon loves his brother more and more. I don't think there's anything in this world that I love hearing more than the two of them playing. Sam is getting to an age where he's very alert, active and responsive. Currently it seems like Landon's mission in life is to make Sammy laugh, and it doesn't take much for the both of them to get going. Today in the car on the way home from a birthday party there were all kinds of giggles erupting from the back seat; Daddy and I just looked at each other smiling. It's moments like those where my heart is truly happy.

Sam is almost seven months old. He's closer to being a big one year old boy than being my itty bitty baby. I find myself just staring at him trying to soak up each and every moment. He is such a sweet and easy-going baby; it doesn't take much for him to smile, laugh and coo. He's very observant and notices when someone is trying to catch his attention from across the room and often complies with a sweet, toothy grin. Yes, I said toothy. At five and a half months he sprouted his two front bottom teeth, one just a couple of days after the other. This last week brought his front top tooth on the left and the right is not far behind. You would never have known his teeth were coming (well except for the massive amounts of drool, but that's been going on for weeks now) until the night before they break through. That's really the only time he's been tough and hasn't wanted to sleep. Teething is hard work!

Right around five and a half months Sam also started sitting up on his own without assistance. He is loving this new vantage point of the world and took it as an opportunity to start scooting himself. At six and a half months he became a completely mobile baby, crawling, rolling and scooting himself wherever he wants to go. The other day I was sitting across the room from him, he managed to crawl over to me and started to pull himself up onto my lap. Best feeling ever. Seriously. At six months old Sam also got his first taste of real food. These days Sam loves to eat pureed avocado, peaches, mango, peas, sweet potato and apples. We're heading to the farmer's market tomorrow to pick up some green beans and will see how he likes those. If he's anything like both his Daddy and older brother he's going to love them.

Both boys are fast asleep right now and the house is quiet. During the day life is generally loud and hectic around here with no shortage of cuddles, kisses, singing and the occasional time out. Evenings give both Daddy and I a chance to breath for a few minutes and take a little break. Eighteen years from now we're not going to look back and marvel at the clean sink or tidy bathroom. What we will remember are our two silly, smiley growing boys and wish we could have just a little more time with them. For now, those dust bunnies can hang in the corner a little while longer - we're all right where we're supposed to be.