Christmastime is here!

Can you hear Charlie Brown and all of his buddies singing? Oh, you can't? Just stop by our house, I'm sure you'll have no problem since "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is permanently implanted in the DVD player these days courtesy of Landon. He's become well acquainted with Charlie Brown and "Snoopy the dog" and attempts to negotiate a viewing often.

The holidays through the eyes of a child cannot be described. The wonder, amazement, enchantment, sparkle, and excitement are unmatched; it's too bad it only lasts for a little over a month. We've packed quite a bit into our holiday cheer and celebrations already - and it's only the fifth of December - partially because Landon (and Mommy and Daddy too, who am I kidding?) is way into it. This year's holiday season is so much fun.

This year's Christmas tree is the first tree in 30-ish years of Poston family history to come from a tree lot instead of the Plumas National Forest. The area got quite the dumping of snow and after hearing that there was upwards of four feet of snow before another storm came through - and confirming with the ranger station that the only way in was by snow mobile, snow shoes or skis - we ended up finding a great tree at a you-cut lot up in Placerville. Gotta keep those high ceilings at home useful somehow, and we ended up with a 14 footer this year. Quite a different experience, but we still had a good time.

Landon was introduced to "handy canes" and has decided that he absolutely loves them.

We made Christmas ornaments out of salt dough to paint and hang on our tree.

And who says it doesn't snow in the Bay Area?!?! We took advantage of all the snow the city annually pipes into downtown. At first Landon wasn't too sure about all this white stuff but eventually decided he loved it, from the snowballs to the sledding down the "hill."

After all that sledding tired us out we decided to get an extra special treat. Landon got his first taste of hot chocolate in a seasonally appropriate little red cup from Starbucks. Landon was so excited he could hardly contain himself, and it was just about the only thing that tore him away from the snow outside, but he was over it once he finished about a quarter of his hot chocolate and he wanted to go back outside to play some more.

Every year the carousel at Tilden Park lights up with Christmas trees, lawn decor, Santa and even reindeer make an appearance. It's whimsical and magical and a holiday tradition that's recently made its way on our to-do list as this is the second year we've climbed the winding roads through Berkeley's foggy hills at night. A few trips on the carousel, a visit with Santa (his reindeer were off that night), marveling at the "beyoodaful" lights, picking out an ornament for our tree at home and a "pocorn" snack we had a great time.

Stay tuned, more holiday adventures await!

Gobble gobble gurkey, plum turkeys are we!

Thanksgiving has come and gone, we're all on the lookout for the man in the big red suit these days but had lots of fun and stuffed ourselves like turkeys over Thanksgiving. Landon "gets" the holidays more this year and it's so much fun experiencing things through his eyes with all the excitement, wonder and innocence. He was SO excited to have turkey on Thanksgiving and we both had a good (and sometimes challenging...patience mommy and daddy, patience) time cooking Thanksgiving dinner with my little sous chef. I don't think we left anything out: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie. I told you we stuffed ourselves like turkeys. Landon's job throughout the whole process was to measure, dump and stir. He helped with the cranberry sauce, pumpkin cheesecake and green bean casserole - and made sure to enthusiastically let everyone know exactly what he helped with.

We had a low key and fairly quiet Turkey Day. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV, we talked this up with Landon for a few days and the night before Thanksgiving he was so hyped up to watch the parade in the morning it ended up making bedtime a little difficult. Macy's didn't disappoint our little guy, we recorded the parade and have since had to watch it again a few times. A nap, some cooking, setting the table and a little rest for mommy and daddy and our guests for dinner arrived; Auntie Kate, Uncle John, Great-grandma Jean, Granddad, Nana-reen, Aunt B, and even Papa and Grandma Nancy ended up coming. Granddad gave his little buddy a bath for the first time and everyone went home in a turkey induced coma.

True to tradition, we all convened at Great-grandma Jean's on Saturday for more celebrating with the extended family. In cheesy family tradition and in memory of Aunt Bunny who always started us off and sang the loudest we sang "Gobble Gobble Gurkey" before eating dinner even though turkey was not on the menu. Landon loved it and now requests the "turkey prayer" before dinner - HA! Heide was home from college so we celebrated her belated 21st birthday with a champagne toast (Martinelli's "apple wine" for Landon) where Great-grandma Jean gave Landon a special cordial glass to toast with. Landon bit down on the glass and broke it in his mouth after he polished off his apple wine, we spent a good five minutes making sure he didn't have any broken glass in his mouth. He didn't, luckily spit everything out, and we're no worse for the wear. Plastic from now on though!

Fall is here!

What better time for a camera dump? Check out what we've been up to...

Landon's been earning his keep helping mow the lawn just like Daddy

We picked out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch just in time for Halloween

We visited Grandpa Jay up in the mountains. I don't know who had more fun, Grandpa Jay or Landon. Landon talked about the trip for days and still talks about Grandpa Jay and riding his "tractor," asking when we're going to go back to see him again.

We got our fill of apples and all things Fall at Apple Hill

We made applesauce with our apples

And have been enjoying our time with our silly little guy

I wish we'd gotten it on camera...

It seems babies, toddlers and the like grow by leaps and bounds right before your eyes. Both in size, as my sister commented on the other day when she came over to see Landon after not seeing him for a short week and a half, and in skill - again mentioned by said sister. And she's totally right. Landon is losing that cute, chubby baby look and looks more and more like a big boy every day. Not to mention the way his vocabulary is changing and growing; toddler speak is going away quickly and I find myself teetering on encouraging the silly words he uses rather than reinforcing the correct pronunciation just because that toddler speak is so dang cute. And, of course, I have no idea where he comes up with some of the stuff that he does! It's super cute and he has us in stitches frequently.

Alas, our little ham is camera shy; well, sort of camera shy. Whenever I break out the camera (video or still) he would rather look at the pictures or video that have already been taken. He hasn't quite connected the dots that you have to take video or pictures before you can see them. I've tried being all stealth about it and sneaking the camera on him whenever he's being his super cute self, but it's like a magnet and as soon as he sees it in my hand he'll stop what he's doing and want to come see.

There have been a few - okay several - moments where I wish we'd gotten them on camera...

The many animal sounds Landon knows are pretty darn cute. One of my favorites that has evolved over the last few months has been his impression of an elephant. Once upon a time if you asked Landon what an elephant says he would hold his hand up to his nose like an inverted trunk and nod his head up and down going, "wooh wooooooh!" Somewhere along the way someone corrected his trunk action and now he holds his arm out instead. I must admit, the "inverted trunk" version was my favorite.

For weeks Landon would recite the same toddler speak gibbrish monologue over and over again. We tried and tried to figure out what exactly he was saying since it was the same unrecognizable thing each and every time. "Da-da, ba-ba KNOCKER! Zoom down da diam. OW OW OW! Ah-wee hoom." Each and every time. Finally, Irma was able to decipher it for us, and as it turns out it's one of his favorite stories at daycare; "The Hungry Giant." "They bumped him with their bommy knockers. The bees zoomed out, they zoomed after the giant. 'Ow ow ow!' Cried the giant. All the way home." Once we figured out what he was saying we could ask Landon to tell us the Hungry Giant story and he would get excited and tell it to us in his funny little version. Now? Apparently that's old news and he won't do it. I sadly can't tell you the last time Landon told me the Hungry Giant story.

Landon's got quite the ear for music. He's not too big on dancing, but he loves playing the piano, playing with his xylophone, playing the "tee-tar" (guitar) and picking out each instrument in his current favorite song, "Save Me San Francisco" that the group Train (appropriately enough) sings. He calls it the drumming song. If we could put the song on repeat so he wouldn't have to ask for it every time it was over he'd be the happiest toddler in the world. Seriously. He likes to sing along to anything that's on and recently made a good friend in our neighbor behind us who was playing music for our neighborhood's annual block party this year. In true "Landon" form though, every single time I break out the camera the singing stops.

When there is no music on in the car sometimes Landon will break out in song all by himself. Similar to the "Hungry Giant," there was one song we could not figure out even though it was repeated several times. "Vla-see vla-see a nay nay wooooo!" Any guesses? How about, "black sheep, black sheep, have you any wool?" I like Landon's original version, but it's become less toddler speak and more and more grown up over the last few weeks.

Landon is very animated right now. The expressions on his face when he's asking seemingly mundane questions, the way he holds out his hands and shrugs his shoulders, the genuine interest he has in every single little thing and the way his attention is captured. If he can't touch something for one reason or another he wants to smell it. If we hear something outside he stops what he's doing, puts his hand to his ear and tells everyone within eye/earshot to "shsh, listen." When he's looking for something, whether it's the group of turkeys that wander around the neighborhood, the "hopter" (helicopter) at the little airport on the way home or a lost toy he puts his forearm against his forehead and looks intently for whatever he's targeting.

I've gotten better about sneak attacks with the camera and have had to let things slide when he's singing at the dinner table or doing something cute or funny when we're supposed to be focusing on other things just so some of this fun stuff can be captured forever. If only life had a pause button, I'm so in love with my guys.

Kids really do say the darndest things

Landon has quite the vocabulary for the little two year old guy that he is. It's so much fun to see what's going to pop out of his mouth next...sometimes. We've had a couple embarrassing moments and some hysterical doozies that I've been meaning to memorialize for a while now.

A couple of nights ago Landon was having a rough moment and hit the dog with his sand shovel and then kicked Daddy on the way to time-out. Our "time-out style" is to immediately put him on time-out without any words or reaction/action and then discuss what happened after time time-out is over, apologize for whatever action warranted time out and exchange hugs and kisses and "I love yous." It works well for the most part and Landon definitely understands what appropriate versus inappropriate behavior is. After the time-out mentioned above the end of the conversation went like this:

Mommy: Landon, what do you need to say to Daddy?
Landon: Thank you my time out, Daddy.

Not quite what I was going for. He's unapologetic but he is polite!


We were shopping at Costco a few weeks ago. This is one of Landon's favorite places to go shopping because of all those samples. Our Costco, probably like all the rest of them, is jam packed on the weekends and it can be tough to maneuver your cart sometimes. We were perusing some random aisle when all of a sudden a lady comes to a stop in the middle of the aisle right in front of us and we were stuck waiting for her to move. Landon turned around and shouted at her, "GO LADY! COME ON!" She turned around, saw who was shouting, gave me the side eye and pushed her cart. I wasn't sure whether or not I should have been mortified or give the little guy a high-five. A few chuckles erupted from neighboring carts.


We were on the BART train coming home from the airport when we greeted Kari, Tony and BinBin home. Even though their plane came in a few hours before rush hour it was rush hour by the time they made it through customs with all their luggage, freshened up after the marathon flight from China and grabbed something to drink. The BART train was pretty full by the time we were on our way home and continued filling up as we passed each stop on our way back to the East Bay. In walks an older man with white hair and a beard. Do you know where I'm going with this? Yes, for about 15 minutes Landon insisted - rather loudly I might add - that the platinum bearded man was Santa Claus himself. He would look back at the man (who was seated in the row behind us), point and exclaim, "Santa!" and "Ho ho ho, me-wwy Chwis-mas!" We tried telling him it wasn't Santa but he wasn't having any part of it and insisted that he was, in fact, Santa. Maybe he knew something the rest of us didn't?

Angels

Landon has talked about the "little man" that he sees when he goes to sleep several times. So many times that I've lost count. When we tuck him into bed at night he says goodnight to Mommy and Daddy, we say goodnight to him, and then he tells us to say goodnight to the little man. We comply, exchange kisses and go to sleep - though it's usually not quite that simple, but that's another post entirely.

Sometimes I'll lay beside Landon in his big boy bed and sing him a lullaby while rubbing his back. I take whatever snuggles I can get these days and relish my time alone with Landon since I know our solo days are numbered with a baby brother on the way - again, another post there entirely. Tonight was one of those nights. We went through all the goodnight hugs and kisses, Daddy had just turned on his noise machine, turned the light off and shut the door, Landon asked me to say goodnight to the "little man," so I did, and then I asked him more about the little man. Every so often, maybe it's when he's really tired, he'll talk more about this mysterious little man. Is he an imaginary friend? A monster in the closet? A shadow on the wall? A ghost? He seems to be consistent, but what is he? Who is he? Tonight our conversation went like this:

Mommy: Who is this little man, Landon?
Landon: Umm, I know mommy.
Mommy: Who?
Landon: A angel.
Mommy: An angel?
Landon: Yeah, a angel. Like in my book, in the pages.
Mommy: Is he scary?
Landon: No, not scary. He nice. He come see me when I go night-night myself.
Mommy: What does he look like?
Landon: Like the pages.
Mommy: What color hair does he have?
Landon: Umm, white. He very fragile. Pretty neat, huh?

I got a little choked up at that point and Landon was dozing off to sleep so our conversation ended there. Angels, ghosts; call them what you want, I believe in them and I have no doubt Landon is seeing one. Call me crazy, call me whatever you want, but I wholeheartedly believe this. Who is it? I have my suspicions. On the top of my list, and the one that admittedly makes my heart the happiest is that Landon's great granddad, his namesake, the one person I miss most in this entire world, has in fact met his great grandson and is watching over him.

Disneyland!

More summertime fun! Daycare was closed for a week so we decided to head down to Southern California to visit the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! We all had a lot of fun at "Mickey's house," as Landon referred to it and reluctantly came home to resume life as normal after a fantastic week.

We started our adventure with dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. Landon wasn't too sure about all the characters that would walk around the restaurant and come up to your table, but he sure loved his "noonles and cheese" and dirt and worms!

Landon demonstrated what it was like to be a bug

Danced along to the World of Color

We rode lots of rides. Landon's favorites were the teacups, the Buzz Lightyear ride and Pirates of the Caribbean. We would ask him which ride he wanted to go on next and he would always ENTHUSIASTICALLY respond with one of those. On Pirates he would lean back right before heading down the first slide, cover his eyes and proclaim, "that too scary." Then, as soon as the boat would land at the bottom and the music would start he was all eyes and ears. As soon as the ride would end and we were back on solid ground he would excitedly jump up and down and ask to "go again!"

Landon tried pulling the sword from the stone

He even warmed up to the characters eventually. We ran into Minnie Mouse in Toontown and Landon ran right up to her. You can tell he wasn't too sure, but he held her hand and might have actually smiled! That was the breaking point for him and all the characters we visited with after Minnie were successful encounters!











Buzz Lightyear, or "Buzz Lightdirt," as Landon calls him, is a pretty elusive guy. We finally were able to track him down right before we left the park on our last morning there before driving back home. He's currently Landon's favorite guy and it was so cute watching Landon meet his "hero." Landon shared his astro blaster with Buzz and they had fun...even if Landon was being shy.

We were all tired out by the end of the trip with magical memories and dreams dancing in our heads.

When I woke Landon up the day we headed back to work and daycare he asked if we were going back to Mickey's house and cried when I told him we were going to Irma's. I know buddy, I'd much rather have been in Disneyland too. Of course, when we got to Irma's he kissed me goodbye, gave Irma a little something we brought back for her and headed into the other room to play with his friends. It was truly a wonderful trip!

Summertime fun!

I can't believe summer is already halfway over! We've had lots of fun so far and plan on continuing the trend all the way through until the rainy weather starts...and even then, I think fun will be on the agenda since we hit the outlets this weekend and scored a pair of dinosaur rain boots and matching rain jacket.

Summer started off by celebrating the big 2 and blowing out some candles

We spent some time at Pixieland where Landon loves to fly the airplanes

We made choo choo train cookies to share with friends at daycare

And shared some exciting news!

Swimming and playing in the sand at the beach

And learned how to pedal...sort of

Our baby is turning into a big boy right before our eyes!

And oh, how we love him!