Two Sleepyheads

Now what do I do, two sleeping kids in the car? The stars have aligned. Hope this isn't the last time they do. I pulled into the garage, realized they were both asleep, backed out, went for a drive in search of a drive thru Starbucks to get a chai tea latte. I did not find one, drove back home, took this picture and then woke Avery up.

Good Ol' Swing

This trusty old swing has been through Avery, our friends Calvin and Sylvie, but I don't think it has seen any action like that with Landon. We have had to change the batteries multiple times already. He loves to smile at himself in the mirror above, do a little paci sucking and then pass out for hours on end. He really doesn't nap in his crib and definitely prefers the swing during the day.

Our little loves

A Good Morning

Can you see he is smiling at her? Love them!!

We went for a walk this morning on the strand and despite a forecast of rain we walked about a mile from our car without an umbrella or rain gear. But we did manage to find a nice little place to stop for breakfast while it poured outside. The weather cleared briefly but then just as we were going to try to walk back to the car it started pouring again so we sent daddy on a mile long run with a very full post-breakfast belly to retrieve the car. It was a great day.

Baby doll

Avery thought it was really fun and funny to have a sleepy Landon try on her headband. Yes that is Mommy's hand holding it properly in place.

A new friend

During this maternity leave Avery is taking a hiatus from preschool. It is just too far to take her for the day, at least 1 hr both ways. Plus we are in a new city so we don't have any local 3.5 year olds for her to spend time with yet. I have tried to get our not-so-local friends to come visit us some which has been so great but she definitely misses seeing her school friends 2 days a week. Grancy got Avery a Jessie doll from Toy Story. She is really cute and says about 15 different sayings. Avery has enjoyed playing with her and I love this picture.

Baldy

Much like his big sister, Landon's hair has started falling out. With any luck he will have some hair grown back by the time he is 2. Also like Avery his hair has a red hue in pictures, not so much in person. This picture makes me laugh and smile. Not sure when he will ever have eyebrows.

Joy/iPhone

Finally, after having my little Samsung flip phone for who knows how long, the iPhone came to Verizon and I was first in line, pretty much literally, there at the Apple store with my pre-purchased receipt and my 2-1/2 wk old baby, begging for my first iPhone. I love it. I love how I can take pictures all the time because my phone is always close-by, unlike my camera. So today I captured a sweet little hand clutching my shirt while he was sleeping. That is my true joy, moreso than the iPhone.

Hello, Kitty

sweet cuddles

Hello, kitty.
I love this picture.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's funny to catch this picture, with Avery looking beautiful as usual, such a sweet big sister. But also with Landon found rarely with his binkie/paci and swaddled. This leads me to write about the vast differences with a second baby. He is so rarely swaddled, only at night for night time sleep. He naps on-the-go or in the swing, never in his crib. With Avery naps were scheduled and in the crib, swaddled, with a noise machine. Landon can sleep through barking dog, Avery screaming, vacuum under his swing, music blaring. He has very distinct periods where he needs the pacifier, but once he is calm and almost asleep he lets it go and falls asleep. With Avery the 5 s's of "the happiest baby on the block" were frequently implemented: shushing, side-lying, swinging, swaddled, sucking. At Landon's 2 week appointment Dr. Woo reminded me of the witching hour with lots of crying and the need for soothing was to be expected. Only it never came and I kept waiting and saying, "no don't say he's a good baby, it might jinx it", but he has no witching hour. It may also be that the crying doesn't bother me/us so much the second time around. I mean what can you do when unloading groceries, getting lunch quickly prepared for a hungry 3 year old? But I think it really is more that he cries a wee bit less. No yoga ball for bouncing to be found in the new house. Yet.

Sledding in Sand

Have I already said how happy I was to get out of Venice and into the South Bay where we can enjoy family activities? At the Redondo Pier there is an area of sand built up in the winter months where kids can go sledding down a big sand hill. Jon bought us 3 sleds on amazon and we were able to get there on a sunny, chilly day for Avery to sled. Because of the sand the sleds don't just slide but require someone to pull the passenger along. Jon was Avery's pilot mostly but there were some tween girls who also enjoyed riding our awesome sled and pulled Avery down the hill repeatedly. These were among my first iPhone pictures so I did not know how to zoom yet, hence the distant view of the hill, sled, Avery, and Jon. I sat in a beach chair in the shade and fed the little guy while they had tons of fun.

Poor Quincy

Can you see from his look that Quincy realizes he has fallen yet another rung down the ladder? Maybe he has, but Jon does a wonderful job of still caring for him, much better than I do. Quincy is so good with them both, especially Avery who wakes him from a dead sleep to try to get him to play with her. He has a 'yard' now out back, but he usually just sits by the screen door waiting to be let back in. We have new scat mats to keep him off the sofa so he and I are getting along much better these days since I don't have to look at his fur on the couch, yay! He really is a good boy and since one of my sister's dogs recently went to doggie heaven I try to give him an extra pet each day...

Tiny Guy

Sweet tiny guy. When I found out I was having a boy back in the fall of 2010 I took a little trip to Nordstrom Rack with Avery to find her some new shoes and I happened to find 2 cute boy outfits. I was convinced I would not find any cute boy outfits but I did! I have loved putting him in this one even though he looks like a little puppy in it. Love him!!