Birthday Photos

 Leland had a wonderful 2nd birthday.  He got to see all his friends, play, eat chocolate and hot dogs, and read a new Elmo book, what more could he ask for?

 Birthday Ballons

 "Helping" in the kitchen

 Kid's table at the party, the only photo from the party

 Birthday bison

Packaging and wrapping are always better than the actual gift.  

P.S. Did anyone send Leland a wooden name puzzle?  No idea who this was sent from...

An interview with a 2 year old

A birthday interview with Leland.  Someone turned two on Friday, so I decided to capture some of the cuteness.
It is a bit long (almost 4 minutes) but I did cut out a lot.



His default answer is bison if you didn't pick that up.  I am hoping to make this a yearly tradition.

Happy Birthday Leland.

My issue with the park

The park and I have a love/hate relationship in my opinion.

It is great that Leland gets to be outside and I get a moment break of constantly entertaining him.

But there is sand involved and I really dislike sand.  Two things I dislike most about nature are sand and wind, which is why I don't care for the beach.

Back to the point, my real issue with the park are the parents.  I don't hover over Leland at the park.  If I am alone I read my book or if not I talk to a friend.

But every time I am at the park there are other moms that are constantly trying to figure out who Leland belongs to.  I know this because they say things out loud asking "Who's kid is this?", "Where is your mommy?", looking around for his parent when he runs past them, and I am just sitting on the bench enjoying myself staring them straight in the face.

I get it, they are just trying to make sure he has an adult with him, but they are so obnoxious about it.  Oh helicopter moms, you kill me.

This recent Huff Post article describes 10 parents you will meet at the park.  Helicopter mom is on the top of the list, another one I avoid is Superior mom and Competitive mom.  I am really bad about talking to parents at the park, because I don't want to find them anymore annoying that  I already do.

So I keep to my book and keep an eye on Leland.

Anyone else have an issue with the park?

Weekly Updates

Things that happened this week that don't deserve their own post and are too long to tweet:

1. Leland constantly wants to listen to music.  As soon as we wake up he goes to the computer and requests music and it isn't just any music, he wants the Sesame Street channel on Pandora.  Needless to say we have compromises on how long we listen to that channel before switching it to another.  Or else I may start pulling my hair out.

2. Leland now thinks it is hilarious to tell me "no, no" when I ask for a kiss or hug.  For other people, he will give them willingly, he will also tell other people he loves them.  Maybe he is around me too often or maybe the attitude just beginning (isn't it still to early for that?).

3.  I am planning on avoiding the car for a week in June, so I am trying to bike more this week and the next few weeks to get in shape.  In other news, I am really sore.

4. We are slowly working on getting our garden ready for seeding.  Thankfully we did a lot of work last fall so we have minimal work this spring.  In other news, I am really sore.

5. Leland now knows and understands the word wine.  So whenever I get myself a glass of wine he has to point it out and shout wine.  Proud parent right here.

Have a wonderful weekend.  We plan to go on a hike, visit a liquor outlet store and I personally plan to have some alone time.

Snack Attack

Leland has taken over the cat scratching post as his snack area.  Sesame Street characters often take over the space too.  He also likes to have multiple bowls for his snacks so they can be divided out before being eaten.  He must be like a cat- likes to play with his food before eating.   

Bedtime Stylin'

Leland is a bit obsessed with his snow boots lately, or really all shoes.  He loves shoes that he can put on by himself, like his snow boots, my shoes, Jeff's shoes, etc.  Here are some photos of him showing off his skills.

Bubbles!

Leland is a bubble loving boy.  He has loved bath time bubbles for awhile now and asks for them every time he takes a bath or a shower.  He has now discovered outdoor bubbles.  It always surprises him when he blows and bubbles appear.  They are a big hit and a great after dinner activity.

Hikes

There is a little nature area right next to Stapleton that we went to a couple of weeks ago.  It has a nice little lake that wasn't much of a lake and a one mile loop around said lake.  Leland walked 3/4 of a mile that day, I was quite impressed.  There were many stops of course, it took nearly 2 hours but he did it.  It makes me get excited about going on hikes with him this year.  I went and got him some hiking boots so he has some good ankle support.  As long as the weather cooperates and the cold weather eventually stops, we can get our nature on. 

Pack N Climb

Daddy fun

Leland really enjoys his daddy being around on the weekends.  Especially because Jeff is willing to do some things I am not.  Like wear a bison hat and run around on all fours chasing Leland.  Leland loved it.  It really wore Jeff out, I was tired from just watching (thru the lens of course).  Leland also had to take his turn of charging and chasing Daddy.

It's official...

Happy about his mango snack, with a cat photo bomb

Leland is weaned.  So after I posted that post about weaning, he of course asked for milk that night.  So I let him have some, but after the miscarriage and everything I couldn't do it.  I just needed my body to myself.  He was obviously ready with skipping days here and there.  So now when he asks for it (mainly at night) I say let's cuddle instead, and he is okay with it.

It is kind of crazy not having that attachment anymore after 22 months of it plus the 9 months I was pregnant with him.  But I am not upset about it, it is just weird not having that anymore.

I also went out and got two new bras, like real bras.  I had not worn since I was pregnant with Leland, crazy, but oh so nice to finally wear one.  My profile looks very different when there is a bra under my shirt instead of a nursing tank.  Those nursing tanks are very comfortable but it would nice to have a break from them for a bit.  It is kind of like wearing maternity clothes at the end of pregnancy.  They are comfortable and whatnot but it gets old having to wear the same three shirts everyday, and I only had a few nursing tanks.

Funny side note: I have never given Leland cow's milk, since I nursed him for so long I never felt like he needed it.  With his belly, I think it proves that he didn't need it nutritionally.  So the other day he was been really fussy and whiny and I thought, maybe he just hasn't had enough fat/calories that day.  I tried to give him a drink of milk and the look on his face was priceless.  He was so grossed out and started crying with it still in his mouth, so we won't be trying that again anytime soon.

Weaning

This might be it.  I think I am excited about it too.  Leland hasn't nursed since maybe Sunday morning.  Honestly I can't remember the last time he nursed.  We have been only nursing twice a day and only when he asked.  The past few weeks there are mornings or evenings he doesn't ask for it, or a full 24 hours without asking but then he would always ask again.

I didn't want to push him to wean because I wanted it to be on his terms.  So this may be it.  But I don't want to get too excited about it because he could still ask sometime this week and start up again.  I am excited though because it wasn't very comfortable anymore but not enough to make him stop.  

If this is it, that means we made it 22 months of nursing.  I am very happy with my decision to nurse this long, it has been really good for Leland and me.  I plan to nurse just as long with any other children as long as they are on board.

I am glad I am not upset about this either.  I was pretty sure I would be upset, but I think being pregnant  helps me not be upset about him ending our nursing relationship.

Weekends

Lately Jeff has been taking Leland one morning each weekend.  They go off and I stay.  It is nice.  Now that we are in full toddler mode I keep finding the need to have some alone time.  Especially after being with said toddler almost 24/7.

Leland usually enjoys it.  He says bye, is all nice about it, will even give me a hug and kiss before he leaves.  Then when he gets back he is so excited to see me, I am usually excited as well.

It is also good for him to get use to not being with me constantly. (He may not agree on that but I sure think so.)

Singing Songs

Some singing to take you into the weekend.





Have a good weekend.

Bath time

Somedays an hour long mid day bath is needed.

As long as there are bubbles involved.  Lots and lots of bubbles.

Side note: this is what he does when I ask him to show my his teeth.

Recent thoughts...

Pregnancy makes eating very challenging.  I was going to keep track of what I ate for lunch but that hasn't been going well.  Pregnancy really messes up the whole lunch thing, since now I just want to eat like a typical toddler.  Mac n cheese or pizza for lunch?  Yes please.

Whatever I craved and ate the first few weeks I can't eat for the rest of the pregnancy.  For Leland that was chicken fingers and BBQ sauce.  This time it is cheese quesadillas with avocado and salsa.  Just typing that made me a bit nauseous.  This aversion is expanding to most mexican food in general.  Ugh.

Usually nothing in the house sounds good and I have to scrounge to find something that doesn't make me want to gag.  In general I crave and eat a lot of meat, cheese, and bread.  For some reason when I am pregnant all I want to eat is meat, which is really uncommon for me. But I am all about listening to my cravings within reason- especially when I am craving protein.

Also as soon as I eat something the smell of it or thought of it sounds very unappetizing.  It really makes cooking challenging because then the house smells like that food for the rest of the day/night.

But overall, things are easy.  Nausea happens a couple hours after eating, but not too bad.  I am tired but I go to bed with Leland often (since he still sleeps in our bed).  My breast are not that sore unless Leland is nursing.  The worst symptom is my acne, as it was with Leland as well.

We are still nursing, twice a day at most- morning and evening.  I don't ever ask him if he wants to nurse, he has to ask me, so rarely he doesn't nurse in the morning.  While I kind of wish he would wean, I don't want to push it.  I feel bad about the changes to come with a new baby on the way and don't want to make too many changes if not necessary.  So for now, I am okay with him still nursing and so we will continue to do it.  I am not against tandem nursing, so if it comes to that, I am okay with it.  Mainly since he only nurses twice a day.

I also plan to keep letting him sleep in our bed.  Which is why we upgraded to a King sized bed.  There is now plenty of room for four.  Again, eventually he won't do this but I don't want to make too many changes yet with a new baby coming.  He sleeps in the pack n play for naps, so we always have it set up.  Which is helpful since we may need it at times for the new baby if they are sleeping at the same time- I don't play to let both kids sleep in the bed without adult supervision for awhile.

I think that is all for now.  Have a good weekend :)

New lens

It is really hard to good photos at this age.  The kid never stops moving.  But when I get a good one, one where he is actually looking at the camera or in the general area and smiling.  They are great.

I got a new lens with some Christmas money, I am pretty happy with it so far.

Leland's favorite things

Here are some things we play with every single day.

Animal figurines.  These guys are an obsession for Leland.  He carries them around the house, sleeps with them at nap time, etc.  They are always around and we may have too many but it's okay.  I may also have a slight obsession with them.  I find them adorable and it is hard not to want one of each.

Felt animals and felt board.  He likes to get them all out of the bag and put them on the board.  He is a bit OCD about making sure they are flat on the board.

 Puzzles, puzzles puzzles.  Leland can do all the puzzles we have on his own now.

Sesame Street. He knows their names and plays with them for long periods of time.  It is awesome.  I am all about the independent play time.

There are other toys we play with too, but these are a must for Leland.  A bonus, they don't make noise.

We got the sickies

Well Leland does anyway.

He has a cold.  I think it might be because he doesn't nurse very much anymore (2-3 times a day) but maybe he is just becoming a true toddler with snot running down his face.

I feel bad for him but he is also really obnoxious -whining, not napping, having more frequent/intense  tantrums. Ugh.

There is not much worse than a sick kid.

Hopefully he recovers quickly.  Thankfully he hasn't been sick too often.

Here is a cute video of him from over Christmas.  Around 17 seconds he tells his horse to be quiet.

A break

I obviously took a nice long break from posting.  I blame it on Christmas and traveling.  But it was also partially I had nothing interesting to say and I forgot the charger to the laptop (oops).  We are now back in Denver, unpacked and have a clean house so things should return to semi-normal.  The break was nice though.  I stayed away from the internet as best as possible  but some how got addicted to a game on my phone (Candy Crush Saga will be the end of me).

While we were in KC visiting the entire family nothing too crazy happened.  It fact it was pretty relaxing overall, meaning we didn't plan too much and had plenty of down time.  Maybe a bit too relaxing, because I feel as if I didn't take enough photos.

But here are just a few of my favorites.

 Cute snack face

 His favorite toy at great grandma's

 KC Zoo visit

 Elk feeding at Lake Jacomo

 Someone didn't want to play in the snow with his cousins

Playing in his tent with his favorite present- Sesame Street