summertime

Tonight I asked Landon what his favorite part of the day was.  I do this almost every night, and many times I am surprised by what he says.  The things I think he will surely mention sometimes don't make the cut, and most of the time he names the most simple pleasures.  So, when I asked him tonight, he replied, with already sleepy eyes, "Swimming.  And riding my bike."  What a perfect summertime answer!  

First X-rays

We had a bit of a crazy afternoon.  After lunch, we were playing outside and Landon was pretending to mow the lawn with his little plastic lawn mower.  He was pretending to pull a cord to start it and all of a sudden he kind of grabbed at his shoulder and started to cry.  I thought for a second that he had gotten a bee sting, and then thought that maybe he had pulled a muscle in his shoulder or something, and then I thought maybe he had dislocated it.  I checked out the area but didn't find anything.  He stopped crying quickly and went back to playing.  

Later, I picked him up (to remove him from pushing his brother "real high" in the baby swing) and he kind of collapsed in my hands, grabbing at his shoulder and screaming in pain.  Again, I checked the shoulder area, but this time I moved the search to a wider area.  I realized he had a largish bump on his collarbone and when I prodded at it a bit his crying started up again.  I asked him if that's what hurt and he said yes.  So, I called my father-in-law and told him about it, and he agreed with me that his collarbone was probably broken.  EEK!  He rushed over here while I called the pediatrician to ask if I could please bring him in right away.  

We drove down to the hospital (my ped is in the Sacred Heart Doctors Building), saw the pediatrician, and he sent us down to the radiology clinic for X-rays.  Landon did so well through all this.  He even stood still for the X-rays.  Luckily, they didn't see a break on the X-rays, but we are still waiting for the radiologist to really look at them.  After looking at the X-rays, my pediatrician thinks that maybe Landon dislocated his elbow somehow and then it popped back in immediately, but things were still sore from it.  I don't see how that fits in with the shoulder area pain and then bump on the collarbone, but I'm not a doctor either.  So, we are keeping an eye on it just in case.  

It was a stressful afternoon with all that going on, but Landon seems to be doing ok now.  I really hope nothing is wrong, but a part of me feels like we are totally missing something.  I just can't figure out what.  

Look, Mama, no wheels!

Today I went to the grocery store without Landon, which was very nice by the way, and I left him home playing with his Grammy and the five-year old who lives across the street.  Landon and this little girl love to play together, and they especially love to ride bikes together.  A few weeks ago, we got Landon a "big boy bike," a 16-inch frame complete with training wheels.  So, I left to go to the store and they were riding their bikes around and around our circular driveway.  

When I got home from the store, Landon immediately asked me if he could ride his buddy's bike.  She got her training wheels taken off a week or two ago, so I tried to talk him out of it since I didn't feel like pushing him around the driveway.  He insisted, though, so I started pushing him around on it.  Within seconds, he insisted that he wanted to "do it myself!"  I realized that he wanted to actually ride the bike.  I thought, Well, I'll let him give it a shot, but as soon as he crashes he will give up and ride his safe little bike again.  So, I put him in the grass, pushed him to get him going, and let go.  Off he rode!  Seriously! Like he's been riding a bike, sans training wheels, his whole life.  We did it a few more times, and then he ran over to his own bike and begged me to take off his training wheels.  All the horrible scenarios that could occur raced through my head, but hewas insistent, complete with tears, that they come off NOW.  

So, we took them off and we now have a little boy who rides a bike all by himself with no training wheels!  I was so proud of him, but at the same time my heart was hammering with nervousness that he would crash and get really hurt.  But, my-oh-my, was he proud of himself!  He kept saying, "I can do it myself!  I can ride with no training wheels! I can do it myself!"  Gosh, I love this determined little guy.  He is so amazing.  

We, of course, took a ton of video and some pictures, and I want to share this cute video.  This was maybe five minutes after we took off the training wheels.  

Isn't he amazing?  

Coleson also had his first giggle-fest today.  He laughed and laughed at me making faces at him for quite a while this afternoon.  He is such a happy little boy!

I am so blessed by my children!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!  I thought this was worth sharing.  It made me laugh out loud, and then Tyson scolded me for startling the sleeping baby he's holding.  Oops.  

And, to totally steal an idea from Ivory (aren't I original today?), here are ten reasons I love being a mama.

1.  I love seeing both of my boys smile when they see me in the morning.  Cole, especially, looks so pleased that he wakes up next to me every morning.  

2.  I love watching them learn new things.  Cole has really gotten the hang of his hands lately and loves to put them in his mouth, and Landon can ride a big kid bike these days.  

3.  I love watching them discover the world.  Landon loves new words and phrases and repeats them over and over.  He constantly asks questions and sometimes I swear I can see little wheels turning in his head.  Cole watches everyone so closely - he is really absorbing so much information every day.  Imagine everything being so new and fascinating!  

4.  I love how one minute I am so short on patience with them I think I will scream and maybe throw things, and then Cole will give me a huge grin out of the blue, or Landon will say something like, "Mama, can you turn up the music so we can rock out?"  Then I just have to laugh and thank heaven that I get to hang out with these fun little people.  

5.  I love watching them with their dad.  There is a different dynamic in their relationships with him, and it is amazing to watch them all together.  

6.  I love watching them grow and envisioning the men they will be someday.  I think they are getting off to a pretty good start.  

7.  I love watching their personalities emerge.  Landon is so like me - outgoing, bossy, a little OCD about some things, busy, and so talkative.  Coleson is more quiet and laid-back, willing to sit still and observe.

8.  I love hearing Landon call me Mama.  Cole will, too, someday.  

9.  I love that they are young enough to still want to be with me all the time.  Someday, I will probably be way too uncool, but for now I love that the place they want to be most in the world is with me.  

10.  I love how they love me so much.  Without any restrictions, conditions, or requirements, just pure love.  

I hope your Mother's Day was great!

has it been that long?

I am so awful at updating.  Eek!  Sorry, everyone!

We have been spending SO much time outside lately.  Landon and I both already have pretty good tans going on, and it hasn't even been that sunny or warm (hence the lack of sunscreen that allowed such tans, oops).  He loves to be outside, though, and it makes my job a lot easier because we don't butt heads outside the way we do when we have to spend a lot of time indoors.  We got him a new bike too, and that has added to his fascination with being outside.  Luckily, Cole is such a mellow guy that he doesn't mind spending about seven hours a day outside.  As long as he can nurse, ride around in the sling, watch his big brother, and sleep once in a while, he is good to go.  Of course, I don't get anything done in the house unless Landon is in bed, Tyson is home, or someone else will watch Landon for a while.  That's ok, though, as the house is coming together nicely in spite of that.  Tonight I am supposed to be working on putting together my craft room, but thought I would do a quick update first.  

Of course, now that I am actually sitting down at the computer, none of my great blog topics are coming to mind.  Darn.  I guess it would help if I actually uploaded the pictures off my camera so I would have some props.  Ah well, I am going to work on that craft room now.