Our Christmas Morning

This morning, the three of us celebrated our family Christmas at home. It was so awesome to see Landon so happy and excited to see all of his presents under the tree. Here's a few pics for now...off to Orange County this afternoon, then Chilly Philly on Wednesday!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

First Annual Friends Holiday Dinner

We were lucky enough to host a bunch of our friends last Sunday for (what I hope was the first annual) holiday dinner! Everyone contributed a dish, app, or drinks, and we enjoyed an afternoon of fun, including a white elephant gift exchange for the adults, and early Christmas presents for the little guys!

The holiday season is usually so busy, and between making time to visit family near and far, wrapping up work for the year, and making time for company holiday parties, I find that your close friends often get neglected! It was great to be able to set aside some time to celebrate the holidays with our friends (before we all ship off to see our families all over the country)!

Merry (early) Christmas, everyone!

All set!

Landon and his ladies (Jeannine & Carlene) readin' books

Landon, Brandon, and Tyler

pTim thought he scored with this White Elephant gift...'til it got stolen!

White Elephant aftermath

Our remote shutter is coming in handy these days...everyone's in the picture!

Yum!

Christmas Art Projects

We are really happy with Landon's new school. His teachers are great, he's so happy, and the parents are all super nice & friendly. His teachers share so much info about his day: what he did, who he played with, what activities he enjoyed, and more. I love getting glimpses into his school life, and am so proud of how he's adjusted to the "big boy" classroom: eating at a table, using a spoon, cleaning up after himself, washing his hands, sleeping on a cot, and more!

Here's the latest dose of Landon's art work, all Christmas themed, of course!

"Lan-Don"

Our little man has been a word-explosion the last week or so. One of my favorites came last Monday...check it out:

"Than-Goo"

We sure are trying our best to raise a happy, healthy, and polite little human being. This last week, Landon showed us that our hard work must be paying off in the "polite" category! Unprompted, our little man said "than-goo" after I handed him a fruit snack. I immediately withheld additional fruit snacks, ran inside, grabbed the flip cam, and tried again. He delivered...little man said "than-goo" after every fruit snack I handed him!

Santa, Meet Landon!

We took Landon to the mall on Saturday morning to get his picture taken with Santa. A huge improvement from the meeting they had last year at the CMI Holiday party (see below). When I put Landon on Santa's lap, Santa warned me that he would probably get scared (based on his age)...but our little man looked right up at the bearded fella, smiled (as if saying "hey, nice to meet you"), then smiled adorably at the camera to help us get this great shot! 

2011 CMI Holiday Party

Landon Tebows in the Backyard

Caught my little man doing this in the backyard this week: 

Totally laughed & loud, and luckily was able to grab my camera.

Watch out, Tim Tebow, Landon is stealing your moves!

Our Growing Boy

Landon is growing up so fast! Sean and are are amazed at how much he is learning and how much he is changing everyday. Here's a run-down of the new stuff this little man is up to these days:

• Walking, nearly running, and still stumbling (and has the bruises to show for it)!
• Talking more...current word count is 9
• Dada
• Baba
• Mama
• Uh-Oh
• Dog-Dog
• Ca-Ca (aka Pismo)
• Up
• Out
• No
• He understands SO much of what we say!
• After dinner, if you tell him "Landon, it is time to take a bath" he'll stop what he's doing, and walk down the hall to the bathroom, looking back at us as if he's saying "come on guys...what are you waiting for!?"
• At the grocery store tonight I said, "Landon are you ready to go home and eat dinner?" to which he replied by making the sign for "more" with his hands (He thinks "more" means eat)
• When you ask Landon "Where's your phone?" he puts his hand to his ear (as if holding a cell phone)
• He loves to play outside, and let's us know he wants to go outside by walking to the door and touching the door knob (luckily he can't open them yet!)

• He dances! This little guy can't help but feel the beat! Anytime he hears music she shakes his booty, and shakes his arms. Here's two quick clips of Landon "dancing": 

• This morning while playing with Sean before they left for daycare, Landon saw a dog on TV and ran toward it, pointing, squealing, and saying "DogDogDogDogDog" over and over
• Landon's hand-eye coordination & motor skills are really developing! He loves to throw balls (and always squares up to his target before releasing it), and recently impressed us with his ability to play with some new puzzle type toys. Check out this video of him last weekend (I love it when it gets frustrated...it's pretty cute) 

• He transitioned to his new school this week (a really big deal for us). Not only is he at a new school with new teachers and classmates, but he transitioned to the Toddler Room from the Infant Room. Everyone eats together, at the same time, at a table with miniature chairs (he always eats in his high chair at home) and everyone naps together, at the same time, on cots on the floor (he always sleeps in his crib at home) -- 2 pretty significant changes!His first days was only a half day, but was really tough. Our little man was sad, probably a little scared, and definitely nervous. His teachers needed to comfort him with this blankey and had to sing him "Twinkle Twinkle" off and on all day to keep him happy. My heart was BROKEN and I totally cried. On Tuesday morning, I was sick to my stomach because all I wanted to do was stay home with my little guy, but I knew the best thing for him was to take him back, and give it another shot. Our little guy turned it around, and by Wednesday (his first full day) he was happy, he ate well, and even took a 2 hour nap that afternoon (on a cot)! I am so proud of him.

Looks like he's raising his hand to say "more snacks, please" :)

Landon is a Little Boy

Not sure what happened to my little baby...as all I see around here is a BOY! 

Halloween Recap

Those of you who know me well, know that I don't really like Halloween. I've never been a big fan of costumes and I despise scary movies because I am a pretty big chicken. I am proud to report that Halloween is fun, now :) I had such a wonderful time with Landon this year: picking out pumpkins in Half Moon Bay, choosing his Ewok costume (and actually getting excited about it), bringing him to the Googleween party for kids last week, attending his pre-school's costume parade on Halloween afternoon, and best of all...trick-or-treating with him for the first time that evening! He was ecstatic all night: be-bopping around, wanting to walk out into the street to see the kids, dogs, and parents roaming around. He wandered from group to group, as if he was saying "hey guys, wanna play? hey, will you be my friend? hi, what are you dressed up as?" It was A-DOR-A-BLE! We met tons of neighbors (and their kids that night). I swear, we live on a street of ALL BOYS. We haven't even been here a month, and but I just know Landon is going to be so happy here!

Landon and his Merryhill Buddies at the Halloween Costume Parade

6 cute toddlers making their way around the playground during the parade!

Mom & Dad with our boy on Halloween after the costume parade at school! 

Let's go home and get ready for trick-or-treating!

Ready to go, Mom!

What's this orange thing for!?

Cutest little Ewok...we so love this little guy!

Heading down Nelson Way to hit up our first house! 

At our next-door-neighbor's place...Landon's first trick-or-treating experience, photographed!

Snuck in a quick family photo before it got dark (and before we got bombarded by trick-or-treaters)!

Landon & His Buddy Chase

While playing outside in Santa Barbara a few weekends ago, Chase Haley came in to give his little buddy, Landon, a big hug. The look on Landon's face made me wonder whether or not he liked the hug...

Seconds later, this stare-down happened...

Unsure of what their next move was going to be, Landon let me know with a big smile, that he and Chase were "cool" and just playin' around!

...and I would walk 500 miles

Practically overnight...little man is totally a walker (and still a squawker)!

Family Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday, we joined our great friends the Garbers for some family fun out at a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay. This place was like the Disneyland of pumpkin patches: hay rides, laser tag, pony rides, trains, haunted houses, and more! Landon (1 year) and Ella (1 month) were a little young for most of the fun, but that didn't stop us from cruisin' around, picking out pumpkins, and getting some fun fall photos! I'm pretty sure Landon is going to tear this place up next year!

When did my baby become a boy? 

Landon meeting Baby Ella for the first time! :)

My cowboys.

First family trip to the pumpkin patch: Daddy Chris, Baby Ella, and Mommy Trish :)

My lil' pumpkin

Yes (like anything else with wheels), Landon tried to push this too!