Mission Impossible

Our mission; to photograph our son for an "oh-so-cute" holiday card.

First, a few items of foreshadowing that should have clued us in to the difficulty of the mission:
#1 He's 10-1/2 months old
#2 He has an attention span shorter than that of a gnat
#3 He's unbelievably wiggly on the changing table, even with the safety strap and nearly gives us a heart attack with every diaper and clothes change
#4 Our prompting of "Cheeeeeese Landon" which used to produce a sweet smile, now produces a look like he's auditioning for the role of a child seeing a ghost
#5 Whatever we expect he will do; he does the opposite
#6 He's busy, busy, busy
#7 Most importantly; he's a boy!
So here is a small sampling of some of the 80 photos that were taken...

Lucky for the boy he's so cute! :)

First Thanksgiving

Landon's first Thanksgiving was spent at Grandpa Lee and Grandma Dorine's house. (Ira's parents) Landon had his first taste of cranberries, mashed potatoes, and Grandma Dorine's homemade rolls. "Mmm, mmm," was Landon's take on Thanksgiving!

Landon with Grandma Dorine

and Grandpa Lee

Colby, apparently fighting the effects of tryptophan!

Fun with balloons

Hanging out with Grandpa

Landon, wondering if he should believe everything his Uncle Alan tells him

Answering the question, "How big is Landon?"

Having fun with cousin Brittney

Giving Thanks

This year we are most thankful for the birth of our healthy baby boy, and for moments like this filled with laughter and silly smiles.

A Clean Ride

Daddy and Mommy (aka: The Germaphobes) have felt a little more relaxed since we bought this shopping cart / restaurant high chair cover for Landon. After He attempted to use the handle of the shopping cart at the pharmacy for a teething toy, it clinched the decision to fork over $50 of our hard earned money for a cover. It was the only one we could find that completely covers all of the surfaces. It's even big enough for Costco shopping carts! It also has little loops sewn on to keep toys in place and off of the {shudders} dirty floor.

We've already begun compiling a list of incentives (okay, bribes) for the future, to divert Landon away from wanting to join all of the children on the "germ boat" in the mall.

Family Resemblance?

Ira at 10 months

Traci at 10 months

Landon at 10 months

10 Months

Ten months! Wow! Why does that sound so much older than nine months and so much closer to one year?

Well, as you would imagine this past month we had more and more glimpses of Landon turning into a little boy. It seems as though our little baby is definitely gone, and I have to admit, at times it chokes me up a little bit. He has always been in a hurry to grow up and catch up with all of the other term babies, but now we’re really seeing the evidence.


For the past three weeks or so he has been doing all of this crawling up on his hands and knees. No more belly crawling. He has also been pulling himself up really well and cruising around the furniture. No attempts at walking yet. He is happy to walk holding onto someone's fingers, but the second you let go and try to get him to take a step or two on his own, he sits down. So it seems as if walking is still a little ways off. But, all I have to do is say that and he’ll be walking next week to prove me wrong. Whatever we think, he usually does the opposite and he’s so determined!



Another thing that we have noticed this month is the great improvement in his coordination and dexterity. He’s really doing well with his pincer grasp and manages
to fairly quickly pick up Cheerios or other snacks, as well as tiny pieces of lint and other unappetizing things. And it appears as though it is always with his left hand! (Like his Mommy) This makes his Papa Frank especially excited. He’s thinking that with Landon’s size and lefthandedness that he’d make a wonderful major league pitcher! He’s also just starting to be able to roll a ball back to you. This, gets Colby most excited! He has also mastered a few transitional moves like; pushing himself into seated position from crawling.




We’re having a little trouble trying to increase the texture of his food. He will readily eat crackers or other crunchy things, but try to give him cottage cheese, oatmeal with little chunks in it or baby food with little bits of pasta and it activates the baby gag reflex!



The new word to add to his vocabulary of babbles is; “Agri-bah-bah.” He says it with such command that it sounds like an Arabic magic trick! He’s also just starting to give us a few “Da-da’s.”


The past several weeks his naps have been severely cut short. We’re hopeful that once these two new bottom teeth come all the way in, the naps will return with all their glorious length!






As we’re learning, change is inevitable, whether we are ready and waiting or dragging our feet. Bring on the eleventh!

Lovin' LuLu (part two)

Eight is Enough

Yes, teething, is in fact alive and well in our household once AGAIN...ALREADY! Landon is getting two new bottom teeth, which makes for a grand total of eight. Daddy and Mommy have come to the conclusion that eight is enough! Really! This round has been especially bad. Whining, crying and MAJOR impatience. It's even affecting his love of naps. We've gone from two naps a day, approximately 3-4 hours total, to one nap a day of maybe an hour. Yeah, not so good. For any of us! Knock on wood it hasn't affected his nighttime sleeping. So seriously...eight is enough! We can't take TWELVE more. We'll mash up his food for the rest of his life. We don't mind. What else are parents for?

Something Fishy

Say Cheese