Brotherly love

Chase finally decided to get revenge on Landon after almost ten months of teasing and torment:
I heard a scream and then crying...the crying was not from Chase this time but from Landon...and I ran into the living room to find Landon's head in Chase's lap and Chase with two, full, fists of hair...Landon's hair...and he just kept pulling and pulling...and smiling and grinning...

Fashion Sense

I picked Landon up from school today to find him not in the clean, "stylish", blue jeans he was wearing when he left. Instead, the teachers informed me that he had had an "accident" on the potty - things weren't pointed in the right direction, so they had to change him into one of their emergency stashes of pants which for Landon today was a pair of light, light, light gray, skin-tight sweatpants. Landon was not a big fan of the sweats, as after they changed him, he patted them down and stated, "No, these won't work."

L-O-N-G January

I do have to say that January is always the longest month of the year for me. Christmas is over...it hasn't warmed up yet...all in due time, I know. Since Landon does not like to feel cold at all, we have been spending many hours indoors...this is how Chase and Landon have been occupying their time together.

Pretend Play

I always wondered when the "pretend" play starts with kids. I think for Landon it has been just lately that he will be playing with his cars and saying things like..."scared, come on...", "go under the table...", "stuck in here...", and basically has a conversation between his cars which is very cute to listen to. He also likes to "play" with Chase which means they crawl around the house chasing each other until Chase surprises Landon and then Landon will scream out of surprise, and then fall to the floor with a deep belly laugh.

On another note, Landon continues to be a big bully to Chase who just adores him. Yesterday as I was literally taking a two minute shower, Landon was squishing Chase who was sitting behind my closet door by pushing on the door until Chase was up against the wall. And all the while Landon was telling me that Chase was stuck. Chase is just waiting for his day of revenge...

Candidates...

Geesh...there is so much information to read through. I have chosen the two most important issues to me - education and immigration...and am basing my candidate choice on that for now.

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...Let it Snow...

We woke up to a beautiful, frosted, white yard today! For most of you, this has been your scene for months. But for South Carolina this is rare - schools and businesses are closed today due to our little "dusting".

Voting in the South

Just read that in SC you don't have to be a registered party to vote in the primaries...I guess I have a ton of reading to do on each candidate...

Lansford Canal State Park

So Landon has been trying to be a great big brother to Chase, but it usually starts out where they are being playful and Landon is chasing Chase around (both via the crawl) and they are both laughing and having a great time until Landon closes the door on his face or Landon is sitting on top of Chase trying to listen to his heart with his pretend doctor stethoscope, or he closes what he calls "the gate" which means he lies across a doorway so Chase cannot get through all the while Chase is crying and Landon is laughing his little devilish laugh which makes me wonder if I am raising a serial killer...

Then I was thinking maybe Landon is just a little bored and we could channel his energy elsewhere, so we ventured down to the Lansford Canal State Park today. This canal was dug by hand and used in the early 1800's to move goods from the coast inland. We also were able to see the ruins of the locks, canal culverts, and stone bridges that were used during this time. This river also played a huge role in the Revolutionary War as both British and American troops crossed here. No sibling rivalry today - both boys had a blast and passed out on the way home - it was a great morning for everyone!

"We"

Have you noticed that many moms with little ones tend to talk about their little ones using the pronoun, "We"..."We're not walking yet.", "We are almost off the bottle!", "We slept through the night last night!", "We are almost into the next size of clothes." Could "we" moms be the ones with the separation issues?

Eewwww!

So trying to hurriedly dress after my shower, I realized there was silence in my bathroom, where I left Chase only milliseconds before. I ran in to find him sitting by the toilet, holding the toilet bowl brush, and gnawing on the top of the handle - it COULD have been worse, but that was bad enough! "Mom of the Year" award...

"Pinky Eye"

After our fun day in uptown Charlotte, Landon woke up from his nap with "goo" in both eyes. And I knew it was definitely pink eye. So, we were off to Urgent Care yesterday afternoon only to arrive and find that we had an hour and a half wait. (Since pink eye is so contagious, I took Chase in to get checked too). Two boys under the age of 3 were not going to last in an Urgent Care for that long. So Andy on his Blackberry was hurriedly looking for other places in the area. We called another one close by and there was no wait. We rushed over only find that 7 people had just walked in and they were also at an hour and a half wait. So we decided to dig up the old drops and hang in there until this morning. On our way home Landon was saying he needed medicine for his eyes, they were itchy because he had "pinky eye".

Imaginon

We trekked uptown today to visit an amazing public library called, Imaginon. The website is even full of fun! You can check it out: http://www.imaginon.org/index.asp

It was Rainbow's birthday today (a radio station's mascot) and we went up to help celebrate. Landon had his face painted, a balloon made into a puppy, and we watched a puppet show (well five minutes of it anyway) from stadium seating. Landon was more impressed with the colorful, fold up chairs and running down the aisles than the show itself. And the visit would not have been complete without a stop in the bounce house.

New Truck

Landon with his new truck from Uncle Josh - thanks so much! Landon loves it!

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year (well until 10 pm anyway) with friends from our neighborhood along with the Skinner family. The kids had a blast - after running numerous laps around the house, they finally crashed with their "jammies" on. I wish everyone a very happy new year filled with good health, wealth, and most importantly, lots of fun!

Winter Fun!

Christmas in New York

Christmas in New York

Ah...today has been a good day. I woke up this morning, had some coffee, laced up my running shoes and was off for a much needed run after a trip up north. The warm, muggy air felt great on my face - I am realizing that I must be a southern girl now. I run over a part of the trail that has become very bumpy from the trees' roots growing over the years, pushing the pavement up and apart. I begin to think about time... and then back to my very own roots in New York.

We drove the 12 hours up to New York first visiting Andy's home town and then my own. It was funny to hear Landon's reactions to things that he would see along the way that I now take for granted. He pointed out cows, horses, tractors, even open fields and was mesmerized by all of it. Of course the snow was first and foremost as Andy carried him sleepily out of the car and he quickly noticed asking "What's that?" Sledding was a treat for him even though he only lasted 10 minutes (due to the cold) after Andy and I pulled him a mile down the road to get to the hill. Building a snowman was something he only read about in books and I would ask him often before we took our trip, "Is snow warm or cold?" And suprisingly he would tell me warm - he never felt cold reading books about snow and watching Frosty so why would he ever make that correlation? Ask him now and he will confidently state that snow is cold.

Landon and Chase both loved seeing their grandparents. It is amazing that no matter how often (or not so often) you see your parents, your kids will always have that bond with them. Landon, by his actions, declared both grandmas his best friend. And Chase warmed up to them as well - it was too bad that he didn't warm up to the sleeping arrangements as quickly!

Overall, we had a great trip. The sleep deprivation took it's toll and we headed back to SC a bit early, but it was so great seeing everyone! Thanks grandmas and grandpas for everything! We miss you guys already!