The King of Rock

Nothing super exciting or different going on, just the same old 16-month old stuff here. We seem to have relatively quickly gotten into a routine and feel like we have been doing this forever (almost). Going to Russia seems like a dream or something that happened a long time ago. With Landon being so well adjusted, I know I keep mentioning this, but it's like we've been home longer than we have been. It's only been 4 weeks tomorrow that we have been home. Wow! I saw a shirt at Target that I had to get for Landon. It was from a group of t-shirts that they had showing music type themes. This one was a Run DMC t-shirt. I grew up with Run DMC and like their music, so it seemed fitting to get Landon a shirt with them on it. We need to wash it so he can sport it with his new shoes. 

I've been able to get back into taking care of my birds. I have a few feeders behind the house along with some bird houses around the yard. I felt bad when we went to Russia since we had to leave them for so long. I need to get some pics from my old computer's drive,  but I've got some good shots of various birds (I learned form my Dad). There is a pole setup behind the house that has 4 arms. One arm has a hopper feeder, typical feeder shape. 

One arm has a finch tube feeder, as they like a different type of seed. 

One arm has a suet feeder (with tail prop) for putting in suet blocks (basically fat plus goodies like peanuts or fruit). Lots of birds like suet because it is high in energy but woodpeckers like it, too. 

The tailprop allows woodpeckers to use their tail for support as if they were on a tree. This is a male red-bellied woodpecker. 

I get lots of birds at the feeders (plus ground feeding birds), so I enjoy watching them and feeding them. I have a bluebird house out in the yard which has been filled by bluebirds for a few years. I've had birds like wrens and Eastern Phoebes nest under our screened porch. One recent exciting event is a feeder that has been empty until now. 

My brother bought me a 'bird bottle' fashioned after ones found in Williamsburg. It was based on old houses excavated and is meant to be put under the edge of the roof. It has been outside our morning room for almost 2 summers with no activity, but now there has been some. Now, birds don't just start using a house that you put up. It takes lots of time for them to find it and want to use it, so I wasn't expecting any birds to care about it for the first year or two. At first, we had a pair of Carolina Wrens nesting in it. Just last week Heather clued me in that some Bluebirds of all things were using it. I was very surprised, both because wrens had used it and I didn't expect Bluebirds to care about it, but there were in fact a pair that were preparing it. I felt bad last weekend when I was mowing behind the house, they were waiting on the roof while I was around. The female had some nesting material while the male stood guard.

I'm no bird expert (talk to my Dad), but I had thought that Bluebirds liked different 'specifications' for a house. Different birds like different types of houses. Some like cavities, some like open nests, etc. If you get a birdhouse you often see ones meant for a particular type of bird. A certain shape or size opening, or rules about where to place the house. My original Bluebird house was from Wild Birds Unlimited (www.wbu.com). The idea is that the house is of a particular design, the entrance hole is a certain size, it is placed at a certain height and should face an open yard to the south. Lots of rules, but it seemed to work. The bird bottle that my brother got me is like the opposite of that. It is shaped quite differently than a 'house', has a larger opening, is higher off the ground, is facing the opposite direction and does not open to the yard. Very odd, but I don't mind. I likes my birds.

As a footnote to this post, here are the birds that I have seen at or near my feeder setup ...

Carolina Wren, Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Bluebird, Pine Warbler, Chickadee, Cowbirds, Hummingbird (sat on the feeder but their feeders are elsewhere, they like sugar-water), Chipping Sparrows, Dark-Eyed Junco, Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (woodpecker), Goldfinch, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, White-Breasted Nuthatch and probably others that I have forgotten. I also have hummingbird feeders, so I sort of included them in the list.

Anyway, I need to find pics to show you some of these birds and let you know that you should get a bird feeder or two if you can. It is a good 'hobby' and it is nice to watch the birds benefit from something that I have done. Granted, they would probably be find without me but it doesn't hurt to help (except when it attracts bears).

Learning To Fly

Funny stuff, having a son (or daughter). It's the little things that hit you, here and there. Things you don't expect, things that make you laugh (or cry), things that just remind you there's a new sheriff in town. 

A couple of days ago, Heather and I were giving Landon his bath. Bath is over, drying him off, about to lead his 'neked' self off to get his PJs on. I thought I saw some more water dripping off him, but it was a stream that wasn't water coming from his mid-section. Oops! He didn't leave too much, but it was quite a shock and funny. 

Earlier tonight, we were giving him dinner. He was acting fine, nothing out of the ordinary. He seemed to be at the point of being done (he puts his hands up to say 'all done', thought we taught him) and Heather notices a slight odor. Sure enough, he had a dirty diaper. She goes to change him and it turns into a 4 alarm diaper change. Somehow the 'stuff' crept outside of his diaper, up one leg and started to go up his back. He hadn't acted like he had anything in his diaper so we were wondering where (and when) it came from. Landon wouldn't say. We cleaned him up, it was bath night anyway, and all was better. A little surprise t finish off our night. Joy!

We are still surprised at how well he is doing. Also enjoying him getting to know us better and all of the stuff that goes on. Funny how we went changed to a very different situation almost overnight but it is starting to feel like we've been doing this for a long time. At least we are taking good pictures to bribe him with when he gets to be a teenager.

Speaking of pics, here are a few.

Here he is with one of his books, reading like a big boy.

Landon and his 2 favorite friends sitting on his chair.

Cute outfit and his trademark smirk.

More fun at the house

Landon is doing better with the sinus/cold thing he had. He is acting more like the little boy he has been instead of the sickly little guy. It's good that he is feeling better, it makes for better pictures, ha ha. 

A new chair that we got him. A little big right now but he will be able to grow into it.

Looking out from a new toy we got him today. We wanted to get something that has more activities so he doesn't want to go to another toy as quickly. This is a little fake front door where he can play outside or inside the 'house'.

First Haircut

The past few days have allowed us to get into a routine of sorts. Landon is doing well at sleeping through the night and only having one nap in the afternoon. A few times he has fought so much when we put him down for his afternoon nap that he either doesn't nap or doesn't nap enough. 

He has continued to do well going out. We went to Short Pump Mall friday to get him his first pair of 'good' shoes while he is learning to walk. They look like running shoes and are cute on him. We also fed him his first Chik-Fil-A, he enjoyed the chicken nuggets. 

We went to the Ashland Strawberry Faire on Saturday with sister-in-law Tracey and her kids. It is a little fair of vendors, food and music held on a few streets at the Randolph Macon campus. It is one of those 'small town' events where everyone shows up, so we saw lots of people that we could introduce Landon to. He did well for the most part, but he woke up early so he started to get tired and hungry a little early. We weren't able to get him a haircut because he was getting a little cranky.

On Sunday we made a visit to church to see people again. Landon saw some people he had seen, met some new people and ran around a bunch. He likes the open spaces and new things to see. He did well with everyone, but he might have had too many people a few times. We then played on the playground with his cousins before lunch. He had his first CiCi's Pizza but he didn't really want much. He was a little fussy and had some crackers and bread. We took him home for a nap and later went to Great Clips for a haircut.

Wow, did he do well! He sat on the little block by himself and didn't fuss until the end. The person cutting his hair did real good with him being so young. We didn't get it cut too short since it was so long. We'll see how quickly it grows and maybe cut it a little shorter next time.

Now on to some pictures!!!!!!!!

Here is MC Landon (look ma, no pants!) on one of his new toys (new in that we took it out of the box) learning to ride around and press the buttons for noise. He is good at getting on and off of it and learning that he has to push him around.

Getting out of the car to go in to get a haircut.

Here is is sitting like a good boy getting the haircut.

This is after his haircut. How cute with the trim.

This is Landon when we went to Walmart after the haircut. Not sure why he looks scared, maybe as it was his first visit there.

Settling in to a routine

It's been a few days since we got back and we are getting more used to each other and our life at home. Heather has mostly caught up on her sleep and Landon is getting used to the routine. He has mostly been doing well sleeping through the night and adjusting to one nap. We've been able to get out more in the mornings because of it. He had his first meal (in the states) out at Wendy's and has eaten out a few times since then. He has done so well in going out and being around people it has been great. 

We have enjoyed spending time at home with Landon really getting to know him. It seems there is something new that we notice each day. We are getting more used to his schedule and his needs, so we are quicker to fix whatever when he is upset or cries. He got to play with his cousins next door for the first time. They all had fun and Landon tired himself out real good. 

Here are a few pics ...

This is a good shot that Heather got while on Arbat street in Moscow.

Landon having his new favorite breakfast of maple and brown sugar oatmeal.

Landon dragging around one of his blankies

Landon being attacked by the same blankie. Landon defeated it!

We are going to try and get him a haircut tomorrow. Although it is cute, his hair is a little long and with the heat here it is warm for him. We think he is warm-natured to begin with but the hair makes it a little worse. We are also going to try and get him good walking shoes while he is still learning to walk. Hopefully the weather will be nice as we are going to an outdoor mall and we want to be able to walk around some with him. 

Pics of Moscow

Quick post here. I've got a link here for some pictures of Moscow <click me>. Moscow is a very interesting city and has lots of great architecture and history. You can google for more information about it and the statues, etc.

Back home

Well, we got in Saturday night after a (long) bit of flying. Landon did very well on the 11 hour flight from Moscow to Atlanta. There were several families that we had met at the embassy on the same flight, some whose kids did a little worse. It made us feel better about Landon getting fussy with other families having the same issue. He actually slept for a while at two different times which was nice. It gave us a little break and we could sort of get some rest. 

Once to Atlanta, we had to go through passport control which wasn't too time consuming. We hadn't been able to feed him for some time (and nap) so were hoping to get through quickly to fed all three of us. After passport control we had to go to a separate room with our special embassy papers for Landon. Some of the families were there again but the wait wasn't that bad. We got his passport back, it was stamped and he is now officially a US citizen! We then had to rush to get our checked luggage as you have to drag it from baggage claim to another line to re-check. We then rushed to our gate ... only to find that our departure gate had been moved to a different concourse entirely. For those not familiar with the Atlanta airport, there are 5 concourses A-B in a straight line and you take a tram between them. We were originally on concourse A but had to get back to concourse B. The added fun of finding an elevator slowed us down but we made our flight to Richmond. We didn't get food but that wasn't so bad.

Landon was a little excited while waiting for the flight to leave but he actually fell asleep while heading out to take off. He slept for most of the flight on my lap which allowed Heather to get some rest. We landed and took time to change his diaper and clothes and then headed out so see our families. It was great to see them and our nice and nephews. We were there for a bit then headed to our house, but Landon was tired so they didn't stay over long. 

Landon eventually fell asleep but was exhausted and is still messed up with the schedules.

Sunday was a little better. Quick recap, he woke up at 4:30 am and didn't go back to bed. I played with him some and fed him but he wasn't about going to bed. My family stopped by to play with him and bring us some food. They watched over him while we ate and then we played with him some more. He started getting tired so I put him to bed at 5:30 and he got to sleep pretty quickly. My family headed off to let Heather and I get some sleep. Landon ended up sleeping until 6:30 am Monday which was real nice. He did wake a few times due to either a wet diaper or being hungry but got back to sleep ok.

We will see how Monday goes as we are going to try and get him onto the proper schedule now. It might be a tough few days but we have a plan. We'll see if we can all get used to the time change and the new schedule.