In my last post I discussed my concerns with Landon's delayed walking. Immediately after writing that blog I scheduled an appointment with Landon's orthopedic specialist (Dr. Mindy Siegel, the same specialist that we were refereed to when Landon was born) to see what was going on. In normal Landon form, he hit the ground running (literally) two days before his appointment. Even though he mastered walking and was already trying to run through our house, we kept the appointment and decided we might as well have the reassurance that everything with his hip and knee were where they needed to be. He had another hip x-ray and we discovered that not only was his hip socket formed correctly, but his was actually formed better than most two-year-old's would be (Landon was only almost 17 months old at the time). So now we have one very active, very fit, running, bumping, falling, screaming as he goes machine in our house. Actually, we have been fortunate that other than the normal bumps of walking into table edges now and then, and that one time he tried to push his Dino down the stairs and took a header right along with him, we haven't had any major accidents.
Soon after that Landon and I had an unexpected trip to the East Coast when we learned my Grandfather was fighting lung cancer. We learned of his condition on a Thursday night and left on a flight Friday morning to Philadelphia (Jason couldn't join us). Of course on the way to the airport at 4am I realized I had forgotten to grab Landon's very important "Ellie." In a panic, I actually considered turning back to our house and threatening missing my flight or running late and attempting to run through security and the terminal of Denver International with a 18 month old all by myself. Jason talked me down and we continued on without Ellie. I found a stuffed Grinch doll at the airport that looked NOTHING like Ellie, but I prayed that Landon would bond with it and not have a fit when he was trying to sleep on the airplane without Ellie. Thankfully we made it, without too much incident and with no major tantrums (and no medication or booze...).My sister, Mindy picked us up at Philadelphia's airport, drove us to her house while my Niece Piper puked all over the car. We took a quick nap, ignoring the strange ghostly happenings in Mindy's guest room, then Mindy, Piper, Landon, and I piled into the car for an overnight road trip to Savannah, Georgia. 13 hours later we survived and arrived.
It might not have been the most conventional trip or one that many others would take on with two 1 1/2 year olds. However, it was the only option that Mindy and I had at the time and we knew it was important for us to have the opportunity to say our goodbyes to Pap. Whether everyone else understood our motives or not, I am extremely thankful that we did it. Pap unfortunately passed away just before Christmas. I am grateful for the family who helped me get there to have those last hugs, hear some of his last jokes, and smile with him before he was gone.
We were able to have our first Christmas at home in our own house this/last year. We had Jason's mom visiting on Christmas day, followed up with my Mom's visit a few days later and through the New Year celebrations.In the past few months we also have had pink eye, multiple colds, sinus infections, and just last weekend Landon had a nasty 24 hour stomach virus. I just learned that I am lactose intolerant and am adjusting my diet accordingly but feeling 10x better since cutting most dairy. I also have officially applied to the nursing program that starts in Fall 2012 and am just waiting to hear back at this point.
It is definitely a transition time in our house, and while trying at times, I'm feeling very positive and am looking forward to where we go from here.
Landon is doing great with all of his developmental milestones now. His vocabulary continues to grow, with his newest word(s) being "gol fishy" (gold fishies). Thanks to daycare he also has some great manners and regularly says "hank-hu" "peez" and "gelcome." I personally love when he brings me something I didn't ask for and with a big smile on his face says "gelcome!!" His favorite and most affective words continue to be "GO!" or "mo'" (more) "mil" (milk) and "helm" (help). He also has renamed our new kitty, "Bad!" (Her actual name is Tally) and runs around clapping at her and saying "tsh, tshh! Bad!!" (I don't know where he learned that from) ;)
