The last 5 months

It's been so many months since I've written--it seems to be the thing on my to-do list that always gets pushed back.  So I'm going to do a quick recap.

*In April we celebrated Easter.  Weston wasn't too into it, obviously, but Landon did pretty well.  We played a game at home of finding the Easter eggs with treats in them so he kind of knew what to expect this year.  It actually started out as a vision game because I wanted him to try finding them when they were hidden throughout the room, but it worked out very well that it also prepped him for egg hunting.  We went to the Easter Egg hunt in Riverdale, which was a total flop.  They wouldn't let parents help with his real age group so we put him in the younger one since we knew he was pretty much on their level anyway and we knew he wouldn't have a thing to do with it without one of us there.  He got 6 eggs--all 6 contained choking hazards (seriously, who gives their 18-month old hard candy!?)  L doesn't eat that stuff so it was a waste other than the fun of it and the pictures.  We then had one at my mom's house and he made a haul on it--candy, cookies, toys, etc.

*May brought with it sickness.  We all got sick around the middle of the month with colds.  Jeff's turned to bronchitis + multiple hurt ribs, then mine turned to bronchitis, then his turned into pneumonia + more hurt ribs, then I think mine did too + hurt rib.  Jeff's was also accompanied with really bad nausea, which actually ended up lasting about 3 months when all was said and done.  It was pathetic.  Actually, I think his was worse because of the medicines he got put on (4 different trips to the doctor, 5 different meds) because mine seemed to follow the path of his, but mine didn't last as long and wasn't accompanied with nausea and I never took any medicine for mine since I was nursing Weston.

*We also celebrated our 6th anniversary in May.

*We went to Lagoon in June and Landon succeeded in riding the train and the merry-go-round without getting freaked out.

*I found a beehive in one of our trees.  It scared me to death since I'm already afraid of bees and there were tons of them.  I walked right under the swarm while I was mowing the lawn before I realized it was there.  So we called a beekeeper to come get them, he was super informative and I learned a ton.  Once I knew I was safe I thought it was awesome.

*We've been swimming several times this summer and both boys LOVE it.  They have a ball in the bathtub so I wasn't too surprised.  They do best in really shallow areas where they can touch and L can walk around, and unfortunately Grandma & Grandpa Carter's pool doesn't have an area like that, but they still have fun.

*We went to a parade.  Landon thought it was fun until about 20 (literally) firetrucks went past with their engines and horns blaring.  He was ready to go at that point...and they were at the very beginning. Weston was unamused with the whole thing but he was good.

*We've worked all summer long (though significantly slowed down by the sickness I mentioned above) on our yard.  We had to get out all the weeds, bring in a load of dirt to raise up half the yard, get a sprinkler system, and lay sod.  It's done!  Now we just have to get the deck/stairs rebuilt and we're good to go back there.  I think the boys will love it!

This is tired Jeff after hauling a good chunk of the dirt while the boys and I went to the parade.

*Landon had his assessment at the beginning of August to determine preschool eligibility and needs.  It was about 2 hours long and he did great at staying with them for the most part.  Just on Friday Jeff and I met with the transition team for Landon to go over the results, goals, and determine placement.  Our two options were to send him to the school for the blind (he's not blind, but qualifies because of his low vision/aniridia) or to send him to the district preschool Head Start program.  He has speech delays, sensory integration issues, and his vision problems.  We really want him to go to the blind school preschool because I think it would be SO good for what he needs; however, we decided to send him to the district preschool this year.  The reason is that he is still very much attached to his nap (usually 2-2.5 hours each day still) and he doesn't deal with change well and I didn't feel like it would be fair to him to throw him into school all day (8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.) 4 days each week, nor did I even want to attempt the bus situation.  So, we're doing that this year and I think it will be a really good intro for him.  We're planning on sending him to the preschool at the school for the blind next year, and likely the next before he goes into a regular Kindergarten class.

*I celebrated my 31st birthday.   For the first time in years I actually celebrated.  I still didn't enjoy turning another year older, but really it's just a number, and not being ornery about it did make it more enjoyable.  Jeff gave me several coupons to use (massage, treat night, dinner out, shopping money, a sleep in day) and my main gift was tickets to The Piano Guys this Saturday...and he even arranged for my sister to come watch the boys.  I'm so excited!

*Speaking of Landon, he's doing great.  His tantrums, behavioral problems, etc. have significantly improved. So has his speech!  I'm so proud of all the progress has made, he's such a good boy and I get so excited every time I see him "get" something that many children don't struggle with so much.  He's starting to put sentences together, knows his ABC's, can count to 10 perfectly and to 20 usually getting stuck on 17, 18, 17, 18...), he hasn't bitten Weston for at least a month (WAHOO!!!! This is huge!!), is super snuggly, loves playing Minecraft with Jeff, loves being outside, etc.

*Weston started crawling several months ago but still doesn't dare to walk on his own.  Instead, he walks through the entire house holding onto the wall, the railing, furniture, walker toys, or us.  He got his 8th tooth yesterday and turned 1 year old today.  This year seemed to fly by so, so fast.  I love the spunky dude he is now, but I still miss the tiny baby I had a year ago.  He is extremely busy all the time, sleeps pretty well at night, takes two short naps each day, loves to be outside, really loves bath time, eats anything (including dirt, flowers, leaves, etc.)  He loves his brother and gets a kick out of him.