A Long Overdue Update on our Boys
For a few weeks now, I have been wanting to record some of the interesting and cute things that both my boys are doing right now. They are so full of energy, destruction, love, curiosity, and more energy! Without further adieu, here's what Landon has been up to:
- Landon LOVES all things science. Dinosaurs, marine biology, electricity, geology, anatomy and physiology, animals, physical science, astronomy- he is really into learning about all of these subjects right now. For our home school preschool, we do "reports" off and on where we learn about a specific subject, or do an experiment, and Landon draws a picture of the subject/experiment, and then he directs me on how to label the picture. I have him give me three facts about what we learned and I write those down too. I recently reintroduced him to The Magic School Bus books and he loves them.
- We're still working through sensory issues, but things are much better. Landon is a textbook sensory seeker. He picks his skin and it took a very long time and lots of different methods to get him to stop sucking his fingers. He gets overstimulated with too much noise or crowds and goes out of control. He has a very hard time sitting still for Primary. He chews on his clothes and toys. We've tried fidgets, chewy jewelry, and a DIY compression vest. I think the vest worked (his behavior was better) but he does not like wearing it. We may look into a compression shirt now that we know compression seems to work. Crunchy snacks work wonders for his self-regulation, so he eats carrots and apples every day, along with pretzels and crackers He is SO bright, and such a great kid, but is so impulsive sometimes with hitting, kicking, and spitting that we have to remove him from overstimulating situations until he can get control. Things get much worse if he's overtired or hungry. With all of the international travel and jet lag (and changes to routine!) he's off for at least a week every time we go somewhere new. We worry about him starting kindergarten, but he needs to go this year because academically he needs to start school. I'm hoping that as we've seen an improvement since he turned four, that we will see more improvement as he matures and that he will have receptive and understanding teachers that will help him flourish.
- Landon can read, but does not like to read long sentences. He can do simple addition and subtraction using counting. His writing is getting really great for upper case letters, and he's working on lower case letters, but does not like to write very much either. I'm waiting for him to realize that he can read books to himself and start reading more. He's pretty much ready for kindergarten+, and we only keep doing the home school preschool because otherwise he gets really intellectually bored.
- Landon's art work has evolved drastically in the past few months. Instead of just scribbling, he started drawing things! For Valentine's day, he made valentines for our extended family. He started with one Valentine's looking valentine, but then ended up drawing all sorts of different dinosaurs and having me label them for the other valentines. Even that evolved into drawings where he would draw the dinosaurs, then draw predators eating the dinosaurs or volcanoes and hurricanes killing the dinosaurs. Some of our family members received some VERY interesting valentines this year :) Just last week, in Primary in Israel, Landon drew a picture of a boat with Jesus and his apostles inside. He even drew the water and fish in it! When did my little boy grow up and become capable of drawing fish!
- Although somewhat inconsistently, Landon can follow directions and I think he's ready for some sports this fall! Before this past year, he was not capable of listening and following directions for very long. Primary is great practice at the listening part, but I think he will thrive in an environment where he can move his body and learn new skills. He is really interested in baseball/T-ball, and I want to get him into swim lessons (because he's not listening to me anymore!), so we'll see when we stop traveling what we can get him into.
- Recently, Landon started setting up elaborate imaginary cities. We only brought a few toys to Israel, but he takes all of them into his bedroom and sets up a city with a zoo, dinosaur museum, airport, fire station, etc. He acts out scenarios and spends hours in there with his whole set up. The only sticking point is he does not like Owen going in there to mess everything up, but all of Owen's toys are part of the city, so we often have to negotiate for him to loan Owen an animal from the zoo and a truck from the fire station so that Owen has things to play with as well. Oh goodness, preschool psychology!
- Landon still loves to dig. Dirt, sand, mud- you name it, he digs it.
- Favorite shows (he only gets to watch 15-30 minutes a day while I shower): Paw Patrol, Superwings, Octonauts, Daniel Tiger, Dinosaur Train
- I'm so happy that Landon loves healthy food. He eats a lot of it! He especially loves carrots, apples, pears, berries, watermelon, corn, and cucumbers. He also LOVES french fries. He only gets them occasionally, though.
- Austin and I both read Setting Limits with Your Strong-willed Child and we got on the same page as far as discipline goes. It feels great to be on the same team and help Landon learn to do what is right, and to not do bad things. He spends a lot less time hurting Owen because he does not like the time out that follows. It's working out for us and we spend a lot more time as a happy family!
- Landon and Owen PLAY together. Landon has evolved into a pretty good big brother when he's in the right frame of mind. He sings Owen songs, protects Owen from danger, and shares toys. He does not like Owen messing up the things he is playing with, but he's learning to provide an alternative item to play with so that Owen feels like he's a part of what Landon is doing. The past month or so, there are even times when Landon comes up and just gives Owen a sweet hug and kiss. They laugh and chase each other around. As a mother, it is so nice to see them play together nicely, at least some of the time!
- Landon loves stories. He asks for stories every day. They can be true stories or made up stories, scripture stories or family stories, he loves them all. He really soaks them in and discusses them and applies them too. One day this week, I told him a story about himself looking out the window of our hotel and seeing the fin of a megalodon (prehistoric shark he's obsessed with). He spent a lot of time looking out our window for the megalodon that day!
- What started as a fascination with a movie playing at the Volo Auto Museum has turned into a real interest- Landon likes learning about WWI and WWII. We originally had a flight through Germany to Israel, and Landon was a little concerned because he thought the Germans were still at war with us. He often talks about "World War 7" and "World War 5" and how the Paw Patrol pups would help the good guys win the war. Thankfully, this interest is dying down somewhat, it is hard to find age-appropriate information/learning materials about the World wars!
- Landon is sweet and tender. He remembers people's likes and dislikes. He knows that I like blue, and so everything he picks out for me as a gift is blue. He knows what foods Owen likes and does not like, and suggests things for me to feed him if Owen is being moody. He picks me wildflowers every time he sees one. When we are out and about and see things that would interest Austin, he makes sure to remember to tell him about it. These past few months, he's becomes more of my little sidekick than ever before. We sure love our boy!
Now on to Owen. Owen is an interesting little boy. He's very different from Landon. Here are some Owen fun facts:
- Owen is magnetically attracted to animals. Pigeons, cats, dogs, sheep- you name it, he runs for it. Even though his words are not nearly as clear as Landon's were, he knows several animal names/noises. He says, "Dat" for cat and "baa" for sheep, "moo" for cow and "da" for dog. He says "bear," and "bir" for bird. In fact, most of his words right now our animal related!
- We have a book lover! Owen loves to look at his books. His favorites right now are Big Red Barn, Where's Spot?, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? He can say, "Brown bear!" He points to animals in the other books when we ask him which animals are which.
- Owen loves water/bath time. He recently learned how to blow bubbles, and likes to go on his tummy and flail around in the tub. We visited several museums with water areas in the past few months, and he always ends up splashing very excitedly and getting soaked.
- Our little guy is fast these days, and runs with a really cute bounce that I'm still trying to capture in video. (I'm usually chasing after him). He is not afraid to be away from me and will just take off, usually in the opposite direction of Landon. At this point, I have to go for Owen first because he's the most likely to run in the road. For Landon's energetic craziness, he has pretty good sense when it comes to safety.
- Owen's hair is thicker than anyone else in our family. He always has amazing bed head when he wakes up in the morning, and I'm still trying to figure out what hairstyle would be best for him. Landon's hair is so thin that we like it longer, but I think Owen could pull off a shorter hair cut or a faux hawk.
- Owen started singing before he started saying other words. He did not sing random notes, he sang "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". Now he sings the Paw Patrol theme song and can pick up any other songs that Landon sings over and over. He sings all the time- while he's playing, in the car, when he's thinking, it's absolutely adorable. His ability to pick up a tune is really neat, I hope that we can help him develop his musical talents. I just can't get enough of his cute little singing voice!
- Even though he was only 15 months at the time, our wonderful nursery leaders in Arlington Heights whisked Owen away to nursery... and he loved it! After having Landon the non-stop movement kid, Owen is such a surprise to us in that he sat in his chair for singing time and lesson time in nursery from the very beginning. He really seems to enjoy it, and especially playing with whatever toy he wants without it getting taken away by big brother. We're so happy that they took him, because going to adult class meetings with him was getting to be impossible!
- I cannot begin to explain the terrible noises that can escape this child's face. When he's really upset, or happy, or in a joking mood, he can make this horrific squawking sound, really loud, that threatens to burst my ear drum every time! There is nothing I can do to stop him. If I ignore it, he does it more. If I tell him to stop he does it more. I can try to distract him, but Landon usually eggs him on by saying, "SCREAM, OWEN, SCREAM!" Typically, this is why we have to leave breakfast in the morning. Owen is done with his food, and is ready to be let out of his high chair. Owen is such a wonderful kid, but the noise is something I could do without, especially when struggling through a foreign grocery store looking for food!
- Owen must be a part of whatever is going on, especially school time with Landon. Owen's nap schedule has been really messed up here in Israel. Typically, Landon and I do school while Owen naps, but he's been awake the past few times we have done school. If he's awake, he wants Landon's markers. Then he takes the caps off and marks all over himself. I have to set up a school station for him too with workbooks, paper, and a writing implement. Then he will be content for a few minutes, before coming to switch out the workbook for a new one. It is exhausting, because usually this whole process involves screaming and flopping on the floor at least once if I don't give him what he wants. 
- Landon LOVES all things science. Dinosaurs, marine biology, electricity, geology, anatomy and physiology, animals, physical science, astronomy- he is really into learning about all of these subjects right now. For our home school preschool, we do "reports" off and on where we learn about a specific subject, or do an experiment, and Landon draws a picture of the subject/experiment, and then he directs me on how to label the picture. I have him give me three facts about what we learned and I write those down too. I recently reintroduced him to The Magic School Bus books and he loves them.
- We're still working through sensory issues, but things are much better. Landon is a textbook sensory seeker. He picks his skin and it took a very long time and lots of different methods to get him to stop sucking his fingers. He gets overstimulated with too much noise or crowds and goes out of control. He has a very hard time sitting still for Primary. He chews on his clothes and toys. We've tried fidgets, chewy jewelry, and a DIY compression vest. I think the vest worked (his behavior was better) but he does not like wearing it. We may look into a compression shirt now that we know compression seems to work. Crunchy snacks work wonders for his self-regulation, so he eats carrots and apples every day, along with pretzels and crackers He is SO bright, and such a great kid, but is so impulsive sometimes with hitting, kicking, and spitting that we have to remove him from overstimulating situations until he can get control. Things get much worse if he's overtired or hungry. With all of the international travel and jet lag (and changes to routine!) he's off for at least a week every time we go somewhere new. We worry about him starting kindergarten, but he needs to go this year because academically he needs to start school. I'm hoping that as we've seen an improvement since he turned four, that we will see more improvement as he matures and that he will have receptive and understanding teachers that will help him flourish.
- Landon can read, but does not like to read long sentences. He can do simple addition and subtraction using counting. His writing is getting really great for upper case letters, and he's working on lower case letters, but does not like to write very much either. I'm waiting for him to realize that he can read books to himself and start reading more. He's pretty much ready for kindergarten+, and we only keep doing the home school preschool because otherwise he gets really intellectually bored.
- Landon's art work has evolved drastically in the past few months. Instead of just scribbling, he started drawing things! For Valentine's day, he made valentines for our extended family. He started with one Valentine's looking valentine, but then ended up drawing all sorts of different dinosaurs and having me label them for the other valentines. Even that evolved into drawings where he would draw the dinosaurs, then draw predators eating the dinosaurs or volcanoes and hurricanes killing the dinosaurs. Some of our family members received some VERY interesting valentines this year :) Just last week, in Primary in Israel, Landon drew a picture of a boat with Jesus and his apostles inside. He even drew the water and fish in it! When did my little boy grow up and become capable of drawing fish!
- Although somewhat inconsistently, Landon can follow directions and I think he's ready for some sports this fall! Before this past year, he was not capable of listening and following directions for very long. Primary is great practice at the listening part, but I think he will thrive in an environment where he can move his body and learn new skills. He is really interested in baseball/T-ball, and I want to get him into swim lessons (because he's not listening to me anymore!), so we'll see when we stop traveling what we can get him into.
- Recently, Landon started setting up elaborate imaginary cities. We only brought a few toys to Israel, but he takes all of them into his bedroom and sets up a city with a zoo, dinosaur museum, airport, fire station, etc. He acts out scenarios and spends hours in there with his whole set up. The only sticking point is he does not like Owen going in there to mess everything up, but all of Owen's toys are part of the city, so we often have to negotiate for him to loan Owen an animal from the zoo and a truck from the fire station so that Owen has things to play with as well. Oh goodness, preschool psychology!
- Landon still loves to dig. Dirt, sand, mud- you name it, he digs it.
- Favorite shows (he only gets to watch 15-30 minutes a day while I shower): Paw Patrol, Superwings, Octonauts, Daniel Tiger, Dinosaur Train
- I'm so happy that Landon loves healthy food. He eats a lot of it! He especially loves carrots, apples, pears, berries, watermelon, corn, and cucumbers. He also LOVES french fries. He only gets them occasionally, though.
- Austin and I both read Setting Limits with Your Strong-willed Child and we got on the same page as far as discipline goes. It feels great to be on the same team and help Landon learn to do what is right, and to not do bad things. He spends a lot less time hurting Owen because he does not like the time out that follows. It's working out for us and we spend a lot more time as a happy family!- Landon and Owen PLAY together. Landon has evolved into a pretty good big brother when he's in the right frame of mind. He sings Owen songs, protects Owen from danger, and shares toys. He does not like Owen messing up the things he is playing with, but he's learning to provide an alternative item to play with so that Owen feels like he's a part of what Landon is doing. The past month or so, there are even times when Landon comes up and just gives Owen a sweet hug and kiss. They laugh and chase each other around. As a mother, it is so nice to see them play together nicely, at least some of the time!
- Landon loves stories. He asks for stories every day. They can be true stories or made up stories, scripture stories or family stories, he loves them all. He really soaks them in and discusses them and applies them too. One day this week, I told him a story about himself looking out the window of our hotel and seeing the fin of a megalodon (prehistoric shark he's obsessed with). He spent a lot of time looking out our window for the megalodon that day!
- What started as a fascination with a movie playing at the Volo Auto Museum has turned into a real interest- Landon likes learning about WWI and WWII. We originally had a flight through Germany to Israel, and Landon was a little concerned because he thought the Germans were still at war with us. He often talks about "World War 7" and "World War 5" and how the Paw Patrol pups would help the good guys win the war. Thankfully, this interest is dying down somewhat, it is hard to find age-appropriate information/learning materials about the World wars!
- Landon is sweet and tender. He remembers people's likes and dislikes. He knows that I like blue, and so everything he picks out for me as a gift is blue. He knows what foods Owen likes and does not like, and suggests things for me to feed him if Owen is being moody. He picks me wildflowers every time he sees one. When we are out and about and see things that would interest Austin, he makes sure to remember to tell him about it. These past few months, he's becomes more of my little sidekick than ever before. We sure love our boy!
Now on to Owen. Owen is an interesting little boy. He's very different from Landon. Here are some Owen fun facts:
- Owen is magnetically attracted to animals. Pigeons, cats, dogs, sheep- you name it, he runs for it. Even though his words are not nearly as clear as Landon's were, he knows several animal names/noises. He says, "Dat" for cat and "baa" for sheep, "moo" for cow and "da" for dog. He says "bear," and "bir" for bird. In fact, most of his words right now our animal related!
 |
| Checking out the birds at the zoo! |
- Owen loves water/bath time. He recently learned how to blow bubbles, and likes to go on his tummy and flail around in the tub. We visited several museums with water areas in the past few months, and he always ends up splashing very excitedly and getting soaked.
- Our little guy is fast these days, and runs with a really cute bounce that I'm still trying to capture in video. (I'm usually chasing after him). He is not afraid to be away from me and will just take off, usually in the opposite direction of Landon. At this point, I have to go for Owen first because he's the most likely to run in the road. For Landon's energetic craziness, he has pretty good sense when it comes to safety.
- Owen's hair is thicker than anyone else in our family. He always has amazing bed head when he wakes up in the morning, and I'm still trying to figure out what hairstyle would be best for him. Landon's hair is so thin that we like it longer, but I think Owen could pull off a shorter hair cut or a faux hawk.
- Owen started singing before he started saying other words. He did not sing random notes, he sang "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". Now he sings the Paw Patrol theme song and can pick up any other songs that Landon sings over and over. He sings all the time- while he's playing, in the car, when he's thinking, it's absolutely adorable. His ability to pick up a tune is really neat, I hope that we can help him develop his musical talents. I just can't get enough of his cute little singing voice!
- Even though he was only 15 months at the time, our wonderful nursery leaders in Arlington Heights whisked Owen away to nursery... and he loved it! After having Landon the non-stop movement kid, Owen is such a surprise to us in that he sat in his chair for singing time and lesson time in nursery from the very beginning. He really seems to enjoy it, and especially playing with whatever toy he wants without it getting taken away by big brother. We're so happy that they took him, because going to adult class meetings with him was getting to be impossible!
- I cannot begin to explain the terrible noises that can escape this child's face. When he's really upset, or happy, or in a joking mood, he can make this horrific squawking sound, really loud, that threatens to burst my ear drum every time! There is nothing I can do to stop him. If I ignore it, he does it more. If I tell him to stop he does it more. I can try to distract him, but Landon usually eggs him on by saying, "SCREAM, OWEN, SCREAM!" Typically, this is why we have to leave breakfast in the morning. Owen is done with his food, and is ready to be let out of his high chair. Owen is such a wonderful kid, but the noise is something I could do without, especially when struggling through a foreign grocery store looking for food!
- Speaking of that, we've got a flopper. Owen is much more emotional than Landon. He giggles and laughs more, but he also screams, cries, flops and whines more. He is starting a tantrum stage where he will flop to the ground and scream if he does not get his way. I just leave him there to figure it out. - Owen is kind of mischievous and tricky. He likes to throw food if he's done eating, but if we try to take it away, he will put the food in his mouth again as if to say, "I'm not quite done yet..." Then, he will keep throwing. He really thinks he can trick us. Sometimes, when we tell him not to do something, he will go away for a moment and then he's right back at it. He's a hoot!
- Owen is persistent. He is not easily distracted from things that he really wants. Even if I give him attractive alternatives, he will continue to go back to the naughty thing he wants to do. I'm sure his persistence will serve him well in the future, right now it's just exhausting!
- For all of his personality, Owen is actually really obedient. When I ask Landon to do something, typically Owen does it first. He brings us his shoes and coat to put on to go out, for example. He helps clean up toys, goes to the bathroom for bath, and generally wants to do what we ask. It's crazy!
I love my boys! There is nothing more humbling than being their mom. We're continuing to learn and grow together, and even though there are lots of frustrating and hard times, it is all worth it!
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