baby update: the one i missed

monthage: 10- actually, according to me, he's been 10 months for the past month. for some reason i've been telling everyone he was 10 months old until my friend holly corrected me. seriously, i just skipped over 9. 

poundage: 22lbs and lots of change- so like 23

teethage: solid 5 [3 on bottom, 2 on top] and his 2 incisors are coming in...slowly.

movement: mobile! this was the month that my baby walked! how exciting!! at the beginning, he did NOT want to be on his tummy. then he did NOT want to roll over. then he figured that out, loved it- then decided he could pull himself up. which slowly led to pacing around the walls/couches. which led to falling- a lot of falling. and bruises all over his bald head. kid is a magnet for injury. luckily he's super tough and doesn't cry hardly at all when he falls [he chooses to cry at other times- when nothing is wrong except no one is holding him]- i think that's why he's walking so early. walking is now his choice form of movement- he will crawl to a wall, pull himself up and go. he falls sometimes- like when he gets excited- or when he trips and falls head first into walls [happened yesterday] or into bookshelves [today] or corners [every day that ends in -y]. i love him walking- because of the shoes i get to buy with it. he's a lot more work though- church is particularly stressful.

*i won't pretend these videos are interesting. they're not- he doesn't do anything cute at the end- just fun to see him move.

what landon loves: puppies! no joke, he just loves dog. more then his mom and dad for sure. anytime he sees one he stares- and smiles when they get close. he'll often reach out and open/close his hand [his way of saying he wants it]. he also makes the same noise whenever we see his mema's puppies ["hoo! hoo!"] which meghan swears is his barking.... still. he loves dogs. taking second to dogs is books- he loves loves loves books. primarily, he likes turning the pages but will sit there and let me read to him numerous times in the day, which is sweet. his favorite books right now is this slider baby einstein book with farm animals that we make the animal sounds to. he also loves another large print animal book. and of course, buenos dias baby- the small board board meghan gave him a long time ago. he's also a giant fan of throwing- food, balls, books- anything. he loves to throw, esp at mommy's face when she's holding him. 

one of his many injuries

what landon hates: bathtime, particularly sitting in the water. he's had some bad diaper rashes lately so maybe that's why? he doesn't play with his toys much. he HATES the carseat and refuses to enjoy any part of it. i try singing, giving him toys, hanging things up- nothing. he just stares at the baby mirror, seeing me, and scowls the whole way. such a dq, my little boy is. he hates not being picked up too.

what landon can do: throw temper tantrums! man and he does them. he also LOVES his car that a friend gave me and we often take him out on it at night. well he loves to push it- sometimes he'll see it in the garage and when we take him away from it, he throws the BIGGEST fits. he can clap like a champ. we're working on baby sign language but still don't got that down. oh and he's a two a day pooper- isn't that much for a baby? i don't even poop that much!

his favorite things: going out of the house [we have to at least once a day or we both go crazy]. play times with his girlfriends. swimming [do this at least once a week]. baby einstein. computer cords. eating our couch. spoons. 

how he's sleeping: i changed his bedtime routine a while back ago to dinner, play/walks with mom and dad, bottle, bathtime, jammies, story, song and bed and that has helped TONS! when we put him down he will sometimes fuss for a bit but not screaming like he used to. now he sleeps 9-5:30/6, with about 3, 20 min naps. it's the best i can hope for. because some day he sleeps for a WHOLE HOUR and it's like heaven on earth. 

eating his blanky

food he loves: i cut down his bottle intake loads and now he eats more. he LOVES baby yogurt but won't touch whole milk yogurt mixed with fruit [he loves that added sugar!]. he's getting better at eating squeezable baby food but that's the only baby food he'll eat. i give him loads of finger foods- i have for a long time [prob earlier then i should have] but he loves it. usually he'll eat egg yolk french toast with apples/grapes for breakfast- oh and he LOVES bananas. he loves spaghetti but doesn't like chicken. he loves breads and goldfish [his father's indulgence]. HUGE fan of puffs/cheerios but i limit those carbs bc that's all he'll eat. he also likes apple sauce so i try to mix in carrots or some other baby food in there too.

what we're looking forward to: well since walking in underway, what's left? oh ya, HIS BIRTHDAY! i seriously am so jazzed- it's gonna be a joint bday extravaganza at the park with his 2 girlfriends. a puppy/hello kitty/pig theme! it's going to be so fun. mark your calender's people- sept 22! 

what we're working on: baby sign language, walking and not falling, not getting into dangerous/naughty things, not crawling on mommy while she is exercising, waving bye-bye. 

how mommy is doing: i just love this age- it's so much fun. we can go to stores, i know when he's sleeping, when he'll eat, he can play and be happy for a bit [not by himself but we're working on it]. this pre-toddler stage is LOADS better then the baby. my friend sam came to mommy date this week and his little boy is much like landon so he screamed- the whole time- so she had to leave. made me realize just how MUCH i hated the baby stage. so baby #2 is going to be hard to swallow. i just love my little boy- he is so much fun. except when he's whining. or screaming. not a big fan of the poops either---but i just love him.

life lately: death cookies & a scardy pants

loving spaghetti so much he puts it on his head and saves it for later. our new curtains we're gonna get- can't wait! seeing "the wizard of oz" at the library. again, landon was weirdly scared [he didn't like puppets either!] but his bottle calmed him down. here he is clinging to me. 

 cuddling with mommy in the car. daddy's death cookies that were made with tons of healthy crap and tasted like crap. seriously, i cannot overstate how horrible these cookies were. yet he ate every one just to spite me. well played. here landon is eating my makeup brush, thinking he won the lottery. and here he is eating his blanket- how cute is my baby? i'll answer that. super duper.

 babysitting haddie a couple hours- she is the world's best baby and oh so adorable. but the best part of babysitting was when her mom brought me back a delicious oreo cupcake....yum. lately i've been feeding the babe some yolk-french toast and he loves it. except when he falls asleep at the high chair, which is adorable. my mom came home for a day or two so we played with grandma and peanut [the weird green headed kid].

 playing with peanut with the pop-up red tubey thingy. he HATED it- seriously so scared. weird, i bought that for peanut when he was little and now he's a giant. peanut kept jumping inside it, trying to make it fun but landon was not buying it. landon loved playing with duke- he sure loves his dogs. cute little bug and he is such a mouth sleeper.

life is just fabulous here in the city.

walk like a zombie

my little puddin pop is a walker you know. he just walks walks walks all over the place- and usually walks into things. well because of said walking [like a zombie, i might add], we needed to get him some good shoes. you're supposed to get thin-soles for first time walkers till they aren't so wobbly so i bit the bullet and bought $15 shoes [i don't even pay that for me shoes...granted i haven't bought shoes since....my wedding? my wedding shoes? wow that's so sad] at target and he is all over the place!

playing with the fabric softener sheet, his fav. oh and shannon he's wet bc he drank lots of water and spit it out aka his second favorite thing to do

and puppies of course- my little guy is a huge puppy lover.

i never realized that 9 1/2 months is early to walk [prob bc i know a lot of people who had earlier walkers]. personally, i push him over whenever i have the chance because he is already into everything. and i mean everything- this guy is naughty. so walking will make it easier for him! i think the reason why he walks so good is because he doesn't mind falling. he falls and hits and bumps into everything. no joke, his head is covered in bruises- people prob think i'm a child beater. i'm not, just a child-pusher-over. last monday he was standing on the ground, clinging to my bed and fell sideways, hitting the edge of our bed frame on his gums. he started spitting up blood- i was terrified! eventually it subsided. but still was black and blue and had some hanging skin off the top of his lip.

win for mom.

it's still super tender for him. yesterday we visited dr. jay aka my new dentist at dr. simister's aka my new friend's husband in our ward [small world!] and he said it would heal itself over time. the top of his front tooth is missing gum.... just breaks my heart. poor guy. but that doesn't keep him down.

workout wednesday: warmup & cool down, the backbone of a workout

if you ask stone what i hate the most in the world, it'd be static stretching. which is not true but that's very true. static stretching is when you do stationary stretching exercises, like reaching down to touch your toes or doing the flamingo stretch before you go running. nonononono!!!! warm-up if supposed to warm you up! meaning dynamic stretching, or stretching that gets you moving. like lunges, high kicks, knee highs, back pedals, etc. THAT'S what you should do before you go do something. most exercise videos will allow for that but not always. make sure every workout begins this way!

speaking of how much i despise static stretching, i don't really. i love love love stretching after a workout. to me, it's why you workout, prob why i love yoga so much. i love moving my body slightly to achieve a different stretch. to me, that's the most important part of keeping your body healthy.

*side story: one time in lacrosse, we had an intense, crazy trainer who was super critical and super mean. well one time a girl was bragging how flexible she was and he said 'it's because you have so much fat'. false- fat actually impedes flexibility. as does muscle mass, which is why it's important for body builders to stretch because it's not mutually exclusive.

i think most people are afraid of stretching because you look ridiculous and don't think it's beneficial. FALSE! it will improve your performance, make you feel better throughout the day, reduce your chances of injury, improves circulation, helps with balance, and lengthen your body out. make sure when stretching you don't bounce- it can cause muscles to tear. and don't make it painful. move to a point of discomfort, live there, move around, slacken back then push yourself a tad further. it's not a competition [hence why most people hate yoga! that's def not a competition either], it's about making yourself feel good.

our weekly update: we've been doing great! i'm still knocking out 30 min of video a day typically with rounds of push-ups and sit-ups. my friend gave me a new video to try- review coming soon. running at night has been a bit more difficult. because of the stinky weather, we only have a small window to do it before landon goes to bed and it's cool enough for the pavement to stop frying eggs and such. not to mention justin's recently been having some foot pain [going to the podiatrist today] so he hasn't been able to run. hasn't stopped me though! clocked my fastest mile [since i've been clocking my runs- so out of 4 runs] the other night- 11 mins and change. still not up to the 10 min mile i would do on the treadmill but again, that's a treadmill. a lot easier on the body/feet/and it's easier to zone out. oh and justin's continuing to drop weight like it's hot. i've lost maybe 1 or 2 so not much. prob because i'm still not good about eating... i'm getting there.

mel's favorite things: july

raindrops & hail stones & lady doctor visits [it felt like a trip to the spa- i'm serious. no one was touching me, it was quite, i could play my 'scramble with friends' without someone whining in the background]

stolen from missy's fb

or the lady doctor, of the dentist, or the bathroom

chicken salad pitas with walnuts & craisins

bright covered diaper cakes tied up with ribbon

meghan's tea party baby shower diaper cake & awesome tea set i found

these are a few of my favorite things.

when the diaper's full, and you see a raisin, and you're feeling sad,

there had been another diaper change between the time i fed him this raisin and when i found it

i simply remember that it's almost bedtime, and then i don't feel so bad.

Hoku had it wrong- today was the perfect day

You know, not every night at the Harrison compound is exciting. In fact, we usually mull around in our jammies/undies watching PBS news til it's bedtime for Landon. So today was very unusual.

On a whim (and were not whimmy people... Well, Justin's not) I suggested we go picnic at the park and go for our run there. Since the storm last week, weather has been a wonderful 99 degrees at night. While there, we saw plenty of dogs which made Landon happy and even a lost bunny! After dinner (delicious salad, chicken salad pita pockets and carrot/pear jello) and a quick run (12 min mile- not quite up to my 10 min best but better then yesrerday's 14) we can home and walked to the church in Landon's wheels for Justin to play his favorite sport (he likes to dribble up and down the court- reference anyone?) with some friends. It was just wonderful. Completely ordinary night but different all the same.

Sandra Dee was right- its all about those summer nights.

weight loss wednesday: extreme makeover

do you know what i hate? reality television. can't stand the bachelorette [what a hoe-bag! skankin on 6 guys at once], i don't think they can dance and i'd rather listen to pierce my eyes out then listen to another voice. but there's this little phenom in the summers that i can't get enough of. move over bob, there's a new friendly face in the workout town. and his name is chris powell. have you met him? he's a stud. and oh so nice with those piercing blue eyes. extreme makeover: weight loss edition runs all summer long and follows people as they dramatically lose weight in a year's time. justin & i eagerly stay up til 11pm watching this addicting show, even if it's ridiculously clouded with commercials.

it's amazing to me what they can do in just a year's time. not just lose a few pounds, but lose whole people! and change their lifestyle for the better. as justin said last night, it is so easy to gain weight but ridiculously hard to lose it. did you know i got my degree in exercise science? you wouldn't know it with the extra 30lbs i've been carrying but i did. i love gyms! i love playing sports! and i love love love the human body!

in order to maintain your current weight and keep your heart healthy, you need to exercise for 30 mins a day. so those 10 minute power walks are just not gonna cut it if you want to lose weight. 60 minutes are recommended for weight loss. that may seem daunting and pretty hard to achieve when you work 8-5, get home at 6, cook your food and clean up your house. by 8pm you just want to veg out before going to sleep. well folks, you're not going to get skinny by dreaming about it. that's why justin & i have made the goal to run a 5k in september and kick out tubby butts in gear! i've dabbled in weight watchers and regularly workout but my downfall is food. oh how i love food. before i used to be able to eat whatever i wanted as long as i worked out like a gym rat- which i loved. that's not quite possible now so that's what i'm working on. we've been going strong for 2 weeks now and over 10 lbs have been lost between us! [mostly justin's- working out with your husband is quite depressing bc he will lose weight faster then you, esp when cutting his soda consumption alone saves him 5lbs]

in the writing world, you're urged to write what you know. and we all know i know landon, how to be cranky, and more importantly, how to be fabulous. but i also know a thing or two about exercise. so welcome to a new segment called weight loss wednesday- that won't happen every wednesday and won't happen just on wednesdays.

our workout goals on our fridge, landon helping mommy do pushups, landon's yogurt-stache, and asleep on our runs

so my tip for today [because curious george on pbs is about to be over...] is about the form of exercise. personally, i love yoga. not too intense, lots of stretching and those pants.... love those pants. just bought some new ones yesterday. but it's very rare to find a good yoga class or video that really gets your heart pounding [try hot yoga- that's the worst]. so that's my form of relaxation and stretching- with some muscle toning. i hate hate hate running but it's by far, the best form of cardio there is. it's high intensity and will burn the most calories for the time you put into it because it will help you continue to burn calories for a while after. most people are afraid of running bc

a- the outfits are so skimpy and spandex doesn't look quite as attractive around saddlebags
b- it's hard!
c- you think you can only go for such a short time it's not worth it. might as well sit on a stationary bike and pedal for 30 minutes [the stationary, back-supported bike is hardly used to the extent it does much work]

well i agree. i hate running. i have to double bag my ladies because the running kills my back and it hurts my legs, my feet, gives me calluses and it sucks. it's just the worst. but it's so worth it for the results. what i like to do because i loathe it so much is i run at a comfortable pace for at least a song [so 3 min but you can work up to this] then walk for a bit until i feel the urge again [usually another song]. i think most people push them too much so they can't maintain their pace. you want to be at a pace that is comfortable and one that you can sustain for a long time. it's better to run at a moderate pace every 3 min with a 3 min rest between for 30-45 min then running til you pass out for 10. like i said, we're going for quantity- 60 min!

landon is such a great workout helper

right now i try to do a video in the mornings [when i have the most energy and don't get pretty for the day]- my favorites are p90x & the 10 minute solutions on netflix [p90x is ridiculously hard so i'll do 30 min one day, 30 the next. i don't skip over any parts and attempt to do all the reps. i usually don't but i try my hardest], followed by sets of push-ups [switching between normal and girl] and different forms of sit-ups. at night, justin & i go on walks with landon. we each take turns running in front of the stroller and running back to the person after our song. running outside is much more difficult then a treadmill but it's more similar to what we'll be doing come sept. we always walk at a speed-walker pace and takes sips of water [it's still about 105+ degrees at 7:30pm so that's essential].

i think the stumbling block for most people is that they view diets and exercise as a temporary thing until they lose such-and-such weight. which could work if you are built that way but it's not the healthy thing to do. despite your weight, exercise and eating right should just be a way of life. i have to let go of the notion that i can eat out 3x a week and exercise the same amount. it's a daily thing that just becomes a routine so it's not "do you want to go running tonight?" to something that you just do.

and i say this as i am making mini-pizzas for my mommy group today. in my defense, it's weight watchers friendly. i know i'm never going to be a size 6. i'll settle for a 10-12 [currently a 14-16]. in the end, it's about feeling good about yourself.

in case you're wondering, some of my favorite places to find healthy recipes are skinny taste, laaloosh, slender kitchen, emily bites, and of course, pinterest.

so seriously, check out the show. it's amazing- we're watching it right now.

babysitting karma: why i can never ever ever leave my baby ever again. ever.

babysitting for a mormon girl is like communion for catholics- or hebrew school for my jew friends- you have to do it. sometimes you'll hate it but it's a rite of passage that almost everyone does. how else do you make money? when you're old enough to be a teenager but too young to date, that's just what you do to get out of your house.

me, i hated babysitting. i never really liked babies. i was the baby of the family- everyone was supposed to take care of me. so i hardly did it and i was not that good at it. i babysat mostly for one family that was rich who paid well and had the best snacks [hostess & chips] and tv [cable! i still remember the first time i heard "i know my calculus...it means you plus me equals us...". so no, i was not a good babysitter. but i knew it.

last night was my first time leaving landon with a non-family, non-friend babysitter. usually i don't do this because:

a) hello! we're poor! and more importantly, cheap
b) mema is so awesome that we don't have to
c) i have attachment issues [seriously, i do. i leave him for 20 min to run to the store and i hug, kiss, cry, kiss, and strangle poor little landon before i leave--only to run in---literally run in--grab him, kiss him and promise to never, ever, ever leave him again].

well mema had previous plans and we were invited to a game night [and i can't say no to a good game night--because i'm old and married and boring- that's just what our folks do. i would say like pre-teens go to the mall but alas, last night i was informed that's not what young people do these days. still don't know what they do...] so i poached the widely known and loved baby whisperer in our ward. won't go into much detail about this sweet girl [you never know who reads my blog- actually, i do. thank you my five fans....way to keep believing one day i'll actually write something that's not self-centered or crotchety. soo....keep the faith bc it's not happening today].

anyways she comes over, i gave him the dealio of landon, wrote down specific instructions in case she forgot and told her to make herself comfortable. looking back i did kinda go fast [that's why i wrote it down] but only bc i hated hated HATED moms who went into every little detail for-ev-ver and i was afraid of doing one little thing not right. landon has not taken an afternoon nap and was kinda grouchy so i knew he'd prob go to bed early. we left and i only checked my phone 5x at the party. didn't even call in to check- that's pretty good for me!

well coming home, i tried not to rush in there right away [maybe i should have mentioned i'm pretty bad with confrontation....ok there it is] and be the cool mom. even when we came home to find landon had gone to bed 30 min after we left [an hour before bedtime], in clothes he's worn all day, with a diaper he'd been wearing since 4pm, without a bottle [having last ate a little at 5pm], with some strange ice cream in our trash [that someone obviously brought over].

so no.....was not happy. still paid her really well because of the said confrontation issues.

i know finding a good babysitting is hard these days and we've been spoiled rotten with having such a great mema who watches him so much for free and so well but come on! i'm pretty sure i am never, ever, ever, ever leaving my angel baby with someone other then family for a long long time. all last night i just sat up worrying that he was starving to death [have you seen his cute little pot-belly? highly doubt it. but still!]. i almost woke him up to feed/change him. almost- because justin wouldn't let me.

how can you not love this face??!

now i know, more then ever, why parents hardly go out. my poor baby- i'm still obsessing that he might have some post-traumatic stress lingering from an empty tummy-no jammies-stinky diaper all night..... like i said, i have issues.

may the 4th be with you

you know how when you're a little kid, you fix your mind on something like going on a vacation or going to an amusement park and you can't possibly think of anything else. it finally comes and it's a sheer and utter let down?

that's my fourth. vegas, oh how you do me wrong. we have blistering hot heat, all the time, and we deal with it for when we really want to enjoy it. 4th of the july is supposed to be that day- and yet it wasn't. it RAINED. not enough to enjoy it, just sprinkles and overcast and horrible chilliness that doesn't make you want to jump in a cold pool. 

dr. joe - aka our state rep - aka justin's old boss

mr. 215

watching airplanes- he was so amazed

boulder's mascot - a fish - bc it's near the dam 

blast. we did enjoy some aspects of the day. mainly, the parade in boulder city with my sailor & little boy. justin works in politics and one of his candidates was walking because it's her district. missy is the daughter of mr. bruce woodbury- aka mr. 215. yeah, he's kind of a big deal. so she's kind of a big deal. honestly, we just walked down main street with everyone, doing nothing. i always wondered who the creepy people in parades were who weren't on floats and didn't hand out candy. now i know- they're me. 

after dying in the heat of the morning, we got our slurps on and went to hang with justin's dad. we were supposed to go swimming at his grandma's so we just ate and ate and landon dog piled on his grandpa. he sure loves his puppies. 

wearing his socks in honor of his gf abby

that night we threw a party at justin's moms (a pool party- scoff) with loads of our friends. nothing, i repeat nothing, is better then a bbq hot dog. we ate and talked then decided to jump in the cold water in the cold weather. landon partied hard and bathed at his mema's bathtub, which he loved. followed by a sleeping baby and some awesome illegal fireworks. 

i guess it was an ok fourth of july. the real downer was when the dogs jumped on the table and ate all the remaining dogs. hot dogs......yum.

so my parting words with you- july may the fourth be with you. 

a score from my party shopping - his halloween costume.