Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Puzzle monster

Leland has been known as the puzzle monster since the beginning of summer.  If Ella or Lucy were doing a puzzle he would go and destroy it.

But now this puzzle monster is doing puzzles and that is all he wants to do.  As soon as he wakes up he goes into his room and does the majority of his puzzles.
(warning the video is long)


This morning while I was getting ready I laid his puzzles out and took all the pieces out of them.  When I returned to the room, most of the puzzles has their pieces back in place. I also had enough uninterrupted time to get ready and make breakfast.

It amazes me how quickly kids this age change and how quickly they learn.  It is also awesome that he now plays alone for a significant amount of time.

Monday, December 17, 2012

The unknown

Everyone had a reaction to the Sandy Hook shootings.  If you are a parent, you were struck with grief and horrible sadness for parents not having their children to hold anymore.  It is unimaginable what they are going through and how they will be able to carry on with life.

As for my reaction, it worries me that schools are not entirely safe.  They are suppose to be safe and should be safe; a place you can take your child to learn, not to be bullied or shot at.  Events that happen, ones that are awful and make you question humanity, make me want to hide away in a mountain cabin.  With hopes I could at least protect my family and myself there.

But that is the crazy thing.  You never know what will happen.  The unknown drives me crazy at times because there is no way to factor for it.  As a parent, the unknown constantly has me about to snap.  You can be there for your child, make them dinner and breakfast, read them books, put them to bed.  But you can never fully protect them from everything because there are unknown and unpredictable factors that can always happen.  Rare illnesses, car accidents, etc.  These tings happen everyday and you can only hope it isn't you or your child.

So for me overcoming this new unknown is going to be challenging.  I guess I just have to be thankful for what I have each and everyday and try not to take it for granted.  So that if the unknown finally catches up to me, I will know I did my best and loved my child the best I could.  Because I don't know what else I can do.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Bison tour

I have talked before about Leland's love affair with bison.   We are lucky to live near a wildlife refuge that has bison.  They also give free tours which is awesome, so a week ago we sign up and went.
It was really awesome.  We saw mule deer, white tailed deer, bald eagles, bison, hawks, coyotes, prairie dogs.  I would highly recommend going if you are in the area.  


Biiiii!


We saw the bison at the end of the tour, so Leland was tired by then.  He still saw them and was excited but also about to fall asleep.

We will definitely be going on the tour again, I would like to go every season.  So we will see.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Leland the Hobbit

I think my kid is turning into a hobbit.
 

(pardon the bad camera photo, but look at that belly!  and this photo is perfect because it makes it seem like he has hobbit feet too)
His meals go as listed:
1. Breakfast
2. Second Breakfast (also known an Momma's breakfast because she eats too slow)
3. Snack (also known as elevensies)
4. Lunch
5. Snack
6. Dinner

Six meals, just like a hobbit.

This could be why his belly is so awesome.  And that he likes to rub it when you say belly.

I am pretty sure this is normal toddler eating habits, but most kids don't have the belly to prove it.  Sometimes after he eats dinner (the last meal of the day so he eats as much as possible) his belly is sticking out so much I fear it may explode.  But it apparently isn't that full because he has no issues nursing at bedtime.

He should have been a hobbit for Halloween.