Mi casa!

On Friday it was five years since we moved into our house. I can't even believe how quickly time flies by!

Friday storms...

Jer, Landon and I spent a few hours this morning cleaning up after yesterdays storms. I was relieved to be home and safe when both rounds of the storm came through. Tree limbs were down, the garden is destroyed and most of my plants got hit pretty hard. The crops don't look so good either. Aside from that, no major damage.

Eye update & 18 month appointment

As you can see, Landon's eye looks a lot better! Yesterday I took Landon back to the Dr. for a scheduled visit. Since he had his cast on last month we had to reschedule his 18 month check and immunizations. The Dr. said that Landon was not stung by a bee and she had seen a couple cases of swelling from picnic bug bites. She said she got bit on her cheek and it swelled up similar to Landon's eye. Now that the swelling is down you can see where he was bit in the corner of his eye. Whew, glad we are all better.

Landon had his 18 month exam and the Dr. said he appears to be perfectly healthy! He weighed 26 pounds 2 ounces which is right in the 50th percentile. Landon is 31.5" tall, which is between the 10th-25th percentile. No surprise there- he has always been short! And his head circumference was 19" which is right in the 50th percentile. Now we don't go back until January. Let's hope!! Landon got three shots yesterday. Poor baby. He cried of course, and was a little fussy after his 3 1/2 hour nap yesterday afternoon, but he is doing great today!

Eye update...

My friend Rebecca summed it up well in an email yesterday. "Landon can't seem to catch a break can he?" That's about right. Here is a picture of Landon's eye this afternoon. It is starting to look better. This morning I had my doubts and called the Dr. again. She said the redness is normal and I should continue to give Benedryl as long as Landon's eye is swollen. After Landon woke up from his nap, he was able to open his eye a bit. You can see it open slightly in this picture. I hope that means we are on the down hill. The good news is he is not bothered by anything and is a happy little boy! Whew...

Bee sting?

UPDATE: We are fairly certain that Landon got stung by a bee on his eye lid yesterday afternoon. The swelling is a result of a localized allergic reaction. His pupil and eye reaction were completely normal, so the Dr. was not concerned. The Dr. said the swelling should go down within 24-48 hours. If not I should bring him back. I gave Landon one dose of benedryl, but that's about all I can do. He is not in any pain and is acting completely normal. Poor little thing :(

Yesterday, Landon and I were playing outside when I noticed a pin drop of blood by his left eye. He had a small stick in his hand and I thought maybe he scratched himself. Last evening his eye seemed to be a little swollen, but not nearly like it is this morning. When he woke up this morning and I noticed how swollen his eye was, I just about started crying. I am wondering now if he got stung by a bee? I will be taking him to the Dr. at 11:30 this morning.
I am on vacation all week. What a way to start our vacation. Oh, and Daddy is away on business :(

Go Hawkeyes!

Landon learned this from Stella at the baby shower last Saturday. Go Hawkeyes!

19 months old

Landon is now officially 19 months old. Most recently Landon has been going to bed on his own. Either Jeremy or I used to rock him to sleep every night. I never looked at this as a hastle, I loved rocking him to sleep. He was such a light sleeper though. I felt as though we had to tip toe around the house so he didn't wake up. If he did wake up, we certainly could not go in his room or it would all be over. About two weeks ago, it was past Landon's bedtime and he was not settling down when I rocked him. So I kissed him goodnight and layed him in his bed. He fell asleep with very little crying. So after reading our book the next night I asked Landon if he was ready to go night night. Landon nodded his head and went to his room. It's now that easy. Our routine is read a book, kisses and hugs for Daddy, say night night to Elke, go to his room. Give Mommy a kiss and a hug and in his bed. I know this is a good thing, but it still makes me sad. My baby is growing up and turning into a little boy...

Sunday funday...

This afternoon Jer, Randy and Scrub were cutting hay. I don't know if they know what they are going to do with it, I think they have more fun playing around than anything.
So while the boys were busy, we decided to go to the park. This is Landon's first park experience without a cast on. Landon tried everything out. I was a nervous wreck most of the time and followed him every step of the way. Landon loved the swing of course, as well as about everything else. He didn't like the slide the first time, but loved it every time after that. Just a few tears when we had to leave :(
And we had to stop for ice cream. Landon is not a big ice cream eater, but did enjoy a few bites!

Busy Saturday

What a busy day! We started the morning off by attending a baby shower for my cousin Mike and his wife Amy who are expecting a baby in mid August. Here is Landon all dressed up and ready to go. We "buzzed" Landon's hair when he broke his leg because it was going to be so much easier. I couldn't stand his hair, and am thrilled that it is finally growing back. It is now long enough that I can spike it. I love it, except that he looks like such a big boy :(
At the shower, Landon quickly made friends with Stella and her Grandma Donna who shared M & M's with him. Twice Stella went to give Landon a hug and both times Landon pushed her away. As you can see they made up on the swing though...

After a quick change we headed to the Winneshiek County Fair. Landon took a quick nap, but woke up just in time to see the ponies. The highlight of the fair was definitely the cows. It's a good thing we saw Carly otherwise I would not have ventured in the barn. Mom used to babysit Carly so we have known her forever. She received so many trophies for showing her cows, so I felt pretty safe with her. She took us over to her cows and asked if Landon wanted to pet the cow. Landon was not scared at all, and loved every minute of it. All night he kept saying "cows" and wanted to look at the pictures on my camera. How cute!

Cast FREE!!!

We are finally done- after 7 long weeks, Landon is finally cast free! The xray's looked great today, in fact you couldn't even see the fracture anymore. The Dr. said that sometimes the body focuses on repairing bones and the broken bone will over grow. Dr. Wintersteen wants us to come back in one year to make sure that Landon's broken femur is not growing longer than the femur in his other leg.

We were told to expect Landon to continue to act like he still has a cast on. Also, that it could take up to several weeks for him to walk. Landon had quite a bit of bruising starting in his ankle, and although he wanted to stand, he was scared and appeared to be in some pain. After a nice, LONG bath, Landon decided it was time to start walking. Although he walks like he still has a cast on, he is walking all over the place. Also, the bruising is already gone.

I am so thrilled that his recovery has gone so well, and thanks to everyone for all the support you have given!

One last picture this morning before the cast came off!
A picture with Auntie Jo Jo last night. Who would have ever thought they would have broken bones at the same time. On a side note, Jodi car pooled with us and went to her orthopedics appointment today as well. Things are looking better for her. She will go back next week when they will try and pop the bones in her humerus back into alignment. She was told to be off work for 8-12 weeks as they want to try and let gravity work it's magic.

Leg cast: Day 26

Two days left!! Yah!! For those of you who haven't seen how well Landon is getting around, here is a quick video of him walking. The more easily he can get around, the more anxious he appears to be getting for his cast to come off. We are now counting the hours!

Happy 4th of July!!

Whew, what a busy weekend. On Friday evening, the 3rd, we went to fireworks in Fort. What I love about these fireworks is that it's just a big group of people. No crowds, no parking issues, just a nice set of fireworks. This was Landon's first time experiencing fireworks. How did they go? Well, he didn't love them. About half way through the 15 minute show, Landon started waving and said, "Go go," as he pointed to the car. He stuck it out on Daddy's lap. Seeming as how he was up until 10:30, you would have thought he slept in on the 4th. Nope, up at 5:15, as usual.

On the 4th we went to the kids parade in Festina. I know what you're thinking, and yes, Festina has a parade. It was adorable, and apparently keeps doubling in size every year. This was also a first for Landon as he has never been to a parade before. He loved it, and he got a TON of stuff. Flip flops, beach balls, string cheese, a whistle and a bag FULL of candy. Daddy gets the candy, Landon gets the rest. Grandma Merrill went with, and we even saw Grandpa Sabelka driving a fire truck. It is the cutest little parade, and I higly recommend it to anyone next year!

In the afternoon Jeremy's Grandma Miller who lives in Cedar Falls came up to visit. It had been a while since we last saw her so it was nice to catch up. After our visit, we headed over to my brother and sister in laws in Spillville for their annual Fourth of July party. Landon did well keeping up with the other kids and definitely had fun watching! We didn't stick around for the fireworks, but I don't think Landon missed them.

Taking a dry bath??

Landon is really missing his bathtub toys, and I am really missing putting Landon in the bathtub and scrubbing him clean! When I was cleaning the house yesterday morning, Landon was following me around and really wanted in the tub. So, I put him in there, and he had a blast getting reacquainted with his tub toys. Only 3 more days!!

Leg cast: Day 23

Even though Landon has a cast on, it still does not stop us from going outside and getting some exercise. On the days I don't run (another story I'll share later), I try and walk with Landon. Since it was a little warmer last night, I stripped Landon down to his diaper, and we went for our walk. It's a good thing we live in the country and no one can see us!! Landon loves his sun glasses, and even enjoys listening to my ipod every now and then. It's so cute to see him try and snap my fingers to the music. My newest Depot purchase at the Depot. A jogging stroller. I love my job!