ParkLand Log (formerly the Lando-Log)

It’s been way too long since I’ve updated the site. I noticed today that the site was completely broken. So I had to re-install the blog software and now all is at peace. I haven’t uploaded pictures to the share site since Halloween, but here’s one of Cowboy Yoda Parker and Lando-Fett. Today is also Landon’s 6th birthday, so I want to wish him a very happy day!

Just a few updates. Landon started kindergarten in the fall and is at the top of his class (well we like to say his is anyway)! He was actually one of the first kids to be able to count to 100 and get all his sight words memorized. Way to go. He finished up a successful soccer season this fall with his team taking first place in the end of season tournament! I think he scored something like 5 goals, needless to say I was very proud. He’ll be starting up spring training soon as he’s signed up for t-ball.

Parker is quickly catching up to Landon in just about everything. He’s already fitting into 3-T clothes (mostly cause he’s tall even though he is stout)! He can keeps up with all things Landon from Wii to sports. He wants to read every book Landon has and he’s even learned how to throw a wicked left hook (yes he seems to be a lefty). He’s also pick up Landon’s knack for soccer, already mastering the foot on top pull back move.

Well you’d think I’d have more after a nearly two year hiatus, but alas, that’s all I got today. I will try to get more pictures up for anyone who still checks here.

Click here to view these on the Shutterfly site

Or view all the pictures on the Shutterfly site

Well finally got some new (and old) pictures up on the old Shutterfly site. Check em out! Here’s Landon’s old Shutterfly site as well with updated pictures from this year.

Both Parker and Landon are doing great. Parker is growing quite fast. He was well over 9 lbs at his 3 week check-in. Landon had a brief stint of wanting to trade Parker in for a girl, but has since gotten over that! Landon is doing great at pre-school, he’s managed to catch every cold they seem to throw at him! I believe that catching colds is a prerequisite to the pre-kindergarten class. As I understand it, in pre-K, they concentrate on how to spread the viruses (e.g. proper nose picking technique, how to sneeze for maximum dispersion of snot, and how to cough in your hand and then touch everything in site). Although he can spell cat, dog, and his name so they must be doing something right!

Parker in a blanket

An oldie but goodie – Landon in a blanket

Parker did the typical day after weight loss routine dropping down to 7lb 3oz. He didn’t pick up feeding much the first 24hours so we had to call in the special ops team. They sent over Ivana the Terrible (names changed to protect the innocent) and by performing what I can only describe as infant water boarding, he’s now eating well.

Guess who’s 3 today! Happy Birthday buddy. I will have some of our Hawaii pictures up soon so check back in a few days!!

Well seeing how its been since November since the last post, and we just got back from Hawaii, I think its about time for an update! Well Hawaii was the bees’ knees! We all had a great time. The weather was gorgeous and the beaches there just can’t be beat. Landon picked up some new phrases, like, “Big Wave” as he went tromping into them. “It’s fun to play in the ocean.” And after enjoying a post beach outdoor sand rinse, “It’s nice to take a shower”. The things kids come up with.

Hawaii 2008 – Eating Sand: more Hawaii Pics here.

Before Hawaii Landon had his big 2nd Birthday Party. We had everyone over to the house for food, fun, and an indoor pinata!

Mmmmm Cake: more B-day pics here.

And before his B-day, we had Christmas Eve and Christmas! Man thats a lot a pictures!

 

Christmas Eve: more Christmas Eve pics here

 

Christmas Day – Landon and Ella: more Christmas Day pics here

 

Well, Landon walks!! In the beginning of May he started to stand and take a step or two, and by the end of May he was officially walking. Now we can’t keep him still!!! That little maniac is all over the place. Check out this little video I made of him learning to walk (his walking is much better now):

In other news, Landon raised over $1600 in April during his March of Dimes – WalkAmerica. Thanks to all who donate to team Lil’ Pounders. We made special t-shirts and if you’d like one you can order it here: (women’s or men’s). Below is a picture from the walk, see more here.

Landon has also taken on a new sport…swimming! Landon is taking swim lessons and has just started to get the hang of holding his breath!!! Here’s some pictures of Landon the Fish. An interesting note, we met a couple who knew us only through the blog (they are friends of a co-worker of Sarah’s). They recognized us from the blog and introduced themselves. They actually have a preemie in the NICU as I write this, so we’d like to send good thought their way.

Well Lando got to spend the day a few weeks ago with his good buddy Baby H. More pics!

Let’s see what else. Lando was supposed to go camping over the 4th of Juky, but got sick, so we only went for a day trip. He did have a blast anyhow playing with Zach, Emma, and Shae. Landon wants to be sure to tell Eli Happy Birthday today, and yesterday to Poppy, Joni, and Brian. Lando is also in My Gym class where he’s learning to somersault and other gym stuff. What else….Weight Check: 21.5 lbs – Height Check: 30″. Guess that’s all this time.

Edit (added 7/11/07): In case I don’t get to posting in a couple weeks, there’s birthdays coming up in July for Tom and Shae-Shae!!! And of course there’s also Auntie Ka-Ka’s birthday today too!! Wasn’t it last year when a bunch of friends had babies in July….sheeshhh!

Well its not quite official, but we should soon be closing on our new house in Willow Glen (San Jose). We’re moving out of Santa Clara next weekend and will be out of a house for about a month!!!

Landon has been doing great, although he seems to have yet another cold!!! For a kid who we keep sheltered, like gold at Fort Knoxx, he sure does seem to catch a lot of em. He was 19.5 lbs at his last weigh in at the beginning of March. He’s just getting ready to start walking, he actually took two steps before falling the other day. We also think he officially has said his first real word. He says “book”. He also says “ma-ma” and “google”, but we’re not so sure he knows what those mean.

And now we ask for your money!!! Why would we want your money you ask? Well its time for WalkAmerica (The March of Dimes). Landon is a proud member of Team Lil’ Pounder, and he will be walking/crawling for a great cause. If you would like to join us, or donate please see our link here:

 

 

Well you’ve made it to the big leagues buddy. No longer are you zero!!! You’re an actual single digit. I hope you enjoyed your “It’s a Small World” Birthday party. I know I did. We love you, congratulations, and here’s to a wonderful year two!!!

Remember to see all you birthday pictures here: http://landonaaron.shutterfly.com.

 

 

Happy Turkey Day Everybody,

Dad is trying to dress me up like a turkey. For some strange reason he’s been stuffing me all week with all kinds of food!!!

Well at least he took some other nice pictures of me first. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Love,

Landon the Turkey

Well Landon was a Lando-Bear for his first Halloween. He went trick-or-treating with Ryan-Lion. He got a ton of candy, but being the good Dad I am, I ate it all for him to spare his one tooth from cavities!

Well Landon is doing great. He went to the doctor last week and weighed in at 14lbs 5oz and is 25 and 1/4 inches long. He’s had to have his blood drawn (which was terrible cause they missed the vein on the first try), but the good news is his iron is perfect. Yay no more iron supplements!!!

Landon has finally learned to roll over from his back to his front. He took his time with this, but now he seems to love being on his stomach. It won’t be long before he’s crawling. He is also almost able to stand when holding on to something. Considering, he can’t fully sit on his own, that’s pretty darn good.  

We’re getting ready to hunker down for RSV season. RSV is a very serious virus for preemies. To an adult or healthy infant, RSV is like a bad cold/flu. For a preemie, or former preemie who’s under the age of 2, it can mean another long stay in the hospital. Preemies lungs can take a couple years (or longer) to get to full strength after they’ve been on breathing support in the NICU. Landon will get RSV shots once a month which will help him should he get RSV. But the best thing we can do is keep him from getting it. So, we’re buying some more stock in Purell and yes we’ll be spraying everyone down who comes within a 20 foot radius of L-dizzle!!!!

OK enough chit-chat here’s the pics:

Well seeing how it has been over a month since the last post, here’s a Lando update.

Landon weighed in this week at 13lbs 1.5oz. At our previous doctor visit the Doc was telling us Landon is growing fine, but he wasn’t doing much in the way of catch-up. Well this time the doctor said he’s caught up a little. We’ve been adding Miracle Grow to his milk and it seems to work! 

Landon was having some loose stool issues, so we went to see an infant GI doc (who would have figured with his family tree full of relatives with stomach problems). Anyway they ran some tests and they came back with a positive result for malabsorption. Not much to worry about, he was just not getting all the nutrients he could, probably a result of a premature digestive system. Well the doctor mentioned adding preemie formula back into his diet which we did, but as it turns out we did the test wrong anyway. So we re-tested him, and he tested normal. So for now he gets formula and breast milk….mmm mmm good. Whther it was a bad test or adding the formula we don’t know. What we do know is that Landon is doing great.

In other news, mom went back to work part-time to bring home the bacon. She’s not teaching this year, she’s got a support staff position and has a quiet office away from the students. This should help keep her from getting sick this year! Dad had to hire himself a dad’s helper (aka a nanny). Chelsea helps out a couple days a week and her and Landon are quickly becoming old pals. Chelsea even got Landon to giggle histerically for the first time, which we now have on video (check back soon I plan to post that this weekend).

Other than that Landon has been going to dads soccer games, going out to dinner, walks in the park, and occasional tennis matches. We’re getting him out as much as possible cause RSV season is right around the corner and that means Landon will go into semi-hibernation!!!

Here’s a picture to hold you over until I can get the video up:

 

 

As of 6:32 am, Lan the Man is 6 months old!!! Today Landon get’s to do what ever he wants! That will probably include lots of drooling, babbling, cooing/cawing, and sucking on his thumb!!

Well Happy 1/2 Birthday Big Guy

Well, once again we are pushing the limits on longest no-posting ever. As Landon grows and gets stronger every day, our time runs shorter. Notice how I am writing this post at 3:30 AM! Even though Landon is getting better at sleeping through the night, mom and dad are trying to adjust back to full nights of sleep. We often find ourselves unable to sleep for long periods at night because we haven’t done this for 6 months now (Yes, even when Landon was in the NICU we stayed up nights with worry). We are slowly learning to sleep for longer periods and it is so welcome.

Landon – After I suffered from an ear infection last week (right after Katie) that had me in bed for 2 days, we decided to get Landon checked out as well because he was fussy and crying 2 days straight. Turns out Landon had may have had a small virus, but no ear infection. Either way, he weighed in last week at 9 pounds 13 ounces. We thought he was past 10, but we were short a few ounces. I am sure he is 10 pounds something this week. We think because he may have a virus, he has had diarreah (AGAIN!!!) for quite awhile, but his doctor is not concerned because he is very happy and hydrated. Can’t wait for this to go away. For now, we change him all the time and read the messages the girls left on the diapers from the shower.

Over the last 3 weeks Landons skills have really improved. He is talking up a storm which is the cutest thing ever. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he cracks a smile and begins to chatter. Just the other day he talked to himself in the mirror for 1/2 an hour. No kidding! He coo’s and babbles and immitates sounds. He talks to people, his toys, himself. He talks all the time (especially in the morning). I think he asked me for a cell phone aready ;).

Landon is also rolling over pretty consistently now which makes keeping him on his tummy hard. As soon as we lay him on his belly he flips himself over…and boy does he get mad if we flip him right back. Some days he gets lazy and would rather chew on his hand, but mostly he works on getting to his back. He has also discovered his thumb on his right hand (the left is still missing as far as he’s concerned) which makes his talking interesting as he is always trying to cram his thumb in his mouth. He is so proud when he gets it and is pretty much rejecting pacifiers now. It is great for when he is upset because he calms himself down.

Lets see…what else. Landon is also grabbing (or flailing) for toys now and will sometimes grasp a rattle or toy. We are working on his fine motor skills as his oral and gross motor skills are way more advanced. It is amazing how much more he is doing is just one week. He is not behind in his fine motor skills, but he really uses his right hand more than his left so we are encouraging him to use his left more.

Besides all of this we are beginning to work on Landon sitting. He has a ways to go, but his trunk muscles seem very strong and with a little support (mostly to keep him from tipping) he is holding himself up nicely. he has also begun to scoot on his belly just a little during those times when we are successful at keeping him on his belly. 

(Yawn). Ooh i’m getting sleepy…good. Can’t think of much more at the moment though I know there is more.

Congrats to all the new babies: Carson, Cal and, expecting another tomorrow afternoon, _____ Smith. July was a busy birth month for our friends. 

 

Love to All

Ok, here’s are a couple pictures from a few weeks ago of Landon’s first real food (well if you call rice cereal real food – yuck)!!! He mostly spit it out and now we are just giving it to him in his bottle mixed with milk, but before you know it he’ll be eating hot dogs and hamburgers!!

Yes I am trying to flood Sarah’s email box so go ahead and wish her a happy birthday. If you read her post from today (see below) you’ll notice it’s also the first day of Summer (she constantly likes to brag about that). Since it was like 95 degrees today she decided to buy Landon a baby pool. Go figure:

Ok ok, I got some pictures for you. But first a little update. Last weekend Landon went to his cousin Zach’s birthday party, where he got to meet quite a bit of his family. He got to hang with his cuz-es Shae, Emma, and Zach.  He also got to meet his noun-adelfos, Ryan (Gus translate that for Tiffany if I’m even close). This weekend he’s planning on meeting some more family!!! And of course dad plans to have a relaxing sunday afternoon-First Father’s Day, drinking a beer, watching the World Cup, and getting a back massage (achem, Sarah are you listening – I don’t want no stinking flowers). Landon’s good buddy baby Harrison also came to visit us this week as did Omi GG. Wow what an action packed week. Did I mention to thank Emma for letting Landon user her automated bassinet. Landon simply loves it (and so do I cause I’m finally getting some sleep)!!

Well it was only a couple hours, but he finally slept in his crib for a couple hours without having to be held the other night. And we got a repeat performance last night. Well at least he did on daddy’s shift, not sure how he slept for mom! He hasn’t been weighed in quite a while, but we think he’s on the upper end of 7lbs pushing towards 8. He’s getting to be quite the handful armful.

Landon has yet another nickname (a pun off his first and last names for those of you who may not know), describing his obviously healthy set of lungs! He definitely has no problem speaking up and letting us know when he’s not happy. After a long hibernation, I have awoken from my photo slumber:

I think I forgot to mention that we had Landon measured and he is now 19 3/4 inches…very much on track for his weight and age. Yeah little guy…so soon you will not be so small.

Where are the pics dad? 

 

Landon would like to wish all the mothers out there a Happy M-Day. He thought what a better way to celebrate then with some pictures!!!

Well it is hard to believe, but today is the official due date for the twins. Never would have thought they’d have come so soon, but things happen in mysterious ways. So instead of a couple of babies crying their heads off today, we have one precious and happy 3 1/2 month old.

On this special day, Jay and I would like to take the time and thank all the people who donated to the March of Dimes on behalf of Alissa! The money will be used to research why prematutre births happen and to create technonogy that keeps our precious preemies alive. I am sure that it is this organization which has helped with Landon’s remarkable survival and accomplishments.

We would also like to thank all of the people who have helped us through these most difficult and challenging times. But don’t think you are all off the hook yet, we still need the strength and support, and we love reading all of the comments posted about Landon’s progress.

On a wonderful note, Landon’s friend Baby Harrison (whom we mentioned a few times along the way) is being released from the hospital this Tuesday!!! We are so excited for his progress and so happy for his parents to finally get him home. Let us all think of them one more time as they too begin a new stage in their lives and wish them great sleep for the next couple of nights. Hopefully, when the boys are older, you will get to meet this remarkable baby at one of Landon’s B-day parties. It is truly amazing what great friendships arise over tragic hardships!

 

 

Yesterday Landon turned 3 months. We celebrated by taking him on his very first (short)walk with Cody (our dog). It was very warm out (in the 80s) and he seemed to enjoy it (and by that I mean he didn’t cry)! Here’s a couple pictures I took during the day:

Today we had another doctor appointment which confirmed how well Landon is doing. He is now 4 pounds 13.5 ounces and in the 17th percentile in the size charts. Yeah Landon! They are really impressed with how well he is growing since he has been home. With being held 22 hours a day and all the feedings, he has no choice but to gain weight like a champ! The doctor also commented on how alert he is and was impressed with his ability to focus at faces and objects. She really seemed pleased with all he has accomplished so far. At this point Landon is acting like any other “new baby”, crying and all (can the boy fuss!).  We are just so proud of how well Landon is doing. Wednesday we go back for the ROP eye recheck. I am not looking forward to it at all… I hate seeing him cry so hard, but we need to know how the ROP is progressing. Hopefully it has not progressed and Wednesday will be our last check for awhile. We are all keeping our fingers crossed. Love to all; sorry I don’t know how to post pictures on here ( plain lazziness on my part ).

 

Sarah

We are becoming really lazy with this Blog! With our weird sleeping hours and taking care of the baby, it is obvious what has slipped through the crack. The nurse came yesterday and reported what we already knew, that Landon is a champ and is doing great. He now weighs a whooping 4 pounds 10 ounces! He is so huge compared to just a month ago. He gains about 1 ounce per day which is on the higher end of weight gain. He eats like a pro so we knew he is doing well. I may be biased, but the weight looks great on him…he is just too darn cute. The last few days we have broken out the toys and Landon now focuses on the things that blink and have lights. He is also showing more recognition of voices. All this is great progress for a guy who isn’t even considered term yet. When on his belly he has begun to move his head from side to side…meaning he can flip it over one way. He is also beginning to test his arm strength…but it will take a lot to eventually lift his heavy head. And…Landon’s pride and joy is that he now sucks on his thumb. He does not do it often, but he has developed the cordination to bring his hands together and get his thumb into his mouth. Again, this is a big accomplishment for our little man. Soon he’ll be rolling over and lifting his head for longer periods of time.