Ah the things we do for our kids....

So grandma McNeely wanted to get Landon a sandbox for his 1st birthday last year, but he was just too young, so this year is the year. Spring sales have been popping up everywhere, so before they made it back to Texas to visit, we sprung for the box as an early birthday gift from the grandparents. Well, with a small yard, it actually made it a challenge to figure out where to put it. Once we decided on the appropriate corner of the yard, there was just one problem....its the one corner that gets the most shade, and therefore is the most wet. How to solve this problem? Well after mulling it over for a few days, we finally decided to take the plunge and cap the sprinkler head. Sounds easy, but after reading on-line, we actually had to follow it back to the previous head and cap it at that spot in order to prevent freezing of the standing water in the line due to the capping.

Despite our worries about being able to accomplish this correctly, we were successful in capping the line and NOT flooding the yard, yea! In addition, I thought we would have to dig up the whole yard based on where we had to dig back to, but due to a little educated guessing, we had minimal damage to the yard.

We started Landon in swim lessons two weekends ago. We took the camera with us this last time because he had so much fun the first lesson. This time he looked terrified the entire half hour, so we didn't have one good photo opportunity. Maybe next lesson!

Leighton is of course cute as a button. She is just growing growing growing. She just learned to rollover consistently both directions last week. Now we cannot leave her unattended or she will be halfway across the room. She has a very sweet temperament already. She differs from Landon though in that she doesn't laugh a whole lot. She smiles constantly, but not much laughing. I can sometimes get a little giggle out of her, but not very often.

Landon has turned out to be quite the little helper. Even his daycare provider comments on how much he wants to help when none of the other toddlers have any interest in helping. His daily chore (by choice and his demanding!)at both daycare and at home is filling the dog bowl with food. He gets the cup full of food, dumps it in the bowl without missing a kernel and returns the cup to the bin. He is quite a kid.

Grandma and Grandpa T come to visit on April 13 and we can't wait till they come. They are going to be amazed at how much the kids have grown just since Christmas. We hope to have some fun activities planned for their visit as it will be an early birthday celebration with them for Landon's 2nd.

Not much else to report on, other than Brooke isn't really happy with the dog and wants to sell her!

Love, the Tetzlaffs

February Update

This week Leighton went to the Dr. for her 4 month check up. The doctor told us what we already know, that we have a perfect baby girl. Her growth and development is right on track, her muscle tone is excellent, she is eating well, all and all it was an A+ check up. Leighton now consistently eats 6oz at a time, and has been sleeping through the night for weeks. Occasionally she will wake up in the middle of the night because she spit out her pacifier, but mom or dad just pops it back in and she is right back to sleep.

4 mo. old stats:
Weight: 12lbs 9oz, only 1 oz away from doubling birth weight, 50th percentile
Height: 23.75 inches, 50-75th percentile

With the weather improving, Landon wants to be outside all the time. He recently started saying the word "Elmo" at daycare, although mom and dad haven't heard it yet. His vocabulary has not grown much over the past few months, but he still babbles a lot in his own little language. He is also becoming the big helper at daycare, putting shoes away and feeding the dog. He is so proud to be able to do these activities and get the praise for it. I think he likes the little bit of extra attention it gets him.

Dreaming of a white Christmas!

We didn't have to dream of a white Christmas this year, we spent 10 days in Wisconsin with Grandma and Grandpa Tetzlaff and Landon got to experience several inches of snow. Grandma had him outfitted with snowpants, boots, and a heavy coat, but Landon didn't want much to do with any of it, including the snow, much like his momma! Family Christmas in Wisconsin was spent at Uncle Kim and Bill's, where Landon had several cousins to keep him busy and entertained while Leighton was passed around from one aunt or uncle to another.

Unexpectedly (in a good way) we were able to celebrate Christmas twice with the McNeely grandparents. We celebrated with the McNeely's prior to heading out for Wisconsin because we weren't sure when we would see G-ma and G-pa McNeely next and we wanted to make sure they got to watch L&L open presents. We returned from Wisconsin on Christmas day and were able to have a wonderful meal and spent two more days with G-ma and G-pa McNeely before they headed back to Arizona.

We have been blessed with two "easy" babies, if there is such a thing. Landon was very easy on us, and Leighton is equally wonderful, usually only crying if she needs a diaper change or a bottle. She is doing so much smiling and starting to coo at us too...I even caught her laughing in her sleep the other day. Life with two kids though is definitely an adjustment, especially two kids under two! I think the adjustment from one to two may be harder than from zero to one! Landon is at a stage where he requires all of our attention or supervision, so by the time he goes to bed at night, both of us feel completely worn out! Make no mistake about it though, we feel completely blessed with both of our children who truly are the joys in our lives.

Enjoy the pictures! You may notice that Landon is in a bit of an "animal" stage, or shall I say he has never gotten out of the "animal" stage! We took him to Bass Pro shop for our Christmas card picture and he loved it, so now we have been back a couple additional times...cheap (free) entertainment! Some of the photos posted are in the massive Cabela's in Wisconsin where they had some safari animals in addition to the normal deer, bears, etc. found in those stores.

Happy New Year! Love, the Tetzlaff's

Leighton Elaine

So we just got back from the doctor and wanted to post her most recent stats.

Leighton's stats:
As of November 16th, 2010 (1 month old)
Weight: 8 lbs. 2 oz.
Height: 20 1/2 inches

All about Landon

Wanted to do a quick update about Landon, since he gets a little slighted with the arrival of Leighton. He continues to expand his vocabulary daily. As of last week he has become obsessed with airplanes. He will hear them, look up and point to every plane he sees. Living near DFW airport this happens all the time. He has a little daredevil in him and can now climb onto the island chairs and our bed. He likes to walk up the stairs holding our hand and the wall, and is getting very comfortable walking down. Our biggest question at this point is, will he be left or right-handed? He can throw a ball really well with both and often switches hands at will. He also has started to feed himself (well) with fork and spoon and loves eating foods that he can dip into condiments (ketchup being his favorite). We taught him to wave at Leighton verses having to touch her and we showed him the baby sign for sleeping, so as to not disturb her. Grandma and Grandpa Tetzlaff came down for a visit recently and Landon got to spend some much needed time with them. As parents we cannot believe how independent he has become and appears/acts so much older than 18 months. Recently we noticed that he has his four eye teeth coming in, which we suspect is a little painful. But not everything Landon does is sweet unfortunately. A few days ago he pulled another boy off a stuffed rocking horse at daycare by the shirt collar. Dillon, the other boy, got mad and bit Landon on the cheek. It looked bad but Brooke and I both found it quite humorous. I'm probably leaving a lot out but wanted to update everyone the best we could. He is such a neat and fun kid and expect him to be a heart breaker in the near future. Thanks for checking out the blog!

Landon's stats:
As of November 8th, 2010
Occupation: Future pilot
Weight: 23 lbs. (bottom 25% for age)
Height: 33 1/2 inches (top 75% for age)

Based on those measurements Landon and I were identical (weight & height) in size at 18 months.

Love the Tetzlaffs

Happy Halloween

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. This was Landon's first "official" Halloween and had a great time. We went to a Halloween party hosted by our church. Lots of children to play with, Landon got to paint a pumpkin, and got some great pictures taken. We dressed him up as Tigger for the party and he looked so cute. For trick-or-treating he dressed up as a clown. This was not your typical clown outfit. Grandma McNeely saved the clown outfit from Brooke's very first Halloween 30 years ago. To be honest I was a little apprehensive as to how he would look, but the outfit was great. I liked it so much we plan to use it for Leighton next year. Landon helped me carve a pumpkin so it was a nice dad-son bonding experience! Enjoy the pictures...

Love the Tetzlaffs