The Mall with Two boys and One Stroller Adventure

Yesterday, Lucas, Landon and I went to the Mall. My wife works every third weekend, and I have been trying to be better in getting them out the house. That being said, getting an infant and toddler fed, changed, and in the car can be daunting. It literally took me an hour to get them ready in the car. The ride there was good, Lucas for the most part is relaxed, but Landon who I call (Bonga from LionGuard) was screaming (Talking) the whole ride there.

When we got there I couldn’t find a parking spot.. I drove around a few times and only saw a couple spots all the way in the back... That’s when I made the decision. Valet it is... Even though it was $5.00 and I try to save (cheap) as much as I can. I just thought about the time and energy I would be saving, being right in the front compared to parking/walking all the way from the back. I put Landon in the stroller and Luke was walking with me. I’m not going to lie it was tough having both at the sametime, while being by myself. First thing I did was get Luke a snack to keep him busy/occupied. I got him a pretzel from Aunt Anne, can’t go wrong with bread LOL. We went to Lord & Taylor to return a couple items. We stopped in at Build a Bear workshop to see if Luke wanted a Teddy Bear, because that the thing to do with a 2yr old right!? We ended up buying one. I also wanted to take him to the Pet Store in the mall, Lucas loves dogs, and I do to as long as we don’t have one. He enjoyed it but we didn’t stay long maybe 10-15minutes tops. I got paranoid. Is that normal? There was a strong odor and Having my 5month in the stroller Landon just didn’t feel right. Was I being to protective there?

From there I wanted to take them to the kids plays section, I wanted them to see other kids. I wanted to see how Lucas was going to be. Was he going to be engaged, was he going to just hangout solo, or was he going to be tough on the other kids, not sharing and being defensive.

I took Lucas shoes off and he went sprinting to the play area. He first kind of just was looking at the slides and watching the kids go up and down and he decided to go for it. I’m not going to lie I had to keep the tears in.. For me at this point in my life seeing them grow and go through these life experiences means everything to me. Lucas was good for about 25-30min before he had his first episode.. There was a boy that ran by him to go up the slide and Lucas felt threatened when he ran towards him. So Lucas just started yelling and flaring his arms. As soon as I grabbed him Landon started crying ( of course always happens like that)at that point made a decision that I think it was time to wrap up our first solo adventure to the mall. It was tough, not going to lie but we had fun, sometimes people think everything is a snap of a fingers and it really isn’t. We took pictures and I hope one day when they get older they look at them and think they have one cool dad that really tried to be there/play, hangout, care for them as much as he could.


This is a clip of a father and his two kids trip to the Mall.. I related to this
https://youtu.be/FhpLAFyoSw8

Healthy eating habits for my sons. Is there a right way? A bad way?

Having a toddler and an infant and trying to feed them healthy can be tough at times. We started feeding my infant Landon solid foods about 2-3 weeks ago. It has been challenging at times as he has been resistant. We have been feeding him baby cereal, crushed peas, crushed carrots, squash. Lindsay has been also adding in milk with the baby cereal in hopes of having him slowly getting used to eating foods. Are there certain healthy foods we should be giving him? As parents it’s something we have been trying to manage. Ensuring they are getting healthy foods, but also being fit and not just junk. We are hoping that Landon starts to fully embrace the solid foods. He is 5 months; shouldn’t he be eating foods by now? The reality is there is not handbook to being parents. We try to always have their best interests at heart; we like to talk about things, talk to parents, friends, shows, books, and anything that we think can hold value.

Lucas is a whole other animal, LOL. I say that because his eating habits continue to change. Is that normal? Usually he wakes up we give him his own bottle of milk, within the next 30 minutes we usually give him a snack, a piece of toast with peanut butter. Around 10-1030am he gets a scrambled egg or pancakes. Lunch time has evolved to him eating foods, to know just eating cheerios with milk. He normally eats blueberries, and bananas as snacks throughout the day and we sometimes mix in StoneyField organic yogurt for him. He really liked it. Lindsay feels if they have healthy eating habits now, it will pay dividends later. As parents we try and incorporate fruits and vegetables everyday for him. That being said, I will not shy from the fact that sometimes he does eat cookies, chips,when he catches me and my heart just melts for the looks he gives me. The noises/ trying to talk to me voice he makes is something I cherish. I want to share as much experiences I can with my boys.

There is a great forum that we have been on. They talk about healthy eating for toddlers and infants. It is Infantandtoddler.org. From diets, to healthy eating, to being fit, the focus is promoting health, growth and development to these children. Having an active forum to speak about this is something that Lindsay I  have utilized.


Here is a clip that I thought was very informative. She talks about Healthy eating with Infants and Toddlers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UC8pYnbV9U&noredirect=1

Birthday Parties

Today we celebrated Julia’s First Birthday Party. Lucas was super excited; Julia had her first birthday at Lifetime Fitness. It was a great time. They had games and activities for the kids. Lucas interacted with the other children but I was still nervous. He hasn’t really been to that many events where he is around a lot of children. Sometimes he gets a little defensive. Has anyone else had that problem with their two year old? His nap was a little bit shorter than normal because we had to get there by 1:00pm. Landon was Landon being his normal self, needed his attention as he was trying to talk the whole time. Some people take it as “screaming” LOL. He was a little bit better once he had his bottle. As the days passed, I saw how much the boys are the same and how much they are not. Lucas, I noticed today doesn’t need to constantly have people or kids interacting with him to have fun. At one point today he was holding a balloon and just laughing and playing with it for about 20 mins straight. Is that bad? I like to think he’s self sufficient. He does play with kids also; I just noticed sometimes he just goes off in his own world. I want to think its normal for a 2 year old. Lucas loved the cake and Ice cream.  The party itself was a Hello Kitie Club theme. The kids liked it. In the beginning Lucas was a little scared but opened up to him real fast once they played the Theme Song. It was a great time being with the other kids and being with our family. The only downfall was that Lucas fell and hit the corner of a chair and had a cut on his forehead. It really ruined my day. I tried to be calm during the whole ordeal, but definitely was saddened by it.

After we left Lifetime we stopped at my parent’s house. My mom wanted to celebrate her Birthday as it is this Monday. The boys were super excited to see them. My parents help us out a couple days a week with our children, when Lindsay and I are both at work. I’m extremely thankful and appreciate everything they have done. As my boys get older, I see more and more the bond they have with their Grandparents. When we got there the first thing my mom said was” my gifts finally have arrived” her grandsons. Note: They are her first grandchildren so that alone my mom can’t get enough of them. We had some barbeque and had some more cake. This time Lucas only took a couple bites off the cake as he was still full from earlier. Lucas favorite is his Uncle Patrick my brother, when we go to my parent’s house he doesn’t leave his side. If Patrick walks out the room he will cry. It makes me feel good when I see them bond; we watched the rest of the football game with them. The boys were pretty tired when we got home. Lucas was quiet the whole ride home. For me it’s usually an indicator that he is tired when I don’t hear him playing or talking using the broken words he blurts out.  Overall, I feel the day was a success with a couple hiccups.

Here is a short video clip from the party at LifeTime Fitness

Julia's Birthday Party

Saturday with the boys

Today it was Lucas, Landon, and I. My wife Lindsay had to work all day. My son Lucas is my oldest he will be turning 2 next month. Landon is 4 months and I like to call Robin. He is a little Firecracker. My wife and I have been married for about 3 years, and we are a new family. I love spending time with my boys, but I’m not going to lie it can be difficult at times. Especially when I’m by myself, today wasn’t any different my oldest is pretty self sufficient. The issue I sometimes face is when both need me at the same time. I feel there is no right and wrong to this. Each family is different, each situation is different, I continue to learn and grow. A new cartoon we watched a lot today was the Lion Guard; this is a spinoff of the Lion King. It is a must watch if you have children. Not only does my oldest Lucas love it, but it seems to keep my youngest interested also. Is it bad that I like it also?


Here is a little clip to watch of the Lion Guard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6HG3VBh6fY&feature=player_detailpage

Orbit the Sons