My Smart Cookie

Landon comes home from school and I always ask "how was your day? what did you play? what did you learn?" He often mentions who he played with and if something significant happened but I usually get an "I don't know" when I ask about what he learned. So imagine my surprise a few days ago when he excitedly told me that he learned about planets. He talked specifically about Mars and told me that some planets are hot and some are cold. I told him that it's true and that some planets are closer to the sun than others and that they rotate around the sun. His response was, "no Mommy they don't." Hmm.. okay. He has mentioned planets several times since then and I smiled today when I looked at the bulletin board to see his name on the colored circle "Mercury" which is the planet that he must have said that he wanted to visit and he wanted to go there because it's hot. He then brought up the planets again at bedtime so we called Daddy into the room and the three of us talked about what we know about planets (which is minimal). I love learning about what he's into. He's such a big boy now.

Hali what?

Oh goodness, I haven't updated this blog in so long! If for no other reason, I need to do this because baby books don't exist at my house. I am not doing a very good job at documenting my boys' childhood milestones and journey. Landon is taking the day off school because he has a cold and things are coming out of his nose and mouth so we'll do his friends a favor and keep him home. School is going well for Landon and he enjoys it so much! I recently had a conference with his teacher who said that he is a sweet, great little boy and is a joy to have in class. She recommended that we give him an extra year of preschool and not send him to kindergarten in the fall. Jimmy and I have debated about this a lot of the past few months and I think we have come the decision that we agree with his teacher and will hold him back. I am not entirely disappointed because the thought of putting him on the bus and sending him away for the day just doesn't feel right yet. Maybe it will never feel right but it will happen in the fall of 2016, not this year. So I have a kind of embarrassing story... on my part, not Landon's. I have started attending a Universalist Unitarian Church which I will tell you has been a wonderful experience for me. The boys go with me and go to the nursery and play with friends. I went to pick them up on Sunday and the caregiver told me that Landon had halitosis. I gave her a blank stare as I tried to remember what halitosis is. She asked if we had experienced it before with him and I said, "no.." rather than be vulnerable and say, "um, I totally forget what halitosis is." I took the boys upstairs and they gobbled on some fruit and I quickly googled the mystery word. "Bad breath"- crap! That's what it is! If it didn't require dragging two little boys back downstairs to the nursery, I was going to go down and confess and talk to her about his halitosis. So now I'm prepared to fess up on Sunday... =) The medicine that Landon takes to keep his cystine level down causes a small about an hour after he takes it. To me, it smells like spoiled milk. Now keep in mind that Landon gets his toddler formula as a supplement and has since he was diagnosed. I used to smell that smell and once said to Jimmy, "he smells like sour milk." Jimmy responded, "Laur, that's his medicine." It made me a bit sad to think about but I have been meaning to ask his teachers if it's something they have noticed. I sometimes wonder if we are more sensitive to things because we know that they exist. But now that's confirmed, thanks to an honest woman who care for my son each week for one hour. I'm grateful for her. There are some methods that we will begin to try to help this smell.