Landon’s 2nd Birthday

It’s been a year since I’ve sat down and wrote something in this journal, I could rally off countless excuses, but I won’t because that would take time that should instead be spent describing the events of this weekend, and updating the current Buhr family situation. Incredibly it seems like only yesterday that I was describing our pizza party spent dodging rain drops for Landon’s first birthday celebration, and here we are a year later already chasing around a two year old. Obviously I won’t be able to fill in all of the blanks between that last entry here and this present one, but I would at least try to capture this past weekend’s events, and in doing so perhaps also post a photograph of where things stand today in our family.

Friday the 17th was Landon’s actual 2nd birthday, I was returning from an aquaculture conference in Las Vegas (yes, they actually have fish meetings in the desert, never mind the lack of water), and spent a good portion of the morning working my way through a headache as I sped through the desert toward home. Home is now Rancho Santa Margarita, a town with a name that could only be found in Southern California, Orange County to be precise. We purchased our first home in May of 2005, and have been adjusting to home ownership ever since, it is continuing to feel more like our nest all of the time and less like a pile of twigs that someone else dragged together.

I returned home from the conference in the early afternoon, smack in the middle of little Landon’s nap, which was a disappointing since I hadn’t seen his grin in five days, but I had other tasks to attend to during his rest. Our dog Dakota had been experiencing some serious pain while I was away so I chauffeured her to the vet for an emergency health inspection. We feared the worst since she had been limping severely, and had trouble sleeping on one side. The vet’s diagnosis didn’t quite seem accurate, he suggested that the pain was likely from some arthritis in her spinal column, which seems an unlikely source of such an abrupt source of pain, but we will be watching her closely, keeping her on some pain medication, and taking her in for a second opinion next week.

Friday night we took Landon out to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Newport Beach for dinner, primarily for the opportunity to eat dinner in a trolley car rather than for the fine Italian cuisine served there. Landon was thrilled, as he is well beyond obsessed with anything that even slightly resembles a locomotive and his continuous giggles and “whoo whoo’s” made the night exceptional and quickly erased the long week in the sand. When we got home we let him stay up late and open his birthday presents, most of which were train related, and then tucked him in as he told us “happy birthday” again and again.

Since our second son, Colton Luke, is due within a month we decided to dedicate the entire 3-day weekend to celebrating Landon’s birthday. Saturday continued our train themed events as we took Landon on his first real ride on an Amtrak train line. His face beamed when he first saw the headlight of the engine as it slowed toward the station, still just a small light over a half mile away, however as the train rumbled closer, and the ground began to quake a little he quickly backpedaled into his father’s arms for a little safety from the mechanic monstrosity. I doubt until this point he ever really gauged how large an actual train engine could be. After his initial trepidation we boarded the passenger car and headed south to San Juan Capistrano. There we had a quick lunch at Ruby’s, an old style diner where they have model trains circling the restaurant ceiling. After our lunch, highlighted by Landon’s first bites of chicken in over six months (we feared he was becoming a vegetarian), we headed back home for a much needed nap. That evening we went out to dinner with Landon’s grandparents Sharp to celebrate his Papa’s new promotion, and Landon spent most of the dinner uninterested in the posh restaurant décor, and instead focused on the train tracks and train sticker books that set before him on the table.

Sunday we ventured to Irvine Regional Park, where we had a picnic by the lake, first feeding ourselves, immediately followed by feeding the ducks which Landon seemed to find far more satisfying the his picnic lunch. Then (surprise surprise) we rode on the small railway that cuts through the park, Landon excitedly pointing out all of the dusks we had just irresponsibly fattened up. After the train we checked out the small local zoo they have at the park, unfortunately most of the resident animals were sleeping, although Landon did spill some laughter feeding the goats and watching a fluffy white alpaca stand on its hind limbs to reach some branches on an overhead oak tree.

Monday morning we rose early for Landon’s two year old check up with Dr. Mackey. Historically over the past year our visits to the doctor’s offices have become increasingly more nightmarish, culminating with his eighteen month checkup where we were told to keep our blustery child in the exam room because we disturbing the other children there. Today’s trip was a marked improvement, Landon’s only tears came when the doctor turned off all of the lights to shine a bright light in his eyes, and of course when he was later pricked by a few needles. The good news is that his health checks out fine, although he has become our incredibly shrinking boy. Landon now weighs in at just less than 26 pounds and measures 34.5 inches in length. This puts him in the 25% for weight for boys of his age, and 50% for height. I was a little concerned about his weight, but the doctor told us as his parents to look in the mirror and realize that we too probably fall into these weight/height classes for adults. He said he’d much rather see a healthy, thin child than an obese one, which apparently there are more and more of all of the time. I agree – thin to win.

After braving the doctor’s we decided to reward Landon with his first trip to Disneyland. We purchased season passes, and plan to visit the Magic Kingdom frequently in the year ahead. Today we visited in this particular order - the Disneyland Railroad, Chip and Dale Tree House, Donald’s Boat, “It’s a Small World”, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Alice in Wonderland, Enchanted Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, and the Disney Railroad (again). It was a great time, Landon was obviously enthralled with the entire spectacle, although he definitely took notice of everything there that even resembled a train, for example the caterpillars that shuttle you through Alice in Wonderland were aptly named “silly whoo whoo’s” by Landon. The second his head hit the stroller on the way out of the park he crashed like he was a newborn leaving the hospital which now seems a time so incredibly distant.

More updates will follow soon I hope, which will include most importantly the impending birth of Colton Luke, as you contemplate all of the weekend’s events above, try to imagine that Rhiannon is nine month’s pregnant and experiencing serious contractions throughout – I was convinced our second son was going to be born at the Old Spaghetti Factory at one point.

It’s good to be back here, disappointing that it has taken so long.