Thursday, February 18, 2016

Caution: Lawson is TWO!



Well, its hard to believe it but Lawson is two years old now!  He is such a big boy and so sweet.  What a great past year it has been.  When I look back, I think about how much better this past year was even more so than that first tough year after he was born.

I feel like I really paid my dues wisely as a mom that first year and am starting to reap the benefits of raising our son the way we thought was best.  As a parent, I am a firm believer of nursing, cosleeping and not letting my baby cry it out in his crib and really believe that had such a huge impact on who our son is today.

I know I am one of the rare parents that believes in those methods in today's busy world of bottle feeding, sleep training and the CIO technique, and trust me it wasn't easy but in the long run I do truly believe it makes a difference on not only the child but the bond between parent and child.  Lawson is so bright and in touch with who he is and his feelings.  He tells us when he is happy and when he is scared.  Prescott and I are always in tune with Lawson and have such an incredible bond with him that I don't regret all those hard, long nights of driving or strolling him down as opposed to just throwing him in the crib to cry himself to sleep.  In fact when I look back on it, those walks are some of my favorite memories.  It was the perfect time to unwind from the day, check in with each other's days and get some exercise while we were at it.

It definitely would have been easier to just throw him in the crib, shut the door and hop in our own bed, and everyone has their own method of raising their child, but it just didn't feel natural to us to do that.  I think my number one piece of advice that I would give any new parent would be to follow your gut and not to listen to how everyone else tells you to raise your child but to how you and your partner want to raise your child and what you feel in your heart is right for your family.

It's like my grandma told me after I had a baby, "You just love that baby and you can't go wrong" and that is exactly how Prescott and I have raised Lawson, with a lot of love.  Some might call it "spoiling," some might say its silly, but for us it was the only way.  Now we have a sweet loving toddler who occasionally ends up in our bed in the middle of the night because he's "scared" and we are okay with that :)  He won't want to do that forever and for now I am treasuring these moments.

It is amazing how much Lawson has surprised us with his kindness and intelligence.  Prescott has been making a list of all the words Lawson can say by the age of two and we were at almost 300 that we could thing of, which seems crazy to me.  On the top of the list were phrases like "Oh alright mommy" and "Yippee, daddy's home."  Today Lawson showed me the difference between his "excavator," "tractor" and "digger!"

He absolutely loves tools, tractors and trucks, hence the theme of his second birthday.  Granted, the party planner in me wanted to do an adorable woodlands party theme, but I unselfishly caved in to give Lawson the birthday that we knew he would love with all of the people that he loved too.  He had a blast and we were happy that we could share it with some of our close friends and family.  Here are some photos below of his big day :)



























Monday, February 8, 2016

Canada Trip


Daddy recently had a business trip to Canada and we couldn't help but tag along for this one and boy am I glad we did because Vancouver is by far one of my favorite places we have ever visited!

Lawson and I had the best time during the day while daddy was having all of his important meetings. We stayed at this really cool and extremely reasonable hotel on Granville Island, centrally located to downtown, Prescott's customers and this amazing farmer's market and kid's zone within walking distance.  It was perfect.  

Every day Lawson and I would walk to the market and get fresh croissants and coffee and then we would head over to this area dedicated to just kids with indoor playgrounds, kid's shops, bookstores and all kinds of games.  Then once daddy was all done with his work, we would try out a new restaurant for dinner every night.  I was so impressed.  Vancouver is one of the most food savvy cities I've been too next to Paris and Napa.  Total heaven!  

The best part for Lawson was on the way back to the hotel from the restaurants, he learned not only how to jump but how to jump in puddles, since it was raining every day.  He would jump in all the puddles he could and giggle out loud every time.  Such a nice change from our normal California weather and super neat being surrounded by water everywhere.  We definitely loved Vancouver.  

We also drove up to Whistler for the weekend, which was fun.  Lawson got to play in the snow and we got to have a really delicious dinner at the Fairmont Lodge with a big fireplace, crayons and fondue - the perfect family date night blend!  

Lawson and I both got new rain boots and I couldn't be more in love with those either.  I'm sure the girls at the bakery are all secretly laughing that I've been wearing them to work everyday in sunny California since we got back, but I truly love them so much that I can't help myself.  

Overall, we had a very successful trip for daddy business wise and for us semi-vacation wise :)

Lawson excited to ride the bus to the plane. He loves to travel!

View from the Granville Hotel room

The public market

ALL the chocolate you could dream of

View from dinner the first night

Restaurant under the bridge

Lawson jumping in puddles

Okay, mom, ready to go with my boots on

Getting ready to go out for dinner date night

Lawson at the Kid's Zone

Driving the Kid's size boat

Can't get over that coat and those boots

Worn out!

Last day in Vancouver :(

Bye daddy!  Have a good day at your meeting, we'll be playing!

Really neat local brewery on the Island

Daddy love

YUM!

The public market 

Fish tank at our hotel restaurant

View from our Whistler room

Lawson digging in

First fondue experience for the little guy and he loved it!

My boots :)

obsessed.

Our little munchkin entertaining himself in the hotel room