The Life of Landon

Life has been a little crazy and jam-packed full of stuff lately. We've been having a great time with Halloween, pumpkin patches, Apple Hill, birthday parties, trips to the park and all sorts of other stuff. October was a great month! Proof in pictures to come, but in the meantime Landon is growing and evolving in leaps and bounds.

He is talking. His favorite word is doggie. When we're in the car and he spots a doggie outside, "doggie!" Even if there's someone walking and they don't have a dog with them it's, "doggie!" When you ask him what a doggie says he shakes his legs and says what is supposed to be "woof woof," but sounds more like, "vah vah," I love it. He also says (and I'm sure I'm leaving something out):

All clean (ah ceen)
Carro (cawo)
Daddy
Auntie
Heide (cousin)
Hi doggie
Kitty
Hi kitty
Vroom vroom
Cracker
Pumpkin (pukin)
Mama
Wash wash (bash bash)
Dry dry dry (die die die)
Zapatos (patos)
Sockies (ahkies)

The other night he was asleep and we were prepping everything for the next day. The entire house was silent with just the hum of Landon's humidifier buzzing through the monitor when all of a sudden I hear the sweetest little voice, "doggie, woof woof," then silence again. Silly guy was talking in his sleep.

He's currently got eight teeth but his gums are bulging with the first molars ready to poke through at any moment. Speaking of teeth though, he loves brushing his teeth. We take turns; first Mama brushes, then Landon brushes, then Mama brushes, then Landon brushes. He even sticks his tongue out to brush it. He also likes getting his ears cleaned and sits very still when we're at the doctor and they're looking in his ears, funny guy.

If his future career is based upon the things he likes to do now then he's either going to be a chef, a racecar driver or an author. He loves to watch anything going on in the kitchen and will shimmy his way between me and the counter and demand to be picked up. We've taken to putting a chair against the counter so he can see what's going on. He loves anything steering wheel related. If there's a steering wheel at the park on the play structure he'll sit and play with it almost the entire time, while he makes his vroom vroom noise of course. He also loves his ride on firetruck and tractor toys he got for his birthday and the push car that the Easter Bunny brought. Landon also loves to read. We typically read at least four books at night before going to bed because he wants to read more and more. I love it when he grabs a book from the basket in his playroom, brings it over to me and climbs into my lap to read. It does get a little unnerving when we've read Thumper Counts to Ten or Five Little Pumpkins three or four times and he's still signing "more" to read it again.

Landon's an eating machine right now! He must be getting ready to enter a growth spurt as he's eating enough to satisfy an adult. A few nights ago we had spinach and cheese ravioli, he ate seven of them. Seven! He was signing for more so I gave him some broccoli, he ate three florettes then a small handful of grapes and an eight ounce cup of milk. Last night we had pork tenderloin for dinner. He ate three slices of pork, a handful of peas, half an apple (which he would have finished if I let him) and probably six ounces of milk. Gone are the early reflux days when we were all worried about him eating well and gaining weight, he's doing just fine now!

I love to hear his little laugh. His ribs, thighs, chin and feet are the most ticklish, which we take advantage of often. He's taken to tickling our feet through our shoes or when we're in our socks. It's more forceful than real tickles, but he cracks himself up once we start "laughing," which then sends us into real fits of laughter.

The best part of my day is picking Landon up from daycare and hearing him call, "mamamama!" as I walk through the door. Big hugs and kisses are exchanged and then he waves bye bye to Irma. He's such a joy to be around and every time I think I like this age the best things just get better.

We're looking forward to the next few months as the holidays approach. I'm so excited to experience Christmas through the eyes of a child - my child. The lights, the train around the tree, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Santa, presents, fires in the fireplace, warm snuggles on cool nights, splashing in puddles when it rains, I'm looking forward to it all.