It seems babies, toddlers and the like grow by leaps and bounds right before your eyes. Both in size, as my sister commented on the other day when she came over to see Landon after not seeing him for a short week and a half, and in skill - again mentioned by said sister. And she's totally right. Landon is losing that cute, chubby baby look and looks more and more like a big boy every day. Not to mention the way his vocabulary is changing and growing; toddler speak is going away quickly and I find myself teetering on encouraging the silly words he uses rather than reinforcing the correct pronunciation just because that toddler speak is so dang cute. And, of course, I have no idea where he comes up with some of the stuff that he does! It's super cute and he has us in stitches frequently.
Alas, our little ham is camera shy; well, sort of camera shy. Whenever I break out the camera (video or still) he would rather look at the pictures or video that have already been taken. He hasn't quite connected the dots that you have to take video or pictures before you can see them. I've tried being all stealth about it and sneaking the camera on him whenever he's being his super cute self, but it's like a magnet and as soon as he sees it in my hand he'll stop what he's doing and want to come see.
There have been a few - okay several - moments where I wish we'd gotten them on camera...
The many animal sounds Landon knows are pretty darn cute. One of my favorites that has evolved over the last few months has been his impression of an elephant. Once upon a time if you asked Landon what an elephant says he would hold his hand up to his nose like an inverted trunk and nod his head up and down going, "wooh wooooooh!" Somewhere along the way someone corrected his trunk action and now he holds his arm out instead. I must admit, the "inverted trunk" version was my favorite.
For weeks Landon would recite the same toddler speak gibbrish monologue over and over again. We tried and tried to figure out what exactly he was saying since it was the same unrecognizable thing each and every time. "Da-da, ba-ba KNOCKER! Zoom down da diam. OW OW OW! Ah-wee hoom." Each and every time. Finally, Irma was able to decipher it for us, and as it turns out it's one of his favorite stories at daycare; "The Hungry Giant." "They bumped him with their bommy knockers. The bees zoomed out, they zoomed after the giant. 'Ow ow ow!' Cried the giant. All the way home." Once we figured out what he was saying we could ask Landon to tell us the Hungry Giant story and he would get excited and tell it to us in his funny little version. Now? Apparently that's old news and he won't do it. I sadly can't tell you the last time Landon told me the Hungry Giant story.
Landon's got quite the ear for music. He's not too big on dancing, but he loves playing the piano, playing with his xylophone, playing the "tee-tar" (guitar) and picking out each instrument in his current favorite song, "Save Me San Francisco" that the group Train (appropriately enough) sings. He calls it the drumming song. If we could put the song on repeat so he wouldn't have to ask for it every time it was over he'd be the happiest toddler in the world. Seriously. He likes to sing along to anything that's on and recently made a good friend in our neighbor behind us who was playing music for our neighborhood's annual block party this year. In true "Landon" form though, every single time I break out the camera the singing stops.
When there is no music on in the car sometimes Landon will break out in song all by himself. Similar to the "Hungry Giant," there was one song we could not figure out even though it was repeated several times. "Vla-see vla-see a nay nay wooooo!" Any guesses? How about, "black sheep, black sheep, have you any wool?" I like Landon's original version, but it's become less toddler speak and more and more grown up over the last few weeks.
Landon is very animated right now. The expressions on his face when he's asking seemingly mundane questions, the way he holds out his hands and shrugs his shoulders, the genuine interest he has in every single little thing and the way his attention is captured. If he can't touch something for one reason or another he wants to smell it. If we hear something outside he stops what he's doing, puts his hand to his ear and tells everyone within eye/earshot to "shsh, listen." When he's looking for something, whether it's the group of turkeys that wander around the neighborhood, the "hopter" (helicopter) at the little airport on the way home or a lost toy he puts his forearm against his forehead and looks intently for whatever he's targeting.
I've gotten better about sneak attacks with the camera and have had to let things slide when he's singing at the dinner table or doing something cute or funny when we're supposed to be focusing on other things just so some of this fun stuff can be captured forever. If only life had a pause button, I'm so in love with my guys.
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