L

L is for Landon

and Love

and Laughter.

Rock Star Landon

Landon loves playing with his guitar that he received from his Aunt Keyko on his last birthday. Lately, Landon has been making up songs to sing along with the guitar. I wouldn't exactly call what Landon does singing- it's more like yelling the same phrase over and over again. I still find it incredibly cute. I guess that's why I'm called Mommy! I especially loved his foot tapping and his jump at the end of his "song"!

Knight Landon

My knight in shining armor....

This knight set is yet another reason why I love the Dollar Tree! All three pieces were found there. I love being able to tell Landon to pick out anything that he wants without having to worry about breaking the bank! Landon has been going around like this for almost a week now. At least his pirate costume is getting a break.

Best Friends

Best friends. 

Pals. 

Buddies.

Amigos. 

Sidekicks. 

Two peas in a pod. 

 No matter how you put it, these two are best friends. One of a kind and completely connected. They share such a bond. I love how this picture captures that. Landon and Tink are often found talking to each other. They both truly believe that Tinkerbell is human. 

STOP!

On our way home from our July 4th festivities we made a quick stop at Walgreens. We decided to walk over to Walgreens through a parking lot and we came upon a stop sign. Landon looked up at it and then pointed out each letter as he said what they were. "S-T-O-F! Stop Mommy! Stop!" Landon read his very first word and I couldn't be prouder of him. I'm not quite sure why he confused the "P" for an "F" because he can properly identify both letters regularly, but either way he's growing up far too quickly. I applauded him and smothered him with hugs and kisses. I then pointed to the "P" and asked him what letter it was. He corrected himself. I blame the first little mess up on the fact that it was dark out and almost 11:00 p.m. I work with him daily on his letters. I was so happy to be able to see the fruits of my labor. He's also learning to write his letters as well. He received a great gift at his birthday party and he's been playing with it almost daily since. It's the LeapFrog Scribble and Write tablet and it has helped a lot with Landon learning his letters. It makes learning fun. I love how portable it is. It really does go just about everywhere with us. It also eases my mind a bit on days when we run out of time to do an arts and craft project with letters. I don't feel as bad with we skip some letter working days because I know he at least learned them on his writing tablet. Our Landon Love is growing up. He even tells me a bed time story whenever I lay down. If I put my head down on the couch or lay down with him at night he will tell me a bed time story. He will usually tell me a story about elephants drinking water with their trunks! It's one of the cutest things ever! I love him to pieces!

Landon Defined by Photo

Landon and I just returned from a little vacation. I'll be getting a post up on that soon. In the meantime, I wanted to share one of my new favorite pictures of Landon. I've mentioned before that a local photographer met with us at a park last month. I just received the CD of photos and haven't been able to stop looking at them today. Who can blame me when I'm looking at pictures of such a cutie patootie!

I can't believe how well this picture managed to capture Landon's true personality. He's a little bit of a stinker and a lot a bit of a sweet heart. He's giving his quirky little smile that he gives when he's up to no good and at the same time comes off as completely charming. If I ever had to pick one single photo to describe Landon this one would be it. I'm not sure what it is about this picture, but it just screams "Landon" to me.

Three Year Photos

I recently had the privilege of meeting with a local photographer for Landon's three year photos. Every year we have Landon's pictures taken in a studio. We have always walked away with good shots, but the process is always rather stressful. This time around we were able to have candid shots taken at one of Landon's favorite parks. I am so excited over the end results. We wound up with a number of amazing shots. Here is the link to Landon's photo shoot:

http://britperkins.smugmug.com/Children/landon/17132673_VCJ9jd#1298323935_dh3b935

If you are in need of a photography in the Jacksonville area, then please contact Brittany Perkins at bajperkins@gmail.com. She did an amazing job with Landon. She was so pleasant to be around and Landon really warmed up to her.

Happy 3rd Birthday Landon!

Wow! I can't believe that it's been three years since our Landon Love was born. I have mixed feelings about Landon turning three. I am sad that the baby stages are completely gone. Late night feedings have been long gone, baby sign language has been replaced with full on sentences, and diapers are even a thing of the past. Who would have thought that I would miss diaper changes! When I look at Landon I no longer see a baby face. I now see a boy who is full of so much energy and life. The energy and spunk that Landon has makes this stage so much fun. That is definitely the bright side to Landon getting older. The amount of fun that we have on a daily basis is endless. Landon is always smiling and laughing. He's always looking for ways to have fun. He can turn the most basic of tasks like teeth brushing into a laugh fest. Landon's zest for life is going to make this next stage in his life so much fun. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us. The past three years have been simply amazing. The fourth year of Landon's life is bound to be amazing as well.

Happy 3rd Birthday Landon! Mommy and Daddy (and Tinkie too!) love you very much!

Boy Oh Boy!

It's no secret that I wasn't thrilled when we found out that Landon was a boy. I've written about my disappointment before. I really, really wanted a baby girl. My heart was set on a baby girl. I had a girl name picked out, the bedroom decor already saved in an online shopping bag, and my thoughts were entirely consumed with purple and pink frilly dresses. I couldn't fathom having a boy. Once Landon was born I realized how silly I was being. I couldn't imagine not having my baby boy in my life. I was meant to be the mommy of this rambunctious, amazingly adorable boy. I am in complete denial that in just one week our baby boy will be three. THREE! I can't believe it. That being said, I am really looking forward to the boy stage. I never thought I'd get so excited over Landon hitting a ball with a baseball bat on just his third swing ever. I never thought I would enjoy playing with cars instead of dolls and tea parties. I never thought I would absolutely love wrestling with him instead of braiding hair. I love being the mommy of a little boy. And boy oh boy is Landon all boy.

 It was hot out the other day- surprise, surprise seeing as how we live in Florida. I couldn't stand being indoors any longer, but Landon kept saying he was hot when we went outside to play. I pulled out his blow up pool determined to spend some more time outdoors. I went to hook the hose up to the back spigot, but it wasn't working. For some reason the spigot in the back yard wouldn't turn on. I didn't have the right tools to hook the hose up to the washer and the hose was way too short to run from the front yard to the back yard. So I had to improvise. I walked pot after pot of water to the pool out back. After about the 30th full pot of water, I still only managed to fill a small portion of the pool. Landon was already busy splashing in it before I could even get his bathing suit on him so I just went with it. He splashed in about 1/2 inch of water and had a blast. He didn't just splash in the water though. He would run to a pile of dirt and cover his feet in it. He would then run back to the pool to clean his feet off in the water. I kept telling him that the water was getting dirty and that it was gross. I finally gave up on it and allowed him to play in the dirty water because he was having so much fun making the water dirty. I then couldn't believe what he did next. He caught a glimpse of his slide and I could see the wheels turning in his head. I just sat back and watched him do his thing. Landon went over to his slide and pushed it across the yard to the pool. He then lifted the slide into the pool and slid down it. I couldn't believe he had thought of such a thing. Landon is definitely all boy and an adventurous one at that!

Is There Anything Cuter Than....

...this boy...

 ...with the big brown eyes?!

I don't think so either!

Landon Laughing

Landon has a toy with buttons of the alphabet on it. When you push one of the buttons it will say the letter name or play music depending on the play mode. Landon was playing with it the other day and when it was switched to the music mode he broke into laughter every time he pushed a button. It was absolutely priceless! I could spend all day re-watching the video clip. I don't think there is anything cuter than a child laughing hysterically.

Toddler Years

I love, love, love the age that Landon is at. I miss the baby days. I wish I had those precious new born moments back, but I absolutely adore the toddler years. Sure they are filled with challenges. I think most of the challenges stem from Landon thinking he is more grown than he is. The other week I told Landon to pick up his toys because I was going to vacuum. He didn't want to pick them up so I moved them to his bedroom out of the way. He was so mad that I moved his toys. He stomped off to his room, let out an exaggerated huff, and slammed his bedroom door shut. Just in case I didn't hear him the first time he immediately repeated this act. I thought I had at least 10 more years before the door slamming started. What two year old stomps off to their room when they are mad?! I just had to laugh at it. I couldn't believe he had done it. Landon also has a whole lot of attitude packed into a small body. He knows what he wants and he's not shy to express himself. I think the eye rolling that he does is what drives me nuts. He constantly rolls his eyes at me. That's another thing that I thought I had several years before it started. Another new thing that he has started saying is "hear me!" If Landon is trying to get my attention, but I'm busy doing something he will scream, "Hear me Mommy! Hear me!" Just this weekend I had told Landon that it was time to leave the volleyball court (he loves playing in the sand) and he wasn't listening. I started counting to three and he usually comes by two because he hates time outs. This time he allowed me to finish counting to three. Not only did he allow me to count to three, but he then added to it. He finished my count by adding "four, five, six..." all the way up to thirteen! What a smart butt! I really do love these toddler years. I love all of the new things that Landon is saying and doing. I can't believe my baby Landon is almost three. I'm sad to see his baby years go, but I am excited for the last bit of the toddler stage.

Manners and ABCs

Here is a quick, cute Landon story.

I threw a blanket on Landon's head just playing around with him and he yells "Hey! Say sorry (to) me Mommy!" I apologize to him and he responds with "Thank you!"

At least the boy has manners!

He's also beginning to sing his ABC's and they go something like this, "A,B,C,L,O,P,W,Y,B!" Close enough Landon!

Straight Lines and Color Schemes

Landon is a lot like me in many ways. He's stubborn and very opinionated. These traits make for some very interesting times around here. He also displays a bit of OCD as well. Or CDO as Kevin would refer to it because I am very anal retentive about alphabetizing things. I've noticed from a very early age (around 15 months old) that Landon was very anal in the way that he plays with his toys. All of his toys are lined up in a straight line as he plays with them. If it is his animal toys, then he lines them up in a straight line and they all have to be facing the same way. He also groups them by type of animal. For instance, the tiger and lion are always next to each other. The snakes and lizards are always placed next to each other and so are the rhinos, hippos, and elephants. It makes it very hard to play with Landon because if any one of these animals are turned just three degrees more than the others he will get upset and want it to be straight again. When he's playing with his cars they go into straight lines and he places the cars with the cars and the trucks with the trucks and so on. Before he assembles any puzzle he lines up all of the pieces. When he picks out a movie to watch he has to take all of his DVDs off of the shelf and line them up on the floor before he can choose one. When we are at a store, browsing through the toy department, Landon will take the toys that he likes off of the shelves and place them in a straight line across the store floor. He then has to put them back in the exact spot that he originally found them in. I have stopped trying to help him put the toys back because it just results in Landon throwing a fit over one of the toy boxes being too close to the other one so he does this all on his own now. His OCD tendencies don't end with the straight lines. This was the result of me asking him to hang his jackets up:

Blue, red, blue, red, blue- he makes Mommy proud!

Late Night, Old Video

Landon and I were up late last night due to his coughing. I was so excited about how easily he went down to sleep and had grand plans of ironing when I heard Landon crying. I went to try to put him back to sleep, but he wasn't having any of it. We sat in the rocking chair for a long while looking through some old photos and videos that were recovered on an old memory card. I came across a video of Landon eating oatmeal. It's a really short video, but we couldn't stop watching it. Landon made such a mess with that oatmeal. He sure was enjoying himself though. That is made apparent by his happy dance! Landon had me play this over and over again last night until we both fell asleep.

  

Landon Facts

With Landon being two going on three, he has definitely developed quite the personality. There are many things about Landon that make him unique. I figured I'd share of few random Landon facts with everyone:

• Landon loves playing in the dirt, but hates to be dirty. He loves taking a stick and drawing in the dirt, but once he realizes that his hands are dirty he starts to freak out. He also has to have wipes or napkins with him while he's eating. He likes to wipe his hands off in between bites.
   
• Landon hates to eat anything yellow. This doesn't just mean that he refuses to eat bananas. It also pertains to yellow skittles, yellow fruit snacks, and yellow popsicles. Yellow skittles are always the ones that Landon offers to people because he doesn't want to eat them.
  
  
• Landon is a hard core hide and seek player. He hasn't quite grasped the seeking concept, but he sure can hide. We played hide and seek this evening and Landon peed in the pantry. He told me that he couldn't come out to go to the bathroom because he was hiding!
  
  
• Landon is very sensitive. He gets incredibly upset when a character on a movie is upset or hurt, even more upset when a person in real life is hurt or upset.
  
  
• Landon loves re-enacting scenes from movies (especially Toy Story). Every morning he goes around saying, "Mom, where Buzz is?" On Toy Story 1, Andy can't find Buzz and asks his mom where he is. I hear this from Landon every morning upon awakening and we then go to his toy area together to find Buzz.
  
  
• Landon loves the color green, but if you ask him what his favorite color is his usual response is "black"....not really sure why.
  

This was actually quite fun. I think I will add to it over time.

Milk Allergy Update

Today was Landon's annual allergist appointment. It was as expected- Landon is still allergic to milk. Somehow he is more allergic to milk now than he was previously. His allergist reassured me that there is still a chance of Landon outgrowing his milk allergy in the next couple of years. She has seen increased allergy levels in children two to three years of age before and by four to five they slowly drop back down. His increased milk allergy levels are not unheard of, but it's definitely not the news that we were wanting to hear. Landon was a handful during the skin test. He started screaming and protesting as soon as the nurse wiped an alcohol swab on his back. He kept saying "ouch" and "hurts" over and over again just from her wiping the alcohol swab on him. Landon then proceeded to say that the marks the nurse drew on his back with a marker hurt and started crying. He's one dramatic boy! The real fun began once they pricked his back. Thankfully it was only three pricks today. Daddy colored with Landon as Mommy made his boo boos go away by blowing on his back. I think the slight wind made the itching/burning go away. After a few he was back playing with his Toy Story toys to pass the time. Half way through the test we knew it wasn't good news. The spot was huge. Larger than previous tests. The nurse came in at the half way point to check on him and said that it was definitely positive and quite a reaction for only being 7 minutes in to it. Landon was a trooper and after 15 long minutes we were able to wipe his back off and apply some Benadryl cream. We then spent a good portion of the afternoon at Landon Park. We love that park. Not only does it share our Landon's name, but it is right on the water. Landon has also been asking to go to the beach. Every time we get into the car Landon tells me to drive to the beach. I may just have to make that happen this week since he was such a good boy today.

Day 26: Favorite Something

Day 26: A picture of something that means a lot to me.

The someone that means a lot to me is Landon. Of course that was an easy one. However, the something that means a lot to me was a bit harder to come up with. My things no longer hold the same value to me that they once did. Things are just that- things. So coming up with a picture of something that means a lot to me was hard to do. Here is the something that means the most to me now:

My computer allows me to connect with the world. I am able to talk to family and friends on a regular basis. I can catch up on the news around the world and stay on top of things. I don't know what I'd do without my laptop. It definitely is one of my most prized possessions.

It just so happens that the someone and the something that mean the most to me are both in the picture. Landon loves having his picture taken and wanted to be included. If only his eye didn't keep closing!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Landon has been known to say some silly things. Just the other day Landon had asked me to get him some more apple juice. I told him that I would gladly get him some more apple juice, but that he would have to clean up his toys while I was getting his juice. His response to that was "Mommy clean up, boy get juice." He then proceeded to get the apple juice out of the fridge. It was a one gallon jug of juice, which was heavy for him to carry. He carried it part of the way out of the kitchen and then says "Mommy get juice, boy clean up." How quickly he changed his mind when he realized how heavy the juice was!

Landon has also been known to wipe the back of his hand across his forehead while saying "phewie" rather dramatically when something is hard or tiring. It makes me laugh every time. Just writing about it brings a smile to my face because I am here picturing in my mind the way that he does this. He's such a silly boy! I am so incredibly in love with this age and stage that Landon is at. There is always something new to laugh at when it comes to Landon. I love how easily he can put a smile on my face.

Day 14: Landon Love

Day 14: A picture of the person you could never imagine life without.

This one was easy- my Landon Love! I could never imagine my life without Landon.