The Darndest Things

I had a big oops mommy moment the other day. I was on the computer looking for a Tigger and Pooh video clip for Landon. While I was waiting for the show to finish loading I was playing Minesweeper. When I opened the game Landon said “darn it”. Only I didn’t recognize it as “darn it”. He was saying it over and over again while pointing at the game screen. I still couldn’t figure out what he was saying and continued playing the game. When I struck a mine I said “darn it” out loud. That is when Landon started repeating his “darn it”. I then realized that he heard me say “darn it” the day before while playing. I didn’t realize I had said it, nor did I realize that I had said it every time I hit a mine. I said it so frequently without noticing the day before that Landon thought the name of the game was “darn it!” Oops..bad Mommy! 

While I’m on the subject of Landon talking I want to share just how much of a genius our Landon love is. When I can’t figure out what Landon is saying he will say a word to correlate his unrecognizable word. The other week I asked Landon what he wanted for lunch. He was trying to tell me that he wanted a hot dog. I asked him over and over to repeat himself because I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Instead of getting frustrated with me he decided to say “Mickey Mouse”. I was then able to associate Mickey Mouse with hot dog because Mickey always does the hot dog dance at the end of the show. Complete genius I tell you! Since he worked so hard for his hot dog I then gave him one for lunch. Landon does that a lot when I can’t understand the word that he is saying. He will stop saying the word that he is trying to tell me for a second and think of another word. I swear I can see the little gears in his brain moving every time he takes a second to pause for another word. He always comes up with a word that I can immediately associate with the unrecognizable word. He has done this with a number of words, but the hot dog/Mickey Mouse association has been by far my favorite one!

1st Camping Trip

Last weekend I took Landon on his 1st camping trip. The city of Jacksonville hosted a camp out at a local park. I have been wanting to go camping for a little while now, but was never sure how Landon would handle being out all night. This camp out gave me the opportunity to try out camping for free just a few miles down the road. I figured if we had to come back home at some point, then no harm was done. I didn't waste any money on a camp site and it would only take a few minutes to get back home. However, Landon had a blast camping and we made it all night long.

Hot dogs were provided for dinner so Landon got a taste of his first hot dog. He ate that hot dog in seconds it seemed. He absolutely loved the hot dog.

I wasn't expecting there to be so many people there, but every where we turned there was another tent. At least Landon had plenty of other kids to play with. He loved that the park was right by our tent and spent most of his time on the play ground. He even made a little friend who had the same shirt on as Landon. It was really cute watching the two of them play together.

They even had a big movie screen set up outside so that everyone could watch a movie. Landon was too interested in just walking around collecting sticks and stuff to be bothered with a movie. After the movie they provided the essentials to make s'mores and I roasted Landon a marshmallow. He ate his marshmallow (or two!) and then we went over to look at the telescopes that they had set up. The one minute walk over to the telescopes is all it took for Landon to fall asleep. I wasn't going to miss the chance of seeing Saturn so I carried a very heavy, sleeping Landon over to the telescopes. I was able to see Saturn with its rings and the two moons around Saturn as well. It was so clear and completely worth the pain in my shoulders from carrying Landon around! I also got a look at Mars as well.

We then headed back to our tent and attempted to get a good night's rest. With so many tents around us and all of those tents containing several other children, I knew we were in for a very long and loud night ahead. Landon slept well through all of the noise, but it seemed as if every time my eyes would close another mother was yelling at her child to go to sleep. Once everyone started to fall asleep the rain started. It poured all night long and the rain hitting on the tent kept me up. I was glad that Landon was able to sleep through the night for the most part.

Morning came very early, especially since I didn't sleep at all. Breakfast was provided for us, but we had to cook it. They provided us with cans that had to be hole punched and smaller cans that contained wax and saw dust to make a fire with. My mom was pretty handy when it came to cooking breakfast. She had our bacon and eggs cooked by the time Landon finished playing on a nearby tree.

 

Landon and I had a really good time camping out, even through the insane heat and the pouring rain. There is definitely camping in our very near future. I can't wait to take Landon camping again. We are on the hunt for a larger tent and some other camping essentials that we will need for a real camp out in the woods.