Jessie Boots!

Landon loves anything and everything Toy Story. He particularly loves Woody and Jessie. He is currently sitting in his Woody pajamas while playing with his toy soldiers and watching Toy Story.

He loves his Toy Story figures and carries Woody and Jessie everywhere with him. Jessie has quickly replaced Buzz. He still plays with Buzz at home, but leaves him at home when we go out to the store. I think he has a little crush on Jessie! Keyko asked Landon to help her pick out an outfit one day and Landon chose "Jessie" boots for her to wear! From that moment on Landon was obsessed with Keyko's "Jessie" boots and kept putting them on to walk around in them. He's such a silly boy!

Just Imagine!

Landon loves the cartoon Caillou. So much so that he made his own version of Caillou:

I can't make the picture large enough on here to show the details because it keeps cutting it in half. If you just click on the picture, then the larger version will appear. Landon used bananas for Caillou's eyes and mouth. Followed by a paper clip of sorts for his tongue. He then used a plastic bag (that previously held the bananas) and his Buzz toy for Caillou's arms. Two pens served as legs and a wooden egg and some book marker tab things finished Caillou off by becoming his shoes. Caillou's family is also represented in the picture. The big pink marker is Caillou's dad, the flower on a stick is his mom, his sister Rosie is the yellow marker, and the pen is Caillou's cat Gilbert! Landon sure does have an imagination.

On a side not, you know you're a Mom when a Barney song pops in your head when you look at your child's creation!

Out of the Mouths of Moms

As a Mom I am many things. I am a kiss giver, a hugger, a tear wiper, and a comforter. I am also a boo boo healer, a snot wiper, a sticky finger and grubby face washer, a boogyman chaser, a teacher, a nurse, and a chef.

Before I became a mom I knew that I would have to be all of these things. What I never imagined before becoming a mom was the things that I would have to say to a toddler. The things that come out of my mouth at times are hilarious. I would have never thought in a million years that I would have to ever say some of the things that I say now-a-days. Just this week I found myself telling Landon, "Stop picking my nose! Pick your own nose!" Landon tried to one up himself and continued to make me say unthinkable things the next day. He went to the bathroom and the following conversation ensued:

Landon: Look Mommy! Big poopie. Like hot dog. I taste it?

Me: No you can't taste it! That's gross.

Landon: Oh. Right. That is gross. That is a dirty hot dog

Me: Yes, Landon. That does look like a dirty hot dog and it would be gross to eat it.

Gotta love the things that come out of the mouths of moms of toddlers! I have to say so many off the wall things to Landon on a regular basis that I may just make this a weekly post. I think it would be a lot of fun to look back on these years later to see all of the silly things that Landon says or that I have to say to him during these next couple of years.

Our Visit to Tarpon Springs

Landon and I recently took a little trip to Tarpon Springs. Tarpon is the quintessential beach town. It is located by Tampa and Clearwater. You can't help but fall in love with a town that has purple pipes running through it!

I fell in love with Tarpon, especially all of the activities that the town has to offer. Beaches are everywhere and that is how we spent several of our days there. Not only are the beaches nice, but the drive to the beaches is amazing. The ocean was right off of the road.

Landon preferred to swim in his daily attire....his underwear! I think we all wish we could be as carefree as a three year old at times!

The rest of the time at the beach Landon remained clothed. He showed a lot of restraint and always wanted to remove his bathing suit because he considered it to be dirty once it became wet. He really does prefer to swim au naturel. I think he hates the feeling of having sand in his bathing suit so he just prefers to do without it.

Aunt Keyko (or "Coco" as Landon calls her!) surprised Landon with two dogs one afternoon. Landon was able to look after them for a little while. I think it helped with his sadness over not being around Tink. He seriously asked for Tink several times while we were there. He even went as far as yelling to her on the phone to walk to Coco's house. He really thought she was on her way to us. The poor kid! Aunt Keyko saved the day and had two little dogs for Landon to play with. I thought this was a cute picture of them at the beach.

The boy knows how to dress for the pool!

We did many things while we were visiting. Landon is still talking about the dolphin boat cruise. We took a boat out to see dolphins. We saw a couple of them, but they never emerged from the water long enough for a picture. Landon still enjoyed it and is still talking about the dolphins. We were then able to walk an island along the beach for half an hour to find shells. We were on a missing to find a sand dollar. I had never found a sand dollar in its entirety before, just bits and pieces of one. We found one. Actually we found three, but only one survived the trip back home. The sand dollar that made the trip back lost some pieces around the edges in the suitcase, but it has still held up fairly well.

I kept telling Landon that we were on a mission to find a sand dollar. He kept searching the beach for "clues". Every couple of seconds he would run up to me with a new shell and say that he found a clue. It was really cute! We may or may have not been late returning back to the boat causing them to have to wait for us....I refused to leave without a sand dollar and we took as long as we needed to find one. We knew the boat couldn't leave without us!

 Landon and Keyko before departing on the dolphin boat tour.

 Landon and Mommy in the Gulf of Mexico!

Landon strolling along looking for clues!

Another favorite part of our trip was a splash park that we came across. It was located at a regular park and was by far one of the best things that I have ever seen for children. We made several visits to the splash park during our stay.

We also had a great time at the Primate Sanctuary and the Lowry Park Zoo, but I think I'll make those into another post. I don't have the zoo pictures so once I get those, then I will be sure to post those. The Tampa Zoo is really something that everyone should experience at least once. We had a great visit and I can't wait to do it again. Thanks for everything Aunt Keyko!

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.

Little Charmer

Landon is quite the little charmer. Every morning our routine is usually the same. We wake up (actually it's more like Landon jumping on me until I give up and stumble out of bed) and then I ask Landon what he wants for breakfast. Two mornings in a row he has pushed me out of the kitchen and I mean literally pushed me out while saying, "No Mommy. Me make breakfast." The first morning there was a lot of commotion going on in the kitchen. When I would check on him he would become upset and tell me that he could do it all by himself! He carried out a pot and sat it in my lap. I took the lid off of the pot and found a piece of bread. A nibbled piece of bread at that. I guess all of the breakfast making was hard work and Landon had to sample some of his meal before serving it!

The next morning it only took Landon a couple of seconds to serve breakfast. He took a left over pop tart and placed it in the pot and once again brought it to me to eat!

Not only do I get breakfast made for me daily, but I've been receiving compliments from Landon as well. The other morning after I get dressed and walk out of the bedroom Landon looks at me and says, "You cute Mommy!" To top it off he said, "you tall Mommy" to me yesterday all while standing on his tippy toes and stretching his arms into the air to show how tall I was! He sure does know how to bring a smile to my face!