Mr. Independent

Landon is very much in the middle of a very important developmental stage - the one where he is fully aware that he is his own person, with his own wishes, and ability to decide on his own actions. Phillip and I are also in a very important developmental stage - the one where we have to transition to disciplinary roles occasionally!

These days, everything with Landon is about "I". As in "I did it", "I do", "I know". It is so cute to see him congratulate himself, celebrate himself, or assert himself...of course sometimes he's so cute that I need a Mommy time-out.

Last night at dinner after he threw his milk on the floor for the upteenth time, I said to him: "Landon, we do not throw our food in this household". I even used my serious voice! He looked me straight in the eye and said, "I do". Touche little one, you do indeed!

Good thing that we are introducing him to some new activities to help divert all of his new learning! Yesterday we took him on his first museum trip to our local kids museum, and he had a blast exploring all of the stations. His favorites were the water station, the submarine science lab and the ambulance and hospital center. I think we will be spending a lot of time there over the next few years - and the fact that it's only a few blocks from both of Raleigh's Krispy Kremes has nothing to do with that decision!

Note: no turtles were harmed in the taking of these pictures!

Little Drummer Boy

Landon is overflowing with holiday spirit! And no wonder; I think that's what happens when you live life in a winter wonderland! Snow on the ground, Christmas carols playing on the i-pod, fresh greenery all over the house, red and green m&ms in the candy jar...you get the picture.

Which all explains why I found Landon using two of his Dad's drumsticks to play a drum solo on the glass ornaments on the Christmas tree! He thought it was very funny when I called him "The Little Drummer Boy", and really he did look quite sweet. My ornaments somehow escaped intact as well!

After this adventure, I decided to log online and buy him a musical instrument from Santa - I don't think we can handle drums yet, but I did buy him a lovely wooden tambourine!

Here are some pictures that should have published with the last post as well...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This Saturday we hosted a tree trimming party at our house to kick off the holiday season. Good thing that the snow I ordered for the party arrived just in time! We basically had a Currier and Ives day: the family choosing a Christmas tree in the snow, relaxing by the fire with eggnog and champagne, chatting with friends and munching on all sorts of goodies!

Landon loved the snow, but was even more excited when his friend Steele came over for the festivities. The two of them grabbed some snacks, snuggled up into a beanbag, and sat in front of the fire watching a Christmas cartoon. Landon was so overcome with holiday spirit that he kept leaning into Steele and hugging her with the sheer joy of the night - snow, a party with adults, and watered-down cranberry juice (with a raspberry for garnish!) in his sippy cup. Aah, it's the holidays!

I'm Going Pro!

Wow, Little Gym used to be a fun place for Landon and I to meet new friends, have some special bonding time, and get a little bit of exercise. Now, we are rubbing shoulders with celebrities!

This week we went to the Tuesday class to make-up for some missed classes while we were out of town, and guess who was there? Eric Staal...Carolina Hurricanes player and Stanley Cup winner!

Landon was playing with his son, and kept trying to get Mrs. Staal to pick him up because he thought she was pretty, when I noticed that his Dad looked familiar to me. As soon as I heard him say "eh", I knew it was the Canadian hockey star! Who also seems to be a very soft-spoken and attentive Dad!

Who knows, maybe all this Little Gym stuff is legit, and we are building an athletic foundation for our kids. Maybe there is a future Stanley cup winner in our Little Gym class? Of course, it's probably baby Staal, but maybe Landon can pick up some tips!

Curious Landon

This is Landon. He is a good little boy and always very curious. Yesterday Landon and the lady with the curly hair were at the UPS store. They were mailing some care packages to their cousins away at college and in the marine corps.

Inside the UPS store there were many things for a little boy to explore. The lady with the curly hair told Landon to stay nearby, but since there was no other customers in the store for him to talk or play with, Landon decided he wanted to run around and see everything.

One corner of the store had sparkling mailboxes with numbers and letters on them. Landon wanted to see if he could open them; he could not. Then, Landon noticed several large bags of something that looked like snow. He walked over to them - they were so tall! Six feet tall each, and stacked up on top of each other too!

The lady with the curly hair told Landon to only look, and not touch the snow-filled bags. But Landon couldn't resist! He gave the bag closest to him a huge shove, and then all of sudden, all of the bags of snow came toppling down on him!

For a second, Landon was scared. But then he realized that the lady with the curly hair caught the bags before they fell on him! She showed him that they were actually feather-light, and filled with something called "styrofoam peanuts" that the UPS men used to fill boxes before they mailed them.

The lady with the curly hair apologized to the UPS men, who thought that Landon was a very big helper, as they had meant to move those bags for quite awhile. So it turned out that Landon saved the day! And he was very happy. And the lady with the curly hair needed a cocktail. The End.

Gobble, Gobble

I think that Landon may share my love for the holidays. He certainly embraced every event, get-together and meal that we shared with family and friends over the last week!

We headed down to my Mother's house on Tuesday, and were amazed at the weather - 78 degrees! Holidays at the beach are always interesting; you never know what you will get. Some years it is freezing, and some years it is warm enough for shorts!

Phillip and I both got together with friends on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday we had a playdate with Josi and Ian, and all of Landon's "aunties" - my best friends for the past two decades. Highlights of the day: Josi trying to catch a ride on Landon's bike, the kids (and us) chomping down on Julie's pumpkin dessert, and Ian and Landon doing some hip-hop dancing!

Wednesday night we had dinner at Bridgetender, and Landon felt very special because we let him stay up past his bedtime and he could watch the boats while he ate.

Thursday brought the traditional dinner with the family, and Landon loved all of the attention and goodies that his aunts and grandmother gave him!

This weekend we celebrated with Phillip's family; another dinner, plus college football! Since we have three boys aged two and under between the two brother's families, we headed outside for some playtime at the local park. The boys ran around, made friends, threw a football...and sometimes helped us watch the babies! Ha ha, actually the whole family loved the fresh air and the chance to stretch our legs; what a nice way to end a week of eating!

Ice, Ice Baby!

Watch yourselves on the dance floor people - Landon has a new dance move! And I mean literally watch yourselves, his elbows are flying everywhere!

His Aunt Andrea and I sang "Ice, Ice Baby" to him yesterday while doing the cabbage patch dance, and he has created his own version. I really think it's going to catch on...