Dirty-Thirty!

Tomorrow Landon and I head to Wilmington to celebrate my dear friend's birthday on Friday, followed by a second celebration for another dear friend's birthday on Saturday! Good friends + Wrightsville beach house + sweet babies = awesome tan. Wait, I meant to write "awesome time". Sorry, my inner beach bum is showing.

Sweet, sweet Landon is almost one year old! Aaaaaah! Every day he lets me know that he isn't my baby anymore. He has such a way about him that just screams "BOY".

After this weekend I will have plenty of pictures to share. I have several waiting in the wings right now, but am too lazy to unpack the camera and cord right now :)

Hey there...

This afternoon I walked up to Landon and said "Hey Landon", to which he replied "Hey Silly". That little guy....

Hoop it up, hoop it up, hoop it up!

Every year Phillip and some of his friends participate in a local basketball tournament. It's a fun weekend for everyone as we pack up the tent and chairs and head out to see the guys balling...and when I say "the guys", I mean the 30 yrs and older, and six foot and under teams! We were all really excited because this is the first year that the guys are 30, and we felt like they were going to win it all! As Phillip said "we are never going to be any younger, and we are probably never going to be this tall again..."

Well, they didn't win it all, but it was still a great time. Hot as all get out, but fun still the same.

Landon had a great time playing with his friends, and even tried to get in on the action with the adults. During Saturday night's cookout, as he watched the adults play cornhole he said, "I wanna play" in a baby-soft wistful voice. It was very, very sweet! And surprising. I swear I think he can talk, but just doesn't feel the need to. Why else would he say goo-goo-gaa-gaa all day, and then break out in full sentences?!?

I think Landon will be so disappointed tomorrow when it's just he and I at home...he is going to miss all the attention, especially getting to play with our friends Josh and Heather!

Ouch!

Sad day for me today. Last night Landon was walking to the window and lost his balance just short of it, catching his eye on the windowsill. So today he has a bit of a shiner. His first bruise...and it makes me feel sad and sorry for him every time I see it. As rough and tumble as he is though, it's pretty miraculous that he's made it this long injury-free. Sigh.

Additional note: after much thought on the subject last night while trying to sleep, I have decided that it's not a bad thing to encourage Landon to love sports other than football. Don't think I have it in me to watch our precious little boy get tackled on the field!

Additional, additional note: he is also never allowed to ride a motorcyle, or four-wheeler. Other than that, he is very much free to live his life and enjoy his rough and tumble ways!!!

Yes!

Yesterday Landon and I played a little game during lunch. To practice his speaking skills, I asked him if he would care for another ravioli after he finished each one; to which he was to answer "yes" or "no". This is a transcript of how the game played out...not to ruin the ending, but the score was Landon 2, Mommy 0.

Me: Okay Landon, would you like another ravioli? If you do, say "yes"

Landon: nothing but a blank stare and the sound of crickets

Me: All right, well I'll assume that's a yes and give you another one

Landon: (with his mouth full and both arms in the air) YES!!!

Me: (chuckling) well okay then!

Several ravioli later with no response...this was a bit of a one-sided game:

Me: Ok sweetheart, say yes if you would like another ravioli

Landon: (in a bored voice oddly reminiscent of Seinfeld) yeah, yeah, yeah

Umm, how funny is our baby? Yeah, THAT funny.

Funny Guy

Remember how I said that Landon's tendency to laugh at people when they are struggling would get old one day? Well, that hasn't happened yet...........but, he did turn the tables on me this weekend!

On Saturday, Phillip's father traveled to our house for some golf and lunch to celebrate his 64th birthday. While Landon napped we sat upstairs in the bonus room with some snacks and watched golf, then later that evening we all headed downstairs. If you know me at all, you know that I couldn't bear to leave the dirty dishes upstairs in the bonus room, so of course I grabbed them all up and headed down the stairs.

I was wearing a cute sundress that day (thanks Mom and Michael Kors!), and didn't want to flash Phillip's Dad as I stepped over the baby gate at the bottom of the steps, so I carefully maneuvered myself and the glasses and plates over the baby gate. Not carefully enough though. I fell, but the suspension gate caught me, then gave away at the top...allowing me to gracefully step down to the solid floor! (At least that's how I remember it in my head...but the music from the Microsoft "Windows was my idea" commercial is playing in my head as I write this which leads me to think that I may have made myself look thinner and more graceful in my flashback.)

Anyway, Landon of course lost it...full out chuckles. Evidently it's hilarious if your very best friend in the entire world, who holds you and rocks you and kisses and feeds you, almost falls flat on her face.

Phillip's Dad, who is never one to miss a good pun said "Wow, that was a close one...you really could have busted your glass on that one!". And Landon lost it again! Who knew that an eleven month old had such a mature sense of humor?

I mean seriously, Landon was almost slapping his knee. He was laughing that hard.

Just driving around....

P.S. Dear God! Does my voice really sound like that in real life?

Humph!

Normally I am super upbeat when blogging about anything related to my sweet, sweet baby...because it's so easy to do so! But, I am a little frustrated today; not with our precious little boy of course, but with the fashion and merchandising industry!

I am so tired of going to stores to shop for baby clothing, only to walk out disappointed because there are so few items for boys! We went to Nordstrom today (Anniversary Sale!) and there were literally less than 15 individual items of clothing in Landon's size. Of those 15, several were repeats, so there were really only 4-5 options! As I told Phillip as we walked away, "it's so disheartening!". He thought that was an exaggeration, but as someone who loves fashion, and loves communicating through clothes, it really is disappointing to me to see so few pieces for boys, and THREE entire rounders of sale items for girls - not to mention the full price merchandise! (Full disclosure - Nordstrom did have several boys infant outfits, and tons of boys kids clothes, just very little from 12months to 2T).

To add insult to injury, we finally found shoes to fit Landon, and they are the ugliest things ever! I was kind of excited for his first pair of shoes and imagined how sweet they would be, only to have my hopes dashed as even Stride Rite had a hard time fitting Landon's little cube feet. I tried to repeat to myself "get over it, it's only shoes" but apparently I was having a little Anne of Greene Gables melodramatic afternoon because I never did quite get over it. At least Landon is happy with the purchase - he is very proud of his shoes and doesn't seem to mind that they are basically velcro strap birkenstocks with orange stitch detailing! Don't think they will match any of his sailor, seersucker or chambray outfits....thank goodness he will rarely need to wear them...sigh...

Summertime!

Is there anything better than a summer breeze, the smell of watermelon in the air, and a baby wearing a diaper? Not for my dollar.

Wellllllllllll, I do love a good tomato sandwich on soft white bread, with some mayo and salt and pepper...but that's a whole 'nother summer memory!

Vroom, Vroom

Today was a chilly 84 degrees in NC, so Landon and I headed outside for some rare playtime in the sunshine (normally we only do that if we are very near a water source!).

We decided to try one of our newest acquisitions via hand-me-down: Steel's push a-long car. From the moment I put Landon in there, it was Daytona 500! He was changing gears, kicking his feet, taking one-handed gulps from his sippy cup and turning the wheel like a madman!

I will take some video of him "driving" soon. Looks like he might have inherited the same pedal-to-the-medal mentality as his Mom, Aunt Jenni and Grandma!

Hopefully it won't result in him heading to New Hanover county court on a Friday morning at 8:30am...not that I know of anyone doing that...

Sweet Thang!

We have the sweetest little boy. He is absolutely precious, so sweet and quick to smile! He makes me laugh every day too - he has the funniest personality in my opinion!

Yesterday I was singing a song from the broadway "Annie" to him. At first he was clapping his hands at my singing, but once I got to the crescendo "Tomorrow, tomorrow..." he took his hands and covered both of his ears!!!

Now how lovable is that? At least one of us isn't tone deaf...

Walking on Sunshine

This weekend Landon worked on his walking and clapping skills. He would walk a bit, then celebrate by clapping! Next time you see him, please join in on the clapping - he prefers several rounds of appreciation, just so you know!

Look Who's Talking

Life is getting interesting now that Landon can communicate with us. His combination of "talking", pointing, nodding and other movements is making it easier to understand what he wants and needs. It's also causing one minor complication - we can't talk openly about everything with the little man around (i.e. gossip or discussions about what's best for Landon)...

Two conversations from today:

Me: Look, Mommy stacked the blue block on top of the red block. Yeah Mommy! Do you want to try stacking the blocks Landon?

Landon: Uh-uh

Me: Oh, then why have I been sitting here for the last 10 minutes stacking blocks like an idiot?

Landon: bo'ol

Phillip: Is he trying to say B-O-T-T-L-E?

Landon: I am

Me: Hmm, guess we will make his bottle now

Phillip: Hmm, guess we can't spell things out loud now either. What are we going to do if we can't talk in front of him, and now we can't spell in front of him either?

Me: Let's learn sign language

Ahhh...beach!

Since I grew up at the beach it is practically sacrilegious to spend the 4th of July inland. So...we headed on a vacation!

First we visited Phillip's family in Asheboro. The family farm is so restful and peaceful...old brick farmhouse, wide open grass, moo-cows for the kids to watch, hydrangeas, figs and grapes for the picking...and last but not least, a John Deere gator for riding! Landon took his inaugural ride with his Dad, uncle and cousins and was very impressed. I see many more rides in his future.

Dinner out with the family left me with a warm and fuzzy memory. This one's not of Landon, so please excuse me while I digress. This is my only forum to get this little tidbit out to the public and I have to take the opportunity!

Julie was telling her Grandfather about someone she knew that was very beautiful and smart. He said back to her (quoting Chairmen of the Board), "Well I know someone else that has 'good looks and a sweet personality too'...do you know who that is Julie?". Even though "me" or "Carolina girls" would have been the correct answer, Julie promptly said "Aunt Candice?". The whole table laughed; I'm not sure why, as I thought it was a brilliant answer, but this is just one example of why Julie is my favorite niece!

Landon also took his first trip to the zoo, and wasn't impressed as I thought he would be. He saw several of the animals up close (as the zoo wasn't busy) but didn't seem to realize that they were REAL, LIVE animals as opposed to cartoon animals, or animals he had seen in books. While he was impassively staring at a zebra I asked him excitedly "Do you see the zebra!?!". He said "I do" in a bored voice, and turned his head away. His cousin Julie thought that although he wasn't excited now, at least his ability to say "I do" would come in handy in the future...

After Asheboro, we headed to my Mother's home in Wilmington. What a great time catching up with friends, gorging ourselves on the great WB eateries and relaxing at the beach! Phillip and I even had a date night with some of my dearest friends at O.C. to celebrate my birthday, ending the night on a ridiculously-good white chocolate croissant bread pudding. The next morning it was off to breakfast to Sweet and Savory with our cousins who live in Wilmington (and traveled to Virginia Beach with us several posts ago). Mix in two sunset trips to the beach with Landon, and it was a wonderful time! The only negative the entire trip was that a sting ray stung Phillip's foot; but he is recuperating nicely we hope. He has another trip to the Doctor today, so wish him good luck!