Whew, that was hard work!

Landon is almost crawling...and the little guy has a daily training regimen. Almost every time he is on the floor or awake in his crib, he pushes himself up on all fours and begins a myriad of exercises; push-ups, bunny hops, leg lifts and one-step crawling. He has crawled twice, but only for very small distances. Last night he was showing off his new skills to his Dad and kept doing the cutest thing. He would bunny hop, lift and move one leg forward, then quickly collapse his entire body and lay his head down on the floor resting and panting. Then he would pop up, and do it all over again. So, so sweet!

Potty Humor

Even though Landon likes to feed himself his bottles, I love to feed him in my lap so that I have a few minutes to cuddle with our constantly moving baby. The only downside to this arrangement is that Landon gets so comfy in my lap that "his state of relaxation extends to his bowel muscles"- to use an euphemism.

Yesterday I was enjoying bottle time until a noxious order wafted up to me (and with him sitting in my lap, he kind of traps you there with the smell). I told Landon "Geez, you are a stinky baby"! He started giggling at me (what I call his "Beavis and Butthead" laugh) , then went back to drinking his bottle.

A few minutes later Landon started up with his cackle again. Before I could even ask him why he was laughing, I smelled the assault again!!! Needless to say, he reminds me every day that he is a BOY!

The avocado experiment from a few weeks ago

The anti-green movement

Until a few weeks ago we used to call Landon "Mikey" because it seemed as if he would eat or drink anything (we still call him "Stinkybutt" - he hasn't disproven that one yet)! And then we introduced him to the color green...

Landon loves sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, prunes, bananas and his favorite - pears. He inhales pears, and the other night literally licked his fingers and his bib to get the last bite of the steamed pears with cinnamon that I made him! I felt like I was watching a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial and couldn't believe that I didn't capture the finger-licking on camera...I'll be ready next time!

However, Landon will not eat any food that is green. And he demonstrates his prejudice towards green food in the funniest way! When my Mother was here, she tried to give him avocado after I had told her of his green aversion. She gave him a small bite and he wouldn't close his mouth; just kept the avocado on the end of his tongue and made a bitter beer face! He did the same thing with peas.

I love vegetables....love them. Especially when I was pregnant, there were many days where I ate spinach in all three of my meals of the day. So I refuse to give up on the little man slowing building up to 5 veggies a day! We are making baby steps...last night Landon would kind of chew the peas, and I thought that he was starting to accept the green veggie, until he started making gagging faces (not choking, just gagging...as if he were a contestant on Survivor and I was making him eat sea urchin or something)!

The upside to all this is that he has been so exaggerated and dramatic in his reactions, that I have been laughing hysterically, and he seems to realize the humor in the situation as well. So, we are having some really nice bonding time at the kitchen table. It almost feels like I am sitting down with an old friend and laughing at a funny event or story, and it's so nice to have the daily laughing sessions with the little guy!

We did catch a little bit of the pea puree reaction on camera, so as soon as I download that footage I will post it here as well.

Sunny Day!

Ya Ya Brotherhood

Today was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. My Mother is visiting, so Phillip, Landon and "Grandmother" headed out to Southpoint mall to stroll around in the nice weather and let Landon people-watch (his favorite thing to do since he sits in his stroller like a big boy now and we leave the carrier in the car).

He was pretty chill in the first few stores, but after his afternoon bottle he caught a huge burst of energy and all of a sudden, yelled "YA YA YA YA YA YA" while opening and closing his mouth simulatenously! We all laughed, he laughed, and we moved on to our next store.

Phillip found a nice bench at the front of the store and he and Landon settled in while Mom and I tried on clothes. I was in the back of the store when I heard "YA YA YA YA YA YA" and baby squeals.

I went up to the front of the store and Phillip was cracking up - apparently Landon had been watching the front door in Ann Taylor Loft and every time someone came through the door, he stared at them until they made eye contact, gave them a big smile and yelled "YA YA YA...."! He had all the ladies in the store cooing and smiling at him. What a nice bonus for them; a personal greeting and additional 40% off sale!

The Big Screen

Yesterday evening, Landon made his movie debut...as a munchkin from the Wizard of Oz. When Phillip walked in the door from work yesterday, he was holding Landon in the kitchen, and letting him jump on the countertops (i.e. Phillip holds him up under his arms and Landon bends his knees and jumps...his favorite move...Landon's that is; Phillip's favorite move is a left-to-right swing on Tiger Woods golf for i-phone).

His acting debut began when Phillip started leaning him from side to side, and Landon responded by kicking out the opposite foot; with excellent rhythm! At first Phillip and I thought he was channeling "The Chorus Line" but we quickly realized that he was doing the Lollipop guild dance...

I'm so proud that he skipped a made-for-tv movie and went straight for a cinematic classic!

And don't worry folks - between my singing and his dancing - we will have a greatest hits compilation for sale any day now. Look for it in your local big box store's "As Seen on TV" section...next to the Shamwows.