There Are Some Things Money Can't Buy...

All-Clad Stainless Steel stock pot: $315

Wire whisk, rubber spatula and wooden spoon: $19

No Yolks egg noodles: $3

Turning egg noodles into...well, broken egg noodles with Landon, and having more fun than I ever had cooking a gourmet meal - priceless!

Don't Worry, Be Happy

It's true that the simple things in life can bring you happiness.

Sometimes this comes in the form of joining forces with your BFF Josi and staging a revolution in a Kindermusik class (Landon decided that it looked like more fun to do what the teacher was doing than to sit quietly and watch her, and Josi quickly agreed).

Sometimes this comes in the form of making a new friend named Rae-Rae, and having him chase you around the playground yelling "Boo!" every three feet.

Sometimes this comes in the form of playing a casual game of football with your Dad and some of his friends.

Sometimes this comes in the form of having a "picnic" with some new friends at the park (did I mention that all of these new friends are ladies?).

Whatever it is though, Landon takes advantage to the fullest. What a nice thing to have a happy home with an always-laughing baby!

I'm All Grown Up!

Today Landon turned 15 months old, so he and I headed to the pediatrician's office for his check-up. Wow - he has grown so much since his 12 month visit!

Landon grew TWO inches, and is now 31.5 inches tall. He actually lost weight, which the doctor said is common for babies like him that run everywhere, so he now weighs in at a slender 24 lbs!

He was very polite to the doctor, saying "thank you" as she left the exam room, and showing-off a bit when she asked him to show her his walking...he did a few steps normally, then got up on his tippy toes and did a little spin move for her. That baby loves to shake it!

Tonight when we were cleaning up his playroom I started singing, "It's time to put the toys away, the toys away, the toys away...in Landon's playroom". Instead of helping, he broke out a few dance moves. Guess I must be a better singer than I thought! Either way, Landon dancing as opposed to walking behind me and taking out each toy that I just put away is a major improvement in my book!

Brrrrr!

Have I mentioned before that Landon is hot-natured? On road trips, I wear a sweater, have a blanket in my lap, and crank up the heated seats...while Landon sweats in the back seat. Luckily, he has found a new space to cool off - the fridge! A toddler-sized seat, plus snacks; it doesn't get better than that!

Golden Tee

Tonight Phillip, Landon and I headed down to a new microbrewery, Natty Greene's (of Greensboro fame). Phillip's and his besties were getting into some Golden Tee action, and Landon and I tagged along for dinner and to watch the beatdown begin. Luckily, Ms. Heather came with her husband, so Landon and I had a buddy.

So, I know that I am biased, but I think our kid is pretty funny. He thinks that he is pretty funny as well. At least once, and sometimes several times a day, he gets himself so cracked up about something that he practically has tears running down his face.

Turns out that Golden Tee is one of those things. Every time one of the guys went up for his shot and spun the controller-ball, Landon broke into hysterical giggles. Funniest thing I have seen in the last 12 hours! Seriously - that's how often he cracks me up!

There is some i-phone video footage floating around from this one, probably not the best quality since we had a little bit of a Sweet Home Alabama moment, aka having a baby in a bar, but we'll see...

Sweet Baby

Landon has had some fun times this week; a nice surprise for both of us, since he has been under the weather for awhile. By Thursday afternoon he was all better - and ready to play! His first fun encounter was with a beautiful little girl in Printer's Alley.

I was in their discussing bedroom drape options when he heard tinkling baby laughter from a distance, then happily found the source of the sound - a little girl his own age! Since she was running around the store, I thought it was only fair to let him join in. He ran right up to her, they looked at each other for about 10 seconds, decided they were kindred spirits, then ran off and immediately began playing and mimicking each other's actions. Between their (incidentally) color-coordinated outfits, and the beautiful fabric and design backgrounds they looked like an incredibly sweet toddler version of Hansel and Gretel. Minus all the scary fairy tale stuff!

He found his next playmate at the park, and again became instant friends with her and her 3 year old brother. The children's mother and I swang the babies back and forth on the infant swings, and somehow they were both under a very peaceful spell - rare for our munchkin. The two of them sat swaying for probably 20 minutes, cooing and making other sweet baby sounds back and forth at each other. I felt like I was swinging a pair of cooing doves - it was too funny!

Boo!

Tonight while we were changing Landon into his pajamas and getting him ready for bed, he squirmed away from his Dad and made a run from the door. To help acclimate him towards going to sleep, we normally do his bedtime routine in the dark...with just the light from the hallway to help us see.

Since Landon tried to run out of his nursery, leading us to quickly close the door, the three of us ended up in the dark! Was Landon scared you ask? Umm, not quite. We spent the next 5 minutes playing a raucous game where we all ran around sneaking up on each other and yelling "Boo"!

Landon broke into his famous belly-busting laughs; you never know what series of random events will lead to a fun family moment and a special memory. Just thinking about it now makes me smile. The funniest part to Phillip and I (aside from Landon's contagious laughter) is how Landon would break into an absolute sprint - in complete darkness! Although I have heard that babies have very good night vision, so perhaps his eyes adjusted more quickly or better than ours...we are in our 30s now!