As the smell of regurgitated Goldfish wafted through the air

I suddenly but irrevocably lost all desire to eat that deliciously cheesy snack food ever again.

In related news: Landis has a stomach bug. We've fallen into a pattern of about 18 hours of fitful, feverish sleep and intermittent vomiting, followed by 6 hours of relative good health and happiness. My poor little boy is miserable. He keeps crying as nausea overtakes him "No more! All done! All done!" I feel so powerless. There is nothing to do but keep him clean and well hydrated, and to just be present for him, physically and emotionally. Get better soon, sweet little Landi-love!

Blue Eyed Boys

Gratuitous cute pictures of our adorable blue eyed boys!


How did they get so cute????

Important Life Lessons, by Landis

This important life lesson was related to me by Landis on our walk today.

"People DON'T go in road. Cars go in road. If Landis go in road, then car pish* me flat [STOMP] flat [STOMP] flat [STOMP STOMP STOMP]. Daddy told me."

There you have it. It's simple to avoid becoming a pancake.


*squish

(Click on the comic to view larger.)

A few days ago, I had a busy day, with lots of things that needed to be done and not a lot of time to do them. I told Landis that he needed to go play by himself for a little while, and gave him a few different options - his cars, his train table, or blocks. He picked the trains, and played by himself for about 5 minutes, then came running up to me. "Monni, monni, come SEE!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the train table to show me how Percy had fallen off of the tracks and Thomas was going to rescue him. I oohed and aahed, then asked him to keep playing so I could finish the things I was working on. He decided to go play with his blocks then, but a few minutes later, he was tugging on my skirt again. "Monni look stack!" He had built a tower and wanted an audience for the demolition job. And so the day continued, with him playing by himself for a few minutes, then seeking my attention, and me not getting anything done fast.

Exasperated, I told Landis, "You need a little brother to play with so Monni can get her work done." (When Aaron Scott is here, the 2 of them will very happily play together for long stretches of time. When it's just one of them, they constantly want to be entertained, or have a parent ooh and aah over their creations.)

Landis thought about it for a minute, and then said, "Okay. Landis and Monni go to store. We buy brother."

Kwinkawoo

It took me a while to figure it out, but apparently kwinkawoo = kangaroo in the tongue of the toddler.

Earlier this morning, Landis and I read an article in Aaron Scott's National Geographic Kids magazine about a kangaroo joey that was rescued after his mother died. I looked at him perplexed when, a few hours later, my imaginative little boy brought me an empty basket and told me that "My kwinkawoo lives in."

"What lives in your basket?"

"My kwinkawoo, Monni."

Of course!

Silly Ludwig Brothers

The Ludwig brothers are so silly! While Aaron Scott was here last weekend, I asked him and Landis to sit down together on the couch so I could snap a picture of the two of them. They sat down, and decided to show their brotherly affection by elbowing each other in the ribs.

What in the world are we going to do with these silly boys?!?

Silly Songs with Landis

Chicken Satay

I tried out a new recipe for dinner tonight and it was a hit! It's a relatively quick and simple recipe (especially since I made Goat do the grilling) and tastes great. The chicken would have been great by itself, but I really like the peanut sauce. It tastes a lot like a Pad Thai sauce. Without further ado: Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce.

This evening, Landis very sweetly climbed into my lap for a snuggle, and being the mean Monni I am, I told him I loved him and started tickling him.

"I love you Landi!" *Tickle, tickle tickle* "I love you so much!" *More tickling*

Between giggles, Landis managed to say "Landis loves Monni!"

I tickled him some more and said, "We were talking about how Monni loves YOU! Don't change the subject."

He got very serious, looked up at me and said, "Okay, but, we do change our underpants."



Where does he come up with these things??

Personal Space

(After a long and busy day, as I sat down on the couch for a moment and Landis decided to try to climb onto my head.)

"Landis, please get down. Monni needs some personal space right now."

"No, Monni needs Landis in personal space!"



It was a nice try, but I was not convinced. He is a sweet and affectionate little boy, which I love, but sometimes I need a break - at least for a minute or two!

Awww!!

Landis just came prancing into the living room from the back of the house, gave me a hug and told me "I love you Monni! I love my Daddy! I love Caylo! I love Josh! ..." He proceeded to name all of the people he loves - his parents, brother, grandparents, aunt and uncles.

Could be be any sweeter??

Thomas the Tank Engine Obsession

Landis loves to play with his wooden tracks and trains (thanks Mom and Dad!), read books and watch movies about Thomas the Tank Engine. (We don't have a TV, but Landis usually watches 2 or 3 3o min. Thomas movies over the course of the week on the computer.) If he is not near his toys, he grabs the nearest object and pretends that it is a train. Sometimes he pretends to be driving a train. Today, he walked up to me and said, "Landi is Thomas. Monni is Percy. Daddy is James. Play!!" He got us to reinact his favorite Thomas story, when James comes off the line and is rescued by Thomas, then we pretended that Thomas and Percy were going for a long trip on the tracks. He is so funny!

Landis at Play

Landis and I have been playing with wooden ABC blocks all morning. They're a perfect toy for Landis, who is really interested in imaginative, open ended play, and also in letters and numbers.

We built stacks of blocks for a while, tall towers that were fun to build and even more fun to knock over, stepped pyramids which were not quite as tall, but much more stable, and a little city of block buildings.

After a while, Landis' attention turned to the numbers and letters on the blocks. He wanted each one identified and to know "what it was for." He has a good memory for that. Although he isn't consistently identifying letters, he remembers that D is for Daddy, L is for Landis, T is for Teagan, and so on. He's also interested in numbers, and wants to know who is "that many." Fortunately, we know enough kids that we can tell him the name of a friend for each number.

Last night, Landis took all of the cushions from the couch and spent 15 or 20 minutes arranging them just so. Then he called us over to look. He had made a playground, with cushions representing slides and swings, monkey bars and climbing structures. He showed us how he could slide, swing and play, then moved on to his kitchen. One of our cabinets had a shelf which we removed to store some tall objects. The little wooden shelf has become a stove, the focal point of Landis' kithchen play. He enjoys "cooking" lots of food for Monni and Daddy. Yesterday he mostly made pizza, pretending to knead dough, shape it into a circle, top with pepperoni and cheese, and bake until it was "very hot." He very sweetly shared with us, cautioning us to "blow on it - it's too hot!"

Landis also enjoys pretending to be on a boat. He chooses an item, usually a blanket, to represent the boat, and steers it through the "water." When we ask whose boat it is, he answers, "Landi's and Papa's." We're pretty sure he thinks he has joint ownership in Papa's real boat! Sometimes he gets out and "swims" or "floats" on his back. Sometimes he travels across the river, and sometimes he drives the boat to an island to play. He is a very imaginative little boy, and more fun every day.

Landis' Career Aspirations

Landi and I were talking yesterday and somehow got on the topic of how, when little boys and girls grow up, they can become teachers, dentists, accountants, etc. He thought about it for a minute, then told me what he wants to "be when big." Landis aspires to be the ticketman who sells tickets for Thomas the Train!