Ru it, pa it and mark it with a B...

Landis loves singing songs with fun hand movements. His favorites are Pat-a-Cake and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. He loves the "roll it and pat it" part of Pat-a-Cake - he says "ru it, pa it" and does the hand motions with a big grin on his face. Does anyone have suggestions of other songs he would like?

Today was a productive gardening day. Landis (my sweet little helper with his very own little shovel) and I weeded one of the new beds, added compost and got the watermelons and bush bean seedlings in the ground. I can't wait for watermelons! The basil, spinach, yellow squash, zucchini and pole bean seedlings are still growing in their containers and aren't quite ready to be transplanted yet. We're still waiting for the sunflower and marigold seeds to sprout. We have enjoyed using the basil, thai basil, rosemary, cilantro and green onions for a few weeks, and today we ate our first banana pepper. Yum! It is so much fun to watch Landis' face light up as he eats something delicious from the garden. There are tons (I stopped counting at 35) of tomatoes ripening on our plants, a few blueberries and strawberries, and 3 bell peppers. The corn is now taller than Landis and continues to grow very quickly. This week I plan to start lettuce, red onions, carrots, cucumbers, radishes and butternut and spaghetti squash, weed the last bed so that the seedlings have somewhere to go, and put up the teepee for the pole beans to grow on and the boys to play in. Hopefully Aaron Scott can come help build the teepee structure. I think he would enjoy it. He is a lot like his dad in his love for making and building and fixing things.

Sun 'N Fun

Goat, his parents, Aaron Scott, Landis and I spent Friday at Sun 'N Fun in Lakeland. It was great. The boys really enjoyed both the event and the opportunity to spend the day with their wonderful Ludwig grandparents. We saw all kinds of planes, from tiny ultralights, which look like go carts with gliders or parachutes, to huge old military planes, and everything in between. There were also helicopters, some so small you could carry them with you in the back of your pickup truck, and others so large they could carry a dozens of people. Aaron Scott found a small helicopter that seats 2 and is painted to look like a bird and now he really wants one. Maybe he will be a helicopter pilot when he grows up.

Avidyne had a booth and we were able to see the keyboard that Goat has spend countless hours designing. It looks great! It was nice to see the product of so much of his work shown off for everyone to see. I am so proud of him! We were also able to see a plane which used the old Avidyne flight system, which looked great.

In the afternoon, there was an air show. It was amazing to see the planes perform dizzying feats in perfect formation, shooting straight into the air, plunging down at terrifying speeds, flipping, looping and spinning through the air. Landis loved watching the planes, pointing whenever he saw one and trying to get the rest of us to look.

Toward the end of the day, when both boys had had about enough of the show and the heat and the crowds, we found a shady, deserted grassy spot, perfect for the brothers to practice their wrestling moves on each other. They love wrestling. Aaron Scott falls down dramatically when Landis tackles him, and picks Landis up and swings him around before depositing him carefully back on the ground. He is such a great big brother!

Landis is talking like crazy and I am loving it. He says the funniest things. Sometimes Goat or I will play a game with Landis where we count to 3 and then do something fun - toss him onto the bean bag or into the air, swing him around or cover him with a blanket. He's started coming up to us and asking for "two threes."

The Ayes Have It

Landis, drawing on his Scottish heritage, has started saying "aye" instead of yes. He started while we were up in Gainesville visiting my family. (Josh, Caleb, I need a confession. Who taught him to say it?) This morning, I asked him if he wanted to take a bath. His eyes lit up and he said, "oh, aye!" He is so funny!

Landis' new words

We spent all day today outside, building raised frames for 2 new garden beds. One will be filled with watermelon, and the other with salad stuff: lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, broccoli and cucumbers. While helping us, Landis learned to say "tree," "windy," "rain" and "onion." He LOVES to eat green onions from the garden. He is such a sweet little helper. He waters plants, helps me weed, and even tried to help us build the frames. After we were done nailing the boards in place, he grabbed a hammer and pounded on the wood. He was so proud that he was helping.

Cute things Landis has said today

"Uh-oh!"

"Alright!"

"Oh Wow!"

"Let's Go!"

"Oh, Darn!"

He is the cutest little talking baby. We went shopping with Sara and the girls, and went to their house afterwards. As I was getting ready to put Landis in the car, I told him that we were going to Aerin and Tea's house, which elicited an "alright!" and he very happily climbed into his seat. I asked him if he was happy about going to his friends' house, and he said "yes!" and nodded his had vigorously. It's so much fun hearing him talk, and realizing that he understands so much of what we say. He is getting good at completing small tasks when we ask him to, like looking out the window, coming over to us, picking up a specified object, or (his favorite) throwing garbage into the trash can.

One day I will write an actual post about the family, but in the meantime, how amazing is this?!? It's a green bean teepee. Now I know what to do with all of my little bean sprouts. :)

For the heavy sleeper in your life...

Garden

Aaron Scott and I planted the first plants in our garden last Monday. We have been planning this for a while. A few months ago, we constructed a wooden frame for the garden, so that we could fill it partway with soil and small plants could be protected from the wind. On Monday we weeded, dumped soil into the garden and planted 8 plants: blueberry, strawberry, banana pepper, 2 tomato, 2 cilantro and a basil plant. They are growing really well - one of the tomato plants is already 2 or 3 inches taller than it was on Monday! There is still room for several more plants, so next Monday we plan to go shopping and pick out a few more plants and/or seeds. Aaron Scott is a great helper in the garden. Like most 7 year old boys, he enjoys the chance to play in the dirt. He managed to be very patient with his little brother too. Landis wants Aaron Scott to pay attention to him all the time, and in typical toddler fashion is very insistent about it. I can't blame Landis - Aaron Scott is a really fun brother!

After we finished gardening, Aaron decided he would like to dig a hole down to the water level. We directed him to a corner of the yard and he dug and dug. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to reach water by dinner time, but he did manage to dig a hole about as deep as he is tall. Pretty impressive! I can't find the cable to connect the camera to the computer, but once I do I will post pictures of the garden and hole.