I am so proud of my brilliant step-son

Hooray for Aaron Scott, science fair champion of the 3rd grade! He is such an amazing kid!

If you've ever happened to encounter a mother in the presence of an adorable baby, you may have witnessed the ridiculous, cooing, nonsensical language that comes naturally to many women and is almost universally loved by babies. It's hard not to coo and wax lyrical about each tiny feature when faced with an adorable little face, and the fact that it is rewarded with sweet toothless smiles only reinforces the behavior.

Unfortunately, while Landis has grown from a tiny infant to a tall and very verbal toddler, I have not yet stopped cooing over each of his adorable features, especially his very blue eyes. As Landis was hard at work building a train track, I kept talking about his big blue eyes, and just how cute they are, and how nice it was that he had gotten blue eyes just like Daddy. I thought that he wasn't really listening, but he got up, ran across the room and tugged on Goat's pants. Goat turned around, and Landis said, "Daddy, thank you for my eyes."

We just about fell over laughing at that one, but I think I'm going to have to stop telling Landi how cute he is quite so often. I don't want to raise a vain little boy - even if he is the cutest toddler in the world!

There is nothing cuter than a toddler learning to speak. Landis' latest little quirk is this: When the sun goes down in the evening, he requests that I "turn the dark off" instead of turning the lights on.

Landis is cracking me up lately with his quirky little mannerisms and figures of speech. He is such a funny talking boy!

He is always curious about our destination whether we travel by car, bike, or walk. He announces our arrival with a cheerful "Made it! We made it!" C'mon Landis, it's not that scary riding with your Monnie. You don't have to act so relieved.

His new favorite phrase is "I don't like it." I'm hoping this isn't his favorite for too long, but it's a definite improvement from "NO!" It's sometimes quite funny. Tonight at dinner, he had his first taste of brussel sprouts. We went to the grocery store earlier this afternoon and he helped me put the brussel sprouts in the produce bag, counting as we went. I told him we would eat them for dinner, and played up how yummy they are. However, his reaction was what you might expect from a 2 year old. He took a bite, chewed once or twice and deposited it directly back on his plate. His commentary: "No more. I don't like it!" He had the most serious look on his face, and it was all we could do not to laugh. Other times it's not quite so endearing, as the phrase seems to accompany all of his temper tantrums and fits.

He's recently learned the word "something." When he has a mystery object in his mouth, he's learned that answering "something" to our queries about the nature of the object elicits quite the entertaining response, even if he's only chewing a grape or a piece of cheese. One evening recently he came up to me, pulled on his left earlobe and announced that he had "put something in ear." Goat and I rushed about, finding a flashlight, shining it down his ear canal trying to get a glipse of "something" and debating whether we should take him to the ER to have "something" extracted. He finally confessed, to our relief, that "something" was the tip of his pointer finger. Little stinker!

One of the interesting things about venturing out in public with a potty training, verbal child is the inevitable conversations in public bathrooms. Landis has learned that a proper conversation has 2 sides, and waits politely for a response after he makes a statement. If a response is not forthcoming, he assumes he wasn't heard the first time and repeats his statement louder. So, there are 2 possible types of bathroom conversations. Either we carry on a 2 sided conversation about our various bodily functions, or Landis carries on a 1 sided conversation at an increasingly loud volume. I usually choose option 1 - it's better that the conversation only carries to the adjoining stalls!

It's so much fun watching my little boy grow and learn, and there is never a single dull moment!

Velociraptor Shoes

Thanks Uncle Paul! I love my new shoes!













I'm even faster than usual in my velociraptor shoes.















And I can put them on and take them off all by myself!

Check out the bottom of the shoes. These are going to leave the coolest footprints next time I go to the beach!

Clotheslines

We put up two clotheslines on the porch a month or so ago. I have never had so much fun doing laundry! I throw a load laundry in the washing machine just before bedtime. In the morning, when Landis wakes up, we head out to the porch. Our washing machine is in the garage on the way, and I grab the clothes, and put in another load to wash if needed. Landis rides his trike around the porch and back yard, runs around in the grass or plays in his little "playgrounds" - he has 2 little play sets with slides, a swing a steering wheel, and walls and ladders to climb. While he plays, I throw the clothes on the lines. Most of the clothes find a spot on one of the 2 lines, and smaller items (the 4 pairs of undepants my little potty training boy goes through in a day, napkins, kitchen rags, etc.) go on the little drying rack. This only takes 10 minutes at the most, so I have plenty of time afterward to join Landis in his play.

We usually go on our walk after hanging the laundry, then into the house for the rest of the morning. After lunch, Landis takes his nap, then we head back out to the porch to fold the load. Landis enjoys the play time and gets some energy out, which makes the afternoon much more pleasant for both of us. It's so much nicer to do laundry outdoors, with Landis running and playing, than indoors with him boucing off the walls. I highly recommend line drying to anyone with an energetic 2 year old - and just about anybody else!

Happy Birthday to Landis!!

Landis is 2!! Hooray! I can hardly believe it - the time just flew by. He is my big running, jumping, playing, singing, story telling, laughing, joke telling, temper tantruming, imagining, sweet, silly independent boy. Happy Birthday Landis!!

Night Launch!

We had the chance to watch the shuttle Endeavor launch tonight from the Indian River. It was amazing! For a few minutes, it was as bright as day, and then, slowly, the sky faded back to darkness.

The launch was several miles away from the boat, and we could see the shuttle before we could hear it. I always find myself straining to hear the first rumblings of the shuttle. It's strange to see such an incredible sight in silence, even if only for the first few seconds.

We enjoyed spending time with Goat's parents, his sister Laurel and her boyfriend Jason, and family friend Tommy. As always, Landis was thrilled to go for a boat ride. He was also thrilled with the launch, and kept telling us about it. "Shuttle fast! Shuttle bright! Shuttle loud!"

Here is Landis, helping his Papa steer the boat. He is looking more and more like Aaron Scott. Their mouths are different, but otherwise I would have a hard time telling the difference between pictures of the 2 boys at the same age.

Grandpa Duggan's Birthday Bash

We are headed out the door to watch the Endeavor launch, so no time for a long post, but I thought I would put up some pictures from my Grandpa's birthday party last weekend. It was so nice to see my Grandma and Aunts Karen and Connie and cousins Shawn, Kristen, Rachel and Aiden from NY, who we hadn't seen in way too long! Landis had such a great time playing with his uncles and cousins!
Here is Landis sitting on Caleb's lap, ready to go down the slide. Josh is behind them, and Shawn and Kristen are crossing the bridge to join the fun.

Landis had a great time practicing his rock climbing skills with his spotter, Josh. Maybe he will follow in the steps of John and Paul and become a rock climbing teacher at Chosatonga some summer.




Landis and I went to Sea World with Aunt Connie, Rachel and Aiden. The kids were so amazed to see the giant orcas, as well as all of the other marine creatures.




All of that fun playing tired Landis out. Here he is, getting a quick snuggle in with Uncle Josh before nap time.


Unfortunately, my camera batteries only lasted for 2 days, but Paul has promised to email me pictures from his and my Mom's cameras, so I will post more pictures then!

Arggh!

See this sweet, adorable child? Don't let looks fool you. He's trouble!

I left the living room for 2 minutes to put some laundry in Landis' dresser and he pulled a chair over and climbed up to the cabinet to grab a full container of raisins and dump it on the floor. The container was just large enough that the entire dining room floor is covered in raisins. He is my little whirlwind boy, and the reason my house looks like it was hit by a tornado!

Oh well, I had to sweep anyways... And he is such a fun, sweet kid. I wouldn't change him if I could!