Happy (belated) Birthday, Landon!

Well, as the old saying goes, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Not that I am in hell, or want to go there. But I intended to write Landon an open letter on each of his birthdays. Clearly, I never accomplished that. I still hope to get around to it. Even though his birthday was last week, his New Jersey birthday party isn't until June 30, so I'm considering that my official cut off day.

Any way you slice it, Landon enjoyed his birthday. He got to play with his Ohio friends and family, he visited the zoo for the first time, he rode on a carousel, he opened presents and he ate cake.  Brian got some great pictures of his party, and I hope to post some that Alissa and Aunt Pam took as well.

All in all, not a bad birthday week for our King Penguin!

We had his 12-month doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon and he is doing phenomenal! His development consistently is ahead by three months, and the doctor couldn't believe some of the things Landon's doing already. As soon as the doctor walked in the room, Landon started running around. As soon as the doctor commented on his walking skills, Landon started squatting as if he was working out at the gym and then raced over to the foot stool to demonstrate his climbing prowess. The kid is a ham, and loves to show off and be the center of attention. I'm not sure who he inherited that from...

How do I love Landon? Let me count at least 52 ways.

It occurred to me today that although Landon's first birthday isn't until Thursday, it was exactly 52 weeks ago today that I pulled myself out of bed at 4:30 a.m. to finish packing and head to the hospital for my c-section. Almost exactly 4 hours later, at 8:31 a.m. our King Penguin was born, squirming and wiggling and fussing. (He's not very fussy now, but he certainly hasn't stopped squirming or wiggling since then!)

In honor of that, here are  52 things that I absolutely love about Landon.

1. His personality.
2. His laugh.
3. His eyes.
4. His alertness.
5. His eagerness to play.
6. His willingness to involve Brian and me in his games.
7. The silly places he gets stuck, like inside the end table.
8. That he got teeth early.
9. That he slept through the night early.
10. That he still sleeps through the night.
11. That he loves to eat.
12. That he isn't a picky eater.
13. That he is photogenic.
14. That he loves family.
15. That he remembers my dad, even when he hasn't seen him for several weeks.
16. His openness to new things.
17. His love for any and all people.
18. His ability to talk to anyone and anything.
19. His adoration of the cats.
20. His ability to make me laugh each and every day.
21. His ability to make me smile, no matter how bad the day way.
22. His love of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
23. All the words he can say.
24. The fact that, even though he knows several words, he sometimes gets lazy and calls everything "da-da."
25. The fact da-da means so many things.
26. The fact ma-ma means only me.
27. The fact that he said ma-ma before da-da.
28. The fact that he knows that there are kitties on my pajama bottoms and points them out to me.
29. The fact he can flush the potty.
30. The fact he surprises us with the words he can say, like birdie and outside.
31. The fact that after he surprises us with new words, he doesn't say them again for a long time.
32. The fact he has a special yell for each kitty.
33. The fact he can say kitty.
34. The fact that he looks you straight in the eye, starts babbling and then stops, expecting you to reply.
35. The fact he said hot dog.
36. The fact he steals the cat's toys.
37. The fact the cats steal his toys.
38. That he picked up on the fact that you have to point the remote at the TV if you want to change the channel or turn up the volume.
39. The fact that he turned on The Big Bang Theory all by himself.
40. When he tries to smile and talk while attempting to keep his bottle in his mouth.
41. The fact that, at 9 months old, the doctor said he was a 12 month trapped in a smaller baby's body.
42. The fact that he walked early.
43. The fact that he can entertain himself...at least for a few minutes.
44. The fact that sometimes, only Mom will do.
45. The fact that he's so well behaved when we go out to eat.
46. When he calls to people as we walk around the mall.
47. That we can't go anywhere with him without someone commenting on his eyes, or his personality.
48. That he was the youngest kid in his class at school.
49. That he's smart.
50. That he learns quickly.
51. That he's proud of himself and his new accomplishments.
52. That he was an easy baby, all things considered.

We will be at my parent's house on Thursday, but I am going to to try to sign on to write King Penguin an open letter celebrating his one year on Earth.

Catch up on the cuteness

As you may have gathered from our absence, we've had a very busy few weeks. We all are finally healthy, although Landon is busy cutting a few molars. We've replaced the deck (nice job, Brian!), and had carpet installed, so the house has been hectic and a mess for a few weeks. In addition, I've had a busy two months at work (although I got some excellent compensation news last week - a good reason to celebrate!), and we're planning our trip to Ohio, as well as Landon's New Jersey first birthday party. Whew. Thinking about the last several weeks, combined with what the next few weeks will bring, exhausts me.

So to help catch up on the cuteness that you've missed over the last few weeks, here are some iPhone pictures of Landon.

A few weeks back, Landon and I visited the local Goodwill store. As we were walking up and down the isles, Landon spotted this truck. He squirmed out of my arms, toddled over, and immediate started pushing it and making truck noises. Needless to say, we did not leave the store empty handed, and Landon has a new favorite toy.

Landon officially outgrew most of his 9 month-sized clothes. The picture above was the first night he wore "big boy" pajamas. I don't think he was impressed. He cried while I changed him, and as you can see from his expression, he was less than excited.

So, we stuffed him back into footie-pajamas the next night. He was much happier.

Landon has a huge appetite. The night before last, he ate six or seven meatballs, plus a third of a banana  and some puffs - he was so hungry that Brian gave him his meatballs and had to find something else for dinner. He loves meatballs and spaghetti sauce - I think it's because he knows he can make a mess. Last time, he had spaghetti sauce in his ear canals and down his diaper.