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.