Aunt Alissa asked to guest blog today's entry so she could share just how much she adores her Penguin nephew:
Greetings from Columbus, Ohio! Last Friday, I had the honor to spend the evening with a handsome lad – a real blonde-haired, blue-eyed stud. Since Abby and Brian had a wedding to attend in Tallmadge and Grams was flying to Alaska, I was asked to babysit my nephew. After much thought and deliberation, I agreed. Oh – who am I kidding?!? I jumped at the chance to spend some quality time with my dear little ‘Landoncake’, as I call him. Admittedly, I was a little nervous. I haven’t spent too much time around 13 month old babies, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to do. What do I feed him? Where can I take him? What do I take with me? Answer: Anything (except peanut butter), wherever (within reason, of course), and diapers/food/drinks. That’s pretty much it.
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| Finn and his cat-brother Calvin wait for Bob to come home from work. |
Needless to say, I was extremely excited to be able to watch Landon, as I only get to see him a few times a year. I want him to know me and better yet, to like me. And I’ll admit it; I want to be the ‘cool’ aunt. I guess getting him math and statistics-themed presents hasn’t exactly secured my ‘cool’ status – but he’ll appreciate it when he knows calculus in 5th grade. He’ll be the coolest 5th grader EVER. I digress… So I want to be the cool auntie. Someone he’s always excited about seeing, who he recognizes as the best auntie ever. I was determined to make this a fun night that a 13 month old won’t forget. At least for a few hours… I’m not sure exactly how much memory they retain… Suffice it to say – I wanted to plan an epic night. I brainstormed ideas of things to do: the Summit County fair (it rained), my friends’ volleyball game (people smoking), going swimming (we don’t have a pool), going to the park (what can a 13 month old do at a park?), taking him for a walk (what kind of places are baby friendly?), etc etc etc.
By the time I arrived at my parents’ house Friday in the early afternoon (yes, I took ½ day vacation for the little guy), I still hadn’t decided how Landon and I would spend our evening of fun together. When I arrived, Finnigan raced up in front of me to greet everyone and I brought up the rear – toting Finnigan’s overnight bag (complete with food, toys, treats, a tie-out rope, a food bowl, and more treats). As I’m getting Finnigan situated at trying to calm him, I realize it’s not that different than having a baby (in my mind anyway – I’m sure there are people willing to disagree…). I had to have his food, toys for distraction, ensure he had a place other than the carpet to do is business, and make sure he had plenty of water and entertainment. I needed to plan ahead so that Finnigan’s mind and body were satisfactorily engaged. If I can handle a crazy 11 month old Labrador-Schnauzer puppy (who loves everybody and everything and gets so excited he just can’t contain himself), I think I can handle Landon. After reflecting on the weekend, I think Landon is easier to handle than Finnigan.
Once I settle Finnigan in, my attention immediately turns to Landon, who has clearly been waiting for me. He’s on his Da-Da’s lap, and when he saw me, he immediately smiled and put his hands up. My. Heart. Melted. I’m pretty sure he recognized me. So naturally, I go pick him up and give him hugs and kisses. He takes it all in – he just loves attention. We babble back and forth for a little bit and sit down for lunch. I take the seat beside Landon and willingly share my pizza with him. It’s no joke that this kid loves food. And he likes pizza! A few minutes later, Grumps had Landon on his lap, and Landon was eating a small piece of pepperoni. Landon, ever the sweet boy he is, decided Finnigan would like a piece of pepperoni, and offered it to Finn. Finnigan, ever the ‘starved’ dog that he is, took Landon up on his offer, and gave the pepperoni a few licks. My Dad immediately took away the pepperoni that was bound for Landon’s mouth. He. Had. A. Fit. Grumps took his pepperoni away! Can you believe it? Abby brought Landon another piece and all was well. But I don’t think Landon forgave Grumps right away.
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| Landon and Grumps after the pepperoni fiasco. |
Abby and Brian didn’t leave too many instructions. Just feed him when he gets up from his nap, he eats dinner around 6:30, and goes to bed around 8-8:30. And no peanut butter. When they left for the wedding, Landon was still napping. My Dad had to take Hollie Belle (my parents’ dog) to the vet, so he was gone too. I was all alone. I went to check on baby, and found him up and alert, but not crying. What a good boy! I changed his diaper and set him in the high chair for snacks and to discuss our evening.
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| This boy loves food! Here he is looking for more snack after his nap. |
It was decided that first, we would play. So we got out several of his toys and went to town. He started drumming, then he worked on learning shapes, and finally settled on playing with cars and making engine noises. He’s really good at engine noises. I on the other hand, am not. I’m convinced it must be something little boys are inherently born with. After a short while, I figured Finnigan needs to go relieve himself, so I picked up baby and somehow managed to tie Finnigan out on his cable. Since Landon’s still making car sounds, we watch the street and point out the passing cars together. Finnigan was a little upset he was left out, so I put his leash on him and let him drag me around the yard. We sat on the swing until Grumps got home. Landon was so excited to see Grumps – or so we thought. Turns out, he just wanted Grumps to let him drive the car around the block. He stood on the front seat of the van, put both hands on the wheel, and continued making his engine noises.
We decided to go out to eat for dinner, and ultimately chose Swensons. (Side note – if you don’t know what Swensons is then A – I’m sorry and I feel bad for you, and B – Swensons deserves its own post.) Once at Swensons, we ordered our food, complete with a grilled cheese for Landoncake. He was a good boy at Swensons – eating his grilled cheese and a little bit of my cheeseburger. Once his belly was full, he tried feeding the cheese to his toes. Sorry little boy, toes don’t eat cheese…
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| "Whoa! No one told me Swenson's was THIS good! I'm speechless!" (And it takes a lot for this Babble King to be speechless!) |
After dinner, we go home and see that Uncle Bob arrived! I gave Landon to Bob and went up to get his bath ready. Apparently, Landon didn’t remember Bob, because he started crying for his auntie. I took him and the little sweetheart wrapped his little sausage arms around my necks and gave me a giant hug! Once we got the bath water ready and cleaned up a smelly, smelly diaper, we plopped him in the bath tub. To say Landon likes baths is an understatement - he LOVES them. We washed him down, and he grabbed the washcloth and showed us the ‘right way’ to do it. He cried when we pulled him out and dressed him in his jammies. I tried to brush his hair, but like any independent child, he wanted to do it himself. He settled into Bob’s lap to prepare for bed (apparently forgetting that he threw a fit not 15 minutes earlier) while I made him a bottle. Seeing him slowly passing out on Bob’s lap was very precious. See for yourself:
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| Chillin' with Uncle Bob before bed |
I put him in his pack’n’play, and he went right to sleep. No fussing or crying or anything. What an angel. Although we didn’t do anything I originally planned, I wouldn’t have wanted the evening to be any different. I think the best thing was just being with him one-on-one.
On Saturday, Abby, Landon, and Brian came down to Columbus to spend the day and night before heading back to NJ. We left Tallmadge early, saying bye to Grumps, and down we drove to Columbus. When we were leaving, Landon gave Grumps a HUGE hug. My dad was babbling back to him, and Landon looked at him, waved, said “Bye Bye!” and turned to go in the car. Apparently, he was done saying goodbye to Grumps and was ready to leave. We took Landon to the zoo and he had a great time. We started by lunching at Culvers. Landon ate some of his chicken tenders and fries, but some ended up on the floor. Once at the zoo, we went to see so much! We saw fishies in the aquarium, manatees, howler monkeys, kangaroos, koalas, and goats at the petting zoo, rhinos, elephants, birds, and tigers! Landon even went on a pony ride! I’ll admit I was pretty exhausted by the end of it.
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| Even the fish were "kitties". |
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| We have a regular ol' John Wayne on our hands! |
We went to Jason’s Deli for dinner, where Landon managed to poo in his diaper twice in 5 minutes. It was pretty smelly. Needless to say, I only ate half my sandwich. Abby didn’t bring the diaper bag in, so she had to run out and get it. Landon thought she abandoned him in his time of need, and told the entire restaurant his Ma-Ma just left. Once he had a clean diaper, he was better… for about five minutes, when it happened all over again…
Once home, Abby and I bathed Landon and got him ready for bed. He loves cats, so I brought Calvin over for him to pet. The smile on his face was huge! That boy lights up every time he sees a cat. After he was asleep, the four of us played a new board game, Bezzerwizzer. It’s a game of trivia and tactics, and turned out to be pretty fun (albiet difficult)! Bob and I managed a huge comeback and ended up winning the first game, with Abby’s help. Abby thought she and Brian had already won, but in Bezzerwizzer, it’s not necessarily the first team to the end wins. You have to finish out the round. So, thinking she and Brian already had the game in the bag, she helped me and Bob on our final ‘Language’ question – which awarded us the correct number of points to reach the final box! Since we both ‘won’, we had to go back and forth answering questions until there is only one victorious team. Bob and I ultimately won, although we wouldn’t have been able to without Abby’s help.
Sunday morning Abby and Brian packed up and headed out. Landon waved and yelled “bye bye” all the way to the car. It was a very fun, enjoyable weekend.
I may be biased, but Landon is definitely the cutest little guy ever. And he’s so much fun. He’s loving and affectionate, always willing to give smiles and hugs. Thanks to Abby and Brian for entrusting your child’s safety to me. And thanks for visiting and letting me be a guest blogger.
