Little Man, Lots to Say

It's been really tough figuring out what Landon's first words were because for a long time he's been making lots of noises that really sound like words, but we couldn't quite confirm that he was consistently using them at the right times. He's been saying Mamamama for Mommy for about 6 months now and Dadadada for Andy ever since Andy got home. Sometime in between there -ight became a favorite sound and I though it might be "light" because he would always be looking at a light when he said it, but then he started to expand -ight to mean whatever he was looking at at the time.

Within the past two weeks or so, however, we've really noticed that he is acquiring quite the little vocabulary, and he's using the words consistently and appropriately. So it seems that his first official word is "bubble"- which is a little ironic if you saw the video of him crying in terror the first time we blew bubbles with him. After bubble came "outside", "off", and the latest, "ball".  He's also quite good at making kitty noises "maw!" and dog noises "woof". It's amazingly difficult to get him to perform for the camera considering how often he says the words when it's not rolling, but I did manage to get a few short videos of some of his first words. 

The Big ONE

Once again I'm a little behind in posting... but that is life these days, I guess. 

Landon turned 1 on July 3rd and we can't get over how this past year flew! We had a small party at home in NJ with a few of our local friends and all of Landon's grandparents who were able to make it out for his big day. He is truly the best thing that's ever happened to us and we are intensely grateful that he is our son! Here's to one great year!

A look back:

 One Week Old

Six Months Old

One Year Old!

Even though he's been able to blow for about 5 months now, he needed a little help with his candle because he was more interested in reaching for the flame

He wasn't a big fan of his first cake experience

But he still managed to get plenty messy

The party wore him out so we opened presents the morning of the 4th

He got some really fun new toys!

Such a big boy!

Happy Birthday Landon! We love you!

Seattle

A little late posting this but better late than never...

Andy completed his first marathon on June 27. He opted to run the Seattle Rock n' Roll marathon so we could squeeze in a visit to his aunts and cousin out there. The course was full of hills (which he hadn't prepared for) so it was harder than expected, but he finished which I find amazing - not because I doubted that he could do it  but because I find the fact that anyone can run that long amazing. The course was mostly on highways and viaducts so spectators were pretty limited as to where they could watch from, but there were live local bands at each mile for the runners. We waited a few feet from the finish line so we could cheer him on to the end. 

Practicing crossing the finish line at the Expo the day before the race

Almost There!

We stayed with his aunt and cousin who live on a lake, so while we didn't get much sight seeing done, we were able to go out on the boat a few times. Landon wasn't too sure about it but I think that was largely because he lost all mobility while wearing his little life jacket. He LOVED meeting his aunts and cousin out there, and he spent much of his vacation giving their dog, Pepper, lots of kisses. He also learned to pull himself up and climb stairs while we were there... life changes for Momma yet again!

Laying back on the boat with Aunt Ann

Trying to take it easy on the board because it's the day before the marathon

First time we walked in to this sight after a nap!

Aunt Sue was Landon's buddy - she let him pick the flowers

Just before this picture Landon learned how to pick his nose and was showing off his new talent for his cousin Christy 

My little obsession

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I'm pretty much picture crazy when it comes to Landon. I think he might be one of the most photographed kids in the world, second only to Suri Cruise (and maybe Olivia Nau). When I send out the Shutterfly pictures, the 30 or so pictures I send are about a 5% sampling of what I actually took that month. Andy thinks it's a sickness but those of you who know my mom know it's actually just genetic. Anyway, my favorite times to take pictures of him are the rare occasions when I have to wake him up from a nap. I love to sneak in with my camera and get a quick shot before he starts to stir. I usually only get one chance because the flash wakes him up, but those make for some of my favorite pictures. 

Andy's Return

Andy returned home as scheduled (amazingly), and we spent his two weeks of post deployment leave engaging in as much together time and as little technology as possible (no email, no blogs, only a few texts...). We all love having him home. He and Landon quickly became best buds, and even Sushi's getting in on the Andy love. 

Our together time included playing in the pools at Glenwood, playing in the pool in our neighborhood, going to parks in Philly, family trips to the grocery store, jogging through our neighborhood (Andy's first marathon is June 27 - Landon and I would join him for the last 3 miles of whatever his goal for that day was), visiting local town fairs,  spending time with neighborhood friends, and wonderful together nothingness.

Thanks to all of you who sent words of encouragement while he was away. This was a long one and your thoughts were very much appreciated. 

Some Skype Lovin

Andy is scheduled to return in 10 days (yea!). With his homecoming rapidly approaching we've been talking a lot about how Landon will react to him after his 5 month absence. We've been fortunate enough to be able to Skype about once a week so Landon can see his Daddy often, but it's not the same as a Daddy Landon can touch and play with. Landon's new mobility gave us some insight into his feelings about Daddy. I'm thinking Landon will adjust just fine to having his Daddy home again; what do you think? 

My Little Yogi

In his quest to crawl, Landon revealed his inner yogi. Here he is in some of his favorite poses:

Plank Pose

Upward Facing Dog

Downward Facing Dog

Namaste 

By the way, he did finally get the crawling thing. You can check out some videos of that HERE.