A Cookin', Rockin', Big Brother in Snow Boots

Landon's favorite things at the moment (and no, there's no "raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens" on the list.) Hey...did I say that LAST time I did a favorite's list for this kid? Umm..maybe. Sorry. Old joke. New list though...here we go

*wearing his snow boots. I don't know what's up with this, but the kid puts on his snow boots everyday at some point. It's pretty funny. He's even got Abby interested. On Tuesdays she usually wears one snow boot for a good hour or so. Hilarious. This picture of him outside, I blame on my dad. As soon as we took this picture, I had a flashback to my younger days, when dad had to run outside for something after he'd had his evening shower. He'd put his boots on with his shorts and it made me roll my eyes and feel embarrassed every time. Maybe this is a genetic issue. Speaking of genetic issues...need I point out the muscle definition in those thighs in the first picture? Kinda reminds me of Chad's picture on the cover of the Bearcat program his senior year. Oh, except he wasn't wearing snow boots and underwear. But if he were, I bet there would've been more people attending soccer games.

*pretending: the kid has conversations with multiple inanimate objects in the course of a day. His "friends" (stuffed animals) talk to each other and we talk to them. We pretend ALL the time (so much so that I hope he has a grip on reality). He's the dad and I'm the son, I'm the boy and he's the "little chef" a la Ratatouille, I'm the Colts and he's the Cowboys, you get the idea.

*cooking on his grill: Mom and Dad got Landon a grill for his birthday back in December. That thing is constantly in the living room and we're always "eating" things off the grill.

*playing on his "computers." He has a couple of little computers that he plays with a lot. The Mickey Mouse computer you saw last summer while he was in the hospital. It was a gift from Aunt Kelly, Uncle Stallion and Uncle Scotty. He also got one at the end of chemo from the hem-onc lab, that's a little V-Tech thing. It even has a mouse. He's gotten really good at playing all the games on those. A couple of weeks ago I let him play on the real computer on nickjr.com. He's a HUGE fan of that also...and thanks to the little V-Tech toy, he's a master of the mouse at the age of 3. That's amazing to me.

*helping me in the kitchen. Well, with cooking...not with anything else. :( If he were super interested in unloading the dishwasher I would be pumped...well, maybe I would be a little concerned, too actually. But anyway, he LOVES to pretend to be my little chef. He helps measure, pour, stir, crack eggs, you name it...if it doesn't involve a knife, he's into it. Here he is helping me with a breakfast casserole from my Aunt Lou's blog that we made for the World Cup party.

*board games. He's learning the art of board games. We've played Uno Moo, Handy Manny Uno, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and dominoes. He doesn't always "get" the rules, but he's all about taking turns. That's positive.

*being a big brother. Landon is such a wonderful big brother to Grant. He talks to him and takes him toys. He hugs and kisses him. He makes faces and cracks Grant up. Sometimes when Grant isn't in the mood to eat, Landon's little side show is the only way we get food down him. In these two pictures, I was finishing up dinner, and Grant wasn't up for it. I asked Landon to please play with him for a minute for me. I came back in the living room, and there they were. So sweet.

Landon's favorite foods are: (umm....odd, some of them) steamed cauliflower, fresh baby carrots, plain bread, grilled cheese, orange Yoplait Yogurt Whips, popsicles, Fruit Loops, Oreos, and fruit snacks.

Favorite TV shows/movies: Landon LOVES Nick Jr. and will watch any show on that channel. He especially likes Olivia, Yo Gabba Gabba, Max and Ruby, Pinky Dinky Doo, and the Backyardigans. As far as movies go...he's kind of hit a lull, which is a good thing. It's summer...he shouldn't be watching movies all the time. He does like Everyone's Hero a lot and Monster's Inc. is another frequently requested flick.

He is also still in love with yellow blanket and has an armada of stuffed animals he sleeps with, not limited to, but including: Fred Bird, Lydia and Claudia, Darwin (platypus Uncle Michael brought from Australia), Left Foot (stuffed animal from Dr. Seuss' Foot Book), Little Guy (dalmation puppy that came with a gift card from one of my former students), George and George's Dad (two Curious Georges), Tucker Dog (stuffed German Shepherd from one of Chad's former players..Tucker:), Stella (bulldog that looks just like the real thing), and the cheetah named Mr. Pa Paw.

*playing his guitar. He has two guitars and he plays with both of them A LOT. He's even watched enough people playing he knows how it should look. We don't watch MTV around here (not that there's any music on there anyway), so I'm not exactly sure where he's picked this up. Here he is playing along with Motley Crue (which we also DO NOT watch a lot of). The kid likes to rock out though, that's for certain.

...and here's Grant's reaction to the Crue. He is NOT amused. Maybe he'll be more of a country music fan.