Happy Birthday Kutscher Monkey #1! Capt. Land-O Turns 4!

What a ham, right!?! He's really getting good a striking a pose on demand. Working up to a modeling career for certain. :) Landon had a blast at the party. Dan and Riley got the party rollin' with balloon pirate hats and swords. Creighton and Landon were going arms in battling it out. Luckily, no stitches were required in anyone's heads. Party success!


A milestone list isn't as easy to create for a four year old. But here are a few of Landon's favorite things at the moment.



He's really into sports (of course right?). His first love is baseball, but he really likes soccer, too. He loves to watch all sports that Chad likes to watch and has started asking questions when they're watching. "Dad, who's playin? Who is the (insert color here) team? Which team do we want to win? What are those colored lines on the football field for? Are the Illini a pro team? (what?!)
Dad, are those soccer boys or soccer girls? (hilarious....darn long haired Europeans ;) He also has started recognizing pro athletes...and can pick out LeBron James, Wayne Rooney, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, and most of the St. Louis Cardinals. He's really into sports movies: Angels in the Outfield, Rudy, Little Giants, etc.




Landon also loves doing puzzles, and is pretty good at them. He's doing 24 piece puzzles on his own now and always wants to drag you in a room with your eyes closed to show you his latest independent puzzle work. ;)



Creighton and Cashton got Landon Soccer Guys for his birthday. HUGE hit. They're like little GI Joes, but they're (you guessed it) soccer players. It comes with a field, goals and an official too. Landon lines them all up, does the National Anthem and acts out games with them. He's even learning some formations from the coach. I'm not sure a 4-4-2 is what many four year olds get out of a container of plastic soccer players, but it's what's going on in this house. Landon gets FIIIIIRED up when Grant walks through his field, too. Grant of course just wants in on the action...but his presence is not welcome.



Landon loves going to school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He's beginning to show more of an interest in coloring, cutting, etc. He can write his first name on his own and is working on how to hold a pencil correctly. He was super interested in cutting the wrapping paper while we were working on Christmas gifts. He also wanted to hold the tape, and "be in charge." Obviously, I had to remind him who he was dealing with....I mean, I am the one in charge. EVERYONE knows that. ;)



He still takes an afternoon nap on most days and sleeps with Yellow Blanket, but is able to sleep without him at the sitter on the days we forget him at home.



Landon continues to be a picky eater, but likes healthy foods: raw baby carrots, steamed cauliflower, yogurt, grilled cheese, all fruit, chicken, pizza, and that's about it. (for meal time). He does enjoy muffins, cookies, chips (as long as they're not spicy), cake and ice cream.


He also has a memory like a steel trap. He repeats movie lines like it's his job and also just spits out random facts that he picks up from tv, games, etc. The other day out of the blue he says, "Mom, pigs like to roll in the mud to stay cool." When I asked him where he heard that he said, from Grant's refrigerator magnet farm. Landon had repeated word for word what the thing says when you snap the pig in. He also enjoys grabbing all of the musical greeting cards we have, and reciting (or singing) what they say in his microphone. That'll appear on the blog soon. Funny.


He is getting better at sharing and is a good hearted big brother. He gives Grant things to play with, and lets him borrow yellow blanket, which is adorable. He tries really hard to keep Grant out of trouble and attempts to pick him up and drag him away from danger.




Here he is opening a few of his gifts. A book to go with his Tag Reader, a Color Changer Car Wash, his pillow pet bee (which he got two of.....I was going to return one of them, but we named both, so now I feel like I can't. I don't know how we would decide who would go back....Bee-onca, or Ronald-Bee-no, named after a soccer player. That's a decision no mom should have to make. We are just gonna have two bees. )

Landon also got Stinky the Garbage truck which he had repeatedly asked for, and a bike helmet.

Here he is opening a joint gift for him and Grant...a pirate ship water table. I'm already ready for it to be warm enough to open this baby up.

Here's the singin video. Caution: don't get too close to the dangerous birthday candle flames! Who knew aim was so important in blowing out birthday candles?!

The Grandparent Pictures:

and the Great Grandparents (minus Great Grandma Linda)

Landon also got to celebrate his birthday at school with his friends. He requested chocolate chip muffins to take for his birthday treat, but since they had to be store bought and I didn't feel it necessary to drop a small fortune on buying enough mixed dozens of muffins to get 21 chocolate chip ones, we opted for cupcakes. He seemed to be just as happy with those. I slipped my camera in his backpack and one of his teacher was nice enough to humor me and take some pictures. Thank you, Mrs. Monari! :)


Happy 4th birthday, little man!