Two and a half

Hooray! It's a half-birthday! It's the only thing almost as fun as a birthday to me :) I cannot believe that Landon is 2 1/2 years old. To say it has flown is a huge understatement, but I know, I know - I say that at each milestone post.

Landon is still just an absolute joy. I can't lie, I feel like lately he has spent about half of his days in Time Out, but still :) He saves up all his "two year old" behavior for mommy and daddy. Isn't that just the way it goes? His teachers all still adore him and act like they don't believe me when I tell them about his epic tantrums. Awesome :)

Even given his tantrums, he is still about the sweetest little boy ever. He has such a loving heart and is so compassionate but is also ALL BOY and loves to rough-and-tumble. He'll just cry if he thinks he's hurt you :) He has what I consider a far advanced sense of humor and it is becoming clearer how stinkin' smart he is! YIKES! He loves pretend play and doing anything that Addie is doing.

We had thought he was going through a picky eater phase lately, which concerned us a little until we visited the dentist a few weeks ago and it turns out that he is getting all four 2-year molars at once! Our dentist asked if he had been fussy lately (see Time Out mention above - ha!) or had trouble eating. Yes and yes! So we're hoping that they finish soon and we'll have our little table monster back.

As far as potty training, he is a pro! And by "pro," I mean he is a pro at refusing to go. HA! We have still not really started potty training. I don't foresee us doing it anytime soon, either. He is just not interested AT ALL. He did use the potty at school last week and his teacher was so excited to tell me. I said, "That's great! I kind of expected for him to not potty train until he started Kindergarten!" Both of his teachers said, "Yeah, me, too!" Talk about a stubborn little booger. Whenever we ask him if he wants to start wearing big boy underpants or using the potty like a big boy, he says, "No, not yet." We'll get there one day! But it really is true what they say about boys being more challenging to potty train than girls...for us at least :)

Okey doke - some little Landon tidbits -

* Reverse psychology poster child. All you have to do is convince him you don't want him to do something...

* Whenever he asks a question and you respond with, "I don't know," he says excitedly, "I don't know eeder (either)!"

* One of his favorite things to say is, "Oh! That's right!" and he uses it to act like he always knows what's going on - like someone else would say "duh!" For example, L: "Daddy, what are you working on?" JM: "It's a hydrogram, buddy." L: "Oh - a hydrogram. That's right!" Cracks me up every time :)

* After nearly everything he says, he'll make sure you're listening by asking, "Okay, Mommy?" or "Okay, Daddy?" or "Okay, guys?" But you cannot answer if he wasn't asking you, or else he'll say, "No! I was talking to Daddy!"

* For the past few months, whenever anyone asks him "Do you understand me?" he'll say very timidly, "Yes, ma'am." I have got to get this on video because it's the cutest thing ever. EVER.

* On the weekend mornings, he is not allowed to get out of his room until we come get him (safety, not being mean). A month or so ago, we heard him over the monitor saying, "Mommy! Daddy! Addie!" over and over again. After a few minutes, he said, "Hey Mommy! It's not funny anymore!"

* Another morning, he was doing the "Mommy! Daddy! Addie!" thing again and he said, "Somebody get me out of here or ELSE!" We didn't wait to see what the "or else" would be :)

* Is still a good bedtime baby but has started putting up a little bit more of a fuss lately, wanting to stay up with Addie!

* Will sit and play by himself and sing for looong stretches of time. I got a few minutes of one of these on camera the other day - having trouble uploading right now :(

* Has two volumes: silent and LOUD. I say on a regular basis that he is my "karma baby" - for every mom I have ever judged (pre-kids, of course, because when else are you a perfect parent? ;)) for "not being able to keep her kid quiet," I get it back tenfold. He is the happiest, loudest little boy ever! Whenever we try to settle him down with a game of "Quiet Mouse," he'll scream, "No! I am NOT playing kiet mouse! I am Loud Mouse!" Teehee. Hard to argue with that one.

Landon Matthews, we just love you so much, cutie pie! You keep us on our toes for sure, but we wouldn't trade our crazy days with you for anything!

(pictures and video(s) hopefully to follow!)