The World from 2'5"

Hi! It's the Landon.

I'm writing in today because my mom is really tired and keeps muttering something about a paper -- ooh, PAPER! I love paper. It's so crinkly and noisy and delicious. Actually, I haven't gotten to eat very much of it because my mom always takes it out of my hand just before I chew it, but I'm sure it's very tasty. I love the paper on the table at the doctor's office - I usually try to tear all of it off before the doctor comes in because then she gives me more. Yeah, I've totally got that cause and effect thing down. Anyway... where was I... oh yes, my mom. She keeps talking about this paper and how "it's a good thing I'm cute" because I've recently decided to not sleep at night, at all. You see, every time I go to bed, I hear noises out in the big room and I just know my parents are having a party out there. Well, the last few nights I've made every effort to join the party, but it doesn't seem like they're having much fun. Everything is dark and they just hold me and pat me - no drinking bottles, no eating paper - just some mumbling and what seems to be crying coming from my parent's room. They're totally killing my good times, but I will persist because how could anything not be better when there's a Landon involved? How could my parents be expected to go from 7 PM to 7 AM without me? It would be terrible and I just won't let them do it.

Now let's see... what's been happening around here. Well, I can now squeak really loud in lots of different ways. My daddy and I went to see some belugas last weekend and I sound a lot like them. We saw this dolphin show and at first I was kind of bored and like "who cares about a big tank of water? Want to hear me squeak?", but them a bunch of dolphins jumped up into the air at the same time, and I was like, "WHOAH, did you just see that?!" and then I got really excited and waved my hand at them. That's my big move - the hand wave. My daddy taught it to me and now I do it only when something is really cool - like when I see my mommy at daycare or when my dad comes home for work, so if you get the wave, you should feel pretty special. Although sometimes I just do it because it's fun. I also like to bang the palm of my hand on things - especially the water in the bath tub. Did you know that you can make water jump up in the air?! So cool. Sometimes I make so much water jump up that I have to sit and blink my eyes lots of times in a row because my face is all wet. Mommy thinks this is very funny, but I don't think she gets how funny the hand-hitting-water thing is.

Oh also, I can stand up for a long time when I'm holding on to something. I haven't tried to move yet because standing up takes a lot of concentration. I'm also trying REALLY hard to crawl, but so far every time I try to move towards a toy, I end up further away from it. But my belly is very heavy- if your belly was half your body weight, you probably wouldn't be able to crawl either. Oh, and speaking of the belly - I just discovered it! The other day, when I was all naked and about to get in the tub, I accidentally put my hand on it and I was like WHOAH, have you SEEN this thing? It's very big and very soft and I like to pet it. I also love it when my mommy blows on it and makes a loud noise - it cracks. me. up. My belly is now my favorite body part. The toes have totally lost their novelty. I see them all the time now - especially when we were in this place called "Texas". I didn't even have to pull off my socks to find them, they were just out there, all free and uncovered. I liked the land of Texas. There was a big kitty there that was SO cool- I tried to chew on her, you know, to test her out, but mommy stopped me. Just like with the paper. How does she always know when I'm about to put something in my mouth. It's almost like she can see me even when I can't see her. Crazy.

Oh, and recently, my parents have been trying to make me eat weird things like "noodles" and "turkey". So I can't chew on paper or the big kitty, but you want me to eat this stuff? I very clearly show my disdain for non-pureed foods. Except cheerios, I like to be fed cheerios. When I see that big yellow box, my whole body starts shaking I'm so excited. And I know that "developmentally" I'm supposed to be able to pick up those little O's and feed myself, and I even did it once when I thought mom wasn't looking, but it's so much more fun to open my mouth and have a big person place one on my tongue. Aren't tongues crazy? My dad can stick his out and wiggle it all around and it's HILARIOUS. You should ask your dad to do that. I laugh so hard I almost can't stop. Kind of like when my parents hold me and spin in a circle. So fun! Why can't we do that at 4 AM? That would be so much more fun that patting my back (as if that's going to work) and muttering things about sleep and not having any more babies.

Oh! Speaking of babies- I love babies! I have lots of baby friends at Maya's. I get so excited to see them- I mean my parents are cool, but the babies just get me, you know? I have so much to say to them on Monday mornings I can barely even take a nap. There's a lady baby that I really like - she's crawling around and I want so much to keep up with her. I'm going to have to focus more during crawling practice with my dad.

So that's about it. I'm very busy with all the belly petting, paper crinkling, hand waving, water splashing, and baby squeaking that I do around here. It's amazing I even have the energy to keep my parents up at night. The things I do for them... I love them a whole lot. When they hold me I like to push back from their chests to look around, but sometimes I come in close for a little cuddle and wrap my arm around their shoulder. I think they like that, but I don't want to spoil them, so after a few seconds I push back again to check on things. I run a tight ship around here and the list of things to chew on and hit with my hand just never ends.

Signing off,
the Landon