Happy 5th!

It's been a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend for the Lag Liv family. On Thursday I became Master of the Universe when we finally broke down and ordered DVR for the TV. Now that we have it I can't BELIEVE that we went without for all this time. The purchase became necessary when neither of us would leave the couch to put Landon to bed during the swimming Olympic Trials. They air from 7-8 PM, Landon goes to sleep at 7:30 PM, and this was causing great marital strife. I knew that once the real Olympics began (and most of our friends made the team!) it was going to be an all out war. I called Time Warner, canceled our $10 movie channels and added the $10 DVR box, and now we can RECORD TV, TV which we can then fast forward, rewind, and pause. Obviously, I'm still drunk with the power.

After gaining control of the digital media world, the rest of our 4th of July weekend seemed pretty mundane. We spent yesterday hanging out with friends, grilling hot dogs, and watching a mini illegal fire works show in our cul-de-sac. We met a few more neighbors and thoroughly enjoyed our little piece of suburbia (I didn't think I'd say that without sarcasm for months, look how well I've adapted!).

Today I decided to postpone my Bar Exam studying for just one more day (July 6th is really the same thing as July 1st and don't tell me otherwise) and ran to Target to pick up a few things for Landon's 1st Birthday. Despite this stupid exam, I'm determined to give him a proper celebration. My parents are coming July 12 to deliver some furniture, so my sister, brother, and his girlfriend are also going to come over for a cookout and cake. I spent nearly 30 minutes in the party aisle agonizing over my paper plate and napkin selection. Landon has such discerning taste. I also ran over to the mall to buy him something patriotic to wear to our party tonight- I mean, it's not really a holiday unless you've dressed up your baby in something festive. While there I made the appointment for his 1 year portraits on Monday. I get the feeling I'm purposefully sabotaging my Bar preparation...

Tonight was our big neighborhood party at the country club. We met a lot of new people, all with young kids, and enjoyed the beautiful setting and unusually cool breeze. Landon fell in love with a 19 month old girl (and her mother- he actually leaned out from my arms into hers, he doesn't even do that to JP!). Here he is showing her his juiciest tongue flap and looking very handsome in his new shirt:

Seeing his new lady friend all independently vertical and walking seemed to motivate Landon to stand up on his own for the first time! He was up for over a minute- until his chubby little legs started to shake and JP helped him sit back down. He looked a little perplexed by his new trick and couldn't figure out why everyone was clapping and cheering around him.

Later he mistook her big Radio Flyer wagon for his little one and walked it all around the fairway.

He looked very pleased with himself and she even looked a little impressed. Later, she handed him part of her tortilla chip. This could be a serious relationship - luckily we've already met her parents and like them very much. There was a big fireworks show at 9:30, but we had to take the little man home (and watch those Trials we had recorded). We're now sitting on our back porch watching the bursts through the trees. JP is strumming his guitar and I'm taking advantage of the wireless router I finally installed. I have to admit, I'm absurdly happy here.

Happy Fourth (and Fifth) of July to you all!