Monday, February 14, 2011

Space Invasion of Love

After dropping down to the 20's again last week, our weather jumped back up to a beautiful (and way more typical) 68 by Saturday afternoon. Landon LOVED our old comforter + toys on the back deck combo last Sunday, and now he asks to "spread the blanket" at least once a day. Yesterday, I was able to oblige.



We have a blanket, a vegetable soup pot (with a dinosaur for added flavor; Landon picked out the toy assortment), a plastic ring set, and a cement mixer/fire truck crime fighting combo. I've got my back against the rails, reading Lover Mine on my kindle for the 5th time. I picked up my camera to pose a quick picture, but then decided to make like a nature photographer and just wait for the inevitable Landon/Claire merging to take place.

Approximately 10 kindle pages later:










That's his baby Claire face. He gets it whenever he pats her head and says in what I suppose is a high-pitched imitation of me, "how are you baby girl? how are you baby Biscuit? hmmm Biscuit? how are YOU?!" Except my voice doesn't sound nearly so cloying or sugary sweet, I'm sure of it.

He's constantly in her personal space, usually with a hand on her head. It's like a compulsion. JP and I try to stay out of it, since Claire doesn't seem to care (and in fact, usually smiles like crazy as he hovers 2 inches from her face), but sometimes it's hard to suppress our grown-up need for personal space. We've both caught ourselves starting to say, "Landon, MOVE BACK!" because one of us is having a hard time breathing just thinking about someone being that up in our space, but we swallow it because Claire's happy, and he's happy -- it's a space invasion of love.



And speaking of love and invading people's personal space, Happy Valentine's Day everyone! (Or, "Happy Valenstine's Day" as Landon says, which I believe I now prefer.) JP surprised me by taking my dead watch (the beautiful one he gave me at our wedding) out of my jewelry box and getting it tuned up, re-pressurized, and new battery'd! It's now ticking happily on my wrist and my left hand feels whole again. I also got some very pretty flowers delivered to my desk at work. The best part about them-- JP got a bargain with discount codes and a coupon and he was so proud. I've trained him well.

For his gift, I bought him a new wedding ring to replace the one he seems to have truly lost. I proposed at our lunch date and he is adorably pleased to have a ring back on his left fourth finger (and I am pleased to have it there; he's mine).



We kept it simple for dinner. A heart shaped Chicago-style pizza from Mangia's and a heart shaped cookie cake from HEB (and an unpictured $9 bottle of merlot from Costco). It was perfect. Me and my Valentine, with our two little valentines, enjoying two of our favorite things. A Happy Valenstine's Day indeed.

8 comments:

  1. OMG I SO wish we could buy wine at Costco! Stupid Utah laws. Sounds like an awesome time. I can't believe how big The Biscuit is getting! Also I feel like your kids are magical. Show those pictures to other parents without captions and they would assume that eventually Claire gets in HIS space and he pushes her head and tells her to get away!

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  2. I read a mom blog post a long while ago which spoke of the kind of love which causes one's face to look as if they're angry, teeth bared, jaw clenched, about to bite it's victim. I've seen this look on my Dad's face with my children as babies/toddlers. I didn't understand it then but after reading that post, it made sense. I think this is Landon's look towards Claire. A love so profound that it's almost unbearable.
    Desimom

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  3. Landon, the Space Invader of Love!

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  4. I also really have to work at staying out of my kids' interactions. Jack can be a little rough with Liam sometimes in the course of play, but as long as Liam looks happy, I try to leave them be. (Unless, of course, Jack is trying to hurt Liam, which gets a major smackdown when it happens (rarely).) I don't want Jack to associate Liam with being constantly badgered and yelled at by his parents. So far, both boys are still alive, still buddies, and pretty happy together, so I guess it's been a good choice! But it is hard sometimes to stay out of their business!

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  5. Space Invasion of Love!! :) That really should be the title of this post!

    Also, back up - did you say you proposed to him at lunch? Have you told that story on here before and I missed it?

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  6. haha, I just meant that I re-proposed to him at lunch. He lost his wedding ring a few weeks ago and it's really been bothering him to be without his band, so I secretly bought a new one and surprised him during our lunch date. (We do a lot of lunch dates- takes advantage of that daycare we're paying for and we like being home at night with the kiddos.)

    Although, in a way I also proposed to him the first time since I'm the one who decided to get married and planned the wedding before he got his act together and bought a ring and officially asked me. We were on our fourth premarital counseling appointment by the time I got to walk in with a diamond on my finger :)

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  7. This post, the comments, and the last post made me realize how sad I will be when you stop blogging. New posts are often the highlight of my day. I love hearing about how Claire & Landon interact, and I can't wait to see how they interact when they are older.

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  8. Just a comment in response to Megan's (above)... I agree, and it freaks me out a little to think of you ending your blog (if and when that ever occurs!). I hadn't really thought about it, but I hope your blog is alive and well for a long time! :)

    (also, pictures are too cute. Too too too cute!)

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