Landon, right now

Landon turns 4 in eight days and I'm starting to realize how very much you forget from kid-to-kid and year-to-year, so I'm going to try to capture the essence of the Lanman by sharing a few stories and conversations we've had in the past few days. Because, while I know I've written this so many times, he's just so much fun right now.

Landon remains the consummate big brother. He is always concerned for Clairebear's happiness and well-being, even as she now shuns most of his affection. JP and I frequently hear Landon trying to direct Claire to some super fun activity, imagine Claire walking fast in the opposite direction, and then hear Landon saying, "okay, let's go do that!" As we joke, he just wants her to love him, and Claire, she just wants to rule the world.

Claire has recently taken up hitting. She thinks it's hilarious; we do not. The other day, she walked up to Landon and popped him on the head. We scolded her, but Landon said, "it's okay Mommy, when I was a baby I hit my big brother too." It took us a little while to straighten him out on that one...

Later that day he suddenly said with a sigh, "Mommy, Clairebear isn't a baby anymore. Pretty soon she's going to be a big kid like me. We need another baby." I suggested a goldfish.

His teacher just got married and is on her honeymoon. When I picked him up from daycare yesterday he said, "Mommy! We saw a picture of Ms. Ari getting married and she was BEAUTIFUL."

Then, "Did you and daddy go on a honeymoon?"
Yes, I said, we went on one later.
Landon, "But who watched us?"
Me, "You weren't born yet sweetie."
Landon, "What?!"

For as utterly laid back as he is and as well behaved as he is, he is not at all apathetic or lackadaisical. He excitedly flits from one activity to the next. He has opinions about everything, they're just very rarely negative (JP says he gets that from me). He loves to play superheroes, loves to "help" me cook, and LOVES to play outside. I think he has inherited his dad's athletic skill. He was holding a hat for JP to toss a ball in the other day. He asked for a turn to throw the ball and then proceeded to make all five shots he attempted, with JP moving the hat around. We were pretty impressed.

At almost-four, he goes to bed at 7:30, wakes up around 6:30(ish, we really don't know exactly when he gets up, but we'll hear him in Claire's room trying to make her laugh around 6:45), and takes a nap from 2-4 on weekends but never naps during the week at daycare. He eats all vegetables, all fruit, all carbs, and some meat. He plays on his own, but prefers to play with Claire or one of us. He loves his extended family and daycare teachers and always wants everyone to come to our house (again, definitely something he gets from me and not his dad). He has a stubborn streak that is identifical to his daddy's and watching the two of them butt heads on a regular basis is both amusing, frustrating, and a frightening glimpse of the teenage years ahead.

We got him a bike for his 4th birthday present. Since last weekend was the only time we could shop for one, we gave it to him a few days early. He loves it. I nearly had heat stroke following behind him on all the bike rides he requested over the weekend, but he did a great job on his new wheels. I think one of his friends must have recently gotten a bike because he told us over and over, "It's okay if I fall. Sometimes when you get a new bike, you fall down a lot, but it's okay. My helmet will keep my head from being bonked." He never did fall, but it cracked us up to hear his little pep talks about how that was okay.

I started this post two days ago and have been trying to pay attention to the less positive aspects of this age because I keep unintentionally leaving them out. The difficult moments are just so brief, or dealt with so quickly and completely (i.e. misbehavior, sent to room, apologies and reunions, moving on), that I honestly don't think of them when I think of him generally. But I'd say he still has one fit a day (more on weekends when we're together all day, probably an average of 2 or 3). Lately, it's like he's picking a fight because one isn't naturally available to him. For example, he'll request something reasonable for breakfast, I'll say okay, and then he'll suddenly cry out in a whiny voice, "but I wanted [new unreasonable thing]! You're not being fair!" And I look at him like he has a different head. Because, for that moment, it's like he does. I give him a chance to reconsider the tone of voice, to use his words to talk about what else he might like, and then send him upstairs if he can't get back on track (right now, he needs to go upstairs to restart 1 in 4 times or so, usually a look or warning snaps him back). We're pretty emphatic that the whiny voice (or any yelling, acting out, etc.) is not tolerated in the common family areas, but he is welcome to throw a fit in his own room with the door closed if he'd like and we look forward to having him back in the kitchen when he's done with that. He rarely takes us up on our offer.

He's such a kid now. Sometimes when I go to tuck him in at night, I see vestiges of that chubby cheeked little baby I held for hours on end nearly four years ago, but mostly, I just see a fun, independent, sweet KID. A kid who dresses himself every morning, puts his pj's away, puts on his own shoes, carries on long conversations with me, and talks incessantly about going to kindergarten- an event that is now only a year away.

And while I rejoice in his independence and budding big-personhood, I do love the little reminders of how much he loves and needs us. Last night JP had a meeting until 8 p.m. As I tucked Landon in bed at 7:30 I told him daddy would come give him a kiss when he got home later. I meant that daddy would come give a sleeping Landon a kiss when he got home, but when JP climbed up the stairs at 8:45 he found a little Lanman with his eyes WIDE open, like he was trying so hard to stay awake. And when JP came to sit by him, Landon slowly got a huge smile and whispered, "daddy you're here!". JP ended up turning on the light and reading him a few books before coming downstairs at 9 to eat dinner and change out of his work clothes. And while I had fleeting concerns for Landon's next-morning behavior, I knew JP needed those 15 minutes even more than Landon did.

So that's almost-four for us. But for a few daily, temporary bouts of madness, it's a pretty awesome age. He's still learning so much and is so excited about everything, he always makes the every day more fun. He's nearly beside himself with excitement over our trip to the beach this weekend. The first thing he asks in the morning is "how many more days?" and two nights ago, when I tucked him back under his covers at 11pm, he muttered "I'm going to the beach..." I hope Galveston lives up to his expectations, but one of the fun things about four is everything still does.