Eight!

Baby Landon turned 8 yesterday. And I know it's mostly in my head, but I swear he looks older. I was looking at pictures of him from our Steamboat trip in Thanksgiving and he seems so much longer and leaner now, his face so much less round and full. His feet are enormous, his arms are incredibly long (he proudly informed us he has the longest wingspan at his zoo camp, just like the vulture), and he's all muscle and bone.

November

He remains his uniquely sweet and generous self. He adores Cora and would genuinely love for us to have five more babies.

He is animal-obsessed, an avid-reader, and a super fast swimmer and runner. He is very smart and does incredibly well in school, but doesn't seem all that impressed by or even interested in his grades. We think that's great, but it's so the opposite of me it's hard to wrap my brain around (much like Claire's creative color choices and patterns in her art). I think one of the most fun parts of parenting, besides discovering how deeply you can love and seeing how hugely someone can love you, is seeing aspects of yourself appear completely different in someone else.

from his school project's folder

He's in zoo camp this week and in HEAVEN. The first day I picked him up he was talking so fast he kept interrupting himself to yell "Mom. MOM! Oh and THEN" before moving on to the next topic. If you live anywhere near Fort Worth, I HIGHLY recommend it. What an amazing experience it has been for him.

Mid-week birthdays are always a little crazy, especially for our summer babies because James is so busy (he literally works from 7 a.m. until midnight every day during the week) and the kids are all spread out at camps with different pick-ups and drop-offs and there's swim team thrown in the mix, so add a Wednesday birthday that needs a cake and other special preparations and a lot of planning will be involved.

Not that our birthdays are fancy, we have traditions that are as simple as they are sacred- the birthday dino/pig at breakfast. A donut with dad before school/camp. A dinner of their choice followed by their dessert.

Don't worry; Cora was not forced to share in the dessert

Except they had morning swim practice, so James ran out to get the donuts while the kids were swimming so they could eat them at the picnic table at the pool. And Landon requested my homemade carrot cake and then immediately backed away saying "oh well that one is a lot of work, so we can just get a cookie cake," so OF COURSE I made the carrot cake. I baked the cake itself Tuesday evening while making dinner for the kids and writing out new choreography for then barre class I was subbing at 7. Then I made the cream chesee frosting after I taught and ate the leftover icing for dinner out of the bowl in the sink while pretending I was going to turn on the water and stop at any minute. This is my life.

It's pretty grand.

Landon also really wanted to order Pizza Hut (gag), despite our gentle encouragement of ordering from any of our amazing local Fort Worth pizza establishments. His best friend told him Pizza Hut is awesome ("and they bring it to your house mom!!"), so Pizza Hut it was. Then, after eating a bite, he admitted, "this is maybe not my favorite." We of course all then acted like our pieces were delicious and Landon decided maybe his was too. Luckily he also requested watermelon, which was perfectly ripe, and you can't go wrong with this carrot cake.

He was thrilled with his gifts- a walkie talkie set from Papa and Gigi, an animal planet set from his godparents, a check from his great-grandparents, and a baseball glove and ball from us.

Everything was his favorite, and we immediately adjourned to the front yard for some catch.

Claire in her neon maxi dress and shades, Cora in jammies and pink cowboy boots, the boys actually playing catch. A slight breeze, temps finally below the 100+ of the day... it was really lovely.

Happy Birthday Lanman, there really couldn't be a better big brother and leader of our party pack!

I don't love that you insist on getting older, but I do love watching you grow and change and seeing everything you do along the way!