An Independent Little Dude

The growing independence of a toddler. It can be a fun time, but also very exhausting. Landon is quickly approaching the 18 month mark. Friday the 18th, we will be able to say, “He’s a year and a half old.” Along with the ever growing hands, toes, hair and vocabulary, Landon’s independence has grown by leaps and bounds.

Our nightly walks for instance,are one of the more recent examples. Each night we walk our dogs roughly 2-3 miles through our neighborhood and point out the different objects to Landon while discussing our day. The last couple of weeks, Landon has expressed interest (not so quietly) in walking. He does not want to sit in the BOB to watch things go by. He wants to be out and moving and experiencing it first hand. So now, we’ve included a designated “Landon can walk” point on our walk which is roughly 400 yards from our house. Walking at a normal pace, this can get us home in 3 minutes. Now that we are walking on “Landon time” this last 400 yards adds an additional 20 minutes. Easily. It has become Landon’s favorite part of our walks. He even likes to walk Jack and Guinness holding onto their leashes. Since the dogs are pretty pooped at this point, we don’t worry about them pulling him to the ground. While it can be frustrating (when our stomachs are growling for dinner) to coax Landon along, it is fun to see how much he enjoys stopping to pick up rocks and smell the flowers.

This same “I want to walk” routine happens almost everywhere now. He’s no longer content to ride in the grocery cart. He wants to be moving around, running up and down aisles and wreaking havoc. Luckily, we have not had to flag down a clerk at the market for a “clean up on aisle 5” yet, but the little bugger is getting so quick that it won't be long now. It’s definitely a matter of time before he starts grabbing things off shelves too...we can only hope that he goes for the canned goods and not the glass jars of pasta sauce!

He's also showing more and more interest in wanting to do things himself. Brushing his teeth, putting on his shoes, taking off his shirt...everything tends to end up in a bout of fussing unless we let him try to do it. Works for us. Eventually he'll be doing everything on his own, so I suppose this is the slow transition. He rarely likes to be carried anywhere anymore either. Which actually sort of makes us a little sad that he doesn't want to be held, and a little disappointed because our arm muscles have been nicely toned lately!

While Landon’s independence increases everyday, it’s also becoming obvious that Landon still likes to be babied at times and when he wants to be babied, he wants his “Maahh-maahh!” We definitely have a momma’s boy on our hands. Everyone told us that “Little boys love their Moms” but only recently has it become obvious (much to Daddy’s disappointment). It is hard to not to be a little bit bummed when Landon blows past Daddy when we pick him up for day care and bee lines it for Momma. Daddy is taking it like a good sport knowing that one day soon, Mommy will become chopped liver when Landon chooses to hang with Dad and watch football. Everything in life is a phase, and we have definitely entered the "Momma Zone".

This weekend we have a few small fun plans to take Landon to Folsom Zoo. We're hoping that they have a cow to entertain Landon, as the cow is definitely his favorite animal (who needs an awesome Lion when you can have a staring contest with Bessie?). Anyhow, we're going to meet up with some friends for the zoo and some pizza. This Sunday is the first weekend of the NFL season, so I don't think you need more than one guess as to where we'll be and what we'll be doing.

Check back soon for another update on the trip and more pictures. Happy Friday!!