Landon is TWO

He's two! He definitely ACTS two. He loves to talk (and especially mimic what people are saying, ha) and is pretty good at it. He uses short sentences and is experimenting with longer ones, sometimes saying something two or three times as he pieces the sentence together until he's happy with it. We like it when Landon says the prayer along with us; occasionally we suggest too many words… so he summarizes.

He loves to eat. He is not very picky and will try anything. He was super duper pleased with his birthday dinner of grilled chicken, pasta in a garlic cream, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, and lemonade. He kept asking for more of whatever he saw and ended up pretty full.

He follows Aiden around all the time and wants to do and say everything Aiden does and says (Aiden is not always overly fond of this). He is also the pushiest with Aiden and loves to literally push him around or poke him or chase him when Aiden wants to be alone. I guess that's a sibling thing.

He loves to play with balls and can usually correctly identify soccer balls, basketballs, and footballs (and "bouncy balls").

He seems to have adjusted to having a little sister and doesn't seem as jealous as he did initially. He does sometimes say to me "Baby down!" when he wants help with something and I am holding Charlotte. He is quick to shout out that "Baby's crying!" when he feels we need the information... even if usually he's just adding more noise...

He pays attention to everything. If he spots my phone or book lying around the house, he brings it to me (even when I really don't need it). He repeats words we say even when I haven't realized he was listening. The other day, he came into my room wearing his Iron Man mask and said, “Mom, I’m 3PO!” He doesn’t know anything about Star Wars, but one of Aiden’s friends loves it and must have used some of the character names while they played, and Landon remembered.

He pays attention to how people feel. Making his birthday cupcakes, I poured a few before I realized I forgot the cupcake liners. I said "Oh no! ahhhhhhhhhhh" as I scraped out the pan. He said, "Mom, you sad?" I said yes. He said "Why sad?" I told him I didn't want to mess up his cupcakes. He repeated it back to me, and as I finished scraping the pan and put it down, he said "Mom, you sad? I give you hug now!"

He is super independent. He wants to do everything from carrying a bag out of the store to getting in the stroller to feeding himself to walking rather than be carried... even when those things are challenging. What he insists on varies with his mood, but every day he insists on doing something his way.

He was super excited to get his own mail. Thanks to his G&G Snow!
He loves to be active and run around, climb, and jump (he is a bit of a daredevil). He was dribbling a soccer ball through the backyard last week better than I could, ha (although that's not really saying much).
He has strong emotions. He can be the most super happy, giggly little boy about food or toys or a game or something someone said... and he can be the saddest little toddler over being scolded in a second. He is SO stubborn and will say the same thing over and over and OVER until he gets a response.

He loves his family and keeps tabs on everyone. I can't count the number of times a day he asks where someone is, tells me where someone is ("Daddy at work") or asks if it's time to get Aiden from school yet.
He totally keeps us on our toes, but I can't imagine life without him in it.