Landon and Elliot celebrated their 4th birthday in May. Every day is an adventure around this house with them in it. They say some pretty funny stuff on a daily basis and keep us laughing. I wish I was better at recording all of them, but these are a few of our recent conversations.
* I was in the kitchen doing dishes and asked Landon and Elliot to bring me their plates from lunch. No one moved an inch. I said, " Can anyone hear a word I am saying?" Elliot responded, "I am exhausting you."
* We were discussing Landon being a superhero and one of the tricks he would do. Elliot said, "It's so silly, it might just work."
* We were at the doctor's office and were waiting in a basketball themed exam room. There was a basketball hanging from the ceiling with clear string. I asked the boys how the basketball was staying up there. Landon said, "Maybe it's magic." Elliot then responded, "Well, I don't think there's any gravity in this room and that's why it's floating."
* Landon was being especially helpful one afternoon and I commented on what an angel he was being. Later, while brushing his teeth, I told him that he was doing a great job listening and helping out with the teeth brushing process. He said, "Yeah. That's because I'm an angel." He has remembered this since then and brings up being an "angel" occasionally.
We celebrated their birthday at the Tempe Beach Park Splash Pad. They got a bunch of water toys as gifts which is perfect for Arizona weather.
Octonauts cupcakes
I love these two little boys and everything about them. They are so different from each other, but both have amazing strengths I admire. Landon is an emotionally charged little guy who loves life and loves to entertain. His emotions are at one extreme or the other. I can often hear him in the other room singing, giggling and making car, bus, train, and make-believe noises. It is easy to tell when he is happy and easy to tell when he is upset. I love listening to him talk to Elliot. He starts with, "Hey Elliot," almost every time. He likes making people laugh and knows that he is funny. Everything is an adventure to him (usually an adventure involving cars and going fast.) He LOVES to play outside, dig in the dirt, get dirty, ride his bike, ride the scooter (a recently acquired skill), fill the dump truck up and dump it out and anything you can do outside. He is content to play out there alone, but enjoys it more when he convinces Elliot to go with him. He is extremely competitive. Most trips to or from the car are a disaster involving screaming and tugging on shirts. If Elliot gets even an inch in front of him, he loses it. He definitely has his father's, and I'll admit, his mother's, competitive spirit. When he learns something new and he is proud of himself he says, "Mom, I'm learning how to (fill in the blank.) I know how to do it now because I'm getting bigger like you." Landon is also very quick to apologize and move on with life. I love this about him!
Elliot enjoys life and loves learning. He loves the show
Octonauts and is especially interested in the sea creatures in each episode. One of the episodes featured a vampire squid and he has been obsessed ever since. For two weeks he talked about nothing but vampire squids. We have watched countless YouTube videos about vampire squids and listened to him quote parts of these videos over and over. His love of vampire squids has led to a love of ocean life in general. He even has a toy vampire squid and it is quite a tragedy when the squid is lost. Recently he told me, "My favorite animal is a vampire squid, my favorite car is Finn McMissile, my favorite superhero is Batman and my favorite girls are Dashe (from
Octonauts) and Izzie (from
Jake and the Neverland Pirates.)" He often chooses to play inside instead of outside. He loves reading books, asking questions and figuring out how things work. When Elliot gets in trouble, he is very sensitive and is a bit stubborn about admitting he was wrong. On the other hand, he is very good about being a peacemaker if he can tell someone is upset about something.
