Due to a cracked computer screen, I wasn't able to post this as anything but a draft until now. I wrote it May 21st:
We have been having so much fun getting ready for Landon's birthday--shopping for new toys and party decorations and practicing the birthday song over and over. I still can't believe my BABY is going to be two tomorrow (!!!), but even more than that: How in the world did he ever get old enough to ride a
scooter? Yes, my little toddler has been begging us to get a scooter for him since all of the "big kids" in the cul-de-sac are always riding them around. (I didn't know Landon was old enough to be so trendy! Ha ha!) We finally decided to take him to Toys R Us to try some scooters out...Well,
I took him to toys R Us to try out scooters, that is--Andy took him to Toys R Us to try to convince him to buy a motorized vehicle (that's a man for you!). While we were arguing back and forth about whether or not motorized vehicles were dangerous for a two year old and about what our child's desires and wishes really were, Landon was zooming around our feet on the gift of
his choice: a cute little $20.00 scooter (...to make Andy's day a little worse, it was, of course, the Disney Princess model.) He was riding it all over Toys R Us, purple streamers blowing around on the handlebars, pink and silver glitter sparkling in the fluorescent lights. Not only was he ignoring the little girl who was yelling, "You can't have that one--It's for GIRLS!", Landon wouldn't even
TRY any of the other models. It was so funny to watch my husband's face as he resorted to chasing Landon around, offering him every masculine model of scooter on the market, "Landon, look at this cool red one! Hey, Lan, what about Spiderman? Ooh, Spiderman is cooooool!". I had almost convinced my husband to cave and take the princess scooter home with us when he spotted one last scooter on the top shelf that had Diego on it. Diego has been a huge bargaining chip in our house on many occasions and Andy and I crossed our fingers (and oohed and ahhed) as we presented our last choice to the birthday boy glued to the sparkling scooter. The verdict?...(drumroll please!!!)...Letting go of the princess scooter for the first time in over half an hour, he showed a brief hint of interest in the Diego scooter. We quickly grabbed the scooter and Landon and ran for the checkout, hoping to avoid any further deliberation on the subject.
It turned out to be a fantastic choice! We gave it to him when we got home on Friday and he has been riding it almost non-stop ever since! It cracks me up to see my "BABY" zooming around in his little Diego helmet. How did he get so old so fast? For months, Landon has been telling anyone who asks him how old he is that he's "Almost two" and now that that's become old and boring, he's been telling everyone that he's going to be four. FOUR? Don't fastforward the clock, little one--I'm not even ready to admit you're two! (sigh!) Anyways, we also bought him a Dora tent for his Dora/Diego party (coming up June 3rd) and he has turned it into his own little room! It folds up "easily" into nothing, so sometimes "he" takes it outside and sometimes "he" (a-hem!) sets it up in our living room. It has become a permanent fixture in and around our house and Landon fills it up with all of his favorite things (yes, scooter and helmet included!). It's usually so packed with his books and stuffed animals and other random objects that you can barely get through the door! (So much for my cleaning efforts!) Last night (since he insisted on eating and winding down for the night in his tent) I put a crib mattress on one side and covered it with sheets and cozy pillows.
I also added a small table and a lamp to the corner. After that final touch, let me tell you, the child was in hog-Heaven (Can't tell I'm southern with that last comment, can you? Ha ha!) I remember loving tents and "hideouts" when I was little, don't you? My brother and I would always throw a sheet over a few chairs and spend entire afternoons inside. It always felt like our own private universe. I can tell Landon feels the same way and I'm so glad I'm able to give that to him. We let the tent be Landon's own private haven. He loves having everyone knock at the door first, and has even more fun telling us whether or not we can go inside. I love seeing him this relaxed and content. Precious pumpkin of mine! What did I ever do before you were in my life to entertain me?
I have to laugh at this weather because Andrea has been talking about the ice storm they're having in Illinois. We have been having weather in the 70's and 80's so far this week and I have to say, we have been having a blast!!! Sure, it's a little weird to be raking giant piles of leaves in shorts...and even weirder to drive with the windows down at night looking at everyone's Christmas lights...but it has been so NICE outside that I just can't bring myself to complain. Landon and I have been to the zoo to see the new giraffes and lions. 
I also took him to the public horse stable and to the dog park downtown. We never feel like doing all of these fun outdoor things when it's cold! So, yeah, global warming is scary as crap, but I am southern to the core. I do like the one day a year when a few snow flurries threaten to fall and the whole city pretty much shuts down, though. There are over 600,000 people in this city and I swear almost every single one, young and old, skips out on work or school at the first sign of snow. Bread and milk disappear from the store shelves.
Businesses close (under the excuse that the roads could get dangerous--ha ha!) just so people can go home and enjoy the few little snowflakes that drift through town once a year for about three minutes. Yes, it can get a little melodramatic, but I have my bread and milk, so I'm all set. Pat Conroy said it best in Beach Music: "Southerners love snow. It always surprises us." So true. I'll still stop everything like everyone else to try to scrape up a tiny snowman from the slush when our snow day comes this year....I always do. But for now, I am really enjoying being able to walk out to my car more than two slow inches at a time (I can't even function in the cold! I just shuffle around like an old lady or curl up in a ball and wait for it to go away). I love being outside with Landon surrounded by a mild breeze, my ghastly white (unshaved...Shhh!) "winter legs" gleaming in the sun, blinding all the neighbors. I think, "Wow, it's December!" and feel like I'm getting away with something really sneaky. Warm weather at Christmas--So wrong and yet oh-so-right! Ahhh, the upside of pollution! (Well, I'll get away with calling it the "upside" until global warming decides to snatch away my annual snow day! Hmph!)
