Landon update- 2 years, 3 months

By Elise - November 18, 2014

Bubble bath

Even in this interesting environment that we are choosing to raise our blond-haired son, Landon is growing and thriving! Yesterday, he said, "Terima Kasih!" to me, which means "thank you" in Indonesian. I did not try to teach him that, but it is one of the few phrases that I know in Indonesian so he may have picked it up that way. Who knows what else he knows!

We are focusing on recognizing and saying letters right now. It seems he has grown so much in his ability over the past few weeks, and can now identify all of the letters, and usually a word that begins with that letter. He also can count to 20 and say ABCs, and count objects up to 5 or so before he gets distracted. He knows his colors and shapes, and we are working on identifying shapes in unfamiliar places such as tiles on the sidewalks and wheels on vehicles and bikes.

He is starting to experiment with words that are not nouns and verbs, as well as past tense. He is getting more fun to talk with as his vocabulary improves, which is good because mommy could use someone to speak English with during the day!

Landon has discovered the joy of jumping on the bed. Usually he does this while singing the "5 Little Monkeys jumping on the bed" song. I don't think he has put together that he could fall and bump his head, but whatever. "Wheels on the Bus" is another song that is sung all day He also likes mom to sing "Wise Man and the Foolish Man" while he does the motions, as well as "Book of Mormon Stories," "Nephi's Courage", and of course, "Popcorn Popping". He will join in singing every once in awhile in a high pitched, wispy little voice, which is much different than his relatively low toddler speaking voice.

Washing cars at church

Landon has an imaginary rooster friend. Or at least that's what I think. Sometimes when we're in our hotel room, all of a sudden, he will say, "Mommy! Rooster!" and then go back to whatever he is doing. One night this week, Austin was trying and failing to get Landon to fall asleep. Landon wanted to get up and play so Austin held onto his legs. Landon started screaming, "DADDY, STOP HURTING LANDON'S LEGS! ROOSTER IS COMING! ROOSTER IS COMING UP ON THE BED!" over and over. I'm not sure what rooster is about, but we do see lots of roosters in our walks around Cilacap every day, so maybe that's where he gets it from. He is not afraid of roosters, though.

Playing "golf" with a balloon

Landon loves digging in the dirt and sand with his trucks. He loves playing in the waves at the beach. He loves watching boats come in and out of the harbor. He loves playing with basketballs and tennis balls. Recently, I taught him "Red Light, Green Light" and he thinks it is the most magical game ever. Landon loves reading. We have a limited number of books, but I am trying to vary them by checking out ebooks from our library. He especially likes books about transportation and can work the Kindle app like a pro. He also recites books while he's playing trucks, and just for fun. He loves to watch a song version of "Big Red Barn" which is one of his favorite books. It has roosters in it too, so maybe that's where rooster comes from.

Swimming is an activity that Landon and I enjoy together. He is doing really good big arms supported now, and we are working on straight leg kicks, streamlines, and back floats. He will do front floats unsupported and he will doggy paddle to me. He also likes to jump into water that he can't touch without waiting for me to be ready, so I've had to fish him out a few times, and try to teach him about water safety. I am also working on him learning how to take a breath and go back under water while doggy paddling, because he has a tendency to go from horizontal to vertical very fast because he is trying to get his head above water. He is definitely a water baby!

My pro traveler!

My boy is starting to enjoy watching cartoons and things on TV. We limit the amounts each day, but it is nice that he will watch something for awhile if I'm busy doing something. He especially likes watching all different variations of the song "Wheels on the Bus," the Tayo the Little Bus episode "Tayo and Bong Bong," and the Yukon Gold show on National Geographic channel. It has lots of tractors. We also caught the end of Monsters Inc. on HBO the other day, and he was talking about the plot of the movie all night! About the green monster and the blue monster and the little girl, and the lizard that was a bad guy. His watching comprehension is incredible!

Landon's potty training is coming along slowly but surely. He had some periods of protest the past few weeks, but we have flown back and forth from Jakarta to Cilacap and stayed in different places which always messes him up a bit. Also, we are swimming every other day here, and afterwards I have to put a diaper on him because he pees copious amounts all over if I don't. So, he is mostly in undies, and is getting better at not peeing in them. Sometimes he even indicates he has to go, but otherwise I have him go every hour or so, more often if I notice he has consumed a lot of liquids or fruits. As far as #2, he tells me sometimes, but he's only gone in the potty a few times since we started. We are still working on it, though.

What can I say more- Landon is my little buddy. At times he can be maddening and I definitely have my parenting fail moments, but overall he is a joy to hang out with all day.