New Words

For about two months Landon has been saying "Dada". At first it was a sound, now it's a word, the name of a very important person. He stands in his crib in the morning and says Dada over and over again until Daddy goes and gets him. When Daddy gets home from work Landon says "Dada" and crawls in high-speed to get to him.

Landon's name for Addi is ''sister'' and he says it perfectly. He says it with great excitement first thing in the morning when he first sees Addi. His legs start kicking, his arms start flapping and he happily says, "sister, sister".  When Addison talks with Landon she refers to herself as "sister" or "big sister" so it is only natural that Landon calls her that.

Whenever Landon sees a dog he points, kicks in excitement and says, "dog".

This past weekend we were in Missoula staying with my dad, Papa. Papa has Sid the pug dog. Sid is like no other dog on the planet. He is six years old, but he is a perpetual puppy. Sid loves kids, especially babies. He is very gently with them and loves to bring them stinky old dog toys. Landon loves to hand Sid his ball and handfuls of food. This weekend Landon very clearly said "Sid". He said it many times when Sid was near him or when he handed Sid food!

Papa has this funny little tradition in the morning when we are in town of eating his morning toast on the couch. The pugs, Sid and Kya, know that if they sit at his feet he will share toast crust with them. When Addi and Ellie were babies they quickly learned that to get a bite of toast they could wait, with the pugs, at Papa's feet. Well this weekend Landon also learned how to get a bite of toast from Papa. Landon saw Papa walk into the living room with a piece of toast, headed for the couch. Landon clear as day said, "Papa, Papa", and starting crawling, again in high-speed, to Papa's feet. I about fell to the ground when I heard him say Papa. Papa of course was gleaming with pride. Although he didn't stop smiling, he tried playing it off like it was no-big-deal! Landon proceeded to stand at Papa's lap and get bites of toast. He called out to "Papa" a couple more times that weekend.

Apart from his five real words he has all sorts of noises that we know mean certain things. He has a noise for flower and a separate noise for animal. He has a special squeal when he is thirsty and a different squeal when he wants more of something! He points at everything now. He points at animals he sees, flowers he wants to hold, a helicopter flying by, a book he wants to read and the elk antlers and wolf paintings on the wall.

So far Landon says, Dada, Dog, Sid, Papa and Sister. I have to admit, I was a little upset that Landon said Sid before he said Mama!

{12 months old}