January 10th, 2005

Well the shine has worn off the tinsel, the needles have fallen, and the Christmas lights have been unplugged. Landon has had plenty of time to sort through his pile of presents and pick out a few choice selections. Most recently his favorites appear to be any spoon, be it wooden or metal, teaspoon, tablespoon or stirring size. He also has grown quite fond of his hairbrush which he pounds against the floor as he plods along on his crawling journeys. He also enjoys attempting to brush is fine light brown hair, as well as the hair of his parents when their heads are close enough to access. The magnets on the fridge also garner some attention; we had to replace the small black magnets with large, brightly colored, alphabet letter magnets because of his incessant desire to stuff the smaller, black versions into his mouth.

Of his ‘actual’ toys, Landon enjoys playing with his soft aquarium. This little aquarium is filled with a small stuffed clam, crab, fish and sea star. Landon received the aquarium as a present at his baby shower, but has only really shown a strong interest in it in the last month. Initially the little orange clam that squeaks when squeezed was his favorite, but more recently he has become enamored with the yellow starfish, pulling it out of the aquarium, placing it in his mouth, and then offering it to any other open mouths that choose to share in his treat before he returns it back to his fish tank. He recently has mastered the skill of removing all of the inhabitants from the tank, and then returning them to their aquatic home.

Yesterday we attended mass at St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church in Long Beach. We visited the church to investigate the possibility of getting Landon baptized. It was the first time I had attended mass in quite awhile. Not surprisingly things hadn’t changed much. An old Irish priest spent a good deal of time lecturing his parishioners on how to properly believe in Christ, and at least half of the congregation looked as if they’d much rather be some place else. I always do enjoy the experience of having so many strangers gather together under an umbrella of shared beliefs - I guess I just always wished those beliefs were a little less structured. Landon seemed to enjoy himself in the crying room, and fittingly he didn’t cry once.

It has been raining incessantly the last few weeks. Los Angeles has received twenty inches of rain thus far this season compared to an average of four inches in a normal winter. Its still raining while I type this. Landon has adjusted well, he curiously stares out the window when the rain falls torrentially, and doesn’t seem to mind a bit when a few drops dampen his forehead. This summer we were incredibly close to moving to the central coast of Oregon, I guess the rain followed us south instead. The water and the weather the last few weeks have been a little challenging at times, but they also reaffirm my belief that this family would have survived just fine in the Pacific Northwest.

Landon watched the first half of the Chargers playoff game this past Saturday. It was the first time the team had made the playoffs in the past ten years, and in classic San Diego tradition, they lost a game they should have won on a missed field goal in overtime. Fortunately Landon was sound asleep and missed his father sob with disappointment.