Tickle Me Layneski

New in Layne-land

Layne's got a new room! It's so fun and bright and kid-proof and he loves it! One of the new additions is a rocking horse that a friend gave us. It makes a clip-clop sound when it rocks and Layne's in love. Now every time we move the horse while he's somewhere else in his room, he stops what he's doing and makes a rocking motion. We've only had the horse out for 4 days. Don't tell me that kid's not smart!

Flippidy do-dah

I recently discovered that Layne (9 months old) loves to open and close my (Brad) cell phone. The other day Layne sat leaned against me in my bed for 20 minutes opening and shutting my phone. He would switch between his right hand and then his left each time getting more and more efficient. It's amazing to see his brain at work finding new pathways and modifying small muscle memory functions until his little fingers found the perfect groove to open the flip function. It made a little click sound too, which he also found irresistible.

I am learning everyday how to be "present" during these times with Layne. Everyone says it goes by so fast and that Kim and I will miss this age. They're right. Everything is new, literally, and he gets so excited about the smallest stuff, and he is so cute too. It is really cool just hanging out with him and experiencing the "wonderment" of life again (Yeah that's right I said it...wonderment.). I am glad that Layne is here to remind me in the busyness of life to enjoy the simple things... like a crappy cell phone I got for "free" after signing up for a two-year service agreement.

My Layne-List

Well, I've been thinking about this blogging idea for Layne and am realizing that part of why I haven't done it much is because not much translates into writing with a kid his age. If I could just post a lot of video throughout the day of his new-found sounds and facial expressions, that would work. But, I can't exactly recount a funny conversation I had with him or anything. But, when I was walking with him today, I thought of a few things that I CAN write about to put on my Layne List of favorite moments.

1. I love the intensity with which he shakes the bars of the industrial strength baby gate leading into the kitchen. He focuses, sets his stance wide, and then tugs away with the best of them, completely frustrated that Brad and I can walk right through at the slightest desire for a bowl of ice cream or a tortilla chip.

2. I'm a pretty big fan of how he immediately slumps down in the jogging stroller, propping up his leg and resting his elbow on it so he looks like he's watching football in his Lazy Boy.

3. I love that he's not old enough to notice that his jogging stroller is, in fact, not used for jogging so he can't make fun of me for my less-than-olympic-worthy speed.

4. It cracks me up how happy his dad makes him. It doesn't matter how many times Brad walks through the room Layne is in, he still beams to try to get his dad's attention--and it usually works.

5. I'm becoming fully aware of his boy-ness. Without any prompting from us, and never having watched WWE Wrestling (is that the right acronym?), Layne still crawls over to any stuffed animal placed on the floor and wrestles with it until it taps out. This is on my list for now, but might have to be removed if he ever transfers this energy to a fellow human.

6. I love the way he idolizes his friend, Averi. At the wise age of 2, she accomplishes feats he could never dream of, and he understandably admires her for such things as walking, talking, and playing peek-a-boo with him.

7. I love when I'm riding in the back seat with him and he just happens to crack up at one thing I say to Brad. From then on, I can say it un-ending times and it's still just as funny to him.

8. And, finally, I love the 2.4 seconds that he will actually snuggle with me when I pick him up from the car seat or the stroller to put him in his crib to finish his nap. It's only added up to about 45 seconds snuggle time total in his life, but I'll take what I can get!

More Pics

We're officially bloggin' now!

Ok, the Bandy family has been completely lacking in our blogging skills. Layne's almost 9 months old and we haven't put up pictures or given any information! Partly, that's because we gave the blog address to exactly 4 people--so we're going to be serious about updating and actually letting people know about the blog now. Here are a bunch o' pictures from the last few months.

My new favorite pic

Little Layneski

I came up with the nickname "Layneski" for my son Layne. This was my first attempt at creating a father son bond. Our first guy thing if you will. Whenever Kim first started using it she added an "s" to the end. Who said she could use it in the first place, much less changing it to the plural. She didn't realize it but she had trespassed an unspoken age-old male bonding ritual. Is there nothing sacred anymore!!???? We finally had a talk about it and she relinquished her usage of the nickname. I felt bad and apologized later. He's still got his rattail though. "Adda Boy Laneski!"

Pedro the Penguin

Layne playing with his favorite toy.

An outfit from Aunt Shannon!

Layne says hello to dad

Bath Time!