Home again
Here we are back home again - tired but content. We had a great visit with the NY contingent of the family, but it is always nice to be sleeping in your own bed. For the record, Logan's first word upon waking Friday morning was still "TANE!" and not "cat" as previously suspected. Apparently those Brio trains were even more thrilling that poor little Charlie. If you have no clue what I'm referring to, read down further -- you'll find initial reference in the Nov 27 entry. ;)
The ride home was almost as blissful as the ride up - except Logan did not nap nearly as well. After a brief meltdown in the carseat -- over the fact that he was STILL in the car seat about 2 hours into our trip home -- he was a perfect little traveler. All it took was a quick rest-stop break and Mommy sitting in the back seat. Let's just say that sitting squashed between a door and a car-seat placed in the center of the back seat is not a comfy way to spend 4.5 hours. However, sitting in the backseat and playing with a funny little kid is well worth the squashing.
A new friend
By the time we left this morning, Logan was firmly attached to his 14-year-old cousin Cameron. . .who is now named "Cam-moo" care of a certain 17 month-old. In fact he was so determined to take his cousin home with him, that one of Logan's Little People figures (one that wears a red baseball cap like Cameron) is now named "Cam-moo." He has also named his Little People cat "Charlie" despite the fact that the toy is orange and the real Charlie Tuna is not.
Chef-in-waiting
Uncle Scott, soon to be Culinary Institute of America graduate, would be proud. Yesterday Logan gave up playing with trains to help decorate Gingerbread cookies. He was a natural at tossing down sprinkles and loved picking the gumdrops out of the bag to squish into the frosting. He even colored a cookie with edible markers. I think this year's Christmas Cookie making will be fun for my new little kitchen helper.
What a memory
So its offical - you can not say something to Logan and assume he won't remember what it was or connect A to B. Case in point, Logan wanted to see the snow that fell in Rochester yesterday. He wanted to see the moon. He was at the backdoor, face and hands pressed to the glass saying "Ow-sigh! Snow!" A look out the front window and he was begging "Ow-sigh! Moon."
So wise ole Mommy says "Ok, we'll go out but you have to wait for Daddy. I don't know where he put your coat."
Daddy appears and Logan runs up to him yelling "CO! CO! CO! CO! CO!"
"What?" says Daddy
Logan says "Co! Moon! Snow! Ow-sigh! Co!"
Mommy says "He wants his coat. He wants to go see the snow and the moon but I told him he needed his coat and we had to wait for you since I didn't know where it was."
Logan says "CO!"
Logan got his coat from Daddy. Stood patiently while we put it on (Not) and was delighted to be out in the freezing cold night air to see the moon and the snow.
Something familiar
About 4 hours into our trip home we stopped at a Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. Yes, such wonderfully healthy meals we eat on the road. Anyway, while waiting on line, Logan decides this man in front of us must be the very same Uncle Jimmy he just saw over this long weekend. The man had a similar hair style and color to Jim, although outside of that there was little similarity. "Immy?" said Logan as he stared at this man. Then he looked at me and he looked at that guy and he said "Immy? Immy?" I guess he got a better look at the guy because he gave up finally.
Then we sat down - well near our table was a group of three teenagers. One of which was wearing a baseball cap and glasses similar in style to those Cameron wears. The kid looked a little like Cam with the hat and glasses going a long way to help aid the connection. Well Logan was so excited. He turned in his chair as far as that little wooden high-chair would let him and he sighed "Cam-mooooo!" He stared at the teen for a bit, then returned to his chicken and cartoon-fish covered Kids Meal box.
Be Proud of what you do!
It used to be Logan just said "I did it!" This is certainly a phrase he still does say - esp when he's throwing or kicking a ball. However, this weekend he added a new variation -- "I DONE IT!" I have no idea where this came from. I know he knows "all gone" and "all done." Perhaps its from that? No clue. It, however, seems to get him a big laugh from everyone that hears it. . ."I, I, I, I DONE IT!" [Insert laughter and rephrasing back to him You've done it!" from whichever collection of non-toddler folk nearest him.] Of course making folks laugh is all Logan needs for encouragement. He spent oodles of time during our visit just performing a simple task (or no task at all) and saying "I DONE IT!! I DONE IT! I DONE IT!"
Happy Thanksgiving!
First things first - a great big Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We've had a busy few days being three of the millions that hop on a highway and make their way to somewhere not home for the holiday. The 7 hour drive was the longest Logan's ever taken (and its normally 6.5 hours worth of a trip) and he came through like a champ!
We got a little nervous about a half-hour in when he began to demand "DOWN!" and try to wiggle out of the car seat. Luckily a little pre-planning on our part gave us enough ammo to keep him distracted. An hour and half into the trip Logan fell asleep for what would be a 2 hour nap. YAHOO! Upon waking up he sat contently for nearly another hour munching on Bob the Builder graham crackers and watching in awe all the very big trucks on the road. We took a quick lunch break and hit the road again.
Since arriving Logan has made fast friends with two Aunts, two Uncles, a Grandmother and three of his five cousins. He's had a blast playing with cousin Cameron's old Brio train set. In fact it was the very first word out of his mouth this morning. "TRAIN!" He's delighted in all the toys Aunt Joanie has found for him - esp the "Shoe" game on the computer. He's really relentless - "Nonnie! Shoes! Shoes!"
He's also happy to join in the dinner table chatter. Even when he's not quite sure why everyone is laughing, he'll chime in with a deep, throaty, 'fake' belly laugh "A-ha-ha- ha-ha." And the laugh he gets in response to it just means he'll do it even more. :)
He's drifted off to sleep now - a very tired little boy full of trains and fun. He spent a good deal of his bedtime routine trying to catch Charlie Tuna the cat. Watch Charlie. Pet Charlie. Play with Charlie. Laugh at Charlie. Perhaps tomorrow morning his first word upon waking will be "Cat."
Time-Ows gone awry
We've left that nice cozy stage of parenthood in which you merely provide basic needs and entered the real 'test' of courage -- the toddler years. With the graduation to the next phase of our little family comes the requirement for some ground rules and discipline. In Logan's case this means we do a lot of work on two areas - No swimming in the dog's water bowl and no biting.
He doesn't bite often or many different people. He namely chews on me and mostly when he's teething badly. Lately he'll smile and announce he's going to do so "Bite!" he'll say and then gather a bunch of extra sweater fabric between his teeth. In return, I pick him up, carry him to a corner and hold him facing away from me for a 10-15 second time out. He hates it. He cries. He complains. When time is up he goes on to something other using me as a teething ring.
This afternoon he again announced "bite!" and was about to chomp down on my shoulder. I pulled him away from me and said "Logan, what happens when we bite?"
"Time ow?" he said and glared at me. "No Time ow!" He also, however, gave up trying to chew on me. So here I think we've accomplished a wonderful thing.
Later in the day we went to Gram and Papa's to celebrate Bruce and PaPa's birthday's (today and Tuesday respectively.) While there, Logan decided that Sydney's bowl, albeit smaller than Tasha's, was also splash worthy. He dove in with one little hand and had a field day. Until Daddy saw him doing it. Up Logan went and down into a corner for a Time-out. He complained about it. Then he ran from the spot. . . . . . .only to arrive in a new corner where he turned around, stepped back until his very straight spine was pressed firmly against the cabinet and he called out "TIME OW!"
He did this again later in the evening as well. Two self-inflicted time-outs. Drat.
My buddy the train
As noted previously, Logan loves his trains. In fact we can no longer leave the house without something train-like. He's got a small collection for now (a much larger one will arrive at Christmas!) Among his current bounty, however, is Thomas the Train. Now, one must note that the man that mows Gram's lawn is named "Tommy." Seems Logan has made the name connection already. When told the train's name for the first time, Logan looked at it, smiled and called out "Tommy!" And so now that's what he is in our house . . .Tommy Tane. (aka Train.)
Speaking of Trains
On two of our recent library trips we brought home a Thomas & Friends video. This was something that ran in our house on what started to feel a constant loop. Not that we sat in front of it all day by any means, but if I dared turn it off when Logan left the room to play elsewhere, he'd come back running and yelling "TANE!!!!!!!" And so, more often than not, Trains were tooting along our screen.
One afternoon, however, I dared watch Oprah instead. Imagine the nerve it took to do that! As Oprah was wrapping up, Logan started to ask for his video.
Me - No Logan, I'm watching something. You'll have to wait.
Logan - TANE! PEEZ!!!
Me - Not yet. In 5 minutes. When you see the credits roll you can go to the chair and I'll put Tommy on.
Logan - Tanes! Tanes! Tommy! Tanes! Salty! Tanes!
Me - Almost.
And then Oprah goes off. I, apparently not moving fast enough, couldn't get to the clicker before Logan has it in two hands, pointing it at the TV from the middle of the living room and frantically waving it as if just moving the thing will conjure up the proper image.
Me - No, Honey, here, let me have it. I'll put it on for you.
He didn't even let me have the chance. Logan dropped the clicker on the floor, marched himself to the entertainment center. Standing on his little tip-toes, he reached up - one finger extended - and pressed play on the VCR itself. He settled back onto his feet, his head tilted up towards the screen. Then he plopped down on his butt as he said "Sit!"
The opening credits fade and the Trains appear. "Tommy! Tanes!" he sighed and then he clapped for himself. ;)
My ham
Many, many moons ago Logan showed his dramatic flair and show-off-ability by chirping "CHEEZ!" and posing for the still-camera every time he saw it. Friday however, he hammed it up for the camcorder. Now first things first - Logan LOVES the camcorder. He loves it because we can swivel around the side viewer and he can watch himself. Each time he sees that camera he'll call out "BABY!"
Friday was no different. Friday I was taking a photo of him playing the Casio keyboard and he started asking to see "baby" in my camera. I explained to him that this wasn't
that camera but we could go get the other one. He raced me down the hall. Once he saw the camcorder come out, he ran to the Lay-z-boy chair (saying "Chair! Chair! Chair!" as he did) and started trying to climb up into it. With a little boost, he got up and cuddled down into the seat. Then he turned to the camera, smiled, sighed "Baby" and began to perform. He tossed out everything he could think of - his Puppy impression, the fact that he's cool and he's sure of it. . . everything. So I hit record...and asked him to repeat it all. Some he offered up on his own. Some I had to prompt. The fact remains, however, that at this point, self-esteem is not an issue. ;)
Prayer progress
Ask Logan if he can pray now and he'll smile at you as he clasps his hands together. Then, without prompting he'll say "Gah." [big pause during which sometimes you prompt and sometimes you don't.] "Tank Goo." [another pause which again sometimes you prompt during and sometimes you don't.] He'll then pick whatever/whoever he feels likes being thankful for at the moment. Of course, and I'm sure God's fine with this part too, when Logan's done with his prayer he skips 'Amen' and merely claps for himself. Remember he's modest.
Teething stinks
Logan is over his cold for all intensive purposes. However, I'm fairly certain the poor kid is actively working on welcoming a second molar. He was up at 4:30am this morning - something EXTREMELY rare for our good little sleeper. He spent his morning a bit on the edge - not cranky per se, but quick to get so if something didn't go his way. He also spent it chomping on his fingers. They so nicely tucked into the right side of his mouth. He's not willing to let me poke my finger in for a quick "look-see" but during one of his belly rolling outbreaks of laughter I could at least get a quick glimpse inside that little mouth. This is how I know that evil little tooth is coming in. Poor kid. That space of gum right where his 2nd molar will appear is more red than pink and swollen more than one can imagine. The little red lump looking nearly as big as the molar that IS in all the way on the other side. He's just taken a nice long nap so maybe he'll feel better. We can only hope. Otherwise my good friend Motrin will make an appearance later today. Poor poor boy. I can only imagine how awful that gum must feel.
More later - Logan's standing in the hallway right now pulling at the sleeve of his sweater telling me "Shirt." Tired of the sleeve, he's yanking at the body of it and attempting to pull the whole thing over his head as if he realizes that being in just a t-shirt will make him all the more cool. Great.
Unique Culinary Tastes
My child is weird. ;) There I said it. This same little man that refused to eat smushed peas when it came from a baby food jar is now in love with them. This morning we were sitting in the big old comfy lay-z-boy splitting a banana. I asked Logan if he was ready for Cheerios and he swiggled off my lap. Ran to the kitchen and tried to open the fridge.
I said "Logan honey, Cherrios on top of the fidge, not in it."
Logan said "Peas."
Me - "Peas?"
Logan "Peas!"
SO I opened the fridge and he pulled out a container of left over peas. He than walked over to his high chair, reached up trying to put his peas on the tray and asked to get up in the seat.
Ummm ok, i think, we'll see what happens. I gather some cheerios in bowl, the other half of his banana and these peas on the tray. Then plop the kid in.
He ate the peas.
Yes, for breakfast Logan had half a banana, about 2 tbspoons of peas and a few Cheerios.
What a helper
Logan is a kid that likes to have a job to do. Its been said before, but that's never stopped us from saying something again and again. At least not when we have a story to tell. This morning he decided to help me put away his laundry. Previously this meant pulling out pieces of clean clothes and tossing them around the room. Today though he pulled out clothes and handed them to me. That lasted until he found a stray plastic hanger that had just fallen to the floor. He looked at it. He turned it around in his hands, studying it intently. Then he plunged a hand into the basket and retrieved an undershirt. He looked at the shirt then at the hanger. He glanced up to see me hang one of his blanket sleepers up, then back to his bounty. And yes, then he tried hard to get that t-shirt onto that hanger. He pulled and pushed and squished as best he could. In the end he smashed the two together and held it out to me with both hands saying "HERE." He then decided to match his socks up - or maybe it was chew his socks up. Hmmmm.....
When the basket was finally empty I placed it down where it normally lives - at the foot of Logan's crib. Not sure what he'd do I pointed to the basket and the pile of yesterday's clothes and last nights pajamas. "Hey, Logan, why don't you put the dirty clothes in the basket for me?"
I turned away to empty the now opened pack of Pampers into the stacker shelves in Logan's closest. I turned back when I heard him say "All Gone." What was gone? The pile of clothes. He had put everything into the basket and stood there clapping for himself.
Ub You and Where go's. . .
Early on in those infant days we toyed with the idea of teaching Logan some sign language, or at least develop a few easy gestures he could use to communicate before he became verbal. Then he became rather verbal rather early and we let the sign language sort of fall to the wayside. Except for one thing. Gram has always signed "I love you" to Logan. Not the one handed little nod of the wrist version. We're talking about the three separate motions - pointing to self, crossing arms over chest, pointing to object of your affection. Usually, this is just something that makes Logan smile and laugh. Sometimes it'll even prompt a kiss. Today though, he did it himself. While at Gram's today, Logan called for her attention. When he got it, he pointed to himself and said "I." He tried really hard to cross his arms over his chest (and almost got it rumor has it) as he said "Ub." Then he pointed to his grandmother and said "You."
Where Go?
Shortly after getting home and settled this evening we took Logan's shoes off as we do most nights when its clear we're not going outside again anytime soon. I'm not really sure what prompted him, but it seemed to dawn on Logan suddenly that he was walking around in his socks.
"Chews!" he called out almost alarmed at the thought that he had lost them. Then he uttered yet another new phrase as he set out to find them - "Where go?"
Somewhat surprised to hear him ask the question and rather bemused at his quest to find them, I giggled then held out his little construction boots.
"Ahhh, chews!" he said as he grabbed them from me.
Climb Higher and Higher
Logan has not been much of a climber to date. . .but that could change. One of my on-line Mom's groups refers to this phenomena of toddler climbing as "Mountain Goatism." Some believe that Gymboree may even spark the onset of this ailment. I'm starting to wander if that that theory is accurate. Today Logan decided Gram's coffee table was a lovely mountain to climb....Repeatedly. Perhaps it is just a matter of time before we must ditch the crib and bring in a toddler bed in order to save the budding dare devil from a spill taken while climbing OUT? I had hoped we could hold off till that 2nd birthday, but I guess the mountain goat in our child will determine how realistic that goal is.
I dive
Regular readers of the Logan Letter may recall Logan's early entry into those "Dad may I have the keys?" teenage years. Well folks, its just getting worse. No longer content to sit on a lap and merely hold the steering wheel, Logan informs us daily, each time he sees our cars, that he's going to drive. He'll sit on Daddy's lap in the car before Dad leaves for work in the morning. His little 16-month old hands tightly gripping the steering wheel as he literally steers - moving the wheel up and down varying degrees. In between pronouncements of "I DIVE!" he'll VROOM! and SCREECH!
Given his way, he'd spend hours each day standing in the driver's seat of our SUV parked in the driveway. His hands, again, holding that steering wheel with VROOM and SCREECH laughed out repeatedly. He's also amused at his ability to turn the four way flashers on in the truck and the way he can turn up the radio in Daddy's Civic.
For what its worth, we're dreading our future. If 16-months is this bad with the "I DIVE" what ever will 16 years bring?!
Sickos finally update
Its been one of those weekends where everyone in house battles for that last tissue in the box. Actually, Bruce just started in on the cold today, but Logan and I have been taking turns with our buddy Kleenex since Friday. I do think the two of us are on the mend - neither of us having to partake in cold medicine this evening. Poor Daddy is the only one left snuggling with a box of tissues tonight. (And maybe now Gram.)
On the plus side - Logan is
a) not nearly as cranked up as he's been the other two times he's dealt with a cold.
b) still not the recipient of a high fever producing virus
Click Click
As recently stated, Logan just adds to his repertoire of funny habits, tricks and skills every day. Even with a head cold, this weekend was no different. He's now demonstrated that he has a complete understanding of the VCR. He's seemed to have a firm grasp on the fact that (esp. as a male, Ha!) he should have an endless fascination with the clicker, but this weekend he made a clear tie between it and the ability to watch "Tane." (aka the Thomas the Train video we took out of the library last week.) Being clearly bored by the lame excuse of a football team the NY Giants have become this season, Logan first attempted to push the empty video box into the VCR (Luckily it didn't fit and we already had the video cued up in there!) After being reminded that he did not need to shove things in that neat little machine under the "T", he marched himself over to Dad's Lay-z-boy, stood on his tip-toes and reached up to the once considered "out of reach" clicker resting on the bay window. He then brought the clicker to me and announced "Tane!" For the record, he does own two trains from this series and he knows them by name -- Salty (which despite the "S" he pronounces quite well!) and Tommy - he seems to intuitively shortened Thomas to Tommy...the fact that the man that mows Gram's lawn is named Tommy may have helped.
Imagination
Logan's imagination also continues to expand - one recent day I found him sitting on the floor staring at Tasha and panting. Tongue hanging out, "heh, heh, heh" sound emanating from his little body.
Me - Logan what are you doing?
Logan - (giggles) heh, heh, heh
Me - Are you a puppy?
Logan - PUPPY! Heh heh heh!!
Not that he'll do it on cue all the time, but he will walk around informing you that he's a panting dog on occasion.
More New Words
As you most likely know if you view our ample photo collection on Webshots, Logan enjoys stickers. Stickers on my face. Stickers on Daddy. Stickers on the floor, the door, the toys and himself. The following transpired while playing on Sunday:
Logan - Dickers?
Me - Ok, here are some stickers. (Holding out a sheet of smiley faces)
Logan (Placing a few on his sweatered chest) ON ME!
His other new favorite thing to say - and do - is "Other sigh" as in "Its neat on this side of my table, but I'm going to the other side now." He has to check out the "other sigh" of everything.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. . .
Like most youngsters Logan's fascinated by his reflection. He finds that other baby to be quite the funny little fellow and will contently spend oodles of time preening and smiling, while softly cooing "Baby!" In fact, mirror watching is part of our bedtime routine. When Logan's done with his bath he'll tell you so -- "Done!" he says as he lunges for the little switch that drains water from the tub. He attempts to push it down releasing the water from its captivity (I wind up doing it for him) saying as he does "Bye-bye Oh-wah
. All Gone!"
Once he's removed from the tub (and lately, its more like, he's assisted in climbing out!) he'll bury his head in my shoulder while being wrapped in a towel and call out "Ahhhhh, Baby!" This mainly because each time he'd cuddle down into my shoulder I'd say something similar. Freshly swaddled in hooded towel, he's lifted up as I stand. He points out the heart wreath on the wall labeling it "Heart." Then its the mirror. Sometimes he'll coo "Mah-me!" Other times its "BABY!" Well Sunday night it was "Its me!" Not sure I heard him correctly, I asked him to repeat himself. "Its me!" he repeated.
He'll also point to his own picture - both those of himself as an infant if he's been told previously its him and those that are more recent - saying "Its me!"
I can read! Well sort of.
Tonight we were reading (at his request) his My First Bible. Each time we read this book, Logan flips to the center page and claps. Why? Because on that page is a verse that specifically says "Clap all you people. . ." After hearing it often enough, I suppose, he just does what he's been told. ;-)
Tonight I asked him "Logan, why do you clap when you see that page?"
He pointed to the beginning of the text on the page and said to me "Clap!"
That page also has an illustration of children and animals clapping and running. One of the boys on this page has bright orangey red hair. In the past I've told him "Look, there's a little boy that looks like you!" So tonight I asked him "Can you find the boy that looks like you?" He stared at the page. I pointed again to the red-headed runner. "See, that boy has hair just like you. Is that Logan? Is that you?"
Well he giggled, then flipped pages until the book was closed and he was chanting "End!" Then he he turned it over and began to 'read' it again. . . going quickly to his favorite page full of clapping. "Pot!" he said pointing to that red-headed boy! You see, while he's getting better at pronouncing his first name, he's not quite there yet. If you ask him what his name is he'll most likely just tell you its "Pot."
Thank you God for. . .
Since Logan has a firm grasp on the "Shhh, church" concept now, I thought it might be good to teach him a little more about what church is about other than a time when we must be quiet. :) Friday night I decided to teach him to pray. . .or at least lay some ground work.
First we started with our hands. I told him to follow what I did and told him when we prayed, we put our hands together like so. Like so he did, placing his hands tightly together. We tempted a bowed head, but I guess that was asking a bit much. ha! Then we added words.
Me - Logan, here's how we pray. Can you say "God"
Logan - Gah
Me - Good job. Say "Thank you"
Logan - Tank Goo
Me - Right. Good. say "Tasha"
Logan - Cacha!
Me - Very good. Now, keep your hands together. Say "God"
Logan - Gah
Me - Thank you, say "thank you"
Logan - Tank goo
Me - For Daddy
Logan - Cacha!
Me - Ok, for Tasha again. Can you say God, thank you for Grandma
Logan - CACHA!
Me - Ummm, ok Tasha. What about for mommy?
Logan - (laughing) CACHA!
Me - Logan!
Logan - (still laughing) Mah-me!
Ask him now to pray and he'll press his palms together. Ask him to join you in the little thank you prayer though, and all he'll yell back to you is "CACHA!"
Discipline that Doesn't work and other stuff
Among his many passions, Logan's very much in love with playing in Tasha's water bowl. The kid is relentless. Remove his little hand from the water, relocate him elsewhere, and he's back into it before you can turn around. I'm convinced he knows this is not a good thing -- or at least that it'll get a reaction. Why? Because the vast majority of the times he's splashing, he first calls out "Maaaahh-meeee!" He then waits, his little hand just slightly above the water line or barely in it. The moment he sees one of us round the bend he splashes like mad. Other times he'll call out for me and immediately start splashing, but he does so loud enough for us to know what's doing.
Ok, so one day I get this brilliant idea born out of frustration. He's old enough to do this. He's old enough to at least know we'll react. He's old enough for a consequence. I hand him a paper towel and tell him to start cleaning. I show him how to drag the towel across the floor where the puddles are. He squats down and does what I ask.
I say to him "Logan, you made a mess and now you have to clean it up."
He says to me "Keen, Keen, Keen." giggle giggle giggle.
I thought it might even work. Heck, that afternoon he splashed again, and again got a towel to clean up his mess with. And what did he do? He held it out to Gram and lovingly, complete with toddler manipulation smile says "Ga-ma?" Of course, Grandma did not bail him out.
So time passes, and today Logan has a messy face from his lunch of yogurt. I hand him a paper towel as he runs by me and tell him to wipe his face. He does, completely cleaning his face I might add, then drops to his knees and begins to pull his yogurt covered towel across the floor "Keen, Keen, Keen!" More giggles. He stayed there on the floor cleaning long enough for me to brush my teeth, brush my hair, pack up the diaper bag and locate my keys. Trust me, that's a significant amount of time.
A Few of My Favorite Things
Logan has many places he likes to visit - the beach, the pet store (hey, they've got mice and fish!) & Shop Rite (come on, they give out free cookies!) He also LOVES going to Cattus Island Park. Actually, a little known fact is that the snakes and turtles on display there really belong to Logan - at least he seems to think so. He's VERY possessive over them. Let the wrong person try to peak in at that Snapper and Logan's all over it. Today was no different - well ok it was, because we were the only ones there. Anyway, the moment we pulled into the driveway he was starting to yell from the backseat about "Nakes" and "Deer." (Both of which are predominately featured in the nature center with the "Turt-tles."
Apparently, there are somethings we do there regularly enough that Logan now expects it. For example, there is this 6 foot dried snake skin next to a tape measure behind a piece of glass. You can measure yourself against it to see how you compare to this monster reptile. It is also a totally convenient way to measure toddlers between well-baby exams. I stand him up in front of it and ask him to stand tall. If he doesn't cooperate I stand next to him, my hand against my leg, palm out at the top of his head, then I walk over to the snake skin without moving my hand - not completely accurate, but that's ok. Anyway, today I decided to check his height. I lined myself up with him and then moved over to the skin to see what it read. Before I could get there though, Logan was standing straight as a board, back to the wall just to the side of the tape measure and smiling a great big smile at me. I just moved him over a tad. If you're wondering - he came in just under 33 inches with his shoes on. He had been 31 3/4 inches at his last Doctor's visit in October.
Another favorite place - the "Lie-beb-bee" (aka Library). My child cries when he has to leave the library. As we walked today from the parking lot to the front door, Logan chanted "Lie-beb-bee" as if it was going to make us get inside even faster. I asked him, as a hopeful means at adding some diversity to his chatter, "Logan, what do we find in the library?"
He looked at me like I had nine heads or something and answered in a tone that can only be summed up as 'D'uh!' What did he say? "Books!" Yup, books.
I set him down when we got inside and he bee-lined it right to the small toddler table in the kids section. Climbed up on a cow chair by himself (Mooing as he did it), announced for all to hear "Lie-beb-bee! Book!" as he grabbed a few books sitting on the table. He started to flip through them, still gleefully calling out "Lie-beb-bee!"
Of course, one of the books he discovered was a "Rules of the Library" coloring book. He flipped it right to the page that talked about "Using your indoor voice." Ok, at 16 months old, Logan does not have an indoor voice. He just has loud and louder. Although, he does have a 'church' voice - or at least he has "Shhhh."
I say - Logan, we have to be quiet in the library. Its like church.
Logan (not so quiet) - Church? Lie-beb-bee!
Me - I know, we're at the library, but we have to be quiet like when we're at church.
Logan - (placing his finger to his lips) Shhhhhhh
Me- That's right, Shhhh. We have to be quiet. You can talk, but pretend we're at church.
Logan (again, not so quiet) Church? SHHHHH!
He did, however, pass on his new found secret to another child in the the rows of books. Walking by the fellow chatterbox Logan said "Shhh, church!"
First Crush
I've said this to some of you before, but Logan has a thing for an older woman. Her name is Becky and she's 5. He gets to see her about once every other week - sometimes more, sometimes less. She's the daughter of my friend Nikki, who also has a son named Josef (aka Joey) only 4 months older than Logan. The boys sometimes acknowledge each other - toasting with sippy cups, high fives or tormenting Daisy the cat; but its Becky that gets Logan's attention the most. He follows her around like a puppy dog sometimes calling her as he goes "Beb-bee! Beb-bee!" He even played tea-party with her yesterday, pausing just long enough from crashing cars around the coffee table to nibble on some Chex and take a swig of water from his straw and cup. And being the gentleman that he is, he actually offered Becky some of the Chex on the platter sitting before him before he popped his own in his mouth. "Beb-bee? Cracker?" he said as he held one out to her. Of course, Becky heard me tell her mom that "Logan had a crush" on her and so now she loves to whisper it all the time to me "Does Logan have a crush on me? Do you think he likes me?" This is only slightly less adorable then when she leans in to tell me that *She* has a crush on him. ha!
Climb Climb and slide
Logan is now an offical Gymboree kid. We had two (count 'em two) free try-it-out classes over the last two weeks and I decided today to stop taking advantage of the nice teacher and just pay to keep going. ;) Our classes now run until the last week of January so hopefully he keeps enjoying himself.
Surprisingly Logan has jumped RIGHT into this thing without a trace of shyness or caution. The second we get in the door he's asking to have his shoes off and get down. Place those little socked feet on the floor and he's off to find a ball or to climb and slide. He loves playing music, he loves getting into all the various pieces of equiment. He even lets the teacher pick him up and dance with him! So there you go. Logan has found an activity he enjoys and I have found some degree of relief knowing that even on the coldest most miserable weeks that lie ahead I have at least one day that we can get out of our house and engage in some active, heavy-duty play.
Everyone loves a parade and then some other stuff
First off - Happy Veteran's Day! ;) Big cheers to all of you who served in some form or another past or present.
Well Logan saw his very first parade today, by accident, but nonetheless he saw it. He and Gram headed out to the "eye-berry" (library) for books and managed to be the last car permitted to that section of downtown. Why? The Veteran's Day parade of course! And for the record, Logan seemed to enjoy himself. He saw tanks, trucks and marching bands. He dipped back into his Sunday bag of tricks too. Gram made an effort to prepare him for the loud noise of the marching bands in hopes that he'd not be frightened by it. It seems to have worked - instead of being startled he'd put his little finger to his lips and say "Shhhhh!" each time he saw them. HA! Also as a result of today's adventure, he can now mimic the sound of a fire engine siren. Thankfully he does so softly. . .for now.
More on ABCs
Reading to Logan has become extra fun. ;) Today he decided I needed to read Sleepytime Olie to him. So he drags his book out from its place, walks over and hands it to me then turns himself around, backs up to my lap and announces "SIT!" as he does.
"Read" he then commands.
So I read. Well I tried. He was busy flipping pages quickly telling me what was on each page instead. When he got to the back cover he announced "END!" and closed the book. Then flipped it over and proceeded to pick out the letters of the books title. Before he could point to one on his own, I asked him if he could find an 'E'. He could. In fact, he found all four.
other stuff
I've not mentioned it previously but Logan can count to 2, and sometimes to 3. Two, he is very good with and this is nothing new. He's been doing it for a while I just never had a place to write it and failed to make a point of it in the last newsletter. Example -
Tonight Logan is sitting in his car seat grabbing his feet and calling out "Toe!"
Me - Logan, you have your toes? What are your toes in?
Logan - Shoe?
Me - Yup, in your shoes. How many shoes do you have?
Logan - Two.
Later this evening we were playing in the yard - yes in the dark, but the big backyard light was on. Well Logan found one of his golf balls and held it out for us to see saying "Gah Ball." He kept walking and came across another. Picked it up in his other hand and said matter-a-factly "Have two."
Mish Mash of a Commentary
Its Sunday evening and we're all beat. Logan and Daddy are already fast asleep at 8:45pm and I probably should be too. But alas, here I am stretching my sleepy creative muscle one last time before dropping my lead head to the pillow. :) Aren't you all lucky. ha! Bruce and I spent the weekend in Niagara Falls for Andrew and Patty's wedding (for those not in the know, that's Bruce's nephew and his new wife.) We had a good time even though every helicopter flying over the Falls reminded us of our little guy. Logan spent the weekend with Gram and PaPa. He enjoyed himself as he always does.
In Church
Logan learned a valuable lesson this morning. Church means "Shhh, quiet." Gram taught him this complete with a single finger pressed to the lips. Well Mr. Logan took his Gram down the hall to "play" (aka the nursery -- and for the record, Gram took him after he tried to snag all the hymnals in a multi-pew radius. He's got this bizarre fascination with those pictureless blue books!) On their way to the Creche, Logan and his Gram passed a few folk chattering in the hall. Logan, being a quick study, pressed one little finger to his lips, looked right at the noisy offenders and said "SHHHHH!"
Need a bag?
Actually this Gram story dates back to Monday November 3. I just forgot to share it before. When Toys R Us started putting summer type toys on sale we picked up a box of "garden tools" for Logan at an extremely ridiculously low price. Among the cheap plastic wheelbarrows and lawnmowers of the world was a flimsy plastic rake. Logan loves this rake. (Ok, he actually adores everything that came in that set and spent this afternoon "mowing" our backyard.) This past Monday Gram brought the little rake back to her house. She and Logan spent the morning raking the vast accumulation of leaves in the front yard. Logan apparently LOVED making piles, running in piles, etc and is penciled in to rake our backyard next week. ;)
With piles completed, Gram suddenly realized that she had forgotten to get the big leaf bags and verbalized this thought. Logan looked at her and merely said "Bag?" And Gram answered "Yes, bags. I forgot to get bags."
With that Logan ran to the garage, rooted around a bit and emerged proudly with a bright yellow plastic Shop Rite bag. "BAG!" he said cheerily, showing off his find. For the record, he also began to put leaves into it.
Red means stop
A follow-up to the previously shared "Geen" story, is this new appreciation for the red light. Logan began to practice the theory that merely telling one the light is green is enough of a reason to expect one to drive. So Mom and he again had the red light vs green light chat.
"See, Logan, the light is red. Red means stop. WE can't go until the light turns green."
Apparently this time he sank in. While driving to the library with PaPa and Gram, Logan showed off his new appreciation for the laws of the road. As the light ahead of them (and a wee bit in the distance I think) turned red, Logan yelled out from the back seat "STOP!!"
I did it!
Dad's proud. Logan has a plastic golf set he just recently became attached to in its role as "outside toy." One warm weekend afternoon Dad showed him how to hit a tennis ball with the club. The toy guys stood together, four hands on that club positioned expertly, Dad behind boy tutoring in the great art of golf. Together they drew the club head back and then struck the ball producing as good a chip as a toddler's plastic club can.
Well this has become a most favorite activity of Logan's. Most especially the part where he *yells* "I DID IT!" each and every time he strikes the ball. (And truth be told, sometimes he gets so excited he yells "I did it" even before they hit the ball! HA!) We noticed this afternoon that he now grasps the golf club on his own -- just as one that actually plays golf would hold the club. Of course, he's no where near "Master's material", not unless he can bring Daddy along to help (and well, no offense to Dad, but that isn't going to help him go pro at this point. tee hee) Each time Logan places the ball and picks up the club he steps back into Dad saying repeatedly "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" until Daddy bends and places his hands over Logan's to help him swing.
What's in a name
Logan's been working hard on learning to say his name. He tries. He really does. Each time he tries, Logan comes out something like "Oween." He's got his middle name down pat "Dan-ul" and the last name is his favorite, but as Gram says "He's only one and so he's Pott not Potts." ha! Logan is so proud of his ability to say his last name, in fact, that if you ask him what his name is he'll surely tell you - "Pahh!"
Making music
Another one of those things I forgot to put in here eariler - Logan's budding musical ability. Always desperate for SOMETHING that will keep him amused in the home office other than pulling the router out of the wall, I one day (many moons ago!) pluged in the old Casio keyboard my brother had long since abadoned to my care. Within the last month or so Logan has really taken to it. He'll squat contently in front of it for ages using a single finger on each hand to push various keys and what honestly isn't often a half-bad melody. In his early early days of keyboard tinkering (like when I first dragged it out) he was all about full hand smashing of many keys at once for a ear-splitting clash of noise. But now its different. Now its pressing a series of notes - one at a time. Of course, he also enjoys chaning the 'instruments' the keyboard replicates, playing the small drum pad and turning the background beat on. And, ummm, yes, without even the aid of the movie "Big" to give him a bad idea, he does seem to think standing on the keyboard and dancing (aka stomping) on it is a lovely way to make music. But these are things Mom likes to ignore when she's typing and tired.
Misc new words to share
Logan's always adding new words to his list but since these new ones came today I figured I'd toss them in here. Come to think of it, he could have said a few a bit earlier - but I'm too tired to figure out when. :) Just go with it.
This evening while reading/playing with his new Cheerios activity book sent home as gift from his Aunt Joanie, Uncle Larry and cousin Cameron, Logan tossed at two new phrases. The first being "Like that."
For example -
Me - Here, Logan, see the small round space here? You put the Cheerio there to give the cat glasses. See, like this.
Logan follows suit, claps for himself and then flips the page to the next Cheerio placing scenario. He finds a space calling for yummy oat-goodness and places the "Teary-o" he's clutching between his thumb and index finger right in the space.
"Like that!" he declares.
Enter phrase 2 -- Seeing more open spaces for Teary-o's Logan reaches out for the bowl I'm holding and says "One more."
Good night!
The Train, The Train!
Of course this entry could just as easily be titled - Planes, Trains and Automoblies for Logan seems obessed by anything that moves -- his latest fasincation being trains. (Good thing Uncle Santa, er Scott, is getting him some for Christmas!) Sunday we took him to Allaire State Park to see a real train. He was completely and totally taken in. LOVED IT! In fact, I wasn't sure we were going to do anything else that required us to leave the train. I even wondered if we might not have been better off packing our tent so we could stay the night with the train. :) He watched it. He toured it. He rode it. He mimiced its sounds (Doooot Doot! Choo Choo!) He was smitten.
Then today we get the mail from our mailbox and discovered our present from General Mills. The Yumsters train had arrived. Yes folks, a slice of heaven for 16-month-old-train-loving boys can be yours for just 2 Yumsters Yogurt UPC symbols and a $1.25. Logan is now the proud owner of a real, honest to goodness wooden Thomas the Train. The real Thomas complete with magnets to connect him to the cargo car hauling the Yumsters block.
Said train landed in Logan's hot little hands at 5:15 pm this evening. THey are now in the tightly clenched fists of our little sleeping fellow and the sole source of discontent at bathtime. (Bad Daddy not letting Thomas get soapy and wet! ha!)
From the things not to say to the precocious toddler file:
Tonight Logan wanted nothing to do with being strapped into a car seat. It completely hindered his ability to be running through leaves and creating general havoc. Of course seeing as how he was at Gram and PaPa's and needed to be home, it was also highly necessary.
We get about two blocks from my parents and hit a red light. He starts to complain in the back. Yells about cars, tossing in a few good shouts of "GO!" for fun. So I, in my infinite wisdom, say "Logan honey, see the light? Its red. We stop for red. When it turns green
we can go. Green means go."
Logan - Geen?
Me - Yup, Green. Green means go. I don't think you should try to drive any more until you can learn all the rules. And reach the pedals - but the rules are very important.
Logan grumbles - I dive.
Me - Yeah, ok. Learn the rules. Red stop. Green go.
Light turns green.
Logan - GO! Geen! Go! Geen! Geen! GEEN!
And of course, it is green so we go.
And we go until we reach the end of the road, which comes complete with a stop sign. Being the *good* (no laughing!) driver that I am, I stop. . .and Logan yells "GEEN! GEEN! GO!"
Me - Logan no, we're at a stop sign. see red sign. Red means stop.
Logan - No, Geen. Go.
And we do go because there are no cars coming.
So it goes and so it goes. Every time I slowed down or stopped he'd yell at me "GEEN GEEN GEEN!!!" We come in the house and Bruce finally says to me (as they came inside from a weather station/heh-cocker visit) "What is he saying?!"
Oh, I say, he's saying Green.
Logan - GO! Geen! GO!
Now, in case you're wondering (which you are probably not, but that's
ok) he does not confuse Green to be another way to say Go. Show him a green block and ask him what color it is and he'll tell you its Geen. He'll also identify the color blue appropriately. Red is hit or miss. He can point to a yellow object if you ask but he's yet to say "yellow." Of course, now if you show him something green he'll tell what it is...and then add GO GO GO!!!!
Logan does a fairly good job of using pronouns - or at least using "I". The vast majority of the time he gets it right. This applies to everything except "I do" because 'I do' really means "you do."
For example
Logan standing at the counter pointing to the tin with the dog's treats - Cookie?
Me - You want to give Tasha a cookie? Ok. (I pull out the bag of "special' treats we bought her at Petco the other day) Here, pick which one. (And Logan picks which one he wants to give her.
Logan - Cacha! Caaaaa-cha! Cookie! (Dog comes running)
Logan looks at dog's teeth and drooling, then quickly reaches his cookie holding hand to me and says "I DO!" (as in Mommy you do it)
So, this is a typical use of the phrase "I do." Except recently it sometimes does mean "I do." The last week or so he's starting trying to put his socks and shoes on. Now he can't. He winds up doing little more than resting said article on his foot and laughing but nonetheless he tries. I'll get his stuff out and before I do a thing he's yelling "I DO I DO I DO!" Grabs the sock from me and pulls it down over his foot. He tries repeatedly before stopping and handing me the sock sighing and saysing "I do."
Hey, at least he tried. ;)
