Monday, June 30, 2014

Logan lately

We've been having a great summer so far! We love the wonderful sunny weather we have been having and it's the saddest day when it's overcast and rainy and we can't go to the park. But that hasn't happened too much, fortunately. I am looking forward to a few more months of wonderful Seattle Summer!

We've had several beach days, park days, and one day swimming in our pool. Logan wasn't a huge fan so I've been hesitant to go back. I think that if we go with Andy then he will have a better time. Andy just has that "daddy factor" that makes Logan so happy and giggly, more than giggles really, full out LAUGHS! I love it! Logan loves to play at the parks. He can be hesitant at first, maybe just trying to soak it all in. But then he goes and goes. He loves to climb stairs and go down slides. He still loves to swing. One time we were swinging so close to nap time and he almost fell asleep in the swing, but he wouldn't let me take him out! I think he liked it and wished I would have left him in to take his nap. Honestly, if I could take a nap in a swing, I would. Sounds wonderful!

The second weekend in June, Andy left us and went on a river rafting trip down the Colorado River with his dad and brothers. He had a blast and I am super sad I missed out. But he promises we will go as a family when Logan's older. :) He had 4 days on the river, away from civilization, and basically everything was taken care of for them. So happy he got to enjoy that and get back to the great outdoors and realize that he really does like doing things outside! Now we have made plans to FINALLY go camping as a family this summer. I can't wait! 

Logan has been so much fun...and such a little stink at the same time. He's growing and turning into a big boy, but just can't quite express himself very well yet. So we've entered the screaming stage...it has gotten a little bit better, but I just have to keep telling myself that this won't last and to keep teaching him how to communicate, even though he can't do it right now. I know he's soaking up all of the info we give him and one day, he will be able to communicate. 

He's also getting 4...yes I said F.O.U.R. molars all at once! Why do his teeth feel the need to come in such big groups. Poor little buddy. So he's been loving his Hyland's teething tablets and binky. Although, we are trying to be more strict with is binky and only let him have it at naptime and bed time. He was getting way to attached a few weeks ago, so we decided to put a stop to it. Now he doesn't scream at us when we take it away, sometimes he even gives it to us when we ask. :)

Here are a few more fun things about our big boy at 14 months:
  • Claps, smiles and dances (waves his arms) when he hears music. I'm still working on getting his lower half to dance too.
  • When we ask for hugs, sometimes he will come running to us with a big smile and hug. Such a sweetie!
  • He's SUPER ticklish! It's the funniest thing. This is when we get the big, full laughs.
  • He's becoming more picky when it comes to eating...there are days when he won't eat anything but snack food (crackers. granola bars, pretzels...) Oh, so frustrating!!
  • He has finally found a love of balls! And he has learned to throw them now, instead of just handing it to us when we tell him to throw. He sometimes kicks it around too. So cute!
  • He also has started loving stuffed animals. He loves his Zebra from his Nana Tolton and will go find him whenever we say "where's your zebra?" and he loves his Aggie teddy bear from Papa Tolton. He's been sleeping with him since he was a little baby. Now if we lay him down before handing him his bear, he will search his crib and reach for his teddy. I love it!
  • Logan has quite the temper...he gets super upset when he can't do something immediately. We have to tell him to calm down and try again and then he will do it. Like climbing on the couch... he can totally do it by himself, but if he can't do it on the first try, he will scream and look up at us for help. And since we are such good parents, we don't help and force him to figure it out. Haha!
  • To go along with his temper, if he doesn't want something he will flail both of his arms and throw it away from him and scream. I'm really hoping this will pass. Although it is funny...it's also very scary to think he could have an anger issue... (I'm joking obviously... :)) Andy and I think he is just so smart, that he gets frustrated when he can't do something right away or communicate efficiently. :)
  • Sometimes we have "picnics" in the living room if we don't feel like eating at the table. Logan LOVES it! He knows just what to do when I lay a blanket out. He'll turn around, back himself up, and plop down onto the blanket and wait for his food. Such a cutie! The only downfall to this is that he prefers picnics to his high chair sometimes...
  • He loves to point at everything and say "zis" as if he's asking "what's this?". We will say the name of it, and then he will point to something else. I can just imagine his little brain soaking it all in and storing it for later when he can talk.
  • Speaking of talking...he still only says "Dada". He can say nana, papa, and mama, but I feel like he really only know dada. If I point at a picture of Andy and I, he will say dada and point to Andy...and I get nothing. Just dada dada dada all day long. At least I know he loves his daddy. I'm not upset at all that he doesn't say mama... :)
Okay, here are some pictures of our summer so far. 


Loves to lay back and relax


Laying on his picnic blanket with Teddy and Zebra

Kids and dishwashers...what's the deal?



Logan's nickname is "T-Rex" because of the way he walks with his arms like a t-rex. So we took a picture by this t-rex statue. 

Not afraid of heights, apparently. He climbed up here by himself...


Just like daddy!

He loves to climb the steps up to our apartment. It's really convenient that he can do this whenever we go grocery shopping. I grab the groceries and tell him to go climb the steps. So nice!


Again with the climbing


Two buds just staring at the boat on the log

Logan's speedo. Haha!

He likes to think he is a big boy and can sit in a big chair for lunch...

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

12 months for our little Boy


I can't believe this is going to be my last "monthly" post of our little Logan boy... This year has flown by, and he has just grown up so fast. We have loved every minute of it. It was so much fun to reminisce on April 25, 2014 what we were doing exactly one year ago. Logan probably thought we were all crazy when we cheered and clapped at 1:54 pm and said "Logan you were born!!! Yay!!!!" Everyone does this, right??

To think about the labor, the panic attacks, the sleepless nights, the nursing!!, the blowouts, teething, etc etc...it's definitely all worth it to have our little Logan alive and well and so dang happy! How can one little person bring so much joy to your heart?? I don't know about anyone else, but the day he turned one, it's like he just grew up overnight and became a little toddler. He's so smart and catches onto everything so fast. We have to watch what we teach him these days, because he will repeat it... like knocking on the bedroom wall between our rooms in the early morning because I did it one time during the day to entertain him until I finished getting dressed!

This last month was a busy one for our little guy. Here are some fun facts about Logan at 12 months:

  • Logan weighs 20 lbs (50%) and is 30 inches long (50%), his head is still holding steady in the 90th percentile at 19 inches
  • He's a climber. Ever since he's learned how to crawl up stairs, he thinks he can climb up onto everything. He still hasn't figured out how to go down backwards, so he slowly goes down face first...let's hope he learns soon!
  • Logan has fallen in love with his blanket. He finally decided that he was done being swaddled so now we just give him his blanket and he holds it in his little hands and rubs it against his face. It's the sweetest thing.
  • He's pretty sensitive about his hands...he doesn't often like both of his hands to be held when walking, and just trying to hold onto them for a second when playing, he will pull them away.
  • Logan loves to play catch. He will bring us the ball (still working on throwing), but he will, most of the time, put out his arms to catch. And he knows what it is, too. Just this morning I asked if he wanted to play catch and he looked around for a ball and brought it to me. Such a smarty pants!
  • He points to everything. It's pretty hard to tell what he wants, and what he wants is often what he shouldn't have.
  • He LOVES reading! He will bring books to us and get so mad if we don't read it right away. 
  • Logan is a little tease. He knows that when he is done with his sippy that he is supposed to give it to me or Andy. But when he is in his highchair, he will dangle his cup over the edge and look back at me and smile! I would ask him nicely to give it to me and then he would drop it. I soon learned that I needed to ignore him, so I ignored (and tried to hide my giggling), and now he doesn't do it anymore. I can't believe he knows to do that at one year old!
  • Logan loves to make animal noises. He doesn't know what he's doing yet, but I like to pretend he does. He loves to make a "hiss" sound like a snake and a "who who" sound like an owl.
  • Log is really good about "sharing" what he picks up. If he finds garbage or crumbs on the floor,  he will pick it up and hand it to me or Andy. It's really nice that he does that first before shoving it right in his mouth. 
  • For some reason, Logan loves to hold everything all in one hand. If we give him 2 slices of a sandwich, he will squish them in one hand. We were playing with dominoes and he had to have at least 3 in one hand, and trying to fit another! If we give him 2 of anything, he will immediately switch them to one hand. Silly guy.
  • He drinks his water or juice so well. Before he would maybe do a sip or two, and now he will usually drink a whole cup of juice or water. 
  • We've had to give Logan medicine for constipation and sometimes Tylenol or Gripe water... He LOVES it! We have never had a problem with giving him medicine. And he will usually lick his lips and look back at us for more. 
  • And last but not least... our boy is WALKING! He's pretty much walking all the time. If he falls, he will sometimes finish where he's going by crawling, but for the most part he'll stand back up and walk some more. It has been so much fun. Andy and I had a bet going if he would be walking by his birthday. Andy won... pretty unfortunate for me, but I'm really glad Log's walking.
Here are some pictures of Logan baby over the last month.

Still doesn't love his clothes. I found him like this in the morning.

Loves to splash around in water


Silly baby wouldn't crawl through this tunnel, but he would give me big smiles

Somehow crawled up into this tight space...he was not happy when he couldn't get out

Daddy reading him stories

We had a fun time taking bday pictures with balloons


Love his face!

This is our sleeping boy after a long birthday weekend

Still loves bathtime

12 month collage. So fun to see how he's changed

Friday, April 4, 2014

Arizona Trip

Logan and I decided to take a little trip to go visit Linds and her family in Arizona. I was definitely looking forward to the trip to get out of the doom and gloom which is Seattle in the winter. I couldn't wait for the sun. Obviously, I was more excited to see Linds, Ben and Macee and meet baby Blake. Andy didn't have the time off of work unfortunately, but it turned out to be a good thing he didn't come since he got sick just a few days before we left. Poor guy...

Logan was such a good boy on the flight there. We had to wake him up at 4 in the morning! But once we got on the plane and took off, I gave him his bottle and he fell right asleep. He sleep only for about half an hour, but was super happy the rest of the flight. We sat next to friendly people, so that helped him to be happy. He was even better on the flight back...slept THE WHOLE TIME! I was very lucky, but I also wasn't surprised considering he didn't sleep very well the whole time we were there.

He had a pretty hard time adjusting to the new place and new people. He was super sleepy, but he couldn't sleep on his own. So I had to lay down with him for his naps and he slept in bed with me every night. It was kind of fun to have a cuddle buddy, even if he took up the whole bed! It was cute to see how he slept, moving all over and eventually getting comfortable with his face down in the bed and his butt in the air. So funny!

We enjoyed the nice weather by sitting outside on the patio and going to the park. We went swimming one day, but apparently it was a little bit too cold for those Arizonian's to swim. We had to swim in the heated pool. :) I had a bad mom moment because Logan fell asleep in his car seat a few minutes before we got to the pool. And since he hadn't been sleeping very well, you'd think I'd just let him get his sleep...NOPE! I didn't want him to miss out on swimming with his friends. I'm glad I did because he really liked the water. He'd been swimming when he was a few months old last summer, but he really liked it this time. All of the other kids were shivering and Logan was just in heaven.


We went to the Phoenix Zoo and was a lot of fun. We spent 7 or 8 hours there and it was just nice to walk around, take out time, and enjoy the sunshine. We petted some stingrays in the stingray pool, rode the carousel a few times, played at the splashpad and walked around to see the animals. Logan didn't love the splashpad...he finally got the courage to crawl closer to the wet area, but right when he got there - the water shot up and he was so scared! Poor baby... He was pretty much attached to my arms the whole time we were there, so when I was holding him, he enjoyed the water. 



Group picture minus Macee. I love this!

Love her sweet face!
Riding the carousel
Train ride around the zoo
After a long day at the zoo, we were on our way home and all three kiddos were asleep. It was heavenly!
Hard to get a picture of all 3 asleep
We spent a lot of time just relaxing and hanging out around the house. Logan finally warmed up to the house and could venture out on his own. He especially loved the doggie door and the sliding glass doors. He also learned to crawl up the stairs on the playground. Too bad we don't have stairs in our house so he can practice his new skill.



Swinging babies

Macee was so sweet. She went nice and slow for little Logan


Trying to sneak outside
The boys will love this picture when they are older.
We had such a nice visit and it was great to spend 4 whole days with Linds. It had been too long, but of course it didn't feel that way. I'm very lucky to have such great friends that keep in touch (almost every day...) People always doubted that we would be friends when we grew up, I'm so happy that we can prove them wrong. I can't wait for our California vacation where we all get to be together, yes under the same roof for 5 days! I'm so glad Logan and I were able to take a little break and get away and visit our friends.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

11 months old


Our little one is 11 months old! I feel like this last month he has just grown a ton. I'm almost thinking about not calling him "my baby" anymore...um, who am I kidding. I'm sure I will call him that the rest of his life. Poor kid. He's still so funny and cracks us up all the time, but he's also been such a grumpy mama's boy. Andy and I both hope this phase ends quickly.

Here are some fun things about Logan at 11 months:

  • At the beginning of the month Logan was saying "mama" all the time, but especially when it was time to eat. I think he thinks that mama means food...which in a way, I guess it does. But he's taking a break from saying mama and dada, we haven't heard it in a while.
  • He loves to be chased around. He will crawl away so fast, but then all of a sudden stop and sit up and face us. So funny.
  • Logan would probably be a nudist if he could. He's started trying to take off his clothes, and pushes his shirts away when we try to put them over his head. I'm okay with it sometimes, because I love to see his chubby, rolly-polly body.
  • He is standing all by himself for several seconds!
  • He has started to walk with us only holding one of his little hands.
  • He has also started crawling up stairs. His record is six!
  • Logan is not a big fan of the sun...whenever we are driving and it gets in his eyes he gets pretty darn frustrated. Poor baby, good thing we live in Seattle.
  • Logan loves to brush his teeth. Sometimes I have to fight him to take his toothbrush away.
  • His favorite fruit lately is kiwi (Jan, I thought you might like that. :))
  • He has started pushing things around on the floor - cars, books, dvd cases...anything that slides easily.
  • We've had to start setting some limits on things he can and cannot touch. The TV has been a big issue lately, but he's pretty good at stopping when we say "no no" and "no please". Should we be saying "please"? Is it really a request?? Oh well, always good to be polite I guess. :)
  • Logan loves to say "ah ah ah" while putting his hand in front of his mouth. I think it started out with us teaching him to blow kisses, but this is much more fun. 
  • He is starting to try to feed himself. He gets pretty frustrated when I don't give him the spoon. But sometimes I just don't feel like cleaning up a huge mess...but I suppose I'll have to get over it so that he can learn. 
We are having so much fun with our little man and can't wait until we get to celebrate his birthday in a month! How did that come up so fast!?!

First time riding on daddy's shoulders

Love when he falls asleep cuddling with Andy

One of the few times I set him free to play with his food

Pure joy!

Cute little climber

Reading his favorite book

Getting stuck 


I think he's saying that he is done taking these monthly pictures!




Babies and hymn books...

Eating his noodles

Crawling under anything he can

Playing with daddy