The Florida Belts

Logan turned 2.5 years old on September 7th.  We were thinking that he would start leveling off with his height and weight stats by now, but as you can see, he’s still topping the charts!

Let’s start things off by acknowledging that Logan is a fantastic big brother. He hasn’t shown much jealousy toward Gavin since he joined our family in May, and has started turning into quite the helper.  He’s even mastered the baby talk, and will often be seen leaning over Gavin saying “A boo boo”, a baby phrase he’s heard from mom a lot.  When Gavin starts crying Logan will say “Baby’s crying”, I’ve even heard him say, “It’s okay baby Gavin, Logan’s here”.  Logan likes to help baby Gavin take off his socks, cover him with blankets, and recently started giving him kisses.  He’s still learning that Gavin is too little to play ball with him, but we haven’t had any incidents yet!

Logan still has an interest in television and movies.  Some of his favorite movies include the following:

• Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue
• Mater’s Tall Tales
• Monsters Inc.
• Finding Nemo
• Toy Story (1, 2, and 3)
• Bugs Life

He’s learned how to put dvds into the player now, and likes to put movies in and out.  But as much as he likes these movies, his absolute favorite thing to watch on TV is himself!  We starting taking a lot more home video recently, and Logan absolutely loves to watch himself.  We’ve downloaded the videos on to our tablet and he is thrilled to be able to sit on the couch and pick and choose which ones he watches.

Logan is now quite a good little bike/trike rider!  He loves to get on his bike and just ride it down the street and back, a trip that takes about 30 minutes from start to finish!  He also loves going to the the big park.  He enjoys climbing on the play equipment, going down all the different slides, and getting pushed on the swings.  The park is completely shaded by large oak trees, so even in the heat of the FL sun, we’re able to go and have a good time, but we can’t wait until summer is over!

Logan has become a bit of a chatterbox.  He is constantly chit chatting about something, even if we can’t fully understand him.  He’s started singing his ABC’s, Old McDonald, and Happy Birthday, and we will often wake up in the morning with him serenading us from his bedroom.  He’s also started learning his numbers, although he doesn’t always get them in order yet.  When he is picking up his toys, he sings the Barney clean up song, but it comes out like this, “Clean up…everybody..share.”  It’s adorable.  His speech is definitely improving, and he repeats a lot of what we say now…thankfully that hasn’t gotten us into trouble yet!    Here are some of his most quotable phrases:

• “Yes, okay”
• “I liiike it”
• “Yucky bugs”
• “Pick one”
• “I no see it”
• “Quiet Woof”

He is still a fantastic sleeper and routinely goes to bed by 7:30pm every night, he also will take a 2-3 hour nap on the weekend.  He’s become a picky eater though, it’s hard to know what he will eat from day to day.  Something he will eat on Monday, may move to the “No List” on Tuesday.  Pretty much the only things he’s guaranteed to eat at any given time, aside from the typical cookies, chips, and ice cream, are vitamins, fruit snacks, french fries, and gold fish crackers.  His favorite (but not necessarily guaranteed) meals include Lasagna and Shake and Bake (or Fried) Chicken.  He absolutely refuses to eat any vegetable, but will eat bananas and mandarin oranges.  I’m hoping this picky eating is just a phase!

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Logan's Second Birthday!

Logan turned 2 on March 7th!!  A lot has happened in the last six months since my last update, but here’s a quick look at his most recent stats:

We are still shocked at how tall this boy is!

I will admit, this update is coming a bit late.  You’re probably thinking Logan turned 2 nearly three and a half  months ago, but I figure better late than never.  I’m going to write this from the perspective that I did do it on time.  So when I say he’s doing this or doing that, I mean at age 2.  In a few months I will publish his 2.5 year update and include the things he’s doing now, but since this is a 2 year update it’s just going to mention accomplishments that occurred as of 2 years old.

By 2 years old Logan is into his fair share of movies and tv shows.  Some of his favorites include:

• Trains – Chuggington and Thomas the Train
• Cars – Disney Cars
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• Handy Manny
• Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Bike

He also graduated to quite a few new firsts over the last six months.  He got his first bike and has been learning how to use the peddles.  Currently he just scoots around with his feet on the ground since he can’t quite reach the peddles yet, but that will come soon.  He’s gotten quite a bit better at using a spoon and can now drink from a straw, although he still thinks he needs to tip the cup upside down like it’s a sippy cup.  We’ve had our fair share of messes, but it’s all part of the learning experience!  Logan had his first ice cream cone at Mc Donald’s and loved it.  Granted it was a mess all over the place, but he wasn’t ready to be done with it once it was gone.  He’s now associated the phone with ringing.

First Ice Cream Cone

When he hears it ring he picks up the nearest phone and says “Hello”.  He hasn’t quite figured out that he needs to turn the phone on, but that’s probably a good thing at this point.  He has also entered the early stages of potty training.  He has gone on the potty at home a few times, but really it’s daycare that is giving him the potty training crash course.  They put him on the potty several times a day, and he’s starting to get the hang of it, but has a long ways to go.  He is pretty obsessed with light switches now.  He loves to turn them on and off and gets quite upset if you turn on a light switch that he could do.  He’s figured out how to move steps (or a bathroom scale) over to the light switch so he can reach it.

Logan’s speech is improving every day.  At 2 years old he can say 20-50 words and has mastered 2 word phrases.  This is continuing to increase every day, however we have found if we don’t encourage him to speak, he simply will not do it.  He is content to allow you to anticipate what he needs or to use body gestures to get you to give him what he wants.  He occasionally gets frustrated having to verbalize what he wants, but in the end it is for the best.

Halloween

In the last 6 months we’ve had a few holidays.  He celebrated Halloween dressed as Handy Manny.  They went around to the local shops nears his daycare to show off their costumes and collect candy and goodies.  We spent Thanksgiving with the Belt side of the family and Logan got to see his Great Granddad Belt and meet his great Uncles for the first time.  We spent Christmas with Grandma Jeannie and Grandpa Skip, and were lucky to also see Great Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert while we were there.  Logan was adorable as he passed out the Christmas presents.

Logan celebrated his second birthday with Grandma Jeannie, Grandpa Skip, Great Grandma Barbie, and Mommy and Daddy.  We took a trip to the Glazer Museum and enjoyed Thomas the Train themed party decorations and cake.  He really had a great time at all the exhibits and loved his Choo Choo Train cake!

Last but not least, Logan moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room as part of his big brother training.

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Logan turned 18 months on September 7th!  A lot has happened in the last three months that I need to catch you up on, but here’s a quick look at his most recent stats:

It’s hard to believe he is still topping off the charts!  He’s such a big boy!!

Alright, I just read through the last update and I can’t believe how far he has come since then.  Where to begin…

Gardening

In June Logan took his first airplane ride to visit his grandparents!  He did excellent on the 3-hour trip.  On the way there he slept about 2 hours and then insisted on walking up and down the aisles while he was awake.  On the way back, he slept the entire 3 hours!  It was great not to have to worry about him making a fuss, but having an extra 26lbs on those airplane seats put me in a bit of pain.  All in all, the trip was a success.  He got to meet four of his cousins for the first time, and his two uncles and aunt as well!  While we were there he enjoyed gardening, playing with his toys on the deck, and eating grandma’s yummy food .

Mmmm....pudding

Logan is eating pretty much everything and anything now, I think all of his teeth have come in.  He’s a regular at IHop on the weekends for breakfast and can pretty much eat an entire kids meal consisting of 1 scramble egg, 2 sausage links, and a pancake.  Wes taught him how to dip things in sauces this last month and now he thinks that is the coolest thing.  He dips his pancakes in syrup, french fries in ketchup, and chicken nuggets in barbecue sauce.  He snacks on all sorts of things during the day, but surprisingly one of his favorites is still the Baby Mum Mums, he actually asks for these!  He’s starting to use a fork now.  He can get the fork to his mouth with ease, but still has problems scooping things up on it.  He seems to enjoy doing it, so I’m sure he’ll get it soon.  I’ve started taking the stopper out of his sippy cups, which requires him to control the flow of liquid coming out of the cup.  He’s doing really well with that.  He also figured out how to use a straw last week to drink water at a restaurant, and now looks for opportunities to practice this newly acquired skill.

Finger Painting

Since my last update, Logan has moved up to the NEXT toddler room.  His schedule has shifted slightly, but he’s still doing the same kinds of things.  He’s bringing home art projects from daycare weekly now, and he is still continuing to do at home art projects as well.  He enjoys coloring with markers and crayons, but really loves finger painting.  The only problem is, that he also loves to suck his thumb, which doesn’t work all that well when his hands are covered in that paint!  Today he tried out the Mess Free Crayola Wonder Magic Light Brush, he gets to dip the brush in the paints, so he thought this was a pretty neat toy.

Tunnel

Our little climber is still the same monkey he was at 15 months.  This week he figured out how to climb onto the couch.  He can climb up the stairs and scoot down them pretty much on his own now, but now he prefers to walk, or at least try to.  He’s getting really good at holding one of my hands, and then putting his other hand on the wall while he steps up each stair.  When he gets to the landing in the middle of the stairs he always stops and calls for Wrigley, just to make sure she’s coming.  Although, it doesn’t exactly sound like “Wrigley”, but that’s definitely what he’s saying.  He’s still enjoying the park and the swimming in the pool, but one of his new activities is to climb through a tunnel.  It doesn’t sound like much, but he laughs and giggles the whole time!

His communication continues to progress.  As of his 18 month appointment I think we figured he could say about 20 words, but every day he seems to add another to the list.  Some of those include up, down, more, mommy, daddy, ball, banana, nice, hot, Manny, Elmo, kitty, bubble, uh-oh, and water.  His favorite word is more, he uses it for everything.  Whether he wants to eat, or wants you to throw him up in the air, you’ll hear him say more.  He doesn’t just say more, he also points to his mouth while he says it.  You’d have to see it, but it is definitely cute.  Some of the other adorable things he is doing now include, climbing into the laundry basket and saying vroom vroom.  Even when you’re exhausted you can’t help but pull him around!  He will also pet your head (or Wrigley) and say nice.  He kisses now, and will blow kisses.  He will grab Wes’s shoes and bring them to him when he wants to take Wrigley outside.  He also loves putting on and taking off his own shoes.

He’s getting more and more interested in TV.  He can turn the TV on with the remote now.  His favorite show is still Handy Manny, but he will watch Mickey Mouse Club House as well.  He is really interested in books.  He will sit on the floor with you and ask you to read every book he has (using “more”).  He definitely has his favorites, and at times will make you shut a book just as you’re starting it and then start clapping to signify that book is over.

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Logan

Logan is over a year now and it getting into all sorts of stuff.  He’s graduated to an expert level crawler, and I would say he’s at the intermediate level with walking.  It’s amazing how fast he progresses, one week he’ll be stumbling about going from the wall to the next solid object, then the next week he’ll be walking clear across the room and even stop to pick up toys on the way!  It’s wonderful to watch him grow, and it’s so obvious how proud he is of his accomplishments.

Logan’s new interest is interior design.  He thinks everything is, or should be, a push toy now.  That includes, laundry baskets, stationary toys, his high chair, the kitchen chairs, the cribs on wheels at daycare, and pretty much anything else he can move.  And believe me…this kid is STRONG!   As he pushes items from one end of the room to the other, we simply say he’s redecorating and he’s pretty much always on the job!

If redecorating is his new day job, he’s taken to moonlighting as a bell hop.  Whether it’s a diaper bag or my purse, Logan is constantly trying to carry bags around.  It’s really quite amusing to watch, since those diaper bags are often as big as he is!

Logan met his Uncle Justin, Aunt Nicole, and three cousins Kaitlyn, Kalei, and Andrew for the first time over Easter week.  Andrew was such a little helper, picking up Logan’s sippy cup after he threw it off his high chair, and just generally trying to help Logan.  Kalei had fun pushing Logan around in their stroller, and even assisted me a few times with diaper changes!  Kaitlyn was great at just entertaining and playing with Logan.  All in all, I think Logan had a great time meeting and spending time with family.

Easter Egg Hunt

Logan got to spend Easter with grandparents, great grandparents, uncles, aunts, great uncles, great aunts, cousins and second cousins this year.  We got to take part in the traditional family egg hunt, which involves a clue based search for eggs for the older kids.  The clues are designed for each child, and the older the child is, the harder the clues get.  It was so fun watching the chaos of the kids running around desperately trying find their next egg.  Logan got to participate in his first egg hunt as well, but his egg hunt was more about running (or crawling) around picking up eggs in clear view.  For Logan…he was just content to find two eggs and bang them together while he let Andrew collect the rest. 

Logan got his first haircut!!  He was long over due and had crazy hair.  You couldn’t even see his ears!  We took him to Regis at our local mall and he did fantastic, until the clippers came out!  His hair stylist was great, she made it a good experience for Logan and gave him a decent haircut despite the fact that he wouldn’t let her finish it!  I think we will definitely be going there again!

Peek-a-Boo

Peek-a-Boo

Even with all these clear advancements in his behavior, he’s still the same Logan.  He still loves to play peek-a-boo, he’s still grabbing everyone’s hair and glasses, terrorizing and entertaining Wrigley, and just generally getting into anything and everything!  We look forward to seeing what he is getting into next month!

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Logan

On Sunday, March 7th, Logan turned one year old!  It’s so hard to believe that the first year has already passed us by.  It seems like only yesterday we were on our way to the hospital 8 weeks early, assuming at that time they would call us noobs and prompty send us home.  Even then, Logan had his own plans…

Today (March 15th) Logan had his 12 month baby well appointment and this kid is off the charts!  Well, just the height growth chart but even that seems pretty impressive!  From his 9 month well appointment, his weight has increased 3 lbs 6oz, height increased 3 inches, and head circumference increased 0.5 inches.

Here’s a look at some of the new things he’s been getting into over the last month.

Holding His Bottle

Logan is now officially on table food.  Those baby food days are done and gone and he has moved on to real solid food.  He still eats some Gerber toddler foods, but mostly is enjoying things like grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, burgers, nuggets, canned veggies, fruit cups, waffles, pancakes, french toast sticks, and things like that.  He’s officially been introduced to table food at daycare as well, which means he gets a hot lunch and afternoon snack each day.  He’s started trying to use the sippy cup, and can hold his own bottle.  He is really enjoying the new textures and tastes he gets to experience, and still prefers to feed himself.  Occasionally he will get frustrated trying to pick up a slippery peach or something like that, but all in all, he is doing fantastic!

Crawling Position

Logan seems to be only a few weeks away from walking.  We’ve been saying that for a while, but now I really think its true.  He’s still cruising on everything, but is getting more and more adventurous.  He will walk while only holding one hand, and he even has moments where he stands on his own.  He’s definitely got the balance down, now I think he’s just lacking the confidence and motivation.  He is now an expert crawler.  I can’t believe how fast he is now and I certainly can’t seem to keep this kid still.  Changing his diaper is a challenge and he’s even started to crawl around the bath tub!

Waving

He’s learned how to turn the light switch on and off.  He thinks it is amazing, and every time he is on the changing table, he can’t wait to get over to that switch for some on and off practice.  He’s also figured out how to not only offer a toy to you, but also let it go.  This skill has allowed him to start dropping toys in a box, with any luck he’ll be able to start cleaning up after himself soon!  He seems to understand what “No” means, and at least for now, he will listen when you say it.  He hasn’t said any words yet, but I’m thinking “No” will be among the first that he says.  He’s learned to wave, and is working on pointing.

Logan is finally healthy again!  Over the last month he’s suffered from his first ear infection, and wouldn’t you know it, it was a double ear infection!  He also has been on a nebulizer for the last few weeks.  Thankfully all the medications are done now, and he just gets to be a kid again.

–edit: I should note that as of March 12th Logan took his first three steps at daycare.  He has yet to show off this new skill for mommy and daddy, but I’m sure we’ll see it soon!!

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Of course, Logan also had his first birthday party this month.  He did fantastic!  He napped from 8:30-11:00 the morning of the party, had lunch at 11:00, and guests arrived at 12:00.  He was a happy little kid for the full two hours, which included lots of new faces, present opening, and his first bite of cake, which he did not like.  The party turned out great!  Thank you to everyone who was able to attend and help celebrate Logan turning 1!

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