Playing with Car

Logan turned 15 months on June 7th!  A lot has happened in the last two months that I need to catch you up on, but here’s a quick look at his most recent stats:

Now I know what you’re thinking…he SHRUNK!!??  No, he did not shrink…the doctor said it is more likely that his 12 month measurements are a bit off.  However, as you can see by his percentiles, he is still a big boy!

Logan's Special Chair

In May Logan turned 14 months and had become much more proficient at walking and had even started walking backwards!  He really worked on his climbing skills and is climbing up stairs, on and off his rocking horse, and in and out of his special chair.  He officially graduated to the toddler room at daycare, which means he’s on scheduled naps, snacks, and meals!  He’s getting interested in activities now, he’s dining out more regularly, enjoying swings and slides at the park, loves to swim in the pool, and even checked out some model and real trains at National Train Day.  His speech is getting more complex as he tries to mimic words and phases.

By 15 months he had a string of illnesses starting with a stubborn ear infection that lasted through 20 days of antibiotics.  That was closely followed by 1 week of Roseola.  Then we started memorial day weekend with what we think was foot, hand, and mouth disease, but thankfully he was better by the end of the long weekend.  To top it all off, in the beginning of June, he started cutting his first molars!  Definitely a tough month with illness, but we survived and are tougher for it!

Park

We started doing some at home art projects this last month.  Logan enjoys finger painting, “drawing” with markers, and experimenting with textures.  I even tried to get him to glue little cut outs on construction paper, but he didn’t seem to get that.  He’s helped make instant pudding a couple of times, but really enjoys eating it more than making it.  He actually will start to cry when he finishes a serving.

He has figured out how to climb out of the bath tub, but thankfully doesn’t try to do that very often!  We’ve also officially turned his car seat to the forward facing position.

His communication has really improved over the past month.  He understands phrases such as “Give it to Wrigley”, “Sit Down”, “Put it on the table”, “Are you hungry?”, and probably a dozen more that I’m not aware of.  If you ask him where his nose is, he will point to it.  If you ask him where your nose is, he will point to your nose.  He’s still working on ears though.

He’s talking more too.  He says daddy and mommy, although  mommy means me and anything else that he wants.  He says kitty, banana, ball, and even Wrigley, which comes out as dit-ti.  When he’s hungry he responds to “Are you hungry?” with “Mmmmmm”.  He’s reaching for the refrigerator doors now when he wants a drink, and he’s started to point and grunt at things he wants.  He hands you the remote when he want to watch Handy Manny, and will hand you his shoes and sit down when he want them on.  All these attempts to communicate definitely show that he knows what he wants, which also means he’s started with the tantrums.  Thankfully, they aren’t too bad…yet.  However, he has been known to start crying and throw himself to the ground.  He’s also mastered the art of spaghetti legs, and uses it often.

I’ve prepared a quick 5 minute video capturing some of the highlights over the last couple months.  Take a look!

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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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Logan is already 11 months old!  Time is flying, but I’m guessing all new parents say the same thing.  Logan has had quite a few new accomplishments in the year 2010…let’s take a peak.

Logan Cruising

Logan has provided new meaning to the word mobile this month.  In our 10 month update, I mentioned that life as we knew it was over…well, that didn’t happen until this last month!  He is into EVERYTHING!  He loves to open cabinets and drawers, even if that means opening them into his own head!  He thinks holding, pulling, and chewing on electrical cords is awesome and makes a b-line for any cord in sight.  He has a new found love for tv remotes and xbox controllers, and has turned into quite the little con man with his daddy, acting like he just wants to sit with dad on the couch, when really he’s eying up those controllers!  He’s crawling like crazy and man is he fast.  Although it seems like crawling is just a means to get him to his true desire…standing.  He pulls up and cruises on everything now and has even tried to cruise on an empty laundry basket, which ended with both Logan and the basket tipped over on the floor and a few tears.  His 24 lbs was just too much for that empty basket to carry!  He’s getting better and better at bending over to pick up toys while standing, and on his actual 11 month birthday he figured out how to walk behind his push toy!  Thankfully he’s not too confident at steering it yet, but once he’s got it down Wes is convinced he’s going to start using it as a battering ram!  We shall see…

Logan Clapping

Logan is continuing to try new foods, although he probably has not had his fair share of table food yet.  He’s still eating Gerber 2nd foods and has tried chicken noodle, turkey and rice, chicken and turkey meat sticks, diced apples, diced carrots, banana and mixed berries, and apricot with mixed fruit.  He’s also quite the little snacker and enjoys colby/jack cheese, Graduates apple wagon wheels, and yogurt melts.  He’s getting to the stage now where he prefers to feed himself.  He learned to clap this month, and has found if he claps while I’m bringing a spoon of food to his mouth, he can splash the food everywhere.

Putting a Ball in a Hole

Wrigley is becoming his best friend, not only for all the splashed and left over food, but she has found he wants to play with her.  Logan thinks it’s hilarious to offer her a toy and then take it from her, and Wrigley just seems to be happy to get some attention.  Although, even Wrigley has found that you can get too much of a good thing, thankfully when she’s had enough she simply licks him and moves.

Logan has learned to put a ball in a hole this month!  It sounds so insignificant when I say it, but it is really quite an accomplishment.

Wheres Logan?

He’s started getting more and more interested in books, and still loves those touch and feel books.  He’s at the point now where he thinks every book is touch and feel, so you can see him touch each page and move his finger to try to “feel” something.  It’s so cute.  He loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider song with the hand movements…the song is so powerful it has been known to stop him in his tracks when he’s headed for mischief.  He just stares at you with a big grin as you sing it…it sort of makes you feel like YOU could be the next American Idol.  He’s also still into playing peak a boo, which we have renamed “Where’s Logan?”  He will hold something up over his face, just to hear you ask “Where’s Logan?”, then he’ll drop the cloth to hear you say “There he is!”  It’s sooo cute!

Logan Reading

Logan has been out to a few more restaurants.  He’s been to iHop for breakfast twice and even had a lunch at Chilis after visiting his daddy’s office.  He was so well behaved during all the trips.  All this out and about could have contributed to Logan catching Croup this month, although the pediatrician seemed convinced he got it from daycare.  It was not a fun experience at all.  He was home from daycare for 4 days straight, and had a cough like a barking seal.  Thankfully he’s recovered from that now!

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It’s the end of life as we know it…Logan is now mobile.  He started out just doing the army crawl on his belly over the Christmas holiday, but now he is crawling like a champ.  He’s also much better at getting from the crawling position back to sitting.  He still LOVES Wrigley and now that he can move, he often crawls after her and tries to grab her fur.  Wrigley has been being a great sport and typically will either just lick Logan, or get up and walk away.

Christmas Weekend

Logan enjoyed his first Christmas at his grandparents house in Jacksonville, he even got to meet his Great Grandma and Grandpa from Indiana as well!  He didn’t really understand the whole presents concept, but he was a very good boy while we all opened gifts.  He has really enjoyed playing with all his new toys!

I don’t have any official weight or height statistics this month, but he’s now wearing 18 month sized clothes.  Some 12 month clothes will fit him, but I’m finding more and more 12 month clothes are either too short or just too tight.  This cold streak has put us in long sleeved shirts, sweaters, pants/jeans, and jackets.  We’re very thankful to our family in Chicago and Minneapolis who have sent us boxes of hand me down clothes!  Us, Floridians, don’t really know what to do once you can see your breath!

Another tooth popped up this month on the bottom left, so now he has 4 on top and 4 on bottom.  He’s been trying all sorts of new foods this month as well.  Some of the new varieties include gerber 2nd foods apple/cherry, apple/blueberry, garden vegetable, sweet potato/corn, mango smoothie, chicken, beef, turkey, and mac & cheese.  I’ve also started him on Gerber 3rd foods, which really just seems to be more per container and a bit thicker consistency, but I have yet to see any actual chunks or anything like that.  His first experience with Baby Mum Mums was sort of comical.  I gave him the Mum Mum and he immediately put it into his mouth and took a bite.  Then he just held the Mum Mum in his hand and sat there crying.  I tried it again the next day, but that time he didn’t even attempt to put it in his mouth, instead he just held on to it and cried.  After that I let him try the Graduates Lil’ Crunchies, and he loves those.  At first he couldn’t figure out how to eat the part of the snack that he was holding in his hand, so he just sort of put his whole hand in his mouth, but now he’s got it down.  I was so happy to find that he seemed to know what to do with the crunchy snacks.  He bit them and then chewed them like a big boy, no choking!

Drinking From a Glass

I started weaning Logan this last month, so he’s now transitioning onto formula.  He seems to be taking it without issue and I don’t think there will be any problem once he is 100% on formula.  He still is very interested in drinking out of a glass, so we started offering him a sippy cup between meals.  He really likes it and has figured out where he needs to put his mouth, but hasn’t figured out that he needs to tilt the cup back to actually get anything out of it.  He’ll get it.

I noticed that this month he is very interested in touch and feel books.  He actually touches and feels the book.  His favorite is Touch and Feel PETS, I’m not sure why, but he’s not as interested in the other ones we have.  His sounds and noises are getting more and more complex.  He’s also practicing his noise volume.  He likes to whisper “HOTA HOTA”, I have no idea what it means, but it must be very profound.  He started performing his early morning sing song routine earlier and earlier, so we have now adjusted his bedtime from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.  Even though it’s just an hour, it’s quite a change in our home routine.  Now we all eat dinner together around 6:00 instead of Wes and I eating after Logan goes to bed.

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Logan in Daddy's Chair

On December 7th, Logan turned 9 months old.  He had his baby well visit today and here are his current statistics.  His weight and height percentiles have stayed consistent since his 6 month appointment but his head circumference has increased from 7% to 25%!

Baby Cruiser

Looking back on his 8 month update it amazing how many new things he’s into now.  He’s still eating the gerber second foods but has now started some more complex combinations.  The new foods he’s tried this month include pineapple/pear, garden vegetables, and prune/apples.  We were also just given the ok to start him on meat combinations.  The doctor recommended we start introducing teething biscuits for his 7 teeth!!  Four on the top and three on the bottom.  He’s really intrigued with drinking from a glass.  Whenever I am drinking a glass of water in his presence he always reaches out for it.  When I try to give him some he typically either chokes on it, or just sits there and lets the water touch his lips.  Either way, he’s always really proud of himself after he’s done.  It’s quite cute.

Logan - Crawling Position

Logan is not quite mobile yet, although he is still cruising on the couch if you stand him up next to it.  He is sitting on his own very well now, and can even go from a seated position to rocking back and forth on all fours, until he eventually collapses onto his tummy.  The doctor said crawling shouldn’t be too far behind.  He is getting better and better at assisted walking.  He’s really starting to get the balance thing down, and seems to think that he can do it all by himself.  He’ll often try to let go of your hands so he can reach down for various items he sees while walking around the room.  He still rolls onto his tummy EVERY time he is placed on his back.  He’s getting pretty strong now, and sometimes it actually takes two of us just to get his diaper changed!

He is laughing and talking now more then ever.  His “words” recently went from moans and squeals to more sophisticated da da ga do ga da.  He’ll actually look at you (or Wrigley) and starting talking…it almost seems like he’s trying to tell you something now.

Big Boy Bath

He’s graduated to the big boy bath tub now and is doing really well.  He just plays with his bath toys while I scrub away.  He’s so focused on trying to pick up those little toys, it seems like he doesn’t even notice I’m there!  He’s also graduated to the next room at daycare!  We’ll be sad to leave our current teacher, but moving to the new room means more stimulating toys and other kids who are mobile.  Hopefully watching other kids moving around will inspire Logan to try to do the same!

His favorite toy is still his giraffe, but he’s also found a new appreciation for his infantino sound and light safari.  He’s now figured out how to open and close the shape sorter, push the piano keys, spin the animals, and push all the other buttons.  He always looks so intense when he is playing with it and is definitely drawn to it whenever it is nearby.

Shape Sorter

This is Fun!!

Playing with Shapes

On November7th, Logan turned 8 months old.  He’s been pretty busy over the last month, here’s a peak at what he’s up to now.

Logan in his highchair

He has now outgrown his infant car seat.  Not in weight, but definitely in height.  We purchased the Evenflo Triumph Advanced Convetible Car Seat from Walmart as his replacement, it should be arriving this week.  We won’t have his official weight and height check from the pediatrician’s office until his 9-month baby well visit in December, but we estimate that he is about 21 lbs now.  He is really enjoying solid foods, and he’s moved on to Gerber 2nd foods this month.  He eats about four 2nd foods per day, and each one is about 3.5oz.  He’s still eating rice cereal mixed in with his food, and is getting a large majority of his nutrition from breast milk.  I would guess he drinks about 25-30 oz of breast milk per day.  We haven’t started him on complex combinations of baby food or big people food yet, but imagine that will probably start sometime next month.  I think that he’ll be ready to start chomping on food now that’s his THIRD tooth is coming in!!  His second bottom middle tooth came in just after I wrote his 7 month update, but I just noticed number three yesterday, it’s on the top left.   Such a big boy!

Sitting Unassisted - You can see my teeth!!

Speaking of a big boy…he is now a rolling machine!  It seems like when ever I put him on his back, the first thing he does is try to roll over.  Which includes putting him on his back to change his diaper!  He still prefers rolling to his right, and I rarely see him roll from front to back, but I know it will all come in time.  He even prefers to sleep on his stomach now.  It doesn’t seem to matter what I do to encourage him to sleep on his back, he always finds his way back to his tummy, so now I just put him to bed on his back, and whatever he does from there is up to him.  He still hasn’t started crawling yet, but he has figured out he can pivot/turn his body while on his belly.  I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time until he figures out he can use his legs and actually go places.

He’s sitting up unassisted pretty well now.  He’s even learned how to use his hands to rebalance himself if he shifts his weight too much to one side.  He still topples over occasionally, but that is happening less and less often now.  He has also learned to pull himself up from a reclined position, which I learned the hard way.  He has a reclined rocking chair with toys that dangle over his head (see chair).  One day while making breakfast, he was playing in that chair.  I feel like I had turned my back for one second, and when I turned around he was leaning WAY forward, he had gotten his body on the other side of the hanging toys and the rocking chair looked like it was about to topple over and land with Logan doing a face plant into the floor.  THANKFULLY, I saw him in time to grab him.  To make a long story short…no more rocking chair for him!

Standing like a Big Boy!

Logan is still the happy, mild mannered baby he’s been from the start.  Although, I think he had his first episode of stranger anxiety this weekend.   He seems so easily entertained these days, and really loves to laugh.  He enjoys laughing at his daddy’s funny faces.  Every time he sees Wes in the room, he stares at him as if to say “Dance Clown”.  He’s sooo entertained by his daddy doing little dances, singing, or just jiggling his head around like a bobble head toy.  Logan still loves Wrigley.  He seems to be constantly laughing at her.  Whenever she comes by him to lick his face, Logan seems to open his mouth.  What a goof ball!  He really likes to stand up, and enjoys walking from one end of the room to the other while holding someones hands.  Peek-A-Boo is now one of his favorite games…just saying the words will make him smile.

Make sure to check out the photos for this month.  He had some professional pictures taken at daycare that are included in this months photo gallery.

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Better Installs!

Now there is a little utility to help… Ninite basically groups the installs together and installs everything at once (wow, that is totally awesome) you can get a little more details on it, at this link.

It’s been a little while since our last Logan video, so I put this one together over the weekend.  I hope you enjoy it!

Logan - 7 months

Can you believe Logan is already 7 months!  On October 7th, Logan turned 7 months old.  He’s getting to be such a big boy now and has had all sorts of accomplishments this month.

He finally rolled over for me!  I was getting his bath ready and he was laying on the floor on his back.  One moment he was just looking around on his back and the next moment he was on his tummy!  I got to see the whole event and it was very exciting for me!

Logan started getting his teeth brushed this month.  Well…maybe I should say tooth brushed.  That’s right, Logan cut his first tooth.  I noticed it on September 30th.  He hasn’t appeared to be in too much pain.  He is still sleeping through the night, although he was a bit more fussy last weekend.

Grocery Store

Logan has been tooling around town this month as well.  He had his first trips to the grocery store, furniture/appliance store, and the park.  He seems thoroughly entertained to visit new places.  I typically carry him around in the baby bjorn facing out and he just takes it all in.  Afterward he just passes out in his car-seat on the way home.

Logan is continuing to do well with his solid foods.  He actually opens his mouth in anticipation of the next bite now.  He’s cut down on the thumb sucking during meal times which has made the whole event less messy.  This month he’s tried green beans, prunes, and bananas.  He also retried carrots and now seems to like those.  There doesn’t seem to be anything that he doesn’t like to eat, but I did find that the order you feed him certain foods seems to matter.  For example, he doesn’t want to get pears followed by green beans, but he will do green beans and then pears.  So I’ve learned to save the sweet stuff for the end of the meal and then he does fine.

Logan with Giraffe

He’s continuing to improve on sitting up unassisted.  He like to sit up and then reach out for toys in front of him.  Sometimes he ends up tipping over, but for the most part he can keep himself up.  He really likes to stand up on his feet.  He’s now figured out how to take steps forward while holding your hands.  He really thinks it’s fun.  He’s especially grabby these days and seems to grab onto anything within reach.  He even manages to pull my hair despite the fact that I got it cut soo short.

He has definitely started to notice Wrigley more and he thinks she is soooo cool.  He is always trying to reach out and grab her and he always starts to giggle when Wrigley licks his face.  Wrigley has been very tolerant of Logan grabbing her hair and pulling it out.  It’s always great to see Logan with a handful of dog hair as he goes to put his thumb in his mouth…yuck!

Fisher Price Chair

Logan still loves his jumperoo, he’s finally figured out how to grab the parrot and get it in his mouth.  He’s probably been planning that for a month now!  His favorite toy is his giraffe .  He’s finally started to appreciate those hanging toys on his Fisher Price chair.  He enjoys sitting up, standing up, kisses on his tummy, he thinks it’s especially funny if you pretend to eat his hands/neck/belly/toes/etc, he likes his car seat toy, and still really enjoys songs/singing.  Logan is such a well mannered baby, and he still rarely cries.  It’s hard for me to think of new things he doesn’t like, but he still doesn’t like to get his hair washed or wait for food to be prepared.

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