The Zoo!

Auntie Kenny took Logan on his first trip to the zoo last weekend. I got a whole morning to myself. Kendall loves zoos and I do not so this is a perfect arrangement. They bought a season pass so I look forward to many more of these outings. Logan's favorite was the polar bears.

Auntie Kenny, Logan & his souvenir polar bear (and the requisite toothbrush)

And while we're on the subject of Auntie Kenny, Logan also loves the swing she got him:

Thanks Kenny!

Buddy

Buddy, buddy, buddy.  This is Logan's favorite word.  Its the first word Logan says in the morning, and the last word he says at night. Its pretty much the only word he says perfectly enunciated and clearly. Buddy!

Sharing his cracker with Buddy.  Logan knows how to win Buddy over!

Stacking cups together

Buddy is thrilled



Giving Buddy a kiss



Third of a Century

I'm one third of a century old today! 33 1/3rd. I'm always reminding Mark of my monthly birthdays (1/12th, 1/6th, etc), and the one third is the 3rd biggest birthday of the year, after the full and the half. But a third of a century-- now that's something special. Seems like it calls for some special sort of present...

15 months

I don't know how long I'll keep up these monthly updates... at some point you just need to transition to years. But not quite yet.

At 15 months, Logan is starting to mimic people. He's taken to shrieking, and then putting his finger to his mouth and saying "shhh". I find it pretty funny, although I could do without the shrieking. He loves wagon rides, backpack rides, and tricycle rides. His favorite toys are pots and pans, tupperware containers, bottles with caps, buckles, and toothbrushes. He will give kisses, is a master of bye-bye, can go up and down stairs, and get down off the couch. He loves flipping light switches. His new words are barn, deer, MINE!, and Buddy. Which he says over and over and over.

Another significant development this month-- Logan has chosen a blankie. I don't know how he chose this one. There's a pile of baby blankets folded away in his dresser. He opened the dresser door one day and selected a blanket from the very bottom of the pile, yanked it out, and ever since that has been the one. He now sleeps with it, and Mark has seen him go to great lengths to arrange it just so, readjusting it 3-4 times to get it right.

Happy Easter!

I love Easter egg hunts. Its not that cool to love Easter egg hunts as an adult, but now that Logan's here, I can pretend they're for him (they're still for me). This year we got to have a few of his friends over for our egg hunt. There were kids of varying ages so we had a beginner and an advanced course, with eggs color-coded to distinguish between baby-friendly treats (like Lucky Charms and goldfish) and the real stuff. I sent Mark to get the candy... he came back with a TON. Of course you have to test all the different kinds as you're filling the Easter eggs, and by Monday morning all that candy had made us kind of sick and we threw the rest out. It's amazing how fast Logan caught on to candy. He quickly figured out to pick the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms, and the M&Ms out of my cheerio/raisin/M&M mixes. It's probably a trait passed down in his genes.

Hunters ready to go:

Looking for eggs:

The little guys humored us for a little while, but they were really much more interested in getting a ride in the wagon. This is Logan's favorite activity these days.

The Elk also stopped by for Easter.

A few more pictures of Logan and his Easter loot:

We had Easter dinner with the Goetz's and came home with a new toy for Logan-- Aidan's outgrown tricycle. Logan loves it! He's ridden it every day this week. I just hope it lasts on our dirt roads and bumpy fields.

Updates & Spring Break Part 2

For anyone that's wondering, the fire is out (having never come near our house), the mountain of snow at the top of our driveway has mostly but not entirely melted, and the tree has fallen (it had a little help from Mark).

For Spring Break part 2, Logan and I made a weekend trip home to CT to see my mom and Ginny. I was a little terrified of flying alone with him. I know plenty of people fly alone with two kids and I shouldn't be complaining. Logan did fine, but it was totally exhausting coming up with a new toy or snack or distraction every 2 minutes for 4.5 hours.

We had a nice visit, despite some teething-induced crabbiness. I feel like I use the teething excuse a lot, but with only 8 out of 20 teeth in, that excuse has some life left. He got to meet his 3 year old "cousin" Keira, whom he loved. She liked him too, and wanted to take him home with her (not a bad idea, I thought, for a night or two). Charlie the cat was a big hit too. We spent a few hours chasing him around the yard and the house before he finally got fed up and scratched Logan. Logan was not deterred... he kept right on chasing. We rounded out the weekend with trips to the park, stacking cups with Grandma, baths in the sink (my go-to activity when I'm out of all other ideas) and a ride on the carousel horse. That scab on Logan's nose is a result of a running fall into a bucket of sidewalk chalk last week at daycare-- his first real wound.