Week 38-39 3/10-3/22

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One thing is for sure. I am glad that I started this blog. I just read the previous post so I knew everything to include in this one and it is amazing how many new things Logan has learned just in two weeks! As you can see from the photo, he now waves. It has to be one of the most precious, heartwarming things to walk into a room and have your son smile and wave at you. I know I say that with a lot of the new things he learns and I'm sure I'll continue to be impressed and overjoyed with all the new things he does. Each new thing is so special.

He still says Da-da on a semi-normal basis and has also started to say Duh when the dogs are close to him. I've heard something that sounds a lot like Ma-ma when he's crying, but I refuse to accept it as a real Ma-ma until I get it in a happy context:) His baby babble is really starting to sound a lot more like true conversation. He also reacts well when you call his name and he understands the word "no" at this point too.

We had to upgrade to the next size car seat since Logan was getting too long for the bucket seat. It's a lot easier to carry him out and strap him in. He was getting way too heavy to lug around in the seat all the time. He likes shopping a lot better since he can sit up in the cart like a big boy. He loves to people watch.

He is getting better at crawling. Now, he'll get up on all fours and then lunge forward. But, he doesn't really want to work on the crawling as much as standing and pulling himself into a stand. His favorite pastime is having Alex or I lay on the floor so he can practice pulling himself up. He can stand for long periods of time by himself too to play with toys and is working hard to perfect his bending over to retrieve dropped toys. Sometimes I think he's dropping them on purpose so he can try to pick them up. I guess it's better than Mommy-pick-up! He also has learned how to furniture walk. He can walk along the couch and will also transfer back and forth to the ottomon or one of us. He's tried to go "no hands" a few times, but promptly falls on his butt.

We've picked up at work a little bit, so Logan has spent a few more days up at Grandma Ginny's daycare. It is a good thing too because he has started to refuse the bottle. We're not quite sure how it happened, but somehow Logan went about a month without having to take a bottle. So, we're slowly trying to get him back in the habit so hopefully I can wean him one of these days.

The weekend before last, Alex and I both played in the Doble. It's a big volleyball tournament one of our friends throws every year with a huge party afterwards. I just played in the tournament and then headed back to get Logan from Grandma's. He still isn't taking a bottle well enough to leave him for too long. Alex ended up staying out there for the night and had a good time at the party.

Last weekend we spent some time with Alex's family. Alex's Uncle Jimmy, cousin Anthony, Anthony's girlfriend Becca, and their daughter Kaylee were up to visit from West Virginia. Kaylee is 10 months old so it was cool to see some of the developmental differences. We went up there for a bar-b-que on Saturday and enjoyed some green beers in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Then, we met them for lunch at The Rain Forest Cafe in Great Lakes Crossing on Sunday.

Last week, Alex wasn't feeling too great and I ended up getting it this week. Logan had some really rough nights this past week and after a doctor's visit on Thursday, we found out he has a double ear infection. He's also getting hit with a double wammy with his top two teeth about to come through. They also increased his Zantac dosage since he now weighs almost 20 pounds. We're hoping the increased Zantac dosage will help since he is still up at least twice a night with the reflux issues. Hopefully, everyone will be healthy by the next posting!

Week 37 3/1-3/8

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Last Thursday, a lot of the stay-at-home/part-time moms from our parent's group decided to meet at Great Lakes Crossing. We usually meet at somebody's house, but it was a nice change of pace to go to the play area at the mall. Here is a pic of all the babies lined up. As you can see, Logan wasn't too happy about the photo op:( From left to right: Parker, Drew, Anastasia, Logan, Adam and Sebastian.

Friday was a busy day. Logan and I went up to Grand Blanc in the morning to take care of some things, then we went grocery shopping and then we were back to the house by 3. Debbie dropped off Anastasia for the night so they could go up to the Whiting to see the opera. One thing is for sure...I am thankful that Logan wasn't a twin. It is definitely a lot crazier with two to take care of...I'm sure I could handle it though (covering myself in case the next pregnancy produces multiples:) But, it was fun to have them interact together. Arnold also got some Red Wings tickets last minute, so Alex and Arnold went to the game and my sister and the girls came over to help out. Alyssa's reaction was funny when she came to the door. She said, "Logan looks different." Of course, I was holding Anastasia so we got a good laugh out of that.

On Saturday, we took the Cruz family out to lunch at a good Mexican place by our house and then we watched the girls while Tamie and Arnold went to get their taxes done. Logan and I had colds since we got back from Florida which we shared with Daddy so it was good to get some R & R on Sunday.

Logan had a big day on Monday. He learned how to army crawl sort of..he looks like an injured soldier dragging himself along. He's so funny because when he gets up on his hands and knees, he always ends up going backwards which makes him very frustrated. Now he's working on reaching out with his hands in the army crawl. So he's got the leg part figured out, now he's working on the hands, and once he puts them together...look out! It's actually pretty surprising how quickly he can move without doing a true crawl. It's been a lot of fun working on it all week.

He also learned how to twist himself out of the Bumbo seat. We had been using that to feed him on the kitchen counter. So, Monday night we put the high chair together and retired the Bumbo chair to the garage. It's a good thing because I have already started to give him more table food for him to try and feed himself. It's really a lot easier in the high chair...once again, we probably should have gotten that out sooner. He loves the teether biscuits and the wagon wheel snacks. The funny thing is that Logan won't try to put smaller things in his mouth (bits of turkey, puffs, etc) . He just likes to play with it. It's rather ironic that the kid puts everything else in his mouth.

On Wednesday night, we had our parent's group. It was the "focus on fathers" meeting where the men all took the babies to play and hear the speaker and the women went out to dinner. Logan had spent the day at daycare so I could get our taxes done and head to Grand Blanc to get some work done. I had a complete brain lapse and ended up not heading home until 6:45 (our meeting starts at 7). But, Alex was a trouper and went to the meeting by himself. I was able to drop Logan off to him at about 7:40 and then I went to meet the girls. He was glad he went to the meeting....even if he did have to show up without a baby. He said the speaker was great. He learned a lot of interesting facts about a child's development in correlation with the father's involvement and it was great to interact with the other fathers. I think all the guys opened up a bit more since we women weren't there:)

Weeks 35-36 2/19-2/28 Florida!

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Well, we did it. Tamie and I successfully managed to take a 5 year-old, a 3 year-old and an 8 month old on an airplane to and from Florida. We left on the 21st and came back on the 27th. It actually wasn't too bad. Much thanks to Stacey for taking us to the airport and picking us up. Not having to worry about parking made things a lot easier. All three kids were great on both flights. We got in later on Wednesday night. My parents came to pick us up in the old motorhome and we stopped at a rest area for dinner and showers before heading back to the park. Have I said how much I love motorhomes and how convenient they make everything?

We spent Thursday at my Mom and Dad's park. The weather was pretty good and we were able to take all the kids swimming and they enjoyed being outdoors. On Friday morning, we headed for Orlando. We stayed at a KOA outside Disney World. It was nice to get there Friday afternoon and have some more time to spend in the pool and playground. My mom got Logan his own little life jacket and he enjoyed swimming around and floating on his back. It's amazing to me how much he seems to like the water. We're definitely going to have to get him in swim classes soon.

Then, we went to Disney World on Saturday and Sunday. I don't care how old you are...the Magic Kingdom is a wonderful, magical place. All three kids were GREAT both days. Logan loved watching the people and seeing all the sights. I ended up carrying him in the Baby Bjorn most of the two days. He seemed to enjoy being up at eye level with everything. He would just shriek with joy and laugh as we walked along. My shoulders were pretty sore after Sunday, but it was worth it.

We actually were able to hit quite a few rides too. I wasn't sure how Logan would react, but he LOVED them. We did the It's a Small World ride, Peter Pan's Flight, the Pirates of the Carribean ride, the Magic Carpet ride, the Jungle Safari Tour, the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, the Winnie the Pooh ride...I'm sure there's some that I'm missing. the only time he got a little scared was in the Pirates of the Carribean ride..it was pitch black and you went down a little waterfall, but he was happy again when the lights came back on.

But, the thing I think he liked the best was the shows and parades. He freaked out a bit on Sunday when he met the Genie from Aladdin. It was funny because the Genie "got his nose" and pinched his cheaks and then Logan decided he was scary and started screaming. But, I can't blame him too much. A big blue guy would be kinda scary to me too if I were that small. They had the Disney Spectromagic parade on Saturday night. It was really cool with all kinds of lights and music. All the characters were dressed up in lighted suits. Logan was in awe. It was funny because he fell asleep hard about 2 minutes after the parade was over. So, I think he had a great time even though he won't remember any of it.

Overall, it was a great week..the perfect amount of excitement, fun and relaxation. But, it was hard to go on vacation without Alex especially with the new experiences at Disney World. So, he'll be sure to join us next time...when Logan is a bit older and can understand everything going on.

Daddy did get a surprise the night before we left though. Alex was in on the computer and I was standing behind him with Logan. I took Logan in to change his diaper and Logan was twisting his neck around, looking back towards the office saying "Da-da-da-da" He proceeded to keep calling to him when I put him down on the changing table. We thought it might just be a fluke, but when Alex came in. Logan smiled and yelled Da-da. Alex left and came back in a few times with the same results. It was really cool! He hasn't said it a lot since then though. Hopefully it wasn't just a fluke!