And a partridge in a pear tree

We had an excellent Christmas!  Logan was VERY excited about Christmas this year.  He loved the advent calendar I created (although tracking it for 25 days was much too long for a 3 year old's attention span, even with candies attached).  He loved the Christmas tree and outside house lights.  He called Santa "Christmas" half the time, asking when Christmas was going to get here.  And, although we didn't get a chance to see snow this holiday, he talked about that nonstop as well.  It was definitely holiday time here at our house!

My parents, Zane (and his girlfriend Norma who we met for the first time!) and Kai all joined us on Christmas Eve for a yummy tamales dinner and gift giving (after the kids were both down for bed).  In recent years my parents have done a (really nice) White Elephant gift exchange for Christmas.  This year, there was a theme: kaleidoscopes.  Jon and I scored some really nice ones!  :)  (Sadly, I didn't snap any pictures during our Christmas Eve festivities although I did get a couple of Logan checking out my prized "win" on Christmas morning)

Christmas morning, my parents and brothers came back over to join us for another big meal and of course, presents.  I had told everyone to arrive at 9am but Logan woke up at 7:30 and immediately started asking if he could open his presents.  It was a ridiculously long hour and a half of distraction.  ;-)

Logan and Callum received an absurd amount of gifts!  I think we'll have to pare down our current toy collection in order to make room for all the new stuff that joined us this year.  That said, we all had a grand time - Logan loved his new presents and Callum loved playing with all of (Logan's) new toys.  ;-)

This is for ME?!?

Logan helping Callum open his present

WHOA!!! A rocket ship!!

Mommy's favorite - a wooden "memory" game

The rocket ship was the favorite of all toys, I have to say

The "big kids" got a present too - Santa left an Xbox Kinect with a few games (Dance Central, Sports and Kinectimals) as well.  Logan liked watching everyone play, but had some trouble playing himself, since a lot of the games required reading directions and/or knowing your left and rights very well.  So, it didn't hold his interest as long as I had hoped - but I think he'll enjoy it soon enough.  Daddy had a blast (with Zane and Kai) playing the Sports games while Mommy fell in love with Dance Central.

What did Santa hide back there?

 

 

 

I just love this series of my brothers - they're "running" hurdles btw :)

Logan and Callum gave us gifts too!  Logan made a colorful Christmas tree decoration and Callum ('s teachers) put together a gorgeous frame of pictures and hand print.  I loved them both!!  :)

Check out how BIG Callum's handprint is!  ;-)

In between game playing, we had a yummy feast and visiting.  What a merry Christmas indeed!

The above are just some of my very favorites, to see a number of other snapshots throughout the day, make sure to visit Callum's album.

The Grovester

"Shedding" from our neighbor's palm tree after a recent rainstorm.

My friend Amanda recently mentioned she hasn't seen any pics of Grover on the blog lately, and this is why.

Hey look Mom, instant playtoy!

The furry monster is constantly playing, jumping, running, hopping... pretty much a blur in our household.

One of the many reasons why I mistakenly call him Lola.

Like, ALL. THE. TIME.

To do: Enable child safety locks

Can you see this? This is my toddler, who just figured out last night that he can open the car door (making the indoor dome light turn on, which he loves).

While we were driving.

Small heart attack for Mom.

You're welcome future daughter-in-law

Not only do I not have to worry about him spilling his juice, he gets a coaster to put his cup on, all by himself. Ha!

8 months old

Well, it comes to no surprise that Callum quickly picked up on his rocking and scooting and elevated it to full on CRAWLING in just a few short days! He's been making his way around the house on his very own for many many weeks now and is becoming an old pro. He's also extremely eager to stand - and pulls himself up on anything he is able to (when he's strong enough, some of the taller pieces of furniture still allude him). He'll "walk" a few steps while holding onto your fingers but he hasn't quite got the balance down enough to take a few steps on his own. In due time - we know it's around the corner!

He doesn't speak anything more than cooing, babbling, and a constant stream of "dadadadada" :) but he knows what he wants and how to get it. If you walk into the room that he's in, and he wants you to pick him up, he'll immediately crawl to your feet and PULL on your pant legs, whining at the same time, until you give in (or until he escalates to crying if he's really upset, tired or hungry).

He's doing really well at eating - and even though he's been battling one ear infection after another, he's still able to take down a bottle or put a jar of food away no problem. I had started him on some "puffs" and yogurt melts, to give him some practice at picking small objects up with his fingers, but because he's been so sick, it hasn't gone really well (he LOVES to eat them, but if he gets one caught down his throat the wrong way, or inhales one mid-cough, that's the end of the puff AND all of the peas, or squash or yogurt we just fed him, since the choking leads to puking everything back up). So, we're taking a break on "harder" solids for now and sticking with the stuff that doesn't cause him to lose his meal.

He did get a chance to try some juice for the first time this past weekend. Since he's been on so many anti-biotics, the doctors have told us to keep him REALLY hydrated, but on the flip side, milk isn't great when you've got a head cold and are congested, so Dr. Safir gave us the ok this past week to start giving a bit of juice or water instead. Callum was more interested in biting the sippy cup's handles and nipple than he was at drinking the juice. :)

He now has both bottom front teeth in, quite visible and sharp as all hell. A third has been threatening to appear (next to his bottom front left) for a few days now - which makes it hard to tell if all the biting and mouthing and drooling and runny nose is due to (yet) another cold, or just more teething?

Along with (or because of?) the teething and cooing, Callum has discovered his lips and tongue. He absolutely LOVES to play with his lips and make sounds while plucking them with his fingers. And, he's recently discovered the fun art of clicking his tongue - which he does all the time, but particularly if I'm not fast enough with the food at the dinner table. ;-)

In fact, now that he's mobile, sounds are taking on a whole new meaning for Callum. He is free to pick up anything he sees and throw it, drop it, or most often, bang it on the floor or other hard surface. He seems to be pretty curious as he tests out everything he sees to figure out the sound it makes and what happens when he drops it or hits it on something else. It can be nerve-racking for us (not to mention, it upsets Logan anytime Callum rips apart a train track or two from his table!), but we know it's all just a part of the learning and soaking in that he's doing right now. :)

While we love Callum to pieces, we definitely are getting tired of the mid-night wake up calls. It's particularly trying when Logan wakes up too, and/or the two of them are sick. But, we're doing the best we can right now. Days when Logan and Callum are peacefully playing side by side in the living room, with Logan talking to his best friend and expecting answers back, definitely make it all worth while. :)

3 years old

Here it is over 3 weeks past my son's third birthday and I'm finally getting around to posting.  I think I've decided that I can't keep up with the monthly updates, and will just have to move to yearly from here.  It was a good run while it lasted Logan!  ;-)

So what can I say about Mr. Logan?  I say it every time (and I'm sure at some point I'll stop saying this), but this is now my favorite age!  I recently received my monthly newsletter from Babycenter about Logan titled:  Your Little Chatterbox

And oooohhhh, how true that is!

I would say that's the biggest change and development in Logan overall.  Every minute, every hour, every day, every month - he picks up additional words that just crack us up.  We have no idea where he hears them half the time but his ability to immediately recognize meaning and patch these new words into sentences (usually correctly!) is astounding.

Mommy, can I have some juice?

Sure.  (pours a glass of juice)

But I want some sugar in it.  I want A LOT of sugar!

(We normally add half water to his juice, because we've told him the juice has too much sugar in it... so our best guess is, he now thinks water is also called sugar... *shrug*)

He's also VERY interested in "bad words".  Everything is now a bad word.  And, he's quick to let you know it.

No Mommy, "fine" is a bad word.

Mommy, "I don't know" is a bad word.

Mommy, "stop that" is a bad word.  Don't say that.

Just the other day, while I was in the kitchen cooking our holiday dinner, Logan was playing in the living room with Callum.  I could hear Logan directing and talking to Callum nonstop - telling him what to do, what to play with, what to look at.  I then heard Callum whine - and I heard Logan say something about "that" being "his toy" and Callum couldn't play with it.  I yelled from the kitchen - Logan, you need to share your toys with Callum.

Logan yelled back, "But, it's not a party in here!"

I guess we're only sharing toys at parties now.

With all the energy Logan has day in and day out, he's often times too busy playing to pay attention or listen to his Mom and Dad.  I can't tell you how many times we have to tell him to listen to us, and when he's not listening, he gets a timeout. I fear it's going to be a constant battle with him - to pay attention and listen to what we have to say or are telling him to do.  It's also kicking us in the ass - since there are times where Jon or I have work to do, or chores to do, or heaven forbid, want to engage in a conversation between each other.  It's usually at that very moment, that Logan tries to interrupt, yelling at one or both of us:

Mommy!  Daddy!  Mommmmmmmm!  Listen to me!!

And then the guilt sets in.  ;-)

A few weekends ago, I needed to stop by the pharmacy on our way home from swimming class.  Logan was full of energy and happy to be out of the house.  While at the checkout stand, he was busy using the shopping cart as his personal jungle gym, crawling up and down and in and out while I'm trying to pay and get the hell out of there before he breaks something (or a limb).  He's talking nonstop the entire time - pausing between jumps and climbs to wave and bellow out "Hi!" at the top of his lungs at each new person who walks by or enters the store.

The cashier (probably a grandmother herself), was laughing and commented to me, "He sure does have a lot of energy, doesn't he?"  To which I responded, "Yep, and this is after just finishing up a half hour swim class!"

She was a little surprised.

Because he's running around so much, I guess it makes sense that he'll fall or hit his head from time to time.  The nice thing is, we have a tough little boy.  Often times, immediately after bonking his head on something, he'll yell out to me:

I'm okay Mom!

and then return to his playing.  Before I even get a chance to look up.

It's one of the many reasons why I love that Logan attends preschool actually.  He's outside, playing in the yard, and running off this endless energy, at least 4-5 times a day.  I could never keep up with him on a regular basis on my own!

As I was getting him dressed today, to get ready for the movies with Daddy (Jon's taking him to see Tangled again, since the last outing with me he didn't fare so well), all he wanted to do was climb and jump on me and tackle me to the ground.

Mom, let's tackle and punch ourselves!

Punch ourselves?  No, we don't punch people.

Yes we do!  You have to punch nicely.  Daddy punches nicely.

Daddy punches nicely?

Yeah, because we're tackling.

Oh I see.

I later told this to Jon, who then laughed asking Logan to show him how to punch nicely - at which point Logan socks the shit out of Jon's chest.  Yes.  Nicely.  I guess we need to work on the meaning of that word some more.  (or perhaps, get him to learn not to punch at all?!)

Another one of Logan's latest interests is peeing and pooping.  Not the potty training stuff - he's a master at that (to the point that half the time, we don't even bother helping him in the bathroom since he does it all himself!).

No, it's the TOPIC of talking about peeing and pooping.  Really, I thought that we'd have a few more years before this started.  But, I guess it hits at a much earlier age.  In fact, at a recent neighborhood holiday party we went to, the "older" 6-8 year old boys that Logan was infatuated with and following around nonstop, thought the little 3 year old who wouldn't stop talking about peeing and pooping was REALLY WEIRD.

It usually goes something like this:

Mom, I'm going to pee on you!  

Callum, I'm going to poop on you!

Followed by something like this:

And that, my friends, is the epitome of sibling love right there.

Makeshift changing table

At dinner celebrating my dad's birthday. The little Italian joint we're at didn't have a changing table so I pulled a couple of spare chairs in, instead. ;-)