Christmas 2010

Nonny and Poppy came to us for Christmas this year. It was nice not to have to pack up and go with our cramped year-end work schedules. Their schedules are pretty flexible these days, which works to our advantage!

It was a relaxing weekend, with Christmas morning as the highlight of course. After opening gifts and eating breakfast we headed to ICE at the Gaylord Texan hotel. I joked with Andrew that we should just spend Christmas Eve night at the hotel next year. There was so much to do and see. It was 9 degrees in the exhibit, so we didn't linger long. We enjoyed hot cocoa afterward and strolled the hotel enjoying the decor. Logan especially liked the train village in the main courtyard.
I'm still amazed that the entire exhibit is made of ice!






Logan left cookies and milk out for Santa. Mom says she thinks Santa prefers homemade cookies, but he seemed to like our Nilla Wafers just fine. Every time we give Logan a glass of milk now he asks if it is Santa's milk.



Logan's showing us his favorite ornaments before bed on Christmas eve.

Santa brought Logan a TMX Elmo (and I think Andrew and I like it more than he does), new boots (he must've known that Lucy ate Logan's first pair), the James engine for his train set, and a puppy pillow pal. He also filled his stocking with Cars vehicles, batteries, a coloring book and new crayons.

We had so much fun watching Logan open his gifts. He really got it this year and quickly moved from one toy to the next. When he wanted to open another gift, he just grabbed one from under the tree and started ripping it open whether it was his gift or not. I'm so looking forward to all the fun Christmases ahead.

What's all this?

You mean it's for me?! (notice how he's already wearing his new boots in this picture)

Trains!

Logan really likes these picture frames from Mimi - a golf cart and a dump truck.



18 wheeler from cousins Lauren and Lenzy.

Giant Thomas the Train sticker/color book from cousins Addi and Olivia

Thomas computer. Though he can sing most of his ABCs, he's starting to recognize the letters, too.




The aftermath.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas happenings

Logan helped Andrew set the tree up several weeks ago.


On Friday Logan had his class Christmas party. I always get a kick out of how cute they all look sitting at their little tables in an orderly manner. I loved the table cloth and centerpiece - nice touch Ms. Tabby. Logan was dressed in his party attire courtesy of Nonny.





I bought a few kid's Christmas CDs for the car. A few weeks ago I was blaring Celine and when I looked back at Logan at the end of Oh Holy Night he had his hands over his ears. It was hilarious. I explained to him that he could always ask me to turn it down. He remembers that and now I frequently hear, "turn it down, mommy" from the back seat.

Logan has two favorite songs from his CDs - The Grinch and Caroling, Caroling. I don't recall ever knowing the latter, and I don't know what his draw to it is either. Love the Grinch song, though, and am trying to convince him he likes the Chipmunks and Muppets, too.

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great visit to Omaha for Thanksgiving. We didn't get any snow, which was nice, but it was still very cold - 17 degrees or so. I can tolerate a dry cold. Since Logan just turned 2, he had his own seat on the plane for the first time. It was great! While you don't have to put children in car seats on the plane, we heard from a few friends that it was the way to go so that he would feel contained and not want to crawl in our laps. Worked great! He was a little nervous after take-off each way, but I just got real close to him and let him know he would be okay.

Thanksgiving morning we headed to the club for brunch. Mimi was nice to take the kiddos downstairs to burn some energy running in the halls so the rest of us could relax and catch up. On the elevator on their way back upstairs, Logan pushed the bell button. Mimi was glad it didn't ring long. Andrew heard the bell and asked who did it. Judy's response, "who do you think?" Pretty much sums up what we're in store for over the next few years!

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon and Matt, Kristi, and the girls came over that night for dinner. Logan is at an age where we don't feel like we have to watch him every second, especially if Olivia is around to report to us. Logan and the girls spent a lot of time in the basement playing.


Friday morning we headed to Mulhol's nursery to see some reindeer. Logan wouldn't cooperate for pictures, but take my word for it - we saw two reindeer hanging out behind a chain-link fence in the back of the nursery by the Christmas trees.
Andrew threw Logan in the ball pit while I wasn't looking. Just realized it while posting.

After the reindeer, we went to a pond at Boy's Town where all the geese gather. Looks like a lot, but there were tons more that I didn't get in the shot, too.


Bob's camera was on the wrong setting on the first trip, so Andrew and Logan had to go back Saturday for round two. A goose bit Logan's finger. They were a little too close for comfort.


Logan also learned that light bulbs are hot. Judy has a light on a plant in the living room during the winter. Logan just reached out and touched it. He was pretty upset to find out how hot it was. We put some ice on it and it got lots of kisses. He was fine after a few minutes, but when we see lights now, he is very good to remind us that lights are hot.

Saturday night we headed to Matt and Kristi's for dinner and to celebrate Logan's birthday again. The kids ran circles around the house most of the time. Judy got them all matching PJs and we got a few pretty good shots of them sitting still by Kristi's kid's tree. I was shocked we were able to get them still and smiling because it was getting late.

Logan had another (yummy) train cake and blew out the candles on his first try again. No one believed he did it, so they re-lit them and he had to show them again.





On Sunday we headed to the Happy Hollow for brunch again, followed by a gingerbread house party. Andrew was in the zone decorating Logan's house. Logan only cared about eating the M&Ms. We had no idea what was going on at the table until we looked at the pictures later. Looks like Addi and Logan did a great job entertaining each other.






Logan's house


Olivia's house


Addi's house. Or should I say Kristi's house?

32 down. . .

and only 8 (OMG!) to go!

Santa!

We love to talk, read, and sing about you, Santa, but. . . .

Several weeks ago I took Logan for a haircut, and then we ran by the mall to look for a coat for our Thanksgiving trip to Omaha. We were at the mall before stores opened and I noticed Santa's helpers preparing for his arrival. It was the first day he was to be there. Logan was the first child at Hulen Mall in 2010 to have his picture with Santa. I'm glad that Santa's suit was probably freshly dry-cleaned and didn't have all the mall kid germs on it yet.

2 Year Stats

Logan's 2 year doctor's appointment was bittersweet. He got his one last vaccine until he's 4 (I think). He was also weighed on the real scale for the first time. While I'm so excited that we're done with shots for a while, I'm sad that this phase is over. He's a big boy now for real. Logan's Dr. is the most wonderful man ever. He teared up before we left and made us promise to bring Logan to some of our visits with Aaron. Maybe Dr. McGehee really does have a special place in his heart for Logan, or maybe he tells all the moms the great things he tells me, but whichever it is, it does make me feel like a proud mom.

Logan weighs 30 pounds and is 35 1/4" long. 75th-ish percentile for both. Logan jumps on our bathroom scale every once in a while and yells out, "25 pounds!" I don't remember ever making a big deal about weighing him, but I guess about 5 pounds ago we must've done something to make him do that.

How would I describe Logan right now? Hmmm. I'm beyond needing to comment on vocabulary. He's talking. Most people can understand what he says, especially if he repeats it. And those terrible two's I mentioned months go, those didn't last long. I've been meaning to retract that post; it was just a 2 week phase or so. He still has fits, don't get me wrong, but they're quickly resolved if we can communicate our way through them. Distraction is also a great tool for us.

Dropping him off for school is getting really time-consuming. He dilly dallies. He wants to touch everything on our way to his classroom. "What's dat?" is his new favorite phrase, even if he knows exactly what that is. And if we ask him to answer that question for himself his best response is, "I dunno." And we are working on "yes." I guess one or both of us must use "uh huh" or "mmm huh" because this his how he answers us.

Cars, trucks, trains, dinosaur noises, rough play, hide and seek, chase - these are a few of his favorite things. He is certainly still all boy. And still a total momma's boy, which I love! He and Andrew have way more fun together right now, especially since I'm pregnant, but when they're done or if something goes sad, he comes runnin' straight to me. It's the best!

Logan is into everything now. He has several stools in the house and will carry them to where ever it is he needs to be a little taller. While this makes for a lot of emptied drawers and messes, he is very good not to touch things in drawers after I've told him once not to touch them. His dilly-dallying nature makes it difficult for him to focus when it is time to pick all said messes up. Sigh.

This is the most fun phase so far. Logan is a joy to be around. He's full of great expressions, his own quirks and opinions. And he's funny! Mom came to visit again the week after Thanksgiving while we had some work done at the house and one evening we were getting ready to go to dinner and run an errand. Mom was in the guest room getting ready and I was tidying the kitchen. I heard Logan say, "I go put it in my piggy bank" as he headed out of the kitchen. It took me a second to register what he had said, then I thought - what in the world is he going to put in there?! So I followed him into the living room and noticed a huge wad of cash in his hand. I died laughing and looked at the kitchen table to notice my mom's small purse wide open. Several times last month he had the opportunity to add to his piggy bank so he's familiar with the idea. We're just glad he knows to save money and not spend it, I guess.

Twinkle Twinkle

Logan's memory and vocabulary never ceases to amaze us. He speaks in full sentences much of the time and knows most of the words to the songs we sing regularly. Here's a video in the car a couple weeks ago. The first time I realized he knew all the words.

Birthday Weekend

Logan's birthday weekend was eventful. On Friday my parents arrived and Logan and Poppy cleaned off the driveway for the party.


That night mom started on cake assembly as Andrew built Logan's train table.



First thing Saturday morning we headed to Portrait Innovations for Logan's 2 year pictures. There's a good reason to pay for a "real" photographer. We were very rushed at our session and didn't get very good pictures. Logan felt the pressure to perform and wouldn't let go of me. BUT we did get a few pictures that we were happy enough with.

Immediately after pictures, we headed to Charlie's birthday party at the park. Charlie and Logan share a birthday, but Charlie is one year older. It was a great party as the kiddos could just run loose and burn some energy.




Happy Birthday Charlie!

On Sunday, we took it easy around the house and played with the new toys.