And We Play All Day

Visiting Oma and Opa

2011-11-23T15:43:00.000-05:00

Opa's 70th birthday was a week or so ago and Paul, Logan, Gibson and I drove down to surprise him and celebrate with he and my mom. As expected, it was a long drive and Opa seemed pretty surprised. While my dad was at work on Saturday morning, Paul, Logan, Gibson and my mom ran some errands for my dad's surprise party. Once Opa came home, everyone except Oma headed out to the local airport to maybe see some gliders and to visit Ivine's farm. No gliders were flying but Paul got to see the airport Logan and I mention often. The weather was beautifully warm and Logan got some time to chase butterflies, pick chicken eggs and find a cool insect! Ivine was so kind to bring Logan a dozen eggs later when she came to Opa's party.

Opa, Gibson, Logan with Green Pig that I won from a claw machine earlier in the day, and me

Logan and the chickens

Logan found a cool caterpillar that we brought back to NY

Logan picking eggs

As time goes by

2011-11-23T15:30:00.000-05:00

As much as I would like to blog more often, getting the computer out, logging on, uploading pictures and writing here hasn't happened as much I would like so there winds up being really long stretches of time when I haven't posted about what we've been up to. Then when I do get some time to post, I'm amazed at how much stuff we have been doing in a relatively short period of time! Here's a bit of what's been happening here....

Water play in the sink. Logan sometimes plays here for hours.

Paul reading "A Bug's Life" with Logan, Gibson and our friend Vera.

Gibson in the wrap while Logan digs for grubs in the garden.

Playing Minecraft with Paul. Sometimes they play World of Warcraft together too.

Check out what Gibson can do! What's not to like about the dishwasher?

We got these "capsules" from Michael's craft store. We put them in warm water and small foam vehicles emerged.

Snuggling with Paul while watching something on TV.

Brothers

2011-11-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

Logan has been an older brother for almost 11 months now and while I figured he would be awesome at it, he surprises me almost daily. He is really protective of Gibson. Logan LOVES to give Gibson kisses and hugs. Being 5, he sometimes he isn't gentle. When I remind him to be gentle he'll mention how cute Gibson is or how cuddly he is. Logan often brings Gibson a toy, even when Gibson is napping, so that when he wakes up he'll have something to play with. A few weeks ago we were getting ready to go somewhere in the car and while Logan was choosing things to take with him for the car ride, he chose something for Gibson. Super sweet.

Bike Riding

2011-09-30T19:40:00.001-04:00

We gave Logan a balance bike for his birthday (5!) last month. For those that aren't familiar with a balance bike, its a bike without pedals. The idea was that Logan would learn how to balance and steer (something he can already do quite well on his scooter) on the bike by pushing himself along with his feet. After an hour or so on the balance bike he declared that it was uncomfortable and wanted a bike "with pedals".

We stopped at a local shop that rents bikes, where Logan tried out a pedal bike that was pretty hard for him to pedal. The owner said that the bike wasn't really assembled properly and we should come back in a week or so once his mechanic had calibrated the pedals better (for young legs). Logan hadn't been interested in stopping by there until a few days ago.

And he now has a bike.

He seems to have no problem with pedaling forward most of the time and when he's "stuck", he lets us know and we give him a push. Stopping hasn't seemed to come as naturally so we can be heard yelling, "PEDAL BACKWARDS!" when one of us (usually Paul) isn't running next to Logan to keep up with him.

He says soon, he's gonna start doing tricks. Oh boy....

We're still here!

2011-08-05T23:57:00.000-04:00

Here's what we've been up to in the last couple of months...

We went strawberry picking in NJ with friends. Logan wasn't so interested in the berry picking but he and the other kids we were with found the John Deere-inspired trikes that were there. It was his first time on a tricycle and he figured it out pretty quickly, despite the rocky terrain.

We visited the aquarium. Each time we go we see something new. Here, Logan is feeling what a fish might feels when another fish swims by.

Gibson discovered that his feet can fit in his mouth. Well, at least his toes can.

We visited the Transit Museum. Such a cool place, especially since Logan is really into trains and buses. Here, he drove the bus and took Gibson and me back to our neighborhood.

Logan in one of the old subway trains. He loves that we can walk between the cars, something that we can't do on the "real" subway. He also gets a kick out of the old trains that had ceiling fans in them.

Fun with water at our local field. He can reach the water fountain!

Gibson and Paul flirt. There is nothing sweeter than a man flirting with his baby.

Logan does some digging at the field while wearing Paul's hat. Note the pink bandana sling. Logan had a greenstick fracture in his left clavicle from me flipping him while playing. We took him to urgent care locally where he experienced getting X-rays. He was pretty upset when the doctor examined him, since he had fallen asleep a few minutes before and woke up to some strange guy in his face telling him he wanted to feel his bones. All in all, the doctor and the X-ray technician were great with him. Logan seemed to really like being able to see the X-rays of his bones on a computer. The doctor recommended Logan keep his arm immobile by wearing a sling. The one they gave him at urgent care fit Paul so we made one out of a bandana.

He is a beautiful kid.

Checking out a book. Logan likes to play a game where he brings me a book and I get really upset because I can't read. He cracks up and brings me book after book while I exclaim, "Not ANOTHER book! I can't read! I don't like books. Don't bring me another one!!!" His laugh is awesome.

Gibson started being able to sit up on his own but sometimes flops over (thus the blue Boppy pillow behind hime). He's grabbing things and playing more and more each day. Logan seems to love that Gibson is doing more things than nurse, sleep, pee/poop.

Gibson LOVES to pull my glasses off my face and play with them. He moves them from hand to hand while babbling and giggling. It's awesome to watch and hear.

Logan discovered the joy of running through sprinklers in our neighborhood. We ran through this one for a while. Logan's hair was soaked by the time he was ready to move on. This seemed like a HUGE thing for him. He hasn't liked getting his head wet since birth. After running through this sprinkler for a while he told me that he's used to his head being wet and it's not so bad.

Gibson chilling out in the stroller at the field. This picture makes my heart smile.

Logan playing in the dirt pile at the field. We have been spending our evenings at the field playing in one of the many dirt piles. It's amazing to see and hear Logan making up stories while he plays there. The day this picture was taken, he was pretending the dirt was being crushed in a rock crusher.

Logan picked out a LEGO police boat when we were at Target. I put it together for him and I guess he really liked it because he fell asleep with it in his hand. Regular sized LEGO is really frustrating for him (and for me sometimes!) so he enjoys watching someone put the item together and then plays with it for hours.

Buses, Scooters and Milkshakes, Oh My!

2011-06-13T02:20:00.003-04:00

Logan has been really interested in city buses lately. We've taken a few rides around Brooklyn because, well, we can! We get to see different neighborhoods and chat along the way. Today Logan wanted to take a bus we had been on before, the B64, but this time he said he wanted to ride to the end. So that's what we did.

We wound up at a bus depot and were looking into the garage where the buses are maintained when a lady dispatcher asked Logan if he wanted to see an Express bus. We climbed up inside and looked around. The dispatcher asked Logan if he wanted me to take a pic of him sitting in the driver's seat. Logan paused for a minute and said, "No thank you. I'll do that at the Transit Museum." The dispatcher laughed.

We found a stop to get on the B64 to head back home and chatted on the bus about our adventure so far. When we got off the bus in our neighborhood, Logan wanted to scoot home on the 2-wheeled Razor scooter he got last week, only when we were in front of our building he wanted to keep going....and going....and going....

We wound up at Rite Aid (one of his favorite jaunts - they have cool cars there) and I could see he was fading. All the adventuring we had been doing and he didn't want to stop to eat anything. So I guided him out of the store and up the block to a diner.

I should pause here and say that I cannot remember the last time we went to a restaurant. Sure we had a slice of pizza and some garlic knots at our local pizza place but an honest, sit down, be waited on restaurant? No way. It was just too hard for him to sit still so we avoided them. Today was different. We sat in the diner and chatted and snuggled with Gibson while we waited for my food and his milkshake. It was a lovely time and yet another reminder of how quickly he changes and grows.

Milkshake (Logan) and grilled cheese (Me) downed and off we went. By now Logan was cold and shivering. I suggested if he moved around he might warm up. And just like that he was off scooting again. He's gotten seriously fast on the thing. I try to keep up best I can but he does have wheels after all! We headed home and spent the rest of the evening watching TV (Food Network), pretending Logan has his own cooking show (called "Impressive Cooking"), snuggling with Gibson and playing some iPhone games.

Pretty darn awesome day with two pretty darn awesome kids. Can't wait to do it again tomorrow!

Evening Walks

2011-06-13T02:16:00.000-04:00

Logan, Gibson and I have been taking evening walks for the last few weeks, when the weather permits. We just wander around usually with no destination in mind. We stop when the mood suits us, chat about what we see or about adventures we've recently had. The other day we were walking along when Logan noticed a round object on the ground that looked to me like a piece of fruit. We noticed a fruit tree (there are a lot in our neighborhood) in the garden of the house we were standing in front of. I said it looked like a peach, Logan agreed, except that it was green.

We decided to bring it home with us and cut it open to see what was inside. Logan had been wearing his new (and first ever) backpack that my cousin Eric sent him so we stuck it in there ("for safe keeping" said Logan) and continued on our walk.

A day or two later we cut it open. I think its an apricot. Logan thinks its a peach. We're gonna go back to that house in week or so to see if any more fall.

Gibson babbles

2011-06-11T01:33:00.001-04:00

Gibson started babbling this evening. I just had to record it because its just. so. cute. See for yourself.

The Birth Story of Gibson Page

2011-06-08T02:45:00.001-04:00

As some of you may know, we planned a home birth this time around. Logan was born in a hospital four years ago and we found the experience to be less than stellar, to put it very politely. I swore from the day he finally came home that I would have a home birth with any other pregnancy.

The birth kit arrived, towels were washed and the birth pool was just waiting to be blown up and used as my "due date", Christmas Eve, came and went. I had been having strong Braxton Hicks contractions for what seemed like weeks and kept thinking I was in labor but really wasn't.

On the morning of December 26, 2010 I awoke around 7 AM and headed to the bathroom where I noticed a little bit of blood. Logan was still asleep but Paul was up as he was supposed to head back to work that same night. I walked into the living room and told Paul that I thought something was happening. Then I sent a text message to my doula, Megan and my midwife, Miriam.

At Miriam's suggestion I had a bit to eat and drink and just tried to relax since I was feeling mild cramps and we thought it would be a while before labor really started to get going. We were very wrong. Within an hour, I was alternating between having contractions in the shower, where the water felt so good and on the toilet. I was afraid I would use too much hot water in the shower and we wouldn't be able to fill the birthing pool so I headed into the living room to sit on the birthing ball that Megan, my doula, gave us.

Around this time, the contractions started to get more intense. Mostly they started in my lower back and radiated toward the front of my lower belly. I started to get scared because neither Megan or Miriam were there. I texted Megan and asked her to come because labor seemed to be ramping up rather quickly.

Megan arrived about a half hour later and I was so relieved to see her that I cried. I was still on the birthing ball in the living room and she and I talked about what I was feeling physically and emotionally. I had another contraction and asked her to use counter pressure on my lower back. The contractions seemed pretty short at this point, yet close together. Megan reassured me that everything that was happening was typical, especially for a second time mom. The next contraction came while I was on the birthing ball and the strangest thing happened - my body started to push!

Megan asked me if my water had broken. I didn't think it had. She asked me to feel inside and I did. My finger was tinged with dark red blood and I could feel something about 3 - 4 inches inside. She said, "um I think I'm gonna call Miriam", my midwife, as I headed back into the shower.

At some point, bending over while standing in the shower turned into me laboring on my hands and knees in the shower. The warm water felt so good during contractions and Megan continued to use counter pressure on my lower back. Periodically my body would push and I could feel the baby moving lower. It wasn't what I would call painful at all. It felt like cramps. I was worried I was going to get tired, that we would run out of hot water since it had been running for about an hour and that Miriam wouldn't get here in time. Megan reassured me that she didn't think I was going to get tired because things were moving so quickly. She also said that traffic was light when she drove over and that Miriam would arrive soon.

A couple of contractions later and I heard Miriam's voice. I was so happy to see her! Between contractions she checked the baby's heartbeat and said everything sounded great. Someone blew up the birthing pool in the living room and started to fill it. I was in the midst of pretty strong contractions by now, with my body pushing through almost every one.

I was surprised that Logan was still asleep since our bedroom is right next door to the bathroom and I felt like I was growling and moaning during contractions. Paul went in to check on Logan and he was awake and crying. Nobody heard him but Megan thinks that Logan was crying and making some noise during the contractions when I was roaring away. I will forever wish that we heard him because I could hear how upset he was. From the beginning of this pregnancy, Logan and I talked about what would happen during the birth. He wanted to be here for it and we wanted him here too but he's a sensitive four year old, especially when it comes to sounds.

Things started to happen more quickly and I'm not 100% sure of the chronology. Paul took Logan into the living room and snuggled and held him. My water broke. I did my best to rest between contractions. Miriam checked the baby's heartbeat again and it sounded great. Someone poured a pot of warm water that was heated on the stove into the tub since we were out of hot water by then. Megan and Miriam asked me a number of times if I wanted to get in the birth pool since I really wanted a water birth. I told them that the baby was gonna be born in the bathroom - no birthing pool for me!

I heard Miriam ask Megan to go get Paul. I knew the baby was close to coming out now from the contractions getting stronger and my body pushing so hard. Megan went into the living room and watched a movie with Logan while Paul came into the bathroom. He continued to use counter pressure on my lower back. Miriam asked me if I could kneel in the tub so I could have the water birth I wanted. I said nope, I was staying on my hands and knees. It was the most comfortable position for me. I heard Miriam explain to Paul what was going to happen once the baby was out. He was to hand him to me between my legs and I would turn over to be sitting in the tub.

The next contraction came and I could feel the burning sensation everyone told me about. I knew the baby was close but after the contraction I felt the baby slide back in! It was the strangest feeling because I had no idea that could happen. Miriam said that with each contraction the baby would come a little further down but might slide back in. I think I had two more contractions and I heard Miriam say, "I can see eyebrows. Can you push again?" I said no. We waited for the next contraction and it was a doozy. My body pushed and I felt more burning followed by Miriam saying, "I can see a chin now." After the next contraction I could hear crying, but Gibson wasn't fully out of my body yet. Paul was crying and Miriam was laughing about the baby crying when not completely born.

Another contraction, or maybe two, and the baby was completely out. Paul caught the baby, which is something I know he had looked forward to. I rolled over and sat in the tub while Miriam and Paul handed the baby to me. I looked down and saw that the baby was a boy! Gibson Page Marconi. I kept saying "I did it!" over and over. Miriam said I did awesome. Gibson's eyes were closed and he was covered with vernix. He looked so beautiful and I checked to see if he had 10 fingers and 10 toes.

I stayed in the tub with Gibson for quite a while. Megan brought Logan to see Gibson but Logan wasn't interested. He and Megan went back into the living room to continue watching a movie and the snow fall as the storm was starting. Once the cord stopped pulsing, Paul cut it. I birthed the placenta and nursed Gibson in the tub. I heard Paul and Miriam talk about the time of Gibson's birth - 10:22 A.M. I had an intense and fast 3 hour labor! Eventually Gibson and I got out of the tub and headed to the bedroom for a snuggle.

Miriam and Megan cleaned up and got us all something to eat. Logan climbed into bed with Paul, Gibson and me but once Gibson made a little cooing sounds, Logan went into the living room again. Miriam examined Gibson and me. She weighed him and said, "oh no you didn't!" I thought Gibson had pooped on her scale but it turns out I had birthed an 8 lb 8 oz baby! Miriam was shocked because Logan was 2 lbs smaller and while she told me that second babies are often larger than the first, neither of us expected him to be so much larger.

Gibson and I nursed and snuggled in bed for the rest of the day while Paul and Logan played. What a day! I had a hard time sleeping because I kept replaying everything that happened over in my head. The whole experience was truly amazing. My body did exactly what it needed to and there was no way I could stop it, even if I tried. I will forever be grateful that I was able to have a beautiful home birth with my family and Megan and Miriam's guidance.

In the last month

2011-06-06T19:18:00.000-04:00

I got an iPhone last month and have really been enjoying taking pictures with it. Here's a bit what we've been up to in the last month since I got the new toy...

Logan and Gibson snuggling

Exploring in the front garden

Ice cream from the local ice cream truck

Lots of train play

Garlic knots

Raised Painted Lady butterflies and set them free

Visit Oma and Opa at the lake in New Jersey

Logan caught his first fish

Gibson and Oma snuggle

Getting a closer look at a grub we dug up in the front garden

Playing and chatting with friends

Logan learning how to ride a 3 wheeled scooter

Logan learning how to ride 2 wheeled scooter

Logan in wrap

This is what Gibson and I look like during our adventures. Logan says he looks forward to when Gibson doesn't sleep through our fun.

Change

2011-06-04T19:55:00.000-04:00

Our lives have changed immensely since I last wrote here....um....almost a year ago. I'm not even sure where to begin.

Gibson was born the day after Christmas. It was an amazing birth and I will post his birth story here to keep for posterity. We all had a tough time figuring out how to be a family of four but with family and friend's support, I think (I hope!) the really rough stuff is behind us. Logan has really taken to being Gibson's older brother and our days are again filled with play and joy and laughter.

My plan with resurrecting this blog is to post pictures with brief captions of our day to day adventures so friends and family can see what we're up to. I recently got an iPhone and I'm hoping mobile blogging will make things easier and more fun.

I'm that mom

2010-07-26T23:16:00.002-04:00

The following was inspired by this post. Many other moms and dads who I admire followed suit over the last few days with their own versions. Here's mine....

I'm that mom that loves spending her days with an almost four-year old. The one who doesn't mind holding his hand while he walks down or up steps because he's sometimes unsure of himself. The one who will put on his shoes even though some might say he's old enough to do it himself. The mom who will carry him when he feels scared. One who will gladly leave any place, be it supermarket, park or someone's home when he's uncomfortable and sounds upset him.

I'm that mom who is taking videos and pictures of him playing in huge, muddy puddles. The mom that takes great joy in watching him figure out the world and how he fits into it. The mom that would gladly go on walk with him to talk about whatever it is that interests him that day. The mom that stops to smell the flowers and look at bugs all because he finds them fascinating and new.

I'm that mom who just got up in the middle of writing this to get him a glass of chocolate milk.

I'm that mom. And I'm proud and happy to be.

Painted Lady Butterflies

2010-05-27T00:03:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago we ordered some butterfly larvae so we could watch them grow, change and eventually become butterflies. We released them a few days ago and already Logan is asking when we can get more larvae.

The larvae arrived in a cup full of food for them to grow and become pupa. In 24 hours, the caterpillars were twice their size! We watched them move around for a few days and the cup started to get cloudy looking because the caterpillars were strewing silk everywhere. Then we noticed they were hanging out at the top of the cup. A day or two later, and the caterpillars became pupa hanging upside down from the top of the cup. We had four pupa!

Now it was time to carefully move them to their habitat or "garden" so they could freely move around when they become butterflies. We opened the cup, pulled the silk off the paper where the pupa were attached and pinned it to the inside of the new habitat. And then we waited.

About a week later, I went to check on them and three of the four had become butterflies. Paul had checked on them a few hours before and they had not yet come out of their chrysalis. I called to Logan and he came running in. The first thing he said when he saw them was, "wow, that's amazing!" We brought the habitat out to the dining room and fed them some sugar water and orange slices. We watched them for hours. There wasn't much movement from them just yet and Logan REALLY wanted them to move around. I kinda forgot how frustrating it can be for a 3-year-old to wait!

While we were watching the three butterflies pump their wings and walk around, the fourth butterfly emerged. The wings were tiny and within a few minutes, the butterfly looked just like the others. They all seemed to rest for a while and eventually they found their food. It was fascinating to watch them eat with their "straw".

A couple of days later and I was starting to feel badly that these beautiful creatures were being contained in the habitat. I asked Logan if he was ready to let them go and we talked about it at great length. He said he wanted to feed them. So we put some fresh orange slices in. I asked him if he was ready to let them go later that day. Nope. He wanted to make sure he fed them. We talked about how the butterflies would find things to eat out in the world, be able to fly more freely and enjoy the flowers. We talked about the life cycle of a Painted Lady Butterfly, which is about 4 weeks from larvae to adult butterfly. Logan said he didn't want them to die. Oh boy. I told him they will die and we talked again about how they will be able to enjoy the outdoors before they die. No deal.

The next day we watched the butterflies for a while and I asked if he was ready to let them go. He said he wanted to feed them with the "green thing". Oh! Silly Mama! The green thing, of course! When we got the habitat for the butterflies it came with an elongated green eye-dropper to feed the butterflies sugar water. So I loaded up the "green thing" with sugar water and Logan squirted some in for the butterflies. Now he was ready to let them go.

He carefully carried the habitat to the door and got in the stroller. He decided he wanted to let them go at the nearby field. So we headed down there, the whole time Logan saying, "I'm holding on them tight!" As soon as we got outside the butterflies went nuts flying all over the habitat. They seemed to know we were going to let them go.

We got to the field and Logan picked a tall tree to release the butterflies. I got the camera ready and took a video. Then we spent about an hour looking for them in the field. We actually found two of them! As we were getting ready for bed later the same day I asked Logan what he thought the butterflies were doing. "Oh they're in California now. They flew the whole way there!"

checking out the larvae the day they arrived

butterfly hanging out at the top of the habitat

logan checking out the butterflies

holding onto the habitat tightly while taking them to the field

one of the butterflies that we found after logan released them

Vehicles

2010-04-15T01:50:00.001-04:00

There are quite a few vehicles that inhabit our home. Cars, trucks, bulldozers, motorcycles, airplanes, helicopters, I think you get the idea. The collection got started with one single Prius that Paul bought when Logan was 18 months old. It has grown since then.

You might be wondering why I mention this. So what? We live with a 3 year old that likes vehicles. What makes that so blog-worthy? The fact that Logan knows what each and every vehicle is (type, make/model) and where he got them. I know some people may be shocked at the size of Logan's collection and think there is no way he could possibly play with them all. Some may think Paul or I should get rid of some of the vehicles. Well, that's not how we roll around here. Just as I would never think to get rid of some of Paul's movies or music CDs (and for those that have never been to our home, there are plenty) and he would never think to throw out any of my yarn (oh the horror!) we wouldn't throw out/give away/get rid of any of Logan's stuff. He loves his vehicles and believe it or not, he does play them. Every. Single. One. He empties the bin that the vehicles live in (quite a few also live on our bay window sill) and talks about them for hours some days. Some days he asks for a vehicle that he hasn't played with in weeks, sometimes months. And because my memory isn't as great as his, I take a little longer trying to figure out which vehicle he's looking for. We always find it somewhere in the house or car. And that's the way its gonna stay. Until Logan decides he doesn't want the vehicles around anymore. And Paul decides he doesn't want his movies and music around anymore. And I decide I don't want yarn around anymore.

It's Papa Time!

2010-04-15T01:33:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I walk into the room and see Paul and Logan and some seriously cool play. Things I would never think of doing. I try to snap a few pics and not disturb them. This particular day I walked in to see all of Logan's trees and street lights set up. Not sure what was happening but both Logan and Paul looked very intense.

Bronx Zoo

2010-04-15T01:24:00.000-04:00

Logan has become interested in animals over the last year or so. Paul bought the Planet Earth series on Blu-Ray when Logan was an infant, not knowing that Logan and I would spend a lot of time watching the DVDs. When I found out that the Bronx Zoo has a new inhabitant, a snow leopard (like the ones we saw on Planet Earth), I mentioned it to Logan. He wanted to see it. So one warm winter afternoon we spontaneously decided to head up to the Bronx.

The zoo was empty. Fantastic for a kid who doesn't like crowds or large groups of kids. We quickly found a map and headed toward the bears and Himalayan animals. We watched the polar bear pace outside. Logan wasn't interested. He wanted to see the snow leopard. We found the snow leopard area but there was no sign of Leo (the name I'm going to assume the zoo gave him). I kept thinking, "there is NO way we are going to leave the zoo without finding the snow leopard. Logan wanted to see him and we're gonna find him!" Then we walked around the corner and there was Leo pacing back and forth. His paws were just as huge as we thought they would be. He walked closer to us, climbed up on a rock and made a sound that we never expected. Not a roar or a meow. It was truly remarkable and unexpected. And loud. Quickly, Logan's interest in Leo waned. We were out of there!

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at reptiles, amphibians, fish, the rhinoceros and then I was on a quest to find the giraffes. Now, I know that giraffes are not cold weather animals but I could swear I read on the zoo's website that there was a building where visitors could see the giraffes inside. I asked around. Nope, can't see the giraffes until the weather warms up. Logan was up for a walk over (ok he was really riding in the rental stroller) to the giraffe building and there they were in all their tall-necked spotted glory. Logan couldn't take his eyes off of them. We had talked about how tall giraffes are before our trip to the zoo, but really what isn't tall to a 3 year old? I knew it was the kind of thing that needed to be seen in person to grasp their size. I'm still amazed at their size! We got some great pics and watched them for a while.

We wandered around the zoo until it closed. I think we will be heading up there again in the next couple of months, if only to see the elephants. Logan really wants us to find out what "that purple" thing in the tank near the rhino ("no mama! that's a rhinoceros!).

Phrases

2010-02-21T21:15:00.000-05:00

We think Logan started saying a few word phrases when he was around 2 1/2. I say "we think" because looking back on videos he was clearly speaking earlier than we originally thought. A few weeks ago we watched a video from when he was 18 months old. In it, Logan was pointing to his ear and nose while saying, "eah", "no". Yup, he was talking. We just didn't understand him.

People doubted us trusting he would speak when he was ready. Some said that because we signed with him he wouldn't talk. I knew this to be false given my knowledge of the Deaf community and hearing CODAs (Children of Deaf Adults). Some suggested "early intervention" or speech therapy. None of this felt right to us. We trusted he would talk on HIS own when he had something to share with us. He learned how to crawl and walk when he was ready without any drills or classes, why should talking be any different?

Hearing Logan talk these days, you would never know that there wasn't a lot of verbal communication from him until he was 2. The phrases, vocabulary and grammar he picks up just by hearing us talk, read books or watch TV is absolutely astounding. Here are a few phrases that have made their way into Logan's every day speech that I want to chronicle for posterity:

"That's impressive!"
"Relax Mama. Everything is going to be ok."
"Let me tell you, vanilla (ice cream) is good too."
"Maybe you will have better luck."
"I'm not a fan of hot things (to eat). I'd rather have cold."
"I'll keep my eye out."
"Papa, go. Have. Some. Soda."
"There's a lot going on."

Yeah, he'll never learn to talk on his own. ; )

Stories

2010-02-12T23:32:00.000-05:00

I never realized what a huge part of life stories are. It seems to me that people are either listening to a story or telling a story. That movie you just saw - a story. The conversation you had with a family member about your vacation - a story. When you call your utility company about some sort of customer service issue, you're telling a story. They're everywhere. Living life with a 3 year old is no different, although the stories sometimes are a big more fantastical. Just a touch.

Logan has taken to telling stories lately. I find them endlessly fascinating. He will ask a question about something and after I answer, he will say, "tell a story about it." I used to tell a story and he would smile and giggle (he's a terrific audience) the whole way through. Recently though, after I start telling a story about whatever topic he's interested in, HE will finish it. There's a lot of "and then..." and the stories are quite long. I sometimes ask questions about what's happening in the story (always the interruptor) to clarify in my head what's going on. When he feels the story has run its course, he usually turns to me and says, "mama, tell a story about it."

The other day he told a story that I found so interesting, I wrote it down and wanted to share it here. A little bit of background info first. Maisy is a mouse. He has multiple Maisy books, videos and a Maisy doll. She and her cohorts will probably make many appearances here. The bedrail is a device we have attached to the bed so Logan doesn't roll off the bed in the middle of the night.

Here's the story as I remember it:

Maisy has a hat on. Oh, her hat just fell through the bedrail but Maisy couldn't fit. Her head is too big. Oh, Maisy is getting smaller and smaller. (Me: she's shrinking?) Yeah, she's shrinking. She has a mushroom on her head. Now she's getting bigger and bigger and her hat fits. Now she's snuggles with her family.

Pratfalls

2010-01-11T00:15:00.000-05:00

Since Logan was under 2 years old he has enjoyed running and purposefully falling down. We call these his pratfalls. He does them whenever the mood suits him inside or outside. The other day he was running around the apartment. As he came my way I asked him if he wanted to play trains with me. "No Mama, I just wanna do pratfalls." Pratfalls it is!

A Physical Kid

2010-01-11T00:09:00.002-05:00

Logan has always been a very physical kid. When I was pregnant Paul couldn't believe how much Logan kicked and wiggled. When he was just a few days old he was trying to turn himself around. He would wiggle his whole body when he nursed as an infant. He would walk all over our neighborhood when he was 2, much to the amazement of visiting family or friends as well as strangers passing by.

Now that its cold outside we spend most of our time playing indoors. There is (and always has been) a lot of dancing, running, jumping and climbing. He dances to songs he hears on videos, You Tube or our iPods. Running is usually us playing hide and seek or chase. Jumping seems to happen anywhere: the couch, the bed, or recently, just standing on the floor. Climbing is either on what I call Mount Mama (I lay down, put my legs up and Logan climbs up them) or he climbs on Paul while they are on the bed (lots of jumping, climbing and tumbling). We all enjoy doing these things together. There is a lot of laughing.

As he's gotten older and bigger I often think about how to meet his physical needs indoors. And then Christmas came! Logan got some toys that enable him to be super active inside: a soft bowling set and and soft basketball set. We spend hours playing basketball. Logan throws the ball "full speed ahead" (his words) and giggles as it bounces off the walls and the door where the basketball hoop is set up. He gets so excited that it sounds like he can barely catch his breath. He runs, jumps, kicks, throws for hours. So much fun for all three of us!

Sewing

2010-01-06T01:26:00.005-05:00

Logan seems to be drawn to my sewing machine. All of those spinning and moving parts! It usually sits downstairs out in the open and whenever he spots it, he wants to use it. About a month ago we made a pillow for his Maisy doll out of some red felt. He said Maisy really likes it and put her to sleep next to him on her very own red pillow that night.

A few days ago, he spotted it again and said, "I want to make Maisy another pillow." I took a deep breath. I'm not extremely proficient with the machine. While Logan is poking and prodding all of the parts, I'm attempting to thread the machine to get going. And I'm SLOW at it. His 3 year old mind seems to just want to get on with it! He decided on some orange felt this time and off we went.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T03:24:00.001-05:00

We played and laughed and ate and had an awesome day. At one point Logan looked up from playing with his new train set and said, "I like Papa. I like our lifes." Paul and I both said, "Me too buddy. Me too." Doesn't get any better than that.

Light Bulbs

2009-12-30T03:15:00.004-05:00

We have a chandelier over our table in the dining room that is pretty elaborate. It has a lot of little bulbs and crystals hanging. Read: a 3 year old's dream. Logan likes to "fix" the chandelier but the fixing seemed to make it spin a bit (again, a 3 year old's dream) and Paul and I were a tad on the nervous side about the whole thing. I found a small table lamp with a barnyard theme on it and asked Logan if he would like to check it out with me. His eyes lit up almost as much as the light bulb!

This all happened a little over a week ago. Since then, we have 3 table lamps on the floor in the living room. Logan spends a lot of time plugging and unplugging them from the outlet, screwing and unscrewing the bulbs, taking off and putting on the lamp shades and generally talking about the lights and electricity. Paul and I overheard his chatter the other night: "This bulb says 60 watts. It's plugged into there and the electricity goes into there" (the bulb) "and the filament lights up. It gets hot and the hot gets hotter."

Fun with Random Stuff

2009-12-30T02:45:00.001-05:00

Logan seems to be fascinated with household objects. He always has. The potato masher is a crane. The cabinets look like a train. You get the idea. Recently he's been interested in things that are typical household items and wants to know more about what the items are used for.

As I was looking through unpacked boxes downstairs (yes I know, we've lived here for over a year) I found some votive candles. Logan was fascinated by them. He took them out of the candle holders, rolled them on the craft table and finally he decided it was time for me to light them. I got out what we affectionately call the "clicker" and Paul, Logan and I spent hours lighting the candles while Logan stared at the light, noticing the change in color from blue to orange, to finally blowing out the candles. "I like to do this over and over" he said. And so, we did.

He wanted us to "tell a story", one of his fave phrases these days, about why the smoke rises when the candle goes out. He wanted to know all about the wax (or what he called the "wack") and the wick. The questions just kept a'comin. I know that some complain about the "why" questions of a 3 year old but I absolutely love them. His curiosity is amazing, I'm learning a ton along with him and they keep me on my toes!