Logan at 16 months

Logan is such a fun little guy. He is really growing into himself and we see more personality every day. I love this stage where they are still on the cusp of leaving babyhood behind, testing out and realizing their independence, but have no issue relying on us for comfort.

Logan has been walking since his birthday and now runs easily after Hayden. He is trying to learn to jump, a funny process as he bounces enthusiastically with his feet never leaving the ground. He loves to ride little push cars, zipping around the house, navigating turns, and pressing all the buttons on the toys. He also likes to get up on Hayden's tricycles, with his toes barely skimming the ground, feeling like he is speeding himself along, when really we just set him off on the higher part of the patio so he can roll downhill. He is quite the stuntrider, often wanting to ride standing on the seat, bending over to hold the handlebars. No fear. He likes to play with cars, trucks and trains, rolling them along the floor making "driving noises." Another favorite pastime is putting things in and out of containers, again and again. He loves to empty one of our cabinets and match up all the lids. It makes a big mess, but I love watching him. Fortunately, he seems to like helping clean up as well. The telephone is a passion for him, and when it rings and he doesn't get to talk on it (which is 99% of the time) he goes into a screaming rage. That's not his best characteristic. He loves to color and will spend a good stretch of time with crayons and paper. At school he enjoys art projects, and I enjoy seeing him with a big bottle of glue in his hand. Sometimes when I pick him up it looks like he was the class project with paint, marker, glue and glitter all over him! He loves music too and will clap along with the radio, and dance to any music that comes on. He has this funny stilted movement he does lifting and stomping one foot as he moves along the room to the music.

He is at an age where he is starting to mimic everyone. One day I was sitting on a pillow on the floor to sort through some clothes. He went over to the couch, pulled down another pillow, sat down just like me, then realized something was missing. He put another pillow down, then went to get Fillip so he could sit down too. Whatever Hayden is doing, he wants to do. If Hayden is brushing his teeth leaning against the bathtub, Logan needs to do the same. If Hayden is making silly noises at dinner, Logan needs to do the same. Hayden goes pee pee in the potty before bathtime, and Logan now asks to sit on the potty before bathtime as well. It was so cute to see him sitting up there with his little legs sticking out, smiling so proudly.

Logan likes a lot of attention, especially when our attention is directed somewhere else. He will pull us by the arm or climb up into our laps and start giving us kisses, knowing he can grab our attention that way. "Mmmmmmm-mwuh!" He also likes to quietly sit in my lap, his back snuggled against my tummy while he explores a toy. He is a very affectionate boy, but selectively. At school he leaves everyday blowing kisses to his teachers and when I linger too long by his crib at bedtime, he excuses me once and for all by sweetly blowing me a kiss then laying down with his face turned away. Time to sleep.One day while we were in the hospital, I was trying to get him to nap. I had him snuggled cozy-warm in his blankie, patting his chest and talking to him quietly to soothe him. He looked at me, put a finger over his lips and quietly said "Mama, shhhh."

This boy is such a chatterbox. He has a few consistent words such as Dada, Mama, brother, diaper, bubble, (these last 3 sound very similar, but we can tell the difference) and recently cat and Voodoo, our cat's name. His favorite phrase seems to be "All done!" which he tells us again and again when he is done eating and wanting to get down, when he doesn't want his medicine, when we finish changing his diaper, when he wants out of the bath.... Each day he wakes immediately asking for his brother, delighted when he gets to go in his room to get him. Not so delightful is his recent habit of going in and waking Hayden from a nap. He often seems to be directing a very large event, babbling instructions at several people and pointing animatedly in every direction. He is so busy all the time. He still has his funny little giggle that seems to come from his belly and will do it again and again to keep us laughing with him. He knows to point to his belly button and his nose, and recently points to our big cat and tells him to shush with a finger over his mouth. He loves to play peek a boo, and often comes over, and lifts the bottom of my shirt to tickle me, especially if I lean over him to get Hayden out of the carseat.

Logan has quite the temper to go with all his charm and we have started doing timeouts or sending him to his room to calm down. He needs to learn not to be aggressive, and play nicely. A process we have been through before. Despite his volatile nature, he is such a sweet baby. His smile is contagious and those blue eyes sparkle with humor and mischief most of the time. I want to hold fast to his fleeting babyhood, but it will be gone before I know it. For now I am just grateful to have him home, well and happy.