Highlights from February

We started February with a gathering of college buddies to celebrate a birthday and play a few games together. Below is the campfire cake (again something I saw on Pinterest) that I made for Nathaniel.

One of our Wednesday afternoon music classes was canceled so Grandma, Grandpa Neel, Logan and I went to the aquarium instead. We had to race through it as we only had 30 minutes before closing time, but it was nice to be there when hardly anyone else was around.

Grandma Neel got this adorable pajama set for Logan for Valentine's Day.  We wanted to make sure it was accurate, so I had to add a little note at the bottom.

Logan has started to eat less solid food this month, or at least less variety. Not sure if he is getting picky or what.  However, if you put spaghetti in front of him, he will most certainly clean up his tray and spread sauce all over his face, chest and arms.

Aunt Leah and Cousin Calder came out for their annual spring visit. We were so glad Calder wanted to hang out for the day. We just played at home during the morning. In the afternoon we (Grandma and Grandpa Neel, Calder, Logan and I) headed to Logan's music class.

Logan sure did love spending time with Calder.

Calder was so sweet to Logan. He even spent some of his grade money to buy Logan a board book (one of Logan's favorite books now) for a late birthday gift. That was super generous of you, Calder!

Blowing out the star lights in preparation for our sleep song.

Some milestones for Logan:

1. His bottom molars came in. You might notice in his pictures that he is wearing an amber teething necklace.  Allegedly, it has gentle medicinal properties.  We were pretty skeptical, but we were willing to try anything to help relieve his teething pain.  He didn't have the necklace when he got his first teeth, and, by comparison, he seems to be handling his molars better. We're not sure if the improvement is due to the necklace, but we can't exactly run a controlled experiment either.  So we figure it can't hurt to stick with the necklace.

2. He signed his first word "milk" and now he signs it all of the time. He will even point to Kyle's chest and sign "milk". I do wish we had been doing more signs.  We have picked up the pace now, so I am hopeful that Logan will start signing more.  (He does verbally say a handful of words as well -- mama, cereal, cheese, kitty, ball, and car).

3. Logan waved for the first time to my friend Reyna, who had come down to spend the day with me. We got to have lunch, get massages and play with Logan. Reyna brought Logan some mega blocks and he plays with them all the time. Great gift Reyna!

4. Since Logan was very much into his blocks, he stacked them by himself for the first time in February.

Bring on the music and another cake!

In January we started taking Logan to music class. He tends to watch everything for a while first, then occasionally participate.  His favorite part is sitting or standing in the middle of the room watching everyone around him. He loves it when the teacher takes out the drums or the large bag of other musical instruments. We do have to work on his willingness to share and to put things away though. (However, at the park the other day, a 6 year old girl said hi to him and he instantly wanted to share his ball with her. He was even upset that he couldn't give her the ball when she was playing in the play structure. It was the first time we have seen him share with other little kids.)

At home Logan loves to dance to music (which he sometimes does at class), and in January he learned to clap his hands.

To finish out the month, we celebrated Grandma Neel's birthday. We went out to lunch and finished the afternoon with a cake I made. I got the idea from the web and made the logo out of frosting. Anyone who knows my mom knows she loves Starbucks.

A new year begins and Logan turns 1!

The days blend into weeks, and the weeks seem to fly by in the Wiens household. January was no exception.

He loves his popper. Now that he can move around the house freely, he sure can make a lot of noise when he takes his popper onto the tile.

Logan started hugging around Thanksgiving, and we are so thrilled that he still loves to hug.

We love spending sunny days at the park. Logan is getting better at walking every day, and he loves toppling around on the grass. (Currently he runs... You were right Pat, walking didn't last long.)

Logan turned one on January 8th. Since it was a week day, Logan and I spent the day much as we do most days. We played in the morning, took some naps, spent part of our afternoon at the park, and for a change we met Dad for dinner at Fan Tang, a favorite Asian fusion restaurant of ours.

On the 11th we celebrated Logan's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Neel and Grandma Wiens.

Is there another toy in here for me?

Mom made me wear this outfit even though I am obviously too big for it. At least my diaper matches.

Here is Logan's 1-up cake from Mario Brothers. It wasn't as perfect as I was hoping for, but I think he liked it.

What's this?

hmm...

Yes, I do believe I like that!

Ok, I'll smile for your silly hat shot.

 After cake it was back to the toys.

Ok Dad, we can figure this out.

We had hoped to spend part of the day at the aquarium, but Logan has been having difficulty napping, so we never found a good time to go. We did have a great time playing with all of his new toys though.

December - Part 2

As I am sure it is with most families, our first Christmas together was wonderful. It was filled with laughter, toys, traditions and more toys.


Christmas Eve took place at our house with Grandma and Grandpa Neel.

Here Logan is showing you that he can indeed throw a ball. It is one of his favorite things to do. He likes to throw many things in fact, but we try to focus on the ball.

Our new family tradition is that each year, on Christmas Eve, Logan will receive a new pair of pajamas, a Christmas movie, and a book. Then we will spend the evening in comfort while we are entertained. This year I went ahead and made pajama bottoms for the family. Mom was the only one who found some in the store, so she didn't need my sewing skills.

I think this photo would have made a nice Christmas card if I had been organized enough.

Such a cute couple.

For years Grandpa Neel has read "Twas the Night before Christmas" to me and my nieces and nephew. This year the tradition included Logan. 

We added another specific book to be read every year. Grandpa Johnson will be reading "Frosty the Snowman" to Logan. Grandpa Johnson wasn't here this year, but his voice was on the recorded book.

Logan didn't sleep well that night (or pretty much any night back in December), but that didn't affect his morning. He awoke to find a ton of new toys, many left by Santa in Santa's sack.

 Logan loves the cannon on this ship!

 Finally something to toss the ball into.

He doesn't ride this much yet, but I think he will enjoy it eventually.

He actually enjoyed ripping the paper off of the packages, but he wasn't too good at pulling things out of bags. Notice the awesome Element blocks we got from the Neel clan in Seattle!

Of course, our furry girls got some fabulous gifts too, and all of their old toys spent a week in the catnip to bring extra joy on Christmas morning.

 Someone discovered a new best friend and was ready for his morning nap.

Frik was thrilled that Logan was napping so that she could get some lap time.

I got the best gift from Kyle!

I have to share this adorable note! I think Logan and Kyle will work great together on getting me gifts in the future.

After hours of playing with the toys, we got ready for our company to arrive. I should have taken more pictures because we actually had Uncle Ralph, Aunt Sally and Aunt Doreen in attendance. However, Aunt Sally is the only one I captured.

The weekend after Christmas I took Logan up to my old stomping grounds to stay the night with Grandma and Grandpa Neel. It was a way to give Kyle a much deserved day off. We had a wonderful time, and Logan even got a chance to experience snow for the first time. He loved it until he crawled on it and decided it was much too cold.

This is how one is required to dress at Grandma Neel's house.

To finish off 2012, we had a quick visit from Grandma and Grandpa Wiens on their way home from Colorado to Alamogordo. 

Our New Years Eve was spent in the quiet of our home. I would guess it will be that way for years to come, but we are fine with that.