Halloween 2009

This was the first year that Logan really understood Halloween. He was very excited to get to wear his costume and go trick or treating. Daddy took him and Josh out and said that Logan did a great job going up to each door and he wanted to carry his bag all by himself even when it was starting to get too heavy. Graysen and I stayed home and handed out the candy. She didn't mind being in her costume until she got tired and wanted to go to sleep. Everyone kept saying how cute she was in her butterfly costume.



This year I decided to take the kids to Boo at the Zoo. I took Logan for his first Halloween too, but we missed it last year due to cold weather. He had a great time this year and loved trick or treating at all the stations and seeing the polar bears play with their pumpkin. Graysen was all tuckered out and slept almost the entire time we were there.

Graysen - 4 Months Old

Where have the last 4 months gone?! I can't believe my baby girl is already 4 months old! She had her well baby check on October 26 and she is now 13lbs 1oz (50th percentile) and 25 1/2 inches (90th percentile!!). I have a feeling she is going to be tall and skinny like her Auntie Ashley. She has quite the personality now and she is generally a very happy little girl. We just celebrated her first Halloween and are looking forward to Thanksgiving and then going home to Canada for Christmas.

Graysen - 3 Months Old

Our little Graysen is 3 months old now. As of this week, she is now 12 lbs 2oz. She is such a happy baby and she is interacting with us more each and every day. She has really start to coo and talk more over the last couple of weeks. She is also holding her head up very well and we even let her try out her jumperoo last weekend and she seems to like it already. We area really looking forward to the coming months with all her "first" holidays. Halloween is just around the corner now and Graysen is going to be dressing up as a butterfly.

Preschool

With Logan starting preschool this month, I thought that I would take the chance to write about it. He is going to preschool at his daycare two days a week. His daycare provider, Camille, seems very excited to start "teaching" the 2 and 3 year olds. I think that she is going to do a great job with the kids and I'm sure that Logan will enjoy it and really take something away from it. She has been sending home the little projects that he works on and also sends home a weekly and monthly handout about what they are learning. It really helps me to see what he is working on so that I can emphasize the same things at home around the house and when we go out.

Before Camille had told me that she was going to be starting a preschool program, I wasn't really sure if I was going to enroll Logan in a formal preschool program or not. I know that there are a lot of benefits to it, but at the same time, he is only a kid for so long and I want him to be able to enjoy it. I like the way she has set it up for only 2 days a week right now and they only spend 1 to 2 hours learning on those days. I really like that they are able to learn, but they are also still able to play and just be kids.

I am interested to see how Logan adjusts to preschool over the coming months and to see if it helps with his speech. I have already noticed an improvement in his speech over the last couple of months and hopefully this will give him the little extra "push" that he may need to really start talking more.

Graysen - 2 Months Old

I can't believe Graysen is already 2 months old. She had her 2 month well baby check today and she is 10lbs 15oz (55th percentile) and 23 1/4 inches (90th percentile). She is growing way too quickly for me. She is such a happy baby and smiles all the time. She has also started rolling over from tummy to back and has excellent head control already. She loves to just be checking out the world in her bouncy chair or on her playmat. She also started going to daycare with her brother last week since I have gone back to work. I bet she is going to have so much fun with the other kids as she starts getting bigger and playing with them.

Logan - September 2009

Logan is 28 months old now. I still can't believe how quickly he is growing up. He has really blossomed this summer and we just love seeing all the new things he does. We went up to Okoboji to see Aunt Minde and Uncle Curt this month and Logan had a blast. He even got to help Uncle Curt drive the boat. His newest interest this month is the movie 'Cars'. Up until a couple of months ago, he really didn't watch much tv at all, but since he has discovered this movie, it is all he wants to watch. He already knows all the characters in the movie too. His speech is also starting to improve and he has a new favourite phrase; "No way". Logan also started preschool at his daycare today. He was very excited that he got to use his Elmo backpack. They are learning about the colour red, the number 1 and shapes this month. His first school projects were a fall themed crown and planting a small tree.

My Little Copycat

When I was pregnant with Graysen, my mum (Nana) bought Logan a baby doll to get him used to the idea that he was going to have a baby at home soon. At first he was pretty rough with the baby and would do things like run it over with his toy shopping cart. I kept showing him how to be gentle with the baby and he eventually picked up on it and started to place his baby in the seat of the shopping cart and push it around.

When we brought Graysen home from the hospital he was very gentle with her at first and then the jealousy kicked in a little bit since I was not able to always be available to his needs. I tried to make sure to include him in things that I could use his help with and have him be my helper. That seems to have done the trick too. Lately I have noticed that he is starting to mimic some of the things that I do with his baby sister.

It all started with him bringing me his Grover and blankie and asking me to "wrap" blankie around Grover just like I had been swaddling Graysen. It was so sweet and he would walk around the house with them and cuddle them and then place them in his bed and say "shh..night, night". The next thing I noticed was that he started to give me Grover to "nurse" while I was feeding Graysen and he would make slurping sounds and then say "all done" and he would go off and do his own thing. And now in the last couple of days I have caught him "nursing" Grover himself and then "burping" him afterwards. I really wish I was able to capture some pictures of this, but I never seem to have the camera handy.

I am very proud of my little boy for becoming such a little nurturer. He really does love his little sister and makes sure to give her hugs and kisses all day and he now won't go to bed without having story time with his sister followed by cuddle time in his bed and once last kiss good night.

Siblings

I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous about having two kids 2 and under, but I have quickly come to find out that it just takes some adjustments to our daily schedule and working with the ups and downs of a 2 year old to make it all work. It took us a few weeks to find a routine that worked for us and we have made some small tweaks along the way, but I think that I have it mostly figured out. I'm sure that they are going to throw some curveballs my way, but change is becoming easier to deal with now.

I love that Logan and Graysen are going to be able to grow up together and I look forward to watching them play with each other and see that bond that only siblings have. Logan already loves his little sister and is constantly wanting to give her hugs and kisses. I'm not sure what Graysen thinks of all this just yet, but she just lays there and lets him get his cuddles in for the most part. I am really looking forward to the day when Graysen can start to interact with Logan more. I know that I should enjoy her being at this stage, but I still can't help but look to the future.

First Smiles

Graysen started to smile when she was around 4 weeks old, but I hadn't been able to catch them with the camera until today. I have been working on getting her birth announcement together and decided to take some new pictures of her since I couldn't find one that I really liked. She didn't smile much at first, but then she finally started to and thank goodness I caught a couple of pictures.

She has also started to coo in the last couple of days. She only does it every once in awhile still, but it such a sweet sound to hear.

Logan - August 2009

Logan is now 27 months old. He has definately entered the terrible two's, but he is still such an amazing little boy to be around. He loves to give his sister hugs and kisses in between trying to cover her up with his blankie or move her out of my lap to make room for himself. He is a very energetic little boy and has no fear at all.

Graysen - 1 Month Old

Graysen Rose was born on June 26 @ 5:33pm. She was 6lbs 6oz and 20 inches long.

She is now 1 month old and weighs 8lbs 6oz and is 21 inches long. She started smiling around 4 weeks old and is a very happy baby except for when she is hungry. She loves to be held and cuddled, which is very different from her brother.

My Projects

Since we found out that we are having a girl, I have decided to start making some things for Graysen. I started out by making her a baby blanket that matches the bedding set we got for her room. I also wanted to make her a blanket to use in her carseat, swing and her glider. I found some really cute fleece on sale, so I made the smaller blanket from that material.

We are also going to be cloth diapering her almost right from the start. I have a couple of patterns to sew diapers so I decided to go ahead and make some diapers. So far I have a one size pocket fitted diaper that should fit her from the newborn stage through potty training and I made a fitted diaper that should fit her from 8-15lbs. After I see how these diapers work and which one I like better, I will sew more cute diapers.

I also have plans to make her some babylegs. I just need to find some cute socks to use and see how big she is. And I am sure that I will want to make many other cute, girly things for her as she gets bigger.

2 Years Old

Wow. I still can't believe that Logan just turned 2 years old. I seriously don't know where the last two years went. He has grown and changed so much and is now a very active toddler. We had a birthday party for him on Saturday and he had a great time running around with all the older boys and playing on the trampoline. By the time we cut his cake, he was falling asleep at the table trying to eat it. As fast as the time has passed, I am really looking forward to the coming year and seeing Logan become a big brother. He already loves to kiss my belly and blow raspberries on it. I am sure we are going to have some jealousy issues to work through since as much as we talk about the baby, I'm not sure really sure he understands the true impact of what is about to happen.

We have his 2 year old check-up on Thursday and I will be sure to add his growth stats once his appointment is done. We have a couple of things that we need to bring up at this appointment including starting a multivitamin since he isn't eating very well, when to start taking him to see the dentist and we are also starting to get concerned about his lack of verbal communication. We know that his hearing is fine and that he understands what we are saying, but he still isn't talking very much. We have definately seen some improvement in the last month or so, but we want to be proactive with this and get him going in the right direction sooner rather than later.

Potty Learning

We decided that we were going to try relaxed elimination communication with Logan in March 2008, but I really fell behind with it and Logan also decided that he did not like the potty and he would not sit on it. Since he was feeling this way about his potty, we decided not to push things and let Logan tell us when he was ready. A couple of months ago he really wanted some Elmo underwear while we were at the store so I thought that he might be showing signs and bought those for him. It turns out he was more interested in the fact that they had Elmo on them than actually potty learning so I have been letting him wear them over his diaper, which looks hilarious, but he is just so happy. Then he started to stay dry during the night if I got to him before he woke up in the mornings and he was using the potty those mornings. However, since I have been home from work, he is now the one waking me up and he is usually wet by the time I get to his room so that was a step backwards, but that is ok. I know that night time potty learning is usually the last thing to come. His newest thing is when he has to pee, he will start to grab himself on the outside of his pants. When I ask him if he needs to pee, he will tell me no, but when I take him to the potty, he goes! So I know that he has some control and some understanding of the feeling of needing to go, which is a step in the right direction. I am going to continue to follow his lead on this and hope that he starts telling me his when he is showing me signs and then we will go from there. I am a little worried about a setback with the new baby coming, but if that happens then I will just let him tell me when he is ready again.

Spaghetti!

Logan has discovered a new favourite food; spaghetti and meatballs. I decided to make this for dinner last night including homemade meatballs and garlic bread. Thank goodness I remembered to take off his shirt before he started eating because he was a red little boy once he was done. He kept asking for more meatballs and insisted on having a cup of milk and water at dinner. I even caught him trying to drink out of both cups at the same time. Needless to say, this will probably be one of our weekly dinners until he decides that he doesn't like it again.

30 Weeks Pregnant

I still cannot believe that I am already 30 weeks pregnant. The time has just flown by. I had an appointment with my midwife earlier this week and a cervical length ultrasound which was normal. I also had a follow up ultrasound to check the position of the placenta and it has moved away from the cervix, but it is still anterior. We also confirmed that Graysen is indeed a 'she'. I am going to continue taking the Nifedipine to control my contractions until I am 35 weeks and then we will later nature take it's course. She is a very active baby in utero. She is constantly moving all over the place and you can see waves going across my belly.

Haircuts

Logan's hair grows like crazy. We are at the point where we need to cut his hair every 2-3 months now. He has always had a lot of hair, but we have been able to keep it out of his eyes and it was never growing this quickly. So, we took him for another haircut a couple of weekends ago and he looks like a new boy all over again. It also seems like everytime we cut his hair it gets blonder and blonder. I would never have guessed he would have hair this light in colour since he had such dark hair as a newborn.

I am curious to see if Graysen is going to have all this hair too. I have a feeling that she won't be born with quite as much hair since I haven't been experiencing the heartburn this time that I had when I was pregnant with Logan. I just hope that she has some hair because I am looking forward to putting pigtails in a little girl's hair. And I really hope that people do not mistake her for a boy for the first six months, since Logan was called a girl for about that long just because he had so much hair.

Puzzles

One of Logan's favourite things to do right now is puzzles. He has several puzzles that have pieces with pegs so that he can fit the piece into their corresponding place and he has stacking puzzles. He has really started to understand that he has to spin the piece of the puzzle to make it fit into place correctly and gets very excited when he completes a puzzle all by himself. His favourite puzzle by far is the Plan Toys Cone. Within the first 20 minutes of having it at home he had figured it out and now he will just sit there and put it together and take it apart over and over again. With his 2nd birthday in just 3 weeks we are looking for some puzzles for him that also have educational value to them such as ABC's, 123's and shapes and colours.

My First Post

I have decided to start blogging since I am home on bedrest waiting for the arrival of my little girl Graysen. She is due July 2, but she is trying to make an early arrival. I am almost 28 weeks pregnant and I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has flown by. I have been getting things ready piece by piece and I think that we are pretty much ready for her arrival. I just finished painting the letters for her bedroom wall and can't wait to put them up.

I can't believe that my little boy will be turning 2 next month. The last two years have been full of happiness and excitement. Logan is always on the go and is a very curious little boy. We aren't sure how much he understands about what is about to happen, but he will point to my belly when I ask him where mummy's baby is. I am both excited and nervous to see his reaction to his little sister.