9 months

Little lady is 9 months old and a lot of changes have been happening it feels like.  Here's some quick facts:  She is very ticklish.  She mainly sleeps on her tummy now (although she still rolls all around in her crib all night).  She likes to do a snorty scrunched up face now for some funny reason.  She likes to make a wawawa sound with her hand against her mouth (like an indian noise).  She started babbling, mainly "baba" and "gaga" sounds, although she is not a chatterbox all the time.  She has gotten waving down.  She's getting better at standing while holding on to things although she hasn't figured out how to pull herself up to do so and that she can move while standing yet.  She has started getting close to crawling, she can scoot a little while sitting up or slither like a snake while laying down, she can put herself on her hands and knees but doesn't know what to do next so nothing that gets her very far yet.  She still only has the bottom two teeth but the two right next to those and the top fangs look like they should be coming soon.  She has started noticing smaller things and trying to pick them up, she is also interested in what we are eating so we started her on some finger foods.  She was skeptical at first but now she has got it down.  She likes puffs, buttered toast, cooked carrots, cheese, peaches and bananas.  Although the slippery ones she still has a hard time picking up, she's motivated :) She still refuses the bottle and hasn't figured out any sippy cup I've tried yet, so that's made things a bit difficult, but it's managable.  Fiona is now 16lbs 8oz which is the 21st percentile and 26.5 inches long which is the 12th percentile, looks like she's still following the petite trend.  Her noggin on the other hand is in the 81st percentile at 17.75, although she doesn't have the bobble head look like Logan did ;)

Love these two!

 Snow white

 trying on some cool glasses ;)

this is the snorty face lol

We had another busy month, October is usually our busiest it seems, but maybe because it's my favorite and there's always a lot to do.  We went to the pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins with the Valania's.  We got to carve them with the Dilley's and we trick or treated with the Tobin's so we had a very neighborhood-y Halloween.  Logan wanted to dress up like "orange Boba Fett" from Star Wars, he was insistent there was an orange one (I could never find one online) so we just made it work!  Daddy went as Darth Vader "Logan, I am your father"!  Fiona was a little Dalmatian while I was Cruella De Vil.  I guess the parents were on the "evil" side this year ;)  Logan had fun trick or treating and he lasted a long time!  Him and Patrick and friends ran from house to house like it was a race and Fiona tagged along in her stroller.  The weather was cold but not as cold and windy as last year!  It was just a normal cold ;)  Fiona made it a little past bedtime with trick or treating then had to tap out early while I took her home, Dom finished up trick or treating with Logan.  He was very excited about all his candy!  He's already mentioned about five things he wants to dress up as for next Halloween ;)

 Logan chose to carve a Boba Fett pumpkin with daddy's help

 go Broncos!

 Logan drew a scarecrow on Fiona's pumpkin for her

 "orange" Boba Fett

 cute little Dalmatian

 Cruella and Darth Vader

 trick or treating with friends

 check out all that candy!

November brought a trip to Arizona.  We flew to Phoenix early in the morning on a Thursday and the kids did good, not the easiest of flights but they did well.  We stayed with the Maes' and hung out at their house, Ashley got to come over Friday morning and play with the kids for a little until we left that afternoon for Tucson.  We went straight to Nancy's house and got to see her and Mark for a few hours before we went to the Kelsey's to have dinner and meet up with the Cicchini's.  Logan had a blast playing with Stella, Cleo, Aurora and Jake, while the adults had fun catching up.  My dad came over for dinner too since I told him we'd be in town, he came up to see us.  We all had a sleepover at Will and Laura's and the kids actually slept :)  So cute, Cleo and Stella on the sides and Logan in the middle of the mattresses laid out on the floor.  Saturday morning we all met Melanie for breakfast which was really delicious and went to watch her clog for a bit.  The kids had fun dancing along.  The Maes' drove down that afternoon and we gave them the kiddos while we went to Jenny's wedding.  It was beautiful and she looked amazing and I cried.  It was in our old church and we remembered just how much we liked it there compared to any place we have been here.  The reception was across town in a pretty outdoors venue, the weather was great.  I just had to make a trip back to feed Fiona for bedtime since she won't take a bottle and then I got to enjoy the reception too without kids.  We had fun with all our friends dancing and drinking.  It was a great wedding!  Sunday morning us and Dom's parents and Will and Laura all met the Roussel's (who were in Tucson for a different wedding that weekend, what a coincidence!) for breakfast at Beyond Bread.  It's always nice to see them, no matter what state!  From there we headed for a trip down memory lane walking the UofA campus and going to the bookstore for a few souvenirs.  From there we headed to a BBQ with Dom's old Raytheon coworkers.  My dad and the Maes' came along too and we all had a good time chatting and eating while Logan had fun playing with all the kids.  After that we drove back to Phoenix for the night and left early Monday morning to fly back home.  The kids did great the entire trip, they hung in there even though naps were missed and there was a lot going on, they are nicely adaptable!  The flight home was more difficult since Fiona was tired but didn't fall asleep.  The last 20 or so minutes of the flight we hit a lot of turbulence and Fiona passed out, she was the only one that enjoyed it ;)  When we got back to Colorado it was freezing!  The snow was coming and we got a few days of snow after our trip, so long 80s!  Now we are learning how to dress a baby for the freezing cold!

 Mr. and Mrs. Tatum

 game night group

 fun night :)

 getting a lift from Papa at UofA

8 months

Happy fall!  Welcome to my favorite season Fiona!  Little miss is about the same,  15 lbs. and  26.75" long.  Fiona has been welcomed to the future tooth fairy club, she got her right bottom tooth on 9-24 and the bottom left came a few days later on 9-28.  She has been letting us know how she feels about these latest developments, she is not a fan.  Since those new pearly whites have broken through Fiona likes to have her tongue hanging out like a dog feeling them.  She has not figured out crawling but she has managed to move around in a circle using her harms when she's on her belly. She has learned to lift her arms up for you when you go to pick her up and she is working on waving hi.  Fiona has not started to babble but she has found her voice and does enjoy screaming when she is happy and when she is mad.  So she is getting more vocal, for better or worse ;)  She is getting better at using her sippy cup but not fully there yet.  She has completely refused the bottle now and won't drink my milk from it no matter who is feeding her or what they put it in, so needless to say, Fiona and I are inseparable.  She has been trying new baby foods, no solids yet.  She likes bananas, spinach and pear mixture and anything fruity.  She does not like peas, no matter what it is mixed with, she knows haha.  Sweet little girl is doing better sleeping now, we let her cry it out and she did pretty well figuring it out on her own.  When she is tired during the day and fighting sleeping, she likes to nuzzle her head into your shoulder and rub her eyes, that's a pretty good sign!  She usually takes one long nap during the middle of the day and then sometimes gets 1-2 shorter naps in the morning or late evening.  Bedtime is about 7/7:30 and she has been sleeping until about 3/4am, eats then goes back to sleep till 6:30/7am. We have a video baby monitor so we can see her throughout the night and she is kind of like Logan when she sleeps, constantly in a new position. She sleeps a lot on her side and a surprising amount of time on her tummy. Teething has sometimes thrown a wrench into that nice nighttime cycle but she's doing much better then a month ago.

bottom teeth!

playing with her favorite shaky shake maraca toy

lounging on the floor with mommy

bath time

We had another busy month enjoying the last of summer and welcoming the nice fall weather.  Our outdoor adventures will probably slow down now that things are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter thanks to day light savings time.  We had a long hike up in Estes Park to Fern Lake, apparently we thought 7 miles was doable with 2 kids...which it was but it took us 8 hours!  We had a good time though and came down from the hike in time to watch the Elk come down for some rooting.  Another weekend we went kayaking at Brainard Lake, the last time for this year since it was already cold and rainy up there!  Erick got a new kayak for his birthday so we went up with him and Mike to take one last trip before next summer.  On the way back from the lake we got to stop and take pictures of all the pretty fall colors.  It was a pretty drive.  We got to go to Albuquerque to see Auntie Dre and go to the Balloon Fiesta for the weekend.  The car ride there went pretty well, it took us about 7.5 hours and Fiona and Logan only lost it for a little bit towards bedtime.  The rest of the trip deserves its own post since we had a full weekend!  Fiona did get to go to the zoo for the first time.  She enjoyed sitting with brother and looking into the water exhibit for the polar bear the most I think, even though they never saw the polar bear ;)  Fiona also got to meet Andrea's parents, Karen (#1) and Mike (grandpa mike) and grandparents nana and tata and Fiona's great grandma Ruby for the first time also.  The drive back was a little more rough then the drive there, but I feel like that somehow always happens on the way back home.  Overall the kids did well for the car trip and the weekend and we had a lot of fun.

Fern Lake

Brainard Lake

Albuquerque Zoo

 Balloon Fiesta

 Meeting Great Grandma Ruby

And here's one more comparison for baby Logan (6.5 mos) and Fiona (7 mos.) in Logan's old jammies.  They are looking different now!  Fiona is on the top and Logan on the bottom

Ride On!

Logan has officially learned how to ride his big boy bike all by himself!  Almost exactly one month after he got his pedal bike he figured out how to ride without help (or ever any training wheels) on 10-13. He was really good at his strider bike and had been talking about wanting a pedal bike so for his birthday we bought him an Ironman one. At first he was a little cautious and worried he would fall so he did a lot of riding the Ironman bike as if it were his strider. Dom would help him get started and he could ride by himself on flat or downhill but he was still afraid so wouldn't go far once he realized Dom had let go. Slowly he got more confident and one day out with Dom he just got it and from then he figured out how to start by himself and now he can go all by himself!  He still needs a little help pedaling uphill since he's not quite strong enough for that yet otherwise he's an independent little bike rider!  We were all very excited for him and so proud. Such a fun moment for us all!

"Sleeping" according to Logan...

I've been documenting every time I go by Logan's room at night and find him in some crazy sleeping position.  This kid rarely sleeps like a normal person in his bed, he's always twisted some funny way or he has fallen asleep in the midst of reading.  They are too good not to share :)  

In his own words, this is Logan describing these pictures of his sleeping positions...

"why does it look funny.  cuz I'm laying under a book.  I'm laying there and I'm just hiding."

"that one looks funny because look at me, I am just doing something wrong..."

"Cuz look at me I'm just laying on my big pillow"

"it looks like I'm laying different..."

"haha I'm laying under a book... look my belly button haha"

"why am I laying under a book?  that's why, I'm hiding"

"I have no idea.  I'm laying funny because look at me, I'm laying in books!"

"that one doesn't look funny.  I'm just laying and closing my eyes."

"I'm hiding under pillows, that's funny!  I'm funny because look at me!"

"me and daddy are laying together.  Look 1,2.  Two of us."

"haha...uh...cuz I'm laying that way and that way (shows horizontal with his hands) on my bed.  What are my arms doing?"

"I am laying haha, one feet, look at my picture haha.  Cuz look, I'm just doing that funny, look I'm about to fall down of my bed."

"I'm laying on the floor because Auntie Panda is here"

Logan's answers version 4.0

Time for the questions to see how much Logan's answers have changed...

1.  What color is your hair?  Brown

2.  What color are your eyes?  Blue

3.  What is your favorite food?  Pizza and ice cream

4.  What song do you like to sing?  Everything is awesome and the Star Wars song

5.  What are your favorite desserts?  Ice cream

6.  What is your favorite color?  Orange

7.  What animals do you like?  Sharks

8.  What books do you like to read right now?  Star Wars books

9.  What do you like to do with daddy?  Go in the garage and play

10.  What do you like to do with mommy?  Go to the toy store

11.  What is your favorite movie?  Lego movie

12.  What shows do you watch on TV?  Clone wars

13.  What is your favorite store? Toysrus

14.  Who are your friends?  Amirah, Emily, Molly, Paige and Patrick 

15.  What do you like to play inside? Star Wars 

16.  What do you like to play outside?  Ride bikes

Logan was very straight and to the point answering the questions this time around.  And I'd say I would have answered similarly for most of his questions.  His favorite foods are most definitely pizza and ice cream.  The two usually go together since our favorite pizza place, Lucky Pie, just happens to be next to the awesome ice cream shop, the Sweet Cow.  Once he is of age, he will surely appreciate how well beer fits into that scenario as well ;)  Logan loves to sing the song from the Lego movie, Everything is Awesome.  Too bad he doesn't know much of the words, but he just throws in whatever he thinks is awesome and it somehow makes sense in the song.  Logan does like the Star Wars theme song too since he has a stuffed dog from build a bear that plays it, he generally hums it starting off then branches into something entirely unrelated.  Humming isn't for everyone right.  I'm not sure Logan has a favorite dessert as he will eat ANYTHING sweet.  He's all for chocolate, vanilla, ice cream of many flavors, cookies, candies etc.  Sorry for that sweet tooth buddy, just keep brushing your teeth :)  Logan lately will constantly remind us how his favorite color is orange.  Anything he sees that is orange he always points out, "oh look ____ is orange, my favorite color".  And he's stayed pretty true to Orange being his favorite color this year.  I think Logan generally likes all animals fairly equally, there's not one that he is all about, but sharks would be a good answer for this time.  He got a submarine toy for his birthday and so he's into the ocean world right now.  Logan likes to read a lot of different books, but lately he has been more into comic books and at the library there are several Star Wars comics that he really enjoys.  There are also Lego Star Wars books, Sticker Star Wars books, Angry Birds Star Wars books, the original Star Wars books, the Clone Wars Star Wars books... so yes, Logan likes all that "Star Wars books" encompasses!  Logan does love going in the garage when Dom is working out there and playing around.  He likes to pretend to drive our cars or build "robots" with spare wood or play with his small tool box.  Of course he loves to go to the toy store with me, who else do I go there for haha.  Lego movie is Logan's number 1 movie right now and I think it will be for awhile considering his affinity for all things Lego.  It is a cute movie and of course, has a great song he enjoys as well ;)  Logan watches things mainly on Netflix so he does enjoy the Clone Wars show, of course because it's Star Wars!  He also enjoys SuperWhy, Lego super heros, Lego Atlantis, The Superhero Squad, Transformers: Rescue Bots and the Leapfrog shows.  Has Logan's favorite store ever not been the toy store haha maybe once he is a teenager this answer will change ;)  Logan has met a lot of new friends at school and each week he will talk about playing with somebody different.  The first few weeks of school it was all boys he would talk about, then the last few weeks he has been all about the girls: Amirah and Molly are the latest.  He says he loves Molly.  So Cute.  Emily is his friend from summer camp and even though she's not in his class this year at preschool they still had a play date together.  Paige and Patrick are our neighbors that he loves to play with at the park.  Logan got a lot of Star Wars toys for his birthday so he definitely loves to play Star Wars inside.  Either dressing up as clone troopers or playing with his little Star Wars action figures, he especially likes the AT-AT's.  Logan has gotten a lot of play time at the park in lately since the weather has been awesome and he has had a lot of neighborhood kids out and about to play with, he does ride his bike there and we take it around the neighborhood sometimes.  He is a whiz at the strider but we got him a pedal bike for his birthday and although he could do it and has a few times, he needs to work on his confidence before he can do it all on his own.

4 years old!

Logan is 4! The last year has been a big change for him. He definitely doesn't feel like a toddler at all, he's a preschooler and a smart one!  3 was definitely his more challenging year, 2 was easy breezy compared to 3 ;). Over this year he has become much more independent and confident in himself. He goes down slides at the park without fear anymore. He will glide on his strider bike, fall off, cry, then get back on.  He will let you dump water all over his head without having a complete meltdown at bath time. He will transition from one activity to another without warning and without all the hullabaloo he used to give us. He can identify letters and their sounds and is getting better at writing them. He will help in any way when mommy asks for help with Fiona. He is trusted to stay put in the toy aisle, the library train table, the park next door etc. while mommy or daddy walk away for a bit. He can get a snack or even a bowl of cereal all by himself. He can sing along to songs and actually remember the lyrics. He can hold a conversation with adults about fossils and how they're made from sedimentary rock, tornadoes and how they're rated on an EF scale, volcanoes and how they erupt. He will read books quietly by himself in bed before he falls asleep...ok most of the time that's true.   He is so grown up now. He's to the point where you know he's always listening to what's going on around him and always questioning the world. His curiosity and eagerness to learn is at a high and his retention for facts and just random instances is incredible. He continues to amaze me and I love watching him grow and learn and see him figuring things out in his head. While we have always known he was one smart cookie and the kind of kid that will always have something to say, it's fun to see where that leads him now. 

At Logan's 4 year old check up he was 41" tall which is the 66th percentile and was 37 lbs. which is the 60th percentile. So he's a little bigger then average but not by much. They did an eye test and while Logan said most of the pictures he saw they said he tested at 20/30 which is pretty normal at his age. He passed the hearing test with flying colors so no pretending he didn't hear me when I ask him to do something ;). Overall he is the healthy usual four year old: won't eat his veggies, can't sit still at the table, sometimes scared of going poo in the potty, starting to not need a nap everyday, and constantly asking "why". 

Our big four year old ready for picture day at preschool 

Welcoming Fall in Estes Park

That look!  He's up to something!

Kayaking at the Erie camp out 

Showing what a Popsicle in summer can transform a boy into ;)

May the FOURce be with you

9-14-14 gave us a 4 year old this year!  Can't believe he is 4 now, that seems so grown up. Our little man asked for a Star Wars birthday party this year, so Pinterest and I got to work. I had fun making most of the decorations and learning a thing or two about star wars in the meantime. Luckily Dom and my mom were recruited for help getting ready too! Logan came down from "nap time" to see all his decorations up and as he was walking down the stairs his mouth dropped open and he just said woooooooow!  I consider that a victory :) We decided to just invite a few kids over and keep it small this year plus uncle Erick and granny Mo, which was a marvelous decision if I do say so myself. So Logan invited his cousins Ella and Riley and our neighbor Paige and Logan's buddy from down the street Patrick and his sister Tatum. The kids came over and got to wear Jedi robes and have Princess Leia buns if they wanted then they each got a light saber made out of a pool noodle. Then they went to town beating the crap out of balloon storm troopers with their light sabers. It was total chaos but they loved it. We ate some dinner, pizza, the birthday boys favorite, then we had to open presents because Logan couldn't help himself any longer. He tore through those presents like a true Maes and then wanted to open every box right away too :) he got a lot of fun toys and lots of Star Wars stuff so he was on cloud 9. After presents we had cupcakes, vanilla with vanilla frosting per birthday boys request (he's been choosing vanilla over chocolate these days!) and sang happy birthday as Logan blew out Darth Vaders light saber candle. The kids ate then played with the new toys and Logan dressed up in one of his new clone trooper costumes until we were ready for the Death Star piñata. We took it over to the park next door and let the kids try for awhile until finally I got to swing at it for them and then the candy rained down and all was well. After that the party slowed down and Logan was engrossed with all his fun new toys for days!  He had a lot of fun and it was more fun for us this year to see the excitement and see Logan in the birthday spirit. Happy fourth birthday to our favorite little guy, he makes my heart so happy and I can't wait to continue to watch him grow!

the Jedi and princess Leia robes I made

 the death star pinata (a baseball pinata spray painted and decorated)

 the R2D2 cups we drew and the lightsaber napkins

 The clone troopers the kids got to hit down with the light sabers

 lightsabers out of pool noodles

 the birthday boy!

 Fiona was a little R2D2 and Logan had his Vader shirt on

 the kids giving me their jedi poses ;)

 ready for cupcakes!

 Happy Birthday Logan!

 time for some dress up!

 We had fun celebrating with Granny Mo and Uncle Erick 

 our little fam

 Logan's present from mommy and daddy was an Ironman pedal bike :)