Mom's Point of View on Recent Fun-Filled Activities -- Squiggles, Playgroup, Playground, Telegraph Station and More!

On Thursday, Logan and Mom met Bradon, Baby Seth and Melissa at
Squiggles, Café and Playhouse. It was the first time we had been there
in a while and everyone had a great time. Mom and Melissa were
impressed by how well Logan and Bradon played together. Logan needed
virtually no help from Mom except to get up onto the bouncy castle area!
With the boys playing so well together, Melissa and Mom were actually
able to hold a good conversation!

Later in the afternoon, Mom filled the pool with the hose and a couple
buckets of hot water. Logan and Mom spent two hours outside splashing
in the pool, playing ball and doing some arts & crafts (painting and
contact-paper pictures).

On Friday (Sept. 9), Mom woke up at 4:00am unable to sleep (a
hormone/pregnancy issue!). She got a lot done while waiting for Logan
to get up. She's making some headway once again on the "cathedral
window" quilt wall-hanging for the baby. Once Logan was up, fed and
dressed Mom and Logan headed for a quick trip to the grocery store.
Logan was VERY excited to hear we'd be going to Playgroup. It lived up
to his high expectations as he did paintings of "Ima" the safety-house
(a character on local TV) and met a real policeman who gave him a
"Neighbourhood Watch" tattoo. He spent a lot of time playing with the
toys that were put out this week--a farmhouse with animals, career
people and a large pirate ship (complete with pirates, treasure chests
and a small row-boat). The fun wasn't over as "Aunt Nic" (Liesl's
friend Nicola) came over for lunch. Logan kept running to the door to
see if she arrived yet (he wanted to show her his new tattoo!). She
stayed until nap-time and an exhausted Logan went down for his nap
easily!

Logan has been increasingly enjoying creative play. Two weeks ago we
borrowed a stove/oven set from the Toy Library and Logan played "tea
party" at least once if not two or three times a day (for as long as 45
minutes at a time!). This consisted of cooking dinner for Mom or Dad
and serving tea. He also enjoyed pouring water for everyone and enjoyed
drinking out of the miniature cups! Logan has also been playing with his
"Little People" playground set and a Winnie the Pooh tree house that
comes with small furniture.

Logan still LOVES the rough-and-tumble play he does with Daddy who
swings all around him upside down, gives him airplane rides and has
taught him to do summersaults.

Another recent addition to his playtime activities has been
hide-and-seek. Logan loves maneuvering into a small space between his
crib and a chair. He calls out "where's Logan" and we spend much time
"looking" for him! Unfortunately, this has become an essential part of
the bedtime routine... so we now have to allot close to 45 minutes for
tooth brushing, hide-and-seek, books and night-night songs! On the
other hand, we now leave the room while he is still awake and he's doing
pretty well most of the time about going to sleep on his own (with
ambulance and fire chief's truck held firmly in hand!)

Logan's memory has also been improving a lot in the past few weeks. He
now counts easily to eleven (and sometimes to thirteen or fourteen). [In
fact, we have him count as we push the swing up in the air and when he
gets to 11, he says GO -- and gets to swing high enough to "touch the
plants" -- ie. the orange tree about 6 feet in the air!!] We often find
him singing bits and pieces of the ABC song, Old McDonald and BaaBaa
Black Sheep. He really enjoys his music now and asks us to play his
music in the car and at home.

Yesterday (Saturday, Sept. 10) was a quiet day for the family at home.
We all hung out at home most of the day. Tony took Logan to the
playground late in the afternoon while Liesl made dinner. We just got a
used freezer so that Liesl can freeze some meals ahead of time.
Hopefully we'll have a few things stocked up before the baby arrives.

Speaking of the baby--Liesl is doing really well. She's now 36 weeks
along. The baby is quite active and jabs away regularly at 8am and
8-9:30pm. Often she can see parts of the baby actually jutting out from
her belly! Logan is VERY aware of the baby now... especially since he
was able to feel the baby kicking. He laughed in glee the first times
he felt the baby move. With Mom doing laundry and cleaning up various
baby equipment to get ready for the birth, he's been quite aware that
the baby will sit, sleep or play in this-or-that. He even asks to feel
the baby kick and is disappointed if Mom tells him that the baby is
sleeping.

Logan had a wonderful time with Dad, Jesse and Bradon today at the
Telegraph Station. He and Bradon pushed their trucks up and down the
hills. They also explored a cave and heard a "lion" (Jesse) roar while
they were in the cave! Though Logan was very tired after all the
running around, he and Tony still mustered the energy to go to the
Sunday Todd Mall Market. Logan ate an entire Knockwurst (hotdog) and
helped Dad with his ice cream. They brought home Thai and Indian
takeaway for Mom for lunch (and dinner). Meanwhile, Mom made some
headway catching up on Logan's baby book and started on the baby's book.
It was great to have enough energy to accomplish something other than
chores around the house! Much of the time, just keeping up with Logan
zaps most of her energy!