A really nice week!

This has been a great week. After a number of nights with Delenn waking
up EVERY HOUR(!!!) she has finally settled back into her normal routine
(waking at midnight and 3am to feed). Mommy has changed her going to
sleep routine a bit just to ensure that Delenn 'knows' how to go to
sleep on her own. So now before both morning and afternoon naps -- and
before bed, if Delenn can still hold her eyes open -- Mommy takes her
into the room, reads a number of books (4 or 5), nurses her and sings
her night-night songs, but then she puts a dim light back on and reads
one more book and lays Delenn down wide awake. There are no protests
from Delenn on this new routine. She'll often gurgle to herself for a
while and then eventually goes to sleep.

As for Logan, he hasn't been napping much at all, but we still read
several books and have Quiet Time in his room after lunch. Usually
around 3pm we head outside to go to the park or ride our bikes, etc.
Logan really loves going to meet Daddy at the bus stop (at 4:30) -- and
is quite a powerhouse on his tricycle!

Delenn now seems to really understand the signing and is trying to
include various signs during the day. For example, today at the
playground Mommy was pushing Logan on the swing for a while. Finally,
it was Delenn's turn for Mommy time (ie. holding onto both fingers and
walking all around the park). Mommy asked Delenn, who was sitting
playing with a ball, "Ready to walk?" Much to Mommy's amazement, Delenn
signed "ready." [Mommy signs that word a lot because there's a song
that goes "Ready to go, it's a beautiful day, it's a beautiful day to
play." So now any time we're going to go somewhere we sign 'ready' to
'go.' And, in the car before we drive off, we sign the entire little
song.] Anyway, she signs 'all done' very clearly at meals -- and seems
to be trying to include 'eat' and/or 'more' at times. She'll
enthusiastically wave her hands at times -- trying to communicate,
though it's not always clear to Mommy what that is.

Yesterday, Logan had a number of friends over for a play. We all had a
terrific time and they all made some beautiful egg carton caterpillars.
Logan also made a (Styrofoam) bug with pipe cleaner legs and antenna.
The bug was finished (or so Mommy thought), but a little while later,
there was a 'tail' on the bug. Logan proudly brought it over to show
Mommy and said, "My bug has a gun!" Mommy laughed hard--there's just no
getting around this thing he has for guns/cannons.

Today we went on a hike with Linda and Le (we went back and did the same
hike Kim had showed us last week). Logan impressed Mommy immensely by
running practically the whole way. He must be tired tonight because we
did that, went to the playground where he ran around and played soccer,
etc. and then rode his tricycle for a while. (With no naps.)

Going back to Delenn's walking for a moment... Delenn does not crawl at
all, but she is improving steadily at walking around (always holding
onto an adult). She easily leans down and grabs a toy, then stands
upright again, grabs Mommy or Daddy's hand and heads off again. She
often walks around carrying a 2 foot (plastic) hockey stick, a ball, DVD
case or a matchbox car. She'll stop every few feet, switch the object
to the other hand and then continue on her way. At times she has
something in both hands. If we're outside, Delenn carries the hockey
stick around and tries to hit balls with it! It's SO cute! Anytime she
is awake, she WANTS to be walking. Not much gets done around the house
unless she is sleeping because between her desire to walk and Logan's
desire for quality play time with Mom, there's no time to tackle things
like putting away the laundry or doing any meaningful cleaning.