Rockets, RaceCars and more

Last week Logan was obviously quite tired one afternoon. Mommy was putting Delenn down to sleep when Logan declared that he had to go to potty. All was quiet and eventually Mommy went to check on him. He had fallen fast asleep on his little potty with his head back against the wall! (July 24)

That can no longer happen this week as we officially retired his potty. We celebrated his birthday this past weekend (more about that in a second) and told him that once he turned three we'd put his potty in the garage for Delenn and that he would now only use the toilet. We did that primarily because we'll be traveling for two months and he obviously has to be used to using the toilet while we're on the go.

Another day last week when we were eating, Logan got down to get himself another yogurt out of the fridge. Dad noticed his spoon was missing from around his plate area on the table. When Dad asked Logan where his spoon was, he irately and vehemently replied, "IT'S ON MY PLATE ON THE TABLE!" Dad then indicated that it was not there and again asked if Logan thought he might know where it could be. Again, an even more boisterous response with all the gusto of Stalin and Hitler, "IT'S ON THE TABLE!" Dad then asked Logan to show him where on the table. Completely vexed and fuming, Logan emerged from the fridge and pointed with such force and direction at his plate proclaiming, "THERE ON THE PLATE!" He then noticed it wasn't on the plate. So then he began a new tirade of "WHERE IS MY SPOON!" as he angrily pointed here and there with his tightly held fist, using THE VERY SPOON IN HIS HAND as a pointer. Mom and Dad then noticed this fact and began laughing hysterically, which just riled Logan up all the more. When Mom and Dad eventually could breathe again, we indicated to our strong-willed little boy that it was right there in his hand. Yes, at that point Logan chimed in and laughed along with us.

Life was becoming tough for Mommy, who was up with Delenn just about every hour. The more teeth Delenn cut, the more frequently she seemed to need comforting through the night. So, last Friday (July 28) Daddy stepped in to help turn things around. When Delenn woke up, Daddy went in to comfort her. The first night, he would get her back to sleep and she would wake up every five or ten minutes. Finally at 3:00am, Mommy gave Delenn a feed and she slept for a couple of hours. The second night, Daddy again took the first shift. Delenn slept much better -- getting up just a couple of times between 7pm and 3am. It has been much better ever since for Mommy (who gets more sleep). Delenn seems to be adjusting to the new no milk til 3am policy. And Daddy commented that while he doesn't get quite as much sleep, he has enjoyed the cuddle time with Delenn. Once he gives her her bear, she nestles into Daddy's shoulder and cuddles with him til she falls back asleep. Delenn has been such a Mama's girl, it's good to see the bond between Daddy and Delenn growing stronger.

We celebrated Logan's birthday two weeks early this year because we'll be leaving for the States soon. He wanted his birthday party theme to be rockets and race cars, so we celebrated accordingly. On Friday Mommy and Logan worked hard to make a rocket birthday cake. Logan helped mix, make, and bake the cake (and helped clean/lick the utensils, of course!!). And he also helped decorate the cake (and sample the icing and marzipan topping).

Everyone seemed to have fun at the party (held on Saturday morning 9:30-11:30). He invited his good friends to celebrate with him at the Telegraph Station (five kids in all). There were "tires" to get across a dangerous shark and crocodile infested river. We played the rocket
ship and race car hokey-pokey. We played race car tag where each kid had a tire taped on their front (they were the naughty race cars) and the dads were the mechanics trying to fix the tires. One of the big hits was the scavenger hunt where the kids had to find a race car (a six
or seven inch laminated car) and four wheels that had been hidden around the trees and scattered in the grass. And, of course there was "truck, truck, race car" (as opposed to duck, duck, goose).

Just in the past week or so, Delenn is finally making moves to crawl on her own. Her preferred mode of transportation is still walking and holding onto a parent's finger. She can walk quite fast now! She is confident pulling herself up now and we often find her waiting for us after her naps by standing and peering over the edge of her crib with all her toys and blanket strewn around the edge of the crib.

We had a couple friends over again this week for what we call "preschool day." Today the theme was rockets and stars. Mommy had hidden rockets and flames (which had various letters written on them) around the front driveway area and Logan and his friends had to find them and put the letters on the appropriate star. Logan enjoyed this activity so much that now (four days later), Logan is still begging us to hide the rockets most of the day! While Mommy didn't get any pictures of the whole crew hunting for the pictures, we did get some photos later of
Logan doing that same activity later that day so you'll be able to see what we mean.

Delenn has discovered the joys of taking things out AND putting things back in. For example, she spent a long time taking things out of a drawer while Mommy sorted through clothes. She also enjoys going through Mommy's purse or looking through the contents of the laundry
basket, legos box, or whatever.