A Busy Week (Followed by new pictures below)

This past week was fairly busy. We did the normal array of activities
-- a playgroup on Monday, Nana Kath's on Tuesday, catching up with
friends at Squiggles on Wednesday, 3yr old kindy (his 2nd to the last
one) followed by time at the pool on Thursday and getting together with
friends and then having friends over on Friday. Plus lots of playtime
out back using the inflatable pool, water table, swing and trampoline.
Whew! And that's just the kid's activities! We adults had soccer late
Tuesday evening (9pm), a Valentine's Day party Wednesday evening and
Mommy had rehearsal for the Alexandria Quartet on Thursday.

This weekend for the first time in a long time, sickness has entered the
house. Logan spent most of Friday night throwing up and breathing hard.
Daddy was up with him all night caring for him. When Logan wasn't
throwing up, he was having restless dreams and shouting out "watch out
for the snake" and such. When Logan is sick, he seems to really think
about the words he uses. For example, at one point he said he wanted to
go lay on the bed where it's soft and warm and cozy. He thoughtfully
pointed out, "a movie will help me get better"! He seems to be on the
mend today (Sunday). Delenn has a very runny nose. Mom and Dad are
well but a bit tired.

We had a lot of fun earlier this week with some chalk games outside.
Mommy created a large chutes and ladders game in chalk that she played
with Logan. We also had a long, twisting chalk line with various
instructions to walk, jump, skip or hop at each new station. Logan and
Delenn both enjoyed that as well.

For several months Delenn has signed "potty" or "poos" whenever she
goes. Mommy always signs it to Delenn when she's in the bathroom as
well. Anyway, this weekend we pulled out the potty ring because Logan
was not feeling well. We explained to Delenn that when she was bigger
she would sit on the potty ring and use the potty as well. Who's for
waiting? Delenn immediately wanted to get up on the potty ring and
signed "potty" as she sat there for a while. She even grunted (was she
trying to go poos?). When she got off she looked in the potty for
evidence and put toilet paper in. She's done this several times!
(Remember she's only 16 months old.)

Delenn can be so cute (and compelling) with her signing. Now when she
wants something she knows to sign "please." For example, last night
when Mommy was on the computer she climbed up on the bed and was looking
at books. After a bit, she signed to Mommy "books" and "please." Who
can resist that? So Mommy promptly got off the computer and read for
her for well over an hour. Delenn will also sign "please" when she
wants Logan to give her something (which is often, as Logan will snatch
things from her at regular intervals). Unfortunately, we're not sure
that Logan notices Delenn's pleas of "please." We wind up doing the
translating (Delenn said please give it to me, Logan) -- and ask him to
look at her signing. She'll also sign "please" when she wants to chew
on the glue stick -- how horrible are we that we ignore the request and
put the glue stick away?

On Friday afternoon Mommy was going to take the kids to the Toy Library
for the first time in months. She was rounding up the kids telling them
to get their shoes on. Logan got very excited , "we're going to the
book library!" "Oh," said Mommy "Did you want to go to the book
library, Logan?" "Yes, I want to choose a new book." Mommy couldn't
believe she did this, but she actually convinced Logan *not* to go to
the book library and instead to go to the toy library (since the toy
library has limited hours and is not open Sat-Wednesday). We're all
happy to see that Logan loves books -- he really seems to love our
weekly treks to the library. For the last month or more, Daddy has spent
countless hours reading these massive jet books to Logan. On every
page, Logan asks, "what's that one and that one and that one?" Daddy
will tell him what it is and then they continue on to the next page.
Daddy's just a little tired of it and desperately tries to get Logan to
read a short story book at night too. At least during the day Logan
steers away from the jet books and likes to read a smattering of all
sorts of things -- both fiction and nonfiction. Most every meal, Logan
says, "I know, let's read the Magic Tree House book!" We're currently
up to book #15.

For a bit over a week, we started using a "stop whining star chart."
Logan's whining had become really quite annoying. For example, he'd go
on and on about not wanting to put on his pajamas or wanting more cereal
in his bowl (or wanting the Rice Bubbles *under* the sports cereal) and
so forth. Negative consequences weren't getting us anywhere, so we made
up a chart and told him that if he stopped whining he'd get a star.
When he filled the entire chart he'd get a prize. As we came closer and
closer to filling the chart, Logan became more and more excited (and
worked harder and harder at pulling himself together in those whining
moments). Finally, he did it -- and he is SO proud of his prize (his
P-38 Lightning, a WWII fighter plane). The great thing about it is that
Logan really understands what whining is. Identifying the behavior is
half the battle, right?

We have a new craft table that's about five feet long (it sits under the
overhang of the kitchen counter). Our friend had made it and passed it
along to us when he moved. We cut the legs down and now it's the
perfect height for Delenn and Logan to work at. Delenn spends a lot of
time drawing pictures and will now go over, pull the caps off the
markers and set to working on her master pieces. When Mommy and Daddy
ask her what her picture is, she'll often sign "snake" or "tiger." Then
we spend time being scared of the "snake" on the page. She laughs as
she puts her hand towards the snake and pulls it away.

For a long time, Delenn showed little interest in the TV or computer.
Having just added the word "computer" to her signing vocabulary, she has
suddenly gained an interest at using it as well. Her favorite website
is www.starfall.com.

We go to the alphabet area and click on a letter.
Then there are a series of pictures (with cute animation) -- for example
for the letter "D" there is a dancing doll, a duck, and a short little
movie about a dancing dinosaur. Whenever Mommy or Daddy try to sneak a
peak at our email, there's Delenn demanding to be "UP" so *she* can use
the computer! Delenn also enjoys the Baby Einstein videos now (and
continues to enjoy the signing videos such as Signing Time and Baby See
and Sign).

Delenn seems to show a pretty good understanding of letters. We have
alphabet letters put down on our hallway and kitchen floor with contact
paper . Delenn will go from letter to letter while Mommy or Daddy tell
her what each letter is. Whenever she gets to the letter "M" she always
identifies it correctly! (And it's not like she says "M" for every
letter she stands on!)

As we said last week, Logan just loves creating "submarine" or "rocket"
masterpieces out of cushions. He also spends a lot of time making
creations out of his K'nex or Legos. The only problem is that he won't
let Delenn come anywhere near them -- and will often dissolve into tears
if Delenn "ruins" it. Consequently, Mommy and Daddy have some intense
play time with Logan while Delenn is napping -- sitting on the little
chairs and taking rides deep into the ocean or up into space. Daddy
especially loves it when Logan creates a "bed" on the rocket/submarine
so he can lay down while Logan takes charge of the navigation!

We have just posted a number of new pictures this weekend--they appear
directly below this post (up through Logan's drawing of Alex and the snake).