Visiting

The boys and I recently went for a quick weekend visit to the west side of the state.  On Friday night we visited an old high school friend of mine who lives down in Spanaway.  In the past year we have both moved back to the northwest so it was nice to be able to see each other.  Stirling and Logan had fun playing with her five kids, two of whom are pretty close in age to my boys, and we enjoyed a pizza and movie picnic for dinner.  She and I got to stay up late and have some grown up time to chat as well.

The next day we got up early and went up to Tacoma and met Aunt Colette and Cousin Tyler at the Pt. Defiance Zoo.  This was Stirling and Logan's first ever trip to a zoo.  I think they enjoyed it....?  Logan refused to get in the stroller, and Stirling was extremely impatient, and all three little guys had their moments of tantrums, crying etc.  But overall I thought it went pretty well.  We got to see some HUGE walruses, polar bears at feeding time, and tiger cubs.  Stirling really liked the aquarium and the sharks.  We never made it to the elephants, but got to go on the carousel twice and have a picnic.  It was really beautiful weather.
After the zoo, we ended up going to the playground where Logan did the slide over and over and over; he was so smiley and proud of himself.

On Sunday, we were able to go visit Katie and Dave, some college friends, and their daughter Amelia.  We went to the playground near their house and the kids played there.  At one point I thought I lost Stirling, but it turns out he just went to the bathroom.  He is too self sufficient sometimes and I need to reinforce some safety rules for public places!  It was a short visit, but nice to see them and have some grown up talk!

Logan

Today I was supposed to sub, but when I got there, it turned out that there was a mistake and I wasn't needed until tomorrow.  So, I left Stirling at the daycare so he could have some much needed interaction with other kids (and some non-mommy adults!), and brought Logan home with me.  It has been such a blessing to have a day alone with Logan.  I really haven't had many opportunities to interact with just Logan without Stirling being around.  So today he had no big brother to boss him or push him or direct his play.  He and I did some finger-painting, which he loved so much that he cried when I put the paint away, and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies!
Logan is so full of silliness and giggles.  He loves to twirl until he is dizzy and makes the funniest faces and mischievous expressions.  He has started putting a few words together in little phrases like "ay taato" (hay tractor), "ne-we out" (Nelly is outside), "biiig taato" (big tractor), or "lello car."   He knows a few colors- yellow, purple, black, white, and then everything else is also yellow.  He finally moved past what seemed like a plateau in the vocabulary department, and is now learning words quickly again!

Logan's most favorite thing in the whole world is tractors!  He stands at the window and talks about Opa's tractors, the hay tractor, etc.

Logan likes playdoh, though doesn't sit still well enough to do it often!

Another new word is "unnies" (undies) and the other day he said "me, me, me, unnies!"  So I let him wear an old pair of Stirling's!  Logan loves the dogs and cats and is always trying to catch and pet them!

Look at that cute face!