Zoo and Birthday pictures

It took an eternity for me to get these out here but here are the pictures from Logan's first birthday and our family trip to the zoo. Both were SO fun

We went to the NC zoo in Asheboro NC. Its a great zoo. Its set in a very wooded area and they left up most of the trees so all of the walking paths are naturally shaded. Is really big and the exhibits are spaced out so its a lot of walking, but also makes for less crowding.

The boys loved looking at the chimpanzees!

Brenden liked telling us all about the animals he was seeing. We got to see zebras, giraffes, elephants, gorillas, rhinos, baboons, birds, lizards, fish, snakes, bears, otters... so many cool animals!

Brenden stopped to pose for me on a bench near the elephant exhibit. I love this picture!

Halfway through the zoo the boys passed out, but they really were awake for the most interesting animals. It was nice to just get to stroll along w/out having to load the kids in and out of the stroller for a bit.

After their naps the kids got out and played around in some of the natural areas they had set up in the zoo. It was good for Logan as he wasn't too interested in the animals but enjoyed the day outside.

Logan had a great first birthday. He did NOT want to nap before the party so we put him in the swing, and in the end... the nap won!

We just had a small party with only a few friends. We didn't want anything too crazy for a 1yr old party. It turned out to be the perfect number of little playmates!

Singing happy birthday and getting ready to blow out the candle:

The whole family - the kids were happy, they just didn't know what to make of the person other than mommy behind the camera!

Chocolate frosting!!! YUMMY!!

Brenden had a hard time understanding that all of the presents weren't for him, but luckily Logan hasn't learned how to say "mine!" yet. Brenden LOVED this little monkey-jack-in-the-box that Daddy got for Logan. When it popped up he'd yell 'surprise' and LAUGH so hard. It was precious.

Love my guitar!

Logan's birthday boy sticker. We felt it had a better chance of staying on if it was on his back!

Logan got a bounce house for his birthday. Unfortunately it rained ALL day (hadn't rained in 3 weeks up until that day). At the end of the party a tiny speck of sunshine broke through and we inflated the bounce house. The kids were happy for about 4 minutes and then everybody came crashing down from their sugar rush and we called it a day!

The birthday boy had his 1 year checkup. He's 29 inches long and weighs 20 lbs. He's in the 25th percentile for both length and height so he's perfectly proportional. I really thought he was bigger than what Brenden was at this age, but its about the same. He was a champ for the Dr. He didn't cry at all when they pricked his finger for a blood test and though he did cry during his shots, he immediately calmed down once Mommy picked him up. He's wearing a size 4 shoe now and is moving into his 12-18 month clothes but can still fit in a lot of his 12 month stuff. He finally is taking milk from a sippy cup after weeks of refusing it. He still gets mommy milk and also gets some cow milk at daycare. He's eating solids really well now, but is a very picky eater just like his brother. He's walking all the time now and quite fast too! I'll try to get some video of my little guy walking laps around the table. He thinks its SOOOOOOO funny to instigate a game of chase and will just run around the table laughing whether someone is chasing him or not. Its too cute!

Random Brenden moment

Again, this is probably one of those things thats only funny to me but Brenden cracked me up at daycare and I wanted to save the memory.

Let me set the stage...
At daycare each of the kids have their own cubby that has things like change of clothes, his naptime teddy bear, his naptime bedding, his daily folder w/his artwork and other paper items the teachers send home. The kids also get a daily sheet that has good info like when they changed a diaper/potty use, when they eat and how much, when they nap and how long, etc. Its an important sheet to review! It may or may not be on top of their cubby. There are also 2 classrooms, one for younger 2's and one for older 2's - B just moved to the older 2's room last week.

Today I go to pick him up from daycare and he's outside playing with his class on the playground. I go get him and his teacher says his daily sheet is with another teacher in the adjoining class. When we come inside Brenden heads for the door...

Me: Brenden, wait, mommy needs to go in the other room to get your sheet
Brenden: Oh I get sheet mama (starts rummaging through cubby)
Me: Brenden, honey your sheet isn't in there its in the other class
Brenden: No mama, its right here (still looking in cubby)
Me: Brenden I know your cubby is in this room now but your sheet is in the other room
Brenden: No mama, I get it (still pulling all items out of cubby and starting to make a mess)

Enter teacher from younger 2's room with Brenden's daily sheet and hands it to me while B continues to go through his belongings in his cubby behind me. I turn around...

Me: Okay Brenden, we can go now, I have your sheet
Brenden: No mama, Brenden has sheet!

and sure enough, tucked under his arms, what he had been looking in his cubby so desperately for.. the sheets to his mat for naptime... I guess he knew where the 'sheet' was all along and I just wasn't understanding him LOL. Once I realized all that time he was trying to show me his sheets I just laughed my head off

Me: yes Brenden, you are right, those ARE your sheets! Please put them back in your cubby for tomorrow and carry your PAPER (not sheet) for mama.
Brenden: Okay mama!!!



LOOOOVVEEE that little boy!!!!

Happy First Birthday Logan

To my baby boy on his first birthday:

My dear special Logan Alexander. One year ago today at 7:49 a.m. you entered this world. It still feels like yesterday.. my big belly, an IV that took way too many attempts to start, a C-section and you were here. You looked just like your brother Brenden as you drew in your first breath and screamed your little head off. That is the only time in your life that I will ever find your screaming music to my ears LOL! You were a good sized baby at 6lb and 14oz. You had a full head of stick-straight dark brown hair. Who would have known that it would all fall out and this blond curly hair would emerge in its place. And you LOVE hair, you love to stroke your own hair when you are sleepy and to hold my hair when I rock you and to pull all of your friend's hair at daycare!

You are so different from your brother, but in a wonderful way. You are wild and rough and SUCH a little boy. You love to tackle and destroy things. You climb on everything and DANGER is your middle name! Your nicknames are things like Loganator, Godzilla, Logan the Destroyer, Maximum Destruction, etc. You are LOUD and your crying makes Brenden's fits seem like a whisper. You are a lover and a hugger and the daycare is constantly telling me how someone was in your classroom just to take advantage of your willingness to give everybody hugs.

If you could skip the age of 1 and go straight to age 2 I think you would. You SO want to do everything your brother does. You are walking a good 2 months sooner than Brenden because you want to keep up with him so badly. You are having a tough time transitioning to solid foods but you have a touchy gag reflex that makes textures icky for you. You are stubborn and like things your own way and make your opinion about it known! You HATE getting your diaper changed because that means you have to sit still. You smile and make silly faces and point at everything. You fake sneeze and say "aahhh - doo!" and bob your head up and down. You like to dance along with the Wiggles with you brother. You are fully capable of climbing all 3 stairs on Brenden's slide, getting to a sitting position, and sliding down. We keep pillows all around the slide because it doesn't always happen in that order!

You have grown up so fast and somehow it seems like you transitioned from baby to toddler overnight and I'm not sure how that happened. I must have blinked at the wrong time. You continue to amaze me every day and make me smile. My heart was full when I had Brenden, and now with you, its overflowing. You are a great brother and son. You are your own individual and I love it! I just assumed that you would be exactly like your brother but you have proven me so wrong. I wish you the very happiest of first birthdays! Thank you for bringing so much joy to my life and would you mind not turning 2 quite as fast as you turned 1??!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Logan!!

- Mama

*** And I might as well update on Brenden...

He is potty training now and is about 50% of the way there. Some days are better than others but I am proud at how much effort he is putting into it. He gets gummy fruits (called potty fruits) when he goes potty and its so cute to see him run out of the bathroom saying "I go potty! I did it! I get potty fwoot!!" He is so proud of himself when he goes. He says the funniest stuff to us all the time. The other day I poured a soda and when he saw the fizz he told me my cup was raining. How cute!

Other famous Brenden quotes

B: I go potty (in the car)

me : did you go potty just now?

B: yes I pee pee on robot

-- he has pull ups with a robot design and we tell him not to pee on the robot lol

-- one day he didn't like how stiff his pull up felt in the crotch area so I asked if he needed me to shake the pull up out a little to make it softer. I grabed the sides and gave it a good shake/wiggle just to loosen it up. Now when we are out in public he grabs his crotch and says "Mama shake it out??"

B: I toot! (pass gas)

Me: no you did- (TOOT, giggle)- n't

-- guess it was a warning and not a declaration

--Brenden likes things in increments of 5 - five crackers, five monkeys, five cookies.. five is a good number. He stuck his hand in the box of cereal and pulled out a giant fistful and said "wow, thats a lot of fives!"

-- for some reason one day he pinched my chest and I told him no, that was not nice. So now he waits until we are out in public to grab my chest and say 'Nooooo pinching!!!" Yes Brenden, that is correct, no pinching!

I could go on and on but most of what he says is just funny to me :)  Its just so fun to watch how his brain works and how he translates that into words. He thinks birds that make squawking sounds are monkeys, he thinks any triangular shape on a building makes it a castle,etc.

Logan is getting a bounce house for his birthday. I can't wait to post pictures of the boys playing on it!! The birthday party is this coming weekend, but unfortunately being born so close to labor day means most people are on vacation the weekends before and after your birthday. Logan is such a happy kid he won't even care.