As promised: Auden's First Words

Logan strikes again...

Eric couldn't find his phone today. After dinner, he wanted to make a call so asked me to call his cell phone from my phone. I did. I heard it ringing from the toy box.
"Logan, did you steal daddy's cell phone?"
"Yep. I steal wallets and phones."
So, any visitors to our house, beware.

Dadadadadada

Video coming soon of Auden speaking his first word: DADA!

Spidah man

A while back, Eric discovered we can stream Netflix to our tv, so, being the tv-loving parent he is, he put a bunch of kid-friendly cartoons and movies in our streaming queue. One of them was Spiderman. It must be a newer cartoon geared for 8-10 year olds, I'm guessing. It's really wrong on many levels--one of them being that Peter's anime aunt is hot. Anyway, Logan loves it, and he's incorporated many of spidey's actions into his repertoire...Well, I guess the leaping around and jumping across the couch cushions was always one of Logan's favorite things to do, but he's also taken to opening his hands (jazz-hand style) and making a "psht!" sound to mimic the web-shooting thing Spiderman does. He especially likes to do it in response to an order you give him that he's not inclined to do.
"Logan, pick up those toys, please."
"Psht! Just stop it off, momma." (I think "stop it off" is his own private blend of the phrases "knock it off" and "stop it.")
Yesterday, he warned dad that he was going to shoot "a big, juicy web" at him.
Well, better get off here. My Spidey senses are telling me both boys are in bed and I can finally watch a movie I want to see.

Logan says:

(While walking outside, noticing that the snow tunnels he had made with his daddy were collapsed and melting,)
Logan: Hey! What happened to the tunnels!?
Mom: Well, it's warmer out now and the snow melted.
Logan: Stupid snow.

Words of Advice

Don't ever forget to put a diaper on your newly-in-potty-training toddler before he goes to bed. Having had lots of water with his bedtime snack and after brushing his teeth, he'll probably wake you up at, say 1:30, by sneaking into your bed. You'll let him in bed with you, as you always do, thinking he's had a bad dream. He'll cozy up with you and say, "Momma, I'm cold," and give a little shiver. You'll think this is odd behavior, as he is in warm fleecy pajamas and is under your fluffy comforter. Then the realization of why he is cold will suddenly hit you over your sleep-deprived head with a giant but soundless Thwack: You forgot to put a diaper on him and he's cold because he is covered in pee. So...you'll have to take off his wet jammies, clean him up, put him in new jammies and deposit him back in your bed (which, thankfully, is dry), strip his bedding and throw it in the wash, put on new bedding, transfer him to his now-dry bed, all without waking your husband, who is, fortunately, sleeping soundly--he has to run 23 miles in the morning to train for the upcoming marathon. So, again, diapering your child before bed = important step that will lead to a more peaceful night for everyone involved. But that's just my experience talking...

Happy 6 mos, Auden!

Auden turned 6 months old today. Eric and I are a little shocked that our little baby is now a half-year old. That's big time--crawling is just around the corner. He has a sharp little tooth protruding through his gums. What happened to the teensy baby that slept all of the time, who grunted and snorted and wailed with this little tremor-like cry? Now he's doing airplanes and rolling across the floor, squealing, giggling, eating smooshy food. I know it's a cliche, but time really does fly too quickly.

We had a lovely day today. I was out of bed with the boys as Eric was leaving around 6:30, and we were out of the door a little after 7:00 to make a run to the grocery store, and then we returned home; Logan watched some cartoons while I made the day's lunch, which we packed up and took (and ourselves) to Miss Dawn's for a play date. He played with Lily and Gabby today, but he missed Bella and Maddie, who were at school. So nice to catch up with old friends.

Mercifully, both boys fell asleep on the car ride home and took nice naps when we got back home. I was able to read a couple of chapters from A Tale of Two Cities, which I've picked up again after reading the Harry Potter series another time. It's so nice to read for fun--I would really like to start up a book club. If any of you out there are interested, let me know!

Here are some pictures I took of Auden today on his half-year birthday. Enjoy!

First Check-up

Just as Auden is sprouting his first incisors, Logan had all 20 of his pearly whites checked today. He woke up a bit earlier than usual this morning and wad quite crabby, so I was bracing myself for an unhappy adventure, especially since he was emphatically stating, "I don't want to go to the dentist!" before we left.

Despite a little tension in the waiting room due to the wait, he settled down in the exam chair and was quite comfortable. As soon as the hygenist switched on the tv, I knew we were golden. The only thing he was a little shocked by was the straw thingie. But after he recovered from the initial surprise, he smiled and thought that was pretty cool, too. She said he was the best two-year old she had seen and that she wanted him to come back every day to show the other kids how it's done. If I hadn't been there myself, I would never have believed she was talking about my Logan.

Awesome job, Logan!

Excrement and Incisors

I knew this day would come! Logan has overcome his fear of pooping in the potty! Eric and I actually cheered, did a little dance, and offered him whatever he wanted to celebrate the momentous occasion. He took two fruit gums (Starbursts), which somehow felt a little anti-climatic, but, hey, Logan was happy. It's only been two weeks, but dealing with his squealing fearfully every time he felt like he had to poo has made the time feel like an eternity.

Auden's two bottom incisors have been having a race to see who surfaces first...and tonight it appears that the right bottom one has won. Poor guy has been a little uncomfortable what with the tooth-cutting and the nose-running, but he's darn near inconsolable when you unclog his nose with the aspirator. Babies sure hate that.

Where's my wallet?

Eric and I are both a little absent minded. That being said, we tend to misplace things often. Lately, though, Eric has surpassed me on this front. He's lost his second wedding ring; (We think the first one was thrown out in a bag of potato chips after drinking beer and snacking at a friend's pool party.) His keys went missing for a couple of weeks until I found them on the bookcase in our basement. His wallet was missing for several days. We still can't find our checkbook, which was last used by him. You get the picture. So I wasn't all that surprised when Eric, wanting to take a trip to Lowe's while we were at gym class, couldn't find his wallet.
Eric: "Where's my wallet?! I left it right on the table last night. I'm positive!"
Carly: "Yeah, right. Start looking in your jeans and coat pockets. It's probably there."
Eric: "No. I've checked. I know I had it on the table. I swear, we have gremlins."
Logan: "I stole your wallet."
(Carly chuckles)
Eric: "Did you really steal my wallet Logan? Where is it?"
Logan: "I stole it."
(Carly: (chuckling some more) "Oh, come on. He didn't take your wallet. You just need to find a designated place to put your stuff."
Logan, Auden and I leave for the Y, while Eric sulkily sends us of, knowing he is now trapped in the house without his wallet or keys. When we return, I ask if he's found his wallet yet. A testy "No" is the reply. Logan immediately opens his toy chest, picks the wallet out, and hands it to Eric.
Ok, so Logan is the gremlin...but we still haven't found Eric's keys.

What now, Snow?!

Yes, the Blizzard of 2011 hit us, but we (OK, Eric) hit back with shovel, snow blower, and ice melt. I hit back by serving hot cocoa and grilled cheese sandwiches. Although the drifts made it kind of difficult to tell exactly how much snow dumped on us, Eric says it was probably around 16" or so. Unfortunately, our trusty snow blower that Eric's uncle gave to us bit the dust, a heroic end to a noble machine. It was purchased in '84, did not require an ounce of maintenance, and started up flawlessly until it faced this blizzard. I'm holding out hope that it was just clogged and will start up again once it's thawed a bit.

Despite that, Logan and Eric had a wonderful time digging tunnels and trudging through the knee-deep (or waist-deep for Logan) snow. Auden and I even made it out for a bit to join in the fun. He finally got to use the snowsuit I found on clearance earlier in the season, so now I feel vindicated for having purchased it...He's worn it twice and will perhaps wear it a few more times before this winter is over. Oh, and we made snow ice cream--a treat I haven't had since I was in second grade. It's surprisingly tasty. Logan was quite impressed.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our day in the snow...

Atch-Bambo

This is the name of Logan's imaginary friend, a "good dinosaur!" who helps him clean up his toys, fixes him mac n cheese, (this Atch-Bambo character sounds a lot like mom so far!), jumps on his bed, and goes to sleep with him. He goes to work, but doesn't let Logan go along. I asked: "work" is pretty school, where Atch-Bambo colors and paints. According to Logan, his dino friend is about one and a half feet tall, red, with sharp teeth, but he doesn't bite. Logan refers to him by his full name: Atch-Bambo Dinosaur and he'll correct you when you say only his first name.

Apparently, his new imaginary friend is a kinder, gentler version of the dinosaur he dreamt about this morning. He woke me up this morning at 4:30 to say: "Know what happened to me?! A dinosaur came into our driveway and took me away from my daddy; I mean Eric."

The only thing that could have taken daddy away from Logan today is the snow, which Eric is dutifully plowing away with our snowblower as I type. Yep, it's a blizzard, but Eric made it home safely from work today, and he has the day off tomorrow, thankfully. I think everything is shutting down. Hopefully everyone out there keeps their power--especially my folks, who always get slammed by ice storms. We're fine with staying in. I've been potty training Logan for real for the past two weeks. He's doing awesome with peeing--no accidents, and he's even dry after naps and at bedtime, though I haven't braved those without pull-ups yet. But he's got serious issues with dropping number twos on the potty. What do you do when your toddler has an irrational fear of the toilet for bms?! Oh well, I suppose he'll figure it out soon enough...