Guys Weekend!

Last weekend, I attended a conference for work with my U of M Orientation Guides- the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop- at LSU.  I had only been away from Logan for one night before when he was around 3 months old, and it was for less than 24 hours.  I was gone for 3 days this time, and Brian got to have some time alone with our favorite boy.  He was excited about the weekend, but I think he was also nervous to have all of the responsibility to himself.  Brian travels overnight for work 3-4 times a month, so I regularly have Logan by myself.  However, it is certainly a challenge!

I missed both Brian and Logan very much, and I was so glad to return home on Sunday after a great conference!  Brian did a great job taking care of Logan (I knew he would!), and the house was still clean when I got home.  I have to say- I was kind of expecting a disaster area.  One thing Brian said was that he did not realize how often Logan ate throughout the day--- between nursing and/or bottles (obviously, Brian just gave bottles :) ), yogurt, cereal, a veggie, and a fruit, he does keep you busy with all of his meals. 

Just for good measure, here is a picture of our busy boy when we were trying to change his diaper.  He is so busy that it is sometimes a two-person job if there are two available!

And another cute one of him outside...

I sure do love that boy, and his Daddy too!

8 months old! (and 7 months old, too)

Our sweet boy is 8 months old!  I decided to include pictures from his 7 month birthday since I missed that blog post.  Logan is a very busy 8 month old, and he gets busier every day.  He has so much energy, and he is always playing.  It is very sweet!  Here are some things Logan has been up to over the past two months:

• Growing even more teeth-- we are up to 6!
• Growing in height and weight too- he is about 27 pounds and at least 31 inches tall.  We will get his official "stats" at his 9 month check-up, but we are sure he is still off the charts!
• Rolling- EVERYWHERE! It is his preferred mode of transportation, and he can pretty much go wherever he wants.
• Moving around with his version of crawling- it looks kind of like an army crawl.  However, I think he may be moving toward a more traditional crawl very soon. 
• Talking, talking, talking- with his favorite sounds (in addition to the squeals) being "Ba, Ba" and "Wa, Wa"
• Loving to stand up and can pull up from our laps.
• Still loving bath time and becoming more playful.
• Giving lots of kisses; although, sometimes there are teeth involved :)
• Playing with lots of toys and especially loves the loud ones that involve some type of banging
• Wearing mostly size 24 month clothes
• Starting to drink water from a sippy cup

Logan has also started to have separation anxiety over the past couple of months, especially from his Mama.  Many times if I leave a room, he will start to whine.  It is especially sad when I drop him off at Parents' Day Out or the church nursery, and he cries when I am leaving!  Sometimes it can be frustrating when he only wants to be held by me, but it is also very sweet.  I know one day I will long for the times when I was his favorite person!

Trip to Florida!

Last week, Logan and I (along with Holly, Mom, and Aunt Alice) went to visit my grandparents in Okeechobee, FL.  They have gone "south for the winter" for the past 18 years, and we thought it would be a great time of year to get out of the cold TN weather and get some sunshine!  Logan did great on his first plane ride, and we all had a great time.  The weather was in the upper 70's and lower 80's the entire week, and we did not have any rain.  It could not have been any nicer!

Here are some pictures from the week:

Logan looking so sweet shopping in Palm Beach.

Swimming with Aunt Holly and Bess (yes, it was warm enough to swim!).

Logan hanging out with Great Grandmother and Papa.

Finally, here is a picture of Holly and Papa fishing.  This is the reason Grandmother & Papa started going to Florida each winter 18 years ago!

6 Months Old!

Our sweet boy turned six months old on January 8--- where has the time gone?!  Logan is still so sweet (he will probably always be called "sweet Logan" by his mom anyway), and he is getting more interested in exploring all the time.  This month it seemed like he became even more aware of his surroundings and always wanted to know what was going on.  One of his favorite things to do is watch our cat, Oreo.  Whenever Oreo is around, Logan stares at her and you can tell he desperately wants to touch (OK, grab) her.  He will often just start laughing and kicking whenever he sees her!  Oreo, however, does not share the same fondness for Logan.  It may have to do with the time that she did come close enough for him to touch, and he grabbed her tail very hard.  Whatever the reason, when Oreo realizes she is getting close to Logan, she runs the other way!

Logan went for his 6 month check up, and he is doing great!  Although he is still growing very quickly (and still off the growth charts for his age), it seems to have slowed down just a little bit.  Here are his stats:

Height: 30 1/2 inches (greater than 97th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs., 11 oz. (greater than 97th percentile)

Maybe we will be able to get a little more wear out of his clothes now!  He is currently wearing size 18 months, and he will soon need size 24 months.  Here are some things Logan has been doing this month:

• Eating and loving every single veggie and fruit that we have offered him (even prunes, which I think look and smell disgusting!)
• Sitting alone for much longer periods of time
• Loving to be on his tummy all the time and still working hard at crawling
• Playing with lots of toys
• Picking things up with ease- even heavy things like bigger toys
• Smiling and laughing at everything
• Grabbing everything in sight- we are often surprised at just how far he can reach
• Teething like crazy- he still only has two teeth, but more must be coming very soon!

Logan also started Parents Day Out this month.  He is going twice a week, and he really seems to like it!  His teachers always tell us how happy he is when he is there.  We are glad he will get to play with other babies, particularly when he starts crawling and walking. 

He is such a sweet boy! 

Happy New Year!

I'm a few days late, but I thought this picture of Logan was so cute that I had to share.  We spent New Year's Eve with some friends at the home of Lance and Meredith McKee.  Logan even got a kiss from Laney at "midnight." 

Disclaimer: We were totally lame and celebrated the New Year with the Eastern time zone.  Logan, who was asleep in a pack 'n play, just happened to wake up right before 11 p.m. and was lucky enough to get a kiss from Laney (who is two years old) before we left!  I cannot wait to embarass Logan (and Laney) with that story in about 10 years or so :)

Happy New Year everyone!

Baby's First Christmas

Logan's first Christmas was wonderful!  We had many celebrations, and he enjoyed every one of them.  He was such a good sport, especially since he missed naps, stayed up too late, and did not always get to sleep in his bed.  On Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, we celebrated with my Mom's side of the family.  On Sunday (the day after Christmas), we drove to McKenzie to visit my Dad.  Finally on Monday, we celebrated with Brian's family.  We are so blessed to be able to celebrate Jesus's birth with all of our family! 

On Christmas morning, Brian read the Christmas Story from the Bible for Logan and me.  This is something we want to be a tradition in the Tucker house.  I am sure Logan will always receive lots of presents from Santa, but we want him to know the true meaning of Christmas.  Brian and I always try adopt an Angel from the Salvation Army Angel Tree and/or participate in Highpoint Church's Christmas in a Red Bag ministry for single mothers, which is also something we want to make a tradition with Logan at Christmas time.

As for presents, Logan received lots of them!  Some of them include a Radio Flyer wagon, a Musical Table, a Rocking Horse, several Dr. Seuss books, and even more toys and clothes.  Even though he did not know exactly what was going on, Logan loved playing with the tissue paper! 

We enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of three, and we look forward to many more to come.  Here are more pictures from the holiday weekend.

Christmas Eve: Brian, Logan, and me with my Mom (Logan's Bess), Holly, and Jason

Logan and his Great Grandmother on Christmas morning

Our cute little family

Logan and his Papa (my Dad)

Logan and me in his cute red longall!

Brian and my Papa- Even though Papa did not have a picture with Logan, I had to include him :)

Fun with Solid Foods: Part 2

Lately, Logan has been giving us many signs that he is ready to try more solid foods.  He is constantly reaching for anything we are eating or drinking, and he stares intently (especially at Brian) as we take each bite.  Since our doctor said we could introduce baby foods at anytime between 4 and 6 months, we decided to give it a try on Monday night at just over 5 months.

We were excited to see Logan's reaction to trying veggies and fruits, particularly since he loved rice cereal and oatmeal at first bite.  One of Brian's favorite vegetables is green peas, and he really wanted it to be Logan's first food (besides rice cereal and oatmeal).  Well, here is the face we got after he tried it...

Logan made the funniest faces when he was eating the peas!  He never spit them out, but he certainly had dislike written all over his face.  We then tried a few bites of apples, which I thought he would love, and his faces were equally as funny!  It was like he thought they were sour or tart.

On Tuesday night, we gave him the rest of his green peas and he gobbled them up, but he still acted like the apples were sour.  Then on Wednesday night, he loved carrots but was not a huge fan of bananas.  Maybe our boy will always love his veggies more than the sweet stuff!