Birthday Morning Surprise--Cedar Park Railroad

Logan is 2!!!  Can you believe it?  Where does the time go?  ( I can tell you where, but that you would get bored and close the link and not get to experience the fun train photos.

The first thing we did for Logan's 2nd birthday was take him into Cedar Park to go ride on the Cedar Rock Railroad.  If you can recall, Logan and I went to the Zilker Zephyr not too long ago.   Logan really enjoyed the train there, so I thought we would try another one.  At Cedar Rock, the train cars were covered, which was nice.  The route was also a loop, unlike the Zephyr that had to turn around at the end of the track and go back the same way it came.

Logan had a great time.  He was so excited when he saw the train pull into the station.  He kept saying "choo choo".

Waiting for the Choo Choo...I can see the excitement in his eyes.

Pulling into the station.

The engine.

I love riding trains!

Will this train ever get going?

No Dada, I don't want to wear your hat.  This train has a cover...I'm good.

What's down there?

Whoa...look at that thing!

I can see up your nose.

I think a bug flew in my eye.

 

Dada, look at that over there.

Choo Choo!!

2-Year Wellness Check

Logan had his 2-year wellness check today.  All is great and he is looking super-duper!

He is 36" tall which puts him in the 90th percentile.  He used to be in the 95th.  He weighs 30 lbs.  He is in the 75th percentile for weight.

Everything else was good.  Dr. Marshall was happy that he was an active boy and that his work count was up to par--at least 50 words.  I was like-oh yeah, he can say 50 words.  His favorites lately being truck, car, Mater (from Cars), apron and paint.

I asked if he could eat too much fruit, and she said no.  Which made me happy because he is a fruit maniac.  Much like the Jimmy Chance character from Raising Hope, a TV comedy on Fox.  He liked so much fruit that his mom had to tell him he was allergic to fruit so he would stop eating it all the moment it entered the house.  Anyhoo, I haven't had to succumb to that lie....yet.

He had to get one vaccine today, but that is his last until his boosters at age 4.  Yay!!!

The other good thing is now he can switch to 2% milk.  I no longer have to buy 2 different milks.  Another Yay!!

Logan did well at the appointment, although he was over being in the office many times.  How do I know--he would tell me (and sign for me) "all done".  He cried for all of 5 seconds with the shot.  What a trooper.

That's all folks.  As Logan would say, "All Done!"

Messy Monday--an artsy kinda day

On Sunday, Logan "asked" if he could paint.  "Paint" by the way is one of his new words that he can say.  We hadn't painted in a couple of weeks, and I was surprised (sort of) that he wanted to paint.  Recently, he has been known to be able to sit and color with his new crayons.  This is something that impressed me because up until about a week and a half ago, Logan would only throw the crayons, thus breaking them and leaving them to become tasty treats for Chico.  (Go ahead...ask me how I know Chico likes to eat the crayons.  I dare you.)

Anyway,  here is the painting Logan did on Sunday.

Finger Paints #4, Logan Barnett, 6/26/2011, crayola gel paint, 8.5"X11"

Today, Logan was bored and again "asked" me to paint.  He loves to wear his red apron.  He goes over to where it is hung and points to it.  It is rather cute, if I do say so myself.  He insisted that we paint to day, so I went to the closet and got out the paint for him.  I put down some new paper, but he instead decided he wanted to "re-purpose" one of his previous crayon masterpieces.  Hey--I'm an artist, I'm not going to stop him from re-purposing his work and re-using.

He started to finger paint as usual, but I could see he was getting frustrated that he just couldn't put down enough paint using his tiny, but cute and tasty, little Logan fingers.  So, I asked if he wanted to use a brush (one came free with the gel paints).  He looked at me and smiled and said "brush?"  I gave him the brush and showed him how to dip it in the paint.  He loved it.  He was able to put more paint on the paper and was able to move it around better.

After a while, he started to "clean" the brush with the wipes I had for his fingers.  He also then tried another method of painting--the wet wipe method.  The "wet wipe method" is where you smoosh the wipe into the paint, then press the wipe to the paper.  How clever my little boy is.

It was all very exciting--for both of us.  I just love to see his artistic side grow--I'm a little biased that way being an artist/art teacher.

This is my paintbrush.

Here I am adding some more blue.

Holding my breath makes me more artistic.

Notice the way the budding artist carefully holds his brush.

This brush is muddy--it needs to be cleaned.

Not clean yet.  More wiping will do the trick.

My masterpiece is crying out for some purple now.

Let me just clean it once more.

Step one of the "wet wipe method"--smoosh wipe in paint.

Logan's patented "wet wipe method".

 Here is the masterpiece Logan created today.

Flying Bird, Logan Barnett, 6/27/2011, crayola gel paint, crayon, 8.5"X11"

Thursday Morning Park

Logan and I went to the park this morning.  We had tons of fun.  We were there for a whole hour and a half--can you believe it.  Logan made some new friends and played on all 3 playgrounds at the MAC.

This is Logan on his way up the slide...yes, I said up the slide--on the inside.

This is the slide.  He climbed all the up to the top--on the inside of the tube.

Logan was a big swinger today!  We went on the swings 3 times.

Ant Allergy=sad face

We've managed to not have any (knock on wood) food allergies yet.  He can eat peanut butter, berries, shrimp, scallops, nuts, dairy...you name it, he's been able to eat it.

Unfortunately, the non-allergy train stops there.  He is allergic to ant bites.  During the school year--towards the end--Logan occasionally got an ant bite on his foot.  This would cause his foot to swell, his shoe to bother him, and me to have to leave work to go and administer some Benadryl.  (Luckily I have some nice co-workers that would watch my class so I could run over to the CDC.)

I feel bad for him.  We were at the park yesterday and he got bit on the inside of his knee, the inside of his foot, and on his lower back.  It's not bothering him anymore, but a day later...it is still red and puffy.

You can see it there on his lower back near his waist line.  It is more red in real life as the flash glared some. 

I feel bad for my little guy.  Ants are hard to avoid here in Texas...especially at the park.

Tuesday's Ten

1.  Last week I brought Logan to a splash pad.  A splash pad is another name for a sprinkler park.  We had gone to a small one last summer, and Logan seemed to enjoy it for the most part.  I decided to take Logan to a bigger one.  We drove by and at the time there weren't a lot of big kids there, so we stayed.  Logan had mixed emotions about it.  I don't think he liked all the water in his face, but he did like the fountains--until they grew bigger and sprayed him in the face.

2.  Cars!!! In case you didn't know, Logan is REALLY into cars.  He loves to play with cars and trucks.  He makes noise for them.  He likes to line them up.  He likes to take them with us wherever we go.  When we go to leave, I hear this small, "car, car."  If I haven't given him a car already, I have to take 2 out of the bag for him--because he has to have one for each hand.

3.  "BAAAAAAAAAAAAA"  This is something Kevin taught Logan.  This video doesn't showcase his best baaaa because you can't catch those on camera.  But, it does give you an idea of what the "baaaa" is.

4.  We've been trying to get outside at least once a day this summer.  It's so hard because it has been so hot.  I've managed to take Logan to several new parks.  We went to one at Cat Hollow.  I liked this park because it was nicely treed and it just felt like a fun park.  Logan liked it for the most park.  It is the farthest drive to a park we've been on so far.  We've been to the park in Granite Shoals.  Not so great.  Logan didn't really play on the playground for more than about 10 minutes.  We did walk around a bunch.  He sat on the bench with me.  He got bit by some ants.  I don't think we will go back to this one.  So far, his favorite is the one at the Avery MAC (Main Amenity Center).  It has 3 playgrounds to choose from, but I prefer the smallest one because it is covered and I don't have to worry about him stepping off from a high spot.

5.  Logan has been a word explosion lately.  I'm not sure he knows all the meanings, but here are some new words.
  -elephant, ready, giraffe, outside, face, leg, arm, ear, Mater, Luigi, Guido (all from Disney's Cars), turkey, butterfly, poo poo.

6.  Speaking of poo poo.  Logan has started to tell me that he has gone poo poo.   Every now and then he tells me before he goes.  I don't think he is quite ready to start potty training, but it's a start.  He even likes to say bye-bye to the poo poo after we put his in the toilet when we go to rinse his diapers.

7.  Logan likes to think things are telephones.  He has 2 phones that make noise.  One of them even has Cars on it.  However, that doesn't stop him from pretending...

8. We went to Champion Park today.  I knew they had a dinosaur dig, but I didn't know how big it was.  It was a huge giant sandbox filled with lost shovels, trucks, and buckets.  Logan had fun.  He didn't get down in the sand, nor did he step in the water, but he had fun none-the-less.  We will definitely go back.  You can see below there is a a stream that somehow feeds into the dinosaur dig area.  Makes for some good sand castle building.

 

9.  After the sand "box" we stopped by the sprinkler park.  Logan gave all his cars that we brought a shower.  Then, he ran through the sprinklers for the first time ever!!  I was so happy.  He did is several times!  It was awesome.

10.  I don't really have a 10th thing.  This stay at home mom thing is hard work.  Teaching is waaaay easier.  I am having fun and learning a lot.  Today Logan did the most independent play he has ever done.  He played with his cars for a half hour by himself.  It was so cool to listen to him make car noises.  He's a pretty cool little dude.  He is a ton of fun.  I hope he is having as much fun as I am.  Like I said in my facebook status the other day...Logan is the coolest thing since sliced bread.