Logan turns TWO

happy birthday to you!
happy birthday to you!
happy birthday, baby Logan!
happy birthday to you!

To our dearest Logan, 

Two years ago on this day, we met and instantly fell deeply madly in love with you. You are exactly what we dreamed, wished and prayed for.  We are humbled and honored to have you in our lives. 


You are always so full of life, either laughing, making someone else laugh or EATING.  You are tough, determined, stubborn, fresh, sensitive and sweet all rolled in one.  Every morning (and night) you ask to watch Blue's Clues and sing "Sunshine".  You love love love playing with trucks, trains and cars.  You say "All Aboard" and "Choo-Choo" more than any words in your incredible collection of vocabulary.  You love to color and write.  You value every single minute spent with those closest to you especially your Kuya Dylan.  Your admiration for your big brother melts our hearts. 

The way you say "I WAV you Mommy/Daddy" are the sweetest sound our ears have ever heard.  Waving your pointer finger when you say "No" makes us giggle.  Shrugging your shoulder when you say "Boo's Coos" makes our day brighter.  You have the coolest dance moves. 

We welcome year two with open arms as we know it will bring us more joy.  We are excited to see you continue to learn, grow and develop into an amazing little toddler.  On your birthday, we wish for you to always laugh the loudest and smile the biggest smile - you are a shining star.

We love you so very much!


Mommy and Daddy

Sesame Place

For the past three years, we've taken the kids to Sesame Place for the Halloween Spectacular.  The kids wear their costumes and get to have breakfast with Elmo and friends.  Since Logan loves watching Elmo's World, we knew he'd enjoy it this year.  He was mesmerized by the characters and both enjoyed all the shows as much as the rides.

A preview of this year's costumes

 

One of the few characters Dylan took pictures with.  

I guess it's a sign that he's not into Sesame Street as much any more. 

Logan goes up to the characters, says hi and introduces himself:  "Look Ar-nie, I'm Elefy"

  

Of course, we just had to meet Elmo

The kids never go anywhere without spotting a truck and insisting on riding it.

Dylan reaching the top and Logan trying his hardest to get there

A super fun slide

 The biggest bounce house they've ever been in.  They loved it so much that we went back twice.

The biggest and scariest roller coaster Dylan has ever ridden.  Check them out  - they are in the first row (bottom:  with his hands up).  Dylan was thrilled about the ride.  We have a feeling there will be lots of roller coasters in his future!

The boys snacking and waiting for the parade.  We got front row seats!

Logan and Cookie Monster

Logan showing no interest in Big Bird.
From across the room, he saw Cookie Monster and so it began...

Cookie round 1: Getting to meet Cookie for the first time

Running in his arms ...

...for a big hugExcitedly runs back to mommy. "I hug Cookie"

Cookie round 2: shaking hands with Cookie as he came to our table while having breakfast

"Ahh, I touched Cookie"

a nice little smile with his NEW favorite Sesame character

Cookie round 3: Saying good-bye

and going for one last hug. (Um...OKAY Cookie)

We were surprised to see how much he loved meeting Cookie Monster. We were sure he'd be more into Elmo.

Four years and two months.

One of the issues we've had with Dylan in the past four years is his stubbornness during bedtime. For the first 6 months, he slept in his bassinet in our room. When he outgrew the bassinet, we moved him into his crib and the bedtime problem escalated. Since he was nursing, he would occasionally sleep in the bed with us just so Mommy can have a little bit of nighttime shut eye (he used to nurse every 2-3 hours until about 9 months old. ugh!).

Putting Dylan down for bed meant allotting about 2 hours of rocking him to sleep, sitting with him until he was in deep sleep and praying to God he doesn't wake up when he's slowly put into the crib. It was frustrating, to say the least. We read books on how to make this "phase" easy on everyone and desperately tried the Ferber method several times. To no avail. As Dylan transitioned into a full size bed, one of us HAD to lay down with him at night until he fell asleep which can sometimes take anywhere between 1-2 hours. Again, we read that a routine helps in this process, so a routine we did. FAIL. One time we even saw Super Nanny coach parents on how to make bedtime easier for parents and toddlers. "Each week, sit on a chair next to the bed, then on the foot of the bed, slowly move the chair away from the bed, sit by the door, sit outside the door and eventually your child will learn to sleep on their own". Easy enough. Well, apparently, our first born is smarter than any of those "experts" because none of these techniques worked.

Four years and two months later, we are happy to announce that our stubborn child is FINALLY sleeping in his room all by himself. He still leaves his room a couple of times to "check on us" but he eventually stays in there until he falls asleep. It's amazing what happens given patience and time.

Mommy and Daddy are enjoying the 1-2 hours of "free" time at bedtime.

Next dilemma to tackle - keeping Dylan from walking into our room at 2 AM and sneaking in between Mommy and Daddy. One thing at a time.

P.S. we are everyday thankful for our little one, Logan, who is the BEST napper/sleeper in the whole wide world!

Aaaa----YA!

For about 6 months now, Dylan has been talking about wanting to take a karate class. When we heard about a new place that is just about 10 minutes from the house, we signed him up for an introductory class. It started out a little shaky. He was shy and was not really interested in participating. But each time, he still wanted to go to class. After getting comfortable with the sensei, he finally warmed up and enjoyed the class. Six weeks later, his karate skills (along with listening, focusing and respecting "skills") greatly improved. After the winter season, we'll get back into karate.

white belt.

where's DD???

At times, Daddy and Mommy worry about not spending enough time with both kids. We make every effort to make sure each one is treated fairly. No favorites here. Both kids are unique and special in their own way. Every parent says that right? At the same time, we also make attempts to spend some one on one time with them and focus on their individuality.

This weekend, Mommy had an opportunity to spend quality time alone with Logan - a very rare event. Mommy pictured having moments of giving Logan her undivided attention, sharing laughs and creating memories only to be known by the two of us. Surprisingly, Logan was not amused at all. Every two minutes, he asked for his brother. It was constant "Where is DD?, I want DD, Let's go Mommy". Instead of taking advantage of having Mommy all to himself, he was sad that DD wasn't with us.

It makes our hearts smile to know that Logan already admires his kuya.

PA Weekend

Day 1 - Dutch Wonderland

All summer we planned on taking the boys to Dutch Wonderland.  But our calendar was filled with other fun family activities that we decided to schedule this for late summer/early fall.  We drove to Lancaster to spend the whole weekend spoiling the kids.  Dylan was thrilled when he found out he can ride EVERYTHING and as many times as he wants.  Logan just followed his brother and proved he is fearless.  It didn't matter which ride, Logan was getting on all of it.  Even though it rained for about an hour, it didn't stop us from standing in line and letting the kids guide our day. The trains, trucks, tractors and airplanes were a huge hit, of course.  But this time, Dylan got to ride his first "big boy" roller coaster with Daddy.  They even sat in the first car.  Dylan thought it was so cool and so much fun.  Luckily, Logan was napping or he would have not been very happy.