Logan looks at Elliot, the dog, while Mom and Dad enjoy the music performance put on by their friends.

Mommy and Delenn get ready to go to a wedding for a friend.

Ready for the wedding.

Logan remembered his Halloween costume and asked to be a clown. Later in the afternoon, he did a good job practicing hitting the numbers and letters on the keyboard correctly (he can identify them too).

Logan playing trains with his RR and rock quarry set

There was a smile on his face til he saw what was behind him!

Logan spots a bearded dragon lizard at our door.

Bearded Dragon lizard

Who's that knocking upon our door?

A loving moment

Logan colors in the full body tracing of his body. If you look closely at his attention to detail, you'll notice he signed his name 'Logan Picasso.'

Giggles

Logan is not the only one who can make Delenn laugh now. She thinks
Peek-a-Boo is quite funny and has a wonderful belly-laugh when you pop
up and say "Boo!"

Crash and burn victim

Logan and Holly help tell the story by moving the characters around. Logan is doing the hand motions to show that "Josh" and "Katie" are swinging.

A blur of action at Kindermusik. Logan and the others attend Kindermusik without their Mums for the first half hour.

Riding the kangaroo at Kindergym

The two friends hide out together.

Kindergym -- Holly and Logan

Time for Books

"Mommy, can you read me books?" asked Logan.

"Yes, Logan, I'd love to," answered Mommy.

"NO!!" shouted Logan. "Let Daddy do it!"

Delenn enjoys standing at the activity center.

Mom with the little "love peach," Delenn, and her "pumpkin pie," Logan.

Delenn concentrates hard to position the cannon "just so"

Delenn is standing on her own (with Dad close by, of course)

Ride-em Cowboy!

Better hurry or Delenn's gonna get you

Logan goes the hard way to the bridge. (Not long after this shot, he plummeted down onto the foam pads below!)

Come play, Delenn!

Cute as a cupcake

Logan, Holly and Nicholas

Enjoying a cupcake for Bryce's birthday (another boy in the same swim class)

"Can I sit in it?" asks Logan.

Delenn looks a bit dubious about this floating seat

Logan's happy because he just dunked his head entirely under the water.

Logan and Holly go under the water.

creating a big splash

The grand old Duke of York

And when you're up, you're up!

Run Logan, run! The object of this swim lesson activity was to be comfortable jumping into the water. He had to jump off the side of the pool onto the foam mat. Then he had to run and jump into the water, turn back to the pad and swim back. He showed confidence, didn't he?!

Delenn with a sparkle in her eyes and perpetual finger in her mouth.

Smiley Delenn

Logan cooks us some dinner.

Delenn will nibble on anyone's fingers!

Time flies by...

Just a couple days ago--Logan turned 2 1/2. Delenn is now 4 months old.
It's hard to believe how quickly time has gone by!

We had a busy week this week -- with several play dates, Kindermusik and
Kindergym and a trip to the "big" playground. In addition, Logan has
played well on his own here at home. We've had several fun afternoons
playing in the little pool and on the climbing gym in our backyard. On
Valentine's Day Daddy brought home a new section to the slide (used and
very cheap!), so there's now a "bridge" connecting the small cube to the
large platform and slide (a picture will probably explain that better!)
Logan's been asking both Delenn and Mommy to play with him. He directs
us in his imaginative play. For example, yesterday Delenn and Mommy
were passengers in his rocket ship as he took us up in the air to the
ocean to look for sea shells.

As always Delenn watches Logan intensely -- and laughs heartily when on
the trampoline with Logan (she stands with Mommy or Daddy holding her).
Delenn discovered both her tongue and toes in the past week or so. That
gives her plenty to do when she wakes up. Unlike Logan who always cried
the moment he woke up for Mommy or Daddy, Delenn will often babble and
play for up to twenty minutes! Talk about different personalities! Mommy did "wise up" and remove the Sesame Street activity board when she heard Delenn playing with it at 3:00am!

We just added a number of pictures to the website (below). They include pictures from our hike up the "big mountain" at the Telegraph Station last Sunday. Logan did a great job and climbed up the hill completely on his own. The pictures also include our Valentine's Day pictures and random pictures that depict the family adventures for the week. Enjoy!

PS--Several pictures haven't shown up yet and so haven't been integrated with the ones below. Hopefully we clear that up in the next day or so.

Logan's two outback friends -- the gecko and kangaroo

The daddy and son are on a high adventure.

Zebra takes a walk across the stage.

For quiet time today, Logan decided to bring the puppets into his room. He also asked for the puppet theater (which has been in the garage for several months). Mom and Logan each put on a number of puppet shows. Here Logan is singing "Old MacDonald."

Delenn enjoys the swing.

Mommy couldn't decide which smile charmed her more -- so had to post both pictures!

Logan climbs across the bridge while Linda steers.

A playdate with Linda included building a zoo and a highway -- and helping a sick tiger by bringing the doctor (in the ambulance) and taking the tiger to the hospital via rocketship.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is my tongue.

such a happy baby

Delenn discovers her toes.

Daddy and Delenn -- ready for the hike at the Telegraph Station.

Normally we post all our pictures chronologically with the newest pictures on top. On this hike the pictures will not be time-dated correctly so you see them properly as you scroll down. We did the hike on Sunday around 9am.

"This way Daddy!" Logan points the way to the "big mountain."

Daddy, Delenn and Logan pose in front of the "big mountain" (Trigg Hill) we're going to climb.

Good climbing everyone!

Pausing for a picture. Delenn nibbles on Daddy's thumb.

We're nearly at the top. "Come on Mommy!" says Logan.

Enjoying the views from the top.

Daddy and Delenn

Time for a drink

A future rock climber?

Down the other side...

RUN. RUN. Get to the 12!

Yay! You found the 3 first.

FOUR! Mommy and Logan play the numbers game--a race to get to the number on the floor.

Logan in a giggly moment

Logan watches the goanna climb up the wall, back onto the boulders in the hill behind our house. (By the way, the slit at the bottom of the fence is where the "snake" -- see entry below -- slipped out of the yard.)

The goanna looks longer in this picture. It was about two feet long. Small by some standards... the perente can grow to over six feet long!

More backyard wildlife. This is a goanna. Goannas prey on all manner of small animals; insects, lizards, snakes, mammals, birds, eggs. Meals are often eaten whole, and thus the size of their meals depends on the size of the animal itself.

The LIP says it all!

Sister and brother sharing a moment

Notice the wet, saggy nappy. Delenn enjoyed sprinker man too!

Delenn and Mommy

What a way to beat the heat!

Running from sprinkler man.

The finished product on the side of the house. This project entailed hauling LOTS of sand. Mommy did much of the work while VERY pregnant and when Delenn was a newborn. Logan can now ride hi bike down the side of the house.

Logan shows how sturdy this path is (that Mommy laid down).

The man in action

Logan helps set the pavers.

ROAR!

Logan concentrates on his puzzle

Dealing with the Fuss

Both on Friday and on Monday, Logan kicked up a bit of a fuss when we
were about to go on our morning walk. So, Mommy decided to try
something new. She typed up a schedule (with clip-art pictures) that
shows our daily routine:
Wake up
Walk
Playtime (TV)
Activities (Kindergym, Kindermusik, playgroup, play with friends
etc.)
Lunch
Quiet Time
Playtime (TV)
Dinner (Daddy home/play; Dinner)
Bed Time
Plus, she made some "TV coupons." The next morning when Logan started to
kick up a fuss about wanting to watch TV and not wanting to go on a
walk, Mommy whipped out the schedule and said, "See, we don't watch TV
until after our walk. Here are your three TV coupons and if you are
very good, you can watch a show when we get back." Well, the next few
days it has worked GREAT (no fussing -- and even no fussing about quiet
time)! If Logan has wanted to watch TV (and it's not the appropriate
time), Mommy brings out the schedule and explains when we watch TV next.
It has eliminated arguments. Plus, the TV coupons can be taken away --
so it gives us another alternative to the naughty spot, the naughty bag
(for toys that get thrown around, etc.)

Yesterday, we were supposed to go to a friend's house, but Mommy was so
tired that we wound up staying home. In fact, she put on a movie for
Logan and even took a nap with Delenn in the morning. Logan was very
good on his own and Mommy felt quite refreshed. We spent the rest of the
morning playing games (Cariboo), building a lego castle/highway, doing
some arts & crafts and puzzles.

This morning Logan went to Rosalie's for a few hours for care. He was
very excited to play with Kimberly and it sounds like they had a good
time. Meanwhile Mommy and Delenn did their first session of Kindermusik
together. Delenn seemed to enjoy herself. She had a big bright smile
much of the time.

We saw a six inch "snake" very similar to this (with two distinctive black bands on its head) in our backyard. We called the snake-removal expert in town and he is pretty certain what we saw was a legless lizard. That was great news! The other great news is that today Mommy saw it slither into the neighbors yard. (Poor them; yay for us!)

Naughtiness during Naptime

Monday:

We had a great day today. Logan was very excited to have a friend come
over. They played pretty well together--and Mom enjoyed having a chat
while Delenn napped. After they left around 11:00am, Mom took Delenn
and Logan for a quick trip to the pool. We had lunch there and were
home by 1:00pm for Delenn's afternoon nap.

Logan and Mom brought a number of toys into Logan's room and Logan was
really cooperative for reading books. When Mom left, Logan cried
briefly but then was quiet. A half hour later, Mom came back to find
Logan sitting in the chair quietly looking at a book! "Wow! What a
beautiful sight," thought Mom to herself... until Mom saw the large dark
watery splotch on the (expensive silk) rug. "Oh Logan, did you have an
accident?" Mom asked. "No," said Logan just as Mom noticed the
previously full, now-empty shampoo bottle lying on the ground. It turns
out that Logan spent a good long time pouring (a nice strawberry
scented) shampoo onto the rug, his bed, the chair, a few select toys and
in the toy box. Needless-to-say Mommy was not happy and spent the next
hour and a half saying (with barely suppressed laughter at the
situation) -- "No Logan, you cannot watch TV; no Logan, I cannot play
with you" etc. "because you were very naughty and spilled shampoo all
over the rug. Mommy needs to clean." Logan kept saying "Sorry Mommy."
Mommy spent a LONG time hosing down the silk rug we got in India (it's
fine now). Funny thing is, both Daddy and Mommy had thought about
putting the rug up for a while since Logan is potty training.

Speaking of potty training -- it's really going well. Logan is poohing
several times a day now in his potty! We're still working on wearing
undies.

One morning over the weekend, Logan brought Daddy a bike name plate he
has with his name on it. Logan spelled out each of the letters --
L-O-G-A-N. Daddy asked, "What does it say?" Logan replied while
pointing to his name "It says 'time to wake up'."

Tuesday:

Today was the first day of Kindergym and Kindermusik. Mommy, Logan and
Delenn headed out around 9am to help set up the equipment for Kindergym.
Logan was a big helper -- helping to carry things, roll out the carpets
and put out the toys. He had a great time on the equipment. Delenn
enjoyed watching all the kids, but loved watching Logan jump on the
trampoline most of all. Once again she giggled practically non-stop as
Logan bounced up and down.

Logan moved up a level in Kindermusik. He now goes in with Cathie, his
teacher, for the first half hour on his own. The Moms sit in a back room
and chit-chat. When the half hour was up, the Moms come in for 15
minutes of Mom-Child interactions. Logan proudly said to Mommy, "I went
in all alone!" It sounded like the kids all had a good time drumming and
dancing around! (Delenn, meanwhile, will start her own Kindermusik class
on Thursday while Logan is in care.)

When Logan was a baby, he never played quietly in his crib. Delenn, on
the other hand, often wakes up and coos quietly to her soft toys and
will grab them and wave them around. It's amazing how different our two
kids are!

We are so impressed by the daily improvements Delenn has been making in
the exersaucer/activity center. She already turns herself around to get
to the toy she's most interested in.

Delenn really loves the bath these days. She flails her arms and legs
with reckless abandon -- getting water just about everywhere. At one
point during her bath, Delenn turned her head to the side and stuck out
her tongue--obviously wanting to taste the water.

Potty Training, Snakes and Other Things

Since we got back from Adelaide we have been working with Logan on potty
training. He has been peeing in the potty for the past six months
(since before he turned two), but runs around without undies or anything
when at home. We've been trying to get him to wear undies more often
now (at home). He's had moderate success--which means more time going
to the potty and pulling down his pants and peeing than having
accidents. The accidents are primarily when we've taken him out of the
house, though he's also peed on the floor during time out. It looks
like this'll be a slow process.

We were all VERY excited for Logan that he poohed in the potty on
Sunday. He was very proud of himself too. Logan called his
grandparents to share the news -- and got a chocolate cookie as a
result. (We've been saying this for months -- that if he poohed in the
potty he'd get a piece of chocolate.) On Monday, he also poohed in the
potty (and got a chocolate cookie). On Tuesday Mommy made cookies and
shared 1/2 a cookie with him after his quiet time. He wanted another,
but it was too close to dinner so she said he'd have to wait until
dessert. Logan promptly ran to the potty saying -- I'll get a chocolate
cookie. Sure enough, he poohed in the potty and got his cookie! Mommy
just had to laugh!

Last Saturday, Daddy was very impressed with Logan at his swim lessons.
He kicked across the entire length of the pool with a noodle under both
arms -- with no help at all from Daddy.

Delenn has been giggling a lot on trampoline and when tickled on her
belly. Since we returned from Adelaide (age 3 1/2 months), she started
to turn over. Primarily she flips from back to front. She's also quite
strong and loves to stand and look around (especially at her active, big
brother!) I think we already mentioned that last weekend, we pulled out
the exer-saucer activity center. She has spent ten minutes or so in
there everyday since!

Last night when Dad put Logan to bed, Logan pointed towards the door (in
the opposite corner) and said, "who's that?" Dad said, "I don't know,
who is it?" And Logan said, "Is it a ghost?" He said there was a ghost
over there and was adamant there was a ghost over there. He even gave
it a name (though we can't remember its name off the top of our head). (He's
been watching an episode of the "Magic School Bus" that features a
haunted house -- a sound museum where there are spooky sounds.) Tonight when he asked "Who is it?" It was a naughty boy.

This evening Daddy was with Logan and Delenn in the backyard. Logan
started screaming and crying that there was a naughty man who was going
to get him. Daddy noticed something by their feet--and it was a baby
snake! GULP! We looked Logan over and he was fine (ie. no snake bite)
-- but it makes us VERY nervous to see one in our yard. More than likely this was a very poisonous brown snake. UGH!

An quick read and enjoyable book that Mommy finished recently: Bee
Season by Myla Goldberg. And another recommendation: An absolutely
awesome (Aussie) author-- Paullina Simons who wrote the incredible books
The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross and the latest and final
book in the series: The Summer Garden. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to all!

Good night!