Monday, January 26, 2009

A Disney Vacation with the Norris Family


This week, Logan had the opportunity to take a week off of "school" to play at the Parks -- the Disney Parks, that is. Jodi, Corey, Emma, Addison, and Hallie flew in from Ohio to spend some time with the Levine family.

On Tuesday morning, we went to the Polynesian Hotel for the Lilo and Stitch character breakfast at Ohana's. Not only did we meet Lilo and Stitch, but Mickey and Pluto also showed up to say hello. From breakfast, we hit the Magic Kingdom where we had the luxury of a "skip to the front of the line" pass, also known as a guest with a broken foot.

Without much waiting, we were able to go on Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Peter Pan, Pirate's of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Goofy's Roller Coaster, Dumbo, Alladin, Buzz Lightyear, and others. Logan was able to join us on Jungle Cruise, Alladin, and Pirate's. He had a blast.

On Wednesday, we went to EPCOT where we went on Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, and Nemo. With the exception of Nemo, Logan wasn't able to go on any rides at EPCOT, but he enjoyed himself all the same. We capped off the evening with a trip to the Fort Wilderness Campfire with Chip and Dale. Despite the freezing weather, Logan had had a wonderful time and loved the marshmallows and guitar player.

On Thursday, we hit Disney's Hollywood Studios. We rode Toy Story (twice), Rockin' Roller Coaster, Playhouse Disney, and The Great Movie Ride. Logan rode every ride except the Roller Coaster and his favorite was Playhouse Disney. He couldn't stop pointing to everything and yelling out their names like mouse, bubbles, dog, ball, duck, etc.

With all this action, you would expect over 100 photos, but we had some camera issues this trip. The Norris family lost their camera at the Magic Kingdom and then we forgot to charge our camera the night before the EPCOT trip. There are still some good shots, though. Click here to see some photos.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Logan is 18 months old!


The holidays (Chanukkah and New Years) seemed to come and go, as did a plethora of family and friends coming to the house to spend time with the family and meet Logan's baby brother. Logan celebrated Chanukkah at home. In fact, this was one of the first years in a long time that we were home every night of Chanukkah to light the Menorah. We had many people over the house during Chanukkah like Clay and Wendi; Todd, Monica, and Jared; Mimi and Poppi; and Uncle Ed and Eileen.


Before Chanukkah was officially over, we celebrated Uncle Todd's birthday where Logan got to spend some time with more family like Taylor and Aunt Rhonda; Uncle Harvey, Aunt Roxanne, and Craig; Grandma Esther; Grandma Elizabeth; and Grandpa Howie and Grandma Elise. Taylor and Rhonda stayed for a couple days and Logan really enjoyed their company especially when they babysat for him.

We spent New Year's Eve with the Hagen Family and Todd, Monica, and Jared. Logan tried to stay up until midnight, but didn't make it. On New Year's Day, we went to Tampa to have lunch with the Kissel Family and then snacks with the Fletcher Family.

After all the holidays and guests, Logan returned to school where he was transitioning from the little toddler room to the big toddler room. Now he will no longer be napping in a crib and he will sit at a table instead of a high chair drinking from a cup instead of a sippy cup. After a week of transition, Logan was rewarded with a trip to Disney to celebrate Stefanie's birthday. He had a blast on "It's a Small World". He pointed to all the animals that he knew, making sounds for things like monkeys and dogs.

Only a few days later, Logan had his 18 month check-up where he weighed in at 30 lbs 15 ounces with a height of 32.75 inches. The doctor was very impressed with his ability to drink from a cup and the fact that he calls water "agua". Logan wasn't really performing that day, but he has developed a lot in the last month.

For one, Logan has finally reached the stage of toddler dancer. He only dances to a handful of Wiggles songs but he moves his lips and everything. He also participates in songs like "If you're happy and you know it" and "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". His vocabulary is growing every day. This month he learned words like pillow, yellow, blue, puzzle, bubbles, cracker, waffles, mouse, and pretzel, to name a few. He also added some animal sounds to his repertoire like "who" for an owl. We hope that by next month he will start climbing and putting two words together to form sentences.

For some pictures from this month, click here.

Stay tuned next month for the Norris visit from Ohio, Debbie's visit from Boston, Ava's Baptism, Brian's birthday, and more.