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.

Logan turns 17 months old!

You know it has been a good blogging month when Logan has 5 entries. His month started with a trip to the Wiggles concert (or as he calls them, "ga ga"); followed by becoming a big brother to his baby brother Asher; followed by a trip to Disney to see the Osborne Festival of Lights; followed by Thanksgiving; and ended with a joint photo shoot with his brother.

The birth of Asher alone was enough to make life interesting for Logan especially with all the visitors. Logan LOVES his baby brother. He points to him all day long and says "daydee" which is his version of baby. He kisses his brother every chance he gets and brings him all of his baby things like blankets, burp cloths, bottles, and pacifiers.

He also had a couple of opportunities to get closer with his cousin Jared. We finally have a handful of pictures of the two of them together.

In terms of development, it is as if Logan blossomed when baby Asher came along. He is saying so much more (or we are just understanding so much more). Every day we are surprised by what he knows. For instance, he knows how to say and sign "please". His vocabulary now includes animal sounds like the sounds dogs, monkeys, sheep, lions, and pigs make. He can also point at pictures when he talks so it is getting easier to understand him. His vocabulary now includes more than 50 words like please, milk, water (in spanish), mimi, mama, daddy, wiggles, car, truck, vroom, blocks, box, dog, up, down, more, bye, bye bye, hello, hi, duck, apple, hot, eat, elmo, hat, all done, night night, blanket, shoes, knees, ears, head, belly, baby, book, ball, balloon, etc.

Of course, the walking turned into running. He is doing much better navigating around and over objects. He is also doing better at getting down from the couch and/or bed. Although he started using a fork last month, this month he has become much better at stabbing the food to go on the fork. He also stopped throwing food or his cup when he is done eating and now pushes everything away when he is done and says "all done". He's getting a lot better at stacking and sorting toys and he has fallen in love with books. He needs to hear 2-3 books before he lies down at night. He even sleeps with a few in his crib and reads them when he wakes up in the morning. He also started sleeping with a blanket in preparation for the day he transitions to a big boy bed. Did we mention the start of potty training?

To see pictures of Logan this month, click here.

Stay tuned next month to hear about Chanukkah, visits from Mimi (Grandma Barbara), Papi (Grandpa Sumner), Great Aunt Rhonda, Cousin Taylor, Great Uncle Harvey, Great Aunt Roxanne, Cousin Craig, Great Uncle Ed and Eileen, and more.

Logan teaches Asher a little thing about Photo Shoots

Logan's big brother duties have officially begun. His first real task was showing his brother the ropes when it comes to professional photo shoots. Although Logan is no stranger to photographers, this was the first time we visited the Portrait Innovations studio in Winter Garden. Logan was ready to go as soon as the camera came out. He showed his brother how to smile and act casual as the photographer took over 60 pictures of Logan and Asher. We especially like the ones of Logan and Asher together in their Big Brother/Lil Brother T-shirts. Check out the entire photo shoot online at Kodak Gallery.

Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios

After a weekend of getting acclimated to being a big brother, Logan was well deserving of some time with mommy and daddy, away from Asher. We decided to treat Logan to some Disney time at Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM). It is that time of year again when the Osborne Family Spectacle of lights are on display. We went with Clay and Wendi to see the lights this year. Logan was mesmerized. We capped off the evening with a trip to Pizzeria Uno where Logan proved his "big boy" status by sitting in a booster seat instead of a high chair. For pictures of the evening, click here.

Guess who's a big brother now?

That's right. At 4pm on November 25th, 2008, Logan became a big brother to Asher Jase Levine. Asher weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and measured 19.5 inches long.

Logan just couldn't wait to get to the hospital after hearing the news. He has spent the last couple months rubbing mommy's belly in anticipation of this day. The reception was a little overwhelming for Logan. He stared at his brother for a couple of minutes but then got a little jealous when daddy fed his brother.

Now that Logan is back at home, he is proud to announce the launch of his brother's new blog at www.asherjaselevine.com. Visit the blog named "Asher's Attic" for more details and more photos.

Pop Goes the Wiggles!

We promised a blog entry, but it will have to be an entry without photos (for now). Logan went with his cousin Jared and his friend Parker to see the Wiggles perform at the Amway Arena in downtown Orlando. We were prepared, with camera in hand, but the battery had somehow lost its charge. Logan was probably a little young for his first concert as his attention span is still somewhat limited. He definitely likes the Wiggles, but he was less "excited" and more "interested" in what was going on around him. He was taking in the whole experience, observing his surroundings. He never really smiled, clapped or made a noise. He just watched and watched for about an hour and then he got too tired and started to break down. By the second to last song, he was ready to go home. We stayed until the end, though, and watched a Wiggles DVD on the way home.

Logan and Jared's Annual Halloween Picture

It is an annual tradition now that Logan and Jared get a professional photograph taken of the two of them in their costumes. Here is the picture from this year and last year. My, have they grown.