17 months old

Logan has really turned a corner in speaking this last month which, for me, has been a fantastic delight. I knew once he had picked up "UH-OH" and began repeating it incessantly throughout the day, that his vocabulary would explode soon thereafter.

And I was right!

Some of the new words he's picked up and now uses pretty regularly are: juice ("ooce"), bottle ("baba"), please ("yeah" or "yeese"), thank you ("tank u"), Elmo ("ehmo"), ball ("ba"), book ("boog"), dog ("awg"), car ("gah"), balloon ("buhbuh" - or else he's saying bubble, who knows). :)

You'll notice none of these words are the words he signs for - and there is a reason for that. He still signs for "more", "milk", "help", etc. When we have tried asking him to say those words, he repeats the sign again and again as if to say: I ALREADY SAID IT! Why do you keep asking me to repeat myself?? Just hand me the damn bottle already.

So, I decided to start asking him to speak other NEW words instead. We actually started with please and thank you since I figured it can never be too early to teach the kid some manners, and that tactic proved successful. Once he started vocalizing those two words, and saw our pleased reaction, he started using more and more words with each new day. It's been super great - and we never get tired of hearing him try out yet another new word on us. :)

It's fascinating watching him grow up before our very own eyes.

Logan has also picked up a lot of speed in the last few weeks. The pitter-patter of little feet running through the house is a constant and when it's not, I'm always on the lookout for trouble that our little one has gotten himself into. He has not yet mastered jumping, but tries every chance he gets, usually stomping on top of a toy or teetering at the edge of some piece of furniture, ready to take the leap of faith.

He's still crazy about throwing anything he can get his hands onto, although now he's also interested in swinging his hands (like a golf club or bat) to hit objects (usually balls) with, and watch them soar across the room. And because that's not enough, he's recently learned how to kick, running and kicking balls at the same time, clear across an entire field front lawn! :)

Even though he is quite the tumbler, and loves to rough house with Daddy (every night before bedtime, they roll around on this huge body pillow), he is also extremely affectionate, and continues to wave hi, bye and blow kisses (even if they are sometimes open-mouthed).

He has recently become much more aware of going to the bathroom. He recognizes when he's pooping or has just finished, grabbing his crotch or tapping his diaper to let you know. And, when asked if he's just pooped or peed and needs his diaper changed? he'll tap/grab his crotch again and nod yes.

This particular development took us completely by surprise, since I didn't expect to start potty training until he was much older (I've heard/read that boys take a lot longer and usually don't start potty training until much later) and, none of the teachers at school have been teaching him or practicing the signs with him. Instead, he's just picked it up all on his own! We have yet to set him up with a little potty or pull-ups to begin practicing at home, but we'll be doing that pretty soon since it's such an exciting step forward for our growing boy. :)

Logan has really come into his own; becoming much more curious, independent (combing his own hair, brushing his own teeth and putting on his own sunscreen or lotion are just a few of his favorite things) and feisty (I have NO idea where he gets it from). Add to that his huge increase in communication and I would say that overall, I've liked this age the best so far.

Showing off a Mother's Day necklace Logan made for me at school.

Still, there are some parts of it that will leave any mother a bit empty hearted. Since, now that our big boy can do things on his own, he has started to go to bed without a bottle (still rare, but it has been known to happen) and almost always points to his crib when he's done with his bottle and ready to be laid down to fall asleep.

Which is sad for us since it wasn't too long ago that he couldn't fall asleep on his own, needing to rest his head on our chest, shoulder or cuddle in our arms before going down for the night. And those times are definitely something that we both (already) look back fondly upon.

The smile's great but we've still gotta work on him blinking during a flash. ;-)