19 months old

Month after month, Logan's own personality shines through. We absolutely love every minute of it. Even, I would say, during the most trying of times. I keep thinking one of these months I'm going to give up on the monthly updates. I can't possibly keep this up forever.

But, Logan changes SO MUCH each month, that it's impossible for me to quit the habit. This past month has been no different.

One of the first things Logan started picking up was combining words to make short 2-word sentences. Nothing fantastic mind you, but still a development in his speech. Primarily he tacks on anything to "bye bye". So, when Daddy leaves in the morning (which he gets extremely upset about), it's "bye bye Daddy" followed shortly by "bye bye car" as Jon drives away.

When he's playing and he throws the ball across the room he'll say "bye bye ball" or if the dog walks out of the room he says "bye bye dog". You can see him taking in every little piece of his environment and stitching it all together in his mind - as he says the words "bye bye" he's pointing at the object, or waving good bye, or blowing a kiss. It's all been stored in his head for some time but he's finally able to put it all together for us to see. It's truly amazing.


He often gets these serious, contemplative or stern looks on his face as he works something out. Wheels are turning at top speed inside that little big head of his. And, I don't think it stops once he goes to sleep. I've never been in his room to witness it directly, but I am almost positive he's taken on Mommy's embarrassing habit of talking in his sleep. :)

Often times we can hear an "Uh oh" or an "Oh no!" coming from his room late at night. Jon and I look at each other with our hands ready to ro-cham-beau who gets to get up and put him back down. When not 2 seconds later, it's dead quiet and we hear the heavy deep-sleep breathing from the monitor. He's done this at my parent's house too and we're all pretty sure by now that he's dreaming and talking in his sleep.

When he's not talking, he's inspecting his body parts with keen interest. He's discovered he can purse his lips to kiss now (instead of the wide open mouth he used to grace my face with) which is absolutely adorable. He's so delighted with this new technique that he insists on showering you with kiss after kiss after kiss after kiss. You'd think you couldn't get enough of baby kisses. But actually? You can.

He's also learning to blow - it's more of a sputtering mess of a blow - but it's a blow nonetheless. He tries it when he's drinking juice, water, or eating his spaghetti. But he also will do it when he's sitting in his car seat, bored out of his mind no doubt, and with a single index finger held upright, will practice blowing on the tip of his finger. This is also super cute. Until he tries to blow in your face.

And finally - the penis. Ohhhhhh, his penis. He can't get enough of his penis. I'm starting to wonder if he's actually - gasp - taking some pleasure in it! But honestly, I think he's just fascinated and curious. To the point that, he will throw a mad screaming fit, full on crocodile tears streaming down his face fit, the minute you move his hands and start to cover that little pecker up with a new fresh diaper and pants. At first he'll say "bye bye" and wave - but the minute he realizes it's gone for good - LOOK OUT.

I'm becoming the diaper changing ninja master. Out of necessity.

There are a couple of personality traits that Logan has inherited which, I want to say annoy the hell out of me, but are still too new to really bother me. In fact, I often find myself laughing with glee at how hard he's trying to manipulate me. It's just flat out entertaining! I usually have to stifle the laugh - since I really don't want to encourage the behavior - but it definitely is hard.

Like, the time he slipped and bonked his head on the edge of the couch so loud that I'm pretty sure our neighbors heard the thud next door. He didn't look fazed at all. Until, that is, I looked down at him and asked "Are you ok?"

Boy was THAT the wrong question to ask (and yes, Mommy has since learned).

Because, the minute Logan realized hey wait a minute. What the hell just happened there? He then paused for about 4 seconds, allowing the thought to process no doubt, before he scrunched up his nose, put on the best frown he could possibly muster, and then proceeded to FAKE CRY.

I looked at Jon and said - ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

And we both looked at Logan and said - ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

And Logan, trying his best to cry, even tho he had no tears to show for it, looked up at us with the biggest puppy dog eyes and the most pathetic whiny "cry" (it really was more of a whine) we've ever heard, actually smiled a little. Smiled. As he cried.

My 19 month old son tried to pull a fake cry on us!

The other trait he picked up a few months ago but has really perfected this month is his ability to question. He doesn't even know how to say "why". OH GOD HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SAY WHY YET.

But, he has THAT LOOK. You know the one. That one with the devilish up-to-no-good-and-I'm-going-to-test-my-boundaries look. You can see it in his eyes. And that look often accompanies a smirk.

A SMIRK.

On my 19 month old son!


I tell my friends and coworkers stories of how Logan will pick up an object. A ball, or perhaps, Mommy's breakable Maneki Neko. He'll cock his arm back, ready to launch that thing across the room. And he'll just wait. He'll turn his head toward you and look you straight in the eyes. And he'll wait.

He'll wait for you to say "NO" as firm as you possibly can. Or, if you're thinking clear (and fast) enough, you might even throw in another couple words like "NO THROWING" or "Put that down" or "Logan please do not throw Mommy's things". It doesn't really matter. Because, he's already made up his mind. In fact, he probably made it up 5 minutes ago when he walked across the room fixated on the object he was going to pick up.

And in about 3 seconds, you see the glint in his eye and the playful upturn of his lips as he continues to stare you down, eyes locked on yours, while simultaneously throwing that object across the room.

So, I tell this story to my friends, all the while laughing myself while they laugh with (or at?) me. Because, we all know what they're going to say next.

So you're telling me, your little boy isn't listening to you? You mean, YOUR SON is acting on his own volition and couldn't give a damn about what you say or direct him to do? YOU MEAN TO TELL ME, Logan's starting to question authority?

WOW. No idea where he gets that from. In fact, never saw that one coming at all.

NEVER. IN. A. MILLION. YEARS.