Walking, walking, walking!

In the past week or two, Logan has really started walking.  When he turned 11-months old, he was only taking a maximum of four steps at a time.  Now, I can't even count how many steps he can take at once....maybe ten to fifteen.  Although crawling is still his main mode of transportation, it has been so much fun to watch him walking longer distances whether it's in between couches or from Ron to me.  It's only a matter of time now before he is a walking machine!  Here are a few photos I snapped the other day as he was cruising around the kitchen.

Walking Sequence #1:



 

Getting ready...

 

 Taking off!

 



 

 Happy as can be on his two feet!

Walking Sequence #2:

Thinking about it...

 



 

Walking so fast, he's a blur!

 

 

Logan all finished and ready for some high fives!



Ariel from Head to Toe

It was some time last year between Lia's birthday and Easter that she fell in love with Princess Ariel.  Although she had been in love with the Disney princesses since about age two, her favorite changed from day to day.  One day Belle was her favorite.  Another day was Snow White.  She flip flopped so often, I couldn't keep up.  But then something happened last winter and Ariel became her #1 princess and she has been in a committed relationship ever since.  As a result, she loves all things mermaid, under the sea and on the beach, the color turquoise, and anyone with red hair.  It's actually been quite fun to watch and has made gift giving quite easy.  As a result, her Lola sent a HUGE package of Ariel "goodies" from the Disney Store for Christmas.  After talking to my mother-in-law on the phone recently, she requested some pictures of Lia wearing the complete Ariel get-up.  So, here you go, Lola!  Feast your eyes on our little mermaid below!

Our Ariel from head to toe--complete with headband, earrings, necklace, bracelet, ring, dress, wand, and shoes.  Good grief.  NEVER in my life did I have such elaborate dress-up clothes!

 



 

Our pretty princess up close...

 

and the pretty shoes up close.  They even light up when she walks!

The Fairy Flieth!

 

Lia received one of the Barbie Fairytopia movies from Santa Claus for Christmas.  Since she always acts out movies while she watches them, she decided to put on her pair of fairy wings to make things more authentic today.  While making lunch, Lia asked for my attention in order to show me how she "flies" from one couch to the other.  It looked so real, that I had to grab my camera and get a shot or two...and this is what we came up with!  Oh, Barbie, would be so proud...

Eleven Months Old!

 

It's hard to believe that our little guy is eleven months old today and one month away from HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY!!  In some ways, the first year just draaags by and in other ways it flies by in the blink of an eye.  I can't even remember the Logan that would just lay on the couch as still as can be as he is now a crawling, standing, sometimes walking, moving machine.  The biggest news of the past month is that he is regularly standing on his own and taking one, two, three, or even four steps before falling to his hands and knees.  He does this several times a day.  He took his first step right in front of me in the TV room on December 9th and walked two steps for the first time for Ron on Christmas day.  Since then, it has just been a blur of steps here and there.  Logan is always so pleased with himself and the attention he gets from others that he usually has a big smile on his face when doing said activity.  It's like he knows that he is doing something special.  Besides the standing and walking, he really is the same as last month--still taking two naps a day, eating three meals a day, nursing four times a day, and sleeping pretty well at night as he only requires us to make a few pacifier runs.  Logan celebrated his first Christmas, played in the snow for the first time and even went sledding at Priest Lake, and got his first fever (a high of 103.6 after catching his sister's flu while up at the cabin).  He is now almost healthy with just a residual cough and a runny nose--so we have almost made it out of the woods.  Logan is super busy and loves to get into everything, but I have learned recently that he will happily stay in one spot playing with toys if you just sit down with him (something that I am now trying to make a point of doing on a daily basis).  He is really a happy boy as long as he is healthy, rested, and fed and is the cutest thing around! 

Rainbow Day

Once a month, Lia is assigned a "day" at her preschool when she gets to be the line leader, provide a snack for the class, and bring an item for show-in-tell.  I had no idea how much she would LOVE this day.  She looks forward to it all month long.  It's like a mini Christmas for her.  Anyways, today was her assigned day for the month of January and her class was going to be "studying" rainbows.  So Lia and I decided to go the extra mile and make sugar cookies and decorate them with rainbows made out of our delicious, butter creme frosting.  We spent Logan's entire afternoon nap yesterday working on this mommy-daughter project.  I must say that the cookies turned out pretty, darn cute and, according to Lia's preschool teacher, they were quite the hit with the four and five-year olds today!  Now whatever will we make next month?!

 

Lia helping me mix the purple food coloring into our frosting.

 

 

Lia and the finished product!

The Other Mother

Lia continues to make us laugh on a daily basis due to the things she says.  Here are some of her latests Liaisms...

Our house has a step down living room that naturally acts as a barrier to our children when they are crawling.  However, since this was the location of the Christmas tree and much of our gatherings in the past month, Logan overcame his fear of this obstacle and became quite comfortable crawling down the step into this room.  Ever since the holidays, we have continued to find him sneaking into this room when no one is looking.  Yesterday while I was working in the kitchen, I noticed that he was no where to be found.  I asked Lia to go find him.  A few seconds later, I heard her shouting from the living room, "Look where I found our son!!"  Oh dear.  She truly is his second mother.  I have a feeling that she will completely take over all mothering responsibilities by the time she is a teenager.  I might as well move out by Logan's twelfth birthday.

Today I was talking on the phone with my mom and was in the midst of telling her that Lia had just gotten a haircut when I noticed that she was listening to our conversation.  Lia then walked over to the mirror and after admiring her reflection, happily announced, "I like my hair this age."  Age, length.  Tomato, tomahto.  Is there really a difference? :-)

So Sick.

After keeping the flu at bay for an entire week, our little guy finally came down with Lia's germ on Monday morning.  By Monday night, he had a fever of 103.1 while we were still up at the cabin.  Ugh.  Needless to say, we had a horrible night's sleep and a pretty rough drive home the next day.  However, he seemed to be turning the corner by Wednesday night when his fever went down to 99.5, but last night it spiked back up to 103.6.  As a result, this is how I found Logan yesterday while I was making dinner.  Logan NEVER lays his head down during the waking hours.  Never.  You can just tell how sick he is by the fact that he was resting his head on Ron's shoulder for several, uninterrupted minutes.  The poor, little guy.  Here's to hoping for a healthy, happy boy in the very near future!

Finishing Off the Year at Priest Lake!

We just returned from a five-day trip to Priest Lake to enjoy some time with family and the winter wonderland we found up there.  It was so fun to be all cozy in the cabin and to get outside and play in that beautiful snow.  Everyone in my family was able to be there, and with the exception of several people having the flu, we had a great time!  As always, can't wait until next year!

 

We arrived on Friday, December 30th, and celebrated Callie's 9th birthday that night.  Here she is about to blow out her candles.  I can't believe she is really that old...I can clearly remember seeing her as a newborn in the hospital.  Crazy how time flies!

 

 

One of the funnest things we were able to do outside was sledding down our road over and over again.  We spent some quality time out on the hill on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  The snow was a perfect, compact condition that lent itself to endless fun.  Eric was at his typical post, driving the motorcycle up and down the hill, providing a free ride to any sledder that needed it.

 

 

Garrett and Spencer getting a lift.

 

 

Ron and I were able to slip outside all three days during Logan's naps to enjoy some sledding.  I honestly felt like a kid again.  I LOVE playing in the snow!

 

 

Logan had fun playing amongst his cousins.  Here is Spencer, fifteen years his senior, rough housing with our baby.

 

 

A close-up of our cutie!

 

 

Although Lia was still getting over the nasty flu, I was able to convince her to come outside to play in the snow once each day (although she refused to wear a hat).  Here we are on Saturday enjoying the snow around our cabin.

 

 

Silly Spence blowing on his silly, elk horn.  Oh, these Montana boys...

 

 

Lia actually enjoyed some sledding with me until she got some snow in her face on Sunday and refused to ever go again!  Here we are having some downhill fun.

 

 

Mommy and daughter pose for a pic.

 

We wandered down the lane to a neighbor's cabin where we found some great icicles hanging by their front door.  Spencer graciously agreed to get some down for the group.

 

Lia and the triplets posing with their icicles.

 

Lia enjoyed lots of "indoor time" with the triplets playing with their American Girl dolls and making blanket forts.  Here they are watching a movie from the protective walls of one of the forts they made over the weekend.

 

 

On Sunday, I bundled up our Logan and took him outside to play in the snow for the first time in his life.  He was the cutest snow bunny around!  I couldn't get over how adorable he looked.  Besides not being able to sit down because his clothes were so bulky, he actually did pretty good in the snow and barely made a peep!

 

 

A close-up of our snow bunny.

 

 

Spencer and Chris posing with Logan.

 

 

The Hartland fam in the winter wonderland.  Look at all that snow!

 

 

Lia and Sarah playing in the "snow cave" at the top of the driveway.

 

 

Father and son all bundled up and ready for some sledding!

 

 

Ron and I decided to take Logan down on the sled one time thinking that he would not like it. However, much to our surprise, he never made a peep and so we kept on taking him down the hill over and over again.  It was so funny and so cute!

 

 

Ron and Logan on their inaugural run together.

 

 

The other thing that Logan did that was so funny while we were outside in the snow was that he would lay back in the sled and not move an inch while Ron or I pulled him back up the hill.  He never fussed, squirmed, cried, or anything.  He just laid there as still and as quiet as can be every single time!

 

 

My three brothers and their daughters getting ready for a double-decker sled run!

 

 

Logan quietly laying in his sled while being pulled up the hill!

 

 

Getting ready for another mommy-and-son run!

 

 

Lia and the the triplets playing in their individual blanket forts (notice Vivi and Callie in the background).