Logan and Ellis's Top 10 at 16 months

Happy 16 months to Logan and Ellis!  Here are their current favorites (as of today, because you know they can change daily!) at 16 months old:

1. Being outside - pool, water table, sand box, the park, you name it they love it!
2. Park activity - the slide - and Logan, quit giving mommy heart attacks by trying to walk down it.
3. Reading - still a favorite after many months.  Logan loves "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom" and I must read it to him before nap and bedtime.
4. The garbage man - yes, strange I know, but I think the curiosity of big trucks is really getting to them now.  Because we take a daily walk, and usually our Tuesday walk coincides with the garbage being picked up, usually we cross paths with the garbage truck.  We stop - watch the garbage bins get picked up and emptied for all the ones in sight - all while the boys are cheering "yeah!" and pointing!
5. Animals - ever since we went camping and there was a dog at the campsite between Nicole's and ours, the boys point and make this weird noise when they see dogs.  Now, on our walks and outside, they see lots of dogs walking by and they always have to point, make their weird noise (no, its not a barking noise - it's more like a spitty, bubbly, saliva noise).  They also have a touch-and-feel pet book that has a cat in it with "wiry whiskers".  Logan freaked out whenever he saw the cat and turned the page really fast, but ever since we went to Caryn's last week and they saw their cat, they were very curious.  When we were back over there on Sunday, they desperately wanted to go in the house to pet the cat and just watch him!  At the library they like checking out the big fish tank.  Again, pointed finger, weird noise, followed by "yeah!"  Hoping to go to the zoo again soon, and maybe a petting farm sometime within the next couple weeks.
6. Favorite TV show - Fresh Beat Band.  Long story short, I heard of this show through Nicole and when looking for shows On Demand, I stumbled across it.  We checked it out and now it's definitely part of our day.  It's a friends-help-friends kind of show with lots of song and dance (which Troy and I have almost down pat by now, sadly).  All we have to do is say "Fresh Beat Band" and they go crazy.  Running to the TV, on the couch, cheering - although they rarely watch the entire 23 minute episode before they start playing again.
7. Favorite foods - I'd have to say it is chicken nuggets and homemade cinnamon sweet potato fries.  They are VERY good with their eating and I'm thankful we don't have very picky kids (knock on wood), but those two are definitely ones they will always eat!
8. Electronic device - Logan: my iPad and Ellis: remote control.  Lately it has gotten so out of hand with Logan playing with my iPad that if he sees it and can't have it, he throws a fit.  What I guess is good for me is that it definitely limits my playing on it during the day because now I try to keep it out of sight.  Ellis loves the buttons (especially the ones that light up) of the remote and even zeroed in on Caryn's remote control within minutes of being there.  I know its a technological world, but Logan needs to stop deleting my apps!!  =)
9. Bubbles - a few months ago, there was little interest to bubbles, but recently they have been a big hit!
10. Toy - anything they can push.  In fact, they take things that can't be pushed and push them anyway.  Wheels just make it easier!

Also, not a "top 10" but I'm very happy that they have been taking less and less time warming up to different people lately.  They had off and on stranger anxiety but with being exposed to more people over the summer, they don't take as long to warm up to people now.  Heck, before we left Boogie Babies the other day, both boys gave the owner a high five, and they only saw him when we got there and when we left.  So, they are definitely coming around!  =)  

Happy 16 months little guys!  Love you lots!  xoxoxox

A trip to Target - by Logan

So, after our morning walk, I asked mommy what we were going to do today.  She said we had to go to Target to get diapers and school supplies, so I asked if I could drive.  She said "Of course you can drive Logan.  You are the bigger brother after all".  So, off we went.

Once we got there, we went by the toy section.  I didn't want any toys, but I thought these masks were pretty cool.  I can't wait until Halloween!!

    

Ellis on the other hand was a bit of a wimp.  He wasn't a big fan of the masks and I warned him that if he doesn't get over it, he won't get any candy for Halloween since kids that don't dress up don't get any.    Oh well - more for me!

Then we went by some cool looking hats.  I look pretty cute if I do say so myself.  

Again, Ellis was being dumb about it and trying to pull the hat off, so I thought it would be fun to put a pink one on his head.  Serves him right!

 

After we had a couple boxes of diapers, some wipes, and lots of school supplies for mommy, we headed home.  Oh, the adventures we have at Target.  I can see why this is mommy's favorite store.

A Perfect "Boogie Babies" Morning

Thanks to Caryn, I was introduced to a fun indoor play area for the boys "Boogie Babies" - and it is less than 5 miles from the house.  Earlier this week Caryn suggested going but we then found out that they were closed the day we wanted to go.  Well, this morning was perfect - or should I say perfectly rainy, so why not check it out?!?  The boys had a ton of fun and thanks to Cole for showing them the ropes:

They had lots of things to climb on,

lots of things to push,

some music to dance to,

 more climbing toys,

and one of their favorites to push was a baby stroller.

Now Logan gets a turn,

while Ellis chills on the bean bag in the music room.

And their all-time favorite, was the play kitchen!!

It was a blast and looking forward to doing it again!

A morning of sand, water, and chalk

I wasn't quite sure what our plan was this morning after our walk, because it was cooler than I was expecting outside, but the boys seemed content with playing outside, so outside it is.

Ellis did a great job with his scooping sand skills:

The boys are a bit more interested in crayons, so I pulled out some chalk the other day.  Here is Logan "drawing":

And after drawing, Logan, and in turn Ellis, thought it would be fun to throw all the chalk into the flowers:

Logan then started burying himself in the sand:

After he was all sandy, he promptly went to the water table to rinse off (then followed by a bath because it was ridiculous how much sand he had in his hair still):

Laying Low

This week we pretty much just hung around the house - no huge plans, except for a trip to Ikea on Wednesday.  So, here is our past week in picture form (and not quite chronological order):

My mom joined us at Ikea, so we decided to meet at Tim Hortons first.  Ellis loved choosing his own timbit!

And Logan thought they were pretty good too!

They behaved very well at Ikea and did especially well in the kids area, checking out all the cool things!

Much to Ellis's dismay, we didn't get this tunnel, but he really liked it!

We went to Great Lakes Crossing on Friday so Troy and I could look for some new tennis shoes.  We had dinner there and made the mistake of sitting by the carousel.  They boys were mesmerized by it, loving the noises it made, and of course stopping to watch it until it stopped for the next round of kids.

This morning, before it got too hot, we were off to the park.  Such big boys they are to be able to go across the wobbly bridge all on their own.  And of course once they did it the first time, thats all they did is go back and forth..

When Troy went to check on the boys before we went to bed the other night, he found
Ellis sleeping like this.  Such a ladies man already!

The boys have always liked dumping water on them, so yesterday they got the idea to get the bigger pail full of water to dump on themselves.  Troy took it and splashed them with it and they loved it.  So, they had a bit of fun running around the yard while Troy got them with the pail of water.

Gotcha Logan!

Ellis's turn!

Gotcha!!

And in non-picture news: In addition to saying "sit", Logan is also saying "yes", and "yeah!".  When I asked Logan if he wanted his snack cup, he promptly looked up at me and said "yes" with that cute little "s" sound!  Then at the park, every time he crossed the bridge, he would say "yeah!".  

This week, we have a play date with Caryn and Cole, story time, and some outdoor ice activities planned - maybe some playdough making in our future too?!?  

Port Crescent Camping 2012

What a great long weekend.  And considering the boys were 15 months old, they did very well too!  The family on the site next to us actually gave us a "Citizenship award" (verbally) saying they were impressed at how well-behaved the boys were.  I took well over 100 pictures during the weekend, but I will try my best to pick a handful of fun pictures (but be prepared that this post will most likely be picture heavy).

The boys chillin' as Troy sets up camp.

Just like at home, Ellis thinks it is fun to bounce on the air mattress.

"Hey Mom. What's this for?"

Once the Reaves Family showed up, Morgan came and enjoyed climbing the hill that she named "Horse Mountain"

Friday night we headed to the beach.  Ellis thoroughly
enjoyed the fact that he had a HUGE sandbox to play in!

The boys LOVED the water too.  They did really well in the water and even tried dipping their head in.  They thought it was awesome to be able to be sitting in the water AND play in the sand at the same time.  

The boys!  =) 

A majority of Saturday afternoon was spent back at the beach.  The boys loved going
out into the lake with Troy.  Here he is with Ellis, pointing at me.

Our nap schedule was definitely out of whack on vacation.  Here is Logan snuggling up, getting cozy on Nicole.

Having WAY too much fun - Troy and Ellis.

A bit hard to see - but a picture of the boys sleeping, from outside the tent.  Naps were
about 3 hours later than usual, but they were exhausted and passed right out after all the fun at the beach!

The boys loved drinking out of our bottles, like big boys.  They enjoyed Troy's lemonade.

A little game of tag with Morgan.  Ellis liked running around with me too!

Morgan's #1 buddy is Parker, but she had fun with Logan,
walking him all around her campsite.  He obviously liked it too!

Sunday, after our own breakfast, Nicole came and told us that they had extra pancakes.  We headed over to see if the boys wanted any and they each had 1.5 pancakes!  Their hunger must have caught up with them!

A little bit of fun at the park while Mark and Troy went to get more ice and milk.

Ready, set...

...go!

Logan did a bit of a face-plant into the dirt, followed by a little
bit of face rubbing, and this is the cute face we were left with.  

Sunday while we were getting ready to go to the beach, Troy put the boys in the hammock, and of course they just so happened to fall asleep.  We didn't exactly expect that to happen, but a little catnap doesn't hurt anyone.  

Our footprints from oldest to youngest - from left to right - Troy, Kristin, Logan, Ellis

Our one and only photo of all 4 of us - our last night there at the campfire.

We had a blast but definitely thought of things that will help us in future camping trips.  Lots of fun all around!  Thanks for the invite, Mark and Nicole.  We look forward to next years trip!