Am I really that old fashioned?

So, when I posted about "Anya Burger" the other day, I was thinking to myself that I hope she marries young so she can change her name. However, I was assuming that she'd want to change her name and apparently that's happening less and less these days.

Connor's preschool sent out a parent directory yesterday with the names of all the kids and their parents. 25 out of 66 families (that's 37.8% in case you were wondering) have parents with different last names. 37.8%? Wow. That's higher than the estimate of 20% of women who don't change their surnames I found somewhere online. Now, granted, a lot of the families are Euporean and Asian since the school is employer based and full of children of really smart scientists from around the world, but it still surprised me! The names were fun to look at too since they are from other countries - names like Sahiti, Eojin, Regula, Embla, Ofri, Malgorzata, Haucke, Petter, Olga and Itzik - all first names! :)

Anyway, Logan is 7 months old today! Time flies when you're sleep deprived having fun! His obsession with pulling up on things lead us to buy him a play table the other day. He LOVES it!



Getting ready to chew on the fire truck puzzle


Hey baby!

Oh my...

Not that it shows very well on this blog, but I'm a bit nitpicky when it comes to spelling and grammar especially on public documents like newspapers, menus, advertisements, even road signs. I drive Jeremy crazy pointing out mistakes like the one in front of the Westminster Payless shoes that reads Handicaped Parking or the sign that used to be on the way to Dad and Sue's that said Peacefull Valley (it should've been only one l and they fixed it). So last night on 7News they had a story about spelling and grammatical errors that caught my interest. These errors were found in a study guide published by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and used by immigrants studying for their citizenship test. You would think that such a document would be proofread several times to be sure that everything was spot on since the people taking the test need to (according to the test instructions) be proficient at reading, writing and understanding English. However, the 7News team found more than 30 errors! You can see examples of their errors and read more here but I just had to say that this is, sadly, pretty normal. I can't tell you how many "official" forms I've filled out asking for information like my "birthdat." It only takes a moment to either run spell check or have someone read over what you wrote! I know, I'm contributing to the demise of our written language everytime I type LOL or BRB or :) or use too many ellipses instead of proper punctuation so I shouldn't complain. But, I do know the difference between typing in an email or a blog and composing an official document! Sigh...

Big boy bath time!

We went to Kangaroo Kingdom on Monday afternoon since both Jeremy and Connor had the day off for President's Day. Logan had the most fun of all...so many new things to explore and he can get to most of them by himself!


Connor and Logan have started taking their baths together now! Logan has clearly outgrown the baby tub in the sink and since he can sit up independently now, it seemed like the time to put them together. Connor is incredibly patient and gentle while Logan is in the tub and Logan thinks the whole thing is hilarious - he giggles most of the time! Here are few pics of them...

How many of me?

Our sister-in-law, Naomi, shared this site with us today: How Many of Me? It says there are 16 people in the U.S. named Nikki Dean, 164 named Jeremy Dean, 12 named Logan Dean, and 0 named Connor Dean. Well, I know of 2 other Nikki Deans and 2 other Jeremy Deans so I might buy the statistics on our names. I'm not sure about Logan but that number seems appropriate, maybe even a little low given Logan's popularity as a baby name as of late. However, it says that Connor is a fairly uncommon first name so it is statistically unlikely that there are any Connor Deans in the world. Huh? Connor was the 48th most popular baby boy name in 2005 and was the 222nd most popular in 1990 (the census year this site uses). Weird. Anyway, it's a fun site! Check it out :) How many of YOU are there in the world??

Sledding!

We went to Papa and Grandma's house yesterday. Before we left, Connor asked me to make his hair spiky :) He looks so grown up!

After lunch and a nap we went outside for some sledding!
Logan and Mommy


Logan in the baby sled. He seemed quite at peace in it - watched everything that was going on and just took it all in :)


Connor sliding down the hill backwards. The saucer he's on is the same one I used when I was little!


Here's Jeremy enjoying the weather. It was pretty warm!


Papa is about to push Connor down the hill


Logan sitting in the snow for a second. He didn't seem to mind it! :)


And here's a video of Connor going down the hill!

I love Saturdays :)

Saturdays are great!

Connor started his new swim class today and it was GREAT! We were a bit skeptical about sending him in the water by himself since previous swim classes required us to go with him, but he didn't care at all. The teacher called his name and took him, his friend Rhyann and two other 3 year olds (a boy and a girl) into the pool. Jeremy and Jason (Rhyann's Dad) walked down from the viewing room to the pool with them but came back and watched the class with the moms. They sang ring around the rosie and put their ears in the water and sat on the edge and kicked and blew bubbles. Then the teacher had all four of them stand on the side of the pool and had each one jump in. The first girl was very timid - the teacher practically pulled her into the water. Rhyann was very excited to try jumping but seemed a little scared too - she sat down and then got in the water. The boy held the teacher's hands and sort of fell into the water. Connor was bouncing up and down with excitement while the other three kids had their turn and when it was finally his turn he jumped about three feet into the water into the teacher's arms! She was a bit surprised at how brave he was! He was smiling the whole time and has talked about it all day! We can't wait for next Saturday for more swim class :)

Another reason I like Saturdays is because of the Couples section in the Longmont Times Call. I love reading about the newlyweds, engagement announcements and baby announcements. It might be partly because of Jay Leno's headlines on Monday nights when he makes fun of engaged couple's last names (hilarious) and partly because we had so much trouble coming up with names for our own kids, but the Couples section is better than the Sunday comics for me :) Today was the best in a long time though! Why? A couple with the last name Burger had a baby girl recently and named her...get this...Anya Nicole. Seems fairly boring, huh? However, Anya Burger? Say this out loud: Whaddya want, Anya Burger? What do you want on your burger, Anya Burger? Anya Burger!!!! What were they thinking??? :) Her middle name should have been cheese...or at least Colby...haha

One not so fun thing about today was that around 5 pm we decided that Connor needed new gloves. He has a pair of mittens and a pair of gloves but neither fit very well and neither are very warm. We're going up to Papa and Grandma's house tomorrow and we'll quite likely go sledding or at least play in the snow, so having good fitting warm gloves is important. So Connor and I set out in search of gloves...in Colorado...in February. No problem, right? Our first stop was Target. No gloves. Next we went to Sports Authority. They sold out of their kid gloves last month. Um, ever thought of ordering more? I called Jeremy and had him look up the number and call Big 5 to see if they had kids gloves before we drove all the way over there. Jeremy called and at first the woman didn't know what "toddler" meant so Jeremy said they were for a 3 year old and she said that they had plenty of kids gloves for 3 year olds. So, Connor and I drove to Big 5. We walked in and this is how it went (yep, I was a bit testy before we even opened the door...):

Me: Hi, can you show me where the gloves are?
Big 5 guy #1: What kind of gloves?
Me: Umm...gloves for him? (pointing to Connor) Kids gloves.
Big 5 guy #1: Snow gloves?
Me: Yeah. Oh, you thought I was asking for a baseball glove? No, winter gloves.
Big 5 guy #1: Well, gloves aren't really my thing, but I'll show you.
Me: Not really your thing? The store isn't that big.
Big 5 guy #1: I work in shoes.
Me: Hmm. Ok.

We walk to the glove area which, I swear, is not more than 15 feet from the shoes.

Big 5 guy #1: Here they are.
Me: Looks like these are adult gloves. Do you have gloves for kids?
Big 5 guy #1: I think we're sold out.
Me: Wow, my husband just called 20 minutes ago and was told that you had kids gloves. Did you sell out in the last 20 minutes?
Big 5 guy #1: I'll get the cashier, gloves are her thing.

I tried not to laugh as he walked away. Connor and I looked at the gloves and looked around the area for a bigger selection - surely they had more than this! There couldn't have been more than 30 pairs of gloves there - mostly mens with a few womens thrown in here and there. After a few minutes I realized the cashier was not coming to us so I walked over to her. Before I could get there I was intercepted by another Big 5 guy....

Big 5 guy #2: Can I help you find something?
Me: Yes, I'm looking for some kids gloves and my husband just called to see if you had some and was told that you did. Can you show them to me?
Big 5 guy #2: Sure, they're over here.

We walk back to, guess where? The same exact spot we had been.

Big 5 guy #2: The selection isn't very big - we sold out of most of our gloves in December.

Ugh! I know there was a lot of snow in December and I'm sure that lots of people ran out and bought new snow gear as soon as they could. But this is Colorado! It will snow again! And people will want more snow gear! Especially from sporting goods stores that sell skis, snowboards, sleds, etc. Grrr. Frustrating. On the bright side, we stopped by Kmart and found gloves for $1! I hope no little boys need gloves in March because the only gloves Kmart has are on the 75% off rack!

Good thing I have baby Anya Burger to laugh about, huh? :) Baby Anya Burger...oh that's worse! haha

Sleeping baby, bubbles :)

I couldn't think up another post title today :)

Anyway, here are some pictures of the boys!

I had to wake Logan up yesterday to take him to Connor's Valentine's party at preschool. I figured if I had to wake him anyway I might as well take some pictures of the precious baby sleeping! In case you were wondering, the flash didn't wake him up but the second I turned his lullabye CD off he jerked his head up and glared at me for a second before realizing it was me...then he smiled :) Awww...unconditional baby love!




A bit of a mischievous look on his face, eh?


"This little piggy went to market..."


We played with the Gymboree bubbles again today. In case you've never heard of them, Gymboree (the clothing store and play place) sells THE BEST bubbles ever! They last, literally, for DAYS if you don't purposely pop them. They're amazing! Not so great for the carpet, I'm sure, but it's seen better days anyway...
Logan looking a bit unenthused about the bubbles...


Oh maybe they are fun after all!


Hmm...where are they coming from anyway?

Funny phrases...

I've shared a few of Connor's funny phrases and conversations before but I'm thinking it should become a regular thing. Here's today's:

"Mommy, here's the deal..."

I know it's hard to imagine why this is so funny to me, but can you just picture it? A 3 year old perched on the edge of Mommy and Daddy's bed with a yellow legal pad in one hand and a pen in the other. He says, "Mommy, here's the deal..." while he draws a circle (well, more of an oval) on the pad and looks up at me. "First, we need to go downstairs and go into the living room and...wait. Ok, Mommy, here's the deal..." He turns the page and draws another circle. "First, we wake up Logan, get him out of his crib, go downstairs and...wait, Mom. Here's the deal." Another circle is drawn. "Ok, Mommy, last deal." I try not to laugh. "First, I go to the potty, then we wake up Logan and then we go downstairs, k? Is that a good deal?"

I'm not quite sure where he got this phrase from, or why he has to draw a new circle for every new deal, but it's hilarious so I had to share!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from our little sweethearts!

A fine, upstanding young man...

It was a week full of sickness in our home - first Connor and I and then Logan, who really got it worse than the rest of us. We took him to the doctor on Thursday and he has croup! Yuck! So we've been taking it easy. In fact, "take it easy" is Connor's favorite new phrase! Whenever he feels sick or doesn't feel like doing something (cleaning up his toys, staying at the dinner table, etc), he says "I need to go lay down on the couch and take it easy." Of course, he's usually bouncing around a few minutes later :)

Here's a video of Logan's fast crawling! No more jumping on his tummy as seen in previous videos - he has places to go, things to do and dangerous stuff to discover and chew on! :)



Logan has perfected the maneuvers it takes to get to a standing position. At first he would only show it off for Daddy but now he can't keep himself from doing it at any moment possible!

Standing up at the activity table


Standing up by Connor's toy box


Standing up in his crib - uh oh!


Standing up in his crib after Daddy lowered the mattress! :)

Don't make fun of the crib bumper! We bought it when I was pregnant with Connor and it really is a gender neutral set - the quilt has animals all over it and the major color in the whole set is yellow. However, in the bumper there are a lot of pinks :) Connor slept with it until he was 16 months (hmm, maybe that's why he likes pink so much?) and Logan started out with it but then we bought a cheap fire truck set. Emphasis on the word cheap. The bumper that was included with the fire truck set didn't even stand up to a three month old tugging on it! The ties that tie it to the crib ripped right out of their seams and, while I could have sewn them back on and reinforced the remaining ties, it wasn't worth it. We still had this bumper and it has never ripped, is very soft, and works! :) So no comments on the bumper, k?

Connor got a new set of beads to help him work on his fine motor skills and this was his first creation...ALL of the beads on ONE string! It was a really heavy necklace, but he made it all by himself (well, ok, I might have helped to tie it together)

Just sharing some photos!

Connor has been fighting a cold the last few days but we just had to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather today - such a nice change from the freezing temperatures and snow! Since his Jeep had been parked for a few days, he thought it might need a tune-up before he drove it...







Here's one of Logan showing off one of his new skills - pulling up to be on his knees. The bouncy seat is much more exciting from this angle! He can also go from this to a sitting position and then from sitting to crawling now too! So many new skills, so very little rest for Mommy and Daddy :) haha



And a random shot of Bailey!



I tried to go a class on positive discipline at Kangaroo Kingdom tonight but the teacher never showed up! ARGH! So, instead, 10 moms and 1 dad sat around talking about potty training for 45 minutes. Fun stuff :) Hopefully they'll reschedule it soon...though after meeting the other ten parents and hearing the horror stories about their children, I'm thinking we're doing a pretty good job at discipline! :)

Almost Groundhog Day :)

I don't know about Punxsutawney Phil, but no groundhog around here will be seeing his shadow tomorrow. Even if the sun is shining, no one in their right mind should go out in these freezing temperatures! The high tomorrow is supposed to be 13F! It's 3F right now with a -11F wind chill - yikes! Just wanted to share some pictures from today...

Connor took this picture out his bedroom window. Pretty good, huh?


He also took this picture! Not bad, even if it has me in it :)


He also gets credit for this shot. Hmm...


Here are some nice ones of Logan from today! Don't forget you can click on them to see a larger version :)


I love the look on his face in this one!

Happy February!

Just sharing a video of Logan with some more hands and knees crawling and less of the jumping crawl you've seen in the past :) He can get pretty much anywhere he wants now! Enjoy!

(double click the play button to play)


The video ends with him falling over but don't worry, he didn't even cry!