Singing isn't the only way to spread Christmas Cheer!

You have got quite the moves little man... Always have... But the best is when you sporadically break out in the middle of nowhere... And ESPECIALLY when I don't even realize music is playing. Yesterday we went to breakfast at Denny's before we hit up lap time with the Big Guy (Santa Claus!!).. When we walked out of Denny's you immediately busted out some moves. There was music playing from the outside speakers and you took full advantage! And then got some more people to join you.. **Don't mind what daddy calls my creeper laugh, you just CRACK ME UP!!

Gameday...

What a difference a year makes... We even had to buy a new jersey because the first one was too small.. Wow where did that little peanut go!?!

It's Hard to Jam out in Jammies!!!

Logan LOVES to dance.. He is constantly adding new material to his sweet moves.. He comes from two parents who love to boogie.. No wonder his skills are top notch;) He couldn't quite get his groove on in his feeties!!

Shocker... Whoops..

Just realized that I never posted your Eleventh month photo collage.. Because let's face it I'm lucky to get your pictures let alone actually write about you:/.. Although right at the end of your eleven months you started to REALLY walk. You took your first steps quite a bit ago but you you really, really, REALLY started walking without any help and preferred over crawling about a week before you turned one!!.. Anyways here is at least a photo montage of your ever so cute sticky chest pictures:)

Quack, Quack!

I am playing major catch up buddy. It seems that I have become extremely bad at keeping this blog updated. Insert: Not enough time in the day! Anyways back in the middle of August we had your First Birthday party!!.. You have been completely obsessed with Rubber Ducks for about 6 months. One of your first words was Quack! And you have always ATTACKED rubber ducks. So thanks to pinterest I got to work and put together your very first birthday party! I am pretty sure you enjoyed it, although you got an extreme sugar high and then kind of burnt out for presents! Oh well I still think you had a fantastic time surrounded by people who love you, including a guest surprise visit from Nannie & Poppie on skype!!

Go Buddy Go!!

Logan has been taking small 1-2 steps for about a month now... Starting last week he started doing 3, 4, 5, 6 steps and walking on his own from furniture to furniture... He isn't very daring on that part yet... Although he is a little daredevil at every other thing he does... Unfortunately, I haven't caught a good video of him taking those steps... This is the best I can do for right now and I usually catch him RIGHT before it is a crash down into bedtime routine!! So excuse the fussy little man in the video.. Yayyyyyy Logan!!

Chair, Golf Clubs Or Mommy?!

Decisions, decisions!!!.. This babe is constantly on the go... He never stops.. No joke.. Here is an example!!

10 months..

Sorry just pictures for the 10 months... We were in Ogdensburg, visiting Nannie and Poppie (kind of)... We staged your pretend pictures in front of the St. Lawrence River.. You loved it.. You loved every second we spent up there.. I will ((hopefully)) be posting about that adventure very soon!! Happy 10 months for now.. Even though you are closer to 11 months!!..

So Ridiculously Late... NINE MONTHS:)

Well if we are being technical you are extremely close to Ten months at this point... But I finally had time to upload your nine months pictures!!... You are so incredibly funny and we laugh all day long... You still take three naps a day and sleep through the night... So that means a happy baby and a happy mommy & daddy!!.. You are the greediest baby ever when it comes to food... If you hear as much as a wrapper crinkle you are all over that person... Hilarious yet semi embarassing!! You are not starving chunky monkey!!.. We still haven't tried dairy again per the suggestion of your doctor... Since we tried to switch you back to a regular formula when you were six months old and your little body rejected it, she says that you have a better chance to be okay with whole milk when you turn one if we keep dairy from you now... I hope so because i would really prefer for you to be on a regular milk versus a soy!! As far as other foods, you pretty much LOVE everything.. I'm not kidding, EVERYTHING... Although citrusy fruits seem to not be agreeing with you right now... You LOVE fruits, especially Watermelon, blueberries, mandarin oranges, bananas and pears... You have finally started to eat meats, all meats and you still love all of your veggies.. See, I wasn't kidding you my boy love to eat... Thankfully daddy and I are trying to keep you on a healthy eating regiment and you are agreeing with all of it!! You take three, eight ounce bottles a day and I have began the process of switching you to sippy cups... It isn't going to be hard, I'm pretty sure you would have switched a long time ago if I would have let you!! You have mastered crawling and pull up ON EVERYTHING... You have started to push behind a shopping cart at school but I am pretty sure I am boycotting getting you any type of push toy for home... SLOW DOWN!! Your vocabulary is growing: Da-da, Daddy, Ma-ma, Mommy, Nannie, Ziggy, Kitty, Quack-Quack,Ba-ba, Bye-Bye... Daddy is so proud he taught you how to clap and he taught you this past weekend where your nose is... I don't think you fully have your own nose location down but you LOVE to find daddy's!!... You weigh 24 pounds and are 29 inches long... You are mostly in 12-18 everything... But can definitely fit in 18 months one piecers and pj's... You were size 4 night time diapers and size 4 day diapers!!... You have a pretty stellar 10 months birthday coming up and some pretty amazing events coming up to go along with it!!.. You will be baptized on July 7th, which also happens to be daddy's 29th birthday!!.. That weekend also kicks off our two weeks stay with nannie and poppie, WE CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT!!!... Until next month sweet baby boy!!! We love you oh so much!!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!!...

You are so close to walking... Put something in front of you while you are standing, forget it, you are GONE!!... We thought you were a fast mover crawling, YIKES you are not going to walk baby boy you will be constantly running... Hopefully you will run this lingering baby weight right off of mommy!!! :) Love you little man!!

Hurts my Heart...

I accidentally happened across a bedtime ritual that I knew nothing of, about 2 months ago... Since my days consist of Logan, Logan, Logan (and seven other babes), bedtime is usually daddy's time with Logan.. Bath (which he still loves), Lotion down (which he still hates), pj's, bottle.. BUT there is something so special that Shawn started with Logan in between pj's and bottle... There is a picture of Nannie, Poppie and Logan from the day that he was born that sits on the bookshelf... It has always been there because with the distance I always have wanted Logan to recognize Nannie and Poppie without showing any signs of shyness.. (Skype is a blessing and I truly believe that Logan has formed a special bond with them regardless of miles) Now what I happened upon was Shawn showing Logan the picture every night and saying Night Night to Nannie/Poppie... That in itself choked me up... I can't help but hurt when I think of what an even more special bond this little man would have with them if we were closer... I remember growing up and watching friends with extremely involved grandparents at every function and couldn't help but think how nice a bond like that would be... I know if we were closer Logan would have that with my parents and that makes my heart hurt for him and for them.. NOW in case you haven't teared up yet this video will get you... This was the next thing that just put me straight over the edge... Good Luck with the whole dry eyes thing!!

Logantales: Lower the Crib

This was taken about three weeks ago!!.. But it is still cute just the same... We have come to find out that Logan is a very quick learner... As in you show him something once and he is on board copying you... Shawn has been learning this the hard way by teaching Logan some naughty tricks... Insert: This trick caused us to have to lower the crib to its lowest level!! Enjoy

Eight Months!!

Hey my sweet guy!!.. I am so sorry for the lack of posts on my part... To say daddy and I have had no extra time is an understatement... I mean to post, I really do!! In fact I have over 1,000 pictures on my phone, even more on the computer and over 25 videos on my phone that were all meant for amazing blogs!!.. As you can see they didn't make it but they will all make it to your scrapbook... Well hopefully, because that also hasn't been started but I plan on it:)... Anyways, YOU ARE EIGHT MONTHS OLD!! I really, really, REALLY hate that!! You are getting so big and I feel like you are graduating college tomorrow, so please slow down... I can't help but be excited for all the advances you have taken in the past couple of months... You are totally moving, and have been since the beginning of April.. You do a funky army crawl, but have start rocking on your knees. Trust me the army crawl gets you where you want to go... Along with this crawl came the realization that you are going to be extremely hard to discipline... Seriously when we tell you "No sir, Logan", you literally snap your head to look at us, get really excited with your whole body and then give a devilish smirk, YIKES!!.. You had a couple weeks of rough sleeping, by rough sleeping I mean like up every 45 minutes, DOUBLE YIKES... That was not fun and probably the worst coupld of weeks of your 8 months life!! THANKFULLY problem was solved with you popped your first tooth and then the second very quickly followed a couple of days later... I sure hope that the rest of your teeth just sneak in because those weeks of hard, grumpy, upset teething, were miserable for all parties involved.. Thank you for going back to your 9-7 sleep schedule, everyone in your life thanks you because we were one nasty Smaciak family for a minute!!

Some stats for you: You weigh around 24 pounds, chunkamunk!! You LOVE food I mean seriously, it is almost sickening how much you love food.. You want anything and everything you can get your hands on.. Your favorites are FRUITS!! It has been hard getting you back on veggies and meat because you had a stomach virus (throwing up everywhere, YUCK) for a good weekend and you were on a strict, bland diet for a couple of days... Nonetheless you are pretty much back to normal... You are pretty much eating all of your meals on your own except some of dinner I still feed you to make sure you are really getting a full belly... Even though you definitely have an intolerance to dairy you FREAK at the site of yogurt, so you have it pretty much every night for dessert (peach, banana and vanilla are your favorites!)... And then you usually spit some of it up leaving behind a nasty spoiled milk smell but we deal to hopefully get your stomach built up to tolerate dairy by the time you need to switch to whole milk (fingers crossed)... You are in size 4 diapers during the day and at night.. You are wearing new night time diapers I found and they are AWESOME.. You used to wake up saturated from a night of pee, now you still wake up wet but these things could hold a flood, they're GREAT!!... You love that you can move around the room at school and feel very cool when your friends try to include you in their play... You LOVE to drink from a sippy cup because that's what all the cool kids are doing and you think you are grown... You LOVE to sit in the highchair to get snack with the bigger kids. You LOVE to be outside, which has been hard because SORRY you have mommy's allergies and they stink!!.. We have always known that you are an animal lover (definitely got that from daddy) from the way you freak at the rare siting of Ziggy cat but we found out that you LOVE dogs.. I mean super freak, spaz out, in a dying laughing kid of way and if by chance that dog give you a slobbery kiss, FORGET IT you are a goner!!.. You honestly made us feel like bad parents for not having a dog but sorry buddy mama is not the "one with nature" kind of girl!!.. Maybe someday, like in the far future, when you can care for it on your own:).. We have found out that you have a T-E-M-P-E-R.. Well, we actually always knew this, excuse the french but you have always had a high pitch pissed off screech when something doesn't go your way.. WELLLLL it has officially gotten worse.. You literally throw yourself back and legs kick on the changing table... I don't really get it because you have never minded the changer before but now NOW my guy you are a little nuts!! This makes me nervous about what the next year will hold!! You have also started sporadically started throwing fits about going to sleep, most of the time we let you cry it out until your fights almost gone and then pat you to sleep but sometimes we have to get stern with you and that breaks my heart but we try to stay strong!!... You have major separation anxiety kicking full blast.. I can barely leave your site before you are flipping out and trembling like I left you for a lifetime.. I don't blame you, I mean we are together every moment of your awake life but I do hope this passes very soon.. You see mama has Aunt Tara's Bacholerette weekend getaway at the end of June and I don't want to be a wreck about you freaking out for daddy for the weekend... He is fully capable of being your one and only for the weekend but you need to take it easy on him!! I am sure you will be a perfect angel!!.. Oh another love is your Nannie & Poppie.. I mean infatuated!! You obviously love every second you get to spend with them, showering them with love and smiles.. But you freak at the site of the computere thinking everytime I open it, Nannie & Poppie will be on the screen waiting for you.. You get super mad if they aren't on the other end to answer our skype calls!! Daddy shows you their picture in your room every night and you smile and say night, night to them... Tonight you actually gave their picture a "kiss" which was more like a lick but you thought you were the bomb for doing it!! I think that is it baby!! We love you so much and you don't even know the joy you bring to our lives!!

Give Me That...

It has become a routine that at bathtime little man rolls and rolls and rolls around in only his diaper on our bed... We also added a bear that nannie got him for one of his showers before he was here!!.. Logan loves it!! It also shows us how close this little guy is to being mobile!!.. Yikes!!.. I love this smiling little goofy boy!!

Happy St. Pat's!!!

From our little (semi) Irish Family... At least our first names reflect it!! SOoooo Top O' the Week to ye!! Love Shawn, Shannon & Logan!!!

Six Months... Say WHAT?!?!!

A whole half a year old?! When and where did the time go??? I don't know but I certainly DO NOT like it little man, the time is going way too fast!! One of these days our lives may return to normalcy and I may get back on track to actually keeping up with this blog and updating you on your milestones!!... This month you have definitely let your true self shine through... You babble, babble, babble... You blow bubbles... You roll, roll, roll... You laugh, giggle, yelp... You scream, throw tantrums and get really mad... You are one of a kind... You light up every room you are in... We love you oh so much!!

At your six months checkup you weighed 19 pounds 13 ounces (84th percentile) and you were 27 inches long (86th percentile)... You are a big little guy.. Speaking of big your thighs are super chunky and we love them!!... Immediately following your appointment we jammed into the packed truck and headed with Aunt Tara down to see Nannie and Poppie in Daytona for a long weekend!!... You LOVED it... Well you loved MOST of it!!.. Mommy forgot the sleep sheep!! Bad move.. I didn't catch onto that being the problem until Saturday night when you screamed for a straight hour (at first I thought it was a reaction to your shots)... AND THEN it clicked and I jumped on the handy iphone, downloaded a free nature sound app... and VOILA you were snoozing within 1 minute and stayed asleep until 8:00 the next morning!! Now along with that we found out on Monday that there could have been another reason that you were so upset (because this is the first time EVER in your 1/2 year of life that you have cried for that amount of time with no break!!).. We headed to the doctor because there was something just a little off with your manhood... No fear all is well with the area but we did find out that you were most definitely in some pain because of possibly the swim diapers and/or the long car drive which caused a little reattachement.. All is healed thanks to neosporin, aquaphor & advil:) Moving on.. You LOVED the beach and the very cold ocean hitting your feet... You also LOVED the pool!! You cried when we took you out!! We can't wait to go back with you in a couple of weeks for a whole 10 days!!

NOW for the here and now... My poor little man you are a drooling, feverish, teething mess... I feel really bad because you are NOT a cranky baby EVER, even when you are sleepy you are still smiling with your eyes half open... You are in P-A-I-N and until you can break those little suckers through I am afraid little man that I can only distract you with teethers & tablets & benadryl on the gums (that's probably not kosher but it works!!)... As for our six months photo shoot: I got three photos of you smiling (that is ridic because you are the most smilingest baby I know!!)...

Get better little guy okay!? Because you break my heart with the whimpering little noises you make!! WHOOPS: Almost forgot!! You are in Size 4 day time & night time diapers You are in 6-12, 9 months & are pushing 12 months one piece outfits!!! You take 6 ounces of formula 3 times a day and one 8 ouncer at night... You LOVE food... All food even food you used to not like you like now... WHY? Well the answer is simple, you started getting mad at school when your friends were eating lunch so we put you in the highchair and chopped up green beans: You went to town... So this round of baby food making I did half chunky food to feed you and half chopped up enough for you to feed yourself... You love it!! You also love yo baby yogurt, you can't get enough!!... You love snacks, especially Apple Wagon Wheels and Yogurt Melts!!... Things you hate: You still hate getting out of your bath, I wonder if this will be a lifelong thing... You hate when food isn't ready immediately... You hate when it takes me a minute to get your fruits ready after you have had your veggies... You hate store bought food, I have only found one brand that will suffice when we are out and about and I can't bring your made food with us... You hate going to sleep at school, you are afraid you are going to miss something... That will do for now little one... Let's freeze time okay?! We love you so much:)

Pop

Logan loves his Pop so much... This picture melts my heart and I know that Logan will always cherish it... Love, thoughts and prayers:) Hopefully Pop will get taken off of the ventillator today!!

Five MONTHS (....ish)

This is incredibly too late... But to say that this past month has been a wreck would be an understatement... Shawn's father is still battling his recovery from his heart attack in January.. Our days are mostly spent going through the motions of work, hospital, sleep (ish) & repeat... Of course all of that is filled in with loving on our sweet sweet baby boy.. We cherish each second we get with our little man and will NEVER take any of those seconds for granted... That was ever so punched into our hearts as we stood by a family that we have become extremely close to, say goodbye to a loved one way too soon. That family is in our thoughts and prayers forever... Sooo to say this has been a tough, struggling month is DEFINITELY an understatement... But as we fight on we can't help but say WHERE HAS OUR BABY GONE?!?! This little guy is growing so fast and we are in the passenger seat.. He lights up our life in a way that we never knew possible... It is impossible not to light up when he is in your presence... Does he has fussy times, absolutely but they are far and few in between... This little guy smiles at every moment.. I hear on a daily basis: "I don't think I have ever seeen a baby smile more than him", "Is he ever NOT smiling".. ETC. I'm serious he is one smiley dude!!

As for his stats: Weight: 19lbs 3oz Height: I'm horrible and am not sure:( Diapers: Daytime: 3 Nighttime: 3 (going on 4) Clothes: 6-12 months & 9months with the occasional large 3-6

Likes: FOOOOOOOOOD: He is a greedy little fella and loooooves to eat.. He had only been on real food besides cereal for about two weeks when I quickly had to bump him to two feedings a day and I have a feeling that it will very quickly change to three.. Bananas, Sweet Potatoes and Avocado are his all time favorites.. Squash (yellow & butternut) & carrots seem to upset his little tummy but he does better with them in the morning than at night.. Blueberries are the first that he seems to have a little reaction to, meaning his face breaks out for the day.. SO I guess those are a no go for a little while!!.. All of his other food falls in the middle: Green Beans, Peas, Lima Beans, Apples... I am in dire need of making a more variety of food for him this weekend... He loves to sit He loves his friends He loves smiling (smilings his favorite) He loves mommy & daddy He loved his hooky day with Nanny & Poppy Dislikes: His bottles (he would rather have food and is way too noisy to drink when others are around) The time directly after his bath (always has) He loves to hate going to sleep!! There you have it... A month late (seeing how we are going today to get his 6 months pictures today!!) but that is our sweet man wrapped up at Five months...

Logantales: Hospital Edition...

This past week has been a rollercoaster... Shawn's dad had a heart attack last Sunday.. He is doing okay but has a very long, struggling road ahead of him... So on top of our normal chaos Shawn took the week off of work and has been with his dad day & night... I have been visiting on my lunch break and then bringing the baby up after school... I know the thought of the baby at the hospital is a little creepy... BUT it is a specialty heart hospital and extremely, extremely clean, not in the whole sterile way but this heart hospital is where it is at!! Anyways, what does a baby do when in a hospital room where he brightens the mood?? He learns new sounds of course!! That makes him over the top cuteness!!

Too Many Toys... Everything gets a lick..

We had a sick day today.. After going back to the doctors, with the same results... Not in lungs or ears THANKFULLY.. Yet too young for any type of medication.. But little man is still pretty pathetic.. Soo we had a little overstimulation going on to make the boy happy or a couple of minutes, somewhere other than my arms that is.. This lead to attacking everything with a fresh lick.. Wash, Clorox, Sanitize, REPEAT.. Get these germs out of here..

Logantales: Croup Edition...

I consider us lucky... Logan has been in childcare for three months and so far he had a mild cold and a stomach bug.. BUT we had to bring him to the emergency care because he now has Croup.. It is not a severe case but pathetic just the same.. I'm frustrated because I feel like it could have been prevented... BUT you live, learn and move on!! I love this little boy and it breaks my heart that he is in any pain.. Here is his pathetic little voice: Please get better little man!!

Logantales: Daddy Skype Edition:)

I was looking through the pictures and videos on my phone today and came across a total gem that I forgot to post way back in December... From when Logan & I were in New York... I love it and think it captures their relationship so well!!

A New Passing of Time...

Daddy and Logan LOVE to read books... I love to watch them read books:)

Logan Tales: Shots Edition!

Shots are no fun.. I myself hate shots.. Logan must take after his father because this round of shots he literally whimpered during and after the shot in each leg.. BUT we have definitely developed a pattern.. About five hours after shots little man is in PAIN.. Talk about break your heart.. At one point he stopped shrieking looked up at me with those tear stained baby blues and started immediately shrieking again.. I couldn't take it.. I am putting this boy in a bubble because I will NOT have a very hard time dealing with anything that hurts this little man... It also appears that his shots give him a fever that usually starts about 12 hours later.. His is on his third dose of Tylenol since last night to try and keep it down.. Thankfully it hasn't been above 100.5 but I still don't like it.. But I am going to let Logan tell you in his own words how he feels about it... **Some official stats** Weight: 16lbs 9oz (72 percentile) Height: 26 Inches (76 percentile) Head: (Shawn's pretty excited) 16.9cm (68 pecentile!!) **Some other 4 months facts I forgot to share** You are pretty much exclusively in 6 months clothing.. But can still fit in some 3-6... I really hope you stop going up in size because your spring wardrobe is definitely all 6-12 months.. Good thing Nannie and Poppie will be in Florida next month.. That means weekend visits and a hopefully outcome of your spring clothes not being a total waste!! NOW I need to go and give you a surplus of snuggles... I hate the fact of you not feeling good BUT I do love giving myself an excuse of being able to snuggle you 24/7 literally!!

Four Months.. What?!

Four Months old little man FOUR MONTHS!!!.. Where is the time going?!.. You are absolutely the light of our lives (and many other peoples as well!)... This past month was very exciting for you.. You had many "firsts".. You had your first airplane ride.. You did amazing.. I was a little nervous because daddy didn't come with us.. On the way up to New York it was early morning so you basically slept the whole way.. On the way back it was a little bit of a different story.. We had an evening flight and that has come to be your fussy time.. But all in all you were amazing!! You also met your cousins, aunts and uncles on mommy's side for the first time.. Everyone was extremely obsessed with you!! You loved spending time with all of your family but I must say you 100% missed daddy after about two days without him... When we came back the way you looked at him was heart breaking! You could not stop staring, giggling, and smiling at him.. But along with that you did not let your mommy OR daddy out of your sight at all times for about 2 days... While in New York you experienced your first snow!! I only have a picture of you in the car with the snow swirling through the window (sorry).. You had your first Christmas, YOU LOVED IT.. Santa brought you a few gifts because we didn't ask him for much because we didn't think you would really be into it.. Let me tell you what!!.. You studied each package/wrapping paper/present/toy and then would reach for the prize on the inside!! You had your first cold:(.. That really isn't much fun, the nasal saline spray and the nasal aspirator SNOT SUCKER, just isn't a good time!! For the first time ever I had to use diaper rash cream on your tiny hiney!!.. Another first: This is the first time you have finished a Zantac bottle and I haven't had it refilled.. For like two weeks it has been awesome, do you still spit up Yes but for the most part it is not a lot and it doesn't seem to cause you pain.. Now I do have a little fear that you may have to go back on it because the last two days seem to have been rough on your little body and you seem to be back in some pain after a bottle:( You have started the grueling teething process and so far they aren't brutally painful just a little uncomfortable (at least from what I am witnessing).. We are trying to help you with All Natural Teething tablets and a homeopathic gel..

Now for your stats: Weight: 17 pounds even (although we will know exactly on friday) Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers (Daytime): Size 2 Pampers Dry (Night time): Size 3 Bottles: 5 oz every three to four hours Food: Just starting rice cereal at night Sleep: (For the most part) 9:30p.m.-5:00a.m. and then will go back to sleep until we wake you for school Likes: Your Swing, Your new kick and play piano, Your Jumperoo, snuggling with your lovies, Bathy time, Anything with lights or noise, pacis, eating your fists, Teething Tablets, Daddy's beat boxing... Dislikes: The frog on your kick and play mat (You get so mad that you can't get it to your mouth), Not being able to sit up from a lying position, Not being able to stand on your own (slow down little man), The trumpet noise dada makes with his mouth and hands.. You seriously spaz and get so upset when he makes the motion/noise!!, You do not like that fact that Nannie & Poppie are back in the computer and not with you :(, If your hungry you don't know why a bottle is not in your mouth immediately..

We Love you Soooo much and can't even stand the fact that you are growing up so quickly.. We love you with all that we are!!!

Happy 2012...

We can't wait for the new adventures that 2012 will bring us!! Thanks for keeping up with us from learning about baby s to the fun, exciting, new adventures as parents! As we continue to watch our little man grow I know if we blink he is going to be too grown too fast.. Here's to a wonderful 2012!!