The Legend of Lobo

For reasons unknown, Logan has up to now refused to say the words Yes or Logan. The few times he has referred to himself, Logan would say You or sometimes Me or I, but never Logan. Until today!

Janet pointed to me asking who I was and Logan replied Daddy Dude (one of Janet’s pet names for me), and said Mommy when she asked about herself, and when she pointed at him, he replied Logan. Well, it was really more like “Luh”, but we knew what he was trying to say. We immediately exploded in surprised cheers…which he reacted to by asking for some chocolate milk.

Now we are waiting for a Yes. I’m sure we’ll all respond much the same way. It’s funny the things parents get excited about 🙂

Logan is in love. Her name is Nanako, a lovely and self-possessed three-year-old who lives down the hall from us. They have become good friends and play together nearly every day. Temperamentally, she is the near opposite to Logan—she is controlled, quiet, and calm. Although Logan is almost never any of those things, Nanako’s presence shifts him into overdrive. He squeals and runs about like one possessed when she hangs out over at our apartment. He also wants to give her little presents of food or whatever knickknacks he thinks she might be interested in. Sometimes his behavior is clearly annoying to her, especially when we have a movie on and she just wants to watch, but they play together wonderfully.

We are also becoming friends with her parents, Chikako and Mark. They are great neighbors and lovely people. Janet and I feel very confident leaving Logan with them; we know that he is being watched by responsible and caring adults. We frequently trade off looking after the kids, an arrangement that is working very well.

If that wasn’t enough, we have Ruth and Grace as neighbors as well. Grace is a precocious 10-year old and her mother, Ruth, is a professor and graduate student. Janet and I have warm feelings for Grace…she is such a polite and sweet girl. She is also a basketball player on a winning team…last year they won a national championship! Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Grace is only 10 because she’s so tall.

Every now and then Grace comes over to do craft projects with Janet, something I know they both enjoy a great deal. A few times Grace has brought over her friend and teammate Victoria, who we also like. Although Grace clearly enjoys Logan, she is too old to be a playmate in the way Nanako is. Nevertheless, Logan loves seeing her and spending time over at their apartment.

Janet and I are both grateful for these wonderful neighbors. There is something gratifying about being a part of this small clique of parents and children. They are all such fine people and their presence makes all our lives that much richer. Logan obviously feels that same way…every night Logan goes about the apartment saying night night to various objects and movie characters, and he never misses saying goodnight to Na’ko, Gray, and Roo.

Logan is obsessed with vacuums. It started with our normal floor vacuum; whenever I use it, Logan is riveted, even while keeping a safe distance from it. He can see the vacuum from his high chair since we store it in the hallway (we use it far too often to keep it in the closet), and for quite a long time he would point at it and say vah-coom. We also have a hand-vac, and Logan learned quickly that it was the “small vah-coom”. He is so fascinated by the vacuum that he regularly says goodnight to it when he’s ready to go down.

It is clear that the defining feature of the vacuum for Logan is the sound it makes. It didn’t take long for Logan to identify any sound that has a white-noise character as being a vacuum. Whether a leaf-blower, band saw, or any other machine that produces a similar sound, Logan will proclaim Vah-coom! He’s slowly starting to figure out that not every such sound is a vacuum, but his mixture of anxiety and fascination with this object has not waned in the slightest.

Logan has struggled with spoken language, but his vocabulary grows by the day and his comprehension is sometimes eerily precise. The other day I was talking quietly to Ash about my plan to take Logan to the park, and the little dude came tearing out of his bedroom. While racing to the front door he shouted, “Bye, Daddy!” We were amazed not just that he heard me, but that he understood so much, including that I’d be taking him and that Ash would be staying home. Something like this happens almost everyday, and we now have to watch what we say because Logan understands it all. And if it’s related to food or fun, he won’t let us forget! He’ll often remember a conversation for several hours and expect follow-thorough, whether it’s visiting a friend or having a special treat.

He comprehends far more than he vocalizes, so it can be frustrating for us that his speech is still so rudimentary. But it also can be quite entertaining. For example, Logan has a funny habit of transposing consonant sounds. Our current favorite is his treatment of root beer—or as Logan calls it, re-boot. (Daddy’s amber bottles are irresistible, and I’m ashamed to admit we sometimes give him a sip or two). He also likes to shorten words so they have as few syllables as possible. Failing that, dropping the final consonant is a good second strategy. It’s a very economical system, a kind of verbal shorthand, but his meaning isn’t always clear. After much puzzlement, Ash and I have learned the meanings of pee-bo (peanut butter), cha-moke (chocolate milk), Toe-toe (Totoro), and Woo-ee (Woody from “Toy Story”). We also have saucy (sausage patty), toe (potato), shi-shi (Sleep Sheep, his bedtime toy), and many others.

Logan has recently learned to form more sounds correctly and to articulate final consonants more often. He’s now pronouncing “truck,” “sock,” and similar words perfectly. And he’s including more syllables in words, so kee has finally evolved into cookie while bee has become baby. For the longest time he called his best pal Koko, so we were delighted when he suddenly started to say her full name, Nanako. It’s always right about the time we stop expecting changes that he leaps ahead. I’m noting these developments to track his progress, but also to remember his endearing Loganese. Most of it will disappear forever, but some of these words will probably stay in our family lexicon. “Hey Daddy, more re-boot please!”

Logan is just a few months older than his cousin Adam, and if Logan had been born on schedule their birthdays would be only a few weeks apart. Adam lives in Romania with my brother and sister-in-law, Joel and Claudia, so it’s a real treat for us to see them at Christmastime. We’ve all been looking forward to watching the boys play and explore together.

Ash and I got our chance to know Adam better when Joel and Claudia left for a holiday getaway and we stayed with the the little guys in San Antonio. The boys have very different personality and skills, so there was a lot to learn from one another.  They played with trains, balls, and musical instruments.  But their favorite activities were definitely electronic, and about the only time the two of them slowed down was when they were pushing buttons.  Caring for two energetic toddlers can be quite exhausting, so we enjoyed these moments of quiet and stillness. I suffered a few twinges of guilt while they were plugged into the Matrix, but I was too tired to take away their pleasure.

Adam showed Logan his phone loaded with fun videos, and Logan taught Adam to use our iPad. Adam is a natural! Now he’ll go home and show his parents how he’s mastered Logan’s favorite noisy game, “Monkey Preschool Lunchbox.” If he’s like Logan, he’ll play it over and over. And over. I’m sure his parents will enjoy that!

Logan has always seemed to enjoy music, but lately he’s really taken it up a notch. He absolutely loves to drum and he’ll bang away on almost anything that makes a sound he likes. And he really goes to town…he wails! A few weeks back, he was visiting our neighbor’s apartment and discovered a snare drum. The mom, Ruth, had gotten it for her 10-year-old daughter, Grace. However, Grace didn’t take to it and it just collected dust. He fell in love with it and would even cry out “Drum! Drum!” whenever we passed by their apartment. Ruth and Grace thought it best that he have it, so now it sits on our floor. Although Logan’s passion for that particular drum has faded, he will still enjoy banging on it on occasion.

Logan has also started playing more with his piano. The batteries died a while back, and he would still bang away on it as if it were still playing music. I put in fresh batteries and now he’s over the moon. And he often sings along with his “music”. Sometimes he’s clearly trying to sing the alphabet song and other times it’s just a string of babble. But it’s always hilarious. It’s especially impressive when he wants to play the piano and a drum at the same time.

We don’t know where he gets this, since neither of his parents are musically inclined. Whatever it is, it’s just natural to Logan. I can’t wait to see if it turns into something more serious as he gets older. I regret never learning to play an instrument (other than brief guitar lessons when I was about 10) so I want him to learn to play something. And at this point, I would not be surprised one bit if he picked the drums.

Logan has started to organize things. He loves to line things up, to stack various objects, and to gather toys into various collections. He will let his designs stay for a while and then gleefully knock everything to the floor, clearly reveling in the chaos. Logan is becoming a funny kind of engineer.

Logan is doing very well this Autumn. Yes, he has started to throw tantrums more often, but they are generally not too severe, and we’ve devised strategies for reducing them. Taking his beloved blankie on outings is key. Although Logan’s fits of pique are never fun, they are a small price to pay for everything that is so wonderful about him.

More than ever, Logan is industrious. Except when he’s really tired, Logan always has some project he’s working on. Lately, his projects usually have something to do with sorting or stacking his toys. He loves to line up all his vehicles, and often he’ll try to count them (he can accurately count up to four). All this activity usually results in a gigantic mess, but he has gotten much better at helping us clean up.

Logan is addicted to Janet’s iPad and especially loves playing Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, which he calls Pee-skoo! The game involves several kinds of puzzles, which he has pretty much mastered at this point. Because of that, boredom with the game is creeping in and he’s taken to closing the app and opening random apps to see what looks like fun. He is especially pleased when he manages to open the app that shows kids videos on YouTube.

He is also starting to get adjectives. Right now everything is big…big truck, big train, big whatever. Yesterday he did something hilarious by running back and forth between the handvac and the floor vacuum and saying little va-koom and big va-koom! He’s got all the colors down, and he understands when something is high up. It’s fun watching his language become more sophisticated.

Music is also starting to creep into his play. He knows the word song and will “sing” along with drumming. Oh, yes, Logan is a drummer—he loves to bang on anything that will make a rhythm. We can see a drum set in his near future (and more aspirin for us).

And Logan is as hilarious as ever. He loves to laugh, and he makes us chuckle every day. He is quickly growing up to be a happy, adventurous, curious, and very willful child.

This is Logan’s third Halloween, but being 2 years old he still has no clue about it. Still, we had a great time carving pumpkins, buying seasonal accoutrements, and handing out candy to the brave few who knocked on our door. We tried to take Logan trick or treating with a few of our neighbors, but he only got to one apartment. He ran into Ruth and Grace’s apartment and found a drum and started gleefully playing it. When we tried to ply him away from it, he went into full tantrum mode. Even after we brought him back to calm down, even going near the door resulted in a cry of “Drum! Drum!”. So, no trick or treating for Logan this year. But we are confident that next year he’ll get it and have a great time.

Logan had his two-year medical check up today. According to the doctor, he’s fit as a fiddle. He is just above 28 pounds which is light on him, but nevertheless puts him at the 50% mark for average weight. He has also climbed above three feet! At 36 1/8 inches, he is in the 90-97th percentile…Logan is one tall kid. Other than that, no news is good news.

Just for fun, we all took a trip to a couple of local pumpkin patches today. Although it started out cloudy, the morning quickly turned into a beautiful Autumn afternoon. I love this time of year and have always enjoyed Halloween, so it’s a surprise that I’ve never done this before…and I probably wouldn’t have today if it weren’t for wanting Logan to have this experience.

The first place was a genuine pumpkin patch. It was really just a big field of pumpkins with a few Fall-related things out front, like hay bales and silly scarecrows. But the coolest thing was an ancient pickup trust rusting out in the field. Logan loved banging on it like a drum and we got some great pictures of it, too.

The second place was entirely different. It was more of a seasonal amusement park, with train rides, ponies, inflatable slides, and all kinds of fun stuff. While Janet and I appreciated the “purity” of the first patch, Logan had a ball here. Of course Logan doesn’t understand Halloween yet, but he is at a point where he can have fun exploring his environment and trying new things.

Big changes in the last couple of months. The most noticeable has been his speech…for a long time he was speaking about 20 intelligible words and out of nowhere his vocabulary exploded. I recorded all his words and he added about 100 words in three weeks! He has slowed down again, but he still will add new words at a regular pace. Some of his words are funny, too—like gravel and pole. His 100th word was light. And he speaks so emphatically. He yells, squeals, and screeches his words. It’s hard not to get caught up in his excitement.

And right on schedule, Logan has also started two word combos, like “bye-bye Mommy” and “blue truck.” Even though this is a good sign that he’s developing in the right direction, there’s no doubt that his speech is significantly delayed. He’s speaking like a 17-month old kid, not one that is 24 months. At the same time, his language comprehension is excellent…he understands a great deal of what we say. We are both confident that he will eventually catch up, just like he has in all the other areas that started out behind.

Logan’s newest obsession is with this set of 4-inch monster trucks that Mommy got for him. He carries one or more with him nearly at all times. He even sleeps with them. They get piled and stacked and arranged in various formations. He frequently comes up to one us with one in hand, shrieking “TRUCK!” These little toys have rapidly entered the pantheon of Logan’s Favorite Things.

It’s amazing how fast Logan has been developing in the last 10 days or so. Just today I saw him make another small leap…for several weeks he has been very good at pointing to various parts of my face on command, even eyebrows and forehead. However, he was unable to point to his own face to identify parts. Tonight in the tub he pointed to my nose and then spontaneously pointed to his own. He was then able to do the same with all the other parts. It was a pleasant surprise! It’s a sign that he is continuing to individuate.

Although Logan has been interested in letters of the alphabet for a while now, he is starting to learn more and even articulate some of them. He can identify most of the letters now and can articulate about half of them…even Q, which was surprising to hear him say. He now will take the magnetic letters off of the fridge and collect them in the living room or in his bedroom where he’ll play around with them joyfully. Janet noticed that he seems to get a lot of satisfaction out of playing with the letters because he gets positive feedback from us and he realizes that he’s “getting it”.

For a long time Logan’s development has been all about physicality. He now has exceptional fine motor skills and can run as well as some 3 and 4 year olds. During this time, his cognitive development took a back seat and so we didn’t see much progress with language. This has been frustrating because on a normal timeline he should be talking in short sentences by now. Obviously that’s just not how Logan decided to grow, but now he’s starting to catch up on the language and conceptual side with a speedy vengeance.