monthly mini – logan

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52 project – a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2013 – See more at: http://berlsandco.com/category/52-project#sthash.x5nfEMdp.dpuf

52 project – a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2014

twenty-one months, and oh so on fire! we no longer live with a baby, as this girl is a full blown communicating human at this point. she blows our minds on a daily basis and definitely keeps us on our toes. it’s a good thing she sleeps long and hard, cause she’s crazy bonkers otherwise. i feel like it’s been forever since i’ve written about this girl, or maybe it’s just the amount i have to report on…
– logan recognizes emotions and isn’t shy to call someone out as being happy or sad.
– logan has become bossy and isn’t afraid to tell you to ‘sit down’.
– logan has taken to pretending she’s a puppy and we often find her crawling around the house panting.
– logan’s response to almost any question is ‘ok, sure’. it’s pretty much the most adorable thing ever!
– logan is suddenly obsessed with the cowboy hat her cousins bought for her over the summer at the medicine hat stampede. unfortunately it’s now a tad too small but that doesn’t stop her from wearing it e v e r y w h e r e.
– logan has a few favorite ‘shows’ that are on constant rotation in our home. ‘ticket boy’ (polar express), ‘mike’ (monsters university) and ‘cars’ (cars).
– logan is into smelling everything which she follows up with a fake sneeze and then blesses herself. silly-head!
– logan still loves books and has taken to hoarding them in her teepee for hours. try and join her and she’ll tell you ‘no fit’.
– logan often requests ‘hold you’ when she wants to be cuddle. sure kid! i’ll take it as long as i can.
– logan has broken the silence on withholding her name. primarily to inform you of what’s hers and not to be tampered with.
– logan often gets antsy in the car. i distract her by asking her to look for animals outside. interestingly enough, no matter where we are, she always sees two zebras.
– logan is still gaga over drawing + stickers. although she occasionally takes it off paper, i can’t help but smile when i find a random scribble here and there.
– logan has befriended an electronic kitty named ginger who she chats with daily.
– logan still has no hair and i have n o t  given her a trim!

monthly mini – logan

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52 project – a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2013

there must be something in the air. every mama i turn to on the internet and every mama friend i talk to in real life (thank you jess) seems to be currently bitten by the dreaded bug of overwhelming chaos and all its associated guilt. i’d like to think this crazy time of year has something to do with it and only hope the new year will bring some breathing room along with it. however, i’m currently up against making some decisions that will snatch me away from what little time i have all alone with my baby girl to begin with. my heart’s heavy and compiling the images for this twenty month post laid on the guilt quite thick late last night. this baby is transforming into a little person at lightening speed month-to-month and i don’t want to miss a beat. her vocabulary and personality have left me missing her more when we’re apart and anticipating our time together on a whole new level. she’s growing from my baby into my smallest friend. so while i take the holidays to hash out my thoughts, i’m also signing off from this here space and life’s responsibilities in general. this holiday is for tickling, coloring and eating all of the french fries. in the end, you gotta do what you gotta do, as it really all is for this munchkins best interest. or at least that’s what i keep telling myself to ease the pain (wink).

wishing you all the most happiest holiday!

according to – kim

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we bundled up and left the house sunday morning with two objectives: find a christmas tree and attempt to shoot our little elf for our holiday card. we accomplished both, although it wasn’t easy (wink). this babe is none stop and asking her to sit still is nearly impossible. regardless, we had a wonderful wintery adventure amongst a sea of trees. i’ve said it once and i’ll say it again, this really is the most wonderful time of year and logan adds a whole new level of magic to our days.

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^ if only our ceilings were that much taller ^

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^ enamored by the concept of the snow-globe ^

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^ my north pole ^

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^ we played tug-of-war and had a meltdown over putting this broom back in the general store. grandmom to the rescue. ^

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^ wreaths for days ^

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^ documenting this wild child has become a blur ^

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^ if i had the room i would have taken them all home ^

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^ we sealed our date with a cider doughnut of course ^

according to – kim

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52 project – a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2013

52 project – a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2013 – See more at: http://berlsandco.com/category/52-project#sthash.M1GskyW3.dpuf

as i previously mentioned, without a doubt, i can count on two hands the number of times my guy and i have ventured out completely alone since baby. who is really now a toddler. sad i know. i blame it on several things. first, there’s the guilt associated with leaving logan behind after a week already spent away at work. second, is our own insecurities about hiring an actual babysitter because we often feel like deadbeat parents constantly asking grandparents for help, despite their persistence that they enjoy every chance they get and wouldn’t mind if we packed up and skipped town (for like ever). and i especially cringe when calling my mom, as she’s already spent the majority of her week caring for lo daily during our nine to five. lastly, when the opportunity does arise, it’s super hard to pass on catching up with friends and/or tackling some project that’s way easier to accomplish on our own. and then there’s always the dream of spending what time you’ve got, completely alone and quiet. man, this parenting act requires a lot of juggling!

recently we’ve been running on auto pilot. completely focused on making our threesome flow and completely neglecting our party of two. not good. before things got away from us, we enlisted said grandparents and mandated a formal date, alone. and let me tell you, it was exactly what the doctor ordered! while the undivided attention made us miss our endless days together filled with adult conversation and little to no responsibility, it made us realize just how important it is that we play for the same team and stay connected. and we’ve had a ton of fun. after all, he is my best guy, the ying to my yang. so here’s to setting the best example for logan, ensuring that she views us not only as parents but as one another’s best friend.

as silly as it sounds, we’re committed to this dating game, bi-weekly. and with two already under our belt, i’ve already realized just how much i’ve missed my guy and how a simple night out brings back yet another long lost element of our previous life. at this rate there’s hope that this new version of myself will someday resemble the girl i once knew!

disclaimer: obviously these pictures have nothing to do with the content of this post, as there is no photographic evidence of said date(s). let’s be realistic, that’d be way out of character.

monthly mini – logan

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52 project – a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2013

looking back at my last monthly update, i realize how much this kid has grown. and if i’ve said it once, i’ll say it again…i love this stage in which lo is oozing personality and independence. we sit back + watch her unwind and still look at one another in shock that she belongs to us. she owns our hearts + fortunately for us, we own hers (for now anyway).

says: the list has become too long to type and just this past week lo’s begun to attempt repeating most everything we say. and when she’s not speaking english, this girl is ‘talking’ up a storm. to whom we’re not so sure of, but her attitude, inflection + hand gestures have us in hysterics. we’re enjoying our little conversations + watching her little mind work so hard. a few cute favorites: no, please, thank you, sorry, dirty, outside, slide, shovel, bubble, and some adorable animal noises on command.

signs: although she can say everything she signs, it’s still adorable to see her put the two together. and she often surprises us with new signs we worked on months ago and have since forgotten about.

chomper count: we’re looking at a full mouth of 16 teeth these days, including the pointy vampire ones that are just poking through.

eats: while lo will eat almost anything, meal time has become interesting in our home. it’s best that i ignore + leave the scene. otherwise i’m left with food in my hair + floors to scrub. i will say that meals are a lot less stressful now that lo can eat just about anything and on-the-go. goldfish have saved our lives on many accounts!

obsessed with: the ‘moon’. day + night this kid asks for the moon and if it’s not full she asks for ‘more’.

loves: the stuffed cheetah we bought her at the philly zoo. he’s been named ‘chee’ and we find him by lo’s side more often than not. – chalk + drawing outside. which obviously i’m all for. you can even skip bedtime in our house if you want to draw. – stacking blocks, sorting laundry, arranging toys. you see a pattern here? a girl after my own heart! – gym + art class where the mascot is a ‘puppy’ and you come home with a puppy stamp to show off all day. – the number ‘two’. – ‘george’, the curious kind. – and cats, cause duh!

according to – kim

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52 project – a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2013

i’m fortunate enough to play the role of mama full-time come friday, declaring it our day to take on whatever it is we please. realizing this babe isn’t growing any slower, i’ve made a conscious effort to push aside all those insignificant distractions and get down and dirty. and boy has this summer been good to us!  we’ve given it our all the past couple of months, filling our days with adventures both near and far from home. and most importantly, we’ve learned to chill out and march to the beat of our own drum.

to go out with a bang, we spent this past friday exploring the philadelphia zoo and were lucky enough to have paulie join in the fun. it’s been years since i’ve been, and it proved to be the perfect playground for an energized toddler who refused the stroller and repeatedly asked to touch everything that moved. you’re pretty cute kid! so much so that i think we’ll stick to spending our friday’s packed with spontaneity, as there’s always later to catch up with reality. and to all you stay at home mama’s out there, my hat’s off to you, cause lets not kid ourselves, not every friday is as magical as this past one (wink).

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‘ a portrait of logan, once a week, every week, in 2013 ‘

lo and i took a quick trip to the beach last weekend and i must say it was pretty prefect. it’s crazy how fast these little people change. just two months ago we spent an entire week on the water, and while i have no complaints, lo’s attention span was little to non. i approached this visit with no expectations and was shocked at just how much time we got to spend with our feet in the sand. packing only the necessities i could carry, including the 25lb kid, we spent our entire afternoons building castles and chasing waves. it was only the cool evening air that sent us on our way. it’s these simple adventures that remind me just how lucky we are.

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always collecting more than she can carry. i’m sad to say maybe some of my ocd tendencies have rubbed off.

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definitely a no-fear water baby this summer. her reaction to dunking her head is classic…an initial look of shock followed by some contagious giggles. stay forever summer!

52 a portrait a week