Petting Zoo

I took Logan, Castle and Micah (Logan's best friend), to the petting zoo at Gardner Village. Castle really loved that he could get so close to the animals and touch them. He was fascinated with the animals that had horns.

Logan and Micah enjoyed themselves. It was surreal watching them act like they were too cool to pet the animals. They were really looking forward to the pony ride I promised them before we left. I had to remind them, we were not going to get pony rides until Castle was done visiting the animals. After a little bit they accepted their fate and began to enjoy themselves and interact with the animals.


The finale, The Pony Ride. It lasted only a few minutes but it was a great few minutes. It was Castle's first pony ride. He didn't know exactly what to think about the pony. He had a stoic look on his face during the whole ride. He didn't cry when he got off, so I could not really tell if he would want to do it again.

Castle Conquers the Stairs

Castle has had a very difficult time with the stairs. He is lucky we live in a rambler with the stairwell blocked off with a gate. When he has gone down the two stairs at the front porch, he gets very scared and reaches for the closest hand he can find. I went "underground", as Logan says, to do some laundry. Castle really wanted to join me and he wanted me to carry him. I was a mean mom and wouldn't soit. I knew he could get down the stairs on his own if he would only try. He finally gave in and tried to do it on his own. He did it!! It was so cute, he sure is a stubborn child, he must get that from "Steve".

I think it is funny that he stopped what he was doing to yell at his brother before he continued down the stairs. He cracks me up.

Haircut

In March of this year Logan received his first haircut. Most of you know that was a very big deal for him. We would go places and most people would remember him because of his long curly hair. He often referred to his hair as "big". When asked if he wanted to cut his hair, he would say, "No I like it big.". There were many people who didn't agree with his hair style, such as his pre school teacher. She told me his hair was impeding his learning. When people made statements like that it bought Logan more time with his big hair.

When he started talking about wanting a hair cut and I was ready for it to be cut. I wanted him to have his individuality and in the grand scheme of things letting him have his hair is not a big deal. But keeping his hair groomed was a very difficult task. It is so thick and the curls, while very handsome when brushed, were difficult to take care of. He would wake up in the morning with dreadlocks and I would fight with him to get them brushed out, most of the time he would protest and run away. I do not miss chasing him around the house so we could get ready to go somewhere.
His hair was cut by our friend and neighbor, Kim. She had a hard time cutting it at first and she started with cutting it shoulder length. That was a lot since his hair went down to his bottom when pulled straight. Logan said he wanted to give his hair to another kid who could not grow their own hair. When the hair cut was finished, Logan decided to keep his hair for himself. After the cut his first words, were "Will Papa think I look like a boy now?". He was pretty happy with his decision until he called his dad. While Logan was talking to "Steve" he discovered that his hair would not grow back in a day. This devastated Logan and he cried for a little while. But after that he did not mention that his hair was shorter, but said he was going to grow it "big" again.
Well a few days ago "Steve" went for a walk with Castle and Logan. Logan told "Steve" he needed another hair cut. We waited a few days before mentioning it again and Logan said he did really want his hair cut. He called Kim and made his own appointment. The style he chose was that of another friend and neighbor, Jake. Jake is a hero to most of the neighborhood boys. To a few of the girls he is their first crush. Jake's haircut is much shorter than Logan's initial cut, but he is very happy with it. He has not shed another tear about no longer having "big" hair and we can see his ears and neck for the first time!

The Final Swim Lesson of 2008

Logan's final swim lesson was this week. I am not sure how much he has improved from the first, nine weeks ago, and the last lesson. But he did have a lot of fun. He entertained everyone, teachers and waiting parents. As the video shows the class took place in a small "corner" of the pool and the teacher takes each child across and back. When it is Logan's turn he gets to the opposite end of the pool and argues, negotiates I am not really sure what he is doing every time, but what I am sure of is it takes a few minutes for him to go back to the teacher to get to back to class.

At the end of a session of swim lessons two classes get together and they "race". The kids line up in two lines outside of the pool. When it is their turn they dive in and race to the other end of the pool. This is one of Logan's favorite parts of swimming. He er, dives, okay he belly flops into the pool, swims across and gets out. Another part of the competition is to cheer on your team mates. Logan is typically the loudest, most enthusiastic of the cheer leaders.

I don't know if we will do swim lessons here next year, but we will have to do them somewhere, Logan loves it. I know Castle will enjoy it when he gets his chance.

Castle has his own tradition at swim lessons. He no longer puts his head in the water after the bi-polar woman yelled at me, another story that I can not tell without expletives. He gets to have a bottle of water and a churro. He usually will sit for a while eating and then he seems to get bored of that he tries to put the churro in his water or share it with other waiting toddlers.

He gets excited watching Logan swim. My favorite part of swim lessons, and I assume this is Castle's as well is the very end when the classes jump off of the diving board.

As Logan is jumping off he always yells out a name. It could be, "Four Arms!", "Red Ranger!" or "Jungle Fury Beast Release!". It isn't usually a repeat and it is always with enthusiasm.