Let it Snow

We are back from East Alton and I say, "Let it Snow!" Tomorrow is the first of December and it's nice to see the white stuff on the ground. I took Logan outside along with the kitties, and all three of them seemed to want to come back inside right away. It feels nice and cozy in our house, so I was glad to accomodate. Anyway, still feeling grateful for all the good things in life, even though I've been a bit sick the past few days. Well, I think that's all.

Getting Dressed

Logan no longer seems to enjoy getting dressed and getting a new diaper. I hadn't wanted to blog about it before in fear of giving power to the naughty new habit, but alas, I have to face the music. He is a fussy baby on the changing table. It makes that all too frequent time much more of a chore for us and I imagine him. I suppose it's because Logan doesn't want to take time out from his exploring, or that Logan just doesn't like being on his back anymore. Whatever it is, we hear Logan crying and fussing a lot more than we did. Especially so when he is overly tired. Then my kisses on his chest and the goofy faces we make at him have no effect, and he cries his little heart out. The moment we're finished, he's ok again. Ahhh, the mysterious wonderful world of a child.

Daddy is "Officially" a Novelist

I won Nanowrimo 2008!!! I wrote a 50,222 word novel in the month of November. Yeah, Me! I couldn't have done it without the help from my beautiful and inspiring wife, Carly, and my wonderful, non-napper at Thanksgiving little boy, Logan. It feels really good to have used my time at home in a productive way...you know, in addition to rearing my child and all. Writing this novel has not been easy. However, it hasn't been that hard either. I've learned that in life, simple persistance and stubborness can get you pretty damn far. It allowed my to finish an Ironman, and now, it has allowed me to write a book, it worked out to 1,666 words a day, which isn't that hard and doesn't take too long. Sure, the book is most likely a load of junk, but it's my junk and guess what...now I get the chance to revise and edit and make the junk into something that resembles a publishable manuscript. And who knows what's next? Anyway, I'm on a writer's high right now and could keep blabbing on indefinitely in this blog post, but to spare all of you readers out there, I think I'll end now. We're driving to East Alton this weekend. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading!

Forrest Gump in the House

First off, Happy Thanksgiving everybody! We are thankful and grateful for our little boy, Logan, our family and friends, and all the blessings in our life. We have so much and feel so thankful.

I thought a light-hearted blog would be appropriate today. Logan is doing a good Forrest Gump imitation. For the past two days, he has been, well, sort of rhythmically grunting so to speak. You know that scene in Forrest Gump where Forrest's Mom will do anything to help out her boy...Forrest imitates the noise he heard from the...um...bedroom. Well, those are the exact noises that Logan has been making. It's interesting to say the least. We've been trying to discourage the noise, but to no avail. Anyway, I'm thankful for this blog too because I get to share and record all these silly little things that Logan does.

Enjoy today everybody.

Trace Amounts of Melamine

Carly and I were watching the news last night and what do we see: Logan's brand of formula, Enfamil Lipil, is in the news for containing a scary chemical. Trace amounts of melamine were found in the formula by the FDA. Melamine is the same chemical that was criminally used in China to boost the protein of infant formula; it was making infants sick, causing kidney damage and failure, even killing some children.

We were pretty upset and immediately went to the Internet to find out more information...we were not happy with the teaser that the scary news media gave us in the middle of the Dancing with the Stars finale. Anyway, after much googling, it turns out that this is something not to worry about too much, but still, it's not really acceptable and very frustrating.

I don't have the figures in front of me, but the melamine found was something like 10,000 times less than the melamine in Chinese formula...likewise, they gave some sort of analogy saying it was a drop of chemical in something like a whole truckload of liquid or something. I don't mean to be reactionary or anything, and I understand that we live in a world where risks are everywhere, but is it too much to ask that we do everything we can to attempt to protect the most innocent? After the Chinese problem was encountered, the FDA stance was that no melamine was acceptable...after quietly investigating American formula, they may be backtracking saying some parts per million are ok. They blame this contamination on the cleaning of the machinery or packaging or something because this level of melamine would do nothing to make the formula more protein rich. Anyway, the whole situation is scary and raises a lot of concerns for me and my family.

In case you didn't know, Carly and I have been vegetarians for the past 6 years or so now. Sure, I enjoy the occasional package of beef jerky now and then, and Carly did crave KFC during her pregnancy, but for the most part, we live on a plant based diet. Part of why we don't eat meat is because we don't like how industry mechanizes the whole process. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that we are more efficient and enjoy the many products of industrialization. But something has gone too far when we are so removed from the processing of our food. I'm not always confident that the organic, natural foods movement is the way to go, but I do think there needs to be more awareness and transparency in how our food gets to our tables.

Here's my dirty little secret...I had actually been buying the Target brand formula more than the Enfamil Lipil. It was over half the price less than the Enfamil, and as far as nutrition, it is identical. I'm telling you this, because we tried to figure out if the Target brand was affected by the melamine chemical. After some pretty intense sleuthing on the web, I managed to find out that the Target brand was made in a factory in Georgia. They had a nice website...and had been making formula for over 40 years. Encouraging, but I have a hard time trusting. It was challenging to find out where my baby's formula was made. Should it have been? Should I have done this before I gave it to him? Probably. But the whole food processing mechanism is also to blame I think. We don't have to think about where our stuff is coming from if we don't choose to.

I want to have some land, grow my garden, have a few goats that munch my lawn, and make goat cheese. It would be nice if my neighbors had chickens, and I could swap my goat milk for eggs. Maybe to some, this sounds backwards. To me, it sounds so forward thinking that it may even be revolutionary.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. The fact is, we thought that formula was ok for Logan now. It is, but not as ok as we thought it was. We're sticking with the Target brand, but every time we make up a bottle, a little gnat of worry is buzzing around in our brains. No wonder people freak out all the time. This human world can be a scary place.

The Movin' on Blues

That was the title of a song that was in the Electric Sunshine Man, a play in which I played Thomas Edison. Sure, it was nearly 20 years ago, but I remember the lyrics...crazy. Anyway, those words were going through my head because Logan is really on the move.

For example, I was making my picks for the Pro-football, fantasy pick-em league I am in. It doesn't take long because I pretty much randomnly just choose winners, but anyway, I noticed that Logan was crawling his way down the hall to the bedroom. I planned on grabbing him as soon as I was finished...and when I did, I walked into the bedroom only to find Logan missing. Strange...I looked down the other hallway, and Logan is in the guest bedroom...attempting to stand up to grab a vase. And so it begins...my ability to do things on the computer while Logan wobbles on his back is no longer an option. If I want to write or blog or simply surf the web, I'm going to have to either put him in some sort of baby contraption, or not do it. I'm not the greatest multitasker so I have a hard time paying attention to Logan and playing on the computer at the same time. Like right now for instance, he's been emptying a box filled with cords and miscellany and I haven't been paying attention. Gotta go.

Up, Up, and Away!

Logan has been standing all day long...here's an example.
He has also been falling a lot today...I wonder why?


It has been a day of bumps and bruises, but in the immortal words of Mickey the trainer from the Rocky movies, "Get up you sonovuabitch, cause Daddy loves ya!" That's what Logan has been doing...getting up after a fall.

All Play and No Naps Makes Logan a Tired Boy

Carly, Logan, and I went to visit my parents today. They were kind enough to watch Logan while Carly and I saw a matinee of Twilight, which was good by the way. We had really low expectations for it and were pleasantly surprised. Anyway, Logan didn't really nap well today. Two shorties of about 30 minutes. By 5:00 his little eyes were so red and tired. He snoozed on the car ride home and went down to bed after a quick bath. It was just so cute to see him that tired.

He has been standing up like a pro...he did it at least 3 or 4 times at my parents' house, so it's no longer a fluke. This kid is going to be walking in a month...mark my words.

Logan Stands

Logan did the most marvelous thing a few minutes ago. He stood up!!! He was kneeling against a huggies box, and then he just stood up. Carly and I both witnessed it. Fantastic. We're so proud of our little guy.

Extra Extra Extra...

Last night Logan slept for an initial five hour stretch, then a six hour stretch. This is major awesome sleepy stuff going on and Carly and I are very happy about it.

Also, we just bought Logan a new carseat on Target.com. We got a Britax, pretty expensive, $199, but according to reviews, most likely worth it. I s'pose it's an early Christmas present. I'm not sure if we have to buy a base for the other car, or if we simply have to move this one from car to car. Anyway, don't have too much going on this weekend. Carly's headed to Girl Interrupted, a play at her school tonight, so Logan and I get to have a guy's night out. We might hit the clubs, ya know. Dance till the sun rises...something like that. Or maybe we'll go to bed at 7:30 and do Nanowrimo. I'm up to 35,000 words. Only 15,000 to go. I want it to end. My novel is a bunch of crap. Ok. Maybe not all crap, but at least 85% crap. I guess it's cool that I'm getting so close to finishing, but right now I sort of want it to be over.

Extra, Extra...

Logan sleeps for a record, seven hours straight!!! Logan slept from 7:00 to 2:00 last night...a whopping seven hour stretch. Now granted, Carly and I didn't go to sleep until close to midnight, so that seven hours felt like two sleeping hours, but beggars can't be choosers. Not only did he sleep for that long initially, but he also went back down relatively easy. Ok. Not exactly, but almost. I gave him a five ounce bottle and put him down to sleep at 2:15. But after being quiet for fifteen minutes, he decided to wake up and cry. We did our best to ignore him for awhile, but Carly eventually went in and got him to sleep around 3:00. He slept from 3:00 to 7:45 this morning when the garbage truck went by the other side of the street. This was a fortuitous waking schedule, because I realized that I hadn't yet emptied the cat litter boxes. I was living life on the edge, but I thought that I'd be able to get them emptied before the garbage truck came to our side of the street. So, with baby in tow I frantically scooped out cat pee, and dug for those special cat nuggets amongst the cat's three litter boxes. I managed to get it done, and stop to turn the fish tank light on as well as feed them. I emerged upstairs to see the garbage still at the end of the driveway. Logan and I braved the cold for a few moments and dropped the cat refuse off literally as the garbage truck was pulling in front of my next door neighbor's garbage. To say the least, it was a perfectly thrilling and mundane morning. These are the moments when I realize I live a blessed life. I'm overflowing with gratitude at the universe and hope the rest of my day falls in place as well as this morning.

Logan's Many Faces

Call him "The Mouth"

Logan is putting everything in his mouth. So far today he's had the following in his mouth: styrofoam from the packaging of a picture frame, a lint ball of string, leaves from an umbrella plant (which we don't know whether it's poisonous), the stem of a pumpkin, a plastic phone charger, a picnic basket, my leather moccasins, a spinach leaf, assorted strands of carpet, and all sorts of approved baby toys. Needless to say, I have to be vigilant in watching him.

I was dusting the bookshelf in the bedroom and cleaning when I discovered the styrofoam in his mouth. Everything ends up there because Logan is a curious boy. His mouth is the primary way he learns about things right now. Anyway, I know how to do CPR, but I'm seriously considering taking a refresher course.

Tired

Logan ate 8 ounces tonight before bed. That is the most he has ever eaten at a single sitting. I'm tired. So is Carly. We're going to bed. G'night.

Baby Post

Thought I'd give Logan another chance to do a blog entry. Here he goes...
8y77u8bpm7h j y xsdejmbn gvvvvvyc cdgfvbhnb gfcgtfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
bf hbg nui9hgy[=tgvhhhhhjujhn nec e 2rf4erdfzvhb`1ew2,m yrfgbftu yk,.tgfhhhhhnbgvj cf byt egfawr 68 yQ3Sgjyfvg 8v5bcbn dsvy7v

It's amazing how much can happen when a seven month old bashes the computer keys. He managed to open a new program, open up the "find" feature, and navigate to another page. Crazy. Anyway, Logan is crawling towards the electrical cords, so I should end this post. How was the video yesterday?

First Video Post

Logan has had an exciting day. First, he's crawling more "traditionally." I embedded the video. Also, he experienced snow for the first time. And last but not least, he has a new trick of pulling himself up on furniture. Totally exciting stuff.

Logan Shows Off

Logan has been a good boy for Grammy & Grampy. He didn't fuss too much and was his happy and smiley self.

He slept well last night too. From 10:00 to 12:30, then from 12:30 to 5:00, then from 5:00 to 8:15. Not too shabby. This past week he has been sleeping in longer stretches, so I thinked we've finally turned a corner.

Today we're headed off to Jackie's wedding. I feel bad not bringing him considering there will be tons of lil' kiddies at the wedding, but since both Carly and I are standing up, it's just a lot easier having the grandparents watch him. Plus, they get to have fun and spoil him, so it works out for everybody. Well, I have to start getting ready...until tomorrow.

McScreamy

Carly and I watch Grey's Anatomy every once in a while, (if you don't watch it, there are characters with nicknames, McDreamy, McSteamy, etc) and if Logan was on the show, I think his nickname would be McScreamy. Logan has discovered he has the ability to make this cute, yet terribly annoying little scream. He's done it quite a bit today. In the car I hear...ehhhhhhhahhhhhahhhh. Holding him I hear... ehhhhhhahhhhahahhhhehehhh. Before naptime, well you get the picture. It's more cute that annoying but I s'pose it depends on the context. Today at Jewell, Logan thought it would be fun to scream, and it got old fairly quickly. Anyway, Carly and I have the rehearsal dinner for my sister's wedding tonight. Carly's parents should be here soon, and they are going to watch our lil' guy. I hope he's good for them.

Logan's Grand Adventure

Logan has been the bestest boy ever today. I had a lot of things to do and Logan came along for the ride. I had to drive to the Men's Wearhouse in Geneva to pick up my tuxedo for Jackie's wedding. Logan slept on the way down there, and entertained himself quietly on the way back. Then I ran some errands and had lunch with Josh at China Buffet. Logan did try to grab a hot potato off my plate, but other than that, he was good there too. It's challenging filling up your buffet plate with baby in tow. Logan and I went home for a quick bottle and change, then we went to Brooks Elementary school. I had to take some photographs for my internship of DeKalb high school students working with the lil' preschoolers. Those kids were pretty cute, and Logan loved it. He can't wait to go to preschool. Logan was an angel during all of this, and he easily drifted off to sleep when we got back home. It's been a grand adventure for my boy today. He deserves the nap.

Recurring Phantom Baby Dream

Last night I had the dream again. I calmly, yet frantically search for my child amongst blankets and pillows. I know he is there, but for some reason he eludes my grasp. I see him in my mind's eye: Logan is buried under blankets and pillows and needs my help.

I've had this dream over ten times in the past seven months. It's become comic in a way. Because not only do I have the dream, but I also enact the dream. Last night, I was bent over the side of the bed grasping out at the pillows on the ground, pushing them aside, and just knowing Logan was down there. Carly, well aware of the dream, told me "Logan's not there, you're dreamin' Eric," and I proceeded to argue with her a bit. Usually, I snap myself out of it and a dull awareness of "ohhhh, that's why I couldn't find him...because he's not here..." sort of thing happens. And normally I keep it within the bed, pulling up at the comforter a few times pawing for my child.

Maybe it was such an intense dream last night because Logan was a shrieking banshee and my rest was interrupted frequently. He slept for a good three hours initially, but then decided he wasn't tired for the rest of the night. We cracked a few times, but then again, Logan's little voice is hoarse from crying, so nobody was a winner. Anyway, I ignored him until 9:00 this morning, so he caught up on some sleep, but really he was awful last night. We've gotten into a pattern though the past four days. If the pattern holds, he'll sleep from 1:30 to 7:30 tonight. Let's hope. And let's hope not to have the recurring phantom baby dream anytime soon again.

Mum & Dad Swim

Logan was a lucky boy today and got to go to swim class with both mom and dad. This is the third class we've taken and he's really been enjoying it. Here's a sweet photograph of us chillin' in the pool. And good news, Logan slept from 1:30 to 7:00 last night. Sweet.

Monday with Mommy

Logan and I haven't done much together today. Mommy has the day off, as well as tomorrow, and she's been hangin' with him most of the day. She took Logan shopping and has been doing laundry with him. She fed him and changed his diaper, and right now she's brushing his two teeth. Logan didn't sleep well last night, nor has he napped well today, so our little wondrous night of 6 hours of sleep was a fluke. He's been quiet and a bit sullen for the past hour, so maybe he'll go down for a good long stretch tonight. Well, I don't have too much to write about tonight. It sure is nice having Mommy around.

Logan's Miraculous Night

Logan slept from 1:30 in the morning to 7:15...a miracle. We got nearly a six hour stretch of sleep. It was an amazing dream filled morning. I got up with him when he did wake up, and we hung out till about 9:00, letting Mommy enjoy her weekend beauty rest.

I'm not sure why he slept so well, but hopefully we've turned an invisible corner. Anyway, we're headed to my parents to watch the Bears game. Logan's all decked out in his blue and orange, ready to go.

Logan's Scream

So moments ago, Carly put Logan down for the night. Minutes later, he let out a blood curdling scream that sounded nothing like we've ever heard from him. Carly freaked out and demanded, "go get him." Think worried Terminator. The tone of her voice and the strange scream jolted me from my normal calm level-headedness, and a jolt of fear coursed through me. I quickly opened the door to Logan's room and immediately knew what the problem was. Logan had taken a big stinky dump. His scream of terror was a poopoo scream. Relieved, I gladly changed his diaper and put him back to sleep. He seemed happy and content to have the poopoo monster out of his bowels. Just an event out of the ordinary here, so I felt the need to share.

A Perfect Gentleman

Mommy, Logan and I took an evening adventure to Walgreens, Farm & Fleet, Borders, and Sullivans. We left around Logan's usual witching hour, and hoped that he wasn't going to get fussy. He didn't. Logan was the perfect gentleman during our shopping trip. He chilled out in his car seat, took in all the toys at Farm & Fleet, giggled when we made funny faces at him, and made babbling noises in the car much to our entertainment. It was a nice time, especially so because I've felt a bit cooped up in the house today. This whole getting dark at 5:00 thing is pretty brutal. And now that the weather has changed to cold, yeah, I'm missing summer. I think if I wasn't aware of it, I could easily be affected by SADD. It's such a bummer when the sun goes down so soon and the cold wind blows. It's relative though, I guess. We get up early, so we see quite a bit of sun, and if you're brave, you can tough out the cold. Well, enough for today. I need to write my words for Nanowrimo.

Yokel in a Bumpo

I'm posting this picture of Logan in his new Bumpo. It's a great little invention to help babies sit up by themselves. Thanks to Jackie and Grandma for finding this little treasure at a garage sale. Logan's two bottom teeth are obviously present in this picture and it looks as if he come from the Appalachian mountains (no offense to those actually from Appalachia.) Anyway, I've felt like a bad dad today because I've ignored lots of Logan cries. He did not want to nap today and it was truly annoying.

Drawn to Danger

Logan seems attracted to everything that can be potentially dangerous to him. He likes to get into everything that he shouldn't. Right now in fact, he's crawling on the ground and instead of playing with all the gagillions of toys around him, he's decided to chew on my running shoes and eat the dirty shoelaces. Why? Seriously, it seems like he is drawn to danger. He enjoys pulling on and chewing electrical cords, any small object like a paper clip, leaf, or plastic wrapper goes immediately into his mouth, and he especially likes to crawl near hard objects and then proceed to teeter dangerously, flirting with hitting his head. He's got free range of the whole room to attempt to sit up in, but he decides to do so right near the edge of the carpet so if he falls he knocks his head on the new hardwood bamboo floor. It's an uncanny ability to find danger in the most innoucous of circumstances, but it seems instinctual for him. Logan enjoys not only putting himself into danger, but also endangering our most expensive of possessions. Right now he's attempting to pull the digital camcorder off the basket. Unbelievable. He also likes slobbering on the remote control, and whenever the camera is out, be prepared to wipe your lenses if you get too close.

I'm not complaining about these traits because I possessed them too, and still do. However, I sort of was hopong that they would skip a generation and I would have a docile, easy-going little boy. Not so. Well, gotta run. He's got the web cam and is banging it on the ground. By the way, he is seven months old today.

Logan Sleeps Through Defining Moment in History

As Logan slumbered away, America elected Barack Obama for President. Logan woke up crying because he missed it. (Yeah, that was the reason why). As his Dad and Mom comforted him back to sleep, they sighed in relief, knowing that the future looks a little brighter for their bouncing baby boy. The country has already changed drastically, and we can't wait to see when the real work begins. Our future belongs to our children, and the time is now to make that future a better one. I think we have a leader in Obama that can help guide us towards that brightness and appeal to our better angels. I know that I'm inspired to do my part. Are you?

Logan Bruised Daddy's Ego

Last night was another doozy in the Hill household. For the first time in a long time, Carly decided to turn in early and ended up going to sleep around 8:30. Logan was down and out by 7:30 and we expected him to initially sleep(hopefully)for around four hours like he did the night before. No sir. Not our boy. He awoke after two hours and woke his poor mom up at 9:30. I was just turning in myself, and so I got a bottle ready pronto and went in to the lil' demon's room.

Logan made it clear immediately that Daddy was not who he wanted. Did that stop me from trying? No. Hysterical, mind-curdling screeches and thrashing, clawing little hands thwarted all my attempts to soothe him. He was my own private nightmare. It was like trying to soothe a wild bobcat or something. Add to the fact that he's still a bit sick and snotty and I had no shirt on. My hairy chest in all its glory was soaked in snot and drool. Well, Carly obviously came into the room, but I still was determined to win this battle and at least get him to calm down. I did, but he wanted none of what I had to offer in terms of the bottle, so eventually I gave him to Carly. Within two seconds flat he was as quiet and docile as a mouse. Ouch.

Don't worry, Logan woke up in two hours again so I had more chances. And two hours after that too. It wasn't as bad as the first time, but it wasn't pretty either. At 3:30 he seemed awake and wired. I got him to take about 3 ounces, but he still seemed wide awake. I put him down and he cried on and off until 4:15. He woke up this morning three hours later at 7:15.

When will the madness stop?

Salmon, Applesauce, and Peach Cobbler

Just moments ago, I attempted to feed Logan salmon, again. Nearly every food he's tried, he didn't like at first. Salmon was no exception. This friday I grilled up some wild sockeye salmon, and Carly food processed some of it to feed to Logan. He gagged even more violently than he did with sweet peas. No biggie, we thought. We'll just mix it with bananas, and he'll eat it eventually. Today, I thought I'd try the fish again. Even mixed with sweet stuff, he wasn't having it. I imagine its the texture, or maybe it's the fact that it's fish. Whatever the case, he immediately began crying and wouldn't swallow. He holds the food in his mouth and gave me the most pathetic look. He doesn't seem to understand that he can spit food out yet. That's probably a good thing. So I took the spoon and did a reverse feeding, and cleaned him up and vowed not to try salmon again...at least for a long while.

Rookie Gains Over 100 Yards

Logan is doing a darn good impression of Matt Forte, Bears running back phenom who gained over a 100 yards today. When attempting to tackle Logan, he shrugged me off and I crumpled to the ground like a rag doll. Logan then stood up, pulled himself onto the couch, leaped up to the ceiling fan, grabbed a hold of it and swung himself through the window, breaking it with his little football socks. Logan said his first sentence then, "I'm going to 7-11 for a slurpy, be back soon Mom and Dad." It's been a day of firsts for our little rookie running back baby. Crazy what these kids can do nowadays.

Our Lil' Monster

Here I am showing off the "crotch hold." Ain't Logan adorable?

Halloweenie

I'm starting nanowrimo now so this post, even though it's a day late, will only involve a picture. Our costumes were, Mummy, Deady, and Monster. Enjoy.