Eric & Carly

I was trying to get Logan to say my name, Eric, and it came out as "Egg-yolk." When asked to say his Mommy's name, "Carly," Logan said "Car-row." It was just so darn cute and blog-worthy that I had to post a lil' entry. Maybe I'll even post the video of it.

We're off to brave the roads headed down to E. Alton for a Koprivica visit. "Egg-yolk" signing off.

Christmas Crabbies

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Logan spent his latest night out ever last night at the Hills' house for Christmas Eve. He had a blast running around with his cousins until he clobbered Kaleb and got a time-out. Everyone thought it was hilarious how he was facing the corner at the end of the hall, crying. I guess it works in his favor that even when Logan is in trouble he's entertaining. He was particularly fond of Isabel, Jackie's new baby. He kept climbing up on the lap of whomever was holding the baby and pointing at the little bundle, smiling and saying "baby-o!"

Unfortunately, Logan started sneezing like a maniac later in the evening, and what we hoped might be an allergic reaction to the dogs or the relatives (ha!) ended up being a pretty yucky cold. We finally left the Hills' around 11:00 in the rain, and Logan soon was snoring in the back. He made up for his quick sleep in the car by waking up shrieking three times in the night. He felt pretty miserable, poor guy, but I rubbed some of the natural Vick's stuff Auntie Christine gave us, and that seemed to help. Nevertheless, he woke up around 9:30 pretty crabby, but we ate a small breakfast and then opened presents, and that helped raise his spirits. We got some pretty good video of him opening his toys--he particularly liked his hot wheels and keyboard. We bought him a little karaoke mic, too, but he hasn't quite found his voice for it yet. :)

We spent the rest of the day lazing around, napping and such. After his nap, he got down to The Fugees--pretty funny, and now we're getting ready to get his bee-don (blankie) and cuddle on the couch some more on this rainy, cold Christmas Day.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Santa is Coming!

So, my friend Barb bought this really cute Christmas book for Logan. Every time you open a page, it plays a little Christmas song or makes a jingle bell noise or a "ho, ho, ho." Logan bobs his head to the beat of the music and quickly closes and opens the page again to hear the little ditty one more time. Now, I'm not bananas about Christmas, so we haven't taken Logan to see Santa at this point, nor have I explained the whole Santa tale, but he learned Santa's name and the sounds he makes through this little book. It's pretty cute. You ask, "Hey, Logan, how does Santa go?" and Logan replies, "ho, ho, ho," then giggles.
Logan also got a cool little coloring tablet that plays music. When you color on the paper, it can sense how quickly you're coloring, and it causes the pace of the music to quicken. It's pretty funny to see Logan sitting in the floor, listening to the music and bobbing his head while scribbling colors everywhere.
On a completely unrelated note, the Hill family got the swine flu vaccine tonight. Logan and I took it like a champ, but Eric's arm still hurts. Maybe his nurse had a lousy technique--I didn't think it was that bad. So if we're walking backwards or if this is my last post that isn't in pig latin or some other ridiculous side effect befalls us, you'll know why.
Merry Christmas to all, in case I don't have a chance to post again!

Boom!

It's a statement a parent never wants to hear: "Your daycare called; she says she wants you to call her. It's an emergency." I was in the middle of my 2nd hour class, and our school's secretary had just given me the news. Immediately, my limbs start to feel jittery and my heart begins to race. "Do you know what happened?" I asked. "She says he fell." "Oh my gosh! Dawn has stairs! Did he fall down the stairs?" I was thinking to myself as I left my classroom to call Dawn.
Turns out, Logan was trying to climb up on their couch, but failed on the execution and instead launched himself into the wrought-iron leg of her coffee table. "He's fine now. He cried when he fell. He's been acting fine and I've been icing the bump, but he needs to be checked," Dawn explained.
To make matters worse, I had noticed my wallet was missing yesterday. After rummaging through the house and my car, I had not yet found it and just went to school with my fingers crossed that I would not be pulled over for anything. Of course, I need to go to the emergency room the day I have no insurance cards! But just when I was about to burst into tears from the horrible chain of events, I opened my car door to find my wallet wedged between the seat and the floorboard. My jaw dropped--How the heck had I not noticed it there before?! In any case, I was thankful that the big guy decided to cut me a break on this one.
With wallet in hand, I made it to Dawn's in record time to find Logan in fine spirits. He looked at me, as if to explain his predicament, and said "Boom!" while patting his head gingerly. And from the looks of it, "Boom" is exactly the way it must have sounded when head met table leg. Man, does he have a massive bump on his noggin.
So I took him to the local urgent care center, which is, conveniently, right down the street from my school, and he checked out just fine. Usually Logan is a real bear at the doctor's office, but the nurse had the brilliant idea of giving him some crayons so he could color on the paper bed cover. (Why did I never think of that?) And he really seemed to like the doctor, albeit after eyeing him suspiciously at first. Logan's going to have a nice bump and probably a colorful scalp for a while, but no concussion--good news.
I took him back to Dawn's just in time for his nap and made it back to school a little over an hour after I had left. What a crazy Monday!

20 Month Old Wonder

Logan is two days over 20 months old. Whoa! Quantum leap going on here. He's going to be asking me for car keys any moment.

Logan's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. He can repeat nearly any word that we say to him provided that it doesn't have an R or an L in it. Logan has never attempted to say his name "Logan" and I find that a bit curious since it's the word that he probably hears the most, although "chock wat" is a close second. Our boy can't get enough sweets. We try not to give him too much, but we succumb to his adorable begging often. And it's the holidays, right?

This is probably T.M.I but when Logan has to poop he tends to try and hide under or behind things like chairs or under the Christmas tree. He gets real quiet (which is unusual) and seems to want his privacy. Hopefully soon we can encourage him to use the potty instead of secretly pooping his pants. (He's not fooling anybody). Anyway, not too enlightening a post, but it's all I gots...

Bee-Don!

Logan does quite the imitation of Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons. He carries his "Bee-Don" around whenever we let him. "Bee-Don" is Logan speak for "blanket." Carly's Mom crocheted Logan a blanket that he's been using for his entire 20 months of life. He loves his blanket and chews on the corners to put himself to sleep. The corners get so smelly and gross that we have to wash his bee-don frequently. Ewww.

So I'm flirting with the idea of blogging again (I being Eric). What do ya think?

We're Thankful For...

It's Thanksgiving, and our friend Adolfo, who is filming coverage of the Texas A&M game today, reprimanded us for posting so infrequently of late, so here goes, a holiday post to commemorate Logan's second Thanksgiving.

We're headed to my grandma's today for a Tofurkey extravaganza around 1:00 and I'm wondering what Logan will be persuaded to eat today. It's an amusing contradiction--on a day dedicated to stuffing one's self, I'm assuming at least some of my day will revolve around placing tiny portions in front of our very picky eater, only to see them fly through the air in different directions. If he's feeling more polite, however, he may place the food he rejects into my hand.

Maybe he'll surprise us, though. He did last night. Every time we come home (to my parents') for a visit, we have to make a trip to Roma's Pizza, which specializes in pizza that has a thin, cracker-type crust. It is deee-lish. Logan usually turns up his nose at any pizza pie, but last night, he actually ate some surprising new foods. Not only did he eat pizza, but also he ate pieces of iceburg lettuce generously dipped in Ranch dressing, of course. He had black and green olives as well, and even a piece of red cabbage. I was amazed! Either he was starving before we came to Roma's, or my suspicions are correct in thinking that they lace their food with some sort of addictive substance, urging their patrons to come back for more. In any case, we had a successful meal last night.

Aside from the food aspect of Thanksgiving, this holiday is all about being grateful for what you have, and we are, of course, thankful for our amazing little boy who has completely turned our world around in the best ways possible, barring those few months of intense sleep deprivation. We are also thankful to have such a wonderful group of loving and supportive family members and friends who enrich our lives through their funny stories, unique perspectives, and incredible personalities. We are, indeed, blessed, and we hope all of you know how very, very much we love all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Logan Has a Cousin!

It's been a couple of months now, and I've not received any bad news about Logan's hair-pulling, biting, or hitting anyone (I'm knocking on my coffee table right now). This morning, as I dropped him off at our sitter's, it was an adorable scene. Logan is always greeted at the door by at least two of the girls, and the youngest, who is Logan's age, is the one who never misses an entrance. She waddles up, her big eyes all aglow, waving her little hand and smiling. Today she gave Logan a hug and a kiss, and Logan hugged her back. Our sitter's eldest girl said, "They're best friends!" I couldn't resist saying in response, "A big change from the way it used to be, huh?" Logan, as an only child, did not take kindly to another person--especially someone his size--getting something he wanted, and she, being the youngest of four, was not used to being appeased by everyone. Predictably, there were many ugly clashes. It's been a long, dramatic road, but Logan seems to have learned how to make--and keep--friends. What a relief!

And it's about time, too, because today at around 6:00PM, Logan became a cousin. Eric's sister Jackie had an adorable little girl today. Isabel Alice is 8lbs, 21 inches and healthy as can be. Eric was so excited! He almost teared up at the pictures she sent via email and said, "She already looks like my sister!" So we are all excited to meet this new little person. Welcome to the world, Isabel!

Poo poo in the potty!

We are on the verge of exciting times here at the Hill household. Logan is showing some signs that he may be ready to begin potty training.
A few weeks ago, Logan started alerting us to "poo poo" in his pants, so we decided to get him a little potty to see if he showed any interest in using it. Lo and behold, last night, he decided to sit on the potty and make a small deposit. After dropping off his...stuff, he quickly stood up, turned around to see what he had left behind, exclaimed, "eeew!" and ran off naked down the hall. Before I could catch him, though, his big step forward was accompanied by a small step back...he peed in the hallway. "Logan," I said, "poo poo and pee pee go in the potty." Hopefully those sage words sunk in.
And so begins our long journey on the road to underwearhood...While we're not sure we'll start full-on potty training yet (he's 19 months today), I'd appreciate any sage words any of you might have to share on the topic! Thanks in advance!

As promised...

Hope the Great Pumpkin was good to all of you tonight! And, on behalf of Logan, please don't leave those lit pumpkins unattended all night. Only YOU can prevent forest fires! :)

"Schockat! Sucky!"

So, it's nearly Halloween, and how could that holiday exist without...candy! the inspiration for today's post. The subject line is Loganese for "chocolate" and "sucker." Yes, you can tell what he's been asking for lately. It all started a couple of weeks ago after our neighborhood Target (which is now a Super Target, mind you) had opened, and Eric and I, drawn like moths to a flame, went shopping for various odds and ends, thrilled not to be forced into going to Wal-Mart any longer. (Our Target was closed for several months to become "Super.")

The Halloween isle beckoned us in with its festive decorations and aisles of monstrous bags of candy. Knowing we'd have to buy sweets for trick-or-treaters eventually, I suggested we stock up immediately. Why wait, right? So we piled a few bags of candy into our cart. Now I see the error of my ways. Note to self: Never buy Halloween candy early...at least don't buy the stuff you really like early.

Through this perhaps misguided purchase, I've found that Eric and I have a rigid hierarchy of Halloween candy consumption. We quickly gobbled up all of the Almond Joys and most of the Reese's cups within the first few days of having the candy in the house. This weekend, we're settling for the Kit-Kats, and it's only a matter of time before the ho-hum Hershey bars will go the way of the others before them. Aside from the occasional Dum-Dum, we don't usually keep candy in the house. Well, Logan clearly approves of the change. Eric and I unwisely shared a bite or two of our Almond Joys, Reese's, and Kit-Kats, and now we have a chocolate-demanding delinquent on our hands.

This afternoon, I decided to move the candy from the dining room table to the kitchen counter, hoping the move would foster an out-of-sight, out-of-mind scenario. Nope, he was begging for "Schockat" with a vengeance. And as much as I hate to give in to his whining, it is pretty darned adorable to see him grabbing that chunk of Kit-Kat in his fist, doing his little dance of chocolate-induced joy (which closely resembles someone running in place while having to pee). Ah, how he loves sugar. He may just get a new supply of it, too, as we're going to Sycamore's Pumpkin Fest parade tomorrow.

Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin patch

Columbus Day weekend is always a special one for me--my parents come up for the weekend and we take a trip to Jonamac Orchard in Malta. They always have a funny little antique motor convention and a petting zoo. So, on Saturday we braved the bitterly cold wind and made the trek to Jonamac. Logan got to pet and feed the sheep, the burros, the goats, the cows, and a llama. We also went to a little corn silo they had for the kids--imagine a really big sandbox filled with corn--lots of fun!
Finally, we took a stroll through the display of motors, bought some apples--Honey Crisps, yum!--and took off for the day.
The next day, we went to Applebee's for lunch. Fortunately, Logan was in good spirits, and as we were starting to pack up to leave, he started saying "Bye!" to everyone in sight. A young guy passed by, and said in reply, "See ya!" Logan must have thought that was incredibly clever, because he started saying "See ya!" really loudly to everyone as we walked out. We, along with everyone else, were in stitches. All in all, we had a great weekend.
Hope you all had a nice weekend, too!

DigDug

So today was a typical Monday--so frustrating! It was the day back from Homecoming weekend, so my Juniors were comatose. I took the Freshmen to the computer lab to show them how to format papers--how can something so simple be so tedious!? When I picked up Logan, I was in a sour mood, and my mood didn't improve when I learned he was "a bit rough" with Kaleb again.
On I drove, thinking of how bad the day sucked, when I noticed Logan singing this really nasally "Neener, nah, nah, nee, nee" or something similar to that. I turned around only to find him with his pointer finger waaay up his nose, twisting his digit to the beat of his song.
"Okay, this is a bad habit that could form. Should I tell him to stop, or will that only exacerbate the situation?" That thought went through my mind at about the same time that I burst out laughing. Bad habits be damned! That silliness is just what pulled me out of my gloomy mood!
Thought I would post a new pic--it's of Logan picking another orifice, a more acceptable one this time, but the Paul Frank outfit was furnished by my friend Barb. Thanks, Barb!

Mr. Kissy Face

I guess staying with a bunch of girls must have its advantages for Logan. He has become quite the affectionante little boy--he loves giving kisses. He gives his bear and frog puppet kisses; he gives daddy and mommy kisses. And when I put him to bed, he blows kisses good-night.
Aside from kissing, Logan has had a fun time with a picture book my brother Greg got him. It has these really beautiful pictures of all sorts of animals, and he loves pointing at the pictures and making the noises they do. Tonight, he said "cockadoodle doo!" for the rooster and beat his chest for the gorilla. The cuteness just keeps on coming.

Kiterrific!

Hello, everyone!
We've been pretty busy these days--much to tell! First, our cats underwent surgery last Tuesday. They had bad teeth, which we had known for some time, but at their last vet visit, he decided a cleaning and more drastic measures were in order. The poor kitties lost three molars collectively, but by now they seem to be feeling back to normal, more or less...I guess less in their case...Lesson learned: When the vet tells you to put some gel on your cats' gums each night, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, just do it!
Logan is doing better at daycare. His report today said, "Logan is learning to make friends!" I just hope once Kaleb, his cousin, is back in the mix he will be as good. He seems to attack when Kaleb is having his diaper changed. Cross your fingers, everyone.
We went to Kite Fest this weekend, the 4th annual celebration in DeKalb. Basically, the townies and other kite enthusiasts get together in a field just north of campus and fly their kites for a few hours. It was a beautiful day, but, sadly, there was little wind. Still, we made the most of it. There was a kite-making booth, so Logan decorated and later flew his little creation. It was easy to coax him into flying his kite because his new game is Chase! So Eric just ran after him, and he took off, kite trailing behind him.
We're also hearing all sorts of funny new words coming out of Logan these days. He says "wawa" for water and "yuck" when he sees something gross. But what we're having the most fun with is teaching him "Foo doo fa fa" from Flight of the Conchords. Auntie Christine turned us on to the show and the song when we visited this summer. So we started singing it, and Logan picked up the "fa fa" and "ay-ya" right away. We'll keep you posted on how the rest of it comes along...
Until then, enjoy a link to the silliness and just imagine Logan chiming in with his little "ay-ya." :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f11-ClTi3og

My Precious...

So our TV remote had been missing for a couple of weeks. Eric was beside himself, as you can imagine. Bears preseason kicked off, and he had to walk 3 paces to the TV to turn up the volume, turn the channel, etc. sniff, sniff. We had looked under the couch, behind the couch, in the toy boxes (since Logan is especially fond of the remote), in our bedroom. We had no idea where it could be, and again, knowing Logan's love for the remote, we knew he could have carried it just about anywhere. Eric even theorized Logan had thrown the remote away, and that it was long gone with last week's garbage.
Well, tonight, as I was picking up random stuff off the floor, I noticed the remote under the couch. It must have been wedged between the sections in our couch and finally had fallen through. Eric was watching TV, and I sat it next to him without a word. He grudgingly looked away from the screen, and suddenly a look of recognition swept over his face. He gasped with delight like a child at Christmas time. "My remote!" He lovingly stroked it, knowing his life is now complete again.
Logan is still "transitioning" to daycare. His ear is doing better, but he's still throwing fits in the evenings. I'm definitely feeling mommy guilt, but I have to remind myself this is only week two.

It's almost Friday!

So yesterday was a flurry of activity. Got up at 5:00, dropped Logan off at the sitter's, taught all day, picked up Logan, met Eric for dinner, he took Logan home, I went back to school for open house, got home around 9:30 to the lights out and everyone asleep, stayed up and watched the news, learned that Ted Kennedy had died, felt weird about it--like I had been on some other planet for a few days or something, went to bed around 10:45. Fin.
Open House is such a strange experience to me. I meet my students' parents, introduce myself and talk to them for ten minutes about the class their child is enrolled in. I always feel like I jabber on like a maniac and smile too much--the parents probably think I am an absolute crackpot. Ah well, that's being an adult for you.
As for being a wee lad, things haven't become much kinder or gentler. Logan struck again yesterday. This time, he bit Kaleb, Karen's little boy, and he left a pretty good mark. Our sitter can't make sense of Logan's biting because he seems to be happy as a lark, then all of a sudden, he chomps. Maybe that's his mastermind strategy, the happy-face fake-out. I'm tired of writing and even thinking about feeling guilty, so I'll just skip that part. Today, though, he did much better. The sitter's little girl answered the door, and afraid of the answer, I asked, "Well, how did it go today?" She said, "He didn't bite anybody today." What relief! Just when I was on the verge of finding a toddler-sized Hanibal Lecter mask for him, he comes around. Hopefully it will stick.
We found out he has an ear infection, though. I took him to the clinic today after our sitter and Eric had noticed some suspicious ear pulling. This time we caught it early--he's on five days of azythromyacin, so we're crossing our fingers that he won't look like a leper like he did when he took amoxicylin.
What a long five days this work week has been. If you've had a long one too, I'll share my mantra with you: "It's almost Friday, It's almost Friday." Even if it's raining buckets, it's almost Friday. Happy weekend, everyone.

No Bite!

It's amazing how many commands you give a young child sound like something you would tell a puppy in training...Yes, we're trying to have some stern conversations with Logan about biting. Today at daycare, he was watching one of the little girls playing with a car. (I'm guessing he probably wanted to steal the car but didn't know how to go about getting it.) So he started to push the little girl, who was, in turn, pushing the car. While everyone laughed at first, seeing the connection between the two actions, the little girl understandably became annoyed and told Logan to stop pushing her. Next thing our sitter knew, Logan chomped onto the little girl's shoulder. Not good. We'll try it again tomorrow... I think I'll give him a little pep talk tomorrow in the car on the way to daycare. "C'mon, little dude! We bite food, not people!" I feel for him, though, because he sure has faced a lot of changes in the past couple of days.

Day Two of Daycare

I shouldn't have shown Logan the following movies: Jaws, Twilight, Interview With a Vampire, and Silence of the Lambs. What do all of those have in common? Yup...Biting. Logan had a biting incident today at daycare. I guess he bit one of the little girls on the shoulder. Ouch. Carly talked with Dawn about the details, so she'll have to blog more about it, but we feel bad. Hopefully Logan can learn "NO BITE" soon.

Day One of Day Care

Well, Logan did splendidly on his first day of daycare at Miss Dawn's, much better than Eric and I did. We woke the little guy up at 6AM this morning, changed him, and packed him up in the car. Eric shed a few tears and said goodbye, and we were off on our big day. He was happy as a clam as soon as he got there--breakfast was ready for him, and he was eager to flirt with the girls. Dawn said he was smiling all day, just watching everyone. He even hugged her little girls--how cute! When I came to pick him up, he smiled and ran right for me, then thought better of it and ran toward the toys and the girls. It was reassuring that he was having so much fun there, but I have to admit it made me feel a bit useless as a mommy. We'll see what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully he's just as angelic as he was today! I left his steel sippy cup over at Dawn's for him to use, but on second thought, I think I had better trade it for his plastic sippy. He's been known to bonk other kids on the head with his cup, and I think he would easily give one of the girls a concussion if he decided to do that with his steel cup. We're crossing our fingers that things will continue to go well!

Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, It's Back to Work I Go!

(Cue Whistling) Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho...I'll be checking in this week. Wish me luck!

Thanks For Reading!

Oh, the Places We've Been!

As Logan hysterically cries in the background, I'd like to reflect a little on the past year at home. It has been quite the adventure. Yesterday we were driving back to DeKalb from Red Lobster in Geneva which happens to be the same route that we took back home right after Logan was born. Driving down 38 I was caught up in a sense of nostalgia. Logan was babbling and head banging to some music in the car, vibrant and smiling, and it didn't seem that long ago that he was a newborn, barely able to move his head, not really able to talk or smile. How something that delicate turned into my rough and tumble, happy-go-lucky boy in the span of a year and five months is amazing.

I feel blessed to have had the chance to stay at home with Logan. I hope that he thrived under my care. I hope that my instincts were right in thinking that being with him during this first year was the most important thing that I could be doing. I know that is how I feel. I wish that we lived in a world where all parents had the same opportunity that I had. All I know is that I learned a great deal about myself and my boy from this experience and that I wouldn't trade it. I feel a profound sense of gratitude to Carly, my wife, for bringing home the bacon this past year. Thank you so much, honey, for supporting our family and allowing me the chance to develop a strong bond with Logan. Without your support, advice, care, compassion, and love, well, I wouldn't know where I'd be right now. You gave me such a gift and I love you. Perhaps in the future you will get your chance to experience "the bliss" of stay at homeness.

Like all babies, Logan is a special one. Like most parents, I feel like Logan is the special one. He is growing into such a character and I am really excited to witness him emerge into the person he will become. I'm so glad that I created this blog. Someday, Logan will be able to search the Internet and read a record of when he was young. I think that is so cool. I started this blog with lofty intentions, and I feel I accomplished most of them. I didn't exactly write everyday, but I came close. Not every entry was stellar prose or even very insightful, but I managed to capture some of the little things that make life special. I started off eager to write, hit the doldrums, saw blogging as a chore, picked myself up again, got busy with other things, but still managed to write about my time at home with Logan. And for all that, I thank myself for keeping this blog. It wasn't easy all the time, but it was usually fun. Thanks also to everyone who reads on occasion. I hope that you felt connected to the Hill family through this writing and that I wasn't a waste of your time. I tried to make it interesting.

Well, Logan is still not napping. How fitting an ending. So Carly and I are going to take a walk with him now. That means that I have to stop writing. So I'll post. Is this the last post? Maybe. Or perhaps I will start up a new tag team blog with Carly. We shall see.

The Final Week at Home

Carly is at her first day of school and Logan and I have settled into our familiar "Daddy is Home" rhythm. We played a lot today, went for a walk, explored the backyard garden, had sword fights with dead day lily stalks, ate some good meals and watched the midday news together. He was running a bit of a fever yesterday and today his nose is dripping ooey gooey snots so he is not feeling very well and is on his second nap of the day. I can't say that I've used his nap time to my benefit very well. I have a lot to do to get ready for school but can't seem to make myself do it. Perhaps I don't want to acknowledge the fact that my year at home with the boy is nearly over. It's sad. Plain and simple. I know that everything is going to turn out fine but I also know the facts: I am not going to "be there" during the day. If I focus on that fact I get sad. But if I focus on the hours after I pull into the driveway at home, well, then me going back to work doesn't seem so overwhelming. I will "be there" every day and every night and I will make our time meaningful. That's all I can do.

Logan Fails to Appreciate Bolt

Today at the Track & Field World Championships a world record in the 100 meter dash was set by Usain "lightning" Bolt--9.58 seconds--whoosh! He was the first man to go under 9.7 seconds, and now he's the first to go under 9.6 seconds. Logan was witness (at least on t.v.) to the race this afternoon, but didn't get too excited about it. I wonder how long this world record will stand? All of Logan's life? Hardly. I'm sure Bolt himself will break his own record eventually...he is that good. Anyway, I thought it a noteworthy event (I'm a track & field geek) and so I wanted to include my little track star in on it. And who knows...someday Logan may appreciate the talent that I witnessed today.

Rage against the dying of the blog!

So as I'm soaking up my last few hours of freedom before the school year starts again (sigh), I am reflecting on what a treasure this blog has actually been for me and my family and friends this year. When I would come home from school last year, if i was ever, shall we say, underwhelmed with Eric's description of how his day went, I would quickly check out the blog and be far more satisfied with its answer to my query. It helped me stay connected to Eric and Logan when I couldn't be around as much as I wanted to. And I realized it serves the same purpose for other people, too, when I talked to my dad the other day, and he said, "Hey, your blog doesn't work anymore." It made me sad to know family and friends maybe checked the site, only to find a stale post. It's happened to me before, and maybe this is some reflection on how dull my life is, but it's such a sad feeling, like you've been abandoned, forgotten about. What's more, this blog has made a great record of our lives this year. Though it's still in the editing stage, Eric's-year-at-home blogs are being made into a book (thanks for the link, Liz!) that we can enjoy for years to come, that Logan can enjoy when he's old enough. So in this age of disappearing information, it's reassuring to know that one can refuse to fade away "into the blogosphere" as Eric put it. We're getting this blog back in gear, damnit!
Oh, we've had some adventures the past couple of days. Logan has been flaunting his inheritance from dad--a dangerous combination of fearlessness and clumsiness--as he fell down the front step, bit it in front of a pet store, knocked his head on the corner of our bookcase, and...wait for it...pulled two mountain bikes on top of himself this week. Luckily, no trips to the emergency room were necessary, but while I was changing him the other day, I noticed he has chipped his front tooth. I was a little dismayed when I couldn't even begin to narrow down the probable event that caused the little alteration in his appearance. And I nearly cried when I found out that tooth has gone from a dull to serrated edge--ouch!
On the upside, we've been living up our few remaining days of summer by going to the pool, biking around town, and hanging out with friends. On Thursday night, Eric, Logan, and I met up with the grad school clan (sans Leah, sniff sniff) at JuRin for dinner and enjoyed a Maggie Moos after-party. Logan and his friend Zoe soon grew restless, however, and we had to walk them over to PetLand. Guess what? Logan knows what sound puppies make. "Woowoowoo!" I think he's going for "woof" but is short a consonant...Either that, or he's just really excited to see those puppies.
And we were able to queeze in one more road trip before school by going to Aunt Jackie's today for her housewarming party. Logan had fun playing with his cousins and watching the dogs romp around. It was a beautiful day, and it was nice spending time with Eric's side of the family. We're all excited for Jackie's little girl, who's coming in November, though it's strange for me to think that Logan will soon be the "big" cousin. I can hardly wait to hear what he'll have to say about that next year.
Well, I guess I'd better hit the hay. Thanks to all of you for reading and for caring so much about our little dude!

"Gentle" Logan

Carly and I managed to make it to church this morning for the first time practically all summer. Logan slept in today and was well-rested so I knew that he would be good in the nursery, but I didn't know how good he would be. The lady who watches Logan called him "gentle" because he was giving hugs to other toddlers and patting them on the back. I didn't think I would ever hear that adjective used to describe my rough and tumble boy, but alas, "gentle" was the term used. It was nice to hear that he got along well with all the other little ones. Perhaps he is learning that hitting, scratching, and pulling hair is not the best way to make friends. We hope so.

Logan had a bit of separation anxiety today. He was latching on to us when we went to drop him off and only some sneaky diversions involving oversized legos would allow us to break away from him without tears. I hope that when Carly has to begin dropping him off at Dawn's house he gets used to it and doesn't give poor Mama a hard time. I know she isn't looking forward to leaving him.

Well, this blog has almost run its course I think. I have school stuff to do all day next week and the beginning of school is right around the corner. I don't yet know if I will continue to blog or if I will let Daddy is Home fade away into the blogosphere. We shall see.

Vans

House on the Rock & Wisconsin Pics

Return to Sleepless Nights

I don't know why (we assume molars coming in) but Logan is not sleeping well as of late. Last night he woke up at midnight, 2:00, and 4:00. Not fun. The worst part about it is that when we go to soothe him he is somewhat inconsolable. He doesn't want to go back to sleep when all we want to do is go to sleep. Not the best combination. Anyway, Carly's parents are in town and we are headed to Carly's Aunt's house in Wisconsin (staying overnight) and I'm dreading how he is going to sleep tonight. He does not do well in strange places so I imagine we will be sharing the bed with our little teething wonder.

Last Day of July

I am getting anxious about my return to work and Logan being in home daycare. I know everything is going to turn out ok and that socialization is good for the boy but I somehow feel like I'm failing Logan by not staying at home next year. I hope he gets along well with the other kiddies. I hope I get along well with my students. Yikes. It's the last day in July. Tomorrow is August and I go back to work in August. I'm not ready yet!

Logan's Inheritance

I can already tell that Logan is a lot like me. But there are a few things that I hope he doesn't inherit from his Daddy. For example, I finished drywalling the new bathroom basement. Quite a feat. However, I did an amateurish job on it mostly because I didn't take the time to be precise. I tend to jump into things with feverish energy only to make more work for myself because I don't think through my work before I do it. If Logan can retain my initiative without feeling the need to do things in a hurry, well, that would be nice.

There are all sorts of other qualities that I'd like Logan to inherit and not inherit from me, but for now I am trying to figure out some technical issues with gmail so I need to work on that.

Back From Michigian

We had a nice time on vacation but it's sure good to be back home. For the past two nights Logan has slept through the night as opposed to on vacation where he woke up constantly and ended up sleeping with Carly and I. But sleep is not my topic so I'll move on.

Logan had a bunch of firsts on this vacation. He went kayaking down the East Branch of the AuSauble River which was an interesting experience. The East Branch is not the greatest kayaking river considering we had to dodge low hanging branches and logs in the river, ford our kayaks over beaver dams and impassable debris jams, and power paddle our way over shallow sections and hidden junk in the water. But overall, he seemed to enjoy it until it was time for his nap and he got cranky. For some reason when he was tired he didn't like to avoid getting slapped by branches. Go figure. And despite my best efforts, I did tip the kayak and Logan and I went in the water at one point. It was a tad scary seeing my little guy enter the water, but he was out in a the same split second that he went in. He was wet, but it was a sunny and warm day. At least he wasn't in Carly and my Mom's kayak...they tipped over three times I think.

Logan also went on his first "yacht" on the way to Mackinac island. I suppose he went on his first island too. He managed to nap all the way around the island in his bike carrier as we biked the 8 mile circumference. No cars are allowed on the island, but horses and bikes abound...not to mention fudge and tourists and horse poo. Anyway, in the bike rental shop Logan fell in love with a super cool tricycle and since I had won 230 dollars at the Indian casino just a day earlier, I couldn't resist and made a 100 dollar offer on the trike (sticker price of 119.99). So for the rest of the Mackinac experience, Logan got towed on his bad-boy tricycle. He can't reach the peddals yet, but he can still scoot and make cool sound effects. He loves it. See for yourself.



So our trip was a good time. We relaxed and had adventures. The seven hour car ride back and forth wasn't too bad and Logan seemed to enjoy himself despite getting dunked in a river.

Meme

I was tagged; hence I respond. And I've added a new word to my vocabulary or webcabulary: meme. Anyway, I was asked to reveal seven previously unknown things about myself so here goes:

1. I enjoyed all 12 hours and 30 some minutes of the Ironman I did way back in 2007. The Ironman is supposed to be this ultimate endurance event, but for me, it was really just enjoyable. Now the training for the Ironman sucked along the way, but the actual race was a peak experience that I didn't want to end. Perhaps I knew that my life was going to drastically change when Logan came along and this event was a capstone to the non-fatherhood days.

2. I did watch Oprah and the View a lot when I was a SAHF, but I didn't like it...at least some of the times.

3. I have dreams of whisking Carly and Logan away on a trip around the country and/or world. We could live out of backpacks/broken down vans/campers and experience all that the universe unfolds for us. I did say this was a dream, right?

4. I'm perpetually stuck in high school. Teaching at LHS is the first "real" job that I've had and I still have it. And I still find it fascinating. Classrooms can be some of the dullest and most interesting places in the world. I try hard to make mine vivid.

5. I am going to make a pottery wheel out of an old furnace motor. Finding innovative ways to do things really excites me. I love doing things that perplex others.

6. I like the concept of tea much more than I like tea. But I do like tea. In fact, I think I want some right now.

7. I still haven't cracked the code of building a proper backyard pond. My pond has kept the goldfish alive for two years now, but I'm still not satisfied with the filtration and landscaping. Perhaps it will be better next year.

As far as keeping this chain going, I will work on tagging some others in my next post. I have to go pick up Pizza Villa for dinner now.

Walkin' In Daddy's Shoes

Logan decided to figure out what it felt like to be a man. He tried on my shoes and thought to himself, "well heck, I could be a man someday...sure...no problem." He tried to walk around a bit but to no avail. I guess I have large shoes to fill.

Something tells me it's all happening at the zoo...

I do believe it...I do believe it's true. That was for all you Simon and Garfunkel fans out there. And some context for those of you who wondered if I was totally off my rocker. Yesterday was a gorgeous day around here--in the upper 60s, unheard of in July, but we rolled with it and met Ramona and her two little ones at the Brookfield Zoo. I had never been there, and it was Logan's first zoo adventure. He was more engaged that I had expected. He saw a small group of marmosets scurry across a rope and two young gorillas chase each other in the tree tops. He also saw a baby elephant walking around. Oh, and the animatronic dinosaurs. Now those were spectacular (italics = sarcasm). Every five minutes or so, the oversized toys would work their jaws and swing their tails. I don't know what was sadder, the exhibit or the fact that I paid $5 to see it.
I remember when I was a kid the zoo was a fascinating place. Now it just makes me sad. Watching wild animals pent up in faux habitats being gawked at day in and day out. What's worse is that these places may be the animals' only habitats one day. Will Logan take his kids to see phony-looking animatronic Tigers and Polar Bears? Ok, there should be some kind of rule against posting depressing blog entries, but that's all I got, kids.

Take 'Em to the Zoo

Logan and Mom went to the Zoo yesterday while I went on a golf outing with my dad. He seemed to have fun...I'm bugging Carly to "guest blog" for me about it.

Jack Sprat

You know that nursery rhyme? Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean...so together they licked the platter clean.

Well, in my mind, Carly and I are like that nursery rhyme. One of Carly's main focuses regarding Logan seems to be on feeding him. She is feeding him constantly...a good thing to have lots of snacks I'm told. One of my main concerns revolves around Logan's sleeping (getting him to bed on schedule, making sure he gets naps, etc). Together, Carly and I make a good team in regards to rearing Logan. He is always full and he is well-rested. Sure there are all sorts of other things he needs (and we provide those too) but as far as feeding and sleeping are concerned we got it covered.

"All Done"

Logan mastered a two word phrase today: "all done." We often say this after he's eating and today he repeated it back and wouldn't stop. He was saying it in his falsetto voice and it was so adorable--like jumping into a ball pit filled with teddy bears or something.

We got it on video for posterity and since the blog has been lacking as of late I plan on getting it up for tomorrow. Until then.

21st Century Digital Boy

Logan loves technology, especially cell phones. He is constantly wanting mine or Carly's cellphone to play with. It is adorable when he has a mock conversation and it's even cool to see what buttons he might press or who he might call, but a cell phone is a somewhat expensive little item and I wish he wasn't so fascinated with them. Just a few moments ago he fell and Carly's cell phone went flying across the bamboo floor...still intact, but a little worse for wear. I am thinking that if anyone has an old cell phone they want to donate to the Logan fund he will be more than willing to take it off your hands.

Logan also loves the computer, mouse, t.v., t.v. remote, dyson vacuum cleaner, and anything else with buttons and or circuits. Truly, he's a 21st century digital boy.

The Ruffian Strikes Again...

... and bloodies his father's nose. I am writing this entry with a wad of kleenex shoved up my nose.

I was looking up information on the computer to help me with the electricity in my basement when Logan decided to harass me by trying to play with the computer. I gave him a little nudge and he fell over backward. I guess he wanted to get even because a minute later as I picked him up and began to cuddle with him on the couch, Logan stuck his finger in my nose and somehow scratched the inside cartilage...after I said "ow" the always surprising bloody nose ensued. Blood was everywhere and it was a bit freaky. I haven't had a bloody nose in quite a while. Anyway, he seemed scared but didn't seem to worried about the abuse he doled out. The ruffian can be a heartless boy.

Logan the Ruffian

Hello--it's Carly again. I'm blogging on Eric's behalf because he has been slaving all day building walls in the basement. The new bathroom is coming together, and I think Eric will come out relatively unscathed (only minor cuts and burns so far, knock on wood). Logan and I had our second play date today--this time Dianna, a friend I know through West, hosted with her two darling girls, and Nicole, another friend from West, came with her little boy Austin. Now Logan did really well at the park yesterday. Within five minutes he hugged a little girl, which was pretty adorable, and he had fun playing in the sand and going down the slides with Levi, a little boy about his age. Today, however, was a different story. He and the other kids were playing nicely for a good hour or so while we moms were sitting and chatting. Before long, the kids wandered into the play room, and soon after, we heard crying--it was Austin. He stopped crying when we came into the room, but when Nicole checked him over, she noticed he had bite marks on his cheek. Natalie, Dianna's little girl, was standing there, and I asked her if Logan had bitten Austin. She replied, "Mmm-Hmm." The statement "I felt bad" doesn't begin to describe how I was feeling. What is it in the toddler's psyche that makes biting and hitting ok? Is this behavior just further proof that we really are savages beneath a civilized facade? When I told Eric about the episode, he said, "So, I guess you probably won't be asked back for another play date, huh?" Funny...and probably true.
Here's a picture my dad just sent of our little ruffian. You'll notice the shark motif on his ensemble. I didn't know how fitting that getup would be for our little guy.

Playground Antics

Logan had a busy playing day throwing little pebbles up and down the slide. We took him to the park and he had a blast. More later.

"Book"

Logan is cutting some molars and had a hard time falling asleep today...plus, we didn't have the air turned on so it's fairly hot in the house. Anyway, I took him out to comfort him and he was interested in the book on the floor. I said "book" a few times and sure enough, Logan replied "book" clear as day. The "k" is a new sound for him and so it's exciting to hear him say it. He is learning new words everyday and Carly and I are really getting a kick out of it.

"Bahhhmmm!"

We just got back from the cottage (thanks Ms. Cop for not giving me a ticket) and Logan is now in bed after a bit of a fuss. His schedule is all crazy. Anyway, Logan seems to be ok with fireworks. We went on the pontoon and although squirrely, he seemed to enjoy seeing all the colorful explosions. He would clap and say "bahhhmmm" every once in awhile. However, he is afraid of bottle rockets and cried when my Dad and I were blowing them off in the front yard. Go figure.

Bonus Post

OK, for all of you who know Eric fairly well, you know he's a sleepwalker/talker. And for all of you who know me fairly well, you know I love to share funny stories about Eric's sleepwalking/talking. Well, I just got a new story:

As I was blogging, Eric was sleeping on the couch with Moon (our cat) on his chest. Something woke him, and he groggily shushed the cat (which I thought strange), got up off the couch, and lovingly carried her down the hall (which I also thought strange). Then, I heard a bedroom door open--the only bedroom door we close is Logan's when he is sleeping. That's when I knew it was time to intervene: "Eric, what are you doing?" Grinning sheepishly, he brought Moon back into the living room. "She doesn't belong in there," he said. He thought Moon was Logan, and he was about to put her in his crib! I think this almost tops the time he did a somersault--punctuated by a "whee!"--out of bed while sleeping.

Guest Blogger: Mommy Is Home

Hey, all.

Eric has been attending some writing workshop this week; hence, there is no more stay-at-home daddy for the time being, but stay-at-home mommy like the good lord intended. Ha! Anyway, I'm completely blissed out staying home with Logan this summer and am marveling at all the new things he's doing. Today he mastered the sign for "more." The impetus? Blueberries, of course. Once he figured out that he could put his little fingers together and more blueberries would magically appear on his tray, he was making that sign like gangbusters. He also said "bwue" (blue) and "beebees" (berries), but we haven't put the words together yet. His love of blueberries borders on obsession.

In other news, Leah and Josh came over tonight for some tasty Thai Pavilion take-out. We had a great time catching up with them, but once Logan got out of his high chair, the silly antics began. He decided to try on one of Josh's flip-flops, and with his stockinged feet, he looked not unlike a tiny Japanese man from the knees down. Then he sported Leah's diminutive purse, which worked well as a pint-sized man-bag. He learned today that mom and dad's friends are fun and have fabulous accessories.

Now he's sleeping peacefully in his bed, probably dreaming about the endless supply of blueberries that can be his with a few taps of the fingertips, knowing full well that he can stow the ones that won't fit in his mouth into Leah's tiny, adorable purse.

Logan Wants a Cracker

I don't know if I wrote about this or not, but Logan knows how to say "cracker". He speaks it like when saying "uh-oh" which he says a lot now too. The language abilities are really starting to roll in for our lil' boy and I'm happy about it. He is starting to mimic the sounds of words now and I imagine he'll be chatting up a storm in a few months. I'm not looking forward to when he'll be able to talk back and be a snot, but we'll get over that hurdle when it's here. Anyway, we are back at home after a weekend in E. Alton and there is so much to keep me busy. The garden has turned into a jungle, school is looming ever closer on the horizon and so I need to get organized, and the basement bathroom still requires a lot of attention to become a bathroom. I'll be keeping busy but have no fear, I will be blogging so check in with me...just don't be surprised if there isn't a new post everyday like before.

Oh yeah...a few days ago we discovered Logan is sprouting a molar on his upper left side...his right...he doesn't seem bothered by it too much which is good.

Lookin' Spiffy

Logan and I got father and son haircuts today at Great Clips. We are both lookin' spiffy for our professional photographs tomorrow. We're getting Logan's one year pictures taken only 3 months after the fact. Again, I don't know why we need more pictures, but I understand Carly wants them so we're doing it. We're going to Cmax photography, the people who took our wedding photos, so they will be good pics. Anyway, we've been having a good time down here. Logan has been squirrely and energetic and has learned his "f"s and "v"s recently. He says "faf" now which happens to be the nickname of Adolfo.

Well, I think that's all for now. Oh wait...I invented diaper chaps this morning. Logan still has the diaper rash that won't quit and so I cut some holes in the butt part of his diapers and put some clear packing tap on the ends so the stuffing absorbent stuff doesn't come out. That way, his butt can air out while still wearing a diaper that will absorb pee. Brilliant! Perhaps I will post a picture of the posterior showing diaper in the future.

Logan and the Dogs

We're here in East Alton for the week and Logan is having a great time with Bart & Ginger, the dogs. He's crazy about the puppies even though they aren't that fond of him.

Last night was the first time that both Carly and I were not with Logan overnight. We booked a room at Tara Point (great hotel on the bluffs looking over the Mississippi) for our anniversery and Rene watched Logan for the night. It wasn't a big deal, but a memorable first. He was good and Carly and I got to relax and reconnect. We spent our first night as a married couple in that hotel so it was nice to reminisce. Anyway, we're having a nice time down here. Later.

Home Sweet Home

We've been home since Wednesday night and it has felt nice. Vacations are fun and all but I sure appreciate being at home in my own bed.

We had a wonderful time visiting my sister, Jesse, and Eddie and showing Logan the grand ol' western landscape. What an adventure! Some of the highlights included Logan having some mysterious illness on the night that we were camping on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was freezing that night (around 38 degrees) and we were in our tent when around 1:30 Logan started to dry heave. He spit up spit and scared the crap out of Carly and myself. We didn't know what was happening and what we should do about it. He had about 4-5 episodes of waking up and dry heaving. I didn't know if it was the altitude or what. Carly eventually ended up in the car with him where she managed to get an hour or so of shuteye. In the morning, we decided to get the heck out of dodge after Logan projectile vomited his apple juice, milk, and gatorade. The milk and gatorade vomiting episode all took place in the car ride to my sisters mind you. So we got to pull over on the side of the road and clean up vast amounts of baby puke. It was everywhere and our car seat straps are still stinky. We managed to make it to my sisters a day early and surprised Jesse and Eddie, poor guys.

Anyway, we think Logan had the stomach flu or something. A few days later, in Vegas, I too came down with the stomach flu which was a real treat (perhaps it was food poisoning). As far as Vegas and gambling went I was the big winner, pocketing a cool 675 dollars over the course of my two days gambling. The blackjack and poker tables were kind to me.

Logan was a lot of work on the trip, but actually he did extremely well. On the plane ride there he was quiet but squirrely (falling asleep the last minutes of the four hour flight) and on the way back he was an angel. Mike Ditka was on our flight home and Logan charmed him with a smile in the waiting lobby and while boarding. Da Coach said hi to us which was nice. It seemed that Logan charmed everybody everywhere we went. He seemingly can make anyone smile. He is such an affable little boy and flirts to no end. We were so popular and attracted so much attention because of Logan. It was great.

Well...I have a bit more to blog about and more pictures but for now I will stop. Until tomorrow, I think.

Vacation Photos

Hey, everybody. Long time no blog. We've been having some adventures here in Nevada/Utah/Arizona. I have all sorts of Logan stories to share. Perhaps later. For now, I will tide the eager Daddy is Home masses with some carefully selected pictures. Enjoy!

And Away We Go

Today marks the last "official" day of stay-at-home daddyhood. As I briefly mentioned yesterday, it has been an adventure. I am so grateful that I got the chance to be at home and I highly recommend it to any and all fathers and mothers. I was getting nostalgic last night and paged through my first father's day present (an awesome home-made picture book that Carly & Logan made for me). I cherish that little gift and it always makes me emotional because it is quite obvious how much Logan has grown and changed over the past 14 months. He is a little boy already. Ah. Sigh.

Briefly we'll be leaving on a jet plane out west and I hope our little boy is good on the plane ride and subsequent car rides. It takes a long time to drive places out west since everything is so spread out. I'm excited to see my sister and I know Logan is ready to get spoiled by his godmother. I know Christine is chomping at the bit to have some quality time with Logan too. We'll be in Vegas tonight and that feels very surreal. I hope Logan is a good luck charm in terms of gambling...not that I'm going to be carrying him around at the tables or anything, but if it worked...no seriously. I hope Poker goes well tonight for me. It would be nice to recoup the cost of checking our luggage.

Luggage is annoying. We had a really huge bag packed full to the brim only to realize after checking the AA website that it would cost 150 dollars to check. So we had to unpack the monster bag and put the same stuff in two separate bags. In two duffel bags the same stuff now costs 30 dollars to check. Maddening.

Anyway, wish us luck on our trip. Like most things with Logan, I know it will be an adventure. I'm excited and hope the Hill family has a wonderful, relaxing, and fun time.

Here and Gone

Logan woke up without a fever this morning. Hoorah! To appease the misses I took him to the pediatrician and everything checked out ok except icky tonsils. Perhaps Logan has some sort of sore throat virus that's been going around.

Logan is getting to be an even bigger handful now because he's able to crawl up on stuff. Moments ago he climbed up onto the ikea poang chair...something he has never done. Now I have to be diligent in watching him else he falls off and konks his head. He can also get up on the couch on occasion which is also fun and dangerous for the same reasons. I like to see Logan progressing, but with advancement comes risk.

However, I am almost off the hook so to speak. My stint as stay-at-home father is nearly complete. Carly is finished with school tomorrow and that means she'll be home all summer to help watch the little rugrat. This makes me both happy and a little sad after thinking about it. The grand experiment of Daddy is Home, like all good things, is coming to a close. It has been a joyous time and I've learned much about myself and my boy. I don't know if I will ever get a chance like this again and I'm appreciative of all the good, scary, stinky, worrisome, happy, and funny times.

Well, Logan is continuing to climb on the furniture so I should pay him more attention. Posts might be a bit scarce in the next week or so due to travel.

Mystery Fever

Logan has a nice lil' temperature today of around 100-101 degrees. We don't know why. He also just had a nice loose poopie. All sorts of anxiety is clouding my feeble brain. Did he pick up some horrible disease at the hospital the other day? I am such a terrible father for bringing him there. What if it's the swine flu. Oh no.

Why does he always get sick on Sundays?

And on top of this we are headed out on vacation soon. Will he be ok? I am probably overreacting and he's probably just teething. Hopefully we take it easy the next few days and everything will be ok.

Whistle

Logan can whistle. He mimics me and has become a pretty good copycat. It's adorable when he blows in and out and his little whistles form. He seems proud of the fact that he can make whistles and cracks himself up with them. He can't yet do the Andy Griffith theme, but he's getting better each day.

Logan also can "hock a loogie" pretty well too. It's one of the less endearing copycat traits that he has picked up. In the morning I have a tendency to clear the ol' throat and Logan mimics the sound. It hammers home the point that children pick up and learn from their parents. You have to be careful about what you do and say around kids. They are always watching and listening!

Nice Visit

We visited Stanley yesterday in the hospital...he fell and knocked his head really good...that's why he was there. It was the first time Logan had met Stanley. They seemed to hit it off well and we all enjoyed the visit. I was a bit worried about having Logan in the hospital and he wasn't allowed to go into the rooms, but luckily Stanley was in the t.v. lounge so we could visit, although in the elevator there was a sign that said no kids under 4 allowed above the 1st floor. Oops.

Anyway, I feel bad for Stashu...he needs someone to look after him more. Aging can be a difficult thing. There comes a point where you can't be independent anymore and have to have support.

Logan did really well in the car rides yesterday. We were in the car practically all day. I hope he's as good on our vacation as he was yesterday.

Well, I think I'll post again today later.

You Remind Me of the Babe

What Babe? The babe with the poopoo. Poopoo? The babe with the poopoo in his diaper when it't time to nap, you remind me of the babe.

Sorry...went off on a Labryinth tangent.

I put Logan down for his afternoon nap and he was quiet for about 15 minutes and then began to cry. I was napping too and so ignored him for a good while. He didn't stop crying because he had a full diaper and I should have known it right away. I changed him and now he is napping contentedly. That's been the most exciting bit of my day. Exciting, I know.

Salami & Turkey

Went to Inboden's Meat Market to get some more Copper River Salmon. Good stuff. I also got some salami and roasted turkey slices for Logan to try. He seemed to enjoy the deli slices and ate a piece of salami on the ride home. He also munched on the turkey during lunch although after a few mouthfuls he began to spit it out. Don't know why, but at least he ate some. I know salami isn't the most healthy of meats but it's another option for protein and I'm pleased about that.

We just got back from a long walk in the borrowed backpack carrier. I'm starting to get into good shape with that and so is Logan so our hikes in Zion and Grand Canyon National Park should be pleasant. Well, enough for now. I feel like I need to be constantly apologizing for my crappy blog posts. I don't like doing a subpar job.

Camping with Baby

Last night we (I mean I) attempted to camp in the backyard with Logan. We put him down in his pack and play in the tent around 7:00 and he fell asleep after some crying. I read a book in the backyard while watching/guarding the tent, and then I turned in around 9:45. Around 10:30 Carly popped her head in the tent to say goodnight. A few minutes before that Logan woke up and started to cry so I picked him up and cuddled with him on the air mattress. When Carly came to check on us I thought it was time to end the experiment since sleeping in our own beds sounded much more comfortable. I am so glad we moved back inside because it really stormed and rained last night. I think it might have traumatized Logan it being his first camping experience. Anyway, he did fine and so I think he'll be ok on our trip out to Arizona.

Weeding the Garden

Carly and I were embarrassed at all the weeds in our garden so we headed out there this morning before George and Renee came to visit. We picked the weeds and Logan was kind enough to help us, only most of what he picked was mud and pebbles which went into his mouth. He got very messy and it was adorable. Didn't take any pictures, but I am going to start that up again.

Anyway, we're looking forward to a nice weekend with the family.

Start the Day with Crying

Logan wakes up nearly every day crying. Doesn't seem like the greatest way to start the day, but he does it that way.

I'm headed to the Cubs game today with Kevin and so I am dropping Logan off at my parent's house for the day. I had contemplated taking Logan to his first game, but it might be a little hot in the bleachers for him. Anyway, that's all for now, folks.

Mmm...Lunch

I got somewhat creative today for lunch and got out the ol' food processor. I threw a pink lady apple in there along with some raw pecans and some yobaby yogurt. After slicing and dicing Logan had a refreshing and healthy lunch. He really enjoyed it. I was getting jealous and tried some myself and I have to admit it was delicious.

Been spending the day cleaning house. I also called Empire today to get an estimate on new carpet. They had a buy one room get two room free deal that seems too good to be true. I guess I'll find out. Well, not too much more to say right now.

Yuck, McDonalds

Logan tried his first McDonald's cheesburger yesterday...and he didn't like it. After Carly got back from school we took a long walk to the post office. Of course it started to rain when we were the farthest point away from our house, but no worries since we brought an umbrella and Logan has his waterproof Chariot jogging stroller. Anyway, McDonald's was across the street from the post office and we decided to get dinner there in hopes of waiting out the heavy rain. Logan has had homemade burger patties and enjoys them most of the time, but was not into the McDonald's burgers. Most all of it ended up on the floor. I guess a dislike for cheeseburgers runs in the family because Carly doesn't like 'em either. Logan filled up on fries and when we got home he had some yogurt and fake chicken patties. Maybe he's a vegetarian baby after all?

Busy Memorial Day

The Hill family was busy this weekend and blogging didn't happen. We went to a fabulous wedding on Saturday. The bride and groom got married at the courthouse and then had a big party in their parent's backyard. They cooked a whole big spread of Indian food which was amazing. It really inspired me to try to make my own homemade Indian food instead of the canned/bagged stuff I usually get. At the party, Logan made a friend with a girl his own age, Sage. They didn't do too much together, but Logan seemed fascinated by her. He also was interested in the awesome pond that was in the yard, a pond replete with tadpoles.

On Sunday we had a nice time at Leah and Josh's BBQ festivities. Logan was a good boy although was a bit too interested in Josh's nice t.v. and gaming systems for my comfort. We made it a somewhat early night and got Logan in bed a little later than usual, but no big deal.

Yesterday we had a nice Memorial day although we didn't do too much. We made a shopping trip and pretty much hung out around the house. I spent from 6:00 to 12:30 doing some plumbing work in the basement in preparation for the shower I am re-putting in. I took my time and soldered a whole bunch of joints and guess what: no leaks! I feel like a genuine Mario brother plumber. Logan was quietly sleeping the whole time I was plumbing and he even slept in this morning so I got a bit of extra rest although Carly still had to go to school and wake up early. Not too much longer though.

Time is a Flyin'

I didn't blog yesterday and I didn't even realize it. Oops. I fear that Daddy is Home will lose some steam as the summer gets ever closer. Perhaps I will have more quality posts if I blog a few times a week instead of my promised everyday? I started this blog because I wanted to capture the minutiae of my experiences with Logan when I was at home full-time. And actually, (here's my loophole justification), Carly will be at home with me after June 9th. So yeah...I will try to blog everyday until June 9th and then see how it goes from there.

Yesterday was a good day with Logan. We had fun during the day (pushing his lawn mower up and down the sidewalk) and he had a lot of fun in the evening. Mom got home early and I spent the whole afternoon and evening replacing a drum trap with pvc piping along with the whole tub/shower get up. It took longer than I had thought, but I got it done (despite gluing the wrong pipe to the wrong pipe) and Logan took his bath on time.

While I was doing this, Logan and Mom were playing outside, going for walks, and eating good food. I took a break around 7:00 and Logan was playing with Jackson, the next-door neighbor two-year-old, in the backyard like a big boy. It felt all summery and I was happy and got nostalgic. Logan is growing up so quick and he'll be all independent before I know it.

Mr. Crabby Learns a New Trick

Logan has learned how to turn the t.v. off and on. It's annoying! Before, he thought the logo was more interesting than the on/off button. Pressing the Samsung logo doesn't do anything. Pressing the on/off button however turns the t.v. on and off! Go figure. When you are trying to watch Oprah or Jeopardy, well, having a baby turn the t.v. on and off gets old real quick. Maybe it's for the best though.

Logan has cranked up the crankiness today. I took a grape sucker away from him and he freaked out. Oh well.

Logan has also learned how to close doors...sometimes open them. He has been closing his nursery door and then cries when he can't open it. Gotta go and open it. Later.

Can't Think of a Title

Logan is becoming such an agile little monkey. He really seems to enjoy climbing on/over things now. I boost him onto the couch and he crawls across onto the little table we have. He then tries to stand on the table. It's cute and dangerous.

He walked all over the place today. We visited my parents and he was walking up and down little molehills, running down the hill and tripping over his feet, and trudging up the hills slowly. He also chased the cat and dogs around the house. He did a nice job on the stairs (supervised of course) and is getting the handle on walking on uneven surfaces. It really is adorable watching him toddle around because he still seems so tiny and his little buddha belly sticks out in front of him. I love it. Anyway, I'm so very proud of little walking Logan.

Phew

Logan is asleep now and I am grateful. I was ready for a break! Carly was too and is at the salon getting a cut and color; I'm glad she's getting some time to herself. She needs it. Only a little over two weeks of school left! We are ready.

I put Logan down early for his own safety. Seriously, he must have fallen down hard at least 20 times today. He was all over everywhere. I'd say he walks places now over 50 percent of the time and so he falls more.

He loves outside and we went swimming in his little froggy pool today which was fun. In the afternoon he was Mr. Crabby and, yes, Mr. Fally Down. He bit his tongue or lip during one episode and drooled blood all over the bed sheets. Let's see, what else was trying today? He had four dirty diapers, count 'em: four. Why is he pooping that much? His diaper rash is still hangin' on despite our best efforts to eradicate it. What else? We did not have a cooperative dinner experience. Logan was being bratty and pitching a fit. That seems to be the way he is now. Carly and I are a bit worried that we are going to have a bratty child. If you take something away from him, or do something he doesn't want to do, Logan whines/cries and goes into a full body convulsion and or limp goosey. I understand he can't yet communicate and gets frustrated sometimes because he wants to do something and can't (or we won't let him), but it seems like he does his tantrum routine all the time. All the time! We are at a loss for how to change this behavior or stop it from happening. Hopefully it's just a phase and when he gets words he won't be so bratty, although I'm not so sure.

The answers to my questions ended up in my email inbox.

Monday, Monday, Monday

Carly is almost done with school and I am so excited about that. She only has two more Mondays (since next Monday is off). It's hard to believe, but I might actually survive this adventure at home with Logan. Starting off I wasn't sure how I would like staying at home. Logan and I soon fell into a rhythm however and we haven't looked back. More to come on these thoughts...

Broken Nose Baby

Last night before bed Logan decided to flip a little wagon into his face. Carly thought he broke his nose, and for a second, I did too, but Logan quickly calmed down and so I felt better about it. I assumed a broken nose would hurt a lot more and give Logan something to cry about, and since he wasn't, I figured it would be alright. He looks like a little baby prizefighter. Poor guy.

Springin' a Leak

Since we are sick and tired of Logan's diaper rash, we've decided to let it air out today. For most of the day he has been diaper-less which leads to, well, pee-pee on the floor-ee. Watching Logan pee on the floor doesn't ever get old. He's done it about three times now already and I'm sure there is more to come. The good news is that he has only done it on the linoleum and wood floors so nothing to soak up; if he had chosen the carpet or the couch or the bed or our jeans I don't think it would be so cute. Anyway, it's been a cleaning day so far this Saturday and in a few minutes or so I think it's going to turn into a gardening day. We're headed to Lowe's to get the last vegetable plants for the garden.

Rainy Day Garage Sales

I knew the weather wasn't going to be very pleasant today and I didn't feel like being stuck in the house so Logan and I ventured out to a neighborhood garage sale in St. Charles near my parent's house. I was hoping we could get lucky and have a few hours of dry weather. We met my sister, Jackie, and made it to about 5 or so sales before it started to drizzle on us. For the amount of times that Logan was in and out of his car seat, he did surprisingly well and was not crabby. In fact, he was in a pleasant mood, smiling at my sister and flirting with random strangers looking for good garage sale pickings. In about 20 minutes, the rain was coming down a little too quick and it was time for Logan and I to make the trip back home. It was also nap time so Logan got his snooze on in the car, and even is asleep now in his crib. I managed to spend about 10 dollars at the sales and got some good stuff. Logan has some water shoes, a new pair of pants, swim trunks, and a swim shirt. I also bought a small fishtank, a bedrail guard for when he is sleeping in a big boy bed, and a few other nick knacks like baby hangers. These sales were in a rather "upscale" neighborhood so they had lots of good stuff. My sister bought a lot of gear for her new arrival in November. Exciting! Logan will have a cousin.

Freak Out at the Pediatrician's Office

I think it is fair to say that Logan now understands the doctor's office is not a fun place for him. We took him in to get his diaper rash checked out, in fear it was a yeast infection, which it is. T.M.I. I know. Anyway, Logan was not having any sort of examination done to him. He even cried when I undressed him to get weighed. I think he knows the routine now and he knows that unpleasant things happen to him in that place. Granted, it was close to his nap time, however, he is still playing in his crib now so I guess he wasn't that sleepy. He was shrieking and wigging out which made the whole visit very unpleasant. I hope it's not always like this, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Nobody really likes going to the doctor, do they?

Request for Pictures

Here are more pictures from Mother's Day. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Baby?

How do you raise a vegetarian baby? Our plan is to feed Logan extraordinary amounts of meat until he implodes. Just kidding (in case you couldn't tell). Our plan to make Logan a vegetarian, or flexitarian as I like to think of myself (hey, I had to try the new KFC grilled chicken the other day) is to allow Logan to have whatever the heck he will eat, and then hope that our influence as his parents leads him down the path that we've chosen for ourselves (and not so secretly for him). With that said, Logan enjoyed some juicy chunks of cheeseburger yesterday at the Mother's Day festivities. Carly and I were happy that we found another source of protein that Logan seems to like to eat; however, now we have to buy meat and shop for it and cooking it isn't pleasant for us anymore--the power of conditioning, I guess. But we'll suffer through the aroma and satisfying texture of meat because of love. We love Logan and want him to grow up big, strong, and hearty. As long as the fire is hot enough, it doesn't matter what the fuel is, right? Anyway, ideally, of course, we'd like Logan to eat the same things we do but for now, he gets anything he wants except excessive sweets and all the processed crap out there. We are trying the whole reverse psychology thing. If we were to force a vegetarian diet on our baby, I think he'd end up rebelling eventually and be the biggest carnivore on the planet. But if we take the moderate path and let him eat meat then hopefully he'll become conscious of the food he eats and someday come to the same ethically-based conclusions we have. And if not, well, we'll be able to live with that.

Bad Touch!

When you take 186 photographs in the course of a half an hour you're bound to get some good ones and some bad ones. One of these pictures is bad touch, the other is cute. It's not hard to tell which is which. Well, Mother's Day was a good time had by all. Hope everyone else got out and enjoyed the weather like we did.


Good!


Bad!

Walk Hard

Logan has been steadily getting more confident in his walking. I thought you should know.

Kickin' the Bottle

Logan is almost officially off the bottle. It wasn't very hard and he doesn't seem to miss it all that much. We've been giving him whole milk for a month now and for the past two weeks or so we've been giving him sippy cups primarily. I expected him to have a harder time with getting off the bottle, but so far it's been easy. He fusses still during nap time a bit and especially when we put him to bed for the night, but overall it's been ok. It's awfully cute watching him feed himself with the sippy cup although he does get a bit frustrated sometimes if you don't let him do it himself. Anyway, I can't say I miss mixing up the formula, but I do occasionally miss giving him his "ba-ba". Logan is growing up and him kickin' the bottle is another reminder of just how fast that is happening.

Interesting Quote

"We don't own 'em [kids], they're just on loan to us."

I heard this quote the other day on t.v. from Justin Chambers. He's on the ABC day-time circuit for the 100th episode of Grey's Anatomy--he plays the swarthy doctor in love with Izzie, the character who "jumped the shark" when she was seeing her dead boyfriend because of a brain tumor. Yes...unfortunately I have seen a few episodes. Anyway, I was struck by that quote and appreciated the sentiment.

We don't own our kids. Truly, they are a gift and it's our job to do the best we can in raising them. Being conscious of the fact that they are their own little independent selves is an important thing to remember from day to day. Sure we have to set boundaries and try to get them to stop throwing their sippy cup full of milk on the ground, but then again, we also have to realize that they are independent beings with their own purpose here on earth. No one owns anyone else in this world, even though it seems like people try.

This train of thought gets me thinking about something else I saw on t.v. I also watched a Frontline documentary on the sex trade involving women in European countries. It broke my heart to hear these stories and see people still treating people/women like property. It's maddening the world we live in. Makes me want to scream. How can all sorts of good things happen while simultaneously all sorts of bad things happen? What is the nature of this world? Of humanity? Of myself even? Carly was using this really interesting article for class the other day. It discussed an ethical issue. From what I read, this guy, Peter Singer, calculated that it would take $200 dollars to save the life of a starving child. It's more involved than how I am expressing it, but basically he states that if we are to consider ourselves "moral" then everyone with disposable income, i.e. Americans, should forego all luxury spending and give it to those in need. If we don't, then we shouldn't fool ourselves self-righteously proclaiming we are "moral" people. Again, I've way simplified his argument and it was much more convincing than I'm making it out to be. However, he has a strong point, I think. Google the article yourself for the moral of this story. Well, enough philosophical angst for now. If you've stayed with me let me get back to my original point. We should cherish our children and the time we have with them. Simple, but difficult when they won't nap and are being fussy.