Party Animal

It took Logan about 20 minutes or so to warm up, but once he did he became a party animal. Carly and I have an affable and gregarious little boy (I know...big vocab words). Logan is friendly and had a lot of fun socializing with family and friends. He especially enjoyed playing the piano with his Great Grandma Rees. We may have pianist on our hands, I swear, the banging that he did on the piano was melodious, at least to my ears. He ate some chicken, cake, and finished off a bottle and a half at the party. He had a late nap this afternoon so staying up late tonight was not a big deal, no crabbiness at all really. Yup, Logan was a lil social butterfly. We had fun.

Time is Flyin'

As many of you know, I try to go to the YMCA three times a week in order to get out of the house, give Logan some social play-time, work-out and generally keep sane. When I drop Logan off at the kidzone I have to sign in, and there is a box in which to check how old your child is. For a while now I've been checking infant, but in a short month and a week, I'll be checking 1 year old. The reality of that shocked me today. Logan is growing up and he's growing up fast. It's so cliche, but I can't believe it.

Tomorrow we are going to my cousin's birthday parties...they are two and four(?) respectively. I can remember when they were born and now they are big little boys. The passing of time moves quickly and if you don't stop and reflect every once in a while time will pass ya on by, I think. Lucky for me I have the leisure (when Logan naps) to sit in front of my laptop and reflect upon my life. It's been a trip these past months and I wouldn't trade them for the world. Boy, am I full of cliches today.

Well, to stop the bad writing I think I'll end this post. Adieu.

Case of Crabs

Logan woke up crabby at 6:30 this morning. It was exactly how I wanted to start my day. His nap schedule got a bit mixed up yesterday because I took him over to see Grams and Gramps for a while. He zonked in the car, but only for 20 minutes or so each way. Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. (I don't know who I am apologizing to, mostly myself.) I crashed after LOST and simply forgot to write. Anyway, back to Mr. Crabby.

When Logan cries just for the sake of crying it is awfully frustrating. I don't expect him to be happy all of the time, but the piercing, drooling, snot-bubble type of crying simply because he woke up tired doesn't garner a huge amount of sympathy from me. This morning it made me annoyed and a bit angry. When he's still tired you would think a soft little cuddle, a back rub, and hugs and kisses from Dad in a warm bed or the comfy couch would make a baby feel better. Nope. Not at all. In fact, when I try to lay him next to me in the bed he increases the volume of his cries and gets all squirmy. It's really maddening. The only thing to do is to stand up with him and walk around a bit. It's Logan's terms or face the wrath of his shrieks. It's ok. I get it. But it would be nice to snooze a bit in bed while he relaxes with me.

Visuals

I been slack on posting pictures or videos lately so here's a few recent pictures. Logan's great aunt got him some cute socks and I put them on him the other day...

Can Babies Eat That?

I asked myself that question many times today at lunch. I had a tomato and mayo sandwich first. Baby can eat that. Logan really digs fresh tomatoes. I was still hungry so I grabbed the bag of mediterranean apricots. Baby can eat that. And boy did Logan like 'em. He liked them so much that he nearly bit my finger off...I thought he might have drawn blood. Now apricots and tomatoes aren't all that weird for a baby to eat, but that wasn't all that Logan had for lunch.

I still had a taste for something so I got out the garlic and jalapeno pepper salad that I get at Shnuck's. It's spicy and delicious. It's not stinky garlic, but rather the desensitized kind. Anyway, can baby eat that? Yes. Apparently so. I thought he would turn his nose up at it, but Logan wholeheartedly ate little chunks of garlic and pepper that I baby birded to him (I chewed them up a bit first, then gave them to him). Maybe the reason he loved it so much was because they were in oil or something. I don't know. But I guess babies don't mind spicy things too much. Finally for lunch I ate a few orange-flavored craisins. Logan had a couple bites of those too. Babies can eat Craisins after all. I hadn't known that babies can eat all of this kind of food and like it. Needless to say, it was an interesting lunch.

Tooth Fairy Visits Again

Ok. I realize the tooth fairy is supposed to take teeth away when kids lose them. But I think part of her responsibilities include giving kids their teeth too. Logan sprouted his fifth tooth, an eye tooth we believe. It's on the left side next to his two front teeth. I had noticed that it was getting close and Carly noticed the white showing last night on the changing table. Sweet.

Logan loves getting his teeth brushed. We don't really do it as often as we should, but when we do he seems happy and content to get the rubbery bristles all rubbed on his gums and teeth. Hopefully he doesn't have my teeth. I had so many cavities in my lifetime. Even now when I floss everyday I get the occasional cavity. Anyway, I messed with the time stamp on this post so if you were looking for it yesterday, sorry. I was swept up in all the Oscars hubbabaloo.

Another New Trick

Logan hasn't walked independently today, but it's still early on in the day. He has displayed another new trick though. Logan has begun to assert his opinions on matters of feeding and sleeping. For the past few days, Logan has been shaking his head "no." And we really think he knows what it means now. At first we thought he was simply trying to dodge food coming at him, but he's made it clear today that he knows no means no. "No," I don't want more lentils. "No, Mommy don't put me down and leave the room. "No," I want to be able to go into the refrigerator. Logan is getting quite the neck work-out. It's nice to know what he wants when it coincides with what we want for him, but it's not as endearing when he needs nutrition and turns his nose up at things. And so the rebellion begins!

I think I mentioned it before, but Logan has also learned to dance recently. He bounces up and down to music when he hears it and when he presses on his rapping push toy. Logan's dancing is very cute and he tends to do it when excited, overtired, or just plain happy. Well, think that's enough blogging about our ornery little boy.

Walk Like a Man

Logan "officially" took his first big boy steps today. Carly witnessed the first step, and we both saw the second attempt. Of course, they were baby steps, but they were steps, unaided and wobbly. Exciting stuff that just called for an extra little blog blurb.

Zen Parable: The Sound of One Baby Crying

The sound of one baby crying can be a deafening thing if you are the parent of that baby. Right now Logan is wailing in the other room and I'm typing away trying to ignore it. I've been in there three times already and am determined not to make it a fourth. He doesn't want to be put down! It's the most maddening and endearing thing in the world. I hold him and rock him and he closes his eyes and his little body relaxes and all is peaceful and right in the world and I feel like the best father ever. Heaven forbid that I want to do something else and put him down in his crib. "Oh no you didn't," he protests and so begins the tempest that is Logan Daniel Hill. It doesn't seem to matter if I hold him 5 or 15 minutes. He knows when he's being put down. I understand he's upset because he's sick, (baby vik's vapo all rubbed in) but he's also got to understand that I can't hold him all of the time, that Daddy needs some time away. One side of me feels that I'm cruel, unfair, and selfish, and the other side feels like I'm being perfectly reasonable. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
There, that feels better. Although he's still crying. Not with the same fervor, but he's still making noise. The sound of one baby crying...sucks.

Boy Interrupted

Logan is having a hard time sleeping because of his stuffed up nose and cough. He keeps waking up from his naps and crying. I feel really bad for him but don't know what to do. His humidifier is on and he's got his blankie and it's quiet in the house except for me typing away and the occasional cat meow. All signs point to napping. That sounds like a plan to me. I'm going to catch a few winks here too because I don't feel all that well either. Siesta time!

Livin' in a Sick World

Logan and I, along with Carly, are all sick. I don't know who exactly started it, but we all got it. Logan has been pretty miserable today. He's got a chesty, phlegmy cough that just breaks my heart. His nose (like mine) is also running, faucet-like. He's been crabby and none too happy for most of the day, and I don't blame him. Although, he has napped pretty well so things could be worse. For the past two days sleep has been wonderful--he has slept through the night so Carly and I have been getting some great shut-eye.

Nothing else too exciting happening here. Logan did try bread and extra virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese today. He seemed to really enjoy it, licking his lips to get more of the wholesome goodness that is an Italian staple. I'm happy that he's into the olive oil because I think it's really good for him.

Epicurean

Logan enjoys quite a wide variety of foods. Today for breakfast he had a cube of apples, pears, and rutabaga. Rutabaga? Yup. Logan is not all that fond of it, but if you disguise it with other food he'll eat it (with a suspicious look on his face.) I had never tried it before either. But I bought one at the store, steamed it, chopped it up in the food processor and froze it in our cool new silicon ice cube trays. Our freezer is jam packed with all sorts of baby food cubes...so much in fact that we are contemplating getting one of those basement freezers. We've got peas and carrots and lentils and butternut squash and a few other things in there.

For lunch, Logan has a cube of butternut squash and lentils (and he finished off his yogurt). He loves lentils, which is good because they are a good source of protein. Most of what Logan loves is sweet stuff like fruit, or interesting texture stuff like toast. Well, that's about it for today folks. Logan is no longer interested in sitting in his high chair and has lost interest in his graduate puffs. Later.

Tunnel by IKEA

We ended up venturing out to IKEA yesterday after all, and it was a pleasant trip although it was absolutely insanely crowded. We bought a play tunnel for Logan and he loves it. As the pictures will show, I've had some fun with it too.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

So Carly and I are a bit stir crazy this Sunday. Logan missed his nap before church and crashed mightily afterwards. We were thinking about driving to Schaumburg to go to IKEA but that doesn't at all seem appealing to me. Not too much going on except some cleaning and napping and the like.

As promised yesterday, here's a picture of mine and Logan's homemade card for Mom on Valentine's day. The middle heart is Logan's butt print, and the sides are his feet and hands. It was a lot of fun making the card, using Logan as a human paint brush. He seemed to enjoy getting painted too.

I'll throw in a picture of Logan today as well for kicks.

If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands

Carly was remarking about how Logan isn't really gesturing very well. He seemed to have got the message, because Logan decided to clap today. It was cute and we encouraged him like crazy, making me feel a bit idiotic. Logan also gave his mother the bird while her back was turned. No, not really. Anyway, Logan has clapped a few times today and he's also had a fun time dancing to music. He bounces up and down in our arms in an excited way while we dance with him. It's one of his favorite things to do, I think.

Logan and I didn't do much for Valentine's Day, but we did get Mom flowers and a fun, home-made card. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow, I think. We also ordered out Thai food and just got done eating it. Mmmm.

I've been preoccupied these past few days because my 27 year old cousin is in the hospital fighting a Leukemia diagnosis. Because his immune system is compromised, he's developed an invasive fungal infection in his sinuses and had surgery yesterday to correct some of the problem. Thankfully, he got through it, but the situation is very dire and he needs a lot of things to go well to get through this. He's a strong guy and a fighter, and he needs all the strength he can get. Put him in your thoughts and prayers if you would.

So on this Valentine's Day, love the one you're with and appreciate the simple moments.

Long Day Without Logan

I'll write tomorrow. Sorry.

Breakfast of Champions

Logan and I had a sweet breakfast this morning. While opening the fridge thinking about what to make for breakfast, Logan grabbed the carton of eggs and dumped them on the floor, breaking three of them. Eggs for breakfast! I fried up dem eggs, popped in some toast (of course), peeled a banana, sliced up a kiwi, and poured us a glass of orange juice. We sat in our respective chairs in our little kitchen breakfast nook and feasted.

Logan is not too keen on egg yolk, but he ate a whole one because I cleverly disguised it by mashing it into the toast. This was the first time he had kiwi, and although he ate it initially, most of what I gave him was left on his tray. He ate up the piece of toast I gave him, along with dribbling down some o.j. and munching on a banana. He let his satisfaction be known by letting out a nice belch afterwards. All this was done in a relatively clean way with not too much ending up on the floor. Truly, this was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had.

Pain in the Rear

No. Logan hasn't been naughty or anything. He actually had a pain in the rear. If you don't want to read about poop, I'd suggest you stop reading.


The poor guy has been eating all sorts of new foods and he's a bit stopped up. Too much toast perhaps? We were playing all nice and then out of the blue he goes into this shrieking ear curdling fit. It was as if he had been stung by a giant scorpion or something. At first I freaked out, thinking that there actually was some sort of giant scorpion hiding somewhere, but then I saw the red face and knew he was having a tough time with the b.m. And let me tell you, this was a bowel movement worthy of a trophy case. It was a lincoln log turd, perfectly shaped like a large tootsie roll. Logan was not happy and ended up crabby for a bit afterwards.

And here's the kicker of it all. I am responsible. Well, actually, Carly and I are. We are the food providers and we fed him the stuff that got him to have painful poops. Of course we didn't mean to or know it was going to happen, but the blame remains the same. The power of parenthood is a mighty thing I tell ya, a mighty thing.

Thoughts

I am taking a grad. class this semester called Traditions of Written Rhetoric. Basically, it's a course that traces the history of rhetoric from the Ancient Greeks up to modern day philosophers and orators. What is rhetoric you say? Well, let's just say it's the ability to persuade others using language or discourse.

Why am I telling you this? Because we've been discussing some interesting ideas that I find applicable to my life, and it involves this blog. Writing this blog has been a great way to remember happenings and experiences. It's been wonderful to be able to share moments from mine and Logan's day, expressing some of the thoughts, feelings, and ideas that I've had.

However, in many ways, this blog is artificial, an imagined creation, a rhetorical tool in which I portray a vision of what staying at home with Logan is like. And what's bugging me about my blog is that it doesn't tell "the truth."

I'm not lying or anything, merely using words to create a reality that isn't, well, reality. I'm being rhetorical and using my powers of persuasion to gain sympathy, incite laughs, and simply connect. No matter how hard I try my experience of living life with baby can't ever fully be encapsulated through words. The power of writing only scratches at the surface of reality, and this can be a frustrating thing if you dwell on it too much.

For example, over the past three days Logan has woken up in the morning with his diaper full of poop. Have I mentioned this before? No. Should I be mentioning it now? Probably not. Waking up poopy caused all sorts of thoughts and feelings inside of me: "how long has he been like this? I'm terrible for not getting him at the first whimper. Man this is gross...is this what my life has become? Wow, I love life and I love Logan and I even love changing his diaper. What did he eat? Etc. Etc."

These thoughts could have made it into the blog, but I chose to leave them out (actually I just put them in, but you get what I'm saying). Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that so much of life at home is missing, left out because it's not important enough or I can't express it properly or I think it would be boring or I feel as though no one wants to hear or read about it.

Good writers are able to expand these everyday moments and reveal some of the depth that every moment in life possesses. Right now at 11:11 a trillion things are happening. Present. A clock is ticking and my laptop is humming and the keys of my laptop are clicking and I'm breathing but not really aware of my breath and my butt is sort of sore and a truck passed by my house and Logan is stirring and all sorts of stuff is happening that I'm not even aware of.

So, enough rambling. My blog, Daddy is Home, is not the truth. It's a collection of parts of the truth that I stitch together in order to make something pretty and wholesome and interesting. I could go back each day and write something completely different for that day and it would still not get at the whole truth.

Where are we at now? Well, all I know is that the power of words and rhetoric is pretty neat and I'm still enjoying exploring. Hopefully I haven't turned off too many readers with this lengthy post. I was a bit bored and lonely during Logan's nap so decided to blab. Was it in a persuasive way? Did you follow any of what I said or am I headcase who needs to get outside? It is 60 degrees outside...wake up Logan! Daddy needs to go for a walk!

Don't Hit Yer Head

Right now, Logan is bonking his head on the kitchen cabinet, on purpose. Why does he do this? Over the past two weeks or so, we've noticed him doing this every once in a while. He just gently taps his noggin' but it's enough to make his Mom and Dad say "stop it!" Maybe he's doing it as an attention thing, or maybe he has water in his ear and is trying to knock it loose, or maybe he enjoys the sensation of knocking the back of his head into things. I don't know. But I don't like it...even though it is cute and all in a masochistic way. Anyway, maybe Logan has a future in professional head-butting.

Try Not to Smile

By Popular Request

More Pictures!!!!

My Son is 10 Months Old!

Can't believe it, but Logan is 10 months old today. Crazy! Here's some pictures from today. Enjoy!

Sans Oatmeal

Logan no longer will eat oatmeal...a travesty. Instead, I made him a piece of toast and he easily ate half of it. I got hungry too so I ate the other half, although I think he would've eaten more if I gave it to him.

I've been carefully observing Logan this week and I'm ready to make a bold claim. I think Logan is left-handed. It may be a bit premature to definitely say his left is his dominant hand because he does use his right, but all in all, I'd say he's a lefty. He grabs for his food with his left hand first, and seems to use that hand more than the right. I don't think there are any lefties in my family, but I know Carly's Mom is a lefty so maybe he takes after her.

I'm filled with a sense of pride and chagrin if it turns out Logan's a lefty. I think it's cool to be a lefty, to be a bit unique, supposedly more creative and all that stuff; however, he'll have to deal with the right handed establishment and be forced to adapt to right-handed desks and all that crap. I guess it's tough being special.

Losing Power Struggles

So I lost a major power struggle with Logan today. He woke up from a nap prematurely and I didn't feel like getting him (I know...I'm a terrible person). I checked on him quickly to make sure he was ok, then I let him cry, thinking beyond hope, I know, that he might fall back to sleep. Instead, he cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried and cried until I couldn't take it anymore (after about an hour). Logan wins. I know I shouldn't see the situation in this whole power struggle sort of way, but sometimes it feels like that with this baby. I fed him some blueberries and apple baby food right after this non-napping extravaganza and Logan totally spit the food out directly in my face, showing me what he does to fathers who ignore him. It was actually funny and we had a miniature food fight. Ok. Not really, but Logan did end up looking like the Joker in the most recent Batman movie, The Dark Knight. The blueberry apple was a deep purple color and it was all over his lips and face in a contorted, maniacal smile.

You would think that I would have learned I am not going to win with this kid. Around 4:00 this morning I got done giving Logan a bottle and he gently went to bed, not making a sound for 5 minutes. Then, at 4:05 he decided he didn't want to sleep. Carly and I let him cry until it was time for Carly to wake up to go to school. She soothed him, thereby rewarding him for his hour of crying, or finally putting an end to his crying? I don't know.

Toast and Wetsuits

Logan ate toast for this first time this morning and he loved it. He munched a half a slice of Turano Wheat Italian Bread (my new favorite brand). I slapped some Smart Balance buttery spread on the toast along with some Dickinson's purely fruit strawberry jelly, and Logan ate it all up. He wasn't at all interested in his oatmeal with bananas, just toast. I think we've discovered his new favorite food.

And now to address the second term in my title: wetsuits. I was a getting a bit stir crazy and decided to take Logan to the YMCA this morning to go swimming. We hadn't been swimming in quite a while and I thought it would be fun. Turns out the warmer kid-friendly pool had a pipe burst in it yesterday and it was closed. Go figure. But like the good boy scout I am, I was prepared. I brought Logan's baby wetsuit with me, so we ventured into the adult lap swimming pool, which is colder and which has a minimum depth of 7 feet (which I didn't know). The pool wasn't that cold, and Logan's wetsuit seemed to do the trick because once the initial shock was done, he seemed to be enjoying himself and wasn't chattering or turning blue or anything. We swam a few laps and splashed a bit and after 10-15 minutes we hit the hot showers. Nothing quite like a hot shower after a cool pool, and we didn't have any company either so no naked dudes to contend with. Anyway, it's been a good morning and we're ready for lunch. Toast, perhaps?

Flippy Basket

Logan flipped a laundry basket onto himself today and began to cry. It was comical and worth mentioning and so I have. Mom and I just ordered Thai Pavilion so I have to go and pick it up. Later.

So Super I Missed Sunday's Post

I knew I was taking on a challenge when I committed to blogging everyday for a year, but I didn't envision keeping up with the daily grind would be this difficult. I know..."boo hoo" for me. I get to stay home with my baby, don't have to work, and am forced to write silly entries for my blog each day. Seriously though, I am finding that I am becoming a bit dissatisfied with my output and the general quality of my posts. Maybe I just need to get over myself and re-ignite the passion that led me to this blog via the stop-complaining, just shut up and do it method. I think I'll try that.

Yesterday we took Logan over to Josh and Leah's place for a Super Bowl party. Logan had napped well that day so he was ready to have a good time. He was sweet and flirty and seemed to enjoy himself, although his sensitive side was revealed on a few occasions. I got excited at the game at a few points and sort of yelled and raised my voice at the t.v. I don't know if Logan thought this intense screaming was directed at him or something because he did his classic, frowny lip curl and began to cry. I felt really bad for getting him upset. He quickly became his happy self again after a bit of consoling, only to get upset two more times at emotional points in the game. Poor kid. Other than that, he was a perfect gentleman at the party. We left after the half time show since we didn't want to upset his schedule too much, and Logan slept well last night, waking up happy and chipper this morning. We had a super Sunday and I'm sorry that I missed posting.