Trip recap--NH and Maine

We went to NH to meet up with several of my college friends. One couldn't make it, and we missed her very much. I was hoping to see her pregnant self, but pictures will have to do... So we got to stay in a family condo up in Waterville Valley. It was heaven! Pretty rainy, but there were lots of breaks to get out and about. Frankly we went out in the rain a bunch too. All the kids got along well and Logan is still talking about them. Especially a show that S put on that involved spooky stories, a flashlight, and lots of physical comedy. It was something to behold! It is weird being in NH and not having a home or cottage there. So much of my life involves that state, but now there is nothing left tying me there. It feels a little empty or maybe just disassociated. It is strange for sure.

Maine was more rain, but so relaxing. I spent much of my free time on the trip reading, and totally got into the T.wilight series. I only have the last book to go, but I can't say I am actually going to read it, the reviews are pretty bad. I digress...

My parent's new place is amazing. I am so happy that they are settled into a home where they will make everything just the way they want it. My dad can fish to his heart's content, my mom can get to the ocean in 15 minutes, and family on both sides is close by. Other than the fact that Maine winters totally SUCK, it is they perfect spot for them. And it doesn't hurt that we get to visit in the summers.

Monday we spent laying around and taking advantage of the good weather when it broke through the showers. We took a boat ride (Logan drove the boat for the first time), got in the water a bit, and played around. We visited Logan's Meme (my grandmother) at her apartment for a little bit too. On Tuesday we hung around some more and had dinner at my aunt's house with my cousin and her two kids. It was so great for Logan to spend time with them, they had a ball "fishing" in the pool and not sharing toys (well, that would be Logan not sharing toys--W and K did just fine).

Wednesday we decided to venture out and brave the mob at the ME Children's Museum. Logan was reserved at first, but ended up having a great time. He still talks about the stuffed beaver he saw there. They also had a little veterinary/grooming area where we "washed" a toy cat.He loves to rehash that experience as well. Let's just say that the 2 hours we spent there was more than enough to make us all overwhelmed and cranky. It was still nice to be out of the house though. Don and I had a date night and saw Bat.man. It was everything I hoped it would be. We loved the first one, and the second didn't disappoint. We almost didn't get to eat our dinner due to bad planning on my part, but it all worked out in the end.

Thursday we spent the morning at the Maine Wild Animal Park. My aunt brought W and K so the kids had a good time running and feeding all sorts of animals. They all pet a baby deer, so that was a big hit. Friday we had lunch with Meme at her place and Logan was introduced to tons of her friends. He was incredibly well behaved and loved sitting on Meme's lap. We had such a nice time and enjoyed the fabulous company! Friday night was dinner with another aunt and uncle and cousin K. We kept them up way too late and thoroughly enjoyed the conversations.

Saturday was actually nice so we did all the things we wanted to do all week in one day. Hooray! Fishing, boating, relaxing in the sun, biking,and lunching outdoors--it was great!

Overheard

D: Logan, who's the boss?
L: Logan!

How right he is...

----

Three hours later:

D: Logan, who is the boss?
L: Mommy!

I love that kid!

Trip recap: Philly

Why yes, we did go on a trip. I didn't mention it? Really? Oh. Right. That is because I have been a bad poster... Anyhow, we went on a two week tour of the northeast starting in PA. We went to see Nana and PopPop at their home for the first time in a while. We ended up invading their sunroom, and sleeping at the house was fantastic. I was sure would be required because of allergy issues, but it all worked out great. It was L's time at their house and he had lots of fun. I think the highlight of the trip for Logan was the gift of L.ightening Mc.Queen shoes from Nana. He is still totally attached to them.

We were able to see Uncle Chris and had a family party on Sunday. Five running kids, ten adults, and a newborn made for a busy night. We met up with friends on Monday and Tuesday which was really fun. Logan really liked riding on a city bus. We headed to Winterthur one afternoon and checked out the Enchanted Woods. Next day we drove to Strausberg to ride the railroad. It was HOT and close. Logan was thrilled and I got to see Amish country, which I had never done before.

We ended the trip with a trip to the Brandywine Museum where I got to see some of A. Wyeth's Helga paintings in person. The whole collection was spectacular. The Wyeth family is beyond talented and it was interesting to see the generations all together.

Random updates

I came into work this morning and there was a GIANT moth in my office. And by giant, I mean I thought it might be a small bat. Seriously. Luckily I was able to trap it in a garbage can and let it free outside. Not the way I expected to start my day!

Last night we went to the car show for the first time in weeks. Logan was so enamored with all the cars that he told us to "look at that one!" for every single old car. And there are a lot of cars - it was very cute. Last year he just soaked it all in very serious-like. No smiles, just looking. This year he loves going and talks about it all week. I am going to be so sad when they end. What will we do with our Thursday nights?

Don is heavily involved in fantasy football (well fantasy baseball too, but I won't get into that here) and his group is getting together for a "live draft" next week. *rolls eyes* His level of excitement over picking players for his imaginary team is quite high. I think he is mostly looking forward to drinking with his friends and being able to talk about sports with people who care as much as him. Can't fault him for that, but it still is kind of funny. I will mini rant here about how I hate that the fantasy team supersedes real teams that we love, leading Don to route against (against!) teams he would ordinarily support. It takes the fun out of watching together, which is half of why I like football. Last year he promised to be better, but it didn’t change. I don't hold out much hope for this year either. *pity party over*

We had our "big" ultrasound on Monday and all seems well. Our tech wasn't very chatty, but she did say everything looked good. We are happy with that and I am sure I will find out more at my midwife appt next week. Logan's big u/s didn't go as smoothly so I am happy that this one was a breeze. Except that we had to bring Logan because it was in the middle of the day. He was well behaved, but I was glad when he and Don left to go outside. You can only expect so much from a two year old in a dark boring room.

Why, good morning

So how's your Sunday?

Mine started out with both dropping an egg on the floor, then spilling a full glass of orange juice all over the kitchen not 20 minutes later. Oops.

On the up side, Logan and I watched the W.all-e trailer and built a robot so that was good.

Here's hoping the clumsiness doesn't last all day..

Thwarted

We tried to go camping this weekend, but it was a comedy of errors instead. It started out innocently enough, just a small schedule change. Don forgot the tickets to the D.el M.ar fair at school, and we had tons to run around and procure, so we decided we would skip the fair and go straight to the campground. We left at L's nap time and headed to the Palomar Mountain area to camp at the La Jolla Indian Reservation Campground. This campground is a real gem, it has a stream running through it and has TONS of tent spots. You can rent tubes and float down the stream over and over. Heaven! I mean, there is practically no available fresh water around here (everything is a reservoir) so swimming in a stream is a real treat.

Well, first we took a wrong turn (further justifying my desire for a gps system) and ended up going almost to the top of Palomar Mtn before we decided we went the wrong way. It was so incredibly a) hot, and b) twisty, that by the time we got back to the bottom I felt pretty green. L woke up on the way down but that was to be expected, and, hey, we were almost there! Ha. We checked in to the campground where they politely took our cash. Then we went on the monumental journey of finding a spot. To say it was insanely busy does not do it justice. The stream was crawling with people and both Don and I could only mutter e. coli under our breath. I was happily anticipating our tent site and Don was freaking out. He was never keen on camping in the first place and the atmosphere was frantic with people. When we got to the end of the grounds it was clear that there were no spots left. And our little receipt had a bold "NO REFUNDS" policy outlined. So we left. We figure we will go back on an off-weekend in September. Other campgrounds will suffice during the summer. I was bummed, but what could we do?

On the way in we passed a casino in the middle of nowhere. We figured we could salvage the trip, stay there overnight, and use their pool. Good plan! Logan was being super patient and we headed back toward "town." We pulled up outside the casino, I went in and inquired about a room for the night. Yeah, they were sold out. SOLD OUT?!?! I still don't understand how this is possible. The hotel is huge and there is nothing in that area. So we were thwarted again.

We decided to salvage the day by using our zoo passes by visiting the wild animal park. Logan had fun and at least we got out of the car. It was a long day, with relatively little to show for it. Ah well. We are camping in our backyard this weekend. At least we won't need to pack...

Overheard

Overheard in our house tonight:

"I poopin' in the tub Mommy!"

I have never been so glad Don does bath time.

News

We have got some big news we have been sitting on for a little while now--we are pregnant again! I just started my 2nd trimester and so far everything looks good. We are very excited. Logan is still in the dark, we will tell him in a few weeks. No need to burst his bubble yet...

Yeah, so my due date is Christmas Eve. Not exactly what I would have chosen willingly, but an excellent holiday present. We have everything crossed that this baby decides to stay in longer than Logan, but unfortunately I have very little control over that. Now that I have made it through the 1st trimester I have lots of time to fret over early delivery. It is always something, right?

So that is why the blog has been s l o w lately, I was tired, nervous, and preoccupied. I promise it will pick up again.

In Logan news, he pretends his rocking horse is a motorcycle and today he told me that it has a loud engine. True enough! Our neighbor details motorcycles and she is always out and about on her own so we hear them quite a bit. She is one rocking lady, we love having her in the neighborhood. Her dog Freckles is super sweet too.

He has recently begun getting scared of monsters. We have a few books with monsters that he likes, nothing scary, but he needs reassurance that they are nice. Cookie monster is also a character he enjoys, but again, he is kind of freaked out by him too. I read him a book the other day and it spooked him enough to cry. Poor kid! Also "Fi.nding N.emo" is out, he cried at that too.

L and I made our first batch of chocolate chip cookies together last weekend and they turned out great. I forgot how many cookies come out of that Ne.stle recipe--a lot! I ate them all. Don helped, but only a little. Logan was completely disinterested. Weird kid.

Decided

Well, on the job front, it looks like things are decided. Don interviewed for a position at a Fine Arts/technology high school in a smaller district and was convinced that he totally blew the interview.He obsessed about it for days, and I lovingly tried to tell him that I was sure he did fine. Even if he didn't there was nothing he could do about it now. See? I was so sweet. Ahem. Lo and behold, he was offered the job. Guess he did ok after all! He accepted, and told Zamorano he would be leaving. Both our reactions are mixed sadness and relief. It means a longer commute, but more money. And relative stability. So, we will see how it goes. Mostly we are just really glad he will be working(with benefits) in the fall.

Logan has been a joy to be around, except when he is having a monumental meltdown. He does not do tantrums half-assed, no sir. I got hit in the head twice with a toy a couple days ago, and that was both humiliating because it occurred on Ms. T's lawn, and ouchy because I got a killer headache from the blows and the crying (his, not mine). I figure I should document these times too, so I won't be able to say to anyone later on "Oh Logan? He never gave me trouble, such an angel that boy..."

In happier news he is talking like crazy and is the best companion on just about any outing. We went grocery shopping yesterday and I have never had so much fun. He is silly and cute and pretty happy when out and about. A few things he has said lately are:

• Come on dude! (when he was frustrated with a toy)
• Gross (he learned that directly from me)
• Excuse me, pardon me (we say this to him all the time, he is such a parrot)
• Night night buddy (to Don as he ran down the hall to his room)
• One more time! (for anything he wants to do again)

Oh dang it!

My child is running around the house, starting with "Get set, go!" and then "falling" and yelling out "Oh dang it!" Yeah, that was not really a phrase I was planning on teaching him, but I suppose it is better than many alternatives I have said in front of him.

New things about Logan:

• He loves the movie Cars. We discourage TV watching, but he was sick last week and we spent a day with the boob tube on. Cars was viewed twice. I am ready to put it away for a while, but I doubt I will be allowed.
• He is taking temper tantrums to a whole new level, with an epic one lasting over 45 minutes last week. It was not. fun. This week has been so much better.
• He sings Ms T's daughter's name like a song. He has such a crush on her.
• He got another haircut, and Don didn't even notice until Ms. T pointed it out. This after not letting me do it when he was around because he didn't want to see the curls go.
• He has new "yellow shoes" that he is obsessed with. They are actually sandals, and they are the first thing he asks for when he wakes up in the morning.
• He is so helpful. He sweeps, does laundry, wipes up, and washes dishes. Heaven!

So other than that, we have been preoccupied with Don's job stability and our general lives. We have tickets for our summer vacation, and will be in PA and ME this summer at the end of July, beginning of August. So looking forward to it!

Ouchie

Logan has an ouchie on his arm that he got a daycare today. I pointed it out to him and asked him how he got it and he told me his arm is "broken," and vaguely referenced a toy. I asked him if he wanted me to kiss it and he emphatically said "NO!"

He didn't even notice this gem below, yet a little scrape and his arm is broken...

Vacation

We had a great time in Palm Springs. Seems like it was ages ago, hmmmm, I guess it was...

Here are some pics of cuteness.

Wow

It has been so long. Just the thought of blogging had me paralyzed with all the things I should write about but wouldn't remember properly, and so I didn't. But now I am!

Logan is doing great. He has been so pleasant despite getting three of his four eye teeth in at once. There is some crying in the night, but nothing motrin can't handle. And in true Logie fashion, they are taking forever to come in. Two-year molars are nowhere to be seen.

He is talking like crazy, and most conversation revolves around "big trucks." He can now properly identify bikes, cars, trucks, vans, buses, big trucks, trains, and we are currently working on scooters. Colors are hit and miss (which means he calls most everything blue), but he surprises me every so often.

The other night he was so cute. He got his baby doll and decided to put it (can't decide if it is a he or she--it's an androgynous baby) down for "night-night." He got a blankie, covered the baby and we all had to be really quiet. The he picked it up and did the cutest little bounce up and down while shushing, to help it fall to sleep. It was seriously adorable. Then he found a bed and spent a good 20 minutes putting the baby to sleep. My heart instantly turned to goo. He is going to make a great dad someday!

We are going on a little trip tomorrow so wish us luck. I hope we can still watch tv or a movie while he is sleeping in the room with us. If not I guess we will come back really well rested!

4, 5, 4, 5, 6

A list, since I am so far behind...

• Friday was Grammy Brown's birthday! We wish we could have been there to celebrate, we love you so much.
• He is starting to count, but I guess he feel most confident about the 4-5-6 pattern right now. So we hear a bunch of 4, 5, 4, 5, 6...rinse and repeat. Hee hee! It is really cute.
• We have been insanely busy lately. Lots of running around, working, and general life stuff coming together right now. A "when it rains, it pours" kind of thing.
• Sunshine continues to be our son's most favorite living thing in the whole world. She is being very patient with him (as usual), despite him becoming a bit more aggressive. He pushy with love, so we have to shield her. At least he responds to "gentle" and she is much, much, much faster than him. :-)
• Speaking of Sunshine, she brought in another live alligator lizard the other day. I had to get it out with spaghetti tongs and a garbage can. It was not my idea of fun, but it had to be removed. She was mighty disappointed when I chucked it outside and she stayed inside. Forever.
• We went to the beach yesterday and it was perfect. It reached 85 degrees here and will be close to that today. Hooray! Logan loooooooved the beach and the water (which was unbelievably cold, like really painfully cold). There were some bugs, and Don would say I am whiny at the beach, but bugs are gross no matter what. But that was the only unpleasant part. So a great morning overall.

More wheeeee!

In the car, on the way back from seeing the annual desert wildflower bloom with Grammy and Grampa.

Two eggs!

Yeah, that is what my kid just said on his way for a diaper change while holding--wait for it--two plastic eggs! Guess all those number books are paying off...

Two!

Today is Logan's second birthday. Two. I am in total denial.

We had a great morning. He was thrilled to wake up to streamers all over the house and very much enjoyed the balloons we bought while out and about. We had H & M over for his party (brunch and cake/ice cream), which was low key and yummy. H & M brought presents and MORE balloons, so you can imagine how this pushed him over the edge to ecstatic. After we ate, he actually asked for a nap. Poor kid, he was wiped. The rest of the day was nice, a long walk, web calls with the grandparents, doodling outside, and a bath. He is now out like a light.

He has gone from this...



To this...



To this...

Broken

Did you know that breaking food items up into smaller (non-choking hazard) pieces for your toddler is blasphemy? Causing reactions such as howling with indignity and sobbing "broken" repeatedly? Hmmmm...wait.Your children don't do this? Ah well...welcome to life with Logan. He has become incredibly picky about having food presented to him in it's"natural" state. A cracked graham cracker (even on the line where it is supposed to be divided) means complete refusal of any snack. Hummus in a bowl instead of the container it comes in is a personal insult. You ripped the bread in half???? You are rewarded with a piercing shriek that could break glass. Ok, he just yells and sobs, so the shriek is an exaggeration. Our saving grace is soup. The boy loves soup.

Overall he is doing great, other than the typical toddler stuff. He is saying more words every day and is starting to recognize colors and shapes. His most consistent color is white, and he can find a star anywhere. He was looking at our fish over the weekend and declared"white fish!" Which they are, with some orange. And he knows there are two, so numbers are right around the corner.

And, um, he is turning two (2!) next weekend. Gah!

Reunion

Facebook strikes again. I met up with my high school friend K, who I hadn't seen in 9 years. She found me on facebook and happened to be in town for a course. We had a great time and it was like no time had passed at all. Lovely!

On the mend

I succumbed to a nasty stomach bug this weekend and it wiped out all my fun plans and interesting adventures. Booo! Not at all what I was expecting, but who really plans for a random illness?

Last week, Logan was sick in the middle of the night. We changed him, the sheets, wiped everything up, and all went back to sleep. The next day I saw what a poor job I did at 2 am. I sometimes think back to before Logan and pregnancy, when I had an idealized view of motherhood and caretaking. I daydreamed about rocking him, changing diapers and the hilarity that would ensue, breastfeeding, playing silly games, and most especially the crafty projects that would consume all our free time. I did NOT envision wiping puke off every rung and rail on the crib and the wall. I didn't fantasize about cleaning vomit out of our washer while my child sprinkled A.jax cleaner all over the garage floor. Nope, not part of my little collection of fuzzy white fantasies.

Logan started swimming lessons last Saturday and they were a hit except for the part where he had to put his ears underwater. He might even learn to put his whole head under this week. Poor kid was so cold when he got out that he had the all-over body shivers. He had completely warmed up by the time we left and went to the awesome playground outside the pool. He ran around like a crazy man who couldn't believe his good fortune. There were so many different things to play on, with, and over that he was totally overwhelmed. Then he pooped so we had to go to the car, and then home.

Pictures of our park adventure and a meme to come...

Adjustments

I think I mentioned that there is a new baby at Ms. T's who just started in January. Logan had been the youngest kid at daycare until B joined the group. I am thrilled, because I think it is great for Logan to be around kids littler than him.

He seemed to be smitten with baby B until he figured out that this kid isn't a temporary addition. Now he is so impatient, and, most dramatically, is crying at his morning drop-off. This kid has never cried when he has been dropped off. Poor kid, jealousy is hard. Ms. T feels badly for him too, since he rarely causes trouble (you know, outside that biting issue this fall). He'll come to terms with it soon enough.

Speaking of adjustments, I had my first ever chiropractic appointment last week. Bouncing a 20+ lb baby on an exercise ball for months on end really messed me up. We haven't been doing that for ages now, but my back hadn't fully recovered. I am glad I went, though I won't be returning to the same practice. It was too impersonal and busy. I am looking for someone who, um, listens to me. What a crazy requirement, eh?

Congratulations Don!!!!!

Don was selected as Zamorano's Teacher of the Year!!!!!!!!!

OMG, I am just so excited! I love you honey, way to go!

Pathetic

So I didn't mention how, on the way home from the party Sunday, Logan's nose started running like a faucet. Out of nowhere. I guess I didn't think much of it, but when I picked him up from daycare on Monday he had a full-blown cold. Monday night was pretty hellish--he was up every 2 hours and my day pretty much started at 3:30am. Not the start I am accustomed to, but what can you do. The coughing/wheezing is the worst part. It makes him puke, which means we need to do all sorts of changing and laundry, and in general keeps everyone in the house up. I stayed home with him today and this is what our morning looked like. So sad, isn't it? Don't be alarmed, he perked up after his paltry, waaaaay too short afternoon nap.

Work par-tay

Yesterday afternoon we braved the rains (like buckets dumped on our car) to attend a work party in Carlsbad. I rarely go that far north, so it was a treat for me. The house we visited is gorgeous! I mean, really amazing. It would be like living in a hotel/spa. They have an outdoor kitchen, putting green, and a waterfall. All with a spectacular ocean view, of course. Logan had a great time mingling with people he--kind of--knows. Though truth be told, the people were secondary to his obsession with finding V&T's cat. Because every house has a cat, don't you know? He looked under beds, asked all the guests ("Where's sunshine?" "I can't find sunshine?" "Where is the kitty cat?"), and explored every corner he could get into. Alas, V&T don't actually have a cat, but no one could convince Hoagie otherwise. I think he was still wondering about that cat this morning.

Needless to say, his Sunshine obsession has not waned. She is the most patient, loving cat I could have asked to share our home, so he is dang lucky. I am not sure she feels the same way. ;-)

Scruba scruba scruba

Logan looooooves playing in the sink. He walks around asking "hand, hand, hand?" as his way of saying, let me play in that sink lady! He likes it the best with bubbles and washes anything that is in his reach. He even puts stuff on the drying rack when he is done. Exxxcelent. Good thing he doesn't understand allowances yet...

Meme time!

Thanks for the tag from Insane Animals...
The Rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6) Let the fun begin!

Ok, six things...

1-I drool a lot (not on purpose, it just happens), and so does Logan. His is excusable, as he is not even 2 yet, but mine is a bit more embarrassing. Like when I did it in my supervisor's office this morning.

2-I have been putting off cleaning my beloved fish tank for weeks. This is not good. I am a bad steward of these animals and I am sure my mother could have predicted this situation from the moment she read I was thinking of getting the dang tank. I should have listened. Anyway, I have let it go so far that now I even have to clean the plants. Grrrreat.

3-I am going to start exercising by walking with Logan in the E.rgo. This contraption is wonderful and he loves it. He won't even walk when I have it on. Maybe I will lose the 15+ lbs I have gained since he weaned.

4-I love, love, love audiobooks and am currently listening to the "His D.ark M.aterials" trilogy. The G.olden C.ompass was excellent, though the sound quality was a bit lacking. I look forward to my daily driving when I have books to keep my mind occupied, though I do feel out of the loop politically speaking because I am not listening to NPR.

5-I am totally undecided on who I will vote for in less than 2 weeks. Totally. I am informed about the local propositions, but I need to just choose a presidential nominee out of a hat.

6-One of my favorite things to do in this whole world is to watch my child dance. He really gets down to the funk Don has and he liked ABBA the other day. He gets his whole body into it and is beyond happy. He likes it when we join him or clap the rhythm. It really is a sight to behold. Hmmmm... I sense a video coming soon.

Surfacing

January has been pretty insane around here, between parents visiting, a trip back east, and a weekend away in Arizona, things are just starting to slow down to normal. Of course, this "slow down" coincides with Don's first day back at school for both jobs and a Saturday class this weekend. I really feel for him, that isn't exactly easing back into things.

In Hoagie news, Logan is going through a big language spurt. He is saying more than ever and is talking in short little sentences. We still hear "mine" (think"miiiiiine!") a lot, but there is more complex language mixed in there too, like "I see it!" Some things never change--his obsession with shoes and having them on all the time for instance, but other things are inconstant flux, including his teeth. The poor kid really does hurt when they are moving and shifting in his mouth, and the volume of drool is something to behold (see, he is like me...). Overall he is melting our hearts and making us laugh, with occasional moments of intense frustration. You know, normal child rearing.

Here he is looking adorable even with a yucky (and I mean YUCKY) stomach bug...



And evidently this is the kind of stuff that happens while mum is away...

For Monty

And can it be that in a world so full and busy, the loss of one weak creature makes a void in any heart, so wide and deep that nothing but the width and depth of eternity can fill it up!
~Charles Dickens

Much love to Don's parents, whose sweet, silly basset hound Monty passed over the rainbow bridge yesterday. He will be sorely missed.

In loving memory

Logan's Great-Grandfather, and my much beloved Grampa passed away today. I am so incredibly thankful that he was able to meet Logan and spend time with him. I was able to say goodbye to him this morning and I am so appreciative of the thoughtful family who allowed this to take place. It means so much to me that I was able to say goodbye. Please send some love to my family who is grieving his loss.

New year

Ah, so much happened in 2007, and I didn't even do a New Year recap. Shameful. Oh well. It was pretty good in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately many friends did not have the same year. Same as it ever was I suppose, just rotating the baton of good luck vs bad.

Logan is really taking off with the sentences. He said "Mama, you see my balloon?" yesterday. He also threw approximately 1,454 tantrums, hit us both numerous times, and yelled "NO!" all day. What fun! Rainy days are tough, made tougher by lazy, wanting-to-do-nothing parents. When recapping our craptacular day, Don and I realized it was almost entirely of our own making. Duh. Today we are trying to be more, ah, active, but perhaps we started a little pattern yesterday. I am sure it will change again soon.

I don't think I reported this yet, but Don was nominated for Teacher of the Year! We aren't really sure what all this entails, or how many others from his school were also selected, but it is so dang cool! After only 1 full year of teaching full time as well. Go Don!

Lastly, we are so very sorry to Cali, who is living more heartache. Much love to you.

Home Improvement

It worked! It worked!!!!

The wonderful, giving, amazing Cali is PREGNANT!!!! Congratulations a million times over!

Merry merry

Ah, I had the best intentions of posting on christmas day, but it clearly didn't happen. We spent a lovely xmas eve with H&M and M's mom. The food was spectacular, the company even better, and Logan was very busy chasing the poor cats around. We forgot his booster seat, so he ate at the table on a bar stool secured by a bike tire tube and some pillows. It actually worked out surprisingly well. Don and I wrapped most of the presents christmas eve, and we were totally wiped out when we went to bed. Luckily, I had assembled L's big present on Sunday, so we didn't have to stay up late doing that. And the tool provided for set up broke practically the second I tried to use it, so we would have been really up a creek if we waited.

The day was good and BOTH of my parents were able to come out! Hooray! My dad has to leave early, but we are so grateful that he is able to join us for the week. Logan is producing enough snot to keep us busy chasing after him to wipe his nose so all the pictures aren't filled with sparkly mustaches (ewwww!). He still has presents under the tree to unwrap, he was totally overwhelmed with the volume. And sidetracked with the playing.

Today at 12 I am coasting into a 5 day weekend. Woot! What a rough life. Tomorrow we will do fun stuff and Saturday night we are headed out for couple time. OVERNIGHT couple time! What? I know, a big step. We are so very excited to see a movie and sleep in together. Hooray for Grammy!

The shrieking no

So we have hit a shrieking stage that has apparently dovetailed nicely (?) with a NO! stage. Wow. It is loud. And aggressive. And if you are within 20 feet he could easily pierce your eardrums. Or at least make you lose your train of thought, and I really don't need any additional help with... wait, what was I talking about? Har har...

We put our tree up last night and it looks cute. I heard the greatest idea for tree decorating with a toddler in the house--to punch holes in all your holiday cards, tie a ribbon though them, and hang them on your tree as ornaments. We tried it and it looks very cute. Logan woke up this morning (while I was at an evil big-box store buying clear storage tubs, an annoying adventure to say the least), ran into the living room, stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the tree and said WOW! I would say the tree is a hit. And, as I suspected, Logan has spent much of the morning pointing at the picture cards saying "baby!"

Here is our tree...



We have a neighborhood grocery store in walking distance that we love. Last night they had an "elf" (aka slightly strange woman) doing balloon hats and face painting for the kids. Logan and I waited in a deceivingly long line to get a snowflake painted on his cheek. This is the best shot I could get...



And last, here he is being silly with my hat. Gosh he just melts my heart.

Sentence

Last night Logan said his first full sentence... "Where is the big dog?" There is a house with a large boxer/mutt that looks very much like my Aunt P's dog Amber. We call her Amber-dog. Original, eh? Anyway, the dog wasn't stalking us around her fence like normal, and Logan missed her. It was cute.

Sorry for the lack of posting. To say that this last week has been a roller coaster just really does not do the emotional swings justice. Please continue to keep my Grampa in your thoughts, he is having a hard time and we love him so very much.

PS--Grammy, Logan will only wear YOUR hat. No other hat will do, thanks so much for knitting it for him!

Well.

Please keep my grandfather in your thoughts. He is having a difficult time adjusting to a new environment and many things are up in the air right now. I think I have mentioned how difficult it is to be so far away from family when things are not going smoothly. Yeah, it sucks.

What the...?

Ok, something is seriously amiss. We moved 6.5 miles east of our condo and now I get ICE on my car??????? I seriously had to scrape ICE off my windshield this morning. (Alright, I wiped it off with a random bag, but still!) I guess it could be considered frost, but regardless, I have NEVER had to do this in the 8+ years I have lived here. ICE people.

In Logan news, he is fine. The cold is almost totally gone and he is being quite cute. If I do something funny or silly to him he laughs and says "mama," like he is developing a real sense of humor. He is also extremely picky about which books I read to him at bedtime. Apparently Don does not get the same literary critique. Go figure. Right now I Love You Stinky Face is #1, followed closely by Bear Snores On and One, Two, Three. I am totally thrilled other books that I am not so fond of are no longer dominating our story times.

Oh, and he has a favorite stuffy now. Kitty. Nana gave it to him last winter when we were in Palm Springs. I think we may have to find another one in case we lose it. That would be a tragedy.

Two dozen?

Eggs for Cali!!!! These are wearing sweaters since it is so cold where she is having her very exciting egg retrieval for her even more exciting IVF. Of course I am sure she will have 7+ times as many as this picture. We are thinking of you lady! *smooch*

Wading back in...

I know it has been a harsh switch to go from every day posting to a whole week (+) off. Sorry about that. I needed a break though, and life seemed too boring to post about. To catch everyone up with the goings-on in the M/B household I shall employ a bulleted list...

• We have colds. Logan had a hacking cough that is starting to sound a *little* bit better. Can't be too bad because his demeanor and appetite are totally unaffected. I am just coming down with it, but so far it is just my nose. I feel fine otherwise. Don is also suffering from the illness. Though I must say, so far he handling it much better than normal. I totally just jinxed it.
• Rain! We have had two weekends of the wet stuff and it is raining and cold again today. While this might not be noteworthy for some geographical regions, it's downright mythic here. (As in, what the heck is that stuff falling from the sky? and Wait, I forgot how to drive!) I honestly can't remember the last time it rained this much. Certainly not since last winter.
• We do not have a leak in our ceiling! Hooray!
• Christmas presents have been sent, cards are mostly out, and stuff is arriving at a furious pace. As I posted before, our outside lights are up, but inside is not decorated. Except for a spectacular rudolph christmas village. It is awesome.
• Hey, let's play the guess what has lead game! Christmas lights? Check. Artificial christmas trees? Check. Random toys from 1,000 recalls? Check. PLLLBBBT! We are getting a brand spanking new lead-free artificial tree (allergies won't tolerate a real one) this year. What a bummer that everything we are used to seems to be toxic.
• Did you know that "hot" is an all-purpose word? If you are hurt, something is an extreme temperature (or even just warm), or you simply feel like blabbering, hot is the word for you. Or Logan. Mostly just Logan.
• I took matters into my own hands and trimmed the boy's hair. It looks good. Ms. T noticed first thing and think he looks very handsome. I don't think it is that much different. Now it can grow out forever, a la Crystal Gail.
• I have a post mulling around my head about exuberant, slightly self-absorbed women who get pregnant the first time they try to conceive. As it so happens, one of these mildly exasperating types got pregnant her first try on a message board where I lurk regularly. I am not even personally trying for another child right now, but my annoyance at her luck and naivety is overwhelming, especially given what other members of this group have endured and/or are currently undergoing. Anyway, many did not acknowledge her good fortune and I don't think I would/could have either. If you can't say anything nice...

Mama!

It started yesterday, this new phase. Daddy is UNACCEPTABLE! Mama only! He will only let me feed him, put him down for a nap, change him, hold him, put his shoes on, and look at him. (That last one is only sort of a joke.) He went through a Daddy phase a little while ago, but it was never this dramatic. Don is taking it in stride, but I must admit, if it were me (and when it is my turn again), I would be hurt. I know it is totally normal, to be expected behavior, but that doesn't make it any less sad when you are the parent on the outs.

Oops

So I missed the last day of NaBloPoMo yesterday. Dang. In my defense, it was a rough day. I was totally overtired and it wasn't going as well as I would have hoped. Oh well.

To make up for my miss, I give you a video! Of body parts! And words! My voice is really loud, sorry about that...

Ugh

I feel so violated. I just paid $3.46/gallon for gas. Pretty soon you will see me biking to work down I-8 with Logan's bike trailer on the back. Too bad I would need to leave at 2:30 am to make it to Point Loma on time.

And as an addendum to the last post, I am all for long hair. I am 100% for not cutting it--once it is trimmed to all the same length. This is my only qualifier. You lucky girl moms out there can pull hair back in clips, put it in cute little pony and pig tails, and in general work with the baby mullet to make it so much less offensive. Boys are stuck looking like "Dog the Bounty Hunter" fans (you know, without the racism).

Let's not let it get to this people...

Business in the front

Our kid has a mullet. A serious, hockey fan, Billy Ray Cyrus, lovin' the 80s mullet. The time has come for his first haircut, just to even everything up. Someone in this house is extremely resistant to hair trimming, and it isn't me. Logan doesn't even know what a haircut is, and Sunshine has no fashion sense, so that just leaves one very stubborn male. However, the deed must be done. My hairdresser is on standby, and at the slightest resistance she will swoop in and even the boy out. I am hoping this happens sooner than later. We shall see.

Loss

To our dear friends Hope and Megan, we can not tell you enough how very sorry we are for your devastating loss. You and Q mean so very much to us and I hate that this has happened to your family.

Jazz hands

Today I sang Logan a whole slew of christmas tunes in the car. He was sufficiently placated by my lovely, lovely voice until we got home (despite shushing me while I was singing Mary had a little lamb the other day, a song he usually enjoys). In the spirit of xmas, what with our twinkly lights on and all, I played my holiday iTunes list. Logan loved the songs and even gave us all sorts of jazz hands. Yay! I am so pleased he likes the music as much as me.

Twinkle

We put christmas lights up on our garage today. Well, we kind of did it twice, since the first time they were backwards and we couldn't plug them in. I say we but I mean Don. He switched them around and now they look good. I don't like the "twinkling" effect going on, but oh well. Nothing we can do about that. Getting the lights at our local B.ig L.ots was quite an adventure, as those discount stores can be.

Not a whole lot else going on. Logan was stung by a bee today, but he is fine. Poor baby.

Book PSA

I love to buy books. Especially books for Logan, as I will be reading them over and over and over (and over). But even at 4-8 bucks a pop, they get pricey. I found Sort Floor Books, an online bookseller, and the prices are amazing. The site isn't very user friendly, but it is worth it to look around.

If you are a parent of young children, or like parents of young children, and want to buy a book, I would stay far away from My First Body Board Book. Your child will become obsessed with it and you will go slowly insane. It has no narrative and generally is annoying. While informative, it is also mind-numbingly boring. Not a winning combination. The more you know...

Loooow key

Today was pretty low key. Logan is popping a molar (still! poor kid) and is very Jekyll/Hyde. Especially with meals. Don has figured out some secret of getting him to chill out that I definitely have not mastered. It is not terrible, but it is challenging.

This weekend will pretty much be more of the same. Stucco sealing, spare room cleaning, and shoe returning are in our future. How I love a three day weekend!

Thanksgiving '07

This is a homemade turkey using Logan's hands for the tail and his feet for the body. I obviously cut it out, as it would have looked a lot different if had L done it.

We made a big breakfast, started the sweet potatoes, are thinking about the mashed potatoes and deviled eggs, and are generally hanging out. I love having TG close to home. Later we will be headed out to M & H's house for the feast. Yum!

Logan is really blossoming this week. He has started to use two word combinations (big dog, up please, bye dada, and bite apple) and he learned how to catch a ball! Pretty impressive...

Utensil

Logan used chopsticks today! Hooray! Ok, the sticks were still held together at the top where you break them apart, but still, it was pretty cool.





Sorry for the bad quality pics. While the cell phone does great in the daytime, inside a dark restaurant is another story.

Here is the Snickerdoole biscotti recipe. If you do make it, FYI the dough is really dry when you are working with it.

Jumping bean

Logan has attempted to jump a few times. He scrunches way down and then pops up really fast like he might actually leave the earth, but doesn't. He hasn't quite figured out what role feet play in jumping, other than holding you up straight. I think he is quite close though, and I might have glimpsed 1/4 of a millimeter of air under him last night. I tell you, he always does these neat things when Don is at work. Have no fear though, he has already been "jumping" on the tile floor this morning. Because I know if I were going to try a new trick that involved leaving the ground, and the potential for falling was higher than my normal 40% (and that is just walking people!), I would choose a hard tile floor.

I know I missed another day. This blogging every day thing is HARD! This is where I start to slack off, what with Thanksgiving and all. Tonight I am making no-bake cookies and peeling sweet potatoes. Yum.

In more serious news, please send love to Hope and Megan, who are struggling with limbo that looks to be heartbreak. We wish you the easiest path through this difficult time.

Missed

I missed a day. Crap. Yesterday was filled (literally from 6 am till 6pm) with friends, food, more food, and drinks. Oh yes, lots of drinks. We say it is a cooking club, but sometimes I think the food is just an excuse to drink way too much. We were in bed shortly after Logan last night and I was even an hour late coming to work today. Pathetic!

Logan had a great time playing with G, who is 1 year older than him. She is a super sweet kid who has always been really nice to L, even though he can't do many of the things she can.

Our menu consisted of:

• Snickerdoodle Biscotti
• Spicy Citrus Bloody Mary's
• Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes
• Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches
• Mango Crab Avocado Salad
• Fritatas
• Smashed Potatoes
• Chocolate Zucchini Cake Mini Muffins
• Grilled Fruit

The sandwiches and potatoes were the best I think, but the biscotti turned out really nice too (I made that one prior to everyone showing up so they would have something to snack on while cooking). Logan spent the entire evening play cooking, it was sooooo cute.

Now I just have to make it through 3 days and we have a 4 day weekend! Hooray!

Knowledge

Today Logan learned how to open a beer with a musical Ohio State bottle opener, courtesy of his Uncle M. Woot!

Face.book ruminations

I really don't understand Face.book very well, as my cousin K can attest. It seems kind of like, what do I get out of this? But I am on it nonetheless. I have connected with some Buck's Rock people and a few from high school. In the last two days I have had two people from my past request to be my friend. So. dang. weird. One is a guy I dated for a week during the first semester, Freshman year at Syracuse. The other is a woman who I went to elementary, middle, and high school with.*

The guy I dated turned into a friend who I ran into occasionally on my way to class. Nothing too deep, but he was/is a nice guy (if not a bit troubled). The woman who I went to grade school with could only be called a forced friend. We played sports together and my class was only 70-ish people, so we couldn't really avoid each other. She was "cool" and I, much to everyone's surprise I'm sure, was not. Let's just say she didn't welcome me into the cool crowd with open arms. She was clearly on a self-destructive path from a very early age and it is interesting to see a picture of her now without full goth-esque garb. I will be interested to see what she is up to, if I can discern it without putting in too much effort. The voyeur aspect of face.book is what is most appealing. You can dip in and out of people's lives without having to do much.

Anyway, this is all to say these two people led me down the rabbit hole to other Syracuse and Bow folks who I hadn't thought of in a really long time. So strange. I am starting to see face.book's addictiveness, but it sure would be time consuming and I frankly have way too much to do besides search for people I don't know anymore.

Of course everyone commented on how adorable Logan is. I won't add them to my list if they don't.

Next post for Cali: the brunch menu and cooking club rules. With a side of Hoagie, of course.

*10 points to my parents if they can guess who the Bow person is.

Procrastination

late bedtime + 2 nights in a row = cranky

Poor Logan, I have gotten him to bed much later than usual the last two nights and now we are paying the price. It makes me realize what a happy, sweet kid he normally is when he has these off days. We had one of those, you looked at me funny/the cat won't let me sit on her/I bonked my knee ever so lightly (you see where I am going with this) I will cry/whine/need to be held and kissed to make it better days. I have high hopes for tomorrow though.

In other news, we are hosting our cooking club (11 people total) on Sunday for brunch. We have sooo much to do and organize beforehand, but I am just not feeling it tonight. Tomorrow I am gone, so that just leaves Saturday. I think I am a glutton for punishment.

Still no names, but here they are.

Tonight was family art night at Zamorano. Logan and I had a great time walking around looking at the booths and projects. I so wish I could have gone to school there.

The boy can identify almost all major body parts (bel-bo=elbow), is saying more, down, done, mango (uh oh, without the oopsie inflection),home, and a few others I am forgetting. So neat to watch.

Place holder

Pics of the fish tomorrow.

We delivered a birthday present to Auntie H today, one day late. Logan always loves visiting H and M, especially since they have so many cats. Lots to chase and do.

Please send your love out to Hope and Megan, who are currently in the worst kind of limbo.

Camera phone and fish

Yeah, I love my camera phone. I end up buying more phone than I need every time we upgrade. Usually under the pretense that it is "free" except these few extras. Extras that end up costing the big bucks, but I digress. I have a S.amsung SCHu-540. We got it this summer and the pics do turn out pretty nice. This time it was worth it to purchase the better technology. I must admit though, that I photoshop them before I upload them to flikr. They turn out much darker and with less contrast straight from the phone. That is fine by me because I photoshop pretty much every picture I take.

In other news, we got fish! I walked into our awesome local aquarium store and got sucked in for the bigger tank and goldfish. Only two, and the tank is 4 gallons. Not huge, but still waaaaaay more than I anticipated. I was thinking a two gallon bowl with a betta. Ha! The soft blue glow off the rows and rows of meticulously clean fish tanks sucked me in. So now we have two fancy goldfish in a fancy tank. No names yet, we are still working on Logan to say the word "fish." It is coming out "da." Pictures to come once I get home.

Loganism

Last night Logan was crying out in his sleep before Don and I went to bed. One time Don walked closer to his room to see if he should go in and he heard "miiiiine!" The kid is even possessive in his sleep! We got a good chuckle out of that one.

This morning I heard Don say to Logan "Don't hit sunshine with the potatoes!" Hee hee! Parenting can be so absurd.

Dodging home repairs

Logan and I went out and about today as Don did the stucco repair around the french doors. Long overdue, but now it is finished. No more putting it off. Whew!

I decided to try for SDSU's coi pond by way of the trolley. We have a trolley stop within a 3-4 minute walk of our house but hadn't ridden it yet. It really doesn't go anywhere we travel to often, and frankly it is expensive. $2.25 one way, when we went about 3 miles. Seriously, who would ride it every day? Anyway, we made it to the stop in the nick of time and sat next to a character on the way there. This woman helped me figure out the ticket "system," and proceeded to tell me all about her opinions on public transportation (very strong opinions I might add) and her tenuous relationship with her boyfriend. It has been a while since I have had a character run-in such as the ones that only seem to happen on public transportation. Then Logan and I hung out at SDSU for about an hour and a half. We ate lunch, pretended to be airplanes, counted turtles (9!), and looked at fish. It was so much fun. Logan is really becoming a fun companion. We have run a bunch of errands together this week and it was very successful.

And since all good things must come to an end, now he is being uber naughty. We have heard a lot of "miiiiiiine!" tonight. Bedtime yet? Please?

The pics below are taken with my cell phone (love that thing!) at the coi pond..

Awareness

November 4-10 is Infertility Awareness Week. Today in particular is "ask your employer for coverage" day.

We are infertile. It is not something I would wish on anyone, and the bad feelings infertility brings do not go away with the conception or birth of your child. What really throws a wrench into this medical problem (because it is a medical issue, like cancer or diabeties) is that health insurance usually won't cover it. They may cover the infertility diagnosis, but no treatment. We were lucky enough to have 50% coverage when we were trying for Logan, but we will not have that "luxury" next time around. No, if we want to try for another, we will be paying 100% of our care. Thousands of dollars to try for what others get for free. It is maddening and frustrating and all over unfair. Today I asked for my work to cover it. I will ask Don's work to cover infertility treatment. I will ask California to mandate infertility treatment coverage. I am not holding my breath.

2222

I looked at my site meter today (which I rarely do) and it read 2222. Neat! Yeah, it's the little things.

I think I want to get a fish. In a bowl, not a big fish tank with all the upkeep. But I have had bad luck with fish in San Diego and frankly it will be just one more thing for me to do. And I keep thinking of F.inding N.emo. So wrong to keep a little fish in a bowl. But, on the other hand, it might occupy Logan for a little bit each day. Clearly I am torn. Oh, and I haven't told Don about this new idea yet. I don't think he is going to be a fan. Going to pick up cat food today brought this all on, the pretty, pretty betas looked so fancy in their sad little cups of water. I feel like buying one would be saving it. I am aware it is really going to do the opposite (not only because I stink at fish care taking).

Man, I am boring when I post every day.

Ouch and other random thoughts

Today has been a rough day for the boy. I let him hold my hairbrush this morning and he scraped himself on the cheek with the stiff bristles. I thought it would fade quickly, but no, it was a bright red line till bed tonight. Then, being cute (or so I thought), I let a little wind-up toy go down his torso and burned him just below his belly button. Yes, BURNED him. Mother of the year. Not five minutes later he pinched his finger in a door. *sigh* Poor kid.

There was mouse poop on my desk at work today. I had an ant infestation earlier this year and a flea (from Sunshine, how embarrassing) not too long ago. Now a mouse. Too many pests for my taste. They are going to put traps on my floor, but I don't feel good about it. Not sure I have any choice. Really, it is a wonder that we don't have even more wildlife and vermin living in our ancient work buildings. They are actually temporary housing barracks from WWII. Um, yeah. Not the most solid construction. I will have to post pictures of them this month, you will wonder how our government stays afloat when we keep throwing money into sinkholes like my command.

When I picked the boy up from Ms. T's today he ran over to the window and yelled "mama!" It was so sweet. Made me not completely lose it when he hit, scraped, and pinched me tonight. Good times.

Thumbs down to molars

You know, I understand that molars are essential to eating food and all, but they really stink when coming in. Logan wakes up from his crappy naps a crying mess and is fussy with food. The whole "can't communicate what he wants" thing is just making it worse. At least reading books is a good distraction. Anything that includes a picture of an animal and/or a baby is a hit at this house.

New hair

A haircut...



And Logan with his new favorite toys, cost.co size ketchup and mustard...

Sunday

Well, I have to say that this was not the best weekend ever. Nothing terrible, but I got stuck with the more undesireable kid duties, cleaned up cat puke, discovered dog poop on the bag the Sunday paper comes in (once it was already in the house, being used blockade the cat puke), and didn't really get to sleep in either day. Oh, and if I was hoping for today's football games to be fun and uplifting, well, no such luck. Let's just say I hope you don't like the same teams I do.

We took Logan to the park and he had a great time playing with other kids his age. This park is like a 3 minute walk from our house but we never actually go. Seeing how much he enjoyed it today will hopefully get us out and about more.

In more exciting news, our good friend M did the best he has ever done in his Ironman race this weekend. We are so thrilled for him and he qualified for Kona in '08!

LSU v Bama

So we are watching the LSU vs Bama game and Don's alma mater isn't having a stellar game. LSU just had what looked like a fumble off a good catch (it was since ruled incomplete, a lucky break) and Don was clearly distressed. No swearing, but darn close. Logan looked at the tv, raised both arms joyously, and yelled "touch down!" Hee hee! Am I a bad wife if that was the funniest thing I have seen in a while? So glad the boy is getting "touchdown" though. Oh, and he says "tattoo" too. You know, the important stuff...

Early bird gets the...

What does this early bird get? A very awake Hoagie. At 5 am. On my day to sleep in. Something about this scenario (you know, the one where I am awake and posting to the blog at 5:45 am) doesn't seem very condusive to going back to sleep when it is my turn. Oh, and did I mention that I have to get up earlier than normal on my day so Don can make it to his class and Logan isn't in charge of the house? Hmmm, I thought for sure I would have told you that.

Starting November with a sniffle

Don and Logan are in the midst of a cold right now and I am sure I will be getting it right as they get better. Isn't that the way it works? Our kid sure can produce a lot of snot. And I had just noted (in my head, not out loud so I didn't think it counted toward Murphy's Law) how healthy we have been recently.

Tomorrow Don has a Saturday class and I was going to go on an outing with another child. I think we will pass, as not to infect a baby with his germs. Maybe we will go to the turtle pond at SDSU instead. Wild times.

It's that time again

I am doing NaBloPoMo, where I post once a day for the month of November. I am wishing both you and me luck. Me to come up with new stuff to say every day, and you to make it through my drivel...

Halloween

Halloween was a big hit here yesterday. Don dressed up in his 1970's basketball player costume and I was a devil. Logan was the cutest firefighter eva. He came to my work party with me and was inexcusably overlooked by the costume contest judges. He had a good time nonetheless and spent some quality time with my boss while I ate chili. When we went back to my building to change into regular clothes Hoagie explored my very unbaby-proofed office.



In the evening Auntie H came over to check out Logan in all his cuteness. After she left our neighbors came over to give out candy to the trick-or-treaters while we were out with the boy. I think we got maaaaaybe eight trick-or-treaters all night long. What a sad decline from our last place where we would run out of candy. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Next year we are going to have to do something drastic to attract kids to our street. I am thinking a fog machine and giant spiders. Something spooky...

Anyway, Logan really enjoyed going house to house, though he can't say trick-or-treat and he thought that people opening their front doors meant that he could walk right into their houses. Oops. We did all the participating houses on our block and met quite a few nice neighbors. Then Don and I stayed up much to late chatting with the neighbors who handed out the candy for us and we are certainly paying the price today. Oh well, it was worth it.

Here is Logan dressed up, trick-or-treating, and our pumpkins...

Tip of the day

Long noodles are fun to play with, but short noodles don't make your kid vomit.

Naming

Logan: Scottish; derived from a place name meaning "little hollow" in Gaelic

I am not sure how many of you know why we named our son Logan, but I thought I would record the story for prosperity. It took us months to come up with a list of boy names. Nothing really struck my fancy, and I think Don was in denial that we would eventually have to choose something. Girl name, no problem. We have a very special one that I picked out a long time ago. As we pondered names and threw them out to one another, Don suggested Logan.

When Don and I traveled cross country together two months after we started dating, we took a northern route. We left in September, and it wasn't unbearably cold until we hit Wyoming. We had planned on traveling across Wyoming and Idaho to visit the Pacific Northwest, but the Grand Tetons altered our course. It was cold in Yellowstone, but certainly still camping weather. When we traveled a bit south to the Tetons the temperature fell below freezing. It was so cold that I crawled our tent and went to sleep in the very early evening. It was the only way to block out my misery, and probably the kindest thing I could do for Don. Our sleeping bags had seen better days and mine was held together with safety pins. The cold had invaded our trip like an unwanted companion who needed to be sent packing.

The next day we discussed our trip plans before we left. Seeing how miserable I was (and smartly considering self-preservation I'm sure), Don suggested that we change course and head south to Arizona by way of Utah. I readily agreed and we were off. We stopped for breakfast in Jackson Hole, saw a tiny corner of Idaho, and headed into Utah. Our whole trip was planned that day, based off an old-ish road atlas. According to the map, Logan, Utah had the nearest campground and looked to be a good place to stop for the night.

When we arrived, the city was so urban compared to where we had previously been that it was disconcerting. But the weather! Oh, the weather was beautiful. When we came upon the perfectly manicured, green lawn campground it was over seventy degrees outside. We pitched the tent, tossed the frisbee around and let the cats out on their leashes. We have wonderful memories of cooking hot dogs over a brick fire pit and listening to music late into the evening. Utah continually amazed us, but nothing compared to our perfect night in Logan.

Now our sweet boy bears the name of our most treasured stop. I think Don made the perfect choice.

Perspective

This map shows where we are in relation to the fires. We are safe and not anticipating evacuations. We are the green arrow on the map. The yellow areas represent mandatory evacuations. The red section is the Harris Fire. The yellow area at the top of the map is a mandatory evacuation for the Witch Fire.

The air in Point Loma (where I work) is much worse than home. The Harris Fire ash is headed that way so it is understandable. Luckily home is not getting any major haze. In the Cedar Fire the ash was raining down like snow. I have yet to see that during these fires, but I am sure those who are getting the fallout from the Witch Fire are getting hammered.

Logan is so bored from being inside and Don's school has been canceled for the rest of the week.

Hoagie did start saying please--it comes out as "pea." He said tweet today and it came out as "twee." So dang cute! And when Don was cooking something in the microwave recently he looked up at it and said "beep, beep, beep!" Also so dang cute. *melty heart*

Again.

I can not believe San Diego is burning again. We are fine and not in any danger other than the air quality, which is horrible. It smells like a very strong campfire. No ash falling from the sky yet, but I am sure it is just a matter of time. It is supposed to be hot and windy (Santa Anas this weekend and through this week) so there is no estimation as to when these fires will be contained. There are eight (!) burning in the county right now. Please send some positive thoughts to the Wild Animal Park, a fire is fast approaching and all the animals, keepers, and staff must be terribly worried and scared. There are also countless horse farms that are affected by evacuations.

I have to say that even though we are far away from the fires, I sure didn't like leaving my house this morning and sending my child off to be with someone else. I hate that Sunshine is home alone.

On a lighter note, I was reading the paper yesterday morning and Logan saw a picture of J.ennifer L.opez. He looked at her and said "Mama!" I told him that was quite a compliment. He looked earnestly up at me and said "yeah!"

Ready, set, go

Ah, so many new things in such a short time. Logan has two stools that he likes to carry around the house. The nursing stool is slanted--which makes a nice footstool, but a terrible step stool. However, it light and can be transported easily. The other stool my dad brought with him when we put in the door. It is mine from when I was little (dad made it of course). This is the superior step stool, but is heavier and just a tad too high for him to step up on easily right now. Logan carries the nursing stool into the bathroom to wash his hands and check out the sink, and pushes "my" stool over the tile floor to make mischief in the kitchen or look out the french door windows and fiddle with the door handle and deadbolt. Yesterday he climbed up onto a kitchen chair like he had been doing it his whole life. The stool moving and chair climbing show good thinking skills, but terrify me. He can reach a whole new level of stuff in our house. A VERY unbaby-proofed level I might add. I guess I should have known this was coming, but dang! I was totally caught off guard.

He also has been talking a bunch more, adding balloon (which had gone away, but now is back), backpack, and a few other words I can't think of right now. Overall it is an exciting time for the Hoagie and we are enjoying it immensely.

Here he is at a big-box hardware store, completely mesmerized by the inflatable Christmas display. It was comical how engrossed he was in the blow-up decorations, mostly because one was an airplane. Mind trip! As a side note, did anyone else notice that Christmas stuff appeared in stores last weekend like magic? All of a sudden Christmas exploded everywhere. *sigh* Too early!

Ruined rescue

My morning did not go the way I had planned. On my way to work I saw two little eyes gleaming in my headlights from the middle of a very busy road. Five lanes across, two going north, two south, and one turning lane in the middle. There was a cat (alive) in the middle lane and it was not moving. I made a u-turn and stopped next to the kitty to assess the situation. It appeared to have no external injuries, but it wasn't moving away from me and it was panting heavily. I assume it was hit by a car. I pulled out an old sling, picked up the cat, put it in the back of my car, and headed off to the local emergency vet. I really thought the cat couldn't move its hind legs, as it was pretty limp when I picked it up to transfer it to my vehicle. Can I just state again, for the record, that I thought it couldn't move? Yeah, well, I was wrong.

I pulled into the parking spot right in front of the vet's office and opened the back hatch. Damn if that cat didn't jump out of the car and head into the great unknown. This was bad for several reasons--not the least of which being that the cat was clearly injured--but mostly because the parking lot where it escaped is surrounded by another 5-lane road, an off ramp from a highway, and the highway itself. Ugh. I got a flashlight from the main desk attendant and, with his help, looked for the cat until I had searched everywhere I could access. Even dumpsters. No cat. Turns out this particular emergency vet doesn't even take stray animals, so we would have had to go to a different one, but still. I feel terrible. I can only hope the cat was stunned when I picked it up and recovered on the car ride. I hope it made it's way home. There was no collar or tag, so I don't know if it was a stray or a pet, but it seemed to be in good condition. Please send some positive thoughts to that little grey tabby, who is hopefully somewhere in our neighborhood. *sigh*

Updates

I know, I have been so. very. delinquent. My only excuse is French Doors. They are in people! They work! They look amazing! We also had lots of family in town. Family who told me (ahem, again) that my blogging frequency is, well, pathetic. I think she actually used the word pathetic. Anyway, I am back. So much has happened that I will just do a quick list for now to catch you up...

• Hand, foot, and mouth is gone! It wasn't too bad, as far as illnesses go.
• My Dad is awesome and he installed the doors with our help. We found a problem at the last minute, but Dave the Door Guy solved it last night and we will be stucco-ing soon. Like this weekend.
• We looked into screens for the new doors and one place quoted us $800 installed. Um, I don't think so. Our search continues.
• Oktoberfest was this past weekend and it was so incredibly neat. We are half a block away and it was great to be able to just pop over for a bratwurst or funnel cake (not that we did that, seeing as how those are very bad for you).
• Logan helped me put up a few Halloween decorations. He was very excited to stick stuff on the window.
• New words: done and bum. When he says bum he holds his little toosh. Very cute. He has also been calling Ms. T by her nickname. Go Logan!
• Don and I combined birthday money to buy some patio furniture for the front. We put it together and it looks great.
• My cousin stayed with us last Friday night and we had lots of fun. Logan took to her immediately. We are sad she lives so far away.
• I am going on a kick-ass girls trip in January. Hooray!!! I even booked the tickets.
• My Christmas shopping is almost done. This is a record for me.

Clippity-clop

For some reason hand, foot, and mouth disease (the people kind) makes me think of horses. Why, I don't know. There is nothing horse-like about it. Oh, and did I mention that Logan has it? No? Well that might be because I didn't know until I picked him up from daycare about five hours ago. Another kid there was diagnosed with it earlier in the week and has been out with said horse disease, so it was probably (clearly) only a matter of time before we welcomed the virus into our house too. After an afternoon of lethargy, things are looking up. Mellow even. The real bummer is that we had to bow out of two highly anticipated social events this weekend. Ah well, another time. Neigh!

Chomp

Not sure what is going on, but the Hoagie tried to bite every kid at Ms. T's yesterday. His buddies! His pals! He hit them, took their toys, yelled, and was giant pain in the neck the whole day. Grrreeeaaaat. This is the second biting incident in about a week. I didn't blog about the last one because if you don't talk about it, you know, it didn't really happen. I would much prefer he was bit than be the biter. He never bites at home, so this is a difficult one for us (as parents, not there to witness the wrongdoings) to reinforce. Needless to say, there is lots of "teeth are for chewing food" talk going on in the house right now. I can only point to no nap the day before and an emerging molar as possible causes for the outrageous behavior yesterday. Crap.

He started saying "baby" too. At least that is cute.

More talkin'

New words!

Nanana = Banana
Mum mum mum = Mommy
Reooow = Meow

Shoe is not a new word, but it sure is a new obsession. If he is up, he must have shoes on. Especially his pedi.peds, which, although new, will soon be too small. He runs over to wherever they are normally tossed and follows one of us around chanting "show" until we put them on. He got crocs clogs over the weekend. I can't say he is thrilled with them, but I sure do like the fact that they can get dirty and wet without getting ruined. He picked out purple ones all by himself (which means they were the ones he didn't give back to me over the course of our shopping trip).

He is also obsessed with his baby yogurt. I can't open the fridge without him grabbing one out and totally melting down if he can't have it. One yogurt a day seems about right to me though. He would have ten. I win.

Hatching

Don was watering our ficus this morning and happened upon this wondrous scene...





The tiniest of baby grasshoppers! They were about a quarter of an inch long (if I could find a darn tape measure I could tell you for sure...). So neat.

Since this is a picture post, here are a couple of Hoagie looking cute.

Sick, Hot, and Lazy

Like most people, I really look forward to holidays. I have to say, with much disappointment, that Labor Day this year was horrible. It was 107 degrees outside, and, according to our neat little we*ther ch*nnel pop up, supposedly felt like 109. They might as well have said "and feels like the fiery pits of hell."That might have been more accurate. We could have gone to the beach, but being a holiday weekend, we didn't feel like dealing with the crowds.* Instead we lounged around inside (we are sooooo thankful for our central air) and in our backyard crammed into the four foot diameter swimmy pool. Logan was bored silly with being inside so much during the day and also came down with a small cold. I picked up some sort of nasty stomach thing, but that only lasted a day. We are now on the mend and the temperature has dropped to a pleasing 85.

The boy learned to say "eye" over the weekend, but his language skills are pretty limited overall. He has words, but he doesn't use them much and the rate of learning new ones has slowed. Yeah, I am inwardly (bloggingly) concerned, but not anywhere near freaking out. He has a Pedi appt coming up shortly, so I will discuss this with her. Ok, he is saying "rock" and "clock" once and a while too. I forgot those...

Can you believe Hoagie is a year and a half? A year and a half! I feel like this is not even possible, but it is true. He is really enjoying his books and his dinosaur puzzle (thanks Aunt C and Uncle G!). He broke our alarm clock (luckily a replacement arrived the next day) and is obsessed with looking at himself in our mirrored closet doors. I think he finds himself endlessly fascinating and handsome, just like we do. He has also recently insisted on feeding himself pretty much everything. Very messy, but nice to see.

Last night we were about to run an errand and Logan needed a shirt. We were in our living room and Don asked him to please go get a shirt from his bedroom and bring it back. He looked at us for a second then trotted off to his room. We took guesses as to what he would bring back. I said he would bring some sort of toy and Don guessed a book (optimistic that he would return at all). Instead he brought us a crib sheet. Much closer to a shirt than either of us expected! He had to open a drawer to get it (which he closed behind him), and he was given an impossible task since he can't even see into the drawer that holds his clothes. We thought that was pretty cool.

*The beach is a nightmare on holiday weekends normally, but this one was total madness because of the heat. There was a huge brawl at Pacific Beach where 16 people were arrested, and a co-worker sold his Mission Beach parking spot at 2pm for $150. Yup, that's right folks, $150 for an afternoon parking spot on the street. We are glad we opted to stay home.