Lookout world, here we come!

Today was the first day of Jon's paternity leave for a week. We thought we'd get away and get back up to Tahoe to enjoy some of the aftermath from the recent storms. But, we also have been putting off a number of errands - so we used today to get some stuff done and will head on up to the mountains tomorrow.

One of the errands was applying for Logan's passport since it takes awhile and we're considering a family vacation over the summer. Since both parents need to go together in person (not required, but a whole lot easier), it made sense to do it today. Of course, it felt like an all-day ordeal. There was a long wait at the passport office - and their photo machine was broken - so we took a number and walked down to the local Walgreens to get Logan's picture taken in the meantime. Everyone else did the same, so there was a bit of a wait at Walgreens too. Logan behaved wonderfully for the camera even though the guy didn't get a very good shot. I know we could have taken much better pics ourselves, but I didn't think of it ahead of time. So, his passport photos are a little funny looking. Ah well.

Logan holding onto his ticket waiting for his photos to develop and later chilling under the shade of his car seat (taken with my iPhone)

Back at the passport office, we sat filling out the app and of course I forgot to bring Logan's social security card/number. Luckily, the office is literally around the corner from our house. Jon was able to get back to the house, find the card, and get back to the passport office in the time it took the gal behind the counter to take care of *one* application. Nice. ;-) At any rate, we finally got everything submitted, paid the exorbitant fees and got outta there after a couple of hours. I can't wait to see Logan's passport with a height of 1'11" on it. heheehehehehe Pretty silly that they require babies to have passports now.

Logan was really well behaved for most of the day today which was really great. His eczema seems to be doing MUCH better. Each day I'm seeing an improvement from the day before which is a huge relief. This morning, the rash on his back is all but gone! I've been lathering him with lotion more frequently (about every 2 hrs) since our dr's visit on Monday, and of course we've given him a couple treatments of the steroid cream. Whatever it is, it seems to be working!! :)

We also visited a couple stores to check out living room furniture and I think we have finally made a decision. Now we just gotta plunk down the moolah and wait a couple months before it arrives. *groan* I will be soooo happy to have some real couches soon so we can finally entertain! :)

Eczema

Logan has had pretty sensitive skin since day 1 -- which hasn't surprised me a great deal since I myself have really sensitive skin (as does my whole family). Still, as days and weeks slipped by, his skin was becoming more red and rough. Where was the baby-butt soft skin you always hear about? :) At our 2 month check up, Dr. Safir noticed the same thing and told me to lather Logan up with lotion anytime I could get, to help moisturize his skin.

So, that's what I've been doing only it seems to have gotten worse. Over the last couple of weeks his back has developed some pretty big red inflamed splotches that don't look good at all. His shoulders/elbows and thighs/knees have all gotten severely dry and rough as well. I was hoping it'd go away on its own (I was dreading the idea of slathering him up with some thick oily goo from a dermatologist like my parents dealt with, when Zane was a baby) but it hasn't and I finally decided to take him to the doctors today.

Good thing I did. Dr. Safir was pretty alarmed at the severity of his rash, particularly on his back but really all over as well. It's obvious Logan's skin is ultra sensitive, dry and not doing well. :( Dr. Safir thinks it's a bad case of Eczema. We're going to give him a light steroid cream once a day and check back in a week, hoping it clears up on its own. But if not, we'll need to see a dermatologist soon.

So, off with the brace and onto eczema and steroid cream! What parenting curve ball will we get next? ;-)

8 is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9

Early this morning, I woke up sopping wet down the front of my PJs and comforter, boobs rock hard and hurting like hell. Just Great. Who knows how much precious white gold has been lost. Logan was starting to wake up but wasn't crying or upset yet. I peered over at the clock: 4am. I had gone to bed at 10pm. 6 hours -- hey, that's Great! Even better, I had put Logan down a little before 8pm -- quick math at 4am says he slept a whopping 8 hours. REALLY GREAT!

Logan seems to be sleeping longer at night the last few days and I'm praying that it's not just a fluke, but a forming habit. Thurs night he slept 5.5 hrs and then 4 hrs right after that -- it was a good night for me -- and the longest Logan had slept yet. Then Friday night came, and he slept 6.5 hrs for one stint - amazing! And then there's last night. A full 8 hours. I felt like I was dreaming. I double checked the clock, and my math, several times to be sure.

He's still, however, adjusting during the day. Because he's now sleeping longer at night, he's wide awake during the day -- which would be nice if he weren't so dang fussy and would just learn how to be a happy baby when he is awake. But, usually he'll only stay smiley and happy for about 45 minutes at the most, before he realizes.....wait a minute, I'm not giving my parents a hellish time...... and then frowns, followed by a lot of screaming. He's also had a lot of trouble falling back to sleep after a long stint these last few nights which is tough to deal with when it's still dark out for me.

I'm convinced he's cranky partly because he isn't napping during the day as much as he should (probably due to the longer night sleeps and also his refusal to fall asleep even when super tired), so I'm really trying hard to put him down for at least a couple long (3 hr) naps during the day. But, sometimes Logan just doesn't want to sleep and as konked out as he may appear, the minute I think it's safe and wrap him up and put him down, he senses he's no longer snuggled up on mom's chest (his favorite spot) and wakes up crying.

*sigh*

So, 8 hrs last night was awesome and definitely blog worthy, but hanging out with a wide awake baby who wants to just talk talk talk at 4am in the morning and isn't sure how to go back to sleep, is not so awesome. ;-) And, once the talking got old, then he got cranky (and tired) and cried until I finally got him back to sleep about 5:30am or so. Fun times.

Still, can't complain too much -- he's definitely getting better and better! Which is a relief to me since it makes me feel like he may actually sleep through the night by the time I have to return to work.

Good God, let's hope so.

Free at Last

This morning was our follow up appt with the Ortho doctor to check the progress on Logan's hips and we're happy to report all looks good! We got the green light to move to part-time use where Logan only has to wear the brace at night when he goes to bed. We have another follow up in 6 weeks where we'll do an x-ray and then most likely end treatment.

Yay!! :)

I know he's going to be a much happier camper now that he is free to kick to his heart's content -- and let me tell you, he's already been non-stop cooing and kicking since this morning! If anything, it's now more of a challenge to nurse this wiggle worm, but I'll take it. ;-)

Locked Out

Wednesday is trash day -- so when I got home tonight after a fun Mommy/Baby get together at Kim's house, I decided I better take the trash out to the curb....esp. since Jon would probably be getting home too late to do it himself (being at NANOG all day). Logan was also fast asleep and didn't seem to be waking up any time soon which was my window of opportunity.

I ran around the house getting all the trash together and took it all out to the curb, only to come back to the side door I was using and discover that it has a lock on the knob *in addition to* the deadbolt. And silly me, the door slammed shut behind me on my last run.

So, there I am, 10pm at night standing outside in the pouring rain looking through the window at my sleeping baby (thank GOD he was sound asleep). Just as I was contemplating whether to break in or find a neighbor to call Jon (not only were my keys in the house, but so was my cell phone), our friendly neighbor Susan across the street was putting out her garbage. I ran over and asked if I could use her phone. Her first question was "Where's Logan?" Still inside! I replied.... she immediately rushed me into her house saying, jeez you seem awfully calm with your baby locked in the house. *shrug* eh - what could I do? (I would probably have panicked more had he been screaming instead of sleeping)

So, I called Jon -- luckily the convention was downtown and he was only a few minutes away -- Will drove him over to let me back in the house, just in time for Logan to wake up and ready to feed again! *whew* :)

And the adventures continue.....

Evil Empire 1, Google 0

Mr. Logan and I have been spending the day hanging out visiting with Uncle Zane, eating falafals, napping, researching more child care centers and generally minding our own business when the UPS guy dropped off a package at our door.

Addressed to Logan Shipman -- we found a pleasant surprise! In the box were a number of little gifts for Loganito -- a squishy "taggies" toy, a colorful blanket with little hands imprinted on it, a picture frame and a Dr. Suess bib and onesie with Microsoft imprinted on the front. The letter inside welcomed Logan to the MSFT family -- and with that, the evil empire earned a point in Mommy's book. Thanks Bill!






hey Google, where's your gift for little Logan?? hehehehe ;-)

Photo Album

Several family and friends beat me up on a regular basis because I don't have enough pictures of Logan posted. Part of the issue has been that we started his photo album on Jon's work laptop at the hospital and then never converted the files over to my computer once we got settled in at home.

I'm happy to report we've finally got it all moved over, so that I can start updating the album more frequently without bugging the hubby. :) I decided to change the look and feel of the album as well, and have added several new pages:

• 7 Week Old Monkey
• 8 Weeks Old - Super Bowl Sunday
• 2 Month Checkup
• Our Funny Valentine
• And, more photos added to the family page
  

Enjoy!

Date Night

Last night my parents babysat for us and had a nice time playing with little Logan while Jon and I went out on our first date since Logan was born. We had a great time! We didn't do anything too spectacular - had a nice dinner at Mantra in Palo Alto and then massages at Watercourse Way (much needed).

What was particularly amusing was what happened on the ride home -- after first swinging by Starbucks for some java, we took off to what I thought would be my parents house to pick up Logan. Jon, on the other hand, had completely forgotten about his son, and started heading in the direction of our home. It wasn't until I reminded him about our little critter that he circled back to my parent's house. Was he just on auto pilot or really that relaxed and mellow from his massage? Or perhaps we still are in a bit of denial about being parents? Whatever the case, we had a pretty good laugh. At least he didn't drive off with the baby on the hood of the car. hehehe

Yesterday was another big day. Most notably, Logan's new cousin Luke was born!! We are super excited for the family and can't wait to meet the little guy and see how Jon's brother Curtis, and his wife Renee, are coping as new parents :) Congrats guys!!

Because the weather has been super gorgeous, Kim dropped by with her 4 month old daughter Molly and we four took a stroll around the neighborhood. It was great to get outside and get some sunshine!

We also toured two more child care centers - and found ourselves in love with the center that our friends Julie and Jeff recommended (they focus on the child's development and daily learning which we both love, but also encourage the kids to have FUN, which made the environment a lot more comfortable and easier for me to accept). Of course, it's the most expensive one we've seen so far (and let me tell you, child care is NOT cheap!) but we think it'll be worth the cost. We're going to try and enroll Logan next week (we have to wait for their open enrollment period) and see if we can get accepted into the school. There are a couple gotchas - the main being timing - they don't have an opening for us until September when the new school year begins. :( Which means, we'll still need to find someone to care for Logan for the 4 months in between.

*sigh*

Any takers? ;-)

Our Funny Valentine

My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet you're my favorite work of art...

Will you be mine?

It goes without saying that Jon and I share one very special and cute little Valentine this year! :) We wish all of you a beautiful year full of love and happiness.

This week has been busy with child care tours for us. We've already seen two and will be seeing two more tomorrow. We're on the fence about whether we should choose a location near our work or near home -- it seems like both options have their pros and cons. Right now all the tours are near our home until we decide whether to expand out near work (Mountain View) or not.

The first place we visited was really nice -- organized, spic and span clean, lots of great programs for learning -- they even have both Spanish and Mandarin classes available (for toddlers) that would be perfect for us. But our first tour was also a shock to me. The reality of my maternity leave being almost half over (yes, already! I return end of April) hit me as I stood in the infant room, watching 3 women caring for 12 screaming little babies. I also realized how much I am going to struggle with dropping our little Valentine off every day to a stark, cold, institutional facility - nothing like home - and though very good at what they do I am sure, he still will not get the same amount of love and attention that he gets now (how can he, when these poor women are caring for 4 babies to their 1??). Returning back to work is not going to be easy.

I liked the second place a lot more than the first -- it had a much more mellow atmosphere -- less rigid and institutional which felt more comfortable and appealing to me. Jon liked the structure and curriculum that the first center offered more. So, we'll see. We haven't made any decisions yet since we still have a few more to visit.... of course a lot will depend on which centers actually have spots available for the timeframe we need! :)

As I write this post, Logan does a number on my shirt, spitting up all down the front. I suppose there are a FEW things I won't miss when I return back to work! ;-)

Frozen plastic breaks

Note to self, frozen plastic milk bottles can break.

*sigh*

In one of my zombie early morning states, I was getting some chicken in the freezer out in the garage to feed Lola (long story, she's been sick with pancreatitis this past week). As I'm grabbing the box of chicken, I knock one of the milk bottles that I've stored some pumped breastmilk in. It falls to the floor (concrete) and breaks! ARGH. Cracked the bottom of the bottle as well as the lid. The milk was saved thank goodness (it was frozen solid) -- just defrosted and fed to Logan this morning. But damn what a clumsy mistake, and waste of a good bottle!!

Spring time already?

It seems like our cold winter was short lived and we're entering Spring time already! It was a beautiful warm day today so we three went out with my parents to downtown Campbell, had a lovely lunch at a local French cafe and walked the main drag before heading back home.

Now that Logan is 2 months old, I'm starting to feel the pressure of getting our child care situation nailed down. Guess what's at the top of my to-do list this next week?

My dad took some great pictures of little Logan today (his 2-month birthday), posted online here. He's definitely a little charmer. Smiling all the time now and gazing at Mommy and Daddy's faces. He's also starting to learn how to vocalize more and seems to be enjoying it -- I think he and I talked about the great weekend we had for at least 20 minutes this evening. ;-)

2 Month Check Up

This afternoon we took Logan to his 2 month check up. He's looking really healthy and doing really well. We got some anti-biotic drops for his eye since he has a minor tear duct infection and instructions on how to help get rid of his cradle cap. Dr. Safir also checked his hips and says they feel great so that's good (ortho check up is in 2 weeks). He also had 4 big shots which upset him pretty bad, but we gave him a little Tylenol beforehand and he seems to be back to his normal self now, so maybe it helped.

As for growing - he's done a lot of that in the last month. He's now 22.5 inches long (45%), his head circumference is 39.5 cm(50%) and he now weighs 11lbs, 6oz (50%). woohoo - what a big boy! He was in a surprisingly mellow mood all the way until his shots unfortunately (you know, the type of screaming where no noise is coming out but his face is beet red), but it didn't seem to last TOO long. In fact, he took a little nap after the appointment! :)

Gung Hei Fat Choi

It is now the Year of the Rat and our little golden pig wishes you all a Happy New Year. Gung Héi Fát Chōi or Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái! :)

Yesterday we had a big day!

We saw a movie at the theatres with Kim and Molly (Juno - highly recommend). It was really great -- twice a month the theatre hosts a "Diaper Day" movie for moms and babies to come and see. They keep the lights on low for you to see and parents can watch a movie with their babies. Since everyone has babies, it doesn't seem to be a big deal if one is crying or fussing. Most of the moms are usually nursing throughout the movie or walking the baby up and down the side aisles to calm them down while catching the flick. Kim and I really enjoyed it and will definitely be doing it again! :)

Once we got home, Logan got a bath -- then napped with Mommy in the afternoon. When Daddy got home we took off to the mall and then swung by Logan's grandparents house (Zafu and Zabuton) to say hi! :)

Here's another video of Logan -- spending some time with Zabuton (the formatting's off a bit but I'll fix that later):

Poopy Post Office

Logan and I decided to walk to the post office today to mail out baby announcements. It was pretty chilly and windy out, but we needed the exercise. Unfortunately, Logan wasn't fond of the cold. The post office is only about a mile from our house -- but we took the scenic route (READ: a detour to try and get Logan to calm down and fall asleep) and ended up staying out for 2 hours!

While at the post office, I was trying to figure out how I was going to get him to calm down long enough for me to wait in line, pay my fees, mail our stuff and get the hell out of there before he erupted again -- when little Logan decided to be a real stinker. Literally. He had a massive poop right before I was about to get in line.

Decision time..... let him sit in his stinky poop for 15 min while we wait in line (likely causing him to cry even more) or, spread him out on one of those mailing/stamp counters (hey! whaddya know. they're at the perfect changing table height) and clean him up? I opted to clean him up because it was pretty bad.

So -- be forewarned. The next time you're at the post office mailing a Christmas package and setting everything out on those nice tall changing-table-height counters -- just think what might have been on there minutes beforehand! ;-)

Super Bowl Sunday

well, our little guy slept thru all the hollering and cheering at our friends Kevin and Charlie's Super Bowl Party....only to be really irritable and cranky all night for Mommy and Daddy! In the end I think he was just over-stimulated and super tired from the day. Damn this little monster - how do we toughen him up so he can start keeping up with us? :)

Our little Chargers fan:

Bad Mommy

Logan's nails have been getting longer and longer...I've filed and trimmed them back before but they grow like weeds (not to mention it's a real feat to trim them since he flails his arms around so much)! He was in a good mood this morning so I decided to clip them back again (they were getting so long that he was scratching his ears and face!).

Long story short, with the very last nail, I cut his nail too short and lo and behold, our son screamed out in pain and terror. :( It took a few minutes but I was finally able to calm him back down to happy baby state again. Bad bad mommy. I guess I wasn't careful enough.

*sigh* and so begins the trials and tribulation of parenthood.