Epidural

When my doc said I'd need to get an epidural to manage my back pain, I about laughed myself off the exam table.

Me: "What? An EPIDURAL?!?!"

"Wait a minute. You're telling ME, I've gotta have an epidural just to get through everyday life, because of this broken back of mine.... yet I didn't have to have one, when pushing that sonuvabitch frank breech beautiful darling son of mine outta my nether regions??!?"

Doctor: "Yes, that's what I'm telling you. So, does next Monday sound good?"

Our convo didn't go exactly like that, but that's what I heard in my head anyway.

I had three injections in my lower back today. It turns out, epidural is just the term they use that involves any injection of drugs through a catheter into your epidural space. My epidural today wasn't the kind a laboring woman has during childbirth. Instead of anesthesia, the doc served me up a nice plate of steroids (with a small side of lidocaine as well). It's supposed to help reduce the pain and inflammation of my nerves (that my discs are hitting) SO THAT my PT can actually start giving me some real exercises to strengthen my core. It's a temporary "fix" but buys us some time.

This past week has been really rough for me, I'm not sure if it was the aftermath of our road trip to LA, or if my back is just getting worse, but the shots couldn't have come at a better time. And, altho the procedure itself wasn't particularly comfortable, I'm so glad we did it and am looking forward to finally getting some recovery time in! Wish me luck...

And the second pushes thru.....

While visiting with an old college professor of mine for brunch today, we noticed Logan's SECOND tooth has now broken through! Right next to the first one (bottom, front)..... I still haven't got any snapshots of the little razors, but will try to do that sometime this week.

They are there... trust me! ;-)

Pearly Whites

Another first to report -- this time it's teeth -- or rather, a tooth!!

We were pretty sure something was going to break through soon with all the biting and gnawing that Logan has been doing this past weekend. And, this evening after our 2nd swim class (which went great, Logan and Robert both did much better and Jenn and I were much less frazzled) I noticed a little teeeeeeny white speck on his front bottom gum. I asked Jenn to take a look and feel it, and she agreed, a little razor sharp tooth has emerged.

It's still too small to take a pic (and Logan was way too exhausted tonight to even let me try anyway) but I'll try later this weekend to post up for all (the grandparents) to see. :)

It's exciting that we've hit another milestone -- yet also really sad for me. Logan's toothless-all-gums-grin is so incredibly happy and infectious. Not to say his smile with teeth won't be -- because we all know he will inherit my smile and not his Dad's -- but, I know that now all of his teeth are going to start pushing through at an alarming rate and he'll no longer have that cute-baby-awwwwww look that we've come to adore....

and instead start looking more like a toddler.

oh no.

Deep Sleep

As I mentioned last night, Logan was pretty tired after swim class and fell asleep soon after we got home. He was a little cranky but really didn't have too much trouble going down. But better than that, he actually slept THROUGH the night, an entire 11 hours of sleep! (which for us is really unusual) How awesome is that?!?!

I've heard that Michael Phelps' mom decided to start him on swimming at a really early age, in part because she couldn't CONTAIN the crazy hyper kid and thought that swimming would help him release a lot of his extra pent up energy.... I like the way she thinks.

It's pretty obvious little Logan is going to be just as hyperactive. So, if last night's deep sleep was any indication of post-swim-class-nights to come, I'm all for it. Can I sign him up for every single class from now until he's oh....

18?? ;-)

Swim Class

Tonight was Logan's first swim class and he did surprisingly well! The few times we've introduced him to water, either through bath time or in hotel pools, he hasn't really been that thrilled nor has he even LIKED it. He tends to freak out if his face, eyes or ears get wet and gets very stiff, timid and scared.

However, tonight was another story, thank goodness! We practiced holding the baby in a few different positions to allow them the most room (but us the most control) to kick. Logan was Mr. Frog Legs the entire time just kicking out froggy style thru the entire class. When I'd hold him close, he'd kick off my tummy and just wanted to bounce bounce kick kick kick. He didn't have the straight leg kick that we're working them on, but that'll come soon I'm sure :)

The hard part of the class was floating them on their back -- Logan liked this the LEAST of all. He kept kicking his legs straight up into the air and wouldn't relax even tho he was close to me and I was holding him the entire time. Still, he did better than I thought he would, since he has never liked that position in the water, since it tends to get his ears wet the most. :)

We also had them practicing REACHING out toward floaty toys in the pool, so they could get used to putting their arms out in front of them and reaching out for the water. He did EXCELLENT at this one, totally interested in nothing but the toy immediately in front of him (and switching focus to the next one if we moved on). And the minute he latched onto a toy, it was straight to the mouth to chew on and hold onto for dear life.

Jenn and Robert were also in the same class as us which was nice. Especially since the two of us Moms had no idea what to expect, nor did we really pack everything that we needed (but, between the two of us, I think we had it all covered and definitely learned what to bring/not bring for next time!). Julie brought Jamie and Jessie along to visit and cheer us on (Thanks Jamie!). And, Jenn and I even got a mini workout ourselves, since we were basically doing squats the entire time while holding the babies at shoulder height in the water. ;-)

All in all, a really successful first class and a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to our next one already! Oh, and Logan conked out early tonight which I'm SURE was because of all the exercise and excitement. A nice bonus.

A cool midnight breeze

We are back home from our crazy long road trip and the first thing that comes to mind is, thank goodness we're back in the land of cooler weather! :) Also, before I start this post, just wanted to warn folks it's a little long and I have quite a few photos to share -- hopefully you'll enjoy them as much as I have this evening putting them together!

As you saw from my previous posts along the road - we left Friday afternoon, a couple hours later than we had hoped, to drive down to LA. We had a pretty good drive down, even though the weather was ridiculously hot (it hit 107 degrees just before the Grapevine, somewhere in Kern County I believe), and made great time. I was thinking we'd have to stop every couple of hours but not so! Our little guy slept for the first half of the ride, and I kept an ice pack on my back and reclined most of the way. When he woke up, I moved to the backseat to hang out with him and distract him with funny faces and toys until we could find a suitable rest stop to stretch our legs and change him.

After we checked into our (super fancy schmancy downtown LA) hotel, we drove over to Jon's brother's house to meet our new little nephew, Luke! Luke is Curtis and Renee's first child as well, and is only a couple of months younger than Logan. So, it was great fun getting the boys together for the first time. Luke is much bigger than Logan was at his age -- so I think the two look a lot closer in age from sheer size! But, when you look a little closer, you can tell Logan's still a bit older since Luke is still working up to sitting on his own (but super close!) :) Logan and I were pretty beat from the drive down that day (my back was aching like crazy) so we didn't hang out too long, just enough to grab a quick bite to eat and catch up for a little bit before heading back to the hotel to hit the hay.

Saturday, we slept in as long as we could, then went to Kai's apartment to meet up with him and my parents, for lunch. Unfortunately, we were all running a little late and didn't get to tour the USC campus like I had hoped (Jon hasn't seen it before), so we'll have to do that next time we visit. We did get to see his apartment (he's got a GREAT set up) and go to a nearby diner for lunch. Logan did a great job sitting in his own high chair for most of the meal while we scarfed down our food.

Saturday afternoon was Scott and Monalissa's wedding down in Huntington Beach, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready and let Logan nap (I think the heat really took a lot out of him). Of course, we left later than we had hoped (we were never that timely before, but we are now way worse with a baby in hand!) and arrived about 15 min. late to the wedding. :( But, we got there in time to see them exchange their vows so that was cool :)

It was a beautiful setting in a really nice hotel along the beach. Logan really spoiled us all day with his wonderful behavior. Of course, it didn't hurt that he was THE center of attention at the wedding, second only to the Bride of course. ;-) The wedding was also quite fun because my entire family was there (Zane and Scott met at college and have been great friends ever since, so Scott has been a part of our family for some time), as well as some of Zane's old buddies that I haven't seen in years!

Logan slept fairly well each night at the hotel -- it did take some convincing to get him to go down since he was always SUPER tired and just couldn't fall asleep. But, once he did go to sleep (about midnight every night!!) he slept straight through the morning which was great for us. :) Sunday we slept in again, but woke up early enough to go grab some shirts for Jon before heading over to Ralph and Diane's house for lunch. Ralph and Diane are the parents of Bruce (my cousin Shawn's husband) and great family friends of ours. They have been long time residents of LA and have shown us another world down there that we've really enjoyed, as well as taken Kai under their wing while he's been at Grad School. Their son Paul, and girlfriend Monique, also stopped by since they still live in the area (they are the only "famous" people we know - Monique just did an advertising gig for McDonald's and Paul works in the music biz on awesome movies like Four Brothers and Hustle and Flow). We had an excellent meal, great conversation and a celebratory cake for Kai who's graduating from USC (yeah!!).

After a wonderful lunch, we headed over to Curtis and Renee's to spend the afternoon and evening talking kid shop, catching up on family gossip, having the kiddos meet and play together, letting "the big boys" do their brother-bond-watch-UFC-fights-till-you-drop thing and basically hanging out. We had a really great time and only left because the babies finally had enough and were getting really tired and cranky and ready for bed (poor Luke was struggling with his teething - he already has one tooth in and another is following!! and Logan was just plain tired with all the visiting, stimulation and ZERO naps all day long). As much as we loved visiting, it was for the best, since I knew Curtis and Renee had to get up early the next morning and we were pretty tired and needed a good night's rest before our long drive home today. It was a good thing too since we crashed hard and EARLY the minute we got back to the hotel.

Today, we woke up and lazily packed up for our trip back home. We loved all the visiting, but we were also pretty tired of sleeping in the hotel and braving the amazing heat each day, so we were looking forward to getting on the road and going home. My parents were driving home today as well, so they met us at an In N' Out just outside of LA for lunch before we all headed out for the long haul.

Unfortunately, Logan wasn't nearly as happy and content on the ride back home as he was on the ride down to LA. He DID fall asleep at one point, but while I was waiting for Jon at a pit stop, I decided to put a blanket up in the backseat window to help shade Logan from the unbearable heat. Of course, that woke him up and he was then Mr. CRANKY and UPSET baby. :( I crawled into the backseat to sit and play and distract and console him -- which only worked for a few minutes at a time. For the most part, he was unhappy and LET US KNOW IT, for a good hour, before finally falling asleep.

I've noticed him chewing, biting and gnawing on anything he can get his hands on, A LOT more than usual this past weekend. And today finally noticed little teeeeeeny tiny whites under his front bottom gums. When I feel them, they feel rough and agitated. Nothing has broken through yet, but it seems like it may be on the verge. *shrug* I really don't know (never dealt with a teething baby before) so we'll see. At any rate, I took some pictures during his crying session to see if I could catch a shot of his little white caps but it was challenging and I finally gave up. I moved to the front seat and after a little while, our little munchkin finally gave us some rest and fell asleep. We actually stopped at Babys R Us on the way home to get a few teething toys that we can stick in the freezer, to see if that will help him get through the next few days/weeks.....

It's way later than it should be and I really need to get to bed, but a few more things to add. Logan's finally fast asleep in his own crib -- he really wanted to go to bed as soon as we got home, the poor guy. Both dogs had a great time at the Hicksons but are also happy to be home and curled up in their beds. We're pretty sure Iz was pissed we left him "trapped" in the house all weekend long since we came home to pee and poop ON THE FLOOR in FRONT of the litter boxes, as well as a clawed up living room rug. He's now curled up at my feet, the little terd. And, if the smell of cat urine in your stuffy house isn't enough to come home to, how about spoiled food in your refrigerator? The scatter brain that I was before leaving for our trip (remember, this is the same woman who forgot to pack SHIRTS for her husband), I forgot to move the remaining items in our fridge to the temporary fridge we have in the garage.... *sigh*

We were, and are, happy to be home. But, suffice to say, we had a little bit of CLEAN UP to do, the minute we unloaded the car and walked into the house.

On the road again

Stopped for In-N-Out with my parents around Magic Mountain and are now
back on the boring 5 to head back home.

Logan's been chewing and chomping and biting like crazy this whole
weekend...and gets whiny if we take away the toy he's found to chew on
(like my comb this morning). Luckily, I armed us with quite a few
toys for him to play with during the drive.

No shirt, no shoes...

We discovered this morning that I didn't pack any shirts or tennis
shoes for Jon (yet I threw in a bunch of socks, go figure). Luckily
there are stores a plenty near us, and at least he has his flip flops
(which is all he needs in this ridiculous heat anyway!!)

I blame it all on this cute kid (he's getting ready for Playgirl
early) ;)

We have arrived

Just checked into our hotel. We've got a great view of downtown and
are staying in a really nice hotel. The trip took about 6 hrs, 45
min... But with a 45 min rest on the road, I think we made pretty good
time!

Off to dinner with Curtis, Renee and Mr. Luke!

"Driving faster in my car"

Listening to some good ol' STP while driving thru the Grapevine.

Rest Stop

Stretching our legs and changing Logan. IT IS HOT!

Middle of nowhere...

Otherwise known as the lovely 5.

Logan finally woke after a 3.5 hr nap (wonder if that'll hurt us
tonight?) and is getting antsy. I feel ya kid.

Road Trip

We finally set off for our first road trip (a few hours later than we
had planned - what a surprise) and 10 min into the ride, little Logan
conked out. :)

We decided to install his big boy car seat for the drive so he'd be
more comfy and so I'll have more room to recline with my back. Wish
us luck!

We're headed down to LA for a friend's wedding tomorrow. We get to
see Logan's new cousin Luke for the first time too, while we're down
there. We can't wait!

Home from the concert

Zafu, babysitting Logan :)

George Michael

"A life lived for others is wasted"

Ahhhh, so true. Listen to George little Logan... Listen to George.

Jon pointed out that comment could be taken as a selfish comment, but I like to think George was encouraging folks, esp. the gay ones in the crowd, to not care what others think and instead live for themselves, as their own person. :)

Waiting

For a kickass concert to begin...

Mommy/Baby Get Together

A few friends of mine who all had babies around the same time as me came over for dinner and a play date tonight. We had a really good time -- tons of food, little pieces of toast for each baby that lasted the entire meal (so that we all actually got to EAT our own dinners first!), and then pictures and playtime until the little ones started getting too cranky to see straight.

There's only a four month gap between the oldest (Robert) and the youngest (Logan). And yet, they are all so uniquely different! It was tons of fun and I'm really looking forward to another get together soon :)


From left to right, Robert (10 mths), Molly (8 mths), Emily (7 1/2 mths) and Logan (6 mths). Click on the picture above for more shots of the night!!

Microspotting

Since I've been blogging now for a few months, I've gotten more and more interested in this whole blogging getup. I even posted about the crazy Mommy Blogging phenomenon. For those that didn't get to check it out, I'd highly recommend viewing some of those sites for kicks.

Well, another, totally non-mommy-related blog that I follow is Microspotting. A gal, let's call her Ariel, up in the Northwest, let's call the place Redmond, working for an evil-empire, let's call it Microsoft, got a job at said company about a year ago. And, like me who also joined with the company last year due to an acquisition, has realized it's not totally the Boring Corporate Red-tape Evil World that everyone says it is.

Ariel blogs about other Microsofties to let people on the outside know what it's like to work on the inside. And, she adds in some great colorful photos as well. I keep waiting for her to do a visit to Tellme some day; I think she'll meet too many creative and inspirational people to know what to do with.

So what's your point Bree and why the hell are you writing about this chick named Ariel and her Microspotting website?

Well, she put out a calling and I'm answering. She's just created new Microspotting t-shirts and our family, being the branded swag whoring family that we are, wants one!

I've put up a NEW POLL to the right. You tell me -- which t-shirt do you think I fit more? The "I am the empire" or "My job gives me special feelings"?

I know, too hard to choose, right?

Voting starts...... now.

Dry as a (milk) bone

I'm no longer nursing Logan. :( I pulled back to about once a day a week or so ago and by last week, I had stopped all together. I'm still feeding him what frozen breast milk I have left over, but that's it.

This change is not really by choice -- you all know how I've struggled with breast feeding since day one. But, I suppose all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately my milk supply has been slowly decreasing. And, with Logan's growing appetite, he has been getting more and more impatient when I'd try to nurse. My milk wouldn't let down fast enough for him, so he'd pitch a fit and stop all together. I'd move to a bottle next, just to get something in him, and there you have it. The vicious cycle. The less he would nurse, the less I produced, even when trying to pump and store it, and before long there was nothing left to pump or give him the next time around.

*sigh*

There is a (small) part of me that rejoices. No more excuses that I have to be the middle-of-the-night comforter to nurse and rock Logan back to sleep. No more biting, tugging, gnawing. No more lugging around a pump to work, finding a slot of time throughout the day where I can steal away and squeeze my tits dry and emerge from the windowless closet, say hi to a co-worker who walks past me in the hallway, with pump slung on my back, acting like I didn't just spend the last 30 minutes massaging my breasts. No more confrontations with nasty security guards at the airport. No more UNSEXY nursing bras.

Lookout world -- I finally have my boobs back!

But, most of the time, like tonight, I miss being able to breastfeed Logan into a deep slumber. I miss cozying and cuddling together. I miss the Mommy/Baby selfish only-me-and-him time. So instead, I take time to rock him to sleep. To hug him and pat him and sing him lullabies and smile down on his precious little face, vigorously sucking on his tongue with his eyes closed and rubbing his head into my arm or chest or shoulder to find that perfect little spot.

My little boy is growing up.

Booth = Bed

Passed out, using the booth as a make shift bed, at dinner :)

Daddy's Back!

Whooowheee. It's been awhile since I've blogged with any real substance. Where do I begin?

I suppose I should start by saying HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! Today was Jon's first Father's Day. Logan and I surprised him with this kick ass card (below) from Alternate Greetings (isn't it perfect?) as well as his very own fun toy to play with (a Wireless Digital Picture Frame) which he can use to brag to all his friends visiting, on what a damn cute kid he has. ;-)

This past week was hell without Jon around. :( My back got worse Tuesday night when, with a stroke of genius, I decided to take out the trash and scrape out one of the cat's litter boxes that was CAKED LIKE MUD. Yeah, not such a smooth move with a broken back. So, my therapist TAPED up my back for a day, to try and get me to stop moving around so much -- easier said than done when you're a single working mom who has a baby. I go back for my follow up with the doc on Tuesday -- with all the ups, and mostly downs, I've been having, looks like I'm headed for an MRI and injection. :( At this point, I could care less -- I just want the pain and inflammation to stop. *sigh* anyhoo, we'll see what he says....

And if that weren't enough, our refrigerator then DIED at the end of the week. I noticed this after our bin of ice in the freezer was full of water one morning and the bottom of the freezer was slowly turning into a puddle of lemon and lime popsicle juice. Grrrreat. And, to make matters worse, when I called our home warranty plan to get a service guy to come out and take a look, they said that refrigerators were an OPTIONAL choice which was not elected for our contract. WHAT??!?!? How can a fridge not be under the basic coverage of a home? MAN. I mean, we were thinking of buying a new fridge anyway, but not this soon. Luckily, we have a free standing freezer and a mini fridge in the garage, so I was able to salvage about half the freezer items and most of the REAL perishables like the dairy, etc. from the fridge.

As for Mr. Logan - he got to try out some more new foods; apples (which was really just apple sauce) and carrots were the two new foods of the week (in addition to pizza crust which I posted below). He's going through an entire jar just fine these days. But honestly, he seems to enjoy the finger foods (puffs, cheerios, and of course, yogurt melts) much much more. I can't tell if it's because they're tastier (and sweeter), or because he can help contribute to the eating process or if he's able to chew them more than the other jarred foods.... Anyway, it's still quite fun. I've also discovered that the cap to the jar foods is a PERFECT little chew toy -- which is still all our little guy wants to do. CHEW CHEW BITE BITE CHEW CHEW CHEW.

For example. Today for Father's Day I dressed him in a smart little overall outfit. And of course, what's the first thing that he discovers? The cool metal buckles within a close vicinity of his mouth, that he can grab, shove into his mouth and gnaw on all day long. I love the "built in" chew toy -- although, the additional drool and wet outfit that it comes with? Not so much.

I think I mentioned Logan's taken an obsession with his tongue this week. I was able to capture a couple fun pics of him goofing around. His personality seems to be shining through more and more these days with antics like this, which we just love. :)

And finally, the latest new development of the week, just in time for Father's Day, is Logan saying "dadadadadadada" alllllllll morning long. Because I'm running out of places to put him down where I know he won't go anywhere, I mostly just strap him into his swing in the morning after he's been changed and fed, so I can run and wash bottles, get his diaper bag ready to go, feed the dogs, cats, etc. and grab a bite for myself. He seems pretty content most mornings to just swing along and taaaaaaaaalk to anyone that will listen. And, of course, sing "dadadadadadada" non-stop. It's not being said in context of course (Jon wasn't even around this week so that answers THAT question!) but it's still neat to hear him saying it. :) I tried to capture a video or two, but you know how it goes. The minute I whip out the camera with all the pretty lights, he just stops and stares at me and the camera intently. oh well.

Pizza

Logan gumming a piece of pizza crust at dinner. A perfect chew toy!! ;)

6 month check up

Logan is doing great! He's right where he should be: weighing 16 lbs, 15 oz (50%), 26.5 inches tall (50%) and has a 44.5 cm head circumference (75%). He's healthy, very social and aware of all his surroundings.

And, he's strong - superbly strong as our doctor says (he's got a tight grip, sits up no problem and plants his feet down SOLID when you stand him up). He thinks Logan will be an early walker by about 8-9 months and RUNNING by 12-13 months! Running?!?! I didn't believe him and he said well, if not running, moving pretty damn quick. He told me to be ready to keep busy with this little one (well no joke there, we knew THAT already!). At any rate, we'll see if his prediction holds true. :)

He's also apparently teething (who knew?), but nothing has broken through yet, so we're still ok there. We have some fluoride drops we need to start giving him each day but that's about it. Logan also got three more shots today - the last of the DPT (and other) series - and did AWESOME! He cried a little but honestly, he didn't scream like he has before and after about 10 seconds he was totally fine. Took a little nap when we got home and is back up and chattier than ever. He's also got another crazy obsession with his tongue today, sticking it out at everyone -- I took a few pics which I'll have to post later tonight.

Single Working Mom

Jon left early this morning for a whirlwind Chicago - Ashburn - New York business trip.... he'll be back late Saturday night, just in time for Father's Day! :) So, Logan and I get to chill on our own all week.

Logan took a whopping 3.5 hr nap this morning and made me late to one of my meetings, but otherwise, today wasn't actually all that bad! I got Logan off to school, rushed to work, worked my fanny off all day, grabbed him from preschool, came home to let the dogs out, feed the animals and feed Logan, and then went over to Kim's for dinner and a movie while the kiddos hung out and babbled so loud that we had to turn up the volume quite a bit. ;-)

Logan was in a surprisingly good mood all day -- probably because he slept so much! (funny how that works) When I dropped him off at school in the morning he was actually playing with another one of the babies, and when I picked him up he was doing tummy time with two other babies in a little circle. It was very cute :) And, this evening, he got to try some more new foods since Auntie Kim had tiny freeze-dried apple cubes, which he's never eaten before. Neat!

All in all, a good first day for the single working mom and her kid. Let's hope the rest of this week is just as uneventful!

Peas!

Tonight we tried peas for the first time! :) I can't say Logan liked them as much as the pears -- I think those are by far his favorite. However, he DID manage to polish off the entire jar again, along with some banana puffs, cheerios and yogurt melts. I've given him a couple cheerios and banana puffs before, but this is the first time he's tried picking them up and eating them on his own. He's okay at grabbing them (about 4 per fist with one swooping motion) but he can't quite get them into his mouth yet. :) It's actually quite comical watching him stare at his clenched fists, fingers slowly opening one by one, trying to figure out how to get the little cheerios in his mouth (they never quite make it, landing stuck to his cheeks or chin instead).

The yogurt melts have been a big hit for a couple weeks now, so I use them sorta like "dessert" to wind up the meal. He can't seem to get ENOUGH. I suppose I may be encouraging a sweet tooth by giving him so many, but I like that he's trying all sorts of new foods and it's getting him used to actually chewing, without me worrying about him choking when I'm not looking (they dissolve in seconds).

I decided to make a night out of "firsts" and gave him some juice via his new sippy cup -- which he was more interested in BITING the hell out of the flat nipple than drinking -- but seemed to like it nonetheless (the handles are perfect for him, since he's always grabbing his bottle to hold onto anyway).

And THEN he drank another 9oz of milk after all that!!

So, it's no surprise that he's currently passed out in his crib. ;-)

This weekend was my weekend to research swim classes for Mr. Logan, since we're creeping up on his 6 month birthday and most places start swim classes at 6 months. I'm currently looking at three different places and trying to decide which one to enroll him in. Just as child care centers are in high demand, so are swim classes it seems! There aren't too many open spots left, particularly in the evening or weekend classes that I would need to enroll him in, but there are a couple so we'll figure it out. I'm really excited to get him started very soon!

Sleepyheads

I'm bustling around all morning getting Logan's crap and my crap ready, answering work emails, making a few phone calls, feeding the dogs and cats, running another load of laundry, loading the dishwasher. You get the idea.

I'm finally ready to go and come into the bedroom to grab Logan, running late as usual, and this is what I see....

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?

I don't have much of a blog update tonight, so instead I'll leave you with a couple more pics. Here's one from a set that I took while hanging out with Logan on the living room floor. One of these days I'm going to submit a portfolio to The Gap or something. I'm not biased. Noooooo.... ;-)


And, more new couches arrived today! This time for the "game room" den. I'm absolutely in love with all the stylish stitching....

Pears

Logan didn't sleep or eat much all day today and didn't seem to know what to do with himself this evening. So, since he wasn't drinking much milk, yet was REALLY interested in Daddy's yogurt, we decided to try another food tonight -- PEARS! He seemed to really love them. Unlike any other solids we've done before, he actually was leaning forward and opening his mouth whenever I had a spoonful near him. And, he polished off the ENTIRE JAR in one sitting!!

So, either he's getting more accustomed to eating solids and finally figuring it out.... or, the boy loves his pears. Whatever it may be, we'll take it! ;-)

Home Sweet Home

I got home late last night after a hellishly long day. I had thought I'd get a good night's rest (finally!) while I was gone, since I didn't have to wake up and care for a crying baby... but, I ended up getting sick instead (I think I ate something that didn't agree with me) and was up late trying to calm down an upset stomach and get a few hours of sleep before waking up for an early morning client meeting (meeting started at 8am, Central Time. yipppeeee!)

Luckily, it was a short trip -- one all day meeting and then I was back on a plane home. I got held up at security because the gal behind the x-ray monitor had no idea how to handle me. A woman. Traveling with breast milk. But no baby. WHAT TO DO! She had to call her supervisor to "check me out" because she didn't know what the protocol was. I opened up my little cooler, showed him the bottles and ice pack, explaining it really WAS breast milk.

I almost offered to let him taste it. Almost.

As it turns out, what was most perplexing to them was not the milk, but the ice pack.... he examined it closely (hey man, it's completely sealed and I've got it to keep the milk cold, see how that works??) before he finally let me go with a grumble.

Do working moms never travel or something? JEEZ.

The trip, tho short, was tough on my back. They are starting to pack the planes more and more tightly these days. It looked like a can of sardines from my vantage point at the back of the plane (standing, stretching my back, and receiving the EVIL EYE from the Nazi Stewardess - I mean Flight Attendant - who wasn't happy I was standing when the SEAT BELT SIGN WAS STILL ON).

But, four or so hours later, we finally landed and I was never happier. When I opened the front door to our home, I was greeted by a tired Daddy (he's still sick unfortunately) and a cute chubby smiley baby. It was 9:30pm, and normally by that time, I would be BEGGING Logan to finally fall asleep, but last night I was so happy he was still awake so I could spend a few minutes with him before he went to bed. :)

I know I was only gone for two days, but it seriously seemed like he put on an extra 5 lbs while I was gone. I guess I finally noticed his super chubby cheeks for the first time. ;-) We played and hung out and I fed him and rocked him to sleep. Put him to bed, did a little unpacking, and crashed myself. Glad to be home.

Thank Goodness for Name Tags

Know what Visitor Name Tags are good for?

Hiding a wet spot on your blouse when your boobs leak milk!!

UGH.

Of course, the ONE time I forget to bring any nursing pads is the time I actually leak through -- at an all day CLIENT MEETING no less.

Good times.

All I can say is, thank goodness for name tags.

Don't let the smile fool you

Our friends Eric and Jill visited us this past weekend on their way through the Bay Area, back home to San Diego. It was great seeing them after so long -- and of course, Logan enjoyed meeting his Uncle and Auntie. We all got together for a fun dinner Saturday night (with the Izbickis too) and stuffed ourselves silly Sunday morning at Stacks for brunch. Their visit was way too short and we didn't have much time to work our magic trying to convince them to move back to the Bay Area (we try every time they are here). We're looking forward to seeing them again in a couple of months!

A co-worker asked me today what recent developments Logan has taken up and to be honest, I didn't know what to report on! I feel like he hasn't changed in any major way - but rather is refining the skills he's already developed. I'm sure others who don't see him as often would protest but because I see him day to day I forget to notice the little changes. Whoops! :) He's definitely getting bigger and heavier (my back can attest to that). Lately he loves HITTING every thing, particularly with his right hand, which makes me wonder if he'll be a rightie? ;-) He's also more and more vocal -- loves to just chat and talk to himself for quite awhile now. He's sitting up for longer periods of time and can play on his own (pulling anything toward him to investigate and inspect) - however he still gets bored when he's alone and usually wants some attention or TLC after a little bit. He continues to do wonderfully at preschool which is a huge relief. And, he's starting to catch himself by putting his hand down, whenever he starts to topple over from a sitting position.

For the most part, I'm really excited to see any little change in our kiddo, but lately he's turned to BITING pretty much anything. Toys, blankets, fingers and yessssss..... my boobs. Suffice to say, I'm not a fan. It HURTS, even with no teeth, and I DON'T LIKE IT. And when he does it, he clamps down hard and then has this goofy big ass grin on his face as he looks up at me with a "Aren't I the cutest little thing Mommy?" while I'm grimacing and trying to BREAK the death grip that is his gums, hoping to stop him before my nipple falls off.

Sorry kid. The smile don't fool me.

Though I'm disheartened by my decreasing milk supply (which is almost non existent these days *sniff sniff*), I'm relieved I'm not nursing him full time anymore. I'm still hoping to make it to 6 months, at the very least, but after that, if Logan continues his biting rampage, I may have to stop. We shall see.

Tomorrow I leave for a business trip to St. Louis. :( Though I'll only be gone 2 days and 1 night, it's still a big event for us - and me. It's the first time I'll be away from Logan overnight -- yikes!! The good news is, Jon will be home with him after all (originally Jon was also going to be out of town too, which made me a little nervous since Logan's still so little). The bad news is, Jon's home sick, and will have a pretty tough time taking care of himself AND Logan. I foresee frustrated late night phone calls in my near future. ;-)

Dream Big

I meant to blog earlier today when I woke up so I could capture all the nuances of this crazy dream I had last night, but alas, I have a temperamental sensitive son who demands my attention pretty much 24x7.

So, this will have to be a shortened version of my dream sequence -- I was getting new cabinetry for my kitchen and the rest of the house too. And, there was this cool software that I could load up on the computer which, after selecting the cabinets I wanted to buy, would then automagically TRANSFORM the entire house's cabinets into that design.... I could see the cabinetry in "real life" so to speak, in the actual rooms of my house, and walk around the home to decide if they were a "fit" or not, with the rest of the decor, before buying them. (Side note: the house I was walking through in my dream wasn't actually my current home but some magnificent mansion that was absolutely beautiful, big with spacious rooms and high-domed ceilings.)

Now I ask you -- if there was a type of software that existed out there, that could give you an accurate holographic 3-d representation of a product already *in* your home, would you buy it and/or use it to help you make a decision about the product you were considering purchasing?

Everyone raise your hands! C'mon now. Raise them. Raaaaiiiise them.....