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Archive for category Wes
Logan Update – 10 Months!
It’s the end of life as we know it…Logan is now mobile. He started out just doing the army crawl on his belly over the Christmas holiday, but now he is crawling like a champ. He’s also much better at getting from the crawling position back to sitting. He still LOVES Wrigley and now that he can move, he often crawls after her and tries to grab her fur. Wrigley has been being a great sport and typically will either just lick Logan, or get up and walk away.
Christmas Weekend
Logan enjoyed his first Christmas at his grandparents house in Jacksonville, he even got to meet his Great Grandma and Grandpa from Indiana as well! He didn’t really understand the whole presents concept, but he was a very good boy while we all opened gifts. He has really enjoyed playing with all his new toys!
I don’t have any official weight or height statistics this month, but he’s now wearing 18 month sized clothes. Some 12 month clothes will fit him, but I’m finding more and more 12 month clothes are either too short or just too tight. This cold streak has put us in long sleeved shirts, sweaters, pants/jeans, and jackets. We’re very thankful to our family in Chicago and Minneapolis who have sent us boxes of hand me down clothes! Us, Floridians, don’t really know what to do once you can see your breath!
Another tooth popped up this month on the bottom left, so now he has 4 on top and 4 on bottom. He’s been trying all sorts of new foods this month as well. Some of the new varieties include gerber 2nd foods apple/cherry, apple/blueberry, garden vegetable, sweet potato/corn, mango smoothie, chicken, beef, turkey, and mac & cheese. I’ve also started him on Gerber 3rd foods, which really just seems to be more per container and a bit thicker consistency, but I have yet to see any actual chunks or anything like that. His first experience with Baby Mum Mums was sort of comical. I gave him the Mum Mum and he immediately put it into his mouth and took a bite. Then he just held the Mum Mum in his hand and sat there crying. I tried it again the next day, but that time he didn’t even attempt to put it in his mouth, instead he just held on to it and cried. After that I let him try the Graduates Lil’ Crunchies, and he loves those. At first he couldn’t figure out how to eat the part of the snack that he was holding in his hand, so he just sort of put his whole hand in his mouth, but now he’s got it down. I was so happy to find that he seemed to know what to do with the crunchy snacks. He bit them and then chewed them like a big boy, no choking!
Drinking From a Glass
I started weaning Logan this last month, so he’s now transitioning onto formula. He seems to be taking it without issue and I don’t think there will be any problem once he is 100% on formula. He still is very interested in drinking out of a glass, so we started offering him a sippy cup between meals. He really likes it and has figured out where he needs to put his mouth, but hasn’t figured out that he needs to tilt the cup back to actually get anything out of it. He’ll get it.
I noticed that this month he is very interested in touch and feel books. He actually touches and feels the book. His favorite is Touch and Feel PETS, I’m not sure why, but he’s not as interested in the other ones we have. His sounds and noises are getting more and more complex. He’s also practicing his noise volume. He likes to whisper “HOTA HOTA”, I have no idea what it means, but it must be very profound. He started performing his early morning sing song routine earlier and earlier, so we have now adjusted his bedtime from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Even though it’s just an hour, it’s quite a change in our home routine. Now we all eat dinner together around 6:00 instead of Wes and I eating after Logan goes to bed.
Logan Update – 8 Months!
On November7th, Logan turned 8 months old. He’s been pretty busy over the last month, here’s a peak at what he’s up to now.
Logan in his highchair
He has now outgrown his infant car seat. Not in weight, but definitely in height. We purchased the Evenflo Triumph Advanced Convetible Car Seat from Walmart as his replacement, it should be arriving this week. We won’t have his official weight and height check from the pediatrician’s office until his 9-month baby well visit in December, but we estimate that he is about 21 lbs now. He is really enjoying solid foods, and he’s moved on to Gerber 2nd foods this month. He eats about four 2nd foods per day, and each one is about 3.5oz. He’s still eating rice cereal mixed in with his food, and is getting a large majority of his nutrition from breast milk. I would guess he drinks about 25-30 oz of breast milk per day. We haven’t started him on complex combinations of baby food or big people food yet, but imagine that will probably start sometime next month. I think that he’ll be ready to start chomping on food now that’s his THIRD tooth is coming in!! His second bottom middle tooth came in just after I wrote his 7 month update, but I just noticed number three yesterday, it’s on the top left. Such a big boy!
Sitting Unassisted - You can see my teeth!!
Speaking of a big boy…he is now a rolling machine! It seems like when ever I put him on his back, the first thing he does is try to roll over. Which includes putting him on his back to change his diaper! He still prefers rolling to his right, and I rarely see him roll from front to back, but I know it will all come in time. He even prefers to sleep on his stomach now. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do to encourage him to sleep on his back, he always finds his way back to his tummy, so now I just put him to bed on his back, and whatever he does from there is up to him. He still hasn’t started crawling yet, but he has figured out he can pivot/turn his body while on his belly. I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time until he figures out he can use his legs and actually go places.
He’s sitting up unassisted pretty well now. He’s even learned how to use his hands to rebalance himself if he shifts his weight too much to one side. He still topples over occasionally, but that is happening less and less often now. He has also learned to pull himself up from a reclined position, which I learned the hard way. He has a reclined rocking chair with toys that dangle over his head (see chair). One day while making breakfast, he was playing in that chair. I feel like I had turned my back for one second, and when I turned around he was leaning WAY forward, he had gotten his body on the other side of the hanging toys and the rocking chair looked like it was about to topple over and land with Logan doing a face plant into the floor. THANKFULLY, I saw him in time to grab him. To make a long story short…no more rocking chair for him!
Standing like a Big Boy!
Logan is still the happy, mild mannered baby he’s been from the start. Although, I think he had his first episode of stranger anxiety this weekend. He seems so easily entertained these days, and really loves to laugh. He enjoys laughing at his daddy’s funny faces. Every time he sees Wes in the room, he stares at him as if to say “Dance Clown”. He’s sooo entertained by his daddy doing little dances, singing, or just jiggling his head around like a bobble head toy. Logan still loves Wrigley. He seems to be constantly laughing at her. Whenever she comes by him to lick his face, Logan seems to open his mouth. What a goof ball! He really likes to stand up, and enjoys walking from one end of the room to the other while holding someones hands. Peek-A-Boo is now one of his favorite games…just saying the words will make him smile.
Make sure to check out the photos for this month. He had some professional pictures taken at daycare that are included in this months photo gallery.
Tribute to Coby
Coby past away this afternoon. I adopted Coby when he was 7 months old. Even then he was a laid back kitty, I remember him sleeping in his cat carrier all the way home. When he was small he suffered from kitty asthma, and I remember anytime he would play too long he would start to wheeze. As he got older he grew out of that and became a very curious and playful kitty.
Coby was 8 years old. His birthday was May 2001. He will be remembered for always coming up an inch short on jumps, having the loudest pur you’ve ever heard, sleeping on your pillow above your head at night, getting in the window and rattling the blinds in the wee hours of the morning, sticking his head in water glasses, being the first to a freshly filled food bowl, scurrying from place to place, laying on his back, trying to go home with strangers, walking on the ledge of the bathtub in between the curtains while you’re in the shower, always trying to cleanup messes, scratching the sub woofer, trying to play with and groom Wrigley, wrestling with Spotty, and fighting with Frosty.
Coby (aka. Coby Coaster, Grace, Cobes) was a loved member of our family and will be deeply missed.
First Weekend Getaway!
A couple weeks ago we all had our first weekend getaway. Logan had his first trip to his grandparents house for the weekend, and Wes and I had our first nights away from Logan since he came home from the hospital. Everyone involved had a great time!
Wes and I stayed the weekend at the One Ocean Resort at Atlantic Beach in Jacksonville, FL. We stayed in a room with an ocean view balcony on the seventh floor of the hotel. The view was magnificent and we even caught the sunrise on the first morning we were there. We reserved dinner both nights at the Azurea Restaurant in the hotel. We really felt like our dinner was more then just a meal out, it was a culinary experience. The presentation of the food was beautiful and we were really impressed with how all the flavors on the plate came together. While we were there was also enjoyed a couples massage in the hotel spa.
Logan stayed with his grandparents in Jacksonville. He was a good boy for them, and only got up once each night he was there. He kept them busy by taking very few naps during the day, and staying up later then he normally does at night. It was a very exciting trip for Logan, he got to meet some new doggies, do some tummy time, read stories and get lots of thumb sucking in! He even got to meet his second cousins and great aunt and uncle while he was there as well.
My First Father’s Day
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of celebrating my first ever Father’s day. Logan (with some assistance from his day care) made a very nice footprint plaque with a poem on it (see picture). The “Footprints” poem:
Walk a little slower, Daddy,
Said a child so small
I’m following in your footsteps
And I don’t want to fall
Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they’re hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading me.
Someday when I’m all grown up,
You’re what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who’ll want to follow me.
And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For I must follow you.
I was very happy Logan took the time out of his busy schedule to make something so nice for me! Then that weekend Gr. Grandmom Barbie, Grandmom Jeannie and Grandpa Skip came down from Jacksonville for a visit. It was a really great weekend and it was great to get to spend time with family. Below are some pictures from that weekend.
Tribute to Frosty
Frosty
Earlier this morning our pet Frosty passed away, he was around 10-11 years old. Frosty was actually adopted by my brother Justin and his wife Nicole in the Chicago suburbs. After a couple years he became part of my family by moving in with me and Spotty in our Wrigleyville apartment. It was really nice to have a second cat so they could entertain each other, and from day one they got along well.
Frosty was a really good pet and has left a lasting impression on both Loretta and I. He also left us each with a physical impression over the years in the form of a scar. Frosty was a bit infamous for being startled by a loud noise while sitting on your lap or cuddling with you, this would make him jump half way across the room and forget he had rear claws in the process.
Frosty & Spotty
Other things we will remember him for are; licking plastic bags, curling up in the bathroom sink, sleeping in an old cracker barrel box, hating the vacuum cleaner, hiding behind the dryer when a stranger was in the house, loving the sound of crumpling up paper, climbing to the top of the refrigerator and then announcing to the house that he was there, retrieving paper balls and playing fetch, being the primary lizard hunter in the family, and of course his most famous, drinking water from the sink.
Frosty (aka. Tubby, Tubby Bear, Big Bear, Big Boy, Tub of Love, Frosty Bear, Fat Ass) was a very loved and valued member of our family and will be missed greatly.
New Swing!
Logan watching the mobile
Logan enjoying his new swing!
Wrigley checking them out.
Logan got a new swing today!! He enjoys the swing at daycare so much, we figured that it would be a good investment to purchase a working swing for home. On Sunday Wes jumped online and found the Fisher Price – Rainforest Open Top Cradle Swing. This swing is nearly 5 star rated and has 432 customer reviews. We were really impressed with how quick it arrived, with regular shipping the swing arrived on Wednesday!
Wes put the swing together right away and found the instructions very easy to follow. The swing is just awesome. It swings head to toe or side to side. The motor, mobile, and music are all independent controls, so you can have the mobile moving without the swing. The two legged base seems very sturdy, and the swing is very colorful and fun to look at. Even Wrigley wanted to check it out!
I think Logan really likes the new swing. We feel it was a huge upgrade from his previous swing which was drab in color and only had three white non-moving bears for the mobile. The Fisher Price mobile definitely caught his eye and he seems much more comfortable in the chair. He hasn’t tried the side to side motion yet, but I think he’ll like that little variation as well!
Logan – New Pictures!
I’ve just posted some new pictures of Logan. He’s beginning to grow out of his 0-3 month clothes now, so I wanted to get a couple of pictures of him in these outfits. The sailing shirt was a gift from his Grandpa Skip and the collared shirt one piece was from his Aunt Cristin and Uncle Steve.
Improved: Pool Overflow System
Laying Drain Tile
While my mom and dad were visiting we had a ton of rain. So much, in fact, that our pool began taking on extra water because of all the grass that had overgrown the pool overflow. My mom is quite the outdoors woman and loves to get her hands dirty, so in the morning we noticed the backup, she marched outside and began digging a little mote for all the water to pool in. This was the beginning of the development of what is now known as the Belt Pool Overflow System.
Hose Comparison
The original design was a mote dug out to the left of the drain with a 1.5 inch pool vacuum hose laying in the mote to help distribute the excess water. This gradually evolved into using a 10 ft section of drain tile with a mote dug out to the left and right of the drain, all buried under ground.
Home on the range
Ryan and Dad getting setup
Ryan and his best friend Steve supplied all the weapons and know how. We started off shooting Ryan’s SKS rifle. There must have been something wrong with Ryan’s gun because all of my shots (which were dead center at 50 yards) kept showing up to either the left or high on the target. The SKS was pretty cool because it had a 20 round clip so you could just keep firing one after another.
Steve's AK-47 modeled by Wes
The last rifle we fired was the sniper rifle M91/30 Mosin-Nagant. This is the same weapon that is featured in the movie Enemy at the Gates (great flick!). Ryan has a scope on it which is cool because it was the first time I have ever fired a gun with a scope. This one definitely fired the most true of the bunch, but boy did it have some boom power. After firing each round I would have to move the rifle back a few inches to the left.
We finished up firing Ryan’s S&W M&P 40 compact handgun. This one felt like a little too much for me to handle. Being the first handgun I have ever fired it just felt like it was going to fly out of my hand after each shot. I guess practice makes perfect, because Ryan, Steve, and Dad were able to fire it like a pro.
I have included some cell phone videos we took below. The quality is not that great and you cant really see anything down range, but its still worth a look.
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