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!