Why didn't we think of this before. Forget about the diapers, let's just put him in the more economically sized and sturdy diaper box.

Down and going out in Alice Springs

Climbing the corporate ladder, currently in middle management

By george I think I can do this

Looks a bit precarious, dare I try it?

Up we go, with a smile of accomplishment

What am I, a monkey. Where's the elevator?

Dark Places

Daddy got up with Logan and took him to the tourist favorite and award
winning Desert Park, a place filled with bird aviaries, some kangaroos
and emus, and a Nocturnal House with lizards, frogs, snakes, and other
nocturnally alert mammals and marsupials such as the bilby, various
wallabies, etc... Logan seems to be more and more scared of the dark,
and barely could stand letting us be in there for very much time at
all. Only when he saw an animal move did he stop for a moment to become
fascinated and chuckle in excitement, but immediately thereafter he
would grab Daddy's pant's leg and yank on it to return to the light of
the outside, screaming like a banshee whenever Dad attempted to show him
something else. At home at night, when time for bed, Mom and Dad have
been keeping Logan from running away from them by turning out all the
lights throughout the flat with only the bedroom light remaining on.
Because he's too afraid to go into the dark, it's like a built in simple
fence that works quite well!
Also at the Desert Park Logan enjoyed trying to balance on every bridge
ledge that we passed, something Dad wasn't too thrilled with, but was
willing to allow since it would hopefully improve his coordination
abilities. So of course Daddy held on to his hand to keep Logan from
doing too much damage to himself. Luckily the bridges were only about
1-2 feet above the ground, so it was doubtful a fatality was in the
making. Back at home, Logan was being very possessive, wanting Mom to
get up off 'his' ottoman. When Momma moved, she ended up having to sit
on Daddy's lap. This didn't last long though because Logan was right
there to scold Momma to get off Daddy's lap because it is 'HIS' Daddy,
saying in shouting words repeatedly "NO, My Daddy!" Needless to say, a
riled up Logan made it hard for Mom to get him down for a nap.

A sudden burst of creative inspiration

Reach for it... I MUST get that perfect shade of red charcoal for my next drawing.

You think I'm kidding, well I ain't. I'm dead serious about my charcoal drawings.

At the entrance to the Alice Springs Desert Park

Can you spot the wildlife lost in the flora of the Alice Springs Desert Park?

Hanging on a rest bench at the Desert Park

House whining and bike riding

This morning, the family went out to look at a house that looked quite
keen in the real estate section of the local newspaper (just keeping our
options open if we decide we can't take living in our small pad
anymore). We all drooled looking at the open space, kitchen, and
tropical lagoon type swimming pool it had (complete with surrounding
palm trees). Sure would be nice to live in, but we can hopefully hold
on a few more days until we get word from the U.S. government (In-town
housing board) as to where they would upgrade us to. We get to submit a
request to be moved because of Momma being pregnant and expecting an
increase in family size. However, if they give us something and we
don't like it, we can reject it, but then we can never request a move
again (unless Momma gets pregnant a third time). Tis not a very
flexible environment. Funny that the Government of Australia folks get
to look and choose a house from any vacant abode existing, but not us.
However, our folks don't want to have any discrimination in any way (at
least that's their justification for doing things the way they do).
Still doesn't make any sense to us.
So after checking out the house, we went to the annual Steiner School
Autumn Fair to support a local privately run community school. Logan was
mesmerized by all the people and enjoyed seeing all the stalls and
booths of things for sale or crafts to do... as well as goodies, like
cookies, to eat. Logan held a cuddly rabbit and kissed it and got his
name written in Chinese. We all sat and listened while eating
vegetarian dahl and curry to the school kids play music.
In the afternoon after his nap, Logan, Mom, and Dad went to the Simpsons
Gap Bike Path and rode along it for about 6 kms, stopping at a nice
picnic area for a snack. Logan sure does seem to be enjoying sitting on
the bike seat directly behind Daddy rather than down lower in the bike
trailer. Dad and Mom think this is because they too remember really
loving to ride up high on a bike seat when they were kids.
Logan is combining words more and more, saying "My this or My that", and
"I want this" or "I want that" or "Please give me such and such" etc....

Logan in Chinese, at least written out as the word Logan would sound phonetically in Chinese.

Beautiful flowers delivered to Momma for her Birthday by Grandma and Grandpa.

After taking a ride with Dad and Mommy on their bikes, it's time to bring out my spiffy hot rod bike.

Great day to be out and about along the Simpson Gap Park Bike Path

Shh, I just punctured Daddy's bike tire with this stick

Almost time to get back on the bikes

Getting really into a well-deserved snack along the Simpsons Gap Park Bike Path

Taking a break under a ghost gum tree

Mom gets in on the action too and is there to have a bike ride with the boys

Yep, I am holding on tight. I can't trust this bozo driving me.

Going for a joyride on the Simpson Gap Bike Path

Watching the events at the Steiner school fair

Giving a loving kiss to a receptive rabbit

Logan would like to feed the rabbits something he calls "Logan Surprise" at the Steiner school annual fair.

Yep, this is gonna be Daddy's finger next time he puts me in time-out.

Hearts, clovers, and moons. I wanna be Irish and make me lucky charms

I wanna be Italian and make-a da pasta

A bit of a sick kid. Momma is happy because it's not every day that Logan allows a cuddle.

Roo Shoo and a Vomet Comet

Logan, Dad, and Mom went to check out a possible used car to buy as a
cheap secondary vehicle. Gas, or petrol as they call it here, is so
expensive and it generally costs about $110 Australian dollars to fill
up a tank about every two weeks (that's about $80 U.S. dollars
currently). And that's assuming we don't go on any big outing trips,
just around town. So we went to look at a cheap US $4200 Mitsubishi
station wagon we're buying from the base doctor who is moving away
shortly. When Daddy went to test drive it, Logan cried and cried in
Momma's arms. We didn't have the car seat installed so obviously he
couldn't go with Daddy. After the test drive, Momma took it for a spin,
but Logan probably figured out Mom would be right back as he didn't put
up any real fuss for Daddy. Overall, after a mechanic inspects it, we
will probably buy it. It is in really good condition, has a tow hitch,
looks really nice, hasn't been driven much, has a CD player, and to top
it off there is a Roo Shoo! A Roo Shoo is a high pitched audible
speaker put in the front of a vehicle to attempt and scare kangaroos off
the road, which is a constant danger at night in certain times of the
year. There have been times when over 100 kangaroos can be lined up in
and around the roads in short sections, but you never know when or where
it will be. Because the highway is long and straight and there is no
speed limit, this has meant many a road fatality due to the hitting of
roos. Only problem with a Roo Shoo is it only scares one type of roo,
the kind where the roo is skiddish and tend to hop a lot. The other
kind of roo, much like a deer, tends to just stay seated in the road and
stare blindly into the oncoming headlights.
At dinner Logan didn't eat much and afterward Dad played a favorite game
of Logan's, in which Logan hides on the opposite side of the master bed
and pushes his head into the ground and bed corner (much like an
ostrich, as if he were hiding). Soon thereafter Dad and Mom were
talking while laying down on the bed when Logan got up and pointed at
Daddy's belly button. Touching it a bit, he proclaimed, "Yucky Belly
Button!" much to our amusement.
Just a few minutes later Logan seemed different and was very touchy and
acted as if he was 'hurting' in various bodily areas. Dad gave Logan
some Dexatrim and Motrin for the fact that he was getting a strong cold
and had a very runny nose. Then right after getting Logan to
'semi-brush' his teeth, Logan vomited all up on himself and Mommy,
followed by two more sets of series of times into the bathroom sink.
Cleaning everyone up, Dad then began reading a couple quick bedtime
stories to Logan in the hopes of winding him down from the stressful
turn of events. Well this didn't work out so well. Instead Logan threw
up another 6 or so successive times, but this time mostly into a
pre-planned emergency handy bowl. Mom cleaned everyone up and we
changed Logan's pajamas. Dad read the rest of a book, about one page,
but Logan was asleep in his arms before he finished two sentences,
exhausted and drained. Dad said "Night night Logan" without singing the
normal bedtime songs or saying the nightime prayer/poem. At night Logan
was up a few times, but quickly back asleep (as about normal), and in
the morning he was pretty much right as rain again.

Yes, I've found myself in quite a pickle.

Pushing buttons

Mommy went out for post-birthday coffee and treats with her friends, so
Daddy stayed home and put Logan to bed. Night time and time for
brushing teeth, Logan was spotted doing funny things while looking at
himself in the full length bathroom mirror. For bedtime stories, one of
his favorites at the moment is a book that contains a puppy dog
operating a different mobile vehicle of some sort, such as a police car,
truck, airplane, boat, submarine, and wagon. There are also buttons
that can be pushed to hear the vehicle's sound effects. Logan is
getting really good at identifying and pushing the right buttons and
doing so after Daddy or Mommy say "Push the police car button."
Lately Logan has been hard to get down for bed, and we think it is
because he has become scared of the dark. Several times now Daddy has
had to calm Logan down by holding him in his arms and sing some songs
before he will calm down and allow himself to go back down to the crib.
This does not take generally more than 5 minutes, but has happened 3-4
times in the past couple weeks.

Rocks, such beautiful rocks. The wonders never cease.

Hmm, I think I just solved THE question. You know, to everything. To the meaning of life itself.

Are you going to just stand there, get them rocks loaded and shipped out.

Hauling rocks is a tough day's work

It's going to be a... (Mom's announcement)

Girl!!

Yesterday we had an hour and a half long ultrasound scan (the new technician who took a long time – and then when the primary technician came in the baby wouldn’t cooperate for those last couple of pictures so we wasted time while we waited for her to turn). We got to see lots of movement – much of the time she had her hand right up near her face. Because of the length of the scan we have a new photo album full of pictures. We hope to put some up on the website soon. You’ll get to see a picture of those dainty little feet (among other things!)

Overall, it was a WONDERFUL birthday. I finished up one class and submitted grades online on Sunday evening. That felt awesome to have that done! Tony took the day off yesterday. In the morning, Tony and Logan made me waffles for breakfast. One of the things Tony and Logan got me for my birthday was a new bike seat. After fitting it to the bike (Tony’s!) we went off on a family bike ride. We got home, had lunch and Tony put Logan down for a nap. Logan stayed with the babysitter while Liesl and Tony went off for the scan. In the evening our friends, Melissa & Jesse, brought over their boys and watched Logan while the two of us went out for a lovely birthday dinner. When we got home we all had birthday cake – and the day was over!
Well, Logan’s calling, but we wanted to share the news!

Momma's Birthday getting to meet Grubette!

Momma didn't give Daddy much of a chance to sneak around to prepare for
her Birthday the few days before it (Momma would stay close to Daddy
when he wasn't at work, not giving him much privacy to surprise her), so
Daddy ended up staying awake until 4:30 AM the night before doing things
like making Momma's birthday card. In the morning when Logan woke up,
Daddy had gotten the day off from work and so he took care of Logan
while Momma slept in. While doing so, Daddy and Logan quietly made Mom
some waffles (Logan helped with the hand mixer for the fluffy egg
whites. We made both regular waffles and penguin shaped ones, which we
all enjoyed as soon as Momma woke up. One of Momma's birthday gifts was
assembled together by Daddy in the morning (taking a lot longer than
planned). It was a bike children's seat that goes above the rear wheel
of a bike. Finally at 11:30 AM we all took a very nice half-hour bike
ride around the neighborhood. For lunch, Momma made soup and grilled
cheese sandwiches while Daddy and Logan snuck off (had to come up with
an excuse) to pick up Momma's pre-ordered birthday cake and dozen
American-style doughnuts (pre-ordered the previous week). Upon Daddy
and Logan's return, Momma was very happy to see the extremely decadent
and rich multi-layered chocolate cake with her name on it. Then Dad
showed Momma the doughnuts and was upset when he saw they had been made
chocolate covered with sprinkles, not glazed as he had ordered. It is
hard to get American style doughnuts in town here and somehow they never
come out as requested. That is why many Americans bring Krispy Kreme
doughnuts with them when they fly into town after making a special stop
at the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in Sydney airport. Eating lunch
Logan did not behave very well. No, he hadn't gotten a sugar overdose
of cake or doughnuts. In fact, he didn't eat anything. Instead, he
tested Daddy by repeatedly yanking off his bib and swinging it around
all over the food. This continued when Daddy had to put Logan down for
a nap, but he finally did succumb. Luckily he went down somewhat
quickly as our baby-sitter arrived so that we could rush out for our
20-week ultrasound at the hospital and hopefully find out the health and
gender of our little one in Momma's belly. We only had the babysitter
for about 2 hours and she needed to get to a doctor's appointment
herself directly at 3:00 PM. At the hospital, we waited for a bit over
half-an-hour. This was difficult for Liesl since she had to drink a lot
as required for the ultrasound and so had to stop herself from peeing
for longer than she preferred. When we did get admitted, we had someone
relatively inexperienced perform the scan. She was very friendly and
seemed to know her stuff, but it was taking quite a while to go through
everything in the exam (not that we minded her being thorough in the
slightest). We still hadn't seen the experienced technician come in to
verify everything and time was running out for our babysitter, so Daddy
had to rush out and get home to relieve her (baby sitter being Logan's
favorite, Emily). At home, Daddy was able to wake Logan up and get him
back in the car for a trip back to the hospital. Once there, Daddy was
surprised Liesl was still in her Ultrasound. Logan at first shrieked
and tried to run away when seeing we were about to enter a dark room,
but relented when seeing Momma on the hospital bed. The experienced
technicial had now also arrived and she essentially was going through a
duplicate exam for us (Dad wondered how Mom was handling herself with
her bladder being so full). The reason for the duplicate exam was
because the baby was moving around a lot inside, but it kept managing to
keep at least one hand in front of its face, and so while waiting for
the hand to move the technician just kept checking other things out.
Both technicians initially weren't sure of the sex what with the legs
being held together, but after a while they were 99% sure we had what we
had been calling a Grub, now was definitely a Grubette! A little girl!
Of course all throughout the exam we were more concerned about the
actual health of the baby, like the head size, heart beat, etc..., but
also finding out the gender was such an exciting thing for us. Our
little Grubette sure was a mover. We could easily see the feet, the
hands, the spine, the legs, each toe and finger, the head and face. It
was all so wonderful and exciting for us! Logan even poked the belly a
time or two. Finally at 3:45 PM our ultrasound ended and Momma could go
to the bathroom. We also got several printout photos to take home with
us.
Going home, we stopped off at a furniture store to see if there were any
umbrella strollers available, but there were none to be found. In their
electronics section, Logan loved watching the big screen TVs of the
movie "Finding Nemo" as he enjoyed watching the fish swimming around and
talking. However, he wasn't so good at listening to Daddy and kept
trying to pull things down and wouldn't come with Daddy when he called,
which caused him to have to be in time-out 3-4 times before leaving the
store.
Back at home, we cleaned up and Daddy had Logan present Momma with more
birthday presents. Daddy would hand the birthday gift to Logan in the
front office room, Logan would then walk it down to Momma in the living
room. This was fun for Logan, but a bit difficult since some of the
gifts were a bit heavy and bulky. Momma got a queen size blow up
indoor/outdoor bed, a universal hand pump for filling up the bed, a
funny 'stubby cooler' to hold drinks, and a new MP3 CD player for
listening to the CD audio books she recently received from Auntie Wendy.
Dinner time and we fed Logan (again, didn't really eat much). Soon
thereafter our friends Melissa and Jesse came over with their kids,
Logan's best pal Bradon and baby Seth. They were here to babysit Logan
so that Mom and Dad could go out to a restaurant to eat. Yay! Mommy
and Daddy ended up eating at Keller's Swiss and Indian Restaurant, with
Dad eating a Moroccan dish, and Mom eating mostly Swiss food (it was
yummy). At home, Melissa had almost gotten Logan down to sleep but the
commotion outside caused Logan's reawakening. Daddy stepped in and got
him down about 20 minutes later. Then everyone outside, to include
Melissa, Jesse, Bradon, Seth, Momma, and Daddy, all had birthday cake!
Melissa and Bradon had made wonderful 'Happy Birthday Liesl' signs and
Melissa also made a very detailed, beautiful, and touching hand-made
birthday card for Liesl (coming from her scrapbook making hobby).
Mom was extremely touched by everything and seemed to have a very
enjoyable Birthday!

Mom is about to dive into decadence.

Mom and her dear friend Melissa with the gifts she received from her.

You'd never guess who was having their birthday from this photo.

One kid on the belly, the other in the belly.

Mom holds her two kids and the ultrasound photos to prove it.

Grubette at either 10 or 14 cells old, depending upon which one of these two viable embryos survived.

Another couple of 6 week old Grubette Ultrasound pics

Our Grubette is 6 weeks old

Grubette is 12 weeks old and here's her face

12 week Grubette and she's already showing us her strong pitching arm

12 week old Grubette shows all

Grubette is 20 weeks old and a confirmed girl!

Look at the piggly-wigglies on that 20 week old Grubette of ours

A great shot of Grubette's 20 week old foot just perfect for running marathon's with her Ma

And there's Grubette's 20-week leg and foot, just ready to give Momma a good jab in her ribs.

Grubette's 20 week old fingers. Guess we should get a palm reader to tell us her fortune.

Facial shot of 20 week old Grubette.

Another 20-week old facial shot of Grubette. Already got some of Daddy's looks. Uh-oh.

Grubette's 20-week old fist brazenly protruding in an act of defiance

The healthy spine of our 20-week Grubette. She's really gotta backbone letting us see into her private life.

Logan's first ride in one of Momma's birthday gifts, a bike seat.

Mountain Bikes and popcorn

Mom had a lot of work to do today for getting her 300 level Modern
American History class finished up, so Dad took Logan out to a mountain
bike race. At first Logan was a bit skiddish and was both mesmerized by
all the mountain bikes, yet still very wary. Once they were off at the
start of the race, Logan yelped his normal 'Bye Bye' and then proceeded
to say 'truck', which meant he wanted to get back in the car and go
somewhere else. I managed to coax him into going up the race course a
ways so that we could watch the bikes jump from a few of the little
hills. Just as Logan couldn't take any more waiting around, out popped
the bike riders in a blur. Logan once again was entranced and got a big
kick out of it. Once they were gone, we slowly walked back to the
start/finish line, all the while Logan suddenly enjoying going down and
up the hills much like the bikes did. After another series of riders
passed by (on their second lap), we got back in our Toyota 4Runner and
headed on out. There's only so much a 22 month old can take of speedy
bike riders.
Off to the bi-weekly Sunday Todd Mall Market we went, primarily in the
hopes that we'd find Momma a secret birthday present, but also because
Logan enjoys seeing all the people walking along the pedestrian outdoor
mall. Now that it is winter, it is so much more pleasant to be
outdoors. Of course the daytime winter temperatures are still in the
70s - 80s (up to 27 degrees Celsius for Aussies) so far. No luck in the
markets, we walked over to the Yeperenye shopping center and got some
bread, bananas, and secret birthday morning doughnuts.
Back at home, Logan went down for a nap. Afterwards we had a low-key
lazy afternoon comprised of exploring around the yard. While out front,
one of Daddy's friends from the mountain bike club happened to ride by
on his bike, along with his dog Charley, who was running ahead. They
stopped to chat, and Logan petted Charley while Dad asked Simon about
his adventure/camping store (called the 'Lone Dingo').
Back in the house, Mom wanted some popcorn to help her get work done, so
Dad and Logan brought out the popper. Logan at first loved making
popcorn with the machine, but upon creating a second batch, he suddenly
became scared of it and kept a 5 foot distance while it popped. A third
small batch brought him back up closer, but he wouldn't have anything to
do with pushing the on/off switch anymore.
Bedtime and Logan went down pretty easily, possibly knowing that he'd be
getting up for a fun day with Mom and Dad on Momma's birthday.

Popcorn is a mysterious art that none should get too close to for fear of being burned

Yummy, I got doggy slobber on me

Shh, look at one of the gifts we bought Mommy for her birthday.

Lucky I just picked up this rock off the race course so that no one would get hurt.

Hmm, don't look now, but is there one of them bikers behind me?

Whew, that was a close one!

Stop bike stop! Let me get on!

Logan studies the art of mountain biking

Hmm, don't get any ideas Logan

Logan is fixated on bikes at the morning mountain bike race

More Anzac Hill and a Bike Shop Bash

Morning shot off like a rocket. A call from Dad's Sister Gina got
everyone up and immediately following that, a knock on the door
presented Logan's best friend Bradon, with his Dad. Five minutes later
and Dad & Logan were out the door for a climb up Anzac hill. Logan had
done a partial hike up the 300 or so steps of Anzac Hill a few weeks
before, but never all the way. This time we all made the entire
distance! Well, Logan had to be carried the last 20-30 steps. At the
top, Logan and Bradon regained their energy and proceeded to run up and
down the ramp to the parking lot... as well as climb and hang out on the
guard rails while watching the little people play a game of 'footy' on
the Anzac Oval below (An oval is what they call their sport's fields in
Australia, since they generally take the shape of an oval. Also,
'footy' is another name for Australian Rules Football, not at all like
our American football, but with a very similiar looking ball).
After making it back down the hill, mostly with Dad carrying Logan, we
parted ways with Bradon and his Dad Jesse. We needed to get to the
photo shop to pick up passport photos of Dad to get his soon-to-expire
passport renewed. Along the way, we passed by and said hello to an
Aboriginal friend named Peter Taylor. He's one of the top painters in
the area and we have commissioned a number of paintings from him before
(based mostly off of photos we've taken around Alice Springs). After
getting the photos, Dad tried to go into a gift shop to try and get Mom
a birthday gift. No such luck. Logan's grubby hands were reaching out
to try and grab anything. Considering the store was filled with fragile
objects and didn't have much open space to browse, it was an accident
waiting to happen. Oh well. We headed out almost immediately. Dad
suddenly remembered he needed to stop by the Penny Farthing Bike Shop to
say hello to his friends, the owners (Trevor and Yvonne Owen). They
were celebrating their 30th anniversary of the store being open. Inside
Logan was giddy with excitement getting on and trying to ride all the
smallest kid bikes. Tamara, one of the owner's daughters, helped me out
and put a helium balloon on Logan's wrist. At first he liked it, but
soon got frothy in the mouth trying to get it off. We then went to the
little kid's play area in the shop so that Logan could have some more
fun (after all, Logan must ALWAYS have fun right!) However, rather than
playing in the kid's area, he was more interested in opening and
shutting the kid's area gate. He was quite adept at opening the gate
(just barely within reach of the latch), but if he was on the inside of
the play area and closed the gate, he was too short to reach over and
get back out. This meant that Dad couldn't leave the area to try and
find a gift for Mom, otherwise Logan would shake the play area fence
enclosure quite vehemently until Dad reopened the gate. Daddy was able
to grab a snag for Logan, which were being served as part of the
celebrations (a snag is an Aussie version of a hot dog, and is
traditional at most Aussie barbie BBQs, or as they call them, a Sausage Sizzle. They are quite greasy and are served on a piece of white bread with ketchup/tomato sauce). Logan ate
most of the snag right up. Dad ate the remaining white bread and a
thumbnail sized remainder bit of the snag. While in the shop Dad was
able to convince Logan to go to other parts of the store. We then
purchased a baby bike seat for Mom so that we could all go on a family
bike ride along the scenic Simpsons Gap Bike Path.

Logan and Mom enjoy a few seconds of being laid back

Logan is held up by the co-owner of the Penny Farthing Bike Shop, Trevor Owen, who is also a local police officer. Logan was caught trying to close the doors to the shop and not letting any other customers in.

Logan with Tamara Owen at the Penny Farthing Bike Shop's 30th Anniversary celebration

Bradon and Logan at the top of Anzac Hill

Yep, the water just keeps on coming no matter how long you look at it

Easy going kid

Logan is saying 'please' for things better and better. He knows what
gentle means and is cautious about hitting in that if he starts to make
a motion to hit, he'll stop and instead begin caressing Mom or Dad's
head or arm or back. Tonight he enjoyed climbing into the rocking chair
and started rocking himself. He also enjoyed having Daddy chase him
around with a T-rex toy dinosaur, accompanied by the 'roar' sound that a
T-rex may have made in some prehistoric past. Overall Logan is getting
to be much more easier going (or is this just a small phase)... at least
the past week has felt easier.

Pushing trucks at the Telegraph Station

Mommy said that Logan did a great job of pushing trucks with his pal
Bradon at the Telegraph Station today. They did this for a few hours
without stop going up and down the hill, as well as taking the trucks
down into the dry riverbed area. Mom was watching Bradon for a good
part of the day as his Mom was tending to their sick infant Seth. At
night Logan sat up on his elbows and said 'night night' to Mom as she
left the room.

Good times

Pushing trucks through hazard county. Someone's gotta get the materials through!

Galah as it is known in the Outback, or Sulphur-crested cockatoo to the rest of the world.

Wagon slave Logan prepares to pull Bradon

Logan and Bradon push their trucks up the hill at the Telegraph Station

Daddy's perspective

Here are some points of note from Daddy's perspective after arriving
home from work.
Logan is combining words better and better. Logan says 'More water'
sometimes followed by 'please'. He says 'food all gone' or 'all done'
when finished with his meal. Tonight he initially was hesitant with
dinner, but then thoroughly enjoyed his ham and bean soup, along with
the cornbread as delivered by our good friend Melissa Lynch (we dinner
swap once a week with them to make it easier in that we then get a night
off of cooking) Logan knows his shapes better and puts them in to his
various puzzles reasonably well. He can push his trucks along easily.
He is sitting at the table better, longer, while waiting for Dad or Mom
to finish eating and drinking. Logan does our family 'silent' prayer
better, in which we hold hands, announce 'let's be thankful' and then
close our eyes and dip our heads until Mom or Dad squeezes hands to
indicate it's over. Taking a bath tonight, Logan did well at turning
on the cold water tap (he's not allowed yet to turn the hot water tap).
He liked to put the cold water on high pressure most of course.
Afterward he ran around the house naked, evading Mom and Dad trying to
put on his pajamas. At bedtime Logan read his animal and truck book.
He is getting better at identifying and saying a number of animal names
(to include some noises like moo and quack for the cow and duck). He'll
even pound his chest when he sees a gorilla. When asleep Logan tends to
want to hold his water cup with a death grip, and before he goes to
sleep he likes to keep looking around to see if Dad or Mom is still
there. If you leave the room, he'll quickly say 'bye bye'. But he is
becoming more and more afraid of the dark. He won't go down the hallway
if the light is not on at night.

Logan starts learning his ABCs with a great gift from Mary and Jim Robins

Dad nearly hurls

Sunday morning Mom got up with Logan at an ungodly late hour (for Logan)
of 8:37 AM. Somehow Logan seems to know when Daddy is not getting up
with him since he normally wakes up much earlier for Dad. For example,
Dad gets up for work around 5:15 - 6:30 AM (depending upon if he needs
to be at work at 6:30 or 7:30 AM). Normally Logan is not awake when
Daddy goes to work. However, on the weekend, when Dad gets up with
Logan, he'll wake up at about 6:00 - 6:30 AM! Logan's normal wake up
time is anywhere from 7:00 - 8:00 AM. Anyway, this morning Dad needed
to get up anyway as he was going for a mountain bike ride with Logan's
friend Holly's Dad. Daddy has been out of shape and hasn't ridden his
mountain bike on hard trails for some time, so he was a bit nervous.
But off he went, taking Tom to the north side of town. Tom is a keen
mountain biker, but is new in the area and likes me to show him around.
We were doing just fine until encountering a new super steep grade hill
that was formed with the newly created railroad tracks built in the last
couple years for the route from Alice Springs to Darwin (first
trans-Australian continental railway through the outback). When
reaching the top, Dad was so beat he became dizzy and extremely near to
losing his breakfast marbles. Luckily Daddy regained composure and
proceeded to ride for the next 2 hours without a problem. This is
because it usually takes Dad a while to warm up (he considers himself
more of an endurance rider :) Anyway, we went off to the various
waterholes like Junction waterhole and Clifford's waterhole (also known
as Possum's waterhole), which is where Logan and Daddy had camped out
alone a few weeks back.
Upon Dad's arrival, Logan came right on outside and decided not to let
Daddy flop his body down for a rest, but instead wanted to hose him off
(from Daddy being so stinky and sweaty). Logan is getting better about
holding the hose out when the water is on.
Later Logan got on his bike (has a rear handle that allows Mommy and
Daddy to push from behind). Logan can't reach the pedals yet, but he is
getting better about steering the bike.
At night, when reading an animal book, Logan likes to point at the
animals and Dad will make the noise of that animal back. But he
especially likes the harmful animals, like snakes, crocs, and bees, in
which Daddy will use his hand to 'bite' down on Logan's arm or chest,
much to his amusement.
Going to bed, Logan is becoming more talkative (while Mom and Dad are
quiet). On this evening, Logan wanted to go to sleep while holding on
to Daddy's hand throught the crib slats.
Logan isn't as good of an eater as he used to be. His breakfast's
consist of a few bites and his lunches and dinners tend not to be much
more than that. He is more like Momma in that he prefers to snack on
food all day long, which is difficult because that sort of food tends
not to be quite as nutricious.

Burnt out day of fun

In the morning, Dad drove out to the Araluen park with Logan in hopes
that the mini-bulldozer from the previous day was still there (he wanted
to take some pictures with Logan in it). No such luck. However, while
driving back out of the area, Daddy noticed Logan's dear friend Holly
playing in the playground with her parents. Knowing Logan would enjoy
playing with Holly, he stopped and parked next to their car. When Dad
opened Logan's car door, Logan looked down at the car and proclaimed
"Holly!" Dad was bewildered because Holly was nowhere in visible range,
and it didn't make sense that he would've recognized their car as it is
nothing that stands out (it is much like many other cars). But one can
only surmise that this must have been the case! At the park Logan
really enjoyed playing with Holly, and perhaps to show off for her, he
did exceptionally well at climbing various objects, including ladders
that were just barely within reach. Afterwards Dad and Logan headed
out to a garage sale, but mainly it was because Daddy wanted to check
out the house in the hopes that it could be the next place we would live
(it was a JDFPG Base house and the occupants were moving out). Whenever
you increase in family size, you can submit a request for a new house
(with more bedrooms), but you aren't allowed to choose where you live.
A housing board decides that for you. Well, Dad immediately recognized
the person sitting under the porch at the house, and it was the Chief of
the Facility (COF, or chief of the base). Needless to say Dad knew he
wouldn't get to live there as it is the nicest base house of all and
designated specifically for whoever is the COF. But Dad did buy a few
cheap items for Logan, to include a toy lawnmower, a toddler's remote
control car, and a few kid's books.
After the garage sale, Dad was still on the lookout for a present for
Mom's upcoming birthday. So what does Daddy do but the dumbest thing he
could. He goes to the grand opening of the Mad Harry's Discounter
store. He has to park a block away to get to it because there are
hundreds of people. He gets there with Logan and can barely fit
inside. There was free food, but it was all gone because they cleaned
out all three grocery stores of snags (hot dogs). Dad made the mistake
of letting Logan see the toy aisle, in which there were trucks and cars
galore. Daddy finally relented and let Logan get a cheap $2.00 matchbox
truck set of 4. That was another huge mistake. The checkout line was
huge and it took forever to get out. When paying Logan would not let
go of the matchbox trucks so the cashier could read the UPC symbol for
the price! Never again will Daddy make that mistake! Dad tried to
go to another store, but the second we walked in, Logan went ballistic
and had enough of shopping for the day.
Back home, I expected Logan to go down for a nap, but no such luck. He
was too wired and perhaps got 15 minutes. Logan is getting better about
listening, can get his own drink from the fridge (but must be already in
his cup and within reach), but occasionally he will drink his grape
juice and milk at the same time (his cups have built in straws which
allow him to do this). He now tends to get out his DVD of choice
('Brainy Baby' or 'Baby Einstein') and can power on the DVD player,
stick the DVD in, and then close the DVD player (we still need to turn
on the TV and get it going for him). We then will let him watch the
30-40 minute show, but he generally only watches about the first 10-15
minutes before moving on to other things.
Mom then took Logan to the grocery store since we had a dinner
engagement with friends (Pat and Sherley Vulk) that evening and needed
to bring along a dish to share (Mom was making a 7 layer dip for an
appetizer). Upon her return, Logan crashed down for a nap (far later
than usual). When heading out at 5, Logan still wouldn't wake up and
we stuck his limp body in the car. Finally at the Vulk's house, Logan
woke up seeing all the other kids running around. We jumped on their
trampoline and rode their trikes around and around. Great food was had,
Mom's 7-layer dip was a big hit, and we were all stuffed. Going home
past Logan's bedtime at about 8:30 PM, we were nervous, but Logan still
went down easily enough.

Jumping on the trampoline at the Vulk's residence

Reading a book about mobile objects and what sounds they make

Mad shopping at Mad Harry's grand opening

Logan and Holly enjoying a snack break at the Araluen Playground

Mini-bulldozer stupor

Daddy got up with Logan at 6:00 AM, staying home from work to give Mom a chance to get her University of Maryland students’ exams graded and prepare for the next week.  Funny how Logan has a sixth sense about when Dad stays home, and so he wakes up earlier than normal for it!  Normally Daddy is off to work at least 10 – 40 minutes before Logan wakes up (Dad’s work bus leaves at 6:50 AM).   This time, however, it was due to something a bit more mischievous.  Upon taking Logan out to the kitchen, he immediately launched into a fit of pain and writhed in Dad’s arms relentlessly, tears streaming down his cheeks.  Daddy noticed his drink cup straw was supplanted in one area in his mouth and so it seemed to him that teething might be the culprit.  A little children’s motrin did the trick this time, whew!   So it was that perhaps this past week Logan was in a fit due to two virus infections and a 2-year molar!  What a combo smack down!   At least we’ve hopefully nipped everything at this point.

The rest of the morning Dad and Logan took a walk around to pick up mail, the morning paper, and then off to the park for some playtime.  At the park, after playing for a while, we noticed a ‘bobcat’ mini-bulldozer picking up dirt and hauling it to a garden at a house nearby.  Knowing Logan loves trucks and construction equipment, it seemed to make sense to get a little closer.  Needless to say, Logan was enthralled.  When we got up close to the mini-dozer, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.  One of the gardeners working there offered to let Logan sit in the cab.  Without hesitation, Dad slid him on in and lowered the harness bar to keep him ‘secure’.  For perhaps 15 minutes Logan’s mouth was gaped open in awe and joy in sitting within one of his passions.  It was as if he was in a stupor, with a blank stare, unknowing how to proceed.  Food, drink, cookies, everything else was meaningless.  Eventually he came to, then started to feel around at the controls and buttons (keys were off and well away from his reach).  A little while longer and Dad needed to give back the mini-bulldozer to the gardeners.  Well, you would’ve thought Daddy had ripped off his arms!   The sheer anger and rage shot forth in lightning bolts of flailing legs and arms as I hoisted him away.  This was definitely not a teething or virus infection spasm!  To calm him a bit, we watched the gardeners shovel out dirt from the dozer’s front scooper.

Back at the playground for a while for a bit more play and to eat a snack, Logan’s nerves were finally de-rattled and calmed, and we proceeded back home.  By the time we got home, it was late for Logan’s nap-time and both Daddy and Logan easily settled down for a snooze.  Up at about 3 PM, Mommy had been working diligently and successfully in her ‘internet classroom’.  She took Logan of Dad’s hands so he could go to a Model Solar Car meeting, something Daddy started doing last year in which he volunteered to help get the event started and organized.  It’s purpose is to get school-aged kids in town interested in science by helping them to build a model solar car and then race it around a 100 meter track. Dad also created their website, called http://sunchase.org.  While Dad was away, evidently Momma got to experience another Logan meltdown, in which he was so uncontrollable, Mom couldn’t get teething gel or medicine into him.  Luckily for Dad, by the time he got home, Logan had settled down.

To end the day, Momma read books to Logan, Daddy flew Logan in his make-believe airplane, and both Mom and Dad got to have fun with Logan pulling at our waist and at the back of our heads, which is his subtle way of getting us up when we’re laying down… and telepathically informs us through no uncertain words “c’mon Mom and Dad, get up, I want to show you something else we can do!”

Sickness recedes

Well, the light at the end of the tunnel appears to be shining quite
brightly now. Logan's 4-5 day sickness spell has finally receded, but
not before a giant wallop just yesterday. After a rough Sunday, Monday,
and Tuesday night consisting of little sleep for any family member,
Logan managed to stay in slumberland for the most part all night last
night (and seems to be doing the same tonight... knock on wood). Both
Dad and Mom have spent countless hours sitting in the recliner with
Logan, letting him fuss and cry and whine and cough and wipe his nose,
among other things. Yesterday was so bad for poor Momma, (while Daddy
hid away from it at work), that she took Logan to the base doctor.
Logan was so inconsolable that he would flop himself against the ground,
want to be picked up, want to be let down, want water, didn't want
water, scream, yell, cry his head off, not eat, and then repeat. The
base doctor and nurses there indicated that someone Logan's age would
generally not act that way for attention as Logan is not old enough to
know what that means and so they were genuinely concerned for him. They
suggested we take him the emergency room at the hospital, which we did.
By the time Dad got to the hospital, Mom and Logan were in getting
x-rays of his chest. Upon his return, the ER doctors indicated that all
was fine and well, with just a bit of inflammation appearing in his
lower lungs. But his breathing, ears, mouth, temperature, et al were
a-ok. They were guessing it was all a small viral infection that just
needed time to resolve (no meds or anything to alleviate even the
symptoms). Dad was a bit perturbed that there was nothing for his
symptoms, not even something to stop the runny nose, which was helping
to ensure Logan's lack of sleep. This especially when he had given
Logan Tylenol Children's Flu medicine and this helped Logan sleep for
3.5 hours the previous night. But they assured Dad and Mom that no
medicine would help him in this case. Perhaps it was coincidentally the
end of Logan's sickness when they saw and inspected him, as it was true
his temperature and everything was coming back to normal. But we are
pleased to say that he is better now! After leaving the hospital, we
drove around for a while as Logan had calmed down, but was so zonked
from the day's events that he crashed and so we didn't want to chance
him waking and getting riled up again at home. It was nice though,
after four days, to finally relax again and it gave us the excuse to go
looking at houses in the town in the hopes that if we submit a request
for a house move, that we'll get something halfway decent. Now if only
Logan's congestion would ease up, then perhaps Daddy could sleep. Logan
has a horrendous heavy and loud breathing noise as he sleeps because he
doesn't understand that you can also breathe through your mouth... the
nose is not always required, especially when it is all stopped up!

Logan is finally doing better today, with just a minor lingering cough and runny nose. Yay! It was great getting back into the playtime routine.

Mom shows off the beginning's of her belly now that she's 18 weeks into her pregnancy. Our little 'Grub' is growing quick!

Logan listens to the blues on Tuesday, halfway through his four day sickness ordeal. This was a brief moment where he had a bit of energy recharge.

Logan is down in the dumps with Daddy trying to console him just before he does another purge in the late afternoon.

Logan is pretty sick all day for poor old Mom and Dad on Mother's Day, but we still manage to get him out of the house for some outside air and into town.

Sickness continues

The sickness continued through the afternoon and into the night.... with
Logan throwing up on Dad again and sleeping on his lap up until 9:45 PM
when he was given Tylenol, a temp reading of 102.6 F, and then put in
the bedroom in his crib with the humidifier going. Hopefully the
entire night won't be too bad for the little guy.

One sick puppy

Well, Logan woke up several times this morning, from around 4:30 AM
onwards, but luckily he stayed in bed (the crib). He, along with Mom,
have been congested and their breathing throughout the night has been
very heavy and noisy for the past several days. It wasn't until Daddy
turned over in his bed that Logan actually sent out a yelp for urgency
in getting up (at a very decent and humane tiime of around 7:45 AM).
Dad got up and was planning on making Mom breakfast in bed on account of
Mother's Day, but just as some of the previous day's events transpired
against us, it appeared the streak would continue. Daddy noticed this
almost immediately when Logan was strangely happy just laying on Dad's
lap on the Lazy Boy recliner. He felt awfully warm as well and didn't
want to eat (just some water). It wasn't much later that my normal
little 'food inhaler' son became a giant exhaler as he purged himself,
throwing up all over Daddy, himself, the chair, and the carpet, crying
out in pain the words "Wet" all the while. Dad's stunned self held
Logan tightly and tried to console him as the caustic smells began
wafting into his olfactory center. While attempting to figure out a
strategy to both fix the kid and clean things up, out came another plume
as Daddy ran to the bathtub. A third and final purge from Logan managed
to primarily go in the tub, but his upset and pained body needed more
comforting and so he preferred to be facing Daddy's chest (holding on
tightly) while letting himself spew. Oh well, c'est la vie. So we
cleaned the tub and filled it with nice warm water to hopefully calm
Logan's stomach down a bit. This seemed to go well for a while in that
both Daddy and Logan were now clean and relaxed in the tub, that is
until Logan called out 'Poopoo!' Daddy made a lightning quick maneuver
to get out and Logan pulled the bathtub plug. Whew, luckily it turned
out to be a false alarm, but with the way things were going, would you
have taken a chance on that?! Drying ourselves off, we then kicked back
and watched some Baby Einstein DVD video as Logan drifted off back to
sleep. Momma woke up soon thereafter and we decided to go for a walk,
giving Logan some fresh air. We made it about one block (not quite to
where Dad gets the U.S. mail from the security gated 'demountable')
before Logan started spewing again, but this time it was mostly watery.
Returning home, a new change of clothes later, and off we went to try
the walk again. This time we made it all the way to town and perused
the stalls at the bi-weekly Todd Mall markets (Logan sleeping a good
part of the time). Dad bought a floppy hat to protect his balding head
from the sun and Mom got a mango 'smoothie'. After sitting down for a
break (we were all tired), we headed back home. No sooner than we were
in the house (within 2 minutes) and Logan started vomiting again! Guess
we were lucky with that. Mom changed Logan and while doing so, he
drifted to sleep yet again. He's now been in the crib taking a nap for
the past 3.5 hours... guess Daddy should go check on him now.

Mom holds the celebrity of the moment (newborn Steven welcomed to the world in a celebration brunch). She's just gearing up for another one of her own :-)

Sliding through life...

At a brunch, the kids enjoy playing outside

Things start to get hardball amongst friends. In the end, everyone agrees that they really like the pretzels.

Logan takes in a business luncheon with his fellow executives

Shout it out! And then swat that fly!

Yep, that's our monkey, climbing trees again.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off above Logan's head, and not knowing what to do with it, he tried to grab it.

Letting trucks roll down a hill is so much fun.

Pushing trucks is such hard work!

Logan picks up a 'special' rock on the Bradshaw walk at the Telegraph Station

Brunch and a bunch

Today was a full day of fun. One of our good friends, Melissa, was
feeling pretty sick today and hadn't slept at all the prior night. So
because there was a big brunch in the morning at Rachel and Tom's place
(for the official 'Welcoming to the world of baby Steven' for Kristen
and Matt), we took Logan's pal Bradon along to get him off Melissa's
hands. Melissa and Liesl had made up a lot of food for the brunch.
Liesl herself stayed up until around 2 AM the previous evening getting
things ready, after first grading more essays for her Modern America
History class. The morning kicked off with a bang, with us getting
going at 6:30 AM and then heading over to the brunch at about 8:45 AM.
Fun was had by all as there were a horde of kids and adults at the
brunch and the wonderful hosts Rachel and Tom having had delivered some
large party toys and equipment to keep the kids all occupied. That, in
addition to all the cooking and decorating they did, everyone was
thoroughly impressed and thankful for such an enjoyable time. At around
1:00 PM we made it home and sat down to enjoy a bit of lunch with Bradon
still giving us some good company. Soon thereafter Liesl went and
picked up Bradon's younger brother 'Baby Seth' as Logan refers to him,
so that poor sick Melissa could get a few moment of 'complete' self time
to sleep or relax and try to get a bit better. With Seth back with us,
everyone took a bit of a rest with Logan and Bradon napping for an hour
or so. Soon enough everyone was awake and ready for a few snacks,
primarily to include 'cookies' (graham crackers) and grapes. Bradon and
Logan played very well together all day long, behaving themselves quite
better than expected, and so it was a positive 'sign' of possible things
to come when our second arrives that we might actually be able to pull
it off. Throughout the day, Logan had a case of the bowel movements and
had to be changed around 8-9 times (4 times within two hours). By the
time night hit, I guess he was so used to it, that instead of notifying
us he had 'poos', instead he was holding his nose and indicating the
word 'smelly'. Even Bradon chimed in and did it as well for Logan. Oh
yes, another learning note, throughout the day Bradon and Logan had had
helium balloons from the brunch. Logan would get very frustrated with
the balloon always going to the ceiling and couldn't understand exactly
how he could pull the string hand over hand to get the balloon down to
him. After all, he just wanted to hold the balloon itself. Well, by
the end of the day, he was a champ and got the hand over hand things
down pat, so that he could get the balloon lickety split. Before
dinner, Liesl took baby Seth home to Mom and came back to eat. Bradon,
who normally isn't known for eating much, was amazingly good all day in
wolfing things down, so we were very happy for him as he often goes
entire days eating nothing at all. After dinner, there was a bit more
play time (mostly of everyone crawling through the adventure playland
consisting of a tunnel and two tents), followed by brushing of the
teeth, and Mom reading books to the boys while Dad continued cleaning
up. Then it was night-night and goodbye to Bradon as Liesl took him
home, and Dad read Logan some more books before putting him down. One
book in particular, we call the 'Logan' book (because it is a
personalized gift book given to us as a gift), uses the letters and
associated animals beginning with the first letter of each part of
Logan's name on each page. Logan really enjoys the book and is really
picking up on the look and sound of each letter of his name. In fact,
tonight he was able to say his full name for the first time! His
favorite letter is 'G' because there is a gorilla on that page and he
really likes to pound his chest with his fists when it comes up :-)

Stuffing my face

At dinner, Logan ate a smorgasbord of food. From grapes to strawberries
to chicken to biscuits and asparagus. So what is the problem with this
scenario? It's that he doesn't yet understand that you must chew in
little bits at a time and then swallow first before putting more food in
your mouth. There's nothing worse of a sight then seeing Logan stuff
his face in delight of the wonderful tastes of chicken and biscuits,
only to then explete it all from his mouth when he realizes it can't go
anywhere but out. We repeatedly show and tell him this, but he has yet
to grasp this fundamental concept. Guess Logan could make us all rich
and sell this new type of diet to millions. Dubbed the 'Logan stuff
yourself diet', you are allowed to put the food in your mouth, but then
you must take it out. No swallowing allowed :-)

The Bangtail Muster Parade Enjoyed by All!

On Monday, Liesl and Logan went for a walk with Melissa, Bradon and Seth. Bradon was in quite a bad mood that morning. He kept saying, "it's nice to use *all* your words." At first, Melissa and Liesl were quite confused by what he was saying because the way he was saying it was certainly in a mean tone of voice. Eventually, we realized he was annoyed at Logan for not talking as clearly and fluently as Bradon evidently thought he should!! It was quite funny to the adults, but to be fair to Bradon, it must be hard to have a buddy whose main communication is "TRUCK" and "CAR" in short, enthusiastic declarative sentences!
Once our walk was over, we all headed over to the Todd Mall for the annual Bangtail Muster parade. We had a great time watching the floats go by. Logan was a bit overwhelmed by the number of people, but kept his eyes glued to the procession of trucks, kids, dogs, and people in funny costumes. One of the highlights for Logan was when the fire trucks, police cars and an ambulance drove by – and even blasted their sirens from time to time!! After the parade, Logan was extremely happy because he found a ping pong ball (that had been thrown off one of the floats). Oh for the days when so little could make one SO happy!!

Logan and pooping

Momma gave an excellent presentation today, while watching baby Seth, to
a couple of potential teachers of a possible American History for Kids
class. Liesl used to do classes for young children to teach them about
American History (while making it fun with games, arts, and crafts).
Evidently she did such a great job explaining what she used to do that
she scared them with her creativity and information overload!
Later that evening, after supper, Logan got a well-needed bath (after
having played in the dirt at the Araluen playground all afternoon). It
was quite interesting the next chain of events. Mom was relaying a
story about one of Logan's friends, Holly. At Kindermusik/Kindergym
earlier that day Holly told her Mom, Rachel, that she needed to go to
the bathroom by pointing to her pants. Rachel took Holly (who is about
1 1/2 months younger than Logan) to the bathroom and sat her on the
toilet. Amazingly enough she went potty! Luckily for Logan's sake boys
are supposed to be slower learners at learning to properly go to
potty. Well, Logan must've been listening to Momma telling Daddy this
story, because then Logan started saying "Poopoo" and "Potty", to which
we assumed he was just mimicking Mom from the story. Well, much to our
surprise, we were quite wrong. Suddenly chunks of it began appearing in
the tub bathwater! Mom quickly put Logan on the toilet with Daddy
grabbing the small potty seat that goes over the normal toilet seat (so
that Logan could fit nicely without falling in) and Logan proceeded to
continue going potty a bit more. Fun and surprises and follow-up
cleaning meant a gay-old time was had by all.

Mom and Logan relax after the Bangtail Muster parade ends.

Interesting looking kangaroo in the parade that looks like it may have chewed some sort of strange grass before taking part

Bangtail Muster parade gets led by the local Aboriginal kid's drumming group.

Logan's buddies Holly, Bradon, and Nicholas are getting ready for the big event of the annual Bangtail Muster Parade

Bradon, Logan, and Holly (Melissa in the background) share a few serious comedic moments

Weekend fun for Dad and Logan

After Dad survived the Zombie movie fright night of fun on Friday night,
Mom brought Logan back from their escapade late in the morning. She
wasn't feeling too well and has been having bad headaches as of late,
she being roughly in her 14-15th week of pregnancy (still early in the
second trimester). Dad proceeded in taking over and trying to entertain
Logan as a break for Momma. One of the first things Daddy and Logan
did go outside and water the plants. If we were to let him, Logan could
water the plants 24 hours a day non-stop. Somehow we don't quite
believe he really is doing it for the plants sake. After a while, to
the point in which Logan was soaked to the bone, we went back inside
the house. Upon drying off, we then put together an adventure playhouse
with two tents and a tunnel in between. For the next hour or two, all
of us (including Mom) spent time looking for Logan hiding somewhere in
the playhouse. Logan got pretty tuckered out and must've been quite
thirsty because when Daddy set him down in his chair for supper, Logan
dived into both his milk and water cups, drinking from both at the same
time through their respective straws. Incidentally, this is not the
first time he's done so. In the past week he's begun drinking like this
two or three other times in the past week.
Sunday morning, Dad got up with Logan (poor Ma was still feeling ill
with a bad headache and hadn't slept well all night). We then went over
to pick up one of Logan's best friends, Bradon. His Mom has been
dealing with Bradon and baby Seth on her own since their Dad is off on a
work trip, and so I thought it'd be fun to give her a break and give
Logan an opportunity to play with someone other than just the old man.
First we went to a playground, but it was locked up. So instead, just
next to it, we decided to hike up the biggest hill in town (Anzac
Hill). There were numerous steps, mostly unpaved rock-formation type
steps, but both boys did extremely well. We made it up about 40-50
steps to the first landing and peered down at the people on the sidewalk
and playground below. Then we went back down. Then we went back up, to
the same landing. Then we went back down. Then we went back up AGAIN.
And finally we then went down again, suggesting we go to Squiggles, an
indoor 'playhouse cafe'. If I hadn't mentioned Squiggles, I'm not sure
if we would've ever stopped going up and down the steps (those kids had
unending energy!) Well, Squiggles wasn't quite open yet, and so Daddy
drove the two boys to the top of Anzac Hill. At the top, there were
MORE steps, and a ramp from which they could go up and down and up and
down to get between the parking lot and the viewing platform. They also
enjoyed looking at the little cars and trucks in the roads below, along
with peeking in a hole that was cemented to the ground. Being unsure
of just how much more energy the boys had, Dad felt there would still
be enough for them to enjoy Squiggles, so off we went. At Squiggles, we
were the first ones there. Bradon wanted to get right into playing...
but Logan would have none of it. He sat his rump down on the chair and
wanted to eat. Luckily Bradon thought this was an okay idea and so he
did so as well. For the next twenty minutes they ate, and ate, and
wolfed down quite a bit of food, from cereal to dried fruits to
crackers, etc... Whatever they ate, it sure did put a big kick back in
their step, for they were off and raring to go. In the big-kids area
they jumped in the large ball pit. Well, at first they did, but it
wasn't long before Daddy was called upon to repeatedly throw them in.
There was giggling and laughter had by all. Big kids then showed up, so
we moved to the toddler area of the playhouse cafe and began to build
tunnels and towers out of the cushion pads that were there. They loved
to knock down the towers and hide themselves deep within the bowels of
the tunnels. There was also another smaller ball pit from which Dad got
to throw them in again, when they weren't jumping in themselves. Anyhow,
other activities were played in the area and Daddy was surprised at how
well they were doing staying in the toddler area, especially when the
big-kids area was so much more fun. The employees at the cafe commented
to me on how they were astounded at just how much energy the two boys
had. Two hours passed at the cafe and Logan finally began to slow down
to the point where Dad knew it was finally nap time. Each boy had a
blueberry muffin (little) and Dad took Bradon home to his Mom. They had
a great time together and didn't play badlly at all together, something
Daddy was most impressed with. Driving home, just as Logan was falling
into a deep sleep, Dad made a mistake in taking off Logan's shoes (a
definite no-no) This abruptly woke Logan right back up, putting him
into fits of rage one could scarcely believe, and it was another
half-hour before Logan was calmed down enough to let himself succumb
back to sleep (whew!)
Needless to say, Sunday afternoon was much more sedate. Logan played
with Momma outside in the backyard and then took a bath. So far, Logan
has been asleep for the past 3 hours after bedtime, and there hasn't
been a peep from him. I'd say the energy levels were depleted.

Which whale was faster, and who was the better whale rider? Luckily, neither one of them was blown free after being hit by the blow-hole.

Jumping on in to the ball pit sure was a kick.

Logan and Bradon loved to go through the tunnels that Dad set up at the Squiggles Playhouse Cafe.

Logan runs up and down the ramp with Bradon at the top of Anzac Hill.

Step after step, with Bradon leading the way, they both manage to do an incredible job going up and down. Daddy was tuckered out just trying to keep up with them.

Logan and Bradon at the top of Anzac Hill, from which they excitedly point to the little cars and trucks on the roads below.

Logan and buddy Bradon go hiking up the steps on the Lion Walk towards the top of Anzac hill.

Logan is desperate to start using the potty like Ma, only problem is he doesn't seem to realize he's got to take off his diaper first.

Yep, I figure I can get done with dinner that much faster if I drink both my milk and my water at the same time.

This is tough work. I'm all sweaty!

Question: Who gets wetter? The plant or Logan?

Logan just LOVES to play with the water hose, and he has used the excuse of watering the plants far too much. So much so that they're all practically drowning from it :-)

Logan opens some great gifts from Grandma and Grandpa (bought while they were on holiday in Hawaii!). They included a super cool North Shore T-shirt for Dad, a beautiful shell necklace for Mom, and a really plush and environmentally friendly turtle for Logan!

Momma reads a bedtime story to Logan last Wednesday night.