Pirates, cannons and (water) guns -- Logan's latest obsession.
31 January 2006
29 January 2006
28 January 2006
Rolling Around
Delenn is really engaged -- loves holding rattles and pulling on her
dangling toys. Today for the first time we put her in the Excer-saucer
and she LOVED it! In fact, when Mom took her out she reached for one of
the toys and obviously wanted to play some more!
Delenn watches Logan all the time and will watch TV (Baby Einstein) and
giggle at the little kids on TV. She has started to roll from front to
back and from back almost to her front (with one arm still pinned
underneath her). Perhaps with all that has changed in her world, she is
not napping as well or as predictably, though it might also be teething
as she chews on her whole fist and is drooling a lot.
Logan had his first day of swim school. Once again he did really well.
He tucked a swim noodle under both arms and kicked the entire length of
the pool. He also put his head under water to retrieve a toy and blew
bubbles like a pro!
We've been working with Logan to recognize some numbers and letters. He
knows about 8 to 10 letters and definitely recognizes 1-3. The other
numbers are still a bit hit or miss. And, he sings Delenn the ABC song
and Twinkle Twinkle all the time.
Meanwhile, Mom just loves the new pram and is almost forced to go on a
walk now or else Delenn won't take that first morning nap! Both kids do
really well on our hour-long walk. This morning, Logan wanted to go up
the big hill to the water tower (which extends our walk by quite a bit)
and happily walked down the hill on his own.
25 January 2006
Adventures in Adelaide!
Our adventure to Adelaide began on Friday, Jan. 13th. Mom took Logan
and Delenn to the town pool to burn off some energy in the morning. It
was followed by lunch and a nap and then we were off to the airport.
The flight was uneventful and we got into our caravan park cottage at
the kids' bedtime.
On Saturday we headed to the Rundle Mall (pedestrian mall). We did a
bit of browsing. Logan LOVED the big Toys-R-Us and cajoled his weak
parents into buying him a Thunderbird rocket [Thunderbird is a TV series
from the mid-1960s. It features puppets and rockets that go off on
rescue missions. In the 21st century, Jeff Tracy, a former astronaut,
amasses a colossal fortune and decides that he must use it to benefit
others. His answer to this desire is to create International Rescue, a
unique private emergency response service equipped with custom designed
vehicles and equipment that enable the organization to react to any
crisis whether it be in sea, air, land, or space.] Dad bought some
jeans and Delenn got a new teething ring. Mom's big purchase was on
Tuesday.
On Sunday we went to the Port Adelaide markets. Logan was overly tired
after that, so we came home. Logan didn't take a nap, though, so Daddy
took him to a playground closer to home. He played well with an older
girl there at the park.
On Monday we went to the beach. It was nice weather for the
beach--especially in light of the temperatures later in the week. Mom
and Delenn were lucky to see a dolphin swim very close to the shore.
After building sand castles and collecting lots of shells we went to the
seaside town, Glenelg for lunch. We ate at the Hogs Breath Café -- and
were proud at how well both the kids did.
We searched the phone book and found a place to look at double-strollers
with forward facing seats. On Tuesday morning we drove to the store and
looked at them. We bought a red, double stroller. The two side by side
seats both face forward -- and have 5 different recline positions. It's
a smooth, comfortable ride and easy to push. We went for lots of walks
after that -- and both kids are comfortable and happy in it. We then
continued on to the zoo (with new stroller in tow)... Logan ran from
animal exhibit to exhibit saying "What's over here? What's over there?"
We covered the entire zoo and Logan STILL had energy to burn, while his
parents were completely tuckered out!
The next day, Wednesday, Dad took Logan to the Adelaide Aquatic Center.
It's an indoor pool complex that has 5 huge swimming pools that include
a water slide, various fountains, waterfalls and so forth. It was very
crowded, but Logan had a good time jumping in and swimming around. Mom
stayed home and watched TV while Delenn napped the entire time they were
gone and then some (10-2 and 3-4:30) She was obviously quite tired so
it was good for her to have a low-key day. We were optimistic that we
could go out to dinner. We chose Zapate's, a Mexican restaurant nearby.
It was a nightmare! Logan was reasonably good, playing with his cars
and doing card games, but Delenn was very unsettled. She spent a lot of
time squealing (for joy) at the TOP OF HER LUNGS!!! People around us
laughed (though maybe secretly they were wishing we'd go home!) The
food wasn't very good either so it was a relief to leave and go home.
Delenn promptly went to sleep and Logan watched another installment of
Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang before bed.
On Saturday we had a full day out and about. We went to the mall to
brows and window shop again. Then went to the pool. Daddy took Logan
down the water slide for the first time and Logan loved that. They went
again and again until they closed the slide down for the day. Logan
also enjoyed climbing the stairs (there's stadium seating in front of
the racing pool). At one point, Logan sat down on one of the seats.
Daddy said, "come on Logan, let's go." Logan replied fiercely, "I'm
WATCHING." We left the pool only with promises to Logan that he could
watch Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang again. Logan said -- "WAIT! Stop the
movie. Let me pull down my pants first!" (He goes bare-bottomed around
the house as we are in the process of potty training.) We had a good
chuckle over that!
At one point when Daddy was waiting with Logan in the car Logan said
something funny. Daddy turned around and tickled him. Logan said very
sincerely, "Thank you, Daddy."
Logan was very excited this trip to spend time looking at the car engine
(he's been helping Daddy pump the gas for some time now).
Delenn gets really giggly these days. Lots of things can set her
off--kissing her hands and her belly, swishing around in the water,
bouncing her on our knees, watching Logan on the trampoline and more.
She's a happy, settled, delightful baby! We had her weighed when we
returned and are happy to report that she's in the 75th percentile for
both height and weight.
We've started to settle back in... Delenn is sleeping a bit better at
night (while we were away she woke up every two hours). And, we're back
to our normal activities. We spent one morning at the toy library
playgroup and this morning went to the pool. We'll be having a friend
over on Friday. So, things are slowly getting back to normal here in the
DingoDen!
23 January 2006
22 January 2006
Weather Woes!
We're back from Adelaide, South Australia -- safe and sound. Last
Friday we left the 11 day record heat --which was just wonderful...
until we began 3-days of record highs in Adelaide. According to one
article, "It was Adelaide's hottest spell of weather in more than 60
years -- Saturday it reached 42 degrees (107.6F)--the third day of 40+
temperatures." The article goes on to say, "Relief is expected on
Monday, with a forecast top of 29 (84.2F)." Of course, we came home on
Sunday!!
And the weather forecast here in Alice as the temperatures cool down in
South Australia? Between 102F and 107.6F for the next four days!
More about our trip in another day or so once we settle back in!
13 January 2006
January Heat Wave Continues
Delenn is just three months old (as of yesterday) and is starting to
teeth. She sticks practically her whole hand in her mouth, at times
making herself gag. We can see a tooth bud beneath the surface, though
who knows when it'll actually make its way out. She does finally nod
off to sleep when we put some Oragel on her gums, so at least we know
how to ease her discomfort.
Remember the ambulance that Logan slept with at two years of age? And
remember just a couple weeks ago about the obsession with the doctor
book? He seems to obsess about one particular toy for a couple of
months before moving on to something else. Now Logan is very into his
water gun -- cannons and other things that go BOOM!
We continue to spend lots of time in the water. That's in part because
we've had a record breaking heat wave 11 days in a row of 41 degree days
(105F and above) than anytime in recorded memory. (This just surpassed a
record set in January of 1971.) Delenn has also enjoyed time in the
(chlorinated) pool and lucky for us, has had no eczema as a result (skin
is supposed to become more adult-like at 3 months of age).
11 January 2006
09 January 2006
We passed a lot of time hanging out in the empty, air conditioned theater. Logan enjoyed climbing up and down the stairs. Here's a moment of sibling bonding.
08 January 2006
Don't Do This!
This afternoon, we all went out to do some errands in town. We wanted to
buy a newspaper because Logan and Mommy's picture was in the Sunday
"Territorian" newspaper (a pic of them cooling off in the pool to beat
the summer heat). It was getting close to our dinner time so Mommy and
Delenn were dropped off at home. Daddy and Logan went over to our
friend's place to check on their cat and to water the plants. While
Mommy was nursing Delenn in a chair in the living room, she saw the
shadow of a person move out on the back porch. She thought at first it
might be Logan, but thought that'd be quite strange as Daddy never comes
in the side gate. Her reaction was to immediately jump up and rush to
the sliding glass door... whereupon she spied an aboriginal teenage or
young 20-ish man on the porch. She rushed out at him -- screaming and
hollering some obscenities which she won't repeat here, but the gist was
-- "what the %*^& do you think you're doing?" And "Get the %*^& out of
here you %*^&..." and as he scaled the wall to rush out to the hill
behind us... "Yeah, you better run you %*^& %*^& %*^&." He turned
towards the side gate (which is extremely difficult to open), but
changed his mind and scaled the wall in the back and ran off over the
hillside behind our flat.
Then Mommy regained her mind -- she realized she had just rushed at a 6
foot guy with a baby in her arms. Yes, there was power in her words,
but absolutely no sense (or safety) in her reaction. Yes, the police
were called, but of course there's not much that can be done. And here
in Alice, this is a common occurrence with little to no consequences
anyway.
An aside... this is not the first time Mommy has caught someone trying
to break in. When she lived in Denver, she was watching TV when she
noticed someone looking in the window. As calm as light breeze, she got
up, got a flash light and went running out the door, into the alley and
chased after the guy. Again, when reality set in, she realized how
absolutely stupid her reaction was. In fact, I swore I would never be
so dumb in such a situation again -- but in truth, in both cases I just
reacted... there wasn't much thinking involved.
Next time -- I hope my reaction is to either immediately call the police
and/or get a camera and start snapping pictures of the perpetrator.
Safer and more effective. Hindsight is 20-20.
Heat Wave
We've been having some extremely hot weather (with temperatures between
105-110 degrees in the shade!). Because of this, we've been going to the
pool several times a week. Logan has really made a lot of progress in
the water. With the use of floatation pieces that go tuck into his
(special) bathing suit around his tummy and back -- Logan can now swim
across the entire width of the pool. Logan looked at Mommy proudly and
said, "I didn't need any help." He jumps into the pool and submerges
his head in the water, turns and swims back to the side -- all without
help as well! On Friday, a reporter came by the town pool and took
Mommy and Logan's picture for the Sunday paper.
Last week, Logan made a couple of endearing comments. First, he told
both Mommy and Daddy, "You're such a good Mommy" and "You're such a good
Daddy." It warmed the cockles of our hearts!
There was a funny moment when Logan looked up at Mommy and said, "You
have a spider web in your nose."
Delenn has learned how to roll easily onto her side. Her conversations
continue and she's added "boom boom" to her word list. She obviously
adores Logan because she actively follows him with her eyes as he moves
around the room. She's also become much stronger -- and can now stand
and support her weight on her legs for brief periods. She will now
giggle in response to Mommy or Daddy's laughs. And, her sleep is pretty
predictable. Most nights she goes to bed between 6:30 and 7pm and gets
up twice for a feed around 2:30am and 5:00am. She gets up around 6:30am
in the morning. Unfortunately for us, she often chatters briefly when
she gets up for the 5:00am feeding. Several mornings this week, Logan
took this as a cue to get up and start the day!
