Logan's Eight Month Update:
April 18, 2004
Logan's first words?
It's hard to tell what he's saying with all his babbling. Sometimes he has a
continual stream of chatter. When he's in his highchair he'll often say what
appears to be "All done." This is what we say (and indicate in sign language) at the end of the meal. Of course, he'll say this when he's still happy to continue eating, so we're not sure that this counts!
Logan has also mastered
the dadada phrase. Again, at this point (at just 8 months), it doesn't appear
to mean Dad necessarily, but hopefully it'll gain some meaning soon. Anther social skill Logan
mastered is waving. Over the weekend of April 3 he started to wave and hasn't
stopped since (though mostly to say hello -- not when people leave).
Logan does communicate
that he wants to be picked up (with imploring arms!). And as always crying communicates
all manner of things from I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I don't want to be changed to I'm awake and want to start the day, I'm
NOT hungry, pick me up, and change my poopy diaper!!
We bought Logan a
new inflatable swimming pool that he seems to enjoy! It's quite a bit bigger
and Logan laughs and giggles when he slips and slides on the slippery bottom!
A few days ago we sent out this email (April 13) -- Tony was busy
taking photos of Logan just now. Tony
was looking at the camera when he screamed out in pain. Logan
had Tonys entire big toe in his mouth and was chomping away!
Logan's 8 1/2 Month Update:
May 1, 2004
The last few weeks have been quite eventful. Logan has gone from being a crawling baby, to a cruiser. He stands up using anything available -- cushions, the coffee table, the dishwasher,
chairs -- you get the idea! One of the first times Logan pulled himself on his
own was April 10th. A funny thing happened about three weeks ago. Liesl was down at the end of the hallway, leaving Logan
in the middle of the living room, the TV was on mute. A few minutes later the
TV came on. "Oh are you watching some TV?" Liesl asked Logan. Then KAXSHHHHhhhhh
-- the TV station changed. "Didn't like that channel, huh Logan?" There was no answer, but a moment later, the TV channel changed again this time to
a real station! Liesl walked into the living room and there was Logan,
standing, leaning against the footstool facing the TV. He had the remote control
aimed at the TV and was waving it around--just like Mom and Dad when we're trying to line the remote up with the VCR!!
Logan can now crawl
after Mama when she heads to the kitchen or even to the front door. Then he'll
pull on Mom's leg to try to stand (and hopefully to be picked up too!)
Logan likes reading
-- enjoys hearing stories as Mom or Dad reads to him. He'll look at the picture
and interacts with the "touch and feel" type books. Another of Logan's
favorite activities is playing with any non-baby toy! He pulls DVDs out off the
shelf, paper off the coffee table, mail out of Mom's hand. Mom asked a local
restaurant if Logan could have one of the laminated placemats. THAT is one of his favorite toys (paper that can be bent, but not ingested!) This month Logan has
also started to master the recorder. He'll pick up the recorder and blow -- looking up proudly as we praise him for
his musical talent!!
Logan went on his
first camping trip on April 23/24. We piled into our 4wd and headed to "Boggy
Hole," a waterhole on Ellery Creek. We drove about an hour on the paved road and then drove another two hours off road--over
creek beds, through water, bumpety-bump. Finally we arrived with the three other
families (11 kids among us!). Boggy Hole was beautiful. There was lots of water and it looked like a river. That's
not bad for the desert region! The weather was beautiful (low 80s during the
day, 50s at night). The next morning the whole gang climbed up a hillside --
with big boulders. Logan was in the
sling and decided he just had to nurse the entire way up the hill! We decided
to camp just for one night and were back home late Saturday evening.
Another funny thing happened on Sunday, April 25. Liesl took Logan for a walk in the stroller while Tony was
out riding his bike (40km). Logan
was asleep when they headed out, so Liesl didn't bother with the belt. About
half way into the walk Logan started to talk a bit "da, ga, blah" said Logan. He wasn't making much of a fuss so Liesl didn't think much of it. After a bit, though, Liesl stopped to check on him. Logan
was GONE! A moment later Liesl realized that Logan's
head was where his feet should be. His little feet were dangling about two inches
from the ground. He looked up at smiled at his surprised Mama!
The unfortunate thing about the campout was that Logan (and the
rest of us) caught some sort of virus. Logan
has been up crying and fussing for the past four nights. In fact, he has cried
for hours at a time. Nothing except his Baby Einstein videos seems to help. (Logan
loves his Baby Shakespeare, Baby Van Gogh, Neighborhood and World Animals!) He
just loves those puppets! At least it's classical music, so it's not terribly
objectionable to the tired parents rocking him. He's been to the doctors, but
there's little that can be done -- except to give him medicines that mask the symptoms (such as Panadol, etc.)
Logan's diet is becoming
more and more adult-like. While his lunches still consist mostly of Mom's homemade
baby food (pureed pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peas & cheese, split pea or lentil soup).
His dinners are more adventurous as he eats finely cut up bits of whatever meat and stuff that his folks are having.
He definitely likes yoghurt and applesauce -- the sweeter things in (his) life!
Logan still likes
cruising around the neighborhood on his tricycle. Sometimes he'll stand on the
platform and pick toys out of the basket in the front. Mostly he just watches the traffic and other bikers or walkers go by.
Well, it's time for us to sign off for now. There's definitely another load of laundry and/or dishes to be done, STUFF to pick up, and all those tasks
that have quadrupled since Logan was born!
