Well, before I have baby number 2 (which seems like it will be soon based on the fact that I can’t sleep through my contractions), I want to download a little about my amazing 22 month old. Logan is such a joy. I’m really enjoying being his mom and as much as having two will pull me in different directions, I am really looking forward to being able to interact more fully with logan when I am not worrying about being an incubator for number 2! He still loves to rough house with me and tonight we had a great session rolling around on the ground (where logan told me “I goof ball!”. Kissing his little face and hearing his giggle in my ear are seriously the best things in life. I really hope the transition with number 2 isn’t too hard on my amazing boy. He deserves all the love in the world and I hope we find enough time for both of them!
So, some more about Logan… (please ignore disorganization and rambling…trying to get done with what faculties I have)
Language and comprehension. I know this is the biggest section every time, but it is certainly so alarming how quickly he is changing. He has a massive vocabulary – probably even close to 1000 words. He has amazing recognition of objects and will tell you all about them. He is also very well versed in process, like the bathroom process, hand washing, making food, grocery stores, etc. He loves to learn new things, we have been working on the concept of fall – he’ll tell you about the leaves falling off the trees, changing colors, etc. He also is learning daytime and nighttime. He already is great about rain, sun, cold, etc. His interest in cars/trucks/buses has continued and he has now figured out “fire truck” and loves their sirens and lights. He has learned whole songs. He can sing “soft kitty,” “bah bah black sheep,” and “abcs” from start to finish. He has most of Twinkle twinkle and quite a bit of doe and Dear, and several other songs. He also seems to be understanding days of the week. He knew to call for Julia this morning even before he saw her, saying “hi Julia.” He also knows that on Monday he sees his friends Mason and Lukas and talks about them first thing on Monday before we mention them. It is so fun to sit at the dinner table and have conversations with him. He can recall large parts of his day and tell you about things. Okay, lastly on language is his development of sentences. He has many 3 word sentences like “I like it”, “I caught it,” “I throw it.” He also has sentences that are still missing some words but are showing progress, like “Daddy come logan” “daddy hand legos.”
Physically Logan is running like a champion, climbing like a pro and is so interested to learn and grow and try new things. He loves his gymnastics class. He is a great stacker and builder. He has really honed his fine motor skills.
Other: He is counting well. He can count to 10 but also understands the concept of 1 plus another being 2. The last week he has added a third item and said 3, so I think he is grasping that too. He is also is really overcoming his stranger anxiety. He knows and loves all of our friends (becky and mo are the two new favorites) and he seems less afraid of true strangers. He’s had a rough fall so far with colds and viruses, but he is a strong kid and quite a trooper and seems to bounce back super quickly. He loves to help in the kitchen. His favorite thing is to pull over his “own chair” and climb up to stand at the counter top with daddy to help cook. IT is a great way to get him to try new foods, since he is way more willing to eat what he makes with daddy. He also is an expert at snapping green beans. It is one of his favorite activities. Quality control goes down a bit, but totally worth it!
Okay, this is pretty disorganized. But this kid is really amazing. As I prepare to hold a tiny tiny baby again I keep thinking of how much logan has changed in 22 months. He is not a baby anymore. He is a full on toddler and every day he says and does things that amaze me. I can’t wait to see how he continues to change and who number 2 grows up to be and more importantly how it all works as a family. I am so proud to be logan’s mommy and can’t wait for the future with these amazing miracles!
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
20 months
My little baby is 20 months old. I look at my life sometimes and I am so surprised and how he has changed and how I have changed. I am not a woman with a baby any more but a real mom who parents and has to make choices, manage tantrums, teach, and cultivate a personality. I have learned so much about life from him and I hope he has from me as well. As his communication improves, he is showing more and more of who he is. He loves the role of “tiny dictator” and enjoys his newfound power to not only communicate his wants (and of course needs), but even more importantly, to use a series of physical, verbal, and emotional tools to make sure it happens. He certainly got his volume from his mommy and can yell your ear off. He also has learned to grab our hands and pull us around (often while yelling commands at us). He will pull so hard he will almost rip your finger out (and he doesn’t care if you are pregnant and it takes you a while to get off the ground). It is so fun that he wants us to play though and nothing is better than him asking for our hand and then holding it with his tiny little hand and leading the way. He also knows his two emotional tools. He will pitch a spectacular fit, complete with baby tears. Our new problem is that sometimes he gets so into the show we don’t actually know what the issue is. Secondly, he knows how to push our buttons and will go around the house doing everything that we don’t like him to do. It is interesting to see him start to understand the world and see what his options are. He certainly is a helper and will go along with almost everything but he has his own thoughts too. It has been neat that generally we haven’t had to “force” anything in a while. He will voluntarily go to his room for diaper changes and bedtime, he’ll allow me to brush his teeth, and he’ll go to his own high chair and ask to be put in. Sometimes it takes more persuasion but it is nice to give him power over his own body and have him be willing to get done what needs to get done.
Language
I just can’t believe how his language has developed. I was realizing we need to continue to build his vocab but we are running out of nouns in the house and parks, so we’ll have to continue to diversify his experiences (though we do pretty well already)! He knows almost everything in the house (can’t list, there are too many), yard (tree, bush, pinecone, bug), transportation (bus, truck, car, motorcycle, airplane, gas (for gas station)), kitchen (all food), bathroom (sink, shower, bath, potty, pee, poop, fart, wash, towel, soap, garbabe), bedroom (crib, chair, diaper, cream, sound machine, mobile, books), parks (slide, swing, stairs, kids, sand, shovel, bucket), etc. He has names for all his books and toys, from his slinky to his basketball hoop. It is incredible. He even pulls some out that we can’t explain: he calls his pot on his new kitchen stove his “tea pot.” None of us ever say tea pot, so interesting. He is starting to expand into more two word phrases, “mommy help” “julia’s car” but they are still less common. He generally prefers to string together a list of commands, “papa, shoes, up, outside.”
He is learning his abcs and I would say he knows most of it, he will say “abc” and then sometimes will say things that are similar to the letters up to an enthusiastic “g.” He will often volunteer “h” at the right time if we are signing it (his favorite letter), but generally doesn’t say ijklmnop. He’s obsessed with “QRS” for some reason and will sing that randomly, as well as in the song if you pause. He has a few times, done a complete “qrstuvwxy.” It was amazing! He also adds “now I” to the end since he knows the words come next. He actually started doing this when we pulled out a laptop his great aunt josie gave him (we periodically rotate toys to keep them fresh). It sings the alphabet and he fell in love. He loves to sit in our tunnel with daddy and look at the letters. He recognizes O, Q, and H consistently. Sometimes a few others he gets a lucky guess.
He’s also working on counting and likes “1, 2, and 3.” Unlike the alphabet which he knows are letters I don’t think he grasps counting yet.
Colors are not his thing. Despite being able to name everything, he hasn’t gotten too into colors. He will say most of the words, “green, pink, red, blue, purple” but he doesn’t know what they are. He knows they are colors, but he is often wrong. Will be interesting to see when he puts it together.
One of his quirkiest language things is a particular litany he has. He knows the word “hit” and that he shouldn’t do it, but he is very interested in the topic. He will take something and hit something inanimate (xylophone mallet on couch) and say “hit” and then will pause and say “People” pause “kids” pause “slide.” Everytime! It is so funny. I’m not sure I fully understand why he does it yet, but it is interesting so see how his mind is putting things together.
Physical
He can climb all over the playground and is generally the youngest kid out there. He seems not to have much fear and has a great sense of how to climb. We spot him, but he can climb ladders that are 7 feet tall and also can do rock walls and other climbing apparatuses. He is getting a pretty good run and likes the idea of jumping, though he hasn’t figured out how to get both feet off the ground yet. He walks up and down stairs now, but prefers if we hold his hands going in and out of the garage on the big stairs (though for fun he will step off boxes that are twice as high inside, maybe he realizes concrete is less forgiving). He can climb in and out of the car on his own and will sit himself in the carseat. However, we just bought our new van and it is much higher, so he hasn’t figured that one out yet. He likes to sit on his own in the chairs at the yogurt shop and holds his own cup and spoons the yogurt in his mouth, all on his own. We don’t even bring a bib because he doesn’t spill.
He likes to do all sorts of non-baby activities and today was stacking boxes from our subscribe and save program at amazon, they were all big and heavy, but he could stack them. He would much rather stack household things that blocks any day.
He is getting interested in his potty and will sit on his while we use the bathroom. We don’t take his pants off since he doesn’t seem interested in actually performing and it is a long of work, but he will say “pee, fart, poop” when he sits. So he is getting the idea. Still couldn’t care less about having a wet or poopy diaper though!
Favorites
Logan has always been pretty opinionated (wonder where he got that from), but it is fun to see it manifest. He loves music and is obsessed with it. He loves to ride in the car because we listen to music and when he sees cars he will often say “car song” since people in cars get to listen to songs. He doesn’t watch much tv, but his two favorite things are 30-60 second clips of songs. He loves the American authors “best day of my life” song and will jump up and down when we play the 60 second pbs clip of animals to it. He sings parts of the song and he knows what animals are in the pbs special and will tell you when in the song they are if you are in the car. It is too funny.
He also has fallen into some funny logan routines. One is that after meals we wipe his hands and face and he also wants his toes wipes. It is cute, so we oblige, as long is it is after hands and face.
He just really is the apple of my eye and a true delight to spend time with. Hard to believe that I will ever be able to love another human as much as I love this kid, though I know I will. It flabbergasts me that at one point I considered not having kids because I feel like having Logan has been the best thing to ever happen to me and although I was happy before, I feel like THIS is what life is all about. I’m so happy to be Logan’s mom and can’t wait to see what the next few months bring.
Language
I just can’t believe how his language has developed. I was realizing we need to continue to build his vocab but we are running out of nouns in the house and parks, so we’ll have to continue to diversify his experiences (though we do pretty well already)! He knows almost everything in the house (can’t list, there are too many), yard (tree, bush, pinecone, bug), transportation (bus, truck, car, motorcycle, airplane, gas (for gas station)), kitchen (all food), bathroom (sink, shower, bath, potty, pee, poop, fart, wash, towel, soap, garbabe), bedroom (crib, chair, diaper, cream, sound machine, mobile, books), parks (slide, swing, stairs, kids, sand, shovel, bucket), etc. He has names for all his books and toys, from his slinky to his basketball hoop. It is incredible. He even pulls some out that we can’t explain: he calls his pot on his new kitchen stove his “tea pot.” None of us ever say tea pot, so interesting. He is starting to expand into more two word phrases, “mommy help” “julia’s car” but they are still less common. He generally prefers to string together a list of commands, “papa, shoes, up, outside.”
He is learning his abcs and I would say he knows most of it, he will say “abc” and then sometimes will say things that are similar to the letters up to an enthusiastic “g.” He will often volunteer “h” at the right time if we are signing it (his favorite letter), but generally doesn’t say ijklmnop. He’s obsessed with “QRS” for some reason and will sing that randomly, as well as in the song if you pause. He has a few times, done a complete “qrstuvwxy.” It was amazing! He also adds “now I” to the end since he knows the words come next. He actually started doing this when we pulled out a laptop his great aunt josie gave him (we periodically rotate toys to keep them fresh). It sings the alphabet and he fell in love. He loves to sit in our tunnel with daddy and look at the letters. He recognizes O, Q, and H consistently. Sometimes a few others he gets a lucky guess.
He’s also working on counting and likes “1, 2, and 3.” Unlike the alphabet which he knows are letters I don’t think he grasps counting yet.
Colors are not his thing. Despite being able to name everything, he hasn’t gotten too into colors. He will say most of the words, “green, pink, red, blue, purple” but he doesn’t know what they are. He knows they are colors, but he is often wrong. Will be interesting to see when he puts it together.
One of his quirkiest language things is a particular litany he has. He knows the word “hit” and that he shouldn’t do it, but he is very interested in the topic. He will take something and hit something inanimate (xylophone mallet on couch) and say “hit” and then will pause and say “People” pause “kids” pause “slide.” Everytime! It is so funny. I’m not sure I fully understand why he does it yet, but it is interesting so see how his mind is putting things together.
Physical
He can climb all over the playground and is generally the youngest kid out there. He seems not to have much fear and has a great sense of how to climb. We spot him, but he can climb ladders that are 7 feet tall and also can do rock walls and other climbing apparatuses. He is getting a pretty good run and likes the idea of jumping, though he hasn’t figured out how to get both feet off the ground yet. He walks up and down stairs now, but prefers if we hold his hands going in and out of the garage on the big stairs (though for fun he will step off boxes that are twice as high inside, maybe he realizes concrete is less forgiving). He can climb in and out of the car on his own and will sit himself in the carseat. However, we just bought our new van and it is much higher, so he hasn’t figured that one out yet. He likes to sit on his own in the chairs at the yogurt shop and holds his own cup and spoons the yogurt in his mouth, all on his own. We don’t even bring a bib because he doesn’t spill.
He likes to do all sorts of non-baby activities and today was stacking boxes from our subscribe and save program at amazon, they were all big and heavy, but he could stack them. He would much rather stack household things that blocks any day.
He is getting interested in his potty and will sit on his while we use the bathroom. We don’t take his pants off since he doesn’t seem interested in actually performing and it is a long of work, but he will say “pee, fart, poop” when he sits. So he is getting the idea. Still couldn’t care less about having a wet or poopy diaper though!
Favorites
Logan has always been pretty opinionated (wonder where he got that from), but it is fun to see it manifest. He loves music and is obsessed with it. He loves to ride in the car because we listen to music and when he sees cars he will often say “car song” since people in cars get to listen to songs. He doesn’t watch much tv, but his two favorite things are 30-60 second clips of songs. He loves the American authors “best day of my life” song and will jump up and down when we play the 60 second pbs clip of animals to it. He sings parts of the song and he knows what animals are in the pbs special and will tell you when in the song they are if you are in the car. It is too funny.
He also has fallen into some funny logan routines. One is that after meals we wipe his hands and face and he also wants his toes wipes. It is cute, so we oblige, as long is it is after hands and face.
He just really is the apple of my eye and a true delight to spend time with. Hard to believe that I will ever be able to love another human as much as I love this kid, though I know I will. It flabbergasts me that at one point I considered not having kids because I feel like having Logan has been the best thing to ever happen to me and although I was happy before, I feel like THIS is what life is all about. I’m so happy to be Logan’s mom and can’t wait to see what the next few months bring.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Good News
Well, we got some really good news at the doctor yesterday. They found what they think is a cervical polyp which means we have a new diagnosis other than a placental tear (a diagnosis of exclusion). They were even able to verify its blood supply so it is a pretty good conclusion that it is a polyp. So, although it is still a mild complication, it is leaps and bounds better than what we thought.
Apparently it is not uncommon for polyps to form in women who have already have had one child and they grow in response to hormones, so the bleeding can increase over the pregnancy as your hormones do. They are almost never cancerous, so that isn’t a concern. The biggest risks are that the bleeding and cramping associated with the polyp (the polyp is like a grape and bleeds very easily and because it doesn’t belong there the cervix will try to push it out), the body can get confused and start labor early. So far, my cervix is totally closed and we are good to go. They will keep watching me. The other very small possibility is that the polyp itself grows like crazy and actually acts as a dilator on the cervix, but again they can track it and see if this is likely.
For now, I have a new lease on life and am able to occasionally pick up Logan. This has been such a breath of fresh air for me since now Charles can have some more freedom and I am not totally useless. I still am not going to carry him around or pick him up more than absolutely necessary. I also need to try to manage bleeding and cramping still, which do seem to respond to movement, so that means still maintaining some activity but having it be low intensity. I have also been instructed to use advil when I cramp to try to relax the uterus. It can be a cycle (as I have noticed) and can be hard for the body to turn around on its own. The nice piece is that now I don’t have to worry about progression or a catastrophic problem around any corner. I am not much of a stresser, so I was doing pretty well before, but I feel this major weight lifted off my shoulders now.
Long term, my polyp will either come off on its own at birth or it will be removed after I am recovered from labor. They can bleed a lot, so when it is removed, it might need to be cauterized.
So, keep your prayers coming, but they clearly are already working and we are so looking forward to the healthy arrival of our second baby boy in November. I was so nervous about doing something that would result in my baby losing oxygen and having permanent problems. I know it wouldn’t be “my fault” but I couldn’t stop picturing how that would feel. I can rest so much easier now and just look forward to holding my sweet little dude in a few months!
Apparently it is not uncommon for polyps to form in women who have already have had one child and they grow in response to hormones, so the bleeding can increase over the pregnancy as your hormones do. They are almost never cancerous, so that isn’t a concern. The biggest risks are that the bleeding and cramping associated with the polyp (the polyp is like a grape and bleeds very easily and because it doesn’t belong there the cervix will try to push it out), the body can get confused and start labor early. So far, my cervix is totally closed and we are good to go. They will keep watching me. The other very small possibility is that the polyp itself grows like crazy and actually acts as a dilator on the cervix, but again they can track it and see if this is likely.
For now, I have a new lease on life and am able to occasionally pick up Logan. This has been such a breath of fresh air for me since now Charles can have some more freedom and I am not totally useless. I still am not going to carry him around or pick him up more than absolutely necessary. I also need to try to manage bleeding and cramping still, which do seem to respond to movement, so that means still maintaining some activity but having it be low intensity. I have also been instructed to use advil when I cramp to try to relax the uterus. It can be a cycle (as I have noticed) and can be hard for the body to turn around on its own. The nice piece is that now I don’t have to worry about progression or a catastrophic problem around any corner. I am not much of a stresser, so I was doing pretty well before, but I feel this major weight lifted off my shoulders now.
Long term, my polyp will either come off on its own at birth or it will be removed after I am recovered from labor. They can bleed a lot, so when it is removed, it might need to be cauterized.
So, keep your prayers coming, but they clearly are already working and we are so looking forward to the healthy arrival of our second baby boy in November. I was so nervous about doing something that would result in my baby losing oxygen and having permanent problems. I know it wouldn’t be “my fault” but I couldn’t stop picturing how that would feel. I can rest so much easier now and just look forward to holding my sweet little dude in a few months!
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Baby Boy McClintock #2
As most of you know, we are pregnant again. We are expecting another boy due November 22nd. He is growing on target and has all the right pieces! He is a healthy wonderful boy. I am not sure if I am more in tune this time, but he is also very active very early and I feel him bouncing around a lot. Unlike last time, I am also looking pregnant this time, with a nice 22 week bump and I definitely had to give into maternity pants this go ‘round. It is fun to be glowing with a little more pregnancy-ness this time. I always felt like although I missed the horror stories that people tell moms last time, I also missed the community celebration as people are happy for your new life. It has been fun.
Now for the not so cheery part, as some of you know, this pregnancy has been a teeny complicated. I have been diagnosed with (most likely) a tear in my placenta. The super medical term is a placental abruption and mine is the most minor you can get, but my doctor is referring to it as a tear because we have no indication that it isn’t functioning well. So far I have had about 9 episodes where I have spotted. Although spotting can be normal, especially in the first trimester, the recurring nature is concerning. We are very fortunate that I am already in a “high risk” practice which means we have the best doctors, best nurses, and best ultrasound techs, so I am fortunate that I am not switching clinics or trying to deal with this in a normal practice.
At about 18 weeks I was diagnosed with the tear and was told that I could no longer pick up Logan. This has been really hard, aside from the obvious desire to pick him up and love on him, there is a giant practical side from the super annoying to the disappointing. I can’t lift him in and out of his crib which means someone else needs to be here at the start and end of every nap (or morning and bedtime). I can’t lift him in and out of his high chair (we actually taught him to crawl into his regular high chair for this reason and it became a toy that he won’t sit in so now we are using the booster and I am going to delay teaching him to climb in that until absolutely necessary). And of course, I can’t put him in and out of the carseat or stroller which means no walks, errands, park visits, play dates, etc. Lastly, I can’t lift him for safety situations. This is mostly not a problem at home (though kitchen tantrums are rough), but it means I can’t take him outside in the yard to play for fear he’ll run to the street, which he occasionally tries to do. It has meant a HUGE change in how Logan and I interact and a GINORMOUS change for our routine and how and when Charles works and works out. Overall we are making it work and we are SUPER thankful for my parents, who have been immensely helpful and will be here most of the summer.
I am not on bedrest (they don’t do it for abruption anymore, though they used to), but I am required to maintain a “light” activity level, which is luckily fairly consistent with my semi-remission arthritis status anyway. I am not going for longer walks, like I could, but otherwise, I am allowed to go grocery shopping, etc. I can’t lift stuff and I need to take a rest each day and also rest extra if I start spotting or cramping too badly.
So, now for the heavier stuff. As annoying as the life change stuff is (which is very annoying), the harder part is the changed outcomes for later in pregnancy. Although Logan’s pregnancy got off to a rough start and I had high disease activity, the only thing we had to come to grips with was induction at 39 weeks. Logan ended up coming on his own at 38.5 weeks and we had a great easy and safe regular labor and delivery. Logan was placed right on my chest and never had any health concerns. This delivery may be more complicated, but then again, it might not be. The doctors can’t say for sure. Overall, my risks increase across the board.
My risks of pre-term labor are much higher (bleeding stimulates the cervix to open) and so I am already being checked regularly, and that will probably even increase more to make sure my cervix isn’t opening (so far it is “a mile” long and very closed so YAY).
It also raises my risks of complications before labor, like the placenta not working as efficiently. However, so far I have no sign of any scarring or problems with the placenta, so again no worries yet and I will continue to have frequent ultrasounds to check. If the placenta doesn’t work as well, then baby would have to be born early. The things they do with ultrasound are crazy though and they can monitor blood flow throughout the chord and baby (heart, head, and abdomen) and make sure that things are working great.
It also raises my risks of a catastrophic event, like a full placental abruption. This is a life threatening event for me and the baby. Luckily we are close to hospitals, so it is unlikely to kill me but it could result in blood transfusions and intense medical situations if that happened. However, so far I have only had minor spotting and nothing has indicated that I would have a more serious event. For baby, at this point, he is not quite viable, but in the next few weeks, he will be and that will mean we will need to be even more cautious because intervention is much more time-sensitive for the baby than it is for me. This type of event is not a guarantee in someone who has a placenta tear, but the recurring nature of my tear makes my doctor nervous because my placenta doesn’t seem to be healing like it should. Some women have more major bleeds early that clear up and have no problems later. Some also have no problem and without warning have a full abruption at the end (36 weeks) in pregnancy. So again, who knows….
Lastly, it raises my risk for complications during labor. Obviously if I can’t pick up Logan, the stress of labor will be pretty intense for my placenta. This means I could have anything from minor increased bleeding to a full abruption during labor. Who knows at this point? We are going to have to spend some serious time discussing with my doctor whether a planned c-section, even a few weeks early, might improve outcomes for baby. Likely some will depend on whether things stay mild for the next while or whether they progress and get worse. We aren’t enthusiastic about the long recovery time for me since I’m such a slow healer, but we need to discuss outcomes and make the smartest decision for the baby, since a distress event could severely impact their lives.
So after explaining all of that, there is a small chance that this bleeding is something else like a cervical polyp. Almost all can be detected on ultrasound and they don’t see any, so it is unlikely, but my recurring minor bleeds could be explained by that. It isn’t enough of a chance for my doctor to change my plan (no lifting logan), or my monitoring, but it is something to give us hope for a simple rest of the pregnancy.
So, overall things are still fine, but we are being carefully monitored and going to work closely with our doctor on keeping everyone safe going forward. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and hopefully by thanksgiving we’ll have another healthy baby boy waking us up around the clock ;).
Now for the not so cheery part, as some of you know, this pregnancy has been a teeny complicated. I have been diagnosed with (most likely) a tear in my placenta. The super medical term is a placental abruption and mine is the most minor you can get, but my doctor is referring to it as a tear because we have no indication that it isn’t functioning well. So far I have had about 9 episodes where I have spotted. Although spotting can be normal, especially in the first trimester, the recurring nature is concerning. We are very fortunate that I am already in a “high risk” practice which means we have the best doctors, best nurses, and best ultrasound techs, so I am fortunate that I am not switching clinics or trying to deal with this in a normal practice.
At about 18 weeks I was diagnosed with the tear and was told that I could no longer pick up Logan. This has been really hard, aside from the obvious desire to pick him up and love on him, there is a giant practical side from the super annoying to the disappointing. I can’t lift him in and out of his crib which means someone else needs to be here at the start and end of every nap (or morning and bedtime). I can’t lift him in and out of his high chair (we actually taught him to crawl into his regular high chair for this reason and it became a toy that he won’t sit in so now we are using the booster and I am going to delay teaching him to climb in that until absolutely necessary). And of course, I can’t put him in and out of the carseat or stroller which means no walks, errands, park visits, play dates, etc. Lastly, I can’t lift him for safety situations. This is mostly not a problem at home (though kitchen tantrums are rough), but it means I can’t take him outside in the yard to play for fear he’ll run to the street, which he occasionally tries to do. It has meant a HUGE change in how Logan and I interact and a GINORMOUS change for our routine and how and when Charles works and works out. Overall we are making it work and we are SUPER thankful for my parents, who have been immensely helpful and will be here most of the summer.
I am not on bedrest (they don’t do it for abruption anymore, though they used to), but I am required to maintain a “light” activity level, which is luckily fairly consistent with my semi-remission arthritis status anyway. I am not going for longer walks, like I could, but otherwise, I am allowed to go grocery shopping, etc. I can’t lift stuff and I need to take a rest each day and also rest extra if I start spotting or cramping too badly.
So, now for the heavier stuff. As annoying as the life change stuff is (which is very annoying), the harder part is the changed outcomes for later in pregnancy. Although Logan’s pregnancy got off to a rough start and I had high disease activity, the only thing we had to come to grips with was induction at 39 weeks. Logan ended up coming on his own at 38.5 weeks and we had a great easy and safe regular labor and delivery. Logan was placed right on my chest and never had any health concerns. This delivery may be more complicated, but then again, it might not be. The doctors can’t say for sure. Overall, my risks increase across the board.
My risks of pre-term labor are much higher (bleeding stimulates the cervix to open) and so I am already being checked regularly, and that will probably even increase more to make sure my cervix isn’t opening (so far it is “a mile” long and very closed so YAY).
It also raises my risks of complications before labor, like the placenta not working as efficiently. However, so far I have no sign of any scarring or problems with the placenta, so again no worries yet and I will continue to have frequent ultrasounds to check. If the placenta doesn’t work as well, then baby would have to be born early. The things they do with ultrasound are crazy though and they can monitor blood flow throughout the chord and baby (heart, head, and abdomen) and make sure that things are working great.
It also raises my risks of a catastrophic event, like a full placental abruption. This is a life threatening event for me and the baby. Luckily we are close to hospitals, so it is unlikely to kill me but it could result in blood transfusions and intense medical situations if that happened. However, so far I have only had minor spotting and nothing has indicated that I would have a more serious event. For baby, at this point, he is not quite viable, but in the next few weeks, he will be and that will mean we will need to be even more cautious because intervention is much more time-sensitive for the baby than it is for me. This type of event is not a guarantee in someone who has a placenta tear, but the recurring nature of my tear makes my doctor nervous because my placenta doesn’t seem to be healing like it should. Some women have more major bleeds early that clear up and have no problems later. Some also have no problem and without warning have a full abruption at the end (36 weeks) in pregnancy. So again, who knows….
Lastly, it raises my risk for complications during labor. Obviously if I can’t pick up Logan, the stress of labor will be pretty intense for my placenta. This means I could have anything from minor increased bleeding to a full abruption during labor. Who knows at this point? We are going to have to spend some serious time discussing with my doctor whether a planned c-section, even a few weeks early, might improve outcomes for baby. Likely some will depend on whether things stay mild for the next while or whether they progress and get worse. We aren’t enthusiastic about the long recovery time for me since I’m such a slow healer, but we need to discuss outcomes and make the smartest decision for the baby, since a distress event could severely impact their lives.
So after explaining all of that, there is a small chance that this bleeding is something else like a cervical polyp. Almost all can be detected on ultrasound and they don’t see any, so it is unlikely, but my recurring minor bleeds could be explained by that. It isn’t enough of a chance for my doctor to change my plan (no lifting logan), or my monitoring, but it is something to give us hope for a simple rest of the pregnancy.
So, overall things are still fine, but we are being carefully monitored and going to work closely with our doctor on keeping everyone safe going forward. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and hopefully by thanksgiving we’ll have another healthy baby boy waking us up around the clock ;).
18 months
It is hard to look at Logan today and even imagine him 18 months ago as a newborn or even 6 months ago as a kid who didn’t walk/climb/talk/self-feed etc. So much of his identity and our lives on a day to day basis is driven by these monumental changes. We talk with him nearly constantly and he is very opinionated, expressing his thoughts and feelings each moment (wonder where he got that from :P). I am so impressed with each little change and each little development and I am so in awe. He is such a neat kid and I am so lucky to be his mommy.
Stats
Logan is 29 pounds and 33.5 inches tall. He is 95th percentile for weight and 75th-90th for height and head circumference.
Talking
Logan is a super talker. I would say he has somewhere between 300-400 words that he can say at this point and many more that he understands and responds to but doesn’t say. I am also impressed that his understanding of language has gone beyond the physical (car, monkey, tree, banana), to the more abstract (behind you, the other way, Mommy’s vs logan’s, etc.). He also is good at associating different kinds of things as similar, and some connections that seem harder. I am not sure how but he knows all birds and all bird “tweats” are birds. If we are in the house and we hear a bird, he will tell us about it even if you can’t see it. He also knows the word “raining” (yes he is a seattle boy) and applies it in the shower and also when my dad is watering plants. Some classifications are harder as most 4 legged things are still “puppies” but can you blame him since we say everything from a teacup dog to a st brenard is a puppy?
Logan has very strong opinions and his ability to communicate is key in keeping him happy. He will tell us what he wants to do and we can (generally) accommodate it. Of course he is also a junkie for “Phone” “pictures” and “watch” “tv” but those aren’t options most of the time. Although he doesn’t always like what we have to say, explaining to him what is going on has been a helpful way to manage tantrums. It isn’t perfect but he seems to understand and accept things. We have also worked on giving him options, especially in tough situations. We have been giving him food and clothing options for a long time and he likes the choice but now for instance he gets the option of having our leg over him pinning him down during a diaper change or he can lay still. With Charles he hates the leg and will often stop struggling. With me, he likes me leg over and ask for it to be “on” him. Conversely, we are having to work on our choice of what we say when it comes to giving him options that aren’t options. We’ve been talking to him for so long without him understanding that we got in the habit of phrasing things as questions, like “do you want your diaper changed?” We need to change this because logan understands the question and understandably says “nn nn” and shakes his head (he doesn’t say “no” yet, always “nn nn” with the head shake). So we have switched to “we are going to change your diaper now and when we are done we can play again.”
We found on our trip to LA that our ability to talk to him (and him to understand) really helped him calm in stressful situations. His ability to talk was less helpful as he is crying and yelling “daddy, up, car, carseat, home” at us. I think he was really frustrated that we weren’t listening. We tried to explain that it wasn’t an option, but he kept repeating his demands.
His language is developing very quickly with him learning several words a day and popping out things from nowhere. Although we have always called his “sandbox” a “sandbox” and he knew what it was, he never said the word but the other day showed Papa and told him “sandbox.” It is pretty neat! He also knows all of his face body parts and is working on the rest (knows tummy/belly (both words), and belly button, penis, toes, feet, arms).
His pronunciation is pretty good for his age, I think. Some sounds are harder, like f’s and l’s and “r”s but he can say them all. “ella” comes out well and “owl” and the f is getting more common in “puffs” “coffee” and “off,” though he often uses the p instead, especially in a hurry. Some words, like “water” are coming out “awa” or “wawa” even though he could at least say “wa-duh.” “Open” is still a funny one because he says it with his mouth completely closed. Some strange words also sounds strangely alike, like “high chair” and “outside” have morphed into similar sounds even though he used to differentiate them more. And of course every day there are a few words he says that we can’t yet translate but we will figure them out eventually! Although a stranger may not understand him at first, it is fun to see our family adjusting to his dialect quickly and being able to quickly enjoy all that he has to say.
Movement
Logan is a proficient walker on all surfaces. He can go up and down hills and rarely falls. He is also now picking up his pace and although not quite a full run, I think he gets some air between his legs and certainly moves quickly. He has learned to go down our two stairs walking, without holding on to anything and will go down the staircase outside holding on to the wall next to it. He still mostly crawls up stairs but has occasionally taken a stair standing up (balance is harder). If he can hold on, he can walk up the stairs without a problem. Logan is a climber at heart! He has fallen in love with slides at the park, and not the dinky kiddy slides, but the 6 foot tall kid slides. He can climb up on his own, get himself seated, and push himself down the slide. He has in the last 1.5 weeks learned to climb into his high chair, climb our taller brown couch and tonight (climb our coffee tables). His increased understanding of climbing combined with his growing muscles is going to make him quite a force to reckon with.
He is a very active fellow and his muscles mean he can put up a really good fight when he wants to be doing something different than you want. This can make bedtime, diaper changes, getting into the car seat, and other activities quite a fun challenge. It also means we have to think really hard about letting him “free’ when we are out. We generally don’t even let his feet touch the ground at grocery stores or the farmers market because he will run around like a crazy person and lose his marbles if you try to reign him in. We try to give him plenty of time at the park to run around and selfishly keep him contained when we have things to accomplish.
Eating
Logan is overall a really good eater. He’s had some tummy troubles the past few weeks so his diet had slipped to more of a BRAT type diet, and then the dr prescribed that for another week, but he is showing increased interest in other foods again and I think he’ll be back to eating in no time. He’s getting more picky and I think we are going to have to make choices about how to handle that in the future.
Our best tool recently has been to switch to family dinners. He is much more interested in what we are eating (even if it is salmon or quinoa stuffed peppers) than anything in front of him, even if bagels or something very desirable. Sharing meals with him is a fun social experience and really seems to help improve his pallete and his diet.
Logan is proficient at self-feeding. He can “poke” things with his fork and eat them and he can spoon feed pretty well. For spoon feeding, he still thinks it is very entertaining and will sometimes pause to long in celebration before closing his mouth and lose the food in his bib, but overall it is pretty good. We are still sticking to more viscous substances like oatmeal and yogurt, but will try other things with moderate success. We were so sure when he was little that he was right handed because he would do everything first with his right hand, but Logan has shown a real preference for his left hand with self-feeding. Just in the last week or two the right hand is coming into play more, but he seems to prefer left. We’ll see!
Personality
Logan is a strong willed and independent fellow. He is very good at self-entertaining and will generally direct his own play. He will tell you if he wants to go outside, or in the car, or to a park, or play in the sandbox, or play the blanket game. His favorite request is to watch tv “pictures” but if we turn it on he almost instantly loses interest in it. It is interesting to see facets of his personality shine, for instance he loves cars and dogs (puppys) and we don’t particular care for either, but they are probably his new favorite thing. Despite his stranger anxiety he also recently started being very interested in “people” so maybe that will signal an ebbing of his major anxiety.
It is probably obvious since we are having another kid, but we have both enjoyed more than we could have imagined being parents to Logan these last 18 months. I have so much trouble describing the impact it has had, but we met with our doula about baby #2 yesterday and she described it wonderfully. She said it is like she was living in black and white like in Wizard of Oz and then the whole world lit up with color. It has made me happier than I thought possible and I am so honored to get to see his smiles and watch him grow and develop.
Stats
Logan is 29 pounds and 33.5 inches tall. He is 95th percentile for weight and 75th-90th for height and head circumference.
Talking
Logan is a super talker. I would say he has somewhere between 300-400 words that he can say at this point and many more that he understands and responds to but doesn’t say. I am also impressed that his understanding of language has gone beyond the physical (car, monkey, tree, banana), to the more abstract (behind you, the other way, Mommy’s vs logan’s, etc.). He also is good at associating different kinds of things as similar, and some connections that seem harder. I am not sure how but he knows all birds and all bird “tweats” are birds. If we are in the house and we hear a bird, he will tell us about it even if you can’t see it. He also knows the word “raining” (yes he is a seattle boy) and applies it in the shower and also when my dad is watering plants. Some classifications are harder as most 4 legged things are still “puppies” but can you blame him since we say everything from a teacup dog to a st brenard is a puppy?
Logan has very strong opinions and his ability to communicate is key in keeping him happy. He will tell us what he wants to do and we can (generally) accommodate it. Of course he is also a junkie for “Phone” “pictures” and “watch” “tv” but those aren’t options most of the time. Although he doesn’t always like what we have to say, explaining to him what is going on has been a helpful way to manage tantrums. It isn’t perfect but he seems to understand and accept things. We have also worked on giving him options, especially in tough situations. We have been giving him food and clothing options for a long time and he likes the choice but now for instance he gets the option of having our leg over him pinning him down during a diaper change or he can lay still. With Charles he hates the leg and will often stop struggling. With me, he likes me leg over and ask for it to be “on” him. Conversely, we are having to work on our choice of what we say when it comes to giving him options that aren’t options. We’ve been talking to him for so long without him understanding that we got in the habit of phrasing things as questions, like “do you want your diaper changed?” We need to change this because logan understands the question and understandably says “nn nn” and shakes his head (he doesn’t say “no” yet, always “nn nn” with the head shake). So we have switched to “we are going to change your diaper now and when we are done we can play again.”
We found on our trip to LA that our ability to talk to him (and him to understand) really helped him calm in stressful situations. His ability to talk was less helpful as he is crying and yelling “daddy, up, car, carseat, home” at us. I think he was really frustrated that we weren’t listening. We tried to explain that it wasn’t an option, but he kept repeating his demands.
His language is developing very quickly with him learning several words a day and popping out things from nowhere. Although we have always called his “sandbox” a “sandbox” and he knew what it was, he never said the word but the other day showed Papa and told him “sandbox.” It is pretty neat! He also knows all of his face body parts and is working on the rest (knows tummy/belly (both words), and belly button, penis, toes, feet, arms).
His pronunciation is pretty good for his age, I think. Some sounds are harder, like f’s and l’s and “r”s but he can say them all. “ella” comes out well and “owl” and the f is getting more common in “puffs” “coffee” and “off,” though he often uses the p instead, especially in a hurry. Some words, like “water” are coming out “awa” or “wawa” even though he could at least say “wa-duh.” “Open” is still a funny one because he says it with his mouth completely closed. Some strange words also sounds strangely alike, like “high chair” and “outside” have morphed into similar sounds even though he used to differentiate them more. And of course every day there are a few words he says that we can’t yet translate but we will figure them out eventually! Although a stranger may not understand him at first, it is fun to see our family adjusting to his dialect quickly and being able to quickly enjoy all that he has to say.
Movement
Logan is a proficient walker on all surfaces. He can go up and down hills and rarely falls. He is also now picking up his pace and although not quite a full run, I think he gets some air between his legs and certainly moves quickly. He has learned to go down our two stairs walking, without holding on to anything and will go down the staircase outside holding on to the wall next to it. He still mostly crawls up stairs but has occasionally taken a stair standing up (balance is harder). If he can hold on, he can walk up the stairs without a problem. Logan is a climber at heart! He has fallen in love with slides at the park, and not the dinky kiddy slides, but the 6 foot tall kid slides. He can climb up on his own, get himself seated, and push himself down the slide. He has in the last 1.5 weeks learned to climb into his high chair, climb our taller brown couch and tonight (climb our coffee tables). His increased understanding of climbing combined with his growing muscles is going to make him quite a force to reckon with.
He is a very active fellow and his muscles mean he can put up a really good fight when he wants to be doing something different than you want. This can make bedtime, diaper changes, getting into the car seat, and other activities quite a fun challenge. It also means we have to think really hard about letting him “free’ when we are out. We generally don’t even let his feet touch the ground at grocery stores or the farmers market because he will run around like a crazy person and lose his marbles if you try to reign him in. We try to give him plenty of time at the park to run around and selfishly keep him contained when we have things to accomplish.
Eating
Logan is overall a really good eater. He’s had some tummy troubles the past few weeks so his diet had slipped to more of a BRAT type diet, and then the dr prescribed that for another week, but he is showing increased interest in other foods again and I think he’ll be back to eating in no time. He’s getting more picky and I think we are going to have to make choices about how to handle that in the future.
Our best tool recently has been to switch to family dinners. He is much more interested in what we are eating (even if it is salmon or quinoa stuffed peppers) than anything in front of him, even if bagels or something very desirable. Sharing meals with him is a fun social experience and really seems to help improve his pallete and his diet.
Logan is proficient at self-feeding. He can “poke” things with his fork and eat them and he can spoon feed pretty well. For spoon feeding, he still thinks it is very entertaining and will sometimes pause to long in celebration before closing his mouth and lose the food in his bib, but overall it is pretty good. We are still sticking to more viscous substances like oatmeal and yogurt, but will try other things with moderate success. We were so sure when he was little that he was right handed because he would do everything first with his right hand, but Logan has shown a real preference for his left hand with self-feeding. Just in the last week or two the right hand is coming into play more, but he seems to prefer left. We’ll see!
Personality
Logan is a strong willed and independent fellow. He is very good at self-entertaining and will generally direct his own play. He will tell you if he wants to go outside, or in the car, or to a park, or play in the sandbox, or play the blanket game. His favorite request is to watch tv “pictures” but if we turn it on he almost instantly loses interest in it. It is interesting to see facets of his personality shine, for instance he loves cars and dogs (puppys) and we don’t particular care for either, but they are probably his new favorite thing. Despite his stranger anxiety he also recently started being very interested in “people” so maybe that will signal an ebbing of his major anxiety.
It is probably obvious since we are having another kid, but we have both enjoyed more than we could have imagined being parents to Logan these last 18 months. I have so much trouble describing the impact it has had, but we met with our doula about baby #2 yesterday and she described it wonderfully. She said it is like she was living in black and white like in Wizard of Oz and then the whole world lit up with color. It has made me happier than I thought possible and I am so honored to get to see his smiles and watch him grow and develop.
Monday, May 19, 2014
16 months
I skipped last month’s blog, so a lot has changed. Logan has been fully walking for 2 months now and he has gone from pretty unstable to very stable inside and even really good at walking on uneven and sloped ground outside (he rarely falls but he still looks a little dicey especially since he is working on running). From unable to walk in his toddler shoes to nearly running around the park. He is really enjoying how the increased mobility has opened up opportunities at home and at the park.
He also has exploded in language. From a few words, to probably more than 40 or 50. He understands way more than he says. Yesterday at the park, we found a soccer ball and I told logan to kick it and he walked over and gave it a big kick! It was adorable. He surprises me all the time, like last weekend when we went outside of the restaurant after he finished eating and he pointed to a tree and said “tree!” It is so fun to hear how excited he is to interact with his world verbally and be able to tell us what he wants. He has, just in the last few days combined some ideas like “daddy, up.” His new favorite word is “outside” since he loves to go play outside. It is fun to hear him express his interests and ask for what he wants.
His personality has continued to develop, though he has stayed very much the same kid, just amped up. He is still extremely independent and likes to do his own thing, his own way. He has developed some increased stranger danger response the last month or so and often, stands between our legs when he meets new people or goes to new places (but after a few minutes he will head off on his way and pay no mind to whether you follow). He is still the happiest kid you will ever meet, which he will tell you as his favorite word is “happy.” He often has long monologues of “happy happy happy happy happy.”
Despite his amazing understanding of language and words, he also has developed a funny quirk, where he calls Julia, Charles and I the same name, it has switched back and forth between “mommy” and “daddy” but in any one day, he tends to call us all the same thing. It is the funniest when he calls me and Julie “daddy” at the park! “Mamma” still means “food” which is how it was months ago. It is a combination of the fact that I usually feed him and his favorite baby crackers were “mum mums,” though he will clearly say “mum mum” when he sees the crackers. He is improving slightly in the last week (I wrote the most of this post two weeks ago) and will call me mommy and seems to be calling Julia “aiya.”
Logan is completely a Daddy’s boy these days. Daddy is always his favorite person and when Charles is home, he follows him everywhere. If Charles is holding him and he tries to pass him to me, usually will say “daddy” and tuck back towards Charles so I can’t get him. However, he really enjoys his time with all 3 of us. One interesting personality trait we have learned is that Logan is generally most attached to whoever he has been spending time with lately, he will quickly transition, but he tends to be sad each time there is a changing of the guard. The only one that works alright is that logan and I have a routine watching Charles leave for the gym in the morning where we watch him go out the door, then he waves to logan, goes into garage, waves again and we watch his car leave. This routine has really cut down on the morning tantrums! (Speaking of which logan went through a bad tantrum phase a few weeks ago, but it has simmered down a bit)
Logan hadn’t shown much interest in stacking before his 15 month dr appointment, but since then he has mastered all the stacking elements. He stacks blocks, his stacker toys (or Ella’s traditional stacker” and his cups (more nesting). He has continued his ability to focus amazingly and will sit and stack for long periods. He also loves the in/out game and will spend hours putting blocks/legos/anything in and out of something else. He has favorite spots for things. Blocks go in the bin and in the shopping cart and the shapes from the shape sorter go in the shape sorter and in the car. Reading is still a favorite for logan. He knows his favorite books and asks for many of them. He also knows the pages and participates along with us.
His new love the last week is the sandbox at grasslawn park (a 4 min drive from our house). The weather has been nice and he loves to go play. Sand is the ultimate in the “in/out” activity. He also loves play chips and gravel and water. He can shovel, scoop, move, and shake these for hours at a time. Probably time for us to get a water table in the back yard!
I can’t tell you how much I love this kid. Really. Charles and I are so amazed and so in love. We got to celebrate charles’ birthday dinner with Logan this year and having him there to celebrate our life events really makes it all feel like the dream is coming true. I love our family, and I can’t wait to continue to watch logan grow and change. Charles said this morning to Logan “wow you amaze me every day” and I think that about sums up our lives right now!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
14 months old and starting to walk and talk!
I am sure I sound like a broken record but it has been another amazing month of growth. Logan is changing in looks and behavior to be a little toddler instead of a baby. It is fun to see him develop his own personality. He isn’t unlike me, Charles, and Julia in his zest for life and his sense of humor. It is fun to see us all rub off on him but see that he is his own individual.
Movement
Holy smokes Logan has changed physically a lot. Early on in the month he started crab crawling everywhere (walking on hands and feet with his but in the air). He was fast at it and used it about 50% of the time. Either with that or regular cross crawling, Logan has been able to move from place to place very quickly. He loves to explore the house and loves to play in different rooms with different toys (or things we wouldn’t consider toys but he does). He can sometimes be persuaded to go where we want him to, but usually he likes to be in charge of his own destiny.
Obviously the big news of the month is WALKING! Logan is still only taking 2-10 steps at a time and not often on his own (we have to encourage him to do it). However, this wasn’t the first or only big development of the month. On valentine’s day, Julia did part one of what we dubbed “baby boot camp.” She was able to stand him up and let go and have him try to balance on his own (with Charles and I this would lead to crazy crying but he did for Julia – always trying to impress the ladies ;)). She did it all day, generally motivating him by only letting him hold her car keys if he was standing. He went from only standing for a second at a time in the morning to 30 seconds by the night. We continued to work on it over the weekend and by the next week Logan was standing of his own volition many many times throughout the day. Over the next two weeks he would more and more often pull up and then get a toy, let go and play with it. Over the same time he learned to have stand up without using furniture, getting himself in a half crouch position.
On Thursday 2/27 Julia instituted baby boot camp day #2 after Logan stood up and shuffled his feet a little bit. She quickly got him taking several steps at a time. See below. He did it over and over and was super pleased with himself. By the afternoon, he would take up to 10 or 15 steps at a time. He also learned to bend over and pick items up and stand back up (without any support) and also stand up in the middle of the room. It was pretty exhausting and overwhelming for him, and there was some intermittent melt downs although he was super happy when he was walking. On the 28th he walked as well but we pushed a little less hard so he wouldn’t burn out. Several times he would just stand up in the middle of the room. Very cute! Based on how quickly standing became commonplace, I expect that by the 15 month blog, he will be fully walking most places (we’ll see though).
He also is very good at closing doors and will often go into a room and then close the door behind himself. He can also turn on and off light switches (if we help him reach them). He knows exactly what door knobs do and tries to reach them, but can’t reach enough to turn the knob (thank god we don’t have level handles).
Reading
One of Logan's favorite activities lately is to sit and read. He will crawl up to a book and sit or stand with it as he carefully opens to a page, closes the book and then opens again to another page. Usually they aren't in order, but sometimes. He gravitates toward the books that we have read most to him over the last year. When he opens the book, he likes when we read him the text on that page. He usually smiles really big at us.
Communication
Logan has figured out many ways to communicate. Physically, he communicates by crawling where he wants to go for playing (he is always one for taking the initiative and often seems to not care whether you follow, but often will look at you like “you are coming right?”). He will crawl to his high chair and pull up to standing when he is hungry. When I get ready to go out the door, he will get his jacket if he can reach it and bring it to the door and sit there. If we get his snowsuit out, he will sit on it ready to be zipped up. He also gestures a lot more at things he wants (or wants us to do), like turn on the ceiling fan in our bedroom. When we leave the door open to our room, it used to be that the first thing he would do is go to the bathroom to play with the drawers and cupboards but now he goes into the middle of the room and gestures at the fan and yells little yells until we turn it on.
He is also really expanding his verbal language. He says the following words and seems to know the meaning and uses them consistently, “up,” “done,” “uh oh,” “on,” “off,” “duck,” “car,” and “crash” (though he says “cra—“). He also understands when we say these words but it seems like he understands so much more. If we say “put a car in zig” he will pick up the toy car and put him into the truck named Zig. He also says other words but they don’t mean what we think or it seems like he is just parrotting: “mama” – he seems to be using it more for me, but not exclusively. “dada” – usually means “hi” to one of his favorite people or that he is excited. He parrots “hi” and “arm,” “hola” and “Ella.” His favorite new sound is “skyr” but with a slobbery “s.”
Other
In general Logan is social and amazing. He is a great sleeper and although pickier, still a great eater. I stopped pumping when I got a really bad cold in mid February, but Logan has still had breast milk exclusively as his milk. He has less than 10 days probably of pure milk left before we will start mixing whole cow’s milk with the breast milk. Logan is really starting to bond strongly to Julia. Although I am glad for it, it is sad to see how much he loves her and walk away and back into my office. He shows me love to, but it is strangely and irrationally (emphasis on this part) hard knowing I’m not getting all of it. I really have no major issues with this, but it is interesting how the more he communicates and connects, the harder it is for me walk back into my office. Sometimes logan pounds on my door after I go in. I am not regretting or second guessing my decision to work, but I know (and knew) it would be hard missing out and saying “goodbye.”
I know a lot of women who are pregnant right now and I am so excited for them because although kids are so much work, it has made me unbelievably happy. Everything has changed but I would never want it to go back. Furthermore, I have changed, and although sometimes I find myself surprised by new or past interests coming and going, I like who I am and I like the life that Charles and I have built. I’m so excited for the future with Logan and hopeful that we will make a second and can’t wait to see what will happen as we complete our family.
Movement
Holy smokes Logan has changed physically a lot. Early on in the month he started crab crawling everywhere (walking on hands and feet with his but in the air). He was fast at it and used it about 50% of the time. Either with that or regular cross crawling, Logan has been able to move from place to place very quickly. He loves to explore the house and loves to play in different rooms with different toys (or things we wouldn’t consider toys but he does). He can sometimes be persuaded to go where we want him to, but usually he likes to be in charge of his own destiny.
Obviously the big news of the month is WALKING! Logan is still only taking 2-10 steps at a time and not often on his own (we have to encourage him to do it). However, this wasn’t the first or only big development of the month. On valentine’s day, Julia did part one of what we dubbed “baby boot camp.” She was able to stand him up and let go and have him try to balance on his own (with Charles and I this would lead to crazy crying but he did for Julia – always trying to impress the ladies ;)). She did it all day, generally motivating him by only letting him hold her car keys if he was standing. He went from only standing for a second at a time in the morning to 30 seconds by the night. We continued to work on it over the weekend and by the next week Logan was standing of his own volition many many times throughout the day. Over the next two weeks he would more and more often pull up and then get a toy, let go and play with it. Over the same time he learned to have stand up without using furniture, getting himself in a half crouch position.
On Thursday 2/27 Julia instituted baby boot camp day #2 after Logan stood up and shuffled his feet a little bit. She quickly got him taking several steps at a time. See below. He did it over and over and was super pleased with himself. By the afternoon, he would take up to 10 or 15 steps at a time. He also learned to bend over and pick items up and stand back up (without any support) and also stand up in the middle of the room. It was pretty exhausting and overwhelming for him, and there was some intermittent melt downs although he was super happy when he was walking. On the 28th he walked as well but we pushed a little less hard so he wouldn’t burn out. Several times he would just stand up in the middle of the room. Very cute! Based on how quickly standing became commonplace, I expect that by the 15 month blog, he will be fully walking most places (we’ll see though).
He also is very good at closing doors and will often go into a room and then close the door behind himself. He can also turn on and off light switches (if we help him reach them). He knows exactly what door knobs do and tries to reach them, but can’t reach enough to turn the knob (thank god we don’t have level handles).
Reading
One of Logan's favorite activities lately is to sit and read. He will crawl up to a book and sit or stand with it as he carefully opens to a page, closes the book and then opens again to another page. Usually they aren't in order, but sometimes. He gravitates toward the books that we have read most to him over the last year. When he opens the book, he likes when we read him the text on that page. He usually smiles really big at us.
Communication
Logan has figured out many ways to communicate. Physically, he communicates by crawling where he wants to go for playing (he is always one for taking the initiative and often seems to not care whether you follow, but often will look at you like “you are coming right?”). He will crawl to his high chair and pull up to standing when he is hungry. When I get ready to go out the door, he will get his jacket if he can reach it and bring it to the door and sit there. If we get his snowsuit out, he will sit on it ready to be zipped up. He also gestures a lot more at things he wants (or wants us to do), like turn on the ceiling fan in our bedroom. When we leave the door open to our room, it used to be that the first thing he would do is go to the bathroom to play with the drawers and cupboards but now he goes into the middle of the room and gestures at the fan and yells little yells until we turn it on.
He is also really expanding his verbal language. He says the following words and seems to know the meaning and uses them consistently, “up,” “done,” “uh oh,” “on,” “off,” “duck,” “car,” and “crash” (though he says “cra—“). He also understands when we say these words but it seems like he understands so much more. If we say “put a car in zig” he will pick up the toy car and put him into the truck named Zig. He also says other words but they don’t mean what we think or it seems like he is just parrotting: “mama” – he seems to be using it more for me, but not exclusively. “dada” – usually means “hi” to one of his favorite people or that he is excited. He parrots “hi” and “arm,” “hola” and “Ella.” His favorite new sound is “skyr” but with a slobbery “s.”
Other
In general Logan is social and amazing. He is a great sleeper and although pickier, still a great eater. I stopped pumping when I got a really bad cold in mid February, but Logan has still had breast milk exclusively as his milk. He has less than 10 days probably of pure milk left before we will start mixing whole cow’s milk with the breast milk. Logan is really starting to bond strongly to Julia. Although I am glad for it, it is sad to see how much he loves her and walk away and back into my office. He shows me love to, but it is strangely and irrationally (emphasis on this part) hard knowing I’m not getting all of it. I really have no major issues with this, but it is interesting how the more he communicates and connects, the harder it is for me walk back into my office. Sometimes logan pounds on my door after I go in. I am not regretting or second guessing my decision to work, but I know (and knew) it would be hard missing out and saying “goodbye.”
I know a lot of women who are pregnant right now and I am so excited for them because although kids are so much work, it has made me unbelievably happy. Everything has changed but I would never want it to go back. Furthermore, I have changed, and although sometimes I find myself surprised by new or past interests coming and going, I like who I am and I like the life that Charles and I have built. I’m so excited for the future with Logan and hopeful that we will make a second and can’t wait to see what will happen as we complete our family.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Logan is 13 months old!
Okay, I’ve been really behind and putting too much pressure on myself to write perfect and meaningful blogs that show everyone how wonderful logan is and how much we love him. So I’m gonna try to stop doing that and just quickly jot down some notes on him. I know you are all curious what he is up to, so I can just focus on that. (eventually I might polish up the 11 month and 1 year blogs to publish later, but moving on for now). I’m not even gonna edit it, so enjoy the typos! Here it goes!
Logan is changing daily at this point and seems so different than the tiny thing I gave birth to last winter. He has so much personality and I feel like he sees into my soul and just warms me from the inside out when he smiles at me.
Social
Logan is a very social baby. He will smile and most everyone and has great eye contact. He knows who his favorite people are (me, Charles, Julia) and greets us enthusiastically. He is still spotty on the waving but it is cute when he does it. He has developed a new behavior that I think is his version of a “hug.” He isn’t normally much of a cuddly baby (he’d rather be exploring on his own), but after a day of work when he hasn’t seen me, when I come out to play he crawls over to me and sets his head in my lap for a few seconds. He’ll then crawl away and play and then look up at me again, smile, and crawl to my lap again. It is so sweet. The longer I’ve been away, the more he repeats this cycle. It is so precious.
We’ve had a few play dates with other kids. He loves Addison (7), because she is very entertaining, but is less sure about Ella (2 weeks younger than him) because they both sorta do their own thing. They seem to enjoy having the other one there, but compete for toys and are happy to do their own things. It is cute to see them learn and conspire together, though. If one figures out something neat to do, the other will quickly follow. We hope to do these play dates every other week or so, but they are a bit of a drive, so it is a commitment. I’m hoping to also connect more to mom’s with kids of similar ages nearby so that we can socialize more frequently.
Eating
Logan still loves to eat. He has gotten a little bit pickier, and demands more variety, but overall eats well. We’ve had a few feast/famine phases where he will eat very little for a day or two and then make up for it, but overall it is pretty steady. His favorite foods this month were: Chicken and apple sausage, zucchini (a real favorite), mighty hot tasty cereal (rice/corn hot cereal thing), oatmeal, yogurt and peanut butter mixture, hummus, avocado, and pretty much anything we are eating (meatballs, lentil stew, etc.).
I am still pumping twice a day and we are rotating our breastmilk supply. We are rapidly going through it though because Logan drinks 18 ounces a day and I am making about 10.
Moving
He is fully an expert cross-crawler now and crawls very quickly. He loves to explore and use his independence. He figured out how to get to/and play on his knees a little before his 1 year birthday and shortly after figured out how to sit on his own. He is so cute the way he will go find and toy and then sit himself down (sometimes just for a second to play with it), then he will crawl again to another toy and repeat. He also loves to pull up on everything and play with anything he can reach. He shows the instincts of a climber too, which may cause problems down the road. For now, he seems to love his independence and being in control of himself. We rarely carry him much anymore because he’s happiest on his own.
He isn’t walking yet, but will walk with his walker, cruise on furniture, and hold our hands. All 3 are when he wants them and he’ll make it clear when he is done. His balance is really pretty good, so I think he is close to walking (but if it is like crawling, he could do this for quite a while before he takes the next step, literally).
He loves to go into our bathrooms and play with the cupboards and drawers. It is his favorite play area (I've never spent so much time in bathrooms!). Because we moved with him, we were sure to not put anything bad for baby down low, which means he is safe to play.
Bath time is more interesting because he will crawl around and stand up. Here is an adorable picture!
Language
He isn’t saying a lot and it isn’t clear how much he understands of what we say. He definitely knows his name and will respond when we say it (unless we say it too many times in a row and he’ll ignore us and keep playing). He knows “no” and will generally respond. A harsh “no” lately is often responded to with a giant meltdown. If we says “not for logan” and distract him with something else, things are easier. Distraction is the main discipline recommended for this age, so we’ve been doing that most. If he tries to chew on the table, we’ll say calmly, “no we don’t chew on the table” and hand him a toy he can chew on.
He says “da da” very well. It seems to mean both Charles and I. He is consistent with looking up when either of us enters the room and saying “dada.” When he is happily playing with us, he will also say “dada.” He also says “up” pretty regularly, but only sometimes when he wants to be picked up, usually just to announce that he is standing up or crawling “up” the stairs. He says “duck” really well and seems to know that it means his little wooden ducks. He seems to refuse to say “open” or “ball” even though he has said them many times before. Seems like sometimes he says “book” or “truck” or “food” but they aren’t very clear. “mama” seems reserved for “I want something and you aren’t giving it to me.”
He’s a delightful kid and we are having a blast with him!
Logan is changing daily at this point and seems so different than the tiny thing I gave birth to last winter. He has so much personality and I feel like he sees into my soul and just warms me from the inside out when he smiles at me.
Social
Logan is a very social baby. He will smile and most everyone and has great eye contact. He knows who his favorite people are (me, Charles, Julia) and greets us enthusiastically. He is still spotty on the waving but it is cute when he does it. He has developed a new behavior that I think is his version of a “hug.” He isn’t normally much of a cuddly baby (he’d rather be exploring on his own), but after a day of work when he hasn’t seen me, when I come out to play he crawls over to me and sets his head in my lap for a few seconds. He’ll then crawl away and play and then look up at me again, smile, and crawl to my lap again. It is so sweet. The longer I’ve been away, the more he repeats this cycle. It is so precious.
We’ve had a few play dates with other kids. He loves Addison (7), because she is very entertaining, but is less sure about Ella (2 weeks younger than him) because they both sorta do their own thing. They seem to enjoy having the other one there, but compete for toys and are happy to do their own things. It is cute to see them learn and conspire together, though. If one figures out something neat to do, the other will quickly follow. We hope to do these play dates every other week or so, but they are a bit of a drive, so it is a commitment. I’m hoping to also connect more to mom’s with kids of similar ages nearby so that we can socialize more frequently.
Eating
Logan still loves to eat. He has gotten a little bit pickier, and demands more variety, but overall eats well. We’ve had a few feast/famine phases where he will eat very little for a day or two and then make up for it, but overall it is pretty steady. His favorite foods this month were: Chicken and apple sausage, zucchini (a real favorite), mighty hot tasty cereal (rice/corn hot cereal thing), oatmeal, yogurt and peanut butter mixture, hummus, avocado, and pretty much anything we are eating (meatballs, lentil stew, etc.).
I am still pumping twice a day and we are rotating our breastmilk supply. We are rapidly going through it though because Logan drinks 18 ounces a day and I am making about 10.
Moving
He is fully an expert cross-crawler now and crawls very quickly. He loves to explore and use his independence. He figured out how to get to/and play on his knees a little before his 1 year birthday and shortly after figured out how to sit on his own. He is so cute the way he will go find and toy and then sit himself down (sometimes just for a second to play with it), then he will crawl again to another toy and repeat. He also loves to pull up on everything and play with anything he can reach. He shows the instincts of a climber too, which may cause problems down the road. For now, he seems to love his independence and being in control of himself. We rarely carry him much anymore because he’s happiest on his own.
He isn’t walking yet, but will walk with his walker, cruise on furniture, and hold our hands. All 3 are when he wants them and he’ll make it clear when he is done. His balance is really pretty good, so I think he is close to walking (but if it is like crawling, he could do this for quite a while before he takes the next step, literally).
He loves to go into our bathrooms and play with the cupboards and drawers. It is his favorite play area (I've never spent so much time in bathrooms!). Because we moved with him, we were sure to not put anything bad for baby down low, which means he is safe to play.
Bath time is more interesting because he will crawl around and stand up. Here is an adorable picture!
Language
He isn’t saying a lot and it isn’t clear how much he understands of what we say. He definitely knows his name and will respond when we say it (unless we say it too many times in a row and he’ll ignore us and keep playing). He knows “no” and will generally respond. A harsh “no” lately is often responded to with a giant meltdown. If we says “not for logan” and distract him with something else, things are easier. Distraction is the main discipline recommended for this age, so we’ve been doing that most. If he tries to chew on the table, we’ll say calmly, “no we don’t chew on the table” and hand him a toy he can chew on.
He says “da da” very well. It seems to mean both Charles and I. He is consistent with looking up when either of us enters the room and saying “dada.” When he is happily playing with us, he will also say “dada.” He also says “up” pretty regularly, but only sometimes when he wants to be picked up, usually just to announce that he is standing up or crawling “up” the stairs. He says “duck” really well and seems to know that it means his little wooden ducks. He seems to refuse to say “open” or “ball” even though he has said them many times before. Seems like sometimes he says “book” or “truck” or “food” but they aren’t very clear. “mama” seems reserved for “I want something and you aren’t giving it to me.”
He’s a delightful kid and we are having a blast with him!
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