He's Left The Newborn Stage

This was originally written on Monday, July 28, 2008:

I heard the weather guy say that with the humidity we had a 105 degree temperature here today--ick!

Anyway. . .looks like Joe & I are going to physical therapy together! He had his back appt. this morning and the doctor couldn't find anything wrong. They did x-rays, tests, asked questions, and felt all of the areas of Joe's back--but apparently back pain is the hardest problem to diagnose because it's the most complicated part of the body and there doesn't necessarily need to be something noticeable to cause pain. Considering Joe's had this off & on for twelve years, who knows what first caused it. Everything is in align, so going to a chiropractor probably won't help. The doctor did say, though, that Joe's spine doesn't move as easily as most people's, so it could just be the way he moves when using his back. Just like with my wrist, the doctor was confident physical therapy would improve things. Joe's skeptical, but I guess it's worth a try.

Before they did the x-ray they asked him if he was pregnant, haha. They asked me that, too, on Friday and I was like, "I hope not!" The nurse said "Yeah, that'd make for a very busy next year!"

Since I last posted on Saturday, Joe and I went to see The Dark Knight on Sunday. I was really impressed with Heath Ledger's acting. It's not my usual kind of movie, but I could still appreciate & enjoy it.

Heather & Nick watched Logan during Joe & my "date" and fortunately Logan did good for his first time with someone babysitting him! :-) (If you don't count a couple of times by my mom & Joe's mom.) He slept the majority of the time, and then woke up during the last half-hour. Heather experienced Logan's explosive diaper, but thankfully didn't get any on her. She changed it and his outfit, and then fed him breastmilk in a bottle.

Speaking of the diaper-situation. . .we may have found a solution, thanks to Sara T (who is moving to CA next week). She recommended using a size bigger. I never would have thought to do that because I thought leaks would be more common that way, but I've tested quite a few over this past week and there have been no leaks when using the bigger size!!! We'll see if it continues. At least I've been hearing that, as far as poop, the stools get less messy the older babies get, so hopefully it won't drain out much longer. . .

Lisa & her husband & daughter had a going away party for Sara T & her husband & son on Saturday. Besides Logan, there were three other babies there and I was in awe of his reaction to them! The only other time he's been around another child was his playdate with Jaxson, but Logan slept the whole time--plus, that was a whole month ago. This time he was wide awake and totally interested in the other kids! I'd never seen something hold his attention for so long. He followed them as they moved around on the floor and he seriously acted like he wanted to jump off my lap and join them! I couldn't believe that he seemed to understand that they were his age-group and that they were playing. He watched them in a way I'd never seen him look at anything before. He was very animated, bouncing around on my lap and making sounds. I was happy to see him wanting to be social. It was fun to think that in a short time he will be able to get down on the floor and play with others. Sometimes I get sad when I notice how incredibly fast he is changing and growing up (I don't feel ready yet to leave behind the baby stage! I need more time to treasure this precious time), but then when I see his intelligence and everything about him developing, I am far from sad! It is the best feeling in the world to see his personality coming in and his discoveries. . .like his hands! He is totally infatuated with his hands right now! He will just stare at them in front of his face for the longest time, moving them around, clasping them together, touching his fingers, etc. I'm used to seeing people change physically--but not intellectually! It's awesome!

And, of course, the constant smiling and laughing. Lately he's been trying to communicate, like, he'll make a noise and then I'll make one back and then he'll make one again in response, etc. :-)

He also is moving more & more. I'll leave the room and come back and he's completely off his play gym mat! It used to be he was always in the exact same place from when I put him in his crib to when I picked him up--but now he scoots until he can't scoot any farther with his head pressed up against the top! Silly guy.

So far he seems independent so I hope that continues. He's perfectly fine playing by himself under his gym or laying in his crib, pack n play, or carseat just looking around. He still has his times like I mentioned a month or so ago about how he likes to be able to see me, but at night he's always cared less so I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I know there comes a time when children are more aware of their parents "leaving them" and then it can be a struggle. I dread the day I leave him for the first time and he cries for me.

Back to the party. . .

The other babies had fun in the kiddie pool (Logan doesn't have swim trunks yet or waterproof diapers. . .we'll just wait until next year when he can enjoy it). Meanwhile, us adults chatted. Logan slept most of the time (Lisa let me use her nursery which made me decide that I'm getting something to put over Logan's blinds because her nursery was super dark because of this and I think Logan would have slept forever had I not gone in to get him an hr before we left. Lately he's been wanting up for good at 6 am and that's a bit early for mommy, haha. But I think it's because his room is the brightest in our house in the mornings. I can't complain too much, though, because he's still sleeping 8 hrs straight thru the night!) It was nice to have a comfortable place to nurse and change Logan's diaper.

Oh, I forgot to mention a week after we bought the play gym I went to the bathroom one day and when I returned to Logan, it had fallen on him! I wanted to cry! :-( Even though he acted as if he was unaware of it being out of the ordinary (he even laughed when I picked it up) it was my first taste of how fast scary things can happen! Thankfully it's made out of the most light-weight material possible so that's why it didn't phase him or hurt him.

In other news, my upper thighs finally don't hurt from being pulled up & apart for 4 hours while I pushed on April 18th, haha! Whenever I moved my thighs I had been reminded of my labor pretty much up until his third-month birthday, but now that's back to normal.

On Friday night Joe & I went out to eat to China Buffet. I hadn't been there since my last week or two of pregnancy when I was miserable, and I'd only been two other times since it opened which were during my all-day sickness phase, so it was nice to go for the first time and feel normal!

Not much else to report except that our neighbors hate us. Not the next door people, but those behind us. Okay "hate" might be a little strong, but apparently we ticked them off.

A man came over tonight to ask if we could bring in our dogs as he "can't get anything done outside because they bark" at him. Joe was totally unfazed by this, but it upset me. Probably because it has always been important for me not to have the stereotypical yappy little dog. Up until a year ago, they rarely barked and I thought we were good forever since they were two years old at the time. But then I noticed Cosmo started turning psycho when he saw other dogs or people nearby. This was all around the time of our move and my first trimester, so I bought a sonic (w/ shock) collar for them (he'd influenced Bella to join in) and pretty soon they were back to their old quieter selves.

However, then we got the fence in December and they had freedom for the first time ever--so the barking started up again. But, we never let them out before 8 am and never after 10 pm. And, when they did start barking, I'd immediately call them in and if they didn't obey I'd go out there and get them. Sometimes this meant in my pajamas, other times in the snow and ice when I was in my second trimester, other times getting my nice clothes all muddy from their feet--but it was important to me to not annoy our neighbors, as ironically the man who came over has a dog that last fall was left outside ON A LEASH for several hours and would cry and bother the heck out of me while I was trying to nap during my sickness.

There are several other dogs in our neighborhood that are far worse than mine (I'll hear straight barking for 15 minutes)--mine are outside for an average of 5 minutes at a time, especially not any longer now that it's so hot.

Once again, my dogs did improve during the spring. . .but then Logan was born and I admit we've slacked, as it is impossible for me to bring them in immediately nowdays since I have to put Logan first--his diaper, feeding, etc. We still make them come in when they're barking, but most of the time they've already barked for a few minutes before they're stopped. They do a lot better during the day with me, maybe because there aren't as many people around, but it's true in the evenings they freak out when our neighbors are outside. I didn't realize it was to the point of someone coming over here and saying something, though. Even worse, when Joe went out to get them, the guy next door to the one who came over applauded! I didn't think that was necessary, it actually made me want to cry until I realized that we're doing the best we can and they're being pretty sensitive if they can't take barking for, at most, five minutes. As of tonight we've returned to using the collar, but they're still going to bark at some point out there--so if our neighbors can't tolerate it then I guess they'll have to move.