Kicked Our Colds

Logan and I are both 100% recovered - yeay! I think we both just had colds. Mine was the worst on Thursday (the day after I last posted). It was in my head, eyes, ears, throat, and chest. I was glad Logan had gone to his babysitter's that morning. For the past eight months 4 hrs, two days a week has been perfect for the both of us. 8 hrs a week is enough time for Logan to play with other kids and toys, and enough time for me to do something on my own.

November 12th, however, I couldn't even drag myself to the shower. I recalled the day in September when I'd had to take Logan to his sitter's in the afternoon rather than the morning (because I'd had an appt.) and he'd napped perfectly. So I called Babysitter and asked if I could wait to pick him up until 4:30 and she said that'd be no problem.

Logan did excellent his first full day there! He napped great, ate great, played great - and still wasn't ready to leave when I picked him up! Usually if I wave and act like I'm leaving he'll come with me, but that day he didn't - he just waved back, haha! So it's nice to know I have that option for the future if I ever need a full day again (which I probably will when I get pregnant with baby #2).

Thankfully, Logan was back to his easier self that evening and has been since (which was good since Joe met his friends at a sportsbar after work to watch the Bears game and I went to bed at 8 again, although then I woke up at 11 and couldn't go back to sleep until 1 because I felt miserable). That day was also Veteran's Day and my dad's birthday.

On Friday I was still sick so we didn't do anything except that I gave Logan his first bath all by myself! Yes, that's right, he turns 19 months old on Wednesday and I've never had the guts to do it alone! Partly because his first two months he hated it, as well as when he was 13 to 17 months. But for the past almost two months it's been going well again, which means hopefully I can do it many more times in the future!

I was sad to have to cancel "stay at home mom day" with Brooke that week due to being sick, but we are getting together today. I also was bummed not to be able to go to Riley's first birthday party on Saturday, but Joe took Logan and had fun there, as always. (She's my friend Lisa's youngest daughter, her other daughter Lexi will be three in January.) It made my day to read an e-mail from Lisa afterwards, saying that Logan did amazing and was very well-behaved. Apparently, he really liked one of their toys (of course it contained balls) so we are going to get him the Playskool Explore 'N Grow Busy Ball Popper for Christmas!On Sunday I was going to try to return to the land of the living - we had planned to get together with Matt, Stacy, and Jaxson to see The Children's Museum for the first time, but they are waiting for the mercury-free H1N1 vaccine, too (out the day after TG), and thought the museum might be H1N1-city. Stacy thought Jax might be sick already, so instead just she and I got together and went shopping and had a great time. (As a sidenote, why is it that when Joe watches Logan, Logan is always wearing the same clothes in the evening as the night before? :p)

I'm finally almost finished decorating our family room so then all that will be left of our main floor is the office. I'm not going to succeed with my new year's resolution of completing our main floor by the end of the year, though. Oh well, at least the house looks a lot better than it did at the beginning of 2009!

This is not cool: I have been missing my wedding ring for over a week. The day we were leaving for Chicago I couldn't find it but I assumed when we got home and I had more time to look I would find it. After all, I never take it off in public so it HAS to be in our house. Also, I was 20 lbs thinner when Joe bought it for me 7 years ago so it definitely can't fall off. I had it on Thurs. the 5th but not Fri. the 6th. It's one thing to lose my phone charger and Logan's diaper bag (the other two things I've mentioned on this blog before that I've lost the past year) but my wedding ring?!?! I will be really sad if it doesn't turn up ASAP.

I keep forgetting to mention that during Logan's 17th month he learned how to lock doors! He's been able to reach door knobs and turn them for several months but hasn't actually mastered opening them yet (thank goodness - then we'll need to bring out the safety knobs). But one day when Joe was in our backyard, Logan was watching him from the sliding glass door. I was doing something else until I heard Joe knocking on the door and pretending to look mad. Logan was laughing - he had locked Daddy out! Then a few days later he did it again when Joe ran outside to get Cosmo who was barking. Logan totally knew what he was doing and found it very humorous. I was glad to be reminded to not shut the door behind me, because sometimes I run outside to get Cosmo as well, and being locked out wouldn't be good on a day when I'm home by myself! (Although I guess we have our security system that could let me in on the other side of my house, but still--the little stinker!)

I hope we hear results about Cosmo today. Every time Logan notices Cosmo's incision w/ stitches his face gets concerned and he says, "Owie." (He even got down on his hands and knees to look under Cosmo over the weekend, LOL.)

I just don't think it could possibly be stage 3 or 4. . .my prediction is stage 2. Cosmo went off his pain meds on Friday and has been full of energy, happy, and shows no sign of anything wrong with him.

I got a taste of what it would be like without him last Wednesday when he was at the vet's all day and it was sad. I thought with Bella and Logan it wouldn't be so obvious that Cosmo was gone for 11 hrs, but it was amazing to see what a role he plays in our family. Bella acted super different (I never thought she was dependent on him, but Bella - usually my stronger, more confident, and secure dog suddenly acted very weak and like a part of her was missing! She was glued to my side all day - as in, not a second of space)! Logan, meanwhile, was all over her! Since he usually plays with Cosmo and kisses Cosmo all day, he directed all of that energy toward Bella, but she's never going to be best buds with Logan like Cosmo is :(

On a brighter subject. . .a cute thing that Logan started doing around 17.5 months old was when he's looking for something he puts his hands up and out as if to say "where?" He also does this when I tell him he can have "one more piece of food" (as in "all gone").

He's been making appropriate noises when playing with toys and household items! For example, he picked up my blow dryer the other day and pretended to blow dry his hair as he was saying "brrrrruuuummmm!"

A not so cute thing is that over the past couple of weeks he has been putting things around his neck. This sets off major panic mode in me - because it's always things that could strangle him if I wasn't watching and I've heard too many stories of toddlers accidentally strangling themselves. I really hope he understands soon that this is a big no-no.

So, um, how long does the whole picky food phase last? Logan won't eat anything I offer him - even his favorite now (macaroni & cheese)!!!! He only wants what he decides at the time, but typically it's the same thing all day long! For example, he'll ask for a piece of bread which is fine except that it's not healthy to eat only bread and nothing else the rest of the day! Same thing with fruit - some day's he'll want a banana for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and nothing else. Constipation anyone? :p

Since I only allow him to eat one of the same food a day, he's hardly had any food the past week. I never thought this was going to happen - Logan has loved ALL food for 18 months (as you can tell by looking at him, haha). We never had any problems getting him to eat his first cereal or veggies or fruits like is common. The closest thing has been meat, but sometimes he'll eat it if it's mixed with other things. These days he's not even eating Cheerios (another favorite)! But Stacy said that her pediatrician said now our boys don't need as much as they always have before, so I'm not worried he'll starve. . .the problem is it is exhausting trying to find something we can both agree on!

I googled this issue and was relieved to find out I am not alone. It is very typical for mothers of this age group to exhaust themselves. Also, boys are statistically more picky than girls. According to The Cookbook For Finicky Toddlers, "Jumping up and down like a jack-in-the-box is counterproductive. Why not let your children listen to their own appetite? Parents just need simple ideas that are not intimidating. A child served a variety of foods tends to be a better eater."

I've blogged before about how I am not a cook. Unfortunately, this is causing me problems now with Logan because I admit I've stuck to the easy stuff the past several months since he's never been picky before. But now he's bored. If I start introducing new meals to him I think he will be more excited to try them and probably like them. So I am looking for a toddler cookbook, please let me know if anyone has any suggestions. I saw that the top two are: Organic Baby & Toddler Cookbook by Lizzie Vann and Daphne Razazan, and The Toddler Cookbook by Annabel Karmel.One day I saw Logan throwing little brown pieces and saying, "uck! uck!" I ran over to him and saw that he'd found dog poop! So far we've never had any episodes of him throwing or smearing his own poop which I've heard is common, lol.

Unfortunately, since he's been back from the grandparents' the past week he has not gone poop in his toilet which means he hasn't been using it all (he started potty training himself on his own at 16.5 months old and went #2 in his toddler toilet every day the month of October). (Although he did pick up the plunger on Sat. and began plunging his toilet which was hilarious.) I knew the whole "potty-training on his own" thing was too good to be true. I guess I'll be asking for a book for Christmas to learn how to truly teach him. Does anyone have any book recommendations for that, too? I know Cascia over at Healthy Moms has written an E-Book called Healthy Moms Guide To Potty-Training that I plan to check out!