Post from Assistant Editor: Bonnie

Logan’s feeding time today allowed us to attend the Mommy and Me group at Kaiser for the first time.  Logan was a good boy; he did well throughout the drive there and back.  He also behaved well for the 2 hours we were in class; he slept, ate and cried just like other babies there.  He allowed mommy to listen and talk with the other mothers.  It was fun to share the good and tough experiences; it made me feel more relief and confident that Stuart and I are doing the right things taking care of Logan.  From the group today, we also learned some other activities that Logan and I can do together too, and we’ll be sure to try these soon.  Logan and I wrapped up the good outing with lunch and a nap at home afterward. 

It was a good day!

Logan told me today that he thought in this blog he was getting a bum rap (not the diaper kind).  Actually I’d have to agree, this past week he’s been a very good boy.  Sure he still gets occasionally grumpy and maybe a bit of exercise ball bouncing is required to sooth…but I think Bonnie and I might be getting better at guessing the other underlying issues.  Maybe he’s still a little hungry, or ready for a nap, or got a pressie in his diaper….or maybe he’s just getting older and past his fussies.

     When we went to Julie & Robert’s last week for a dinner get-together he was on his best behavior.  Hardly a cry was uttered.  We went to the Kaiser picnic today..same result.  A few little naps, but mostly content to sit in his carrier seat while his Mommy and Daddy ate and talked with the gathering. 

He’s a good boy he says..and I agree.

Things we did today:

• Decided not to get Camry maintenance done today, because Logan was crying too much.
• Bonnie went to Target.  Think we set a new record on Total Cost of minor items purchased.  Diapers add up.
• Watered Roses. Also watered a bush for a few minutes by spraying the water hose from about 6 feet away…then a wet Scottie came slopping out.  I forgot that is where he takes shade during hot days.  Oh well, he needed a bath.
• We tried out “Gripe Water” that is supposed to magically stop babies from chronically crying.  Don’t think it worked.
• Discussed our fears of how Logan will act during a house party we are attending tomorrow.
• Bonnie gave Logan a bath.
• Used a Voltage meter to see how much wattage/money our regular household items are sucking up…more later in Techcorner about that.
• Put together one of Logan’s playtoys.  It was made in England..I don’t think they designed it to be easy for us Americans to build.
• Bounced with Logan on exercise ball ad-nauseam…one of his worst cranky days to date.
• Wrote this blog entry.

Logan had been a pretty good boy so far.  He cries a bit, but that’s usually just before feeding time or maybe we’ve kept him up to long.  All of a sudden as soon as he turned one-month old, he had crying fits.  He wasn’t really hungry, so we tried everything else in our arsenal….rocking, white noise, bouncer, walking, exercise ball, dryer running, etc, etc.  But if he wasn’t sleeping or eating he was either fussing or crying. 

Along with this new attitude also came a change in his pooping and gaseousness.  After a few days of this Bonnie decided to call the Kaiser Advice nurse.   The nurse stated that since he was still young and it was a quick personality change we should go in later that day for an appointment.  So off we schlep to the doctor and he gives us the news that it’s probably Colic.  But no worries, he’ll probably get over it in a couple of months!  Argh…months.
The timing of his sudden upset got us thinking….why now…just when he turned one-month.  Then we realized something big.  The previous post in this Blog has a big clue.  Go look at the picture….I’ll wait.   Go on….look at the picture from the post “Logan Turns One Month old”.  You back?  Ok, figure it out?   No, nothing to do with his proximity to an open flame.
The birthday cake was mostly Ice cream which Bonnie has been enjoying each night since.  I guess Cows Milk gets passed on the kid thru breastfeeding and it’s also one of the things that can cause baby gas and a long with it, a fussy little boy.  We hoped this was indeed the cause.

So far last night and today he’s been more content, sleeping longer and hardly crying.  We even went on a big adventure to the grocery store which he slept right through.

Keeping our fingers crossed……oh, and the rest of the cake is all mine.

Future soccer/basketball/tennis/golf star, Logan Brown, turned 1 month old yesterday.  He celebrated by allowing Momma to get him a tasty ice-cream cake and then watching us eat it.  He further celebrated at midnight with a Poop and Pee during a diaper change by Daddy…he calls it the ‘Fountain Spectacular’.

A lot has happened in a month, but it feels like it has flown by.  He’s a big boy now, over 10 lbs I’m sure, and he’s starting to become more aware of his surroundings.  At times, he’s also getting a bit more cranky during the day and feeding is no longer the solution to every outburst.  I have a list of things I go through to soothe him…with the last resort being the pacifier…but that is starting to move up the list.
Logan and Dad’s special time is from 10:30pm-12:30am.  Momma has done her last feeding and gone to bed to try to get a few consecutive hours of sleep.  Logan sleeps pretty well at this stage and I start to slowly let him wake him up around 11:15pm.  It’s much more fun to wake a baby up than trying to get a fussy one to sleep.  So we have Daddy/Baby bonding and I get to give him the bottle, change him (probably twice), and put him to sleep.  After this he will sometime gives momma another full 3 hours before waking her up…..sometimes.

He had his first outting (other than Hospital) over the weekend, which was a visit to Robert & Julie’s house.  He behaved pretty well and did his best not to poop when someone was holding him.  The other aspect to visiting the Chang’s was a tennis match between Robert & myself.  Unfortunately I lost 7-5 and I think the deciding factor was my 135 unforced errors versus Robert’s 120.  Needless to say we need more practice.  For some strange reason, the loser gets a Hawaii vacation T-shirt and the winner’s wife has to go out and get everyone Korean food….so it was probably a good strategy to lose after all.

The often elusive “Blue Steel” look that Logan likes to flash was finally captured on the phone-cam.

Here’s the side by side comparison.

I’m telling ya…he’s destined for great things.

PS.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you have to check out Zoolander