A quick update... Thanksgiving, etc.

We went up north for Thanksgiving... Dan's side on Thursday and mine on Friday... then we came home Friday night. There's no place like home. It was great seeing everyone as usual and the food was wonderful.

On Sunday, I was giving the boys a bath together and Logan said, "poopie", so I took him out and put him on the potty. After about 10 seconds and some toots, he said "All done." So I put him back in the tub and let him play some more. He then said "poopie" again so I put him on the toilet again. And again, he farted and said "all done" after just 10 seconds or so. So I put him back in the tub and finished with Gage ASAP. Sure enough, Logan pooped just after I got Gage out of the tub. Two little terds floating in the water. So I emptied it all out and showered Logan instead. Little stinker. :)

Gage is edging closer and closer to crawling. He spends a lot of time on all fours but can't quite figure out how to motor. There's no doubt that it's just around the corner.

I keep hoping that someday soon, Gage will sleep through the night. It's just not happening which is starting to wear on me. I get up usually twice a night. I am looking forward to the day when Gage is a year old and can handle just solids as his main source of nourishment. He's 8 months old so I only have 4 months left. Chin up.

Logan is still my perfect little angel. I hope it never ends. He's been so good and communicative. He requires a lot of attention but the way he goes about asking for it is easy to manage. He gives hugs and kisses and follows me every where, babbling about his day... It is impossible to do anything requiring concentration until the boys are to bed. Ahhh... Motherhood.

I do have one complaint and that's how difficult it has become to take Logan out to eat. I know we need to keep taking him out so he can learn how to behave. I think we need to stick to typical family restaurants and not the fancy ones.

Gage has had some pretty dry skin for quite a while now. I am starting to really watch this and see if I can't get it under control. He'll have to go back to the Dr. soon for his flu shot follow-up. At that time, I'll visit with the Dr about it and see her thoughts. One of his cheeks is really dry which may be caused by his drool and sleeping in the wet drool puddle all night.

Together

Today was a REALLY rough day at work so it's awfully nice to be home with the family.

Logan's whining ways are nearly a thing of the past. For the last week or so, he has been able to control his frustrations pretty well as it's becoming apparent to him that whining over little things is not acceptable, especially when a few words can explain feelings and wants much better. I sure am hoping he keeps up the great work.

When I picked the boys up from daycare today, I saw Logan's turkey card he made. I set it down in a place where I wouldn't forget it and proceeded to get Gage ready for the ride home. By the time I turned around, Logan had picked all his feathers off the turkey card with no regret. Funny. He's been playing with those feathers nearly constantly now. Dan noticed all the feathers laying around and said in subtle frustration, "Man. How many feathers are there?" Logan responded, "Un, to, fee, fy, un, to, fee..." It was hilarious. I guess we know the time at day care is paying off

The boys have been playing well together as usual. The living room is full of all the toys Logan drags out. I don't help much either by making so many available. Gage moves all over the place, rolling and edging forward. He's growing up so fast. Logan continues to be the perfect big brother.

Today was Ruth's funeral. I had intended on going until 11 AM rolled around. At that time, it was obvious that it wasn't going to happen with all the issues at work. I feel terrible for not attending.

Josh, our nephew, had an emergency appendectomy today. While they were removing it, it ruptured. Thank goodness he had the procedure when he did. By the sounds of it, his appendix was in an odd place to start with. We wish Josh a fast and complete recovery.

Nothing too new but will post any way...

Gage is starting to get up on all fours for a little while... He is much more interested in crawling than sitting up. No teeth yet either.

I was gone most of the evening and left all the boys alone. I first reffed my first hockey game ever and then did Tae Kwon Do. Busy day, but fun. It's amazing how nice it was to come home, to hear Logan as I walked in the door and see Gage's big smile when he saw my face.... bliss.

Logan helped me do the laundry today as usual. It's his favorite task. He takes the clothes out of th dryer and pushes the basket to our bedroom for emptying... then pushes it back into the laundry room. Very helpful.

A post from Daddy...

Logan went pee-pee in the big potty again at 8:32 p.m. on Monday the 20th of Nov. . Heather wanted me to put this in this blog. I hope I don't have to enter a post every time he goes.... this could get repetitious. Anyways I (Dan) shaved my beard off after deer hunting and all I get now is crying from Gage, and "beard all gone" from Logan. Probably won't hear the end of it from those two or Heather "great the pricklies are back". Well that's all for now, until we write again, so long, fair well, and good day.

I must be insane... I'm hooked

I just received some pictures from our friends Laura and Eric. The weekend before Halloween, we went out for pumpkins. Their son Brenden was also a preemie and was born at 23 weeks. It was a lot of fun to see these two playing together. I've included lots of these pictures.

Have to write again....

Logan tried the potty thing again tonight. After a few minutes of trying with no success, I took him off the potty and went in search of a diaper. To his surprise, and mine, he peed on the floor outside the bathroom door. This potty thing will take a long time, I can tell. I've dug my feet in for the long haul. :)

On a sad note, Amy and I went to visit a friend 3 days ago in Long Prairie that we used to play softball with. She had been battling cancer for nearly 2 years and had taken a turn for the worse. On our visit, she slept the whole time so we didn't get to talk with her. I received word that she passed away this morning. She was 68 but certainly never acted like it.

In brief...

Today, Logan is 2 1/2 and Gage is almost 8 months old. I have time to type now because both boys are down for their naps.

Gage is the most delightful baby on the face of the planet. He is always soooo happy and easy to please, and seldom ever cries.... and if he does, he is easily soothed. At this time, he is starting to pull himself forward to get things he wants. As for sitting, he can sit up but it isn't his favorite way to be. He prefers to be on his belly so he can move around to play with different toys. Right now, he is eating lots of solids. For lunch, he had an entire green bean container as well as half a container of bananas and applesauce. Gage goes down for naps and bed like a champ. I put him to sleep in his crib while he's awake but tired and he falls asleep on his own. I really couldn't ask for more than that. His favorite toys right now are the soft plastic books and Logan's tab blanket. Gage enjoys time in his exersaucer that Amy gave us. He gets really excited and jumps up and down in it. I think he likes the perspective from up there.

Logan is the typical 2 year old. Very very energetic. He wears everyone out within minutes. However, he too is a perfect little boy who is very manageable. For discipline, Logan responds best to timeouts as well as rewards. For example, today Logan got his hair cut. And he knew if he was a good boy, he'd get a sucker. He certainly deserved the sucker. We've been working on potty training these days. He currently has peed in the potty two times. Yesterday was the second time. I can't believe how exciting it is when he does go. A few days ago, Logan was sitting on the potty. I turned my back on him for just a minute and I heard him saying, over and over again, "Oh, Oh." He had pooped on the floor, 2 inches from the toilet. Even that was exciting. Recently, Logan started jumping while holding one of my fingers, and he now can go up and down a sinlge step without hanging onto anything. He is still quite the klutz but he's coming around. His eyes are a little crossed still but not bad. Last night, I was looking at a few of his pictures from his first year and was shocked at how crossed his eyes were. Logan will see the opthalmologist again December 8th. I really don't want him to go through surgery again.

One of the most enjoyable times in the house are when the boys play together. Logan can sure get Gage laughing hard. Recently, Gage was cracking up because Logan would put a toy on his head and let it fall off. This went on for about 10 minutes, and none of us tired of it.

Logan does PT in St. Cloud every Tuesday. He works with Julie on his balance and strength. Some of the things she does with him are the following: jumping on a little trampoline that has a handle for him to hang on to, walking up and down stairs trying to alternate his feet on each step, riding a trike, squatting to standing... and more.

Gage was being seen regarding his head shape (plagiocephaly). After about 6 weeks of cap treatment, Gage's head was nearly normal... normal enough for me. So we have since kept him out of it. He didn't mind it much but I did. Also, it's nice not having to go all the way to Gelette in Minnetonka bi-weekly like we were.

Dan has been hunting and has spent the last 3 weeks searching for that trophy buck. I do hope he gets one today as it is the very last day of the season. He says if he doesn't, he'll be taking up muzzle loading, which will then give him a few more weeks of hunting. Before deer season, he was pheasent hunting, and before pheasent season, he was grouse hunting. Now after deer season is over, he'll still be pheasent hunting.

For me, I am involved in Tae Kwon Do. I've been at it since May and have totally fallen in love with the workouts and the people. I needed the exercise badly after 3 months of bedrest with Gage and nothing else had worked in the past. But this is great. Right now, I am nursing a chipped 5th metacarpal bone (that was caused by my bad block of a right round house kick). If it isn't healed in 2 1/2 more weeks, then I'll have to have the chip removed... which I really don't want to have happen. Well, I am currently a Yellow belt and will hopefully get my Green belt next month.

My First Blog... It's been long awaited I think

I am terrible at keeping baby books so I will try my best to keep my kids' lives remembered by logging things here. Hopefully this way, when someone asks how old Gage was when he got his first tooth, I just might be able to go back to look and see. Besides, I think it's about time I enter the blogging world.