Logan is 20 months old. Sometimes he hugs me around the neck and says “I love you.” He really says “I love you!” Spontaneously, without me saying it first. Is that amazing, or is it just me?

Last week we went to the store and got a potty. He was so excited about it that after I put it in the bathroom, he picked it up and carried it all over the house. He wanted it on the bed in his room and then he sat on it while we read stories. The next morning he got up and peed in it! He did it again the next day too. But I think the novelty has worn off.

Hank

Last week our dog, Hank, apparently had a stroke. I heard him yelp and went outside to see what was wrong. Within ten minutes Joe and Grant got home from school, put him in the car and we raced him to the vet. They tried to resuscitate him but he couldn’t be saved. We’ve decided there are things to be glad about. We’re glad it was quick and painless for Hank, and we’re glad that we were with him at the end and did everything we could for him. Hank was part of our family for almost eight years and he will be missed. He was, however, a grouchy old man who was known to growl at small children, and since we have a small child now, it might have just worked out for the best.

Curtains

We moved when Logan was six weeks old. By the time the moving truck delivered our things to the new house he was ten weeks old. I’m still putting things away when I get a spare minute, but as soon as enough boxes were unpacked that I could move around without climbing over things, I put up some very cute curtains in Logan’s room. His changing table is right in front of the window and he noticed the new curtains right away. They have crazy-looking, colorful animals all over them, like pink snakes, green monkeys and blue horse-like things. At first Logan stared at them while I changed his diaper. Then he started to smile at them. Pretty soon he was talking to them in his own language.
It was fascinating to watch him learn to use his hands. He would bat at things, or reach for them but miss. As his depth perception improved, he slowly learned to close his fingers around things. That’s when the grabbing phase started. He grabs, or tries to grab, everything, just because it looks so interesting. My phone, the remote control, whatever I’m eating, my hair, sunglasses, and all the toys I surround him with. Of course he grabs his curtains too, and right after learning to grab things he started putting them in his mouth. That’s when I started to think I should put everything he owns in the washer, because it’s all made in China.
Following the curtain-eating phase, he started pulling the curtains over his face and just lying there like that, with his face covered while I changed his diaper. When I tried to play peek-a-boo with him, he didn’t seem to get it. For some reason he just enjoyed having his face covered by the curtains.

Awestruck

Whenever Logan goes to sleep I have to stare at him for a few minutes before I put him down--his wide, round little face, his perfect, beautiful lips that he’s still moving like he’s sucking on something, even though he isn’t, his hair that’s just starting to come in, his long black eyelashes and the little nose that seems to stick straight out. Even though I do this several times a day, I never stop being amazed at how beautiful he is. No matter how much I have to do, it all goes right out of my mind as I stare at him for a few awestruck moments.

A Drink

Today I was holding Logan in one arm and drinking a glass of water with my other hand. Logan reached for the glass because that’s what he does. He reaches for everything that looks interesting, and everything I’m holding is interesting. I let him touch my glass, so he got hold of it with both hands and tried to drink out of it. He puts everything in his mouth, but he really looked like he wanted some water. I helped him and he did a pretty good job of sucking some water out of the glass, just like a big boy. And then he wanted another drink so I let him have some more, but after that he remembered how ready he was for a nap and went back to fussing like he was before he got distracted by my glass of water.

Phases

Logan is almost 6 months old and has already gone through a number of “phases.” There was the one when he blew raspberries all day long, sometimes even when he was asleep. It started off as the tongue out variety, “Thbbbbbb!” Then it changed to “Bbbbbbbb!” with his tongue in and his lips vibrating against each other. That one he did for a whole week and then suddenly stopped. He replaced it with “Pppppt!” But he didn’t do that one all the time, just when he had a lot of drool hanging from his lips. The first time he had baby food, which was just two weeks ago, he said “Ppppppt!” every time the spoon of rice cereal touched his mouth. I really enjoyed the raspberry phase. I found it highly entertaining and was sorry to see it end. The toe sucking phase is lasting longer though. It’s been going on for over a month. Sometimes he sucks on his toe while wearing a sock. Sometimes he pulls the sock off and sucks on it. Other times he pulls the sock off and sucks on his bare toe. Lately he has been sucking on the big toe of his left foot whenever I change his diaper, which makes the job slightly difficult.
I want to record these phases because by the time Logan is six years old I will have forgotten most of them, and so will he.

Pppppp!

I’m writing this with one hand, and Logan is on my lap reaching for the keyboard and smacking at my arm. I’d forgotten how hard it is to get anything done with a baby. I remember it being overwhelming, and I remember having dinner at 11:00 PM because that’s when I got around to it. But I thought, “I’m older and smarter now and I can do it better this time.” Ha! Yesterday I didn’t take a shower because it seemed less important than all the other things I needed to do. Other things I’ve stopped doing: emailing, shaving my legs, wearing makeup.I love having a baby though. As soon as I had Logan I decided I want another baby in a couple of years. But don’t tell my husband I said that. Having a baby would be completely perfect if I had a nanny and a housekeeper. A chef would be good too. Even if I don’t have any of those things, when I look at Logan I can’t help smiling. One of my favorite things is hearing him sigh in his sleep. And right now he’s spitting, making a sound like: Pppppp! I like that sound too.