Playing is serious business...

Yesterday, I put together an early Chrismakah gift for Logan, his rainforest jumperoo (pictures to come). And we put him in it. He's a bit short for it, but he has had the head control for it for a while, so we just put a telephone book underneath his feet. He studied everything and had a deep pensive expression on his face. This is something that Logan does whenever he encounters a new experience. He has to study and explore, before he moves into smiling and even giggling.

Even today, when we visited the Haslett library's "Cuddles and Storytime" for infants, he had the most serious expression out of all the babies. He was very thoughtful when he considered Mrs. Diane, the library's storyteller. She was fantastic - very animated, very expressive, and completely un-self-conscious - she was there to have a good time and get the little ones to have a good time, and to do that, you simply just can't be too goofy.

Regarding the infamous smile pictures: I'm totally serious. Jim has the pictures, not me. Stop harrasing me and start harrasing the man with them on his computer! :) But I will upload soon enough the newer ones that we have taken, though none of them capture his smile as well as the ones that Jim has.

Weekend Warrior Project...

Finally, I feel like we have a plan of attack for our yeast infection. In case you didn't know, because I was on such strong antibiotics to get rid of the mastitis that I had (a double dose in fact), Logan and I both wound up with a yeast infection (though it is distinctly possible that we had it alongside the mastitis as many of the symptoms overlap and the antibiotics only made it worse). It is a three-pronged approach, anti-fungal medication for both Logan and I, supplements to support my system along with a yeast cleanse, and dietary & lifestyle changes. Okay, I'm over-simplifying. The approach is actually far more intense than that, it includes rinsing affected areas with a vinegar and water solution after nursing, changing nursing pads after every feeding, alternating applications of the anti-fungal with a hydrocortisone ointment, and consuming large amounts of acidophilus etc. Though one thing that I can't do because the winter clouds have already over-shadowed Michigan is use the sun as a natural yeast killer. Apparently I could expose my nipples and sun dry all my bras and linens. Not happening for a variety of reasons :) But I was feeling fairly frustrated by it because it wasn't going away. At the moment, freshly home from the health food store, grocery bag full of supplements and yeast-free bread, I feel motivated to begin the Yeast Eradication Weekend project (imagine DIY's Weekend Warrior but for yeast). I know it will take longer than that to get rid of the yeast, but I'm hoping that if I bombard it full on this weekend, I can really minimize the pain that accompanies a yeast infection of the milk ducts and start to make some headway on containing it. Because what I don't want it to go on any longer than it has already.

a new technique...

So Logan has developed a new technique for eliminating gas. Most babies pump their legs, stand up and down, wiggle, do little baby crunches, etc. But Logan has decided when all that does not work, try coughing! It has proven to be quite an effective way to get rid of that stubborn gas. And goodness knows with our yeast infection, he's got his fair share percolating in his colon!

We managed to get some good pictures of him smiling, but Jim deleted them from the camera after he downloaded them, so I'm waiting for him to burn me a CD. So all email requests for more pictures should be directed at him and not me!! To increase the temptation, the specific picture that I would like to upload is of Logan smiling while sitting on the couch in his new Old Navy fleece and jeans - totally adorable! (Remember bother Jim, not me!)

Halloween

Logan and I decided that since last year there were no trick or treaters in our cul-de-sac, we decided to spend the afternoon with our friends, the Clauers. Barb, a colleague of mine from LCC, had her baby, Caleb, in July. So we bonded over pregnancy woes, labor stories, and nursing concerns. Caleb is the hot dog, Josh is a parasaurolophus (it's a dinosaur which I have no clue how it is spelled!) and Logan is the pumpkin.

side by side

Even though they have yet to meet, thought this would be the perfect opportunity to set Logan and Alex next to each other to see the family resemblance!