A New Year's Message From Sir Logan

Happy New Year, Everybody!

Home Improvements 1

It's been a nice few days of intense family time (and eating). We also managed to get two home improvement projects done...one of which has been hanging over our heads for a year.

Project 1

The first project was replacing the chandelier in our dining room. The old light was the one we inherited with the house. It worked fine but was not at all our style. Very ol' school. A year ago, we bought a new chandelier at Ikea. And, for the past year, it's been sitting in our dining room as other projects prevailed (See Bills, Oliver and Bills, Avery).

It took us only about 45 minutes (including a quick call to TDub#1 to double-check a ground wire issue) to do the wiring. Then we opened up the glass shades (cups? I don't know what to call them) to find one had cracked. And of course...Ikea doesn't make the model anymore.

A few squirts of crazy glue later, our dining room was newly lit. We'll have to figure out what to do about that glass, but it's an OK temporary fix. Probably.

The photo is not very good, it's actually black and looks very nice when lit.

Project 2

The second project was the removal of our dated vertical blinds. I'm not sure whether to classify this as:
A. A spur-of-the-moment decision based on a sale at Bed Bath & Beyond, or
B. The culmination of six years of complaining about the blinds.

We replaced them with a double-rod with sheer curtains on the outside layer (to let in light) and tab-topped opaque curtains on the inside layer. It looks nice. However, the public will have to wait for photos, as something bizarre has happened to the rechargeable batteries on our camera and they won't...recharge.

Christmas Day in Photos

We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did, too. A photo essay of our day:

Breakfast waffles:



Logan discovers there is more than one item in his stocking!



Larry's iTunes giftcard says "Rock out, daddy!



Logan enjoying new toys from Emily, Bill and Wills.



Daddy adjusts the tricycle seat:



Ollie hangs out in his special Christmas shirt.



One of the nicest parts of our day was an early dinner with the Kirgans. J and Logan spent a short time at the table before getting up to play on Logan's Batman 4-wheeler. Logan was not as awesome at sharing as we would have liked, but this picture proves that J did get his chances at the wheel.

Disgust, Followed by Restoration of Faith

Grinchiest Christmas Eve moment:

Someone thought it would be a fun idea to tip over the recycling and trash cans on our street last night...which means, of course, the collectors didn't take them when they rolled by. Which means, of course, that our street didn't have trash or recycling pickup on the eve of the biggest trash-producing days of the year. Nice. How was that even fun?

We righted our own bins and our neighbors' and picked up the spilled items, then called the city's sanitation services to ask one of the trucks still in the area (we could hear them a few streets over) to double back. Needless to say, the request fell on deaf ears and there was a lot of repeating of how it would throw the workers off schedule and they were not required to pick up trash that had been knocked over (yes...we get it). My tax dollars at work. Thanks, city of Austin. Appreciate the effort.

Sweetest Christmas Eve moment:

I took Logan to Saks Fifth Avenue this morning to pick up some Kiehl's Silk Groom, which is the only product I've ever found that helps control the "texture" (frizz) in my hair and is worth every single penny and the trip to inappropriately snotty Saks.

Naturally, Logan decided that waiting for the couple in front of us to be helped in their pressing decision on which eye cream to purchase was an awesome time to begin a whining campaign. The couple gave us a bit of an "ick, get away from us, breeder" look and went about their business for quite some time, with Logan getting increasingly vocal. I was in a very "mom who has given up" outfit of sweats and a cardigan, because we were housecleaning today and getting ready for Christmas. And of course my hair was not at its best because I was...duh...out of Kiehl's.

Finally, our turn came, and as I dug around in my bag for my wallet, pushing aside a sippy cup and Cheerios, the salesman let down his snotty Saks facade and asked Logan if he wanted to sit up on the counter while I paid. Logan LOVES him a counter, so he sat happily while we finished our transaction. As I packed up, I joked to the salesman that I'd warned Logan there was "no whining in Saks" but he didn't get the message.

The guy smiled, leaned in, and said "There's plenty of whining in Saks. It's refreshing when it comes from an actual toddler."

Red All Over

Logan is getting a red tricycle for Hanukkah. Grandpa Philip warned us (kind of gleefully) that there were "a lot of parts" to be put together.


So with trepidation, Larry opened the box last night as we half-watched Joe Biden on Larry King (actually, Larry watched Joe Biden and I watched Larry. Equally entertaining; equal possibility of hilarious inappropriateness). As it turned out, although there were a lot of pieces, about half of them were already assembled. Which is not to say the directions were not annoyingly inefficient.


Nonetheless, Daddy managed to piece it all together in about 45 minutes except for one errant bolt, which we decided was "extra" for an "emergency." (Yes, a hardware emergency. Shut up.) It's beautiful and we're excited to unveil it to Logan. He also has a matching bike helmet, which is blue with a soccer ball on it and, inexplicably, the number "77."

Holiday Photos Episode 1

This weekend included a visit by Grammy Helen, Grandad Larry and Aunt Felicia, followed by lunch today at Grammy Carol and Fauxpa's to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Also present at lunch were Aunt Emily, Uncle Bill, Wills and honorary (heaven help her) family member Amy L. Whew!

Of course, Ollie and Logan are making out like bandits gift-wise. Subsequent posts will include reviews of Logan's faves for this season (Ollie is only recently discovering his own limbs and thus is not qualified to pick favorite toys just yet).

Oliver with Grammy Helen. That is the look of a child who knows the fun has just begun.



Logan getting a little tired of the photo-taking. And yet NOT all that tired of the gift-opening.



Oliver with Aunt Felicia in new Space Invaders jammies (Oliver, not Felicia).



Logan and Wills color Hanukkah shapes.



Felicia and Grammy Helen escaped before we were all forced to don paper hats for a group photo. Note Uncle Bill had to hold Wills and Logan in order to get them to sit still for this photo.

Let the Season Begin

Grammy Helen and Grandad in the house starting last night. Many, many photos forthcoming.

A Holiday Album Like No Other

I rarely post work-related items on our family blog but I'm making an exception for the extra-cool holiday microsite we produced this year. View it.

These kinds of projects can go several different ways. They can be a huge drag in which the people working on them feel they are being punished in some way. Happy holidays...bah humbug. Or they can be a trmendous amount of fun and a great creative outlet. This one was the latter, primarily because of the very excellent team working on it.

Time Out, Daddy

Logan tried to give Larry a time out this evening. It was VERY hard not to crack up.

Larry came out of Logan's room after putting him in jammies and Logan came out behind him. He stood in the middle of the living room and said "Daddy, time out Daddy." Larry said, "What did I do?" and Logan just instructed him again to go to "time out." He was dead serious. Logan then marched to his room and closed the gate behind him as if to show Larry what needed to happen, RIGHT NOW. Then, since Logan is now able to open the gate himself, he came back out and re-instructed Larry to go to time out. Larry did not go.

Time outs are a serious business around here. We've been employing them to great effect as instructed in 1-2-3 Magic, which so far has proven to be really good guidance on discipline. A simple count to three followed by a time out in his room (we're supposed to do one minute per year of the child's age, but we actually only do one minute) has helped us get a grip on dangerous and destructive behavior. It's amazing how quickly it has worked.

So we tried not to laugh. But I'm not sure if this is good or bad. Was Logan mocking time out? Or does he understand the importance and genuinely thought Larry deserved it for forcing him into jammies?

Making Spirits Bright

Note: This post was written on Sunday, December 14th, not the 12th as dated.

Logan and I did our first cooking project together a few weeks ago. We attempted to make little peanut butter bear treats from an awesome toddler cookbook R and J gave us. After stirring for about a minute, Logan abandoned me and I finished the project on my own. They were very tasty, basically peanut butter Rice Krispies treats. We, or rather, I, made cats rather than bears.

Despite this unsatisfying first attempt at culinary bonding, today we tried again, this time with the HPs, during what I hope will be a tradition for the next 40 years: Holiday Cookie Day(tm). Our plan was to gather our two families to make holiday cookies. After much discussion, AHamp and I decided it would be best not to produce the entire recipe in one day, but rather pre-make the dough and have cookies at different stages a la a cooking show. One batch already baked and ready to ice, one batch rolled out and ready to cut. TP predicted "Moms in the kitchen making cookies while Larry and I control the chaos."


Well, the event came off better than we could have dreamed. Logan and G thoroughly enjoyed the decorating, cutting and, obviously, eating. Everyone participated in the festivities while Ollie relaxed in his baby swing. The boys spent way more time helping than I thought they would.

We made two recipes: Spice Rollout Cookies and Vanilla Rollout Cookies, both from Bon Appetit. The spice cookies were the fave. They are pleasing to kids but are not crazy sugary, so they are tolerable for the rest of us. Recipe here.



Eat your heart out, Martha! Update: We've had some questions about who should receive "credit" for some of the specific designs. Italian flag gingerbread man: TP. Liberty Bell: Amy. Christmas tree with red outline: Larry. And mad props to AHamp for the candy cane sprinkles, which we all highly recommend. They actually taste like candy canes.

Still Sicky

We're being tested this week. Logan was much improved last night and had a good sleep with very little coughing. This morning, though, he's pretty warm and out of sorts, so we'll keep him inside again. This is the worst cold he's ever had, we're just praying nothing else capitalizes on it (bronchitis, sinus infection etc.)

Urgent Care

Winding down from an impromptu trip this evening to our pediatrician's urgent care office...not for Oliver, but for Logan. Logan has had the sniffles for a few days, but he was pretty chipper and asking to go outside, etc. So we weren't all that worried. Once Logan hit about two years old, we really started being more confident in our medical parenting and treating the kid, not the fever. Meaning that we take a lot more cues from Logan about how he's feeling rather than relying just on the thermometer.

But last night things went downhill quickly. He started to heat up and his cough turned really nasty. He woke up repeatedly during the night calling for us; Larry finally went to sleep in his room so he could console him right away. Logan woke up miserable, he was congested and lethargic today, ate very little and was just not himself. By this evening he was up to 104, even after ibuprofen, and completely limp. He just lay on my lap, and then Larry's when I had to go feed Ollie...and "just lying around" is not the Logan way. We started to worry about pneumonia, since we've been there before. Then when Larry went to change him, Logan complained about the light in his room. Well, high fever plus lethargy plus light sensitivity...Mama doesn't mess around with that equation.

Anyway, an urgent care visit and a chest X-ray later, it looks like it's just a bad cold. His chest is clear and, in fact, he made me look like a tool by asking for goldfish crackers while the doctor was examining him. "Sick? I'm not sick. I don't know why she brought me here, doc." So, probably another bad night tonight, but hoping he starts to feel back to his old self tomorrow.

Update Tuesday morning. Another bad night and Logan is at 104 this morning. Larry stayed with him all night so they were both miserable. Right now he's resting on the couch watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Just looking to keep him comfortable and hydrated today. Poor little guy.

The Stockings Were Hung

...by the chimney with thumbtacks.

Some sniffles and the need to do a LOT of laundry kept us indoors for most of this weekend. We did manage to get our stockings hung. I can give or take the tree but I do love me some stockings. From left to right: Daddy, Mommy, Logan, Ollie, little Avery, Rizzo and Cricket.



There's a lot to be said for hanging out and playing, especially when the playmates are so delicious.





It's hard to get good photos of Ollie right now because he still doesn't have much neck control. We did manage to capture him during the stocking-hanging festivities. Logan refused to wear his old Santa hat...until he saw it on Oliver. Just a little something I like to call "Momnipulation."

Clean Living

I'm dying to take credit for this, but props go to AHamp.

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MOM OF TODDLER:

Turn on the longest Thomas the Tank Engine DVD you can find.

Equip toddler with juice, binky, snack and position him as close to the TV as possible.

Make mad dash for bathroom. Leave door open.

Rip off clothes while turning on shower while simultaneously collecting rubber duckies, boats, cars, motorcycle men, balls, etc. off floor of tub leftover from last night’s bath.

Curse husband for not having cleaned out bathtub toys the night before.

Call out to toddler repeatedly, “Are you okay? Mama will be right back! Keep watching TV!”

Get in shower. Try not to look at hairy legs and armpits. Close your eyes for the duration of shower if you catch even a tiny glimpse of stretch marks.

Wash hair and soap body at same time.

Call out to toddler repeatedly, “Are you okay? Mama will be right back! Keep watching TV!”

Turn off shower, hop out, and run into TV area soaking wet.

Discover toddler has poured juice on TV.

Towel off while cleaning up juice and answering humiliating questions from toddler about unfamiliar body parts.

Calling My Cooking Friends

I have two kinds of friends: Cooking friends and non-cooking friends (I also have those same two kinds of family members). I love all equally. But today I'm calling on my cooking baking friends. You know who you are. Pretend you see a giant rolling-pin symbol flashing in the sky over Gotham. Help me!

My second attempt yesterday/today at no-knead bread was another dismal failure. Sticky dough after first rise, impossible to knead, did almost nothing on the second rise and, when baked, looked like a huge, tasteless muffin top (not in a good way). This recipe is supposedly foolproof. Am I a fool?

My ingredients were sound. It's really not that many steps. I've been baking bread for, seriously, like 15 years. Why have I twice failed to bake this loaf?

If you are one of my cooking baking friends, please make the damn bread this weekend and help me understand where I've gone wrong.

So Close

Oliver came very close to sleeping through the night last night. After going down easily after his midnight feeding, he awoke briefly at 4.30 a.m., nursed for 8 minutes and then went right back down. He woke up again at 7 a.m. Hoping for a trend...