See Spot Go!

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Logan's birthday party was Sunday, and we were very happy with how it turned out. We called it for 10am, keeping in mind afternoon naptimes for all the little ones. It had a sort of beach theme as the invitation was a pic of Logan on a boogie board. We had a few decorations and hanging fish. The fruit bowl had a pineapple top in the middle with little drink umbrellas stuck all around by my 9 year old niece who had a blast doing it. We served bagels and fixin's, blintz souffle, french toast casserole, green chili and cheese egg casserole, fresh fruit and cake. The only appetizers were a sort of kid buffet with Goldfish crackers, Danimals yogurts and string cheese. I made a punch of pineapple juice, orange juice, ginger ale with frozen strawberries and pineapple as ice cubes. Everything was delicious! The casseroles were made by the grandmas and a girlfriend, so I didn't even have to worry about those!

Logan napped through the first hour of his party, but I woke him at 11am so he could enjoy. My mom stuffed him to the gills, then stuffed him some more. That kid can eat, and my friend's french toast casserole was a big hit with him and the rest of the guests. He played for a few minutes then we stripped him down and served the cake. It was a beach scene with water, sand, a beach lounger, surf boards, beach balls, and gummi fishes. It turned out really cute and was fun to put together. Unlike his big brother at the same age, Logan dug in with gusto. He was covered head to toe with blue frosting. He had so much fun with his cake. Just when I thought he had fallen into a nice food coma and tried to take his plate, he stuffed another handful of cake into his mouth, and one in his ear. Fillip said he looked like Mel Gibson at the end of Braveheart when we took him out of the high chair.

Shortly after serving cake the guests started leaving as kids needed naps. We had about 45 adults and 20 kids and it was really a fun group. My MIL's bedrooms, filled with toys anyway, looked like Hurricane Kid had hit as instead of toys being neatly stowed they were everywhere! The front bedroom was a sea of toys with little heads bobbing around in there. I just love to see that and all the kids get along really well.

After cake he played for awhile and we went to open presents. He was so exhausted that it just seemed mean to try and keep him awake for gifts he didn't care about. He went down for his afternoon nap and Hayden had a good time opening Logan's presents. Well, at least the first couple until we opened a toy. Then Hayden just played with that. Logan got beautiful clothes, some fun toys and even Hayden got some presents. As party favors, each kid got a plastic bucket and shovel with their name on it in puffy paint. I got the buckets at a dollar store and wrote the names, and was so pleased with how they turned out!

When Logan woke from his nap he was pretty warm and fussy. His fever was about 102.5 and in a few minutes he threw up. It wasn't bad and only once so we figure he just ate waaay too much. Thank you Grandma Roz! ;) Poor little guy just wasn't himself and likely overwhelmed by the day. I think he was grateful when bedtime rolled around as he didn't make a peep before going to sleep.

ONE YEAR CHECK UP
Yesterday Logan had his one year checkup. His stats were good-
weight- 20 lbs, 4 oz (including his toy phone) 10th percentile
length- 29 inches 25th percentile
head- 17 1/4 inches

His growth curve has been consistent so no worries about him being a tiny little guy. When I undressed him, I noticed a spotty rash over his entire body. Since my girlfriend mentioned her daughter had a heat rash from the party, I mentioned this to the ped. He said that it wasn't a heat rash since that usually doesn't appear over the entire body. Given the couple days of fever, it was roseola. Fantastic. I will be calling him Spot for the next couple days. The doc also asked about the other little girl's rash and said that one sounds like Fifth Disease because of the red cheeks (it turns out it's not, just another virus). Neither of these illnesses are harmful, but they are both contagious. Those kiddos may have taken home more than a personalized plastic bucket from the party! Logan is meeting all the milestones for his age and hammed it up a bit for Dr. J. He walked a bit, gave Dr. J high five, and waved. The only concern I had was that he doesn't want to drink much. He recommended flavoring the milk a bit, as that tiny bit of sugar is not harmful, and the benefits of having his milk are so important. He also suggested that the very occasional nursing is interfering with Logan wanting to drink from a cup. Logan does like drinking icewater through a straw, but still needs his milk. It looks like I will be completely weaning in the next few days. Logan is more ready than me. As always, I was happy with our appointment, as I truly think we have such a great doctor for the kids. He comes off as a medical professional, as well as a friend and fellow parent.

At one year old, Logan is doing great. I am looking forward to another fun year.