Visit to the Valley, TX

During the last weekend in May, Logan and his mommy flew down to Harlingen to visit Amanda's good friend Mandie Dykstra. Logan enjoyed playing on the equipment at a playground near Mandie's house Friday evening. The three visited an outdoor butterfly center about one mile from the Mexican border and saw nearly as many border patrol vehicles rushing past as butterflies (no illegals, though). Later on Saturday, all three tried out the neighborhood pool's shallow end. The water felt great in the Valley's 90+ degree heat. Logan enjoyed his first dip in a swimming pool, especially playing with the fountains and the water toys Mandie had purchased. Advertising plug: Little Swimmers diapers really are impressive, not leaking or bloating with pool water!

Zoo Excursion

Yesterday Logan, his Mama Jean (aka Grandma Himes), Aunt Jerusha, and Mommy drove downtown to the Houston Zoo for Logan's first-ever zoo experience. It was hot and humid but an enjoyable outing nonetheless. Logan stayed awake until the very end of the 2&1/2 hour visit, watching the animals--and also lots of school children--from the vantage point of his stroller. He gulped lots of water from Mandy's water bottle and was quite drenched by the end of the day. The animals were hot, too; many of the big cats slept with their paws waving in the air. Logan seemed especially interested in the otter exhibit, probably because they were swimming in his line of vision. He also enjoyed riding a frog on the carousel in the children's park--Mandy stood next to him to make sure he stayed on! We look forward to a return trip next year, with daddy in tow.

Logan's Summer, Part I

While his daddy and Uncle Ross are touring France, Logan and his mommy are visiting his grandparents in Texas. Logan enjoys sitting on the back porch with Mama Jean and viewing her beautiful backyard. One evening his Eicholberger cousins and their grandparents, Hubert and Arlene Himes, came over for dinner. Julie and Katie enjoy making Logan laugh. (The picture of Logan in his stroller was taken during an earlier trip to Eureka Springs at the beginning of the month.)

On May 17, Logan, his mom, Aunt Jerusha, and Mama Jean drove to Georgetown to attend Sonya Sawyer's wedding. Sonya and Amanda were office mates and good friends at Texas A&M. It was wonderful to see Sonya marrying Aaron Fritz, also an Aggie, as witnessed by the many "whoops" from his groomsmen after they said their vows.

This is my son, whom I love

We have taken Logan on many hikes in his 7.5 months, one to an urban waterfall up in Bentonville that I read about in Tim Ernst's guide to Arkansas Waterfalls. By clicking on the pic of me holding Logan, in the enlargement you can see his 1st tooth quite clearly.
After having Logan in our lives, I am far more deeply touched now by our Father's words, "This is my Son, whom I love," esp. when I think about what he allowed Him to undergo. Logan has brought more joy to us than any other gift. He makes us strive to love him as the Father loved Jesus and to live a more pure example. Greg Jurkovic shared a similar sentiment when we were out walking in Houston: in a moment of prayer, he heard the insight, "Love your son as I have loved you." How profound!

We are definitely settled into the 1st Presbyterian congregation in downtown Siloam. One weekend, we had a cozy little dedication ceremony for Logan with our pastor Breck Castleman and his wife Robbie. There was no sprinkling involved -- just pledges to bring up Logan in the church and its ministries and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ and God's Word. We had a fabulous brunch afterward at the Castleman's house. So many rich blessings (oh for the grace to give it back and be a blessing to others).

Logan has had a little hiatus from reporting since Thanksgiving! So many big doings since then. First, we headed down to Texas and saw Logan's friends Caleb and Kayla Ellison in Dallas on our way to Houston. We're thankful that Logan got to spend Christmas with Grampa Himes one more time before Glenn passed on to be with the Lord. Although it was a sad occasion, Logan was able to see a lot of the family including Uncle Wood who has many stories about his daddy and Uncle Brent. In January, Auntie Jerusha came up for a visit and we took Logan hiking at the picturesque but oh so cold Artist's Pointe. Nowadays Logan's been working out his legs to get ready for crawling, he's been sitting upright in February with barely any assistance, and he got his first little tooth (toofer) on the bottom front on Jan. 20; as of Feb. 28 his second toofer broke ground right next to it. He still says, "da da da da" but his favorite sound currently is blurrping with his tongue and lips or making quiet, windy fricatives like unvoiced velars and alveo-palatals. He's still quite a chipper fella, not too fussy except when he's teething: the second one came in with slightly less irritation than the first. He's a real people person, greeting strangers with smiles. He remains a deep blue-eyed boy, but his hair has gone from thin chocolate brown to a fuller, lighter shade with auburnish-blonde highlights. His favorite outfit is a lumberjack shirt and grey corduroys (shown in hiking photo with his mama). He's eating green beans a little reluctantly, but sweet potatoes and bananas with more gusto, though he still hasn't figured out that he needs to open his mouth instead of us having to scoop each spoon back up into the dam. His high chair has come into use lately, and we have switched out his car seat with the large black one since he has outgrown the free one given to us by the Springdale Sheriff at a baby convention. For several months, Logan was on a great sleep schedule, allowing us a good 6 or 7 hours in a row, but in the past month he has returned to erratic patterns of staying up til 12 or 1, or getting up at 3 or 4 hungry. He retains his long and wiry physique at about 18 lbs, though his little wrists, fingers, thumbs, cheeks, and thighs have filled out with some healthy chub.

More news to come!

Thanksgiving 2007

Jonathan, Mandy, and Logan drove down to Houston for Thanksgiving at the Himes' grandparents' home. Jean also invited the Estep grandparents, Aunt Jerusha, Uncle Ross, the Eicholberger cousins (Himes side), and Uncle Brent to the dinner. We all had a good time sampling Jean's turkey and dressing as well as Julie and Hillary's pies, and watching a recording of Julie and Katie's ACU orchestra performance (harp and violin, respectively). Logan wore his Sunday best and looked quite dapper at 4 & 1/2 months old.