9/24/07

We got a Certificate of Occupancy for 415 10th Avenue this Friday.

Logan is sick. This Saturday night he had a terrible sounding croup cough. I woke up instantly when I heard it, and recognized it right away. I was really worried that Logan was having trouble breathing, and that he would need to go to the emergency room. However, nothing of the sort happened. Logan's breathing eased up and he went back to sleep. The cold is hanging on today, and it's getting worse in some ways - a stuffy head and a fever - but he doesn't have a croup cough anymore.

Logan is starting to count - sort of. I've often counted when I lift him up into the air. I'll say "One, two, THREE" and throw him up into the air. Now he's started to say "One, Two" and wait for us to say "Three." Then he runs around yelling "yeaaa!"

9/21/07

Tonight is the beginning of Yom Kippur. Tomorrow I'm going to fast. Fasting itself is not a big deal, but not drinking coffee IS a big deal. I'm looking forward to a day with me having a pretty bad mood ... which is all part of the magic of Yom Kippur. You're supposed to suffer a little bit.

I met Logan and Heidi at the aquarium for lunch yesterday. Logan was in a poor mood until he started eating. THEN his move improved quite a bit. Logan's been much happier since one of his canines poked through his gums on Tuesday. He's sleeping well and in a much better mood.

I replaced the backyard gate this week. I did it pretty quickly, and now it looks and works wonderfully. I can't believe we suffered for so long with the old crappy gate. It would never close properly, and was perpetually sagging and rubbing up against the fence posts. The new gate feels sturdy, and weighs about twice as much.

The 415 10th building, which I have been working on for almost three years, is almost finished. The final inspection should take place today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, since we really do have to pass the inspection so the DESC can start moving furniture into the building.

9/14/07 - 10:00 pm

Logan is mega-teething tonight. He has three teeth coming in at once. He's got a small fever, and he's not feeling very happy. Poor little guy! There's not much we can do, besides giving him orajel. And we can't find any.

9/14/07

Yesterday was Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.

Heidi and I took Joshua Harvitz to a service for people with disabilities at Temple De Hirsch Sinai. Josh is Heidi's second cousin once removed (I think.) He is about my age. He nearly drowned when he was very young - around 2 or 3 years old - and has been severely disabled ever since. He's in a wheelchair, and has very little motor control. He has extremely limited speech. I don't know how much he understands, though I often suspect he understands more than most people think he does.

Sadly, Logan was alarmed by Josh. Josh occasionally makes spasm like movements and shrieks when he's excited. Of course, he was excited when we picked him up. Logan started to cry immediately. He cried during the car ride to Seattle, and was still upset when we arrived. By the end of the service both Logan and Josh were calmer, and the ride back was crying free.

I hope that Logan will get used to Josh (and vice versa.)

9/12/07

Today was a pretty ordinary day, though we're all still getting used to the new school year schedule.

This morning I got up, got ready and woke Logan up at 6:45. Heidi left right before Logan woke up. I've decided to wake him up gradually, going into his room and bustling about in an attempt to get him up without startling him. Usually it works pretty well, though he takes a long time to fully wake up.

This morning he was pretty happy. He had a nice breakfast of Kicks cereal, yogurt, grapes and juice. Finally we went to daycare. He was perfectly fine until I got him into Room 3, when he started to bawl. He cried so hard he nearly gagged himself. I left quickly - I thought that long goodbyes may cause him to be more anxious.
When she picked Logan up Heidi heard that he had calmed down about five minutes after I left.

9/11/07

I'm typing this at work, and about ready to go finish the Punch List for the 415 10th Avenue building. All afternoon I'll be going into units and checking for construction items to finish. I'll have to say that the building is looking good. I hope it's fine when we're done.

9/9/07

Today Logan, Heidi, Chazz and I hiked into the Commonwealth basin. It was a picture perfect blue sky fall day, and the forecast called for the high to be around 75 in the mountains. We set off fairly early and drove up to the Commonwealth campground parking lot just off of I-90. It was already packed when we arrived and started to hike up. About 50 feet from the trailhead we ran across a side trail - the abandoned trail down from the Basin that was mentioned in most trail descriptions. We decided to go up the "official" route, which coincided with the Pacific Crest Trail for the first 2-3/4 miles.

The trail up was lovely - at about 1.75 miles we broke out of the trees and entered a series of rockfalls with wonderful views of the basin below us and the surrounding mountains. Cool breezes were flowing off the mountain tops, down the rockfall channels. It may have been 50 degrees in spots along the trail.

At the fork in the trail we went left and down into the basin, while the Pacific Crest Trail climbed to the right. We passed the intersection with the old abandoned trail. After another mile we stopped and had lunch in the basin.

The basin was a wonderful spot for camping, eating lunch or picking blueberries. It's criss-crossed by small streams and has several large meadows. We turned back when the trail started it's ascent of Red Mountain.



On the way back we took the abandoned trail for a fast way down. We filled Logan's snack cup with blueberries - he ate till his face turned purple. The old trail was still traveled and in good shape.

After we got home I came down with a bad head cold. Totally worth it, though.