Daycare bummer

Well, this is getting to be a theme for us. We talk to someone about doing part-time daycare for Erik in the fall, they are interested, may even say yes, but then decide not to do it. This is the fourth time it's happened! This time, we'd interviewed a nanny and agreed to do a trial run. When I called her to set it up, she didn't return my call. I guess I should have been concerned but I figured she was on vacation. After all, just two weeks ago she was excited to be Erik's nanny. When I called her again tonight, she told me she didn't think she could do it. I completely understand, as she has her own infant and caring for two is a big responsibility. Unfortunately for us, that puts us back at square one. So after copying a friend's list of about 20 daycares, tonight I started to call. So far, the two I've reached have no infant openings.
Guess I'll be on the phone all day tomorrow.

Tummy time fun

Ok, did I mention that Erik can now reach for toys while in tummy time position? Did I show you a picture? He still prefers to explore with his left hand/arm and supports his weight with his right arm. The wierd thing is, he locks his right elbow straight so he ends up sort of pushing himself to the left over time.

The calm after the bath

To look at this picture of Erik, clean and happy and playing with his new blanket/bear, you would never know that just minutes earlier he was shrieking his head off in the bath. Erik has a tolerate/hate relationship with the bath. Somedays he does fine, somedays he cries the whole time, somedays he is a mixture. Tonight he screamed as though white hot needles were poking him the moment he touched the water. As soon as we were done rinsing off the soap and were getting the towel ready, he calmed down. So odd.






Here is a picture of Erik's first piggy back ride. Somehow Erik's pacifier was on the floor under his crib waaaay back in the corner. Despite being so big he barely fits under the crib, Joe had to be the one to go get it because, come on, there are bugs down there. I can handle bugs outside, but not in my house and not in the nursery.

Talk to me

Erik is so vocal now! Sometimes when he is playing on his own he will make all kinds of crazy sounds, cooing, squealing. What's really fun is when we have a "conversation". When I try to imitate the sounds he makes, he just keeps going talking to me. We can talk back and forth for several minutes. It's so fun! He's also more likely to respond to me if I make plain vowel sounds
with intonation. He gets a big kick out of that. I wish I could put an audio of him on here for those of you who are far away to hear. Instead here is a picture of Erik at his Aunt and Uncle Lois & Paul's lake home in the ancestral toddler chair.

Empathy?

A week or so ago, Erik's friends Brady and Brooke came over and played. Erik had just woke up from a nap and needed to nurse. Brady is eight months old and so is able to do lots of things that Erik can't do. This is exciting but with the fun and games comes the possibility for poking someone's eye out. Brady bonked his head on our hardwood floor and started crying and screaming a little. His mom was right there and was able to comfort him. When Erik heard Brady cry, he looked up from nursing, stuck out his little lip and started crying. This is a boy who until last week had rarely voluntarily popped off the breast during nursing. I held Erik and comforted him and he stopped crying but he was no longer interested in nursing. He cranked his head around and watched Brady until Brady had calmed down. I am just amazed at how babies this young respond to other babies in distress. Erik has heard other babies cry when they are hungry or tired, and he has responded a little (usually by looking at me to check out my response). Somehow, he seemed to understand that Brady's cry was a totally different type of cry.

The winner!

Ok, this is kind of low tech, but I took a digi photo of the print! He looks like a doll in this shot. I must say, he's by far the cutest baby I've ever had!

3 Months Old Day!

Hooray for our big boy. He turned three months old yesterday! It's so exciting to see all the skills he's learned since he was born. He can grab onto the handle of a dangle toy and pull the handle to activate the music. To celebrate his special day we met up with our friends the Ludtkes, Jessens and Kims at Bar Abilene for dinner. The Kims live in the greater Oakland area, and we hadn't seen them since their wedding a year ago Memorial Day. Ray let me try his mashed plantains. Yum! I probably wouldn't have dared order it myself since I'm not sure that I've ever tasted plantains, but it was really good. If anyone has a good recipe, feel free to email it to me.

Erik's grandparents have a great picture of Erik in his blue outfit he wore to the wedding a couple weeks ago. It's not from a digi camera, so I'll have to try to figure out a way to get it posted here. In the meantime, here's a picture of Erik in his new onsie from his Mormor.

Erik's 3 Month Day weigh in: 15 pounds.

laughing!

Last night after dinner Joe laid on his back on the floor and held Erik on his tummy. Joe then lifted Erik up and down. Erik thought it was soooo great he laughed and laughed! It was really fun. We got it on video so when we figure out how to post a link to video we'll let you all watch too!

Reach out and touch me

Erik has gotten very good at grabbing the giraffes on his bouncy seat dangle bar. For a couple weeks, he only reached with his left hand. Suddenly this weekend he was reaching with his right hand and using both hands to grab and hold the giraffes. I’m excited about this, however, I’m getting a little bit bored with the giraffes. So I decided to mix it up a bit. On Saturday I got out some new toys when Erik’s friend Alley came over to play. One of the toys is a colorful caterpillar. I decided to Velcro that sucker onto the dangle bar. The results were spectacular. As you see, Erik began exploring immediately.

As some Dads in ECFE mentioned, babies start at zero. It was amazing to see Alley, who is four months, reaching for toys while lying on her tummy. Erik has only recently moved from barely tolerating tummy time to being able to spend a couple minutes checking out the view from his tummy. Today I held out a rattle for Erik and he reached for it. It was so moving I’m tearing up just remembering it. While Erik has been able to engage me by grinning at me, this was the first time I have been able to reach out to Erik and he could reach back. Just wait little guy.

Showers of cuteness

Erik went to his first baby shower today. He highly recommends his Miracle Blanket to his friend-to-be, Baby Trombley.

Erik wore his runner-up outfit from last week's vote. He looked very stylish and got many compliments.

At this morning's weigh in, Erik had gained 7 ounces from last week. New weight: 14 pounds, 7 ounces.

Goooooooooooal!

Erik engrossed in the Final Game of the World Cup.

Halftime: FRA 1 ITA 1












Time to bring out the big guns: Erik's Catanian bib and elephant mascot.

When does the check clear?

Erik had an exciting day yesterday. He went down to the offices of the local Lutheran publishing house (here after known as AF) to be recorded for a website, or something. He was supposed to coo, laugh, giggle, etc. However, Erik was wondering why his nap was cut short and so was more musing to himself instead to cooing and giggling. When it came time to record him crying, he was happy to oblige. Mommy talked the editor out of putting an ice cube on Erik's foot, and instead we had a much more organic cry from Erik's being placed on his tummy. Then I was supposed to shush him. However, I shushed him with words instead of by saying "shhhh" so I'm not really sure AF got anything they can use. If they do use Erik's little voice, I will be sure to post a link here. How exciting. Note to self, next time you go downtown alone with Erik, bring the stroller.


Just as an aside, Erik has been a little fussy the last hour. He calmed enough that I could put him in his chair and work on the computer. I've been talking to him as he sat in his bouncy seat and I typed on the computer. His fussing slowly increased and I thought I'd better wrap things up and pick him up again. Suddenly, he was completely quiet, I peaked around the computer screen and he's engrossed and fascinated by the tree outside our window.

It's a nice day for a white wedding!

Well, it was a very close vote. The votes are still drifting in, but blue won. He looked cute and was a big hit. Elderly strangers at the wedding kept offering to watch him for me so I could go socialize. That was a bit wierd. I'm embarrased to say that this is the best picture we have of Erik in his outfit. It's a great picture of Joe and his college friends, but not so good of Erik!

Yesterday, we went with Erik's grandparents to the Taste of Minnesota (the mini-fair, or Minnefair). Joe's sister Susan is a guitar tech for Soul Asylum and they were playing. It was fun to see Susan do a sound check in front of the crowd. It was also fun to see Dave Pirner bring his almost 3 yr old son up on stage to sing the chorus of their new song "Stand Up and Be Strong". It was a very sunny and warm day, and while I filled the diaper backpack with baby things, I forgot a hat. So during the actual concert, I was mostly back in the grass behind the stage, where it was shady. It was perfect, I could sit on a bench or in the grass. It was shady and there was a breeze off the river. And being behind the stage the volume was perfect! Here's a picture of Erik and me enjoying the summer evening. And one of Erik at home with his grandparents.

All Through the Night

That's right. After dazzling us yesterday with his ability to roll tummy to back, he then capped off the day by sleeping from 11 pm to 6 am. Woo! Clearly, he has great things in store for him.

Erik and I took it easy yesterday morning and did not go to playgroup because he'd been coughing so much. I know every kid under the age of three will have this cold in a few days, I just don't want to be the one who passed it to them. Instead we stayed home and had some infant massage. Erik tolerated it very well, so we were able to move through legs, tummy, chest and arms. Often we don't make it that long. Then I turned him on his tummy to do his back. Immediately, Erik put himself into roll over position. It was very funny. I was torn between wanting to massage his back and wanting him to practice his new skill. So we compromised and did both. Erik did refuse to roll for the video camera though. He's so modest.

Last night Erik hung out with his friend Paavo. Paavo is two and kept introducing himself to Erik: I'm Paavo. He also was eager to pat Erik on the head and tickle his feet. When Erik fell asleep, Paavo volunteered to give Erik a nuk (or pacifier). I explained that Erik asks for his pacifier by crying when he's tired. So after Erik woke up and started crying, Paavo got to give him his nuk. We're looking forward to all the things Paavo will teach Erik as he grows.