NaBloPoMo

PEAS!!

Erik has been up to his usual shenanegans. He developed more stranger anxiety last week, as well as an intense need to always be within two inches of a parent. We are usually not allowed to put him down for any reason, and on those occasions where he deigns to sit and play, we'd better not leave his field of vision. Good thing he's so cute.

Wednesday was Joe and my third anniversary. Joe's former boss, Heather, came over and babysat. We went to a new (um, I don't know, is it a mall?) in Minneapolis called Midtown Global Market. About 20 local vendors have storefronts containing all kinds of foods and wares. We drank bubble tea, ate seafood, bought Japanese dessert, then ate some samosas and momo at a Nepalease restaurant. Very fun. Many thanks to Heather for making the evening possible. She was quite dazzled by Erik's sleep routine (lay him down in the crib) and warned us that any potential future children may not go to sleep as easily.

I will be participating in National Blog Posting Month in November. This means I will try to update this blog every day. There's more information at the website listed at the bottom of this post, however, the website does contain cursewords so read at your own risk.

Erik has a bath

Erik's First Meal

Welcome Svea

The highlight of our three hour delay at the Quad Cities Airport on Sunday was receiving a call from Jonathan Rundman saying that Dawn had given birth to their daughter Svea. The delay meant that we were not able to meet her on her actual birth day. However, I did get to see her on Monday and was able to pull the wool over her eyes, since she was born yesterday. Seeing her and talking with Dawn brought back many memories of six months ago when Erik was born. Now he's a great big 20 pound boy who had his first taste of rice cereal last night.

Homecoming Part II

Here's Erik at the Augustana - Wheaton game. Augustana won, much to the shock of a certain Cobber. Speaking of Cobbers, leave it to Joe to run into people he knows at MY homecoming! Mike and Sarah happened to be sitting in front of us at the game and we chatted with them. Mike has a one year appointment to the Religion Dept at Augie.

We went to St. Paul in Davenport for church Sunday and saw many old friends from my HS days and some friends from Youth Encounter days, as well! Afterwards, we went to the home of our friends the Heuvelmans.

Here is Erik with Jim Heuvelman's enormous teddy bear.




Our last stop before returning to the airport was at the home of our friends the MacDowells. It was fun to see their house and meet their adorable daughter, Aisling. She gave me a charming and exhaustive tour of the house (this is the closet where we keep the broom!) It looks like Jen and Zach's daughter Eleanor was completely done in by the amount of detail included in the tour.

Homecoming

Friday we checked into the Stoney Creek Inn, a lovely hotel with very rough towels. We had a family snuggle on the bed.


Swanie was the campus pastor while I was there. He passed away recently, and Augie named the Slough Path in his memory. Swanie loved to go for walks on campus. What did he call them? Ambles? Meanders? Oh yes, saunters. Let's meet for a Saturday morning saunter, he would say. At least, that's how I remember it.

More homecoming pictures and stories to come.

Marion

We left Thursday afternoon, flying to Rock Island IL to attend my 10 year college reunion. Joe racked up a bunch of gold stars this weekend. It started out by him packing for Erik. It continued by him shepherding us extremely competently through the process of taking an infant on his first plane ride. We gave Erik Tylenol 45 mins before takeoff. He slept through most of the flight, only waking when we landed.
We rented a car and drove to Marion IA to visit our friends the Nevens. Here the Neven girls, Grace, Ruth and Lydia, are enjoying a good book. Grace is becoming a proficient reader and was able to read to her sisters.






Can you see Erik, who has begun to sleep on his tummy? Perhaps this is the reason his 30 minute naps are inching up to 45 minutes.



Friday, on the drive back to Rock Island, we stopped at the Coralville Scheel's to visit David Revier, experienced Grampa. Erik's nap had been interrupted, however, and David had to use all his charms to win over Erik.

Hallo Norge!

Erik sends greetings to his grandparents who are in Norway. It was the same temperature in Oslo and in Minneapolis today. Of course, tomorrow it will drop 15 degrees and we'll have snow, while they will still be in the 50's. Oh well.




This is what the drying rack looks like after we wash Erik's toys.



















Here are some important instructions when playing with Erik

Cobber Erik

Erik and Papa at the Hamline Homecoming Game
The Final Score

Erik loves football

After the game at Old Chicago

Suzette and Tennyson, Joe and Erik, Liesl and Samuel

The Perfect Day

So last Sunday, Erik's nose started running. This is his second cold. Monday I was home with him and in spite of his cold, it was the perfect day. Most days, he's awake for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours then naps for 30 mins. Monday he was awake for about an hour then slept for 45 mins. Maybe more like when he was a newborn. Anyway, I loved it. He wasn't cranky but was really engaged and fun. We played and played all day. He just needed more sleep. It gave me more frequent and slightly longer breaks during the day which really helped me recharge and be able to focus on him when he was awake. Win-win.

As the cold progressed it did start to affect him more. He lost his voice which was very sad. It was really hard for me to watch him trying to cry and only a squeak came out. Nights became hard, too. The first couple nights, the cold mist humidifier in his room was able to keep him comfortable. The last couple nights even though he was just tired tired, he couldn't sleep in his crib. We tried putting him in his carseat, not really expecting it to work, but it was like magic!

The picture is from this weekend when Erik's grandparents are visiting. The sleepiness and need to sleep upright represents his reaction to having a cold this week. Fortunately, things are getting better and best of all, Erik has his voice back. I've never missed his crying more!