One of Erik's little friends is spending a couple days in the hospital with RSV. Joe called to tell me this just as I was preparing Erik's lunch. So I decided instead of saying our usual "Hands Prayer" where we sing a song, we would do the kind of prayer where you make it up yourself. I asked Erik to fold his hands and to say "Dear God" (pause for Erik to repeat) "thank you" "for food." "Please make Claire feel better". He seemed to find this all very odd and I can't say he really participated by repeating, but he did listen. We did it again at dinner and it went a little better. It got me thinking all kinds of thoughts about what makes prayer prayer, does what Erik did "count", I wonder what does "count". But after a while my brain started to hurt so I just decided that it didn't matter what I understood about prayer, that God would take care of it.
Joe and I each had the experience today of asking Erik "Why?" and having him say "Because". This was a first for us.
Erik is really humming along learning pronouns. Yesterday he kept practicing saying "We are flying on a plane", emphasizing the "we". Today he tried saying "I am lying on the floor" instead of saying "Erik's lying on the floor".
Erik had a great time in Arizona this weekend, visiting his great-grandparents. On the car ride from the airport to their house he was practicing saying "Hi Great-Gramma. Hi Great-Grampa." He warmed up very quickly to them once we got there. I'm sure getting there at lunch time and being fed by them didn't hurt!
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Monday, January 28, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Toddler Twos
Erik is becoming more and more of a toddler. He will often answer questions "no" that he clearly means yes. For example, I'll ask if he wants water, he'll say no as he's reaching for the glass and immediately takes a drink.
He has definate opinions about with whom he wants to do things. Today, he wanted to play basketball with me, rock in his chair with Joe and only I was allowed to read certain books. If the other parent offers to do it, yowza, he lets us know what he wants. Sometimes it's flattering and sweet to be chosen, sometimes it's a relief not to be, often it doesn't matter one way or the other. He's pretty receptive still to us saying, "you can say, 'Papa do it, please'" and then he'll say it nicer.
He's also huge into throwing. Fortunately, so far it's mostly confined to balls and usually we're playing catch.
It's sooo helpful to remind myself that he's not becoming a bad tempered child, he's just going through a normal and necessary phase of asserting his independence. I just hope this continues to be helpful as we get deeper into the Twos!
He also has a great sense of humor. He loves to do things that make us laugh. He just learned to jump in place with his feet leaving the ground. Once he did it and fell on him bottom. I laughed and so he tried to fall every time. And if he says something that makes me laugh he'll keep saying it as long as I keep laughing.
He has definate opinions about with whom he wants to do things. Today, he wanted to play basketball with me, rock in his chair with Joe and only I was allowed to read certain books. If the other parent offers to do it, yowza, he lets us know what he wants. Sometimes it's flattering and sweet to be chosen, sometimes it's a relief not to be, often it doesn't matter one way or the other. He's pretty receptive still to us saying, "you can say, 'Papa do it, please'" and then he'll say it nicer.
He's also huge into throwing. Fortunately, so far it's mostly confined to balls and usually we're playing catch.
It's sooo helpful to remind myself that he's not becoming a bad tempered child, he's just going through a normal and necessary phase of asserting his independence. I just hope this continues to be helpful as we get deeper into the Twos!
He also has a great sense of humor. He loves to do things that make us laugh. He just learned to jump in place with his feet leaving the ground. Once he did it and fell on him bottom. I laughed and so he tried to fall every time. And if he says something that makes me laugh he'll keep saying it as long as I keep laughing.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Erik sings the alphabet
Here is a You Tube video of Erik singing his ABCs.
Erik spends much of his day singing the alphabet. Anytime he sees printed letters he will sing "ABCs" or say "E-R-K spells Erik".
Erik spends much of his day singing the alphabet. Anytime he sees printed letters he will sing "ABCs" or say "E-R-K spells Erik".
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Soup
Last week Joe picked up a can of Minestrone soup at Trader Joe's. He heated it up for lunch today and much to my delight, Erik loved it! He kept asking for more peas and beans (green and kidney). So I thought maybe I should look up a recipe, figuring it would have a lower sodium content. The TJ soup had about 800mg per serving, the recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook had 1100 mg per serving! So I went online and did a google search for low sodium Minestrone. I found some recipes but I also read that Progresso and Amy's brands have canned soup that has half or less than TJs. Lucky Erik gets more beans!
Also, Joe suggested that I could make the BH&G recipe with low sodium beef broth. We suspect that's the source of the high sodium. The recipe calls for three cans.
Also, Joe suggested that I could make the BH&G recipe with low sodium beef broth. We suspect that's the source of the high sodium. The recipe calls for three cans.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Awww
Well, our internet connection isn't letting me post pictures from Christmas so I thought I'd let you know some of the cute things Erik is saying now. Let's see...
I often ask him "Can Mama help you?" so he's started asking for help by saying "mama help you". However, he can't really pronounce the words so it ends up sounding like "mama hype yew". Very cute.
We were driving home and he wanted to kick off his boots. I thought I'd talked him into keeping them on but when we got home I turned around and saw he had bare feet! I said, "Erik, you don't have any shoes or socks!" and he laughed and said "Goofball!" Sometimes Joe & I call him a goofball when he's being silly.
I love that lately when he wakes up from naps, the way I know he's awake is because I hear him laughing. I peek in the room and ask who the gigglepuss is. That just makes him laugh more. So sometimes he now will laugh and say "Erik gigglepuss".
Frequently during the day, but especially if he sees writing somewhere he'll say, "E-R-K spells Erik".
I often ask him "Can Mama help you?" so he's started asking for help by saying "mama help you". However, he can't really pronounce the words so it ends up sounding like "mama hype yew". Very cute.
We were driving home and he wanted to kick off his boots. I thought I'd talked him into keeping them on but when we got home I turned around and saw he had bare feet! I said, "Erik, you don't have any shoes or socks!" and he laughed and said "Goofball!" Sometimes Joe & I call him a goofball when he's being silly.
I love that lately when he wakes up from naps, the way I know he's awake is because I hear him laughing. I peek in the room and ask who the gigglepuss is. That just makes him laugh more. So sometimes he now will laugh and say "Erik gigglepuss".
Frequently during the day, but especially if he sees writing somewhere he'll say, "E-R-K spells Erik".
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