at the neighbor's

This is so funny. Michelle had to put up the gate to keep Adin out of the kitchen while the kids painted. See Adin peeping over the gate. I'm sure it kills him that he's not in there with Erik.



I love this picture. You can see Adin's blue eyes and that his head tilt is pretty much gone. Yay!

Funny Erik

This morning, out of the blue, Erik started yelling at Adin, "grow up! Grow up right now! Don't be a baby anymore! Stop saying baby words!"

We made corn meal muffins and as he stirred he said he wanted to be a baker when he grows up.

I was feeding Adin and heard Erik singing to himself in the blue room. I couldn't understand the words. Then he asked if I knew the song. I said "no". He came over to me with the worship bulletin from yesterday and asked if I could sing the song. He'd been making up a song to go along with the one printed on the front.

At dinner, Erik asked if Joe and I thought God was a mixer. I said "no, why?" "Because he mixed up the words the people tried to say" [in the Tower of Babel story]. I said, "oh like a cement mixer" and said he thought God was a word mixer.

Last night Erik picked up two sticks and used them as musical instruments. He pretended one was a violin and the other a bow. He hummed the music that his violin was playing. Then I realized he was humming "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik". Now that surprised me!

Stinky Steggy

Today, Elmo wanted a dinosaur. He went to the vet to ask where he could get one. She explained that they are extinct. A couple hours later, Erik asked me why dinosaurs are so stinky. I explained they didn't take baths (they were afraid to wash their hair) and so they were stinky and that's why Elmo couldn't have one. Well, I explained that after I was doubled up laughing for about five minutes. My life has become The Family Circus.

On an adorable note, Erik went to a meeting with Joe tonight and Adin crawled all over the house looking for him, whimpering. I showed him some pictures of Erik and then he was happy.

Potty update

Erik went a week in underwear at night with no accidents! Then he had two nights in a row last week where he woke up wet. Then we put him in a diaper the next night and it was dry in the morning! I know we've been extremely lucky with training him, it's kind of hard to decide now what to do at night.

We went to a Macalester/Augsburg basketball game yesterday. Erik and I spent most of the time walking around the new athletic bldg. We looked in the natatorium (swimming pool), the weight room, and ran around the track. It was fun to see how excited he was about running 50 or 100 yards and how fast he thought he was. I showed him how to do a handoff for a relay race and we did 100 yard relays. We watched some men practice throwing, running and catching frisbees.

Erik worked really hard at being quiet today in church. Everything about him is physical, he taps his feet to the music, would like nothing better than to touch all the instruments, microphones, the water, bread and wine or juice. We had another church member give positive feedback after church this week. Last week the woman we sat with said we could sit with her anytime, she loved kids. This week the man who was doing the communion prep commented on how much fun it was to watch Erik. I really appreciate comments like these. We do get the occasional indirectly negative comment and the positive ones are definitely treasured.

Adin is a solid cruiser. Friday he was watching Erik take a bath and he let go of the side of the tub and stood on his own for half a minute! I had my hands out to catch him if necessary, but he was rock solid. He loves his own baths now that he can sit with Erik. He splashes away and does not seem to mind having his hair washed. When he's done he lets us know by trying to get out of the tub so we have to keep our eyes peeled!

Adin will imitate lots of sounds and gestures now. I wouldn't imagine it'll be too long before we hear his first true word! He says "dada" all the time but indiscriminately. I've heard him say "mama" and he often says things that sound like words - hi, all done, Erik. This is an exciting time. He can do so many fun things and is on the cusp of doing so many more.

He drives Erik crazy when they are playing. He wants what Erik has, Erik wants what Adin has, it's frustrating. I often hear Erik ask, "Don't you know this is my special book [or toy]"? As in, 'you can play with the other books, but not this one'. When one is napping and the other is awake, it isn't long before Adin is crawling to the door of Erik's room, or Erik wants to go upstairs and wake up Adin. They really miss each other when they aren't together!

Erik and Bob

 

Here's Erik with a 36" Bob the Builder puzzle we did together.

Viva Italia!

 

Here they are in their matching Italia hoodies from Zio Paulo and Zia Amy.

Last night I was helping Erik get ready for bed and listing what we would do next: brush teeth, put on diaper, pajamas,... Erik said he wanted to go to bed like I do. Huh? Wearing underwear! So he wore underwear to bed and slept through the night, no accidents! Tonight he asked for a diaper. Which is good, I bought a big box of nighttime diapers a week ago and would have been annoyed if they went to waste.

Adin had his nine month check up on Friday. I can't believe it. He weighed 19 pounds, 7 ounces (25th percentile) and was 30 inches long (90th percentile). The questionnaire I filled out asked if he played Peek a boo or Pat a cake. We play those and he enjoys them, but I didn't think he played them himself. However I checked when we got home, and he does! He'll cover his face with a lovey to play Peek a boo (so cute) and he'll clap his hands and raise them up high for Pat a cake! Today he was imitating me when I said the "p" sound and we often hear him say things that sound like real words.

I have more videos to post but I can't find them on the computer!