Rollin', rollin', rollin' ...

Ok, maybe not rollin', rollin', rollin'; but definately rollin'.

Erik rolled over for the first time this morning!

After I changed his diaper, I put him on his tummy in his crib while I washed my hands. (It's so hard to get those tummy minutes in every day!) When I came back he was on his back! Here's a dramatic re-enactment:




before





after

Erik's trip to the doctor

Well, his cough was worse today so we went in and got him checked out. Fortunately, his lungs were clear so he can cough all he wants for two weeks. If he spikes a temp, won't nurse or has trouble breathing we'll go back in. What a relief. Erik took it suprisingly well. He didn't cry on the scale (13 lbs, 3 oz), and only cried a little when the doc put her cold stethoscope on his chest. What a trooper. He deserves a frozen treat. Lucky for me that Erik's frozen treats have to be eaten by me first! Mmmm.

It's your patriotic duty to vote

Erik will be attending his first wedding this Sunday. Our dear friend Natalie is getting married, and we will be bringing Erik to help celebrate the momentous occasion. In honor of this event, Joe and I have the weighty task of choosing just the right outfit for Erik to wear. We have two that we call his "Young Republican" outfits. One is blue, one brown. The comments section of Erik's blog will be open this week so that you, Erik's friends and family, can vote on which outfit should be worn to the nuptuals. Vote early, vote often. And remember, he'll probably spit up and need to be changed into the "vice-outfit" anyway! We promise, every vote will be counted, regardless of whether you live in the city, suburbs or country, and no thugs will come to your door to question your registration status. This vote is being personally overseen by Jimmy Carter to ensure no one tampers with the electronic voting equipment.

Under the weather

Hmm. Well, it seems we experienced our first minor illness from Erik this weekend. He's always been a sneezy kid, but Saturday night he began to cough as well. They seemed sort of phlegm-y and his breathing sounded like purring from the phlegm. Kind of cute. Saturday night he woke up more often than usual, almost every two hours. When he first woke he would be phlegmy again but would sort of cough it out when he cried while we changed his diaper. He would then nurse, get phlegmy, cough it up and go back to sleep.

In the morning we called the nurseline and the nurse did not seem concerned. Erik's temperature isn't elevated so we were told to monitor him. He slept most of the day. After one afternoon feeding he spat up about an ounce. That's a lot! We tried the nurseline again but couldn't get through. So we went next door to our neighbor Michelle, who is a mother of two preschoolers. As an added bonus, her mother-in-law was there, and she's a nurse. They agreed that his symptoms didn't sound alarming, but if he spat up more feedings we should try the nurseline again. Fortunately, he did not. He slept again, nursed, kept the milk down and seemed more alert and more like his usual smiley self. I was curious to see if he would sleep at all last night, since he'd slept so much during the day.

It turned out I didn't need to worry. We fed him at nine. I, of course, was afraid the congestion would turn into bronchitis or croup and so I wanted to sleep on the same floor as Erik. So we set up the Pack n Play in the basement and Joe & I slept down there too. Erik did wake a couple times in the evening and need to be resoothed. However, once he finally settled down he slept from 11 pm to 5 am! I actually had to get up and pump because he went so long between feedings! Today he seems pretty much back to normal except that he's still coughing sometimes.

Whew. I did not enjoy that little foray into infant illness and I'm glad Erik seems to be on the mend. We're very grateful to Michelle for her support and sympathy. It's so helpful to know and talk to other parents. They just understand how scary it is when your kid is sick the first time. (and maybe the second time)

Baptism and shots

Well, we had a wonderful, busy weekend. There was a bison cookout on Saturday night courtesy of Paul and Lois. Sunday morning we all gathered at Edina Community Lutheran Church. It was fun to dress Erik in the baptismal gown that Jon and I wore over thirty years ago. I'm not sure that Erik enjoyed it quite as much as we did, but he took it in stride. He looked around and listened during the service, then was ready for a nap right about the time the baptism started! So he fussed some while Ronnaug was holding him, but everyone is used to that at a baptism. Pastor Pam walked around the sanctuary holding Erik and letting the congregation get a closer look at our beautiful boy. It may be a while before I can post pictures as we accidentally sent our camera home with Linn!

Everyone gathered at our house for lunch from Byerly's. The house was full of people talking and laughing. I hope we remembered to take pictures and video but we probably were too busy to remember! Sunday evening, 15 of our closest relatives ate at McCormick and Schmick's in Minneapolis. I had the Sunday $17 lobster. I'm not sure I've ever had a lobster before. It was delicious. Many people helped entertain Erik so I could eat. As Gary said, every time he looked up someone was gone from the table with Erik.

Tuesday was another big day for Erik. He had his two month checkup. He weighed 11 lbs, 13 ounces (although he's 12 lbs at home), and measured 24 1/2 inches long. That puts him in the 50th percentile for weight and 90th for height. I was very glad that Joe was able to get off work and come to the appointment. He stayed with Erik during his immunization shots. I had to look away. It didn't seem to affect Erik much except I would swear he spat up a lot more that afternoon and Wednesday. That was a relief.

Last night Erik went in four hour time periods between feedings. Hooray for Erik!

Velkommen

My Uncle Harald and Aunt Ronnaug arrived from Oslo today. They came to be part of Erik's baptism, which is Sunday. They will be sponsors for Erik, as will our friends Jonathan and Dawn Rundman. Tomorrow there will be an exodus from North and South Dakota as all of Erik's relatives drive to Minnesota for his baptism. Erik will be wearing the baptismal gown that Jon and I wore as infants. It's very long so I guess I'll have to dress him at the church, I think it would not work well in a car seat! Erik will be wrapped in a newly quilted blanket made from his Grandma Lois' wedding gown fabric and lace. It's about time he learns that people in his family don't throw things away, they just pass them on to the next generation! What a great tradition.

Here's how Erik sleeps when my mom the baby whisperer is around. We're counting down the days until my dad retires and they move up here! (That's 790.)

Family

Here are four pictures from Memorial Weekend in North and South Dakota.

To the left are four generations of Lindells: Grampa Paul, Papa, and Great-Grampa Milton.





Erik came to the Wyndmere area to meet his Grampa Adin.









Here are four generations of Vigs: Great Uncle Linn, Grandma Lois, Papa, and Great-Grandma Mildred.









Here are his two charming American Great-Grandmas: Mildred Vig and Leona Lindell.

Growing and changing

When Erik is sitting in a chair (bouncy chair, swing, or even in someone's arms), his neck disappears and he looks like a baby. When he's laying in his crib or on the floor, especially when he's swaddled and I can't see his body, he looks like a little boy to me now! I feel like his face will probably look like this for a couple years. It's fun so see him and imagine him as a two year old, sweaty from running around playing, worn out, sleeping like an angel!

Here's a picture of his pathetic just-about-to-cry face.

Today I saw his first tear roll down his cheek. I'm not excited about this developmental milestone. Now he'll be able to tug at my heartstrings even more than before!

One step forward, one step back

Sigh. Well, all that sleep progress that Erik did last week is out the window! Here's a picture of me trying to get Erik to fall asleep. Notice his open eyes.

I tried to measure and weigh him today and I think he's 23 1/2 inches long and weighs just a couple ounces shy of 12 lbs. Next week he has a doctor visit so I suppose I'll find out better data then. He will be getting a lot of shots so I'm sure he'll be fussy for a while. Goodbye sanity!

I can no longer wear the "mother and child" necklace that Joe gave me, because Erik now grabs things! He will hold my finger or my shirt as he nurses as if it's the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth.

He just woke from his nap. More later!

Class

Here's a picture of Erik with his friends from parent and child class. Erik was the youngest. He's in the grey onesie with navy sleeves. Today I brought Erik to an end of the year work party. My co-worker Kris was there with her daughter Anna who was born one month after Erik. This was the first time Erik has ever been with a younger baby. Kris and I sat beside each other on a couch while we burped our babies and Erik watched Anna intently.

Joe brought Erik to parent & child class without me tonight. Joe reported that Erik held a rattle for about 45 seconds. This is the first time we've seen Erik do this. Back at home, while sitting in his bouncy chair, Erik was pushing on the chair with his legs so that his body was going up and down a little. We have never seen this either!

Getting into the swing of things

Things are hoping around here this week! We drove over to the home of some new friends from our parent & child class and went for a walk. It was great because they have a three month old. We had agreed to meet at 7 for our walk. When we got there, Erika & Matt needed to change Brooke's diaper and we needed to feed Erik! That's why I love planning things with other new parents, they understand when we need to scrap the schedule.

Erik has once again put himself on a feeding schedule. The time between midnight and 8 am is quite variable but from 8 am to midnight he's quite predictable. That's if I'm paying attention. It makes it easier to plan for evening activities. Tonight and tomorrow I will be apart from Erik for a couple hours, but I'm much calmer knowing it's very likely he'll eat at 4:30, 7 and 9. That way I know I can feed him at 4:30, Joe can give him a bottle at 7 and I'll try to be home by 9. If Erik wasn't so predictable it would a lot harder for me to be away.

The other night Erik once again broke his record and went from 9 pm to 3 am between feedings. It was a one night thing, but he's moving in the right direction!

We started using cloth diapers during the day. It's going really well. I think Erik likes the feel of them on his bottom (when they are clean). He seems to fuss a little less when I change him. However, we have found him fussing when his diaper is full which he didn't used to do. This is also good since we appreciate any clues on his diaper status. Joe is very excited about the cloth diapers and so is our chief diaper washer. Very nice for me!

Still having trouble getting pictures on here, which I know is the main reason most of you are reading! Sorry.

Just the three of us

Ah, normalcy. After an exciting two weeks of non-stop family fun, it is now back to normal in our house. Erik's Grandma Lois was here for four days, cooking, cleaning and doting on Erik. Then we loaded up the car for Erik's first trip out of state. We made our usual pit stop at the Alexandria Wendy's, only to find they have no changing tables in their restrooms. If Dave Thomas were alive, I would write him a letter about this, as he seemed like the kind of guy who would want changing tables in the restrooms of his restaurants. Fortunately, we do not have to swear off all further stops at the Alex Wendy's, since the neighboring Holiday station does have changing tables. Whew.

We spent some time in Oakes and some time at Great-Uncle Linn's lake cabin where Erik renewed his aquaintence with his Great-Grandparents Lindell, and met his Great-Grandma Vig. This was Erik's first time at a lake, however, he was not allowed to go for a pontoon ride yet. A guy needs something to look forward to, right? We then headed east to the greater Wyndmere area to meet Great-Grampa Adin and Great-Uncle Gary. We took the opportunity to begin to tell Erik stories about how wonderful a woman was his Great-Grandma Doris.

This week Joe had to put in about 80 hours at work so the company and assistance of Mormor and Morfar were much appreciated. Mormor's fresh eyes were able to point out Erik's many new skills which I would be writing about in his baby book if I weren't so lazy. Let me record here that Erik is now smiling and gasping (which feels like laughing even if it isn't), looking at pictures and toys hanging near him (instead of staring at shadows and walls all the time) and is able to grasp things such as his mama's & papa's shirts. Skills I wouldn't write in the baby book include fussing when he should be staring happily at his loving family members and squalking when he should be napping. On the plus side, he has shown us he is able to go five hours between night feeds, so someday when mama doesn't have insomnia she will be able to sleep for four hours at a time.

Many thanks to all the grandparents who helped us in the last couple weeks. I'm working on uploading some photos...