Party (for) Peeing (on) Public Potty's

Even though his aim was off and most of the pee ended up on the floor of the public bathroom we still celebrated Erik overcoming the peeing in public obstacle with ice cream, sprinkles, and chocolate chips.

Now if we can only get him to pee in the urinal at school! When that happens we will have another party.

Rock n' Roll

Lainey has been trying to roll over for a few weeks but could never quite get herself all the way over. Well, today she did it! Of course, no one was there to witness as I was helping Erik in the bathroom. When I came out she was on her stomach (I had left her on her back). She was ticked because her arm was stuck. Watch out Erik -- your toys are going to be in jeopardy soon!Doesn't she look proud of herself?

Farm Fun

Growing up in Wisconsin, with a Dad who was a large animal veterinarian, I spent a lot of time visiting farms. I spent a lot of time with my dad on Saturday's while he was working which was fun. Erik LOVES tractors and has been learning a lot about farms at preschool this fall. He likes to remind me that cows eat grass and make milk.

For the past month, we have been trying to get out to Cox farms--a fall festival with lots of fun things to do. Three weekends in a row someone has had a high fever in our house so we have always had to cancel our trip to the farm.

Finally, we were all healthy so we spent the day there today. It wasn't like an authentic WI dairy farm but we had a great time and it was a lot less smelly!

My cute "farmer" very excited to drive a tractor!

I conquered the rope swing. Erik was excited about it at first
but decided to just watch mommy swing.Big and Little Slides


Our Friend Goat

Erik LOVED the goats. He would talk to them, pet them, run after them, try to lead them places. It was really cute! I think he thought the goats could stay with us the whole time. He was disappointed when they had to stay in their fenced in area.

The also had cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and sheep at this "farm." Erik has been obsessed with guitars and cellos for the past 2 months. This started after Uncle Mike brought his cello with him to our house for Hanna's wedding. It is cute. One day Erik was strumming his guitar and singing to himself while on the toilet. Erik was very excited to see a kids stage today.

Mr. Cool

The Fox and the Hound

Were best friends and so are Erik and Lainey. At least for now! Erik loves Lainey so much. If she happens to be sleeping after he gets up in the morning or after his nap (this is rare) he can hardly stand it because he wants to play with her. If he hears even a peep on the monitor he runs to the stairs so excited to go get his sister. It is adorable. Lainey seems just as enamored with him as well.

This week Erik has really enjoyed making a "tent" and playing in it with Lainey. Today he was reading "Hop on Pop" to her.

We put together our travel swing recently so I didn't have to keep carrying Elaina's "bouncy" chair up and down the stairs multiple times a day. This swing is low enough to the ground that Erik can get in it. He hadn't tried until today. He really shouldn't be in it as I believe the weight limit is 20 pounds (he is 27 pounds) but I thought he was cute so I took a photo before taking him out of the swing.

Poor Lainey

I asked Victor to comb Lainey's hair. This is what happened....

Poor Lainey!

She may have to wear a hat on the days Victor gets her ready.

Potty Training

We have officially taken diapers away from Erik. Victor had Monday off of work (Columbus Day). He was kind enough to spend that day potty training Erik. I had read a couple of different books on it and we decided to go for the One Day Training Method. On Monday Victor and Erik spent the morning teaching Max the Monkey how to use the toilet -- giving out rewards for success on the toilet. In the afternoon, Erik's diaper was replaced with underwear and Victor then focused on Erik using the toilet.

Erik had been practicing on the toilet for the past 2 months but we had never been very serious about it. He did however, know how to poop and pee on the toilet before Monday which I hope makes the transition easier. Since Monday he has done well. He has been dry all day Thursday and Friday.

He had 1-2 accidents on Tuesday and Wednesday. I sent him to school Wednesday in a cloth training pant -- he peed in it and it leaked onto his teacher. They have requested he wear pull ups at school now until he gets a hang of it better. :)

Anyway, even though he wore a pull up to school today it was dry when I picked him up. Yeah!
He also stayed dry during a 3 hour nap yesterday and a 2 1/2 hour nap today. The only time we are putting him in pull up is at nighttime and school.

He has stayed dry for a few outings so far and has sat on a few public toilets (he was scared at first) but hasn't actually used one.

So, is he potty trained? I am not sure whether he is or I am. He will tell me on occasion that he needs to go to the bathroom but most of the time I have to force him to sit on the toilet. He does have control and seems as though he is aware when he needs to go but holds it as long as possible (or until I suggest he sit on the toilet). I am encouraged by the 2 accident free, diaper free days though and am hoping he will continue to do well during the next couple weeks.

I'll let you know how he is doing!

Germland

Well, I have been looking at Erik's ears all week. They are both still infected -- so much for the Amoxicillin. In addition to having bad looking ears he has also been very fussy, refusing to eat, telling me he has an "owie" in his mouth, waking up at night, etc. So I took him back in tonight. The pediatrician agreed that his ears are still infected. He said if he is still acting sick tomorrow to go ahead and start him on Augmentin. He also said, while some ear infections will resolve on their own, they are almost never viral (which is what the Dr. suggested last weekend). I also looked at Erik's chart -- the doctor who saw him last weekend wrote in the chart that his ears were clear (not infected which was clearly wrong). She will NOT ever see my children again.

Anatomy 101

Looks like Erik is ready for medical school!

4 months Old

Can you believe it has been 4 months since Lainey was born? It has gone by so quickly.

Lainey is a sweet, happy baby. She loves people and attention. She loves being held but really isn't a snugly baby -- too busy looking around. She smiles and giggles at us and shrieks loudly if we aren't paying attention to her. Very cute!

Lainey is still exclusively breastfed. She eats every three hours during the day and usually once at night. She is still on Zantac but it seems like her reflux still bothers her. She spits up a lot and has recently started arching her back and screaming when she is eating (it seems like it hurts her). We are going to start her on Prevacid now -- I think that will work better. We will see.

Lainey has some eczema -- mainly on her arms, legs, and cheeks. I was hoping she wouldn't get this because kids with eczema are more likely to have food allergies than kids without it. I was/am hoping that she won't have any food allergies.

Lainey is going to bed around 8 pm and gets up around 6:30 am. I usually feed her around 3 or 4 am although she occasionally sleeps through.

Erik loves Elaina -- it is so sweet. If she is crying he will run over and give her a kiss and say, " What's wrong Lainey?" or "It's okay Lainey." I think it will be fun to watch you play (and fight) together as you get older.

We love you immensely Lainey and are so happy you are part of our family.


4 month stats:

Length: 25.5 inches (90%)
Weight: 14 pounds 4 ounces (65%)
Head circumference: 16.5 inches

At 4 months Erik was also 25.5 inches but 15 pounds 9 ounces. She is long and somewhat lean (with delicious baby chub).

Abstract Art

Erik has been very interested in painting recently. They paint a lot at school so I think this is what has spurred that interest. Here is today's masterpiece....

When I asked Erik to tell me about his picture he very proudly told me he had drawn a picture of Lainey. Cute, but quite abstract. :)

Germland -- Final Update (Sunday evening)

That's our house. I am feeling better but now Erik has a fever over 102 degrees. Poor guy. He has a runny nose but otherwise no symptoms. I am hoping he doesn't start puking. If he still has a high temp tomorrow we may be headed into the doctor. Hopefully, not.

Erik loves Pooh and Tigger movies. He doesn't get to watch a lot of TV but when he is sick we let him watch movies all day if he wants. He hasn't lost his sense of humor, even though he isn't feeling well. In the video below he was laughing at Tigger....





Update: Still running a temp over 101 at bedtime. It looks like he has an ear infection (via my cheap otoscope). If still running a temp tomorrow we will take him in. Poor baby. Since I had an ear infection last week I know how crummy he must feel.

Second Update: Erik for sure has an ear infection (I think both ears look red this am) and still has a temp over 102. Waiting for the doctor to call me back. Hoping an ear infection is the only this he has. Our neighbor has swine flu and strep throat. She had a temp of 104 though. We did see her once this week.

Third Update: Erik woke up with a temp of 102.3 and two red eardrums. Took him in -- the doctor agrees that he has a double ear infection but won't give him an antibiotic because she thinks it might be viral. I disagree and think his ears look awful. She does obviously look in a lot more ears than I do but I hate just sitting on my hands while my kid is in pain. I will be taking him back in tomorrow assuming he still has a fever. Poor baby!

Final Update: Erik continued to have a fever all day and I became more convinced that his left ear was full of puss in addition to being red; his right eardrum just inflamed. We took him into the CVS minute clinic for a second opinion. The practitioner told Victor the same thing I thought -- pussy left ear, red right ear. Erik is now on amoxicillin in addition to Ibpubrofen/tylenol. He was really feeling crummy this evening -- refusing to eat or drink much of anything during the past 24 hours. I sure am hoping he wakes up feeling better.

Great Wolf Lodge

We spent one night this week at the Great Wolf Indoor Waterpark in Williamsburg, VA. We had a great time. Erik braved a few slides but then decided they were scary. He was wearing a life jacket -- but still went under for a second so I don't blame him for being scared. Erik was a happy camper the whole time we were there (even in the car). He would run (very quickly) from our room to the water park. He spent most of his time just splashing in the play area. He also liked riding the inner tubes in the wave pool and around the lazy river.


The highlight of the water park for Erik though was the big bucket. A large bucket that dumps 1000 gallons of water over the play land every 5 minutes. There are warning bells that go off about 30 seconds before the water is dumped. He would stop what he was doing and watch the bucket dump out the water every time. He especially thought it was funny when Victor and I stood in the waterfall.

Lainey was a calm, easy baby. She seemed to like the water too. She was just happy to be held all day long. She slept from 9:00 - 5:30 and both ways in the car (2+ hours each way)!

On our way back home we stopped at a small, very small, "farm". It was really just someones backyard set up with a few animals, pumpkins, and a bounce house. Very cheesy but Erik liked it. The weather has been perfect so it was fun to spend a couple of hours playing outside.

It was nice to get away for a couple of days. For the most part we are feeling better. I still am stuffed up but I am wondering if it is partially due to allergies. I have never been bothered by allergies before but it is not uncommon for people to be bothered by them in VA -- they are particularly bad here.

God is Good

Erik's preschool is Christian based. Erik was eating lunch at his play table the other day. I was still getting my lunch together so he was at the table by himself. Before he started eating I heard him say, " God is good, God is great." We do pray before we eat most of the time but we have never said that particular prayer. I assume that is what they say before snack at school. Pretty sweet!

"Happy" Halloween

We got the kids Halloween costumes in the mail today. A cow for Erik and a ladybug for Lainey. Our trial run with Erik went great today!
Hmm! Should be interesting to see how he does for the costume parade at preschool. Lainey may get to go trick or treating while Erik greets people at our house. Pretty funny!

Erik vs Elaina

Erik and Elaina both at 3 1/2 months
I think they do look alike -- if you can get past Erik's massive head of hair
It will be fun to see what Elaina looks like in a year

Germy Update

Erik, Victor, and Elaina all seem to be over their colds. I still have a fever, joint aches, head ache, stuffy nose, etc. So frustrating! I have been on antibiotics for the ear infection for 3 days with no improvement (although my ear doesn't hurt). I am guessing most of the symptoms are viral. I sure am hoping that I feel better soon and everyone else stays healthy!

Still Sick

This has been a long month for me. I am not exactly sure why but being sick for 9 days hasn't helped. I am on day 9 of a cold/?flu. Still have body aches, head ache, runny nose, sore throat. For the first time since the onset of symptoms I actually have a low grade fever today(101.3). Err!! I am tempted to go get tested for the flu just so we know.

I can't wait to wake up in the morning feeling good. Hopefully soon!

Update: For the first time in 20 years, I have an ear infection. Strange! At least it is treatable hopefully the antibiotics will kick the infection quickly.

Thumbs Up

It's official -- Lainey is a thumb sucker. Apparently, she got the memo regarding the fact that I pull the nuk at 6 months and didn't like that idea so she found another way to sooth herself that I can't take away. It sure is cute!

Play Time

Lainey is a very social baby. She wants to see people and be a part of everything. She doesn't like if I leave the room. Thankfully, she likes the Bumbo chair and will sit and watch Erik play for about 20 minutes at a time.

Erik talks to Lainey and tells her about her toys and what they are doing. It is fun to watch.

Sleeping Beauty