3 year old Update

I have been meaning to do a post about what Erik is up to at 3 but keep putting it off. So here is what Erik is like at 3....


Eating...

Good eater -- likes most food.  Favorite vegetable is carrots.  Favorite overall food is probably pepperoni pizza although he can only eat homemade pizza.  He has gotten sick from takeout pizza multiple times - too greasy.


Sleeping...

Usually is asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 at night and sleeps until around 7:00 am.  Still takes a nap everyday - usually around 2 hours.  He occasionally wakes up at night -- this is usually because he was dreaming about something.

Personality...

Erik is a sweet little boy.  He is pretty laid back and easy going.  He loves to read, play with his trains and blocks, play outside, ride his trike, listen to stories on CD, play with Lainey and his friends, gymnastics class, and help me around the house.  He is soft spoken when in new situations but has learned how to stand up for himself if needed.  He has good social skills and seeks out social interactions but does not like being the center of attention.  I don't not think he will ever be the class clown. 

Discipline...

As a three year old he does have opinions and sometimes doesn't agree with the opinions of his parents.  He responds well to being given choices most of the time. It seems to work best when I stay completely calm and patient with him no matter how he is behaving.  I am good at this most of the time. If he is unable to cooperate/regain control I usually just put him in his room.  He calms down quickly most of the time and I usually find him reading a book.  I have spanked him very rarely- once ever 3-4 months.  Not my favorite form of discipline.  Hopefully at his 3.5 or 4 year old check up I will figure out something different to do in the moments nothing else seems to be working.

School....

No preschool this fall since we are moving.  I have been working with him a little at home.  He does recognize all his capital letters.  Y still gets called V at times.  He recognizes quite a few of his lower case letters but I don't know for sure how many.  b, p, and d are very confusing.  He counts to 13 before skipping numbers.  He recognizes the numbers 1-5 and 8 but this is a newer skill for him.  We are still working at it. 

Health...

I took him to see a naturopathic doctor this spring when his allergies were terrible.  Even with 3-4 allergy medicines he couldn't go outside last spring.  Anyway, since seeing the naturopathic doctor I have been able to stop all of his allergy medicine and reflux medicine.  He is taking Pulsatilla from the naturopathic doctor.

He still has a really sensitive stomach.  He throws up if he eats too much greasy food.  He seems to be bothered by lactose so we have him on lactose free milk.  He gets regular dairy products otherwise.

Food allergies - we have become more vigilant about making sure he has no exposure to any nut (although peanuts don't seem to bother him) and he has not had any reactions since then.  For a while we were thinking only walnuts would bother him -- this is NOT true.  All tree nuts are now on the list.


Stats.....

Height: 38 inches
Weight:  33 pounds (even)

Both fall around the 60%


Questionaire....

I asked Erik a few questions because I thought it would be fun to look back at a few years from now.

Answered by Erik around his 3rd birthday...

Favorite color -- green  (this has recently switched from pink)
Best friend -- Lainey
Favorite outdoor activity -- digging in the sandbox
Want to be when big -- Work with heavy shovels
Favorite food -- carrots with hummus
Favorite book -- Train stories -- books with red cabooses in them
What do you do with mommy that is fun -- play with us
Favorite animals -- zebras


Erik, you are a delightful little boy.  I am so glad to be your mom!

Prayer Request

Please pray for Austin and Terri who met and said good bye to their sweet baby boy Jake last night.  While this outcome was expected it is still a horrible shock and tragedy.  They are an amazingly strong couple but could still use as much support as they can get.

I hope that if I ever have to face adversity in my life I can approach it with half the strength and courage that they have.

Erik "randomly" told me on Monday...

"Mommy, do you know that when babies are born God picks them up and rocks them back and forth?"

I like to think that Jake is being rocked back and forth up in heaven. 

Thanks for your support.  Go hug your kids!

Hot!

This summer has been so so incredibly hot.  Really miserable and overall unenjoyable.  The average high temperature between June 1st and September 1st was 91 degrees. This is a record high average temperature for the DC area. Yuck!

Yesterday another record was set (or at least tied).  It has been 90+ degrees for 67 days so far this year. I think the average is around 35-40 so we have had an extra month of that crap!  I would not rule out another 2-3 days in the 90's before fall really sticks around. 

I'd have to say I am happy we hit a few records -- at least our "suffering" won't go undocumented!

Here is an article regarding the latest record met this weekend...

Summer heat

I am so thankful it wasn't this hot last year (or any other year we have been here really) because it would have been really difficult to go anywhere with a newborn and record heat.

Last winter was record breaking too -- for the most snow DC has ever received.  Weird!

Bring on the snow!

Notable Moments

1)  Erik trying to get want he wants at 8pm tonight...

Erik:  "Mom, I want to go in the backyard for a little bit."

Me: "Sorry honey, it is dark out."

Erik: " Just for 2 minutes?"

Me: "Nope, sorry."  He seemed fine with this and didn't complain.


(2 minutes later)

Erik:  "Dad, I want to go in the backyard for a little bit."

Victor: "Sorry Erik it is dark out."

Erik: "But Dad that is just what mom said!"

Victor: (with a smile on his face) "I know."

Nice try kid.


2)  Lainey's turn.....


Lainey LOVES Victor.  When we are both home she almost always wants to be by him instead of me.  This has been consistent for about a month.  I think it is pretty cute.  The last two nights she has had a hard time falling asleep because she isn't feeling well (fever of 101).  Guess who she cries for over and over from her bed??  Yep...  " Mama, mama, mama, mama...."  Silly baby.  Okay for me though as she actually let me rock her sleep tonight (for the first time since she was about 3 months old).  Normally the girl doesn't want anything to do with sitting on laps.

Lainey's Tricks/Words

I just did a 15 month update for Lainey but she has learned a lot of new tricks in the past 10 days so I thought she needed another update....


Words:
Up
Ball
Baby
Hot
Boo
Mama
Dada
Button (for belly button)
Choo Choo
Hot
Diaper
Specific "shriek" for Erik

Signs:
More
Please
Thank you (occasionally)

Animal Sounds:
Bear - roars very loudly -- her favorite
Dog--oof oof
Duck - quack quack
Cat--ow ow
Sheep -- baa


Body Parts:
Nose
Belly Button
Feet
Mouth- won't point at it but if you tell her to open her mouth she know what to do

Other Trick:
Pooped on the toilet for the first time today!

She was very proud and ticked when I took her off the toilet.  Thanks Julie (and Sonja) for the idea!  I just stuck her on the toilet after lunch (I knew she needed to poop). Erik read her a book and we told her to grunt and poop and she did.  I wasn't even in the room as Erik declared "she needed privacy."  Ha ha!  Funny baby/boy.  I think I may try to stick her on the toilet once a day just so she gets used to it.  I am guessing she will be very easy to potty train if she wants to do it (when older of course) but very difficult to train if she decides she doesn't want to be trained.  I might as well get her used to the idea when she has (less) opinions and gets excited about things like this.

Wedding Photos

Riding the train at the zoo

"Walking" down the aisle-- or rather discussing flower petals while they were supposed to be walking down the aisle.

They had fun going down the aisle!

Aren't Erik and Elliana the cutest kids ever? They sure were good buddies.  So fun to see.  They did well and made everyone chuckle as they walked down the aisle.  They were chatting and giggling all the way down the aisle about the fact that Elliana was dropping petals on the floor.  I think Erik was trying to show her that one fell on the floor instead of the white carpet but I am not sure.  Whatever it was they sure got a kick out of it.  Once the got down the aisle they gave Rob (the groom) a high five and then turned around and ran back.  Brad and I were standing in the back but they were supposed to walk past Rob and go sit with Julie.  Hee hee!  Pretty funny.

3 year photos

While I was in Nebraska one of Julie's friends took photos of Erik.  She has just started a photography business. 

Here is a link to the website with Erik's photos....

Erik turns 3

Make sure to look at the next group of photos too -- that is Julie's cute family.

I will get a disk with the photos on it so don't worry some of you may find these charming photos as Christmas presents.

Almost worth a separate trip back to Nebraska to get photos of Lainey! 

Thanks Ashley!

Blackmail Material/ Youtube Moment

Erik and I spent the last 4 days in Nebraska.  My cousin Ashley got married and Erik was a ring bearer.  We had a ton of fun and I will post more soon.  For tonight though I will leave you with an entertaining video....

Uncle Colin!

Dad and I also arranged to have a sorority girl come dance with Colin.  Ha ha!  I didn't get any good picture of that except for one where they dancing with Erik too.

We were so glad to see you Colin!  We love you -- thanks for being a good sport!

Pink

is Erik's favorite color and has been for about a year.

Today, after his gymnastics class, which happens to be 5 girls (who all wear leotards) and him, Erik told me he wanted me to get him a leotard.  (He does have a male teacher.)

I explained to him that those are usually just for girls but we could look for a boy gymnastics outfit.  At home he brought it up again so I tried to find a substitute on the computer.  I couldn't find anything at all and told him he would just have he would just have to wear normal clothes.

His response, "But mom, there are plenty of pink ones at the gym store!"

Sorry kid -- I think it is adorable that pink is your favorite color but you are not going to be wearing a pink leotard anytime soon.  :)

15 Months Old!

What are you up to now Lainey?

Eating:  You eat a wider variety of food now but not huge quantities of anything.  You generally don't like anything with sauce on it or soft textures -- yogurt, applesauce, etc. are all spit out.  Your favorite food is fruit -- grapes especially.  You have 8 teeth now.

Drinking:  You still can't tolerate much dairy -- gives you a diaper rash.  We have you on Rice milk instead -- you drink about 12-15 ounces a day.  I weaned you completely about a month ago - you did fine with that transition.

Sleep:  You sleep well at night.  7:30-6:30.  Rarely get up in the middle of the night (1-2x a month).  Naps are in transition now -- not ready to give up the morning nap completely but not always interested in 2 naps a day either.  This is proving to be a challenge for me because you are a crabby, crabby kid when you don't get enough sleep.  We took your "plug" away from you this month -- you did great.  Much better than I expected.

Activity:  You are a busy, busy baby girl!  Much busier than Erik was at this age.  You are constantly running, climbing, dancing, etc.  You do not like anything that requires you to sit still.  TV does not interest you at all.  Even reading is generally disliked although recently I have found if I make really obnoxious sound effects while reading I can get you to sit through A book (just one).

Talking:  Only words are... momma, dada, uck (yuck), butto (belly button), ello (hello -- when the phone rings), op (stop), cracker (inconsistent with this).  Signs:  More and please; also point to everything.  You are a smart little girl though and do not miss anything that is going on around you.  You can follow 2 step commands without any problem.  You seem to understand almost everything we are talking about.

Disposition:  Hmm.  First off you are really funny.  You have a sarcastic sense of humor -- which seems so advanced for your age.  I have seen you at times poke "fun" of Erik and then just laugh and laugh.  It is funny when you amuse yourself.  You are very playful and love to play chase, hide and seek, tickle, etc. You play this cute game with me when I put you to bed -- you want me to give your cows a kiss and then say, "Poe!"  You repeat this over and over and giggle giggle giggle.  So cute.

You are also very opinionated, strong-willed, and a little crabby.  You know what you want and if you can't have it that is very, very upsetting to you. I feel bad for you because I know how that feels!  I think the crabbiness may be secondary to the napping issue but I am not sure as you were never a real smiley - happy go lucky baby either.

Victor and I have decided that you have some traits from both of us....  Sarcastic, funny, always moving, opinionated, and strong-willed represent my traits.  The serious/crabby -- slow to smile traits represent Victor.  We will see if these traits carry through as you get older.

15 month Stats:

Length:  31.75 inches (86%)
Weight: 20.75 pounds (19%)

Very similar to my charts growing up -- definitely did not inherent Victor's short legs (shorter stature) and broad chest.  Probably good since you are a girl -- albeit I would be happy if my "chest" were a little bigger.

The doctor said we could add olive oil to your food if you continue to poke along on the weight gain.  I am not going to yet but if you don't gain much by 18 months we'll have to do something.  (You only gained 10 ounces in the past 3 months).  Mainly, due to the fact that you are super super busy and not a real great eater.

We love you more than you can ever know and are so glad you are part of our family!

Baby #3

Is officially facebook public now.  (Now you can tell all your friends Mom!)

I had an appointment this morning.  Our doctor did an ultrasound and everything looked normal.  The baby was not looking at us but it did kick and waves its hand at us.  Pretty amazing that they look like humans so quickly.   We did get one picture which I will scan in later.

Pregnancy Highlights:

 

How Far Along:12 weeks 3 days

 

Due date:  March 26th  (original due date was March 16th but both ultrasounds calculated due date on the 26th -- normal for me due to very irregular cycles)

 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Lost 3 lbs or so

 

Maternity Clothes: Nope -- can't tell at all

Sleep: I'm sleeping okay -- although 1-2x a week I seem to have pregnancy induced insomnia.  I take Benadryl when needed.

Cravings:Nothing super strong this time --carbs and eggs are my favorite. I can not eat any meat except deli meat and bacon. 

 

Symptons: My morning sickness was worse between weeks 6-10.  No vomiting.  Overall much easier then the last two pregnancies.  I'm not sure if it was really easier or if I am just better at tolerating not feeling well.  I of course am much more tired that normal but only needing to nap every other day now so it is improving.

Other:  The past 3 days I have not feel well at all.  I seem to have a stomach bug (hence the 3 pounds lost) --- horrible diarrhea.  Plus at my appointment today they told me I have a urinary tract infection.  I have not really had any symptoms (distracted by the stomach bug) but am now on antibiotics.  I am really, really hoping that I start feeling better soon and that no one else catches my stomach bug because Erik and I are flying to Nebraska Thursday. 


I am so thankful to be pregnant but also feel a little guilty that things have so far seemed to happen quickly (except for a slight delay with conceiving Erik) and as planned for us.  My heart is especially sad for those who are still yearning for healthy babies.  Go hug your kids and say a prayer for those who can't. 


We are very thankful for this sweet little baby and look forward to meeting it in March.

All By Myself

Can you guess what Erik likes to do "all by himself?"

Challenging my need for him to look coordinated and cute.

Oh well -- he's still cute even if his clothes don't match.

Sharing

Erik is usually very good about sharing his toys with Lainey.  For his birthday he got these neat magnetic "blocks" from Grandma Kay and Papa.  Erik is really good at building things; Lainey loves these blocks just as much if not more.  She likes to stack them.  These two activities are not compatible.

Lainey is really quite hilarious.  She screams and arches her back and runs if you try to take things from her.  She is really sneaky too -- the second Erik turns his back she sneaks in and grabs the block from the structure he was building.  If he takes it back from her she acts as though a great injustice has been done to her.

Erik of course is not innocent.  If she happens to have a block that he needs he seems to have no problems yanking it out of her hands.

He should watch out though -- I really ticked Lainey off yesterday while I was trimming her nails (she hates any activity that requires her to sit still) and she took a big bite out of my arm.

Here is what happened after they spent too much time fighting over the blocks tonight and the blocks ended up in "time out"....

Victor and I were amused -- they kids clearly were not.

"Thanks" grandma and papa.  The blocks may be sent back to your house if the fighting continues -- similar to what happened to the game "Sorry" Daron and I couldn't agree on.

Birthday Party for a 3 year old!

We had Erik's birthday party yesterday.  It had a construction theme -- Erik's favorite.  Sean, James, Evan, and Katie all came.   Here are some photos of the event...

Erik helping Sean put the sticker in the right spot

"Put the cone on the digger paper" game was a hit

We let the kids hammer nails into a board -very exciting for 3 year old boys.

It was been a very, very busy but fun week.  Happy Birthday Erik!

Prayer Requests

Update:
We have not heard anything at all regarding the showing yesterday.  Likely bad news but we don't know that for sure.  I'll let you know when we hear back.



Poor Erik's B-day post is being trumped!

Two things that could use some extra prayer..

1) Minor request...

Sale of our house in WI.  We have a potential buyer going through our house again tomorrow (2nd time this week).  Our biggest competition is with our neighbors although we have an extra bedroom and they are a short sale.  Just hoping and praying they pick us!  If they do we would be able to close on the WI house before we close on the Maryland house (October 15th) which would be financially very, very advantageous.  We will still be losing around $80,000 by the time we pay the realtor so it still is a less than ideal situation but better than not selling for another month or two.  They go through the house tomorrow at 9:30 am CST!

2)  Major request....

My cousin's family.  Terri is about 33/34 weeks pregnant and without a major miracle their baby Jake will die shortly after he is born.  I can't imagine surviving a loss like that.  They are truly some of the strongest people I know but will need all the extra help/prayers possible to make it through the next couple of months/year.  Her blog is www.austinandterri.blogspot.com. 

Thanks!

He's 3!

We celebrated Erik's birthday yesterday because Victor was able to take the day off of work.
The day started early!  5:00 am Erik was up wanting to open his presents.  He was crying and woke up Lainey so we headed downstairs and had presents open, kids dressed and and breakfast eaten by 6:15. 

Erik headed outside to use his new sandbox digger and I went to take a nap.  Victor, Lainey, and I all took short, rotating naps prior to leaving for the zoo.

We spent about 3 hours at the zoo and the rest of the day Erik just played and played with his new toys.

For dinner I had planned Erik's favorite meal -- homemade pepperoni pizza.  I make this about 3-4 times a month and it is always his favorite.  Victor was willing to put the pizza together while I went to the gym.  When I got home I was a little disappointed and slightly amused to find really inedible pizza.  Victor was seemingly unaware that the dough needed to be rolled out so the crust was about 1 in thick and raw.  So scrambled eggs replaced the pizza.  Oh Victor!  He needs to make dinner more often apparently.

After dinner our neighbor and her 2 year old knock on our door-- they had locked themselves out and her husband wouldn't be home for about an hour.  So Miles and Megan joined us in singing happy birthday and eating cupcakes.  They were a nice addition to make Erik's day seem special.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

It is such a joy to be your mom!

Thankful Thursday

I hope you had fun guessing! No one guessed the exact meaning of the photos but a few of you were really close.  I will put a few names and send someone a "prize" -- drawing from Erik--sometime soon.



Each of the photos represents something I am thankful for!

Photo #1-- Things I craved while pregnant with Erik.

Photos #2 -- Things I craved while pregnant with Elaina.


Photo #3-- Things I am craving while pregnant with number 3!


Photo #4 -- Things Erik's baby makes him eat/crave!  Ha ha!  Funny kid!

I sure have a lot of things to be thankful for!

Tricky Tuesday

Photo Contest:

Rules:
The photos in group A are all directly related but each means something on its own
The photo in group B is related to group A but not as closely
Appease me please and leave a comment regarding the significance of each of the photos
Be specific -- different meaning behind each photo
If anyone gets it right they will be entered to win a prize!
Answer will be posted Thursday morning!
Guesses sent via e-mail or facebook will not count towards winning the prize!
Have fun and Good luck!!

GROUP A:

1) Beer, Steak, Hot Dogs

2) Ice, Watermelon, Mac and Cheese

3) Tomato Soup; Bacon and Egg Sandwich

GROUP B:

4) Milk, Raisins, Cake

Potatoes

We are going to be eating a lot of potatoes in this house because we "dug" about 20-25 pounds yesterday.  Here is what has been made so far...

French Fries

Rosemary potatoes

Great Country Farms, part 2

Another fun thing at the farm was a giant "bouncy pillow."  Erik didn't want to go anywhere near it last spring but LOVED it today.  It was so cute.  He was bouncing so hard his shorts fell off (more than once). 

Jumping Video:  Erik jumps


Erik, Lainey, and I all rode the cow train too -- seats pulled behind a tractor.  Lainey rode in her own car.  I thought I should ride along too in case she freaked out but I really didn't need to be there -- she liked it as much as Erik. 

Don't I look a little ridiculous in the small cow car?

Great Country Farms, part 1

The weather here is finally nice out (80 and sunny) and we have been taking advantage of it!  Friday we went to the zoo, Saturday we spent the morning at a giant playground (Clemenjontri) and today we harvested potatoes and played at Great Country Farms all day!  Fun fun!  It finally feels like the brutal summer heat is almost ending (2 more 90+ days forecast this week).  Spring and fall are wonderful seasons here -- long and warm.  Great outdoor weather.

Corn playground - a big hit with both kids

Vroom vroom!

Potato plant

Freshly tilled ground - the tractor had just finished this row when we got there.  Easy picking!

Not sure if she was putting potatoes in or taking them out!

Santa Miin

Grandpa Miin and Irene sent Erik a new balance bike for his birthday.  Thanks!  Normally, I don't let him have access to his presents until his birthday but he saw the box when it was delivered.  He was very excited and this weekend should be a good bike riding weekend so we gave it to him early.

I told him that his Grandpa Miin had sent it to him.  When Victor got home Erik excitedly told him that he had gotten a new bike from, "MY santa Miin!"  Apparently, he thought I said santa instead of Grandpa.  Both provide presents.  Pretty funny! 

Anyway, he tried it out tonight and had fun.  I think it will take him a while to get the hang of it and really pick his feet up and ride the bike but he will get there.  It will be fun to watch him try.

Videos of First Bike Ride:


Erik

Elaina