August 5-18: Nana & Pops' Visit

My parents were able to come down for the first week of August - in addition to it being wonderful to see them, their visit really turned out to a blessing for us.  Nana & Pops saved my bacon in getting ready for Erik's birthday party on August 5 and then they were able to serve as built-in baby-sitters while Erik's daycare was closed for a good part of the week.  We decided to go ahead and keep Erik at home all week with my parents so that they could have bonding time.  My parents also made sure that supper was ready & on the table when Kent & I got home from work.  What a wonderful gift that was for us!  I think that even with all their chores, my parents had a good time while they were here!!  The last day that they were here, we met up with Tim Putt and took some family photos to commemorate Erik's 12 months.  I've included a few shots from that session.

Family Photo taken on Aug 12

Another Family Photo - can't see to get Erik to smile in the group shots!

On August 7, our friends Amy & Karis had their baby girl!!  Amy had been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions as well as feeling generally unwell for weeks and had been very worried that she would go into premature labor.  Her baby girl had other ideas, though, and arrived exactly on her due date!  Addison Grace joins the Zbaraschuk clan and has made her two older brothers, Zachary & Kaleb, ecstatic!

Addison Grace Zbaraschuk

Some of Erik's recent accomplishments in the past few weeks:
1.  Erik will walk if we hold his hands
2.  He can stand alone for a few seconds
3.  He loves to use push toys - he goes fast and straight.  He can't turn the toy, but he is generally laughing the whole time that he is running into things!
4.  He is getting more cuddly; he gives hugs and he will wrap arms & legs around me when I pick him up off changing table (he hates having diaper changed now and will cry  - we can usually get him to stop if we sing or give him a toy).
5.  He started to blow kisses on his own!  We were all playing in pool and when Kent paddled the raft with Erik on it away from me, Erik waved and then blew me a kiss! (I actually wrote down the date on this one - August 18!)
6.  He may be a biter - thankfully, he only takes the occasional chomp to me & sometimes to Kent right now, but we will definitely have to watch out for him
7. He holds his arms out with palms up and a pleading look in his eyes when he wants to be picked up
8. Nana & Pops are convinced that Erik is trying to talk - they heard him say his name, "i see you" (when playing hide & seek).  I've also heard "all done" and "thank you".  He's been saying "du" lately - can't figure out what that means yet.
9. Erik is thankfully a pretty good eater, although his appetite ebbs & flows, so I'm never exactly sure how much he will eat.  He loves carbs - cheerios, any form of cereal (hot or cold), bread and hummus which he will eat on cracker, chip, pita bread, whatever.   He also will almost always eat bananas, strawberries, blueberries and grapes.

Erik looking like a little Dutch boy!

Cutey Pie