Aug 18-25: 2 Months old

We have had a few changes in our lives this past week - Erik changed rooms at his daycare, Elin turned 2 months old and I made a major career decision.

This past week I made the decision to not return to work at the end of my maternity leave (though, I will probably be part-time for awhile to train my replacement).  Being a stay-at-home Mom is something that I've always wanted to do, but things didn't work out when we had Erik.  Everything seemed to "line up" this time and so I get to stay home with my kids!!  It was very difficult to leave Erik at daycare, even knowing that he enjoyed himself and was learning a lot.  Kent and I have also been struggling to keep up with all the demands at work and home, so it will be good to have someone managing the home front, so to speak.  It was harder to made the final decision than I was anticipating and so, being a procrastinator, I delayed as long as I could before having to decide.  I will definitely miss the work environment and all my co-workers.  But I'm very excited about staying at home and spending lots of time with my babies!

Erik goes to daycare at the local Jewish Community Center and they function their daycare program in the same manner as a school.  The daycare calendar is the same as the school year and the babies & toddlers in the daycare program change rooms in August when the new school year starts.  Erik moved to a new daycare room on August 19 for 2-years-old.  Since I'm now staying at home, we switched him to the part-time program, so he only goes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.  He really enjoys the range of activities that the JCC offers.

Erik's latest accomplishment is counting and singing.  He will pull items out of a box or bag while counting and then put them back in, counting them again. He generally does pretty good with his numbers up to 12, but prefers to have someone count with him.  He will also often skip 1 and 2 and start his counting with "free, four, five, etc".  He will also skip nine at times.  Kent normally does the night time routine with Erik of bath time, pajamas, prayer and milk.  I try to get there for the prayer and final goodnights.  Then Kent will cuddle with Erik on his chair while Erik drinks his milk before putting him into his bed.  We play a music CD of instrumental hymns and Kent began singing the words to the "Jesus Loves Me" song.  Erik can now sing the song almost entirely through; but he usually will just sing the last word of each line!  It is so cute to hear him singing the song.  I've tried to sing with him during the day, but he has decided that singing means bedtime, so when I start to sing, he will wave his arm at me and say "Mama, no singing"!  I hope that it's not because he hates my singing!!!

Erik with one of his teachers, Ms. Abreu

Elin turned 2 months old this week; at her monthly doctor appointment, she weighed in at 11 pounds, 4 ounces and is now 22 inches long.  Both measurements are on the 50th percentile line of the growth charts.  Elin's latest accomplishments are increased arm movements and cooing.  She has captured the toys on her carseat on a couple different occasions and been able to drag them closer to her.  She has always been vocal and, in the past week, she has started to coo, gurgle and "talk".  She loves it when someone will get close and talk to her.  She will smile and coo to them.  She and I have carried on several "conversations".  She has told me that her favorite things are eating, sleeping and getting hugs from Big Brother Erik!

Elin at 2 Months Old

Erik, Daddy and Elin

Our 2 kiddos: Erik 2 yrs old, Elin 2 months old.  I love the expression on her face!

We were able to visit with some of our favorite people, Katelyn & Karli Pettijohn, before they head back up to Southern for another school year.  Katelyn & Karli used to babysit Erik before they left us for Southern, so it was fun to introduce them to Elin.  We couldn't manage a picture with both kids, so the below photo is only with Erik.

Katelyn and Karli Pettijohn

Random Photos of the Week:

Kent & Erik at Sabbath School

My Little Man!