The Johnson's: Aug 24 - 30: Does that Make You Happy?

I'm getting close to being caught up - this is the last entry that I need to post to be done - I'm so excited!! Let's see if I can catch you all up on what the kids are doing/acting lately. Both kids have adapted to being back at home for the past week and a half very well. Erik started a new "school year" on August 18 (he missed the first day); he is in a class for 2 & 3 years old and has 2 new teachers, who are wonderful. When I took him on Wednesday, he had no qualms about me leaving him (that didn't happen last year); his new classroom has Thomas train toys which I'm sure helped ease the pain of being left!! I think that Erik is one of the older kids in the room this year, which is great by me since he has always been the youngest in the past. By the end of this week, his teachers told me that Erik acts like a big brother to some of the other kids in the room, particularly to one little boy who is blond & blue-eyed. Erik will direct the little boy to where he needs to go and will hold his hand when the class has to go to assemblies or other rooms for various classes (music, Judiaca, etc). So proud of him!

On the other side of the equation, Erik has been trying to use kisses, pouting and hugs to get out of time-out! When he is in time-out, I let him sit there until I'm ready to talk to him about why he was sent there and then he can get up. Lately, when I come to talk to him, he will listen to me talk for a few minutes and will then lean forward and give me a kiss & a hug. He refuses to answer questions or admit to misbehaving. What a little turkey! The first few times it happened, I had a really hard time not laughing, but then the humor wore off! We told him that he couldn't get up until he answered our questions about what he had done wrong. It is so frustrating when we ask him questions and he acts like he can't hear us or says "what?"!

Kent has been teaching Erik about family relationships and I will often hear Erik tell Elin that she is his sister, Kent is his Daddy, etc. When we got to the lake and Erik saw Mary & Roger, he told Kent "There is your Mommy and that is your Daddy!" Super cute. Other funny things that Erik has said lately is "My ears are growing", "Daddy is so sad that I hurt myself", "I can't until I'm older", "when I'm grown, I'll try to eat [insert any new food item here: soup, vegetables, etc]". We've also been working with him on the various emotions - happy, sad, disappointed, upset, etc. When Erik is naughty or sassy, we tell him that we are not happy with him or that his behavior has made us upset. Erik seems to be picking up on it and after doing something (or not doing something), he will often ask us "Does that make you happy?"

A picture I left out of the lake posts. Erik sitting "in" a tree at the lake!

Elin has also started to offer kisses when she is told no! What is it with these kids?! Elin started her trick the week before we went to the lake. She likes to drop her water cup onto the kitchen floor; when Kent or I tell her "no-no" her response is to pucker up her lips, lean towards you and say "na-no"! Elin likes to hold her hands out, palms up, with a hopeful expression on her face, when she wants something/someone. I think that I've posted a picture of her holding palms out in a previous blog, but we finally got some better shots of her doing it when we were at the lake.

Elin continues to struggle with teething. She now has 11 teeth - all 8 of her incisors plus 3 molars. However, the last few molars to pop out caused sleeplessness, fever and some congestion. While we were at the lake, she started waking up a few times each night as well as coughing. As a result, both she & I were a bit worn down by the time we got home (I got up with her every night to help her get back to sleep and to hopefully prevent her from waking up everyone else in the cabin). Elin's cough kept getting worse, so I finally took her to the pediatrician and we were prescribed nebulizer treatments of Albuterol. Elin also had some slight fluid build-up in her ears, but nothing that would require antibiotics. By the end of the week, Elin's cough is getting much better and she is sleeping through the night again. She still has audible chest congestion and she has shared enough of her germs with me that I'm also sick with a sore throat and ear aches. I cannot wait until we are done with teething!

I didn't take many new pictures since we got home from the lake, so I'm including some more photos from the family photo shoot that we did in early July. Enjoy!!