Oct 19-25: Nana & Pops!

Nana & Pops Chalker drove 18 hours from Ohio to come spend the weekend with us - but they came especially to attend a special program for grandparents at Erik's school on Friday morning.  Erik has never had any of his grandparents in town for this annual program, so I, for one, was very excited that Erik would have someone to attend the program with him.  Nana & Pops arrived on Thursday morning around 9AM and Erik came down with the 24-hour stomach bug around 4PM.  Yep, you read that right.  Nana & Pops got to Florida after 18 hours just in time to see Erik puke up his guts.  I really do hate puke.  The first episode required that both Erik & I had to take showers & start a load of laundry.  The poor kid, he had it bad.  He had the dry heaves about 5 times after the first time.  He would puke after just having one teeny, tiny ice chip.  He would kinda choke as he had the dry heaves which freaked me out, so I spent the night on his floor.  Erik thought it was just fabulous that he had company overnight and he woke up around midnight to take full advantage of this golden opportunity.  It took me awhile to get him back to sleep; it was a long night for me.

I mentioned this in last week's blog, but this week is the first time that I've had to deal with a child sick with a stomach bug.  I've been so lucky to have gone 3 1/2 years puke-free, but that ended with a vengeance this week with Elin getting sick on Sunday night and Erik on Thursday.

The rest of the weekend visit was very low-key, though we were able to sneak in a visit with my Uncle Phillip on Sabbath.  We were very sad to see Nana & Pops leave at the end of the weekend.  Their visit was way too short and sadly, Elin was just starting to warm up to Nana & Pops.  She kept asking for me to pick her up and then waving Bye-Bye to Nana the entire weekend; I'm sure that Elin was worried that I was going to leave her with this new baby-sitter.

Funny Story Elin-Style:
She has recently learned to put her finger over her mouth and say "SSSSSS"; she did it to me the other morning.  We were in the kitchen and she walked back into my bedroom looking for Kent.  I followed her and called out to her.  She stopped, turned around and told me to "SSSSS" and then she grinned, turned back and went to find Kent.  I think she might have been trying to sneak up on him!!!!

Funny Story Erik-Style:
This weekend, Erik decided that he was going to clean up a mess on the kitchen table so he jumped up from his chair to grab a paper towel.  On his way back to the table, he passed by Kent's chair and told Kent, "I'm cleaning up that mess.  Don't move"!!  My guess is that this is from when Erik dropped his piggy bank and I had to sweep up the glass shards while telling Erik to "not move a muscle."  He didn't listen to that so good.

Group shot with Uncle Phillip

Erik and I after Sabbath School

Elin chilling with Pops at church

Pops & Erik at Sabbath School

Kiddos with Pops & Nana before they left

Elin showing off her "Bye Bye" wave.  She finally let Nana hold her just before they left!

Oct 12-18: We Forgot My Skates!

So, my thankfulness last week that I wasn't still sick with a cold while the kids were sick totally came back to haunt me!  I woke up Sunday morning with severe stomach cramps that progressed quickly to icky symptoms.  I was sick all day; it was an absolutely dreadful day, even though I was able to lay around in bed all day!  On the bright side, it was only a 24-hour bug and I was able to get up and resume my Mommy duties on Monday.  Kent should be thrilled that I was so considerate and got sick on the weekend rather than a weekday!!  We have been super fortunate that I was the only one that got sick - thankfully, no one else has gotten sick.
     Side note: Of course, just as I finished writing the above paragraph, I heard Elin coughing and when I glanced at the baby monitor, I saw that she had thrown up in her sleep and her crib was a mess.  Yuck.  I've gone 3 1/2 years without having a child get the flu and puke (I'm not counting the infant spit-ups and picky eater gagging here).  Poor little Elin was so tired that she just sat calmly through the entire process of me cleaning her up and changing her pajamas and then stood patiently next to me as I cleaned up her crib and put a new sheet on her mattress.  Every once in a while, she would give me a sweet little smile and sway a little bit, but I couldn't get her to sit or lie down.  Kent came into the room just as I finished and he sat down with her and rocked her back to sleep.  That was her only incident, so I think she might have gotten an upset tummy from something she ate for supper.

Looking back on the rest of the week, I can't really remember what we did that was out of the ordinary.  I took both kids grocery shopping on Tuesday as I didn't feel quite up to par on my normal day for grocery shopping (Monday).  We all survived that only thanks to the power of modern technology and YouTube videos!  Thankfully, we can find Baby Einstein videos to watch, which both kids enjoy and I feel okay about letting them watch.  All the Beginner Bible videos have been wiped clean from YouTube so we can't watch those anymore; I thought they were wonderful and miss them greatly.  I've tried to find them on Amazon and am a bit shocked that I've not been able to find them there or anywhere else yet.  If you know where I can get some, let me know!!

We also had swimming lessons on Monday & Wednesday afternoons this week.  Yes, yes, I know, it is October but when you live in Florida even the outdoor pools can stay open through the end of November!  Both Erik & Elin seem to really enjoy their lessons and rarely fuss or cry before or during the lesson.  Now, if Erik would only listen to his teacher and follow instructions!  He gets a little distracted during his lessons and starts saying really random stuff, such as "My shorts have flowers on them" and "That guy is swimming" and "Where is Miss Sasha (Elin's teacher)? Oh, there she is!" and "I hear sirens" and so on.  You get the idea!

I did shore up my courage and took the kids to the library on Thursday.  I've found it is so much better if I can get Erik out of the house and doing something each day.  Otherwise, he ends up in time-out, Elin ends up crying a lot and I end up yelling a lot and then praying for forgiveness & patience!  However, library visits are always a bit scary since both kids love to explore the various shelves (aka hide from Mommy) and Elin figured out recently that yes, she can pull books down faster than Mommy can grab them to keep them on the shelves.  The kids' section of the library also has computers at cute, little kid-sized desks - a positively dreadful thing for my little angels!  They both love to sit in the chair and see how they can crash the computer.  A few weeks ago, both Erik & Elin worked in tandem to nearly destroy one machine - Erik froze the screen and then Elin pushed a few buttons which restarted the computer in Safe Mode.  Thankfully, I was able to get the PC working again and I've learned to never let their tiny, little fingers touch the keyboard without me standing over their shoulder guiding them.

Friday this week was my Mommy day!  Earlier this year, Kent had gifted me a day where he would keep the kids all day so that I could do anything I wanted!  Our schedules finally worked out so that I could take my day and I was out the door by 8:30AM!  I ran quite a few errands, had a chiropractor appointment and met Amy for lunch.  It was very nice to be able to zip in & out of stores or linger over the clothing racks, depending on my whim!!  Kent had a good time with the kids; he played with them at home and then took them to his office for a little bit so he could pick up some things he had forgotten on Thursday.  We ended the day by having supper with the Zbaraschuk & Cochran families.  Kent got lucky on that one as I was going to insist he do all the cooking & cleaning as well on my day off!!

And now, an entry from a guest writer - Kent!:
On Saturday night, I took Erik to his first sporting event - a Solar Bears ice hockey game.  My boss gave me two of their season tickets.  We sat mid-rink 10 rows back so we had really good seats. Erik was pretty excited about it considering he didn't really know what he was going to see!  He sat on my lap whenever he was sitting down, as the movie style chairs proved to be a very unstable experience for him.  He wasn't heavy enough to prevent it from being more like a teeter totter than a chair! He was very attentive for the pre-game introductions and most of the first period.  We had chips and popcorn to chew on so that kept him occupied.  He got scared twice when the canons went off during the starting line-ups.  At the end of the first period he asked me if we could go back.  I'm not sure where "back" was, but we went up on the concourse and walked around and bought some souvenirs (little hockey stick and a puck) and a refill on our $8 drink.  We were well hydrated! We went and sat back down for most of the 2nd period and about half of the third.  I let him watch some videos on my phone to keep him occupied.  I brought headphones which proved to be a good idea.  I couldn't believe the number of fights at the game.   After we got home he informed us that he & Daddy had forgotten his skates and helmets!  The ticket attendant at the game gave us a free knitted stocking hat for him to wear at the game.  It wasn't actually that cold but he did wear it for most of the evening.  He was excited by the whole experience and is anxious to learn how to ice-skate now.  RDV Sportsplex near our house has skating so we will see what he thinks of that at some point.

Erik at the game (love his spiky hair!)

Trying out the seat

Wearing his free hat

Showing off his cool souvenirs 

Okay, back to Kelli:

Erik had a funny moment this weekend that showed how my "parent-isms" can come back to get me. We were all getting into the car to go somewhere and Erik asked that I sit in the back between him & Elin.  I normally comply with his request, but this time I said that I wanted to sit up front with Daddy and that Daddy wanted me to sit with him.  Erik looked at me and said very clearly, "You are going to sit in the back with me and you are going to be happy about it!"  I sat in the back and didn't fuss at all about it!

In the World of Elin, she has learned how to shake her hand for No-No.  She now loves to do something that she's not supposed to do (i.e. drop things off her highchair tray, hit my arm, try to remove the book cover from library books) and then tell us No-No with the hand motion!  Elin has also adopted a very cute mannerism this week where she will just start to giggle or laugh.  If you giggle back at her, she will just keep going & going.  I've never figured out what sets her off initially, but it is hard to resist a giggling baby!

Random Photos:

Elin cuddling with Daddy

Elin verifying that, yes, she does have a belly button!

She may be trying to tell us something here - I guess she's ready for bed!

Loving on each other or close-quarter combat?!

Elin as a mouse in Sabbath School

Elin in Sabbath School 

Elin loves to snuggle after her bath!  So sweet

Oct 5-11: Kelli and the Snake

For those of you that don't know, I hate, hate, HATE snakes. I'm sure that I never would have liked them, but my absolute loathing of them was completely solidified during my academy years when my 2 pesky, little brothers decided it would be cool to go snake-hunting and then bring the varmints home as pets.  I have several horrific memories of their snakes getting out of their cages and roaming loose throughout the house (my room was next to theirs - yikes) as well as a particularly traumatic experience when Kalvin chased me around the yard with a snake.  Anyway, I try to be a grown-up about snakes these days and not be so freaked out, but that all fell by the wayside this week.

On Tuesday, I was in the kitchen clearing up after lunch and the kids were playing in the living room by their bookshelves.  All of a sudden, Erik starts calling out "Mommy, a 'nake, a 'nake!"  My heart stopped.  When Erik says that he sees something, he is usually 99.9% correct.  I went running over there, yelling "stay away, don't touch it".  And sure enough, there was a snake lying under one of their books that was on the floor.  I don't know if one of the kids had startled the snake or how they spotted it, but Elin was crouched right next to it while Erik was kneeling on his chair nearby.  I grabbed Elin and plunked her down in her highchair so that she couldn't get back to the snake and then told Erik was stay right by Elin (he didn't). I then ran to get gloves and a towel so I could pick up the snake.

Now, let's be clear, it was a tiny baby snake, but a snake is a snake and I needed protection!  I really didn't want to go through the next few minutes.  I decided I couldn't do it alone, so I called Kent.  When he answered, I told him that there was a snake in the house, right in the living room and that the kids had found it.  Kent kind of sighed and said that he guessed he was coming home then.  I told him that I was "manning up" and would take care of it, but I didn't want to do it alone and that he had to stay on the phone with me.  I unlocked the front door so I would have a fast escape path.  I went back to the snake which was thankfully in the same spot & I didn't have to hunt for it.  I nudged the book off the snake with my foot (thinking why oh why didn't I have on cowboy boots or something instead of stupid flip-flops) and then described it to Kent.  I thought that since it was all black (except for a yellow ring around the neck) that it must be non-venomous.  I reached down to pick it up and it slithered away.  I screamed.  I tried to pick it up again only to have it slide away again.  I screamed again.  Realized that Kent was actually in a meeting with someone when I heard him say "She's screaming now"; I decided I didn't care who heard me.  Hello - I was having to deal with a snake!  Finally got a grip on the snake through both the towel & the glove and ran with it to the front door. Screaming the whole time.  I dumped the snake outside in one of the landscaped areas.  I stopped screaming & went back inside (calmly - at least in my mind).

I told Kent that the snake was taken care of and that I needed to go hyperventilate.  I hung up and then actually did start to hyperventilate.  I had to bend over & put my head between my knees.  It was about this time that I realized that Erik had been following me the whole time (thankfully he didn't get underfoot); he looked at me, curled his arms against his chest, shivered and said "Ooh, 'nakes, I scared of 'nakes."  Poor kid.  I gave him a big hug, told him that he was super brave and that he wasn't to be scared like me.    I am a little embarrassed that I made such a big deal over such a tiny snake, but honestly, I couldn't stop screaming.  I had a tiny moment's temptation to step on it & kill it, but yuck.  That, plus, I could picture Kalvin's horrified face in my mind.  He would have disowned me and, even after all the snake terrors he put me through, I still love him.  Oh, by the way, I looked up the snake later and found out that it is a ringneck snake which is non-venomous to humans, but they do bite (they have back fangs).  Are they still non-venomous to little humans, like my tiny baby girl?  If I had seen it bite Elin or Erik, that thing would be d.e.a.d dead. (ha, ha, I write that with utter confidence in my own ability & courage, but then I remember the screaming!)

The type & size of the snake in my house - NOT the actual snake

Okay, back to regular stuff.  Last week, Kent had his 2nd trip in 3 weeks - this time it was budget review meetings in Kentucky/Tennessee - so he was gone Monday through Thursday.  He was able to stay home from work on Friday last week, which was wonderful!  We went for a family bike ride, played at a park, read stories and had a great day together.  Sadly, we are still a household of illness; Erik has missed school most of the past 2 weeks as he has caught the nasty cough/cold that the rest of us are (mostly) recovered from.  Elin, while over her cough, developed a low-grade fever at the end of this week which I hope is due to teething (she is still missing all 4 of her canine teeth & the lower ones look like they may be on the verge of breaking through).  Having 2 kids under the weather is definitely the pits especially while being a single parent for part of last week; I am super thankful that I'm not also sick.  I do have to admit to having a rather low supply of patience, though.  Why do sick children cry at the drop of a hat  and why don't they tell you what they really want?!  Erik has become the king of waffling this week with his asking for something, crying when he gets it and then crying when I take it back in an attempt to stop the crying.  Due to Erik's cough/runny nose & Elin's fever, we decided to stay home from church & Sabbath this weekend and had a quiet family day instead.  And after all the stress of the past few weeks, it was a wonderful way to spend the Sabbath.

Kent & the kids getting ready for our family bike ride

We started off this week with a trip to the Orlando Science Center on Sunday with our friends, the Martin family.  We visited the dinosaur exhibit and the new bat exhibit that they have (in honor of Halloween, I guess).  I hate bats, too.  I can't decide if I hate bats more than snakes.  It's a toss-up.  I remember that we used to get bats in our house when we lived in Wisconsin and Dad would chase them around the kitchen with a broom or bat trying to get them out of the house.  Yuck, rats with wings.  Kent said that he once had a bat hitch a ride on the back of his shirt once while he was working out in the fields; it hung on him for so long that when Kent went home, there was a clear imprint on his shirt from where the bat had been clinging to his back.  That would freak me out!  Is anyone surprised that I'm not a vet or zookeeper?!!

The kids & I at the OSC dinosaur dig

Erik hugging on Elin at lunch after the OSC

On Monday, Elin & I went to the monthly story time at Leu Gardens in Winter Park after dropping Erik off at school.  We ended up not staying for the whole time because little missy wouldn't hold still & listen to the story.  She also had a near blow-out and I discovered that I didn't have anymore of her diapers with me, so she got to try out Erik's diapers that are 2 sizes too big!  And yes, I had left the house with an extra diaper for Elin, but used it just after dropping Erik off at school when Elin went #2 there.  It was a busy morning!!

Elin wandering through story time

Still wandering, but getting close enough to grab!

 After our excursion on Monday, the rest of the week settled into our normal routine of school, play, swimming lessons, naps, etc (skipping over the Tuesday afternoon snake adventure, of course!).  We ended the work-week with a lovely Friday night supper at the Zbaraschuk household.  It was so nice to spend time with them; with our various illnesses, it has been awhile since we've gotten together with them.

Erik ended the week with a first time event - he said his own night-time prayer, all by himself!  I was putting Elin to bed, so I didn't get to witness it, but Kent told me about it.  Erik knelt down (a major accomplishment in & of itself), folded his hands and then he said a prayer that included "Please keep [insert your name here] safe" - he prayed this for nearly everyone he could think of, so I'm sure you were included!  He also prayed that all of us would get better and that Jesus would "Help  Erik go to sleep".  Erik praying on his own is a wonderful accomplishment and I hope it continues!  Normally, Erik is rolling around on the floor during bedtime prayers or otherwise creating a disturbance.  At mealtimes, Erik has also developed a cute habit where he will fold his hands, close his eyes, say one line of the prayer himself and then peek out of one eye and whisper to Kent or I "go ahead"!  It is terribly cute.

Random Photos:

Elin getting a phone call

Still talking 

Solemn Elin in the swing

Happy Elin in the swing

One of Elin's funny sleep postures!

Elin learning how to stack blocks 

Her tallest stack yet - 6 blocks!

Playing one of her favorite games - "Pretend I'm sleeping"

Ha - ha - I'm awake!

Sept 28-Oct 4: Bellies & Babies

Just in case you let out a loud gasp at the title of this blog entry, the babies are dolls and the belly is Elin's, so leave me out of it!! In the past few weeks, both Erik & Elin have been playing with Elin's dolls (or "dawlly" as Erik calls them).  Erik loves to wrap the doll in a little blanket (square burp cloths work great) and then then pat the baby on the back.  A few weeks ago in Sabbath School, there was a song about babies & Mommies and all the kids get a doll to hold. Erik took the doll, patted its back and then raised his shirt and tried to nurse the baby!!  The teacher noticed and gave me a wide-eyed look - I could only shrug & laugh!  I cannot convince him that only Mommies can nurse a baby; he is so disappointed that he can't get Elin to nurse on him!  Elin also likes to give her baby dolls a hug and pat their back.  However, she isn't picky about whether the doll is right side up or if it is even a doll (see picture of her hugging a toy car below)!

Erik giving his dawlly some love

Elin hugging & rocking a toy car

Patting her doll (no matter that it's upside down)

Dolly is right-side up, but I was holding Elin & the camera, so not the greatest shot

Elin is learning body parts.  She can accurately point to her nose, eyes and ears and is pretty good with cheeks, chin & mouth.  She does have a tendency to pinch as she grabs her cheeks, so if you play the game with her - beware!!  She also loves to point to her belly.  She will walk around the house, pull up her shirt and then touch her belly button.  Sometimes, I think she does it to make sure that it is still there!  I've tried to get a good picture of her performing this trick, but my phone doesn't have the greatest camera and she won't repeat the trick endlessly for me to give me the perfect shot!

The best picture I've been able to get of this trick - sorry it's so blurry

The kids both recently had their regular, well-visit with the doctor.  I scheduled the appointments at the same time, thinking to get everything done at once.  However, on the way to the doctor, I started to question the wisdom of my plan.  Erik is pretty easy to keep occupied with YouTube videos, but Elin loves to walk around & touch everything and then throw everything on the floor or in the garbage can.  We had a rather long wait and Elin was reaching her breaking point just as the doctor arrived.  I had just gotten her to sit in a  chair when he walked in, so he thought that I had remarkably well-behaved children!  Ha!  Both kids checked out great, even with Elin's cough.  The doctor said that her lungs and ears are clear and that a cough is just going around.  Elin continues to gain weight & inches, but is also staying very low on the charts: she is at the 3% line for weight and the 50% line for height.  Erik is at the 75% line for both height & weight - this visit was the first time that we got a prediction for Erik - he will be 6 feet 2, at least, when he is grown!

Elin Update:

• Elin loves to go to Erik's room to get him up in the morning or after his nap.  She will make the sign that we made up for Erik and then point towards his room.  On a few afternoons, she has even attempted to sneak away from me and get into Erik's room before his nap is over.

Elin doing the sign we made up for Erik

• Elin still loves everything about nursing; she will ask for snuggle time several times during day by reaching for the top of my shirt, laying her head on my chest and making smacking sounds with her lips!  I still nurse her 3-4 times a day; I tried to cut down to only 3 times back in mid-August, but bumped it up to as many as 6 times after the doctor told me in early Sept to nurse as often as I could to help Elin get over her cough/cold.  That was hard, but thankfully, I'm back to 3-4 times a day.
• Elin is great little eater - she wants whatever is on my or Kent's plates and eats almost everything we give her.  She also wants to feed herself and does pretty good with the spoon!  She loves enchiladas, guacamole, beans, vegetables (broccoli, green beans and peas are particular favorites); she doesn't want baby food much anymore.  She will often point to the table and then shake head yes or no when we hold up the various items.  Sometimes, she says no to everything and then squawks when nothing is given to her!  Umm, what do you want then?!
• She has started to attempt a few words - "ooze" for shoes, "is" for this (one of the words she will use as she points to a full table), na-na (for night-night), ah-da for (all done), dada, maaamaa (always long & drawn out), mee-mee (when she wants something that Erik is getting).  She also does the signs for more, milk, all done, please, thank you and is working on sorry.
• She continues to squirm on the changing table during diaper changes but she will hold still for about 10 seconds if you can find something for her to hold and be entertained by.  If you put her down on the table and she is unhappy about it, she will cry and then cover her eyes with her little hands - or she will fling her arms up over her head, scrunch her eyes shut and wail with her mouth open wide!!  I find it rather cute - with the added bonus that she holds still while going through her dramatics and I can usually get her diaper changed before her performance is over!
• I love her tiny hands - she has long skinny fingers and tiny palms.  I think they are just darling.
• Elin loves to giggle, play night-night and crawl around on Mama & Daddy's big bed. She likes to hide under the pillows or comforter and wait for us to find her!
• Elin likes to empty out her crib when you come to pick her up after naps/in morning

Erik's Update:

• Erik loves to build forts or houses with the living room pillows and blankets.  In the past week, he has upgraded from building forts to creating jumping pads on the floor.

• Erik has begun standing with his arms crossed and his hands tucked under/around elbows.  I'll try to post a picture soon, but it is a super cute pose and very reminiscent of how Kent stands!
• So far, Kelli is not thrilled with the "3's".  Erik is regressing on EVERYTHING lately: he won't feed himself, he won't try to dress or undress himself, he wants to be carried "like a baby" and he has completely stalled out on potty training.  Erik was doing pretty well for about 10 days, but then completely stopped.  He refuses to sit on the potty now and if we make him sit there, he screams bloody murder and squirms to get off the seat.  He hides when he has to go #2 now; I've tried to follow him and get him on the potty but that hasn't worked out for us either.  Erik refuses to say that he is a big boy.
• Erik wants to direct everything that Elin does; he especially likes to tell her "Elin, no no no no no no.  Oh dear.  That doesn't go there."
• Erik is learning that "Daddy's name is Kent.  Mommy's name is Kelli.  Baby Sister's name is Baby Sister"!!  He rarely calls her Elin!
• Funny Story #1: One morning a few weeks ago, we stopped at a red light next to a local high school's football field.  Erik looked out his window, saw the field and asked if that was a football field.  When I told him that it was, he began asking where the Vikings were! I had to call Kent and share the story right away.  Kent seems to be creating another little Vikings fan already!
• Funny Story #2: On Oct 1, we had swimming lessons in the rain!  I used a single stroller rather than the double one and Erik insisted on pushing it.  He did really good at steering the stroller and only ran into a few door frames!  As he was pushing the stroller out to the car after swimming lessons, Elin started to fuss (she was tired and wanted me to hold her) so I walked next to the stroller and held her hand instead.  After a little bit, Erik started to tell Elin that "My hands are full, baby sister; I can't hold your hand right now"!  Ha, ha.  I have to tell him quite a bit that my hands are full and that I can't carry him, Elin and all the toys they try to hand me!!!

Random Photos:

Elin loves to crawl into the warming drawer (it's off) in the kitchen and then cry.  Not sure why...

Elin's crazy hair after a nap - super curly & fluffy

Elin attacking the bookshelves