Feb 23 - Mar 1: 8 months old

I am nearly 2 weeks late in posting the blog entry for the last week of February!  Oops.  I don't actually remember too many details about this week now.  I wish I could get better at posting timely entries!  I do recall that the week was busy and stressful.  It was not the best way to get ready for a week-long trip with an infant and a toddler!  We thought that Elin was teething because she began drooling like there was no tomorrow and she was up at all hours of the night.  But no new teeth have appeared.  Her sleep habits completely went downhill this week and are just pitiful; there is definitely sleep-training in our future.  Kent has a business trip coming up in a few weeks, so I suppose that I will attempt the sleep-training at that point to spare him the pain of it.  That's love, folks!

Here are the promised 8-month photos of Elin Kate (she doesn't like to sit still too well right now!!):

1. Bible - I'm keeping up with the reading plan which has daily selections from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs.  I do find that there are some passages that I would just prefer to continue reading rather than just reading a chapter and then moving to other books/passages.  It's like trying to read 4 different books at the same time.  Hmm, now that I've written that down, I realize that I AM reading 4 different books at the same time!!  Ha, ha.  I mean it's hard to keep each passage in perspective and remember exactly what the passages were from the previous day.  This week, I'm reading passages from Leviticus and from Mark.

2. Health - Well, another week at the same weight plateau.  I'm really ready to see some new numbers on the scale.  I am very happy to be wearing new jeans in a size I haven't even dared to try on in years, but still…. let's keep changing the numbers on the scale! On a good note, I've really noticed an uptick in my energy level in the past week or so - the sleepless nights, notwithstanding.  On Sunday, Erik wanted me to hold him while we stood outside & watched Kent mow the lawn.  This quickly turned into a game of chicken; we would creep up on Kent & the tractor and then when Kent would make a turn & come towards us, we would run screaming for a safe spot (I use the term "we" liberally since I was carrying 30+ pounds of Erik)!  Erik loved the game and so we played it for a very long time.  There's no way that I would have been able to run back & forth across our front yard, while carrying Erik, if I hadn't lost so much weight in the past 3 months.

3.  Projects - I got 3 people packed for a trip that is not only a week long, but is in a completely different climate.  Since I've lived in Florida, I find that trying to figure out what to pack for cold-weather climes is nearly impossible!  I'm always afraid that my clothes choices aren't quite right.  This is compounded when having to pack for kids.  I had to do more wardrobe pre-planning than I usually do since I needed to identify whether i needed to purchase items for the kids. 

4.  Fun - Due to our trip, I had to make a few trips with the kids to stores to buy cold-weather clothes.  While not so fun for me, Erik loves to go to "the 'tore" with Elin.  He is normally pretty obedient and sticks close to Elin's stroller, but there are times when he decides it is more fun to run away from me or to touch all the store mannequins, asking "what's dis?"!  I live in fear of destroying a store and being saddled with a huge repair bill!!

Cool dude, Erik!

Feb 16-22: Raggedy Ann

I thought that I do something a little different this week and list out a brief profile for Elin & Erik to give everyone an update on where they are now.  There weren't a lot of major events or outings this week, so it seemed like a good idea!

Elin Kate (also known as Baby Sister, Baby Girl or Munchkin):
     Age - She turned 8 months old (look for her "official" monthly birthday pictures next week)
     Favorite Toys - A dinosaur ball-popping toy that plays music while bouncing balls or dinosaur "eggs" around, Wooden alphabet blocks, Anything that she can stick in her mouth
     Favorite Activities - Making noise, Giggling, Playing with Erik, Bath time (especially splashing water all over Mama),
     Most Likely To -  Request a visit from Dada or Mama at 2 AM or 3 AM or really any time between 9 PM and 7 AM
     Cute Random Fact - Elin will clasp her hands together and then wave them up & down or tuck them under her chin

Erik (also known as Big Brother, Munchkin or E):
     Favorite Toys - Airplanes, Scissors, Little People Train and Truck, Anything that Elin has picked up to look at or play with, Roller coaster ride at daycare
     Favorite Activities - Holding Elin, Crawling after Elin, Riding bikes or cars, Bedtime stories with Dada, Bath time in the big tub with Elin
     Least Favorite Activity - Having his picture taken (he will hold out his hand and say "no pictures" repeatedly - you'd think I was the paparazzi)
     Latest Big Brother Moment - Saw me clap my hands once to quickly get Elin's attention, so now he does it too. Usually followed with "No, No, Elin, that's naughty" or "No, No, Elin, that's mine" or "No, No, Elin, that's not safe"

A favorite toy this week was a Raggedy Ann doll that Gramma Johnson gave to Elin at Elin's birth.  Early this week, Elin noticed it sitting up on the shelf in her room and wanted it, so I brought it down.  Since Erik currently wants whatever Elin has, he has wanted to play with the "dolly" all week.  There have been a few instances of tears if the "dolly" wasn't immediately available to him.

Elin has a rare moment with Raggedy Ann (Erik was napping!)

Erik loves Elin's dolly!

1.  Bible: The Old Testament selections this week were from Leviticus & include all the rules for the Israelite sacrificial system.  Not the most riveting chapters, but it is astounding how many nuances and rules there were to the various types of sacrifices.  I'm not sure that I would have been able to keep it all straight.  I do wonder why all the detail was kept in the Bible; it seems like a summary would have done just as well!

2.  Projects: No big projects completed this week, but I am making progress of several little ones.  However, Kent accomplished a major feat this week and was able to park all three of our vehicles inside our garage!  Yay!  He did in preparation for some severe storms that were headed our way (they never materialized) so it was a quick reorganization of the garage.  But I'm counting it as a great accomplishment!

3.  Health: It was another week of very little movement on the scale; in fact, I gained about a half pound.  However, looking at the positive side, I've really begun to notice in the past week or so that I do have more energy & stamina.  This is a marvelous thing when I have a 2.5 year old in the house!  This weekend, Erik and I had a great time playing "chicken" with Kent and the lawnmower!  While holding Erik (who weighs over 30 pounds), I would "creep up" on Kent and then when he turned the lawnmower our direction, I would run the other way.  Kent would then chase us across the front yard to the porch where we would be safe since the lawnmower can't climb the step to our front door!  Erik thought this was a great game and wanted it to go on forever.  Since I've lost about 18 pounds, it was much easier to keep playing the game than it would have been several months ago!

4.  Fun:  We stayed pretty close to home this week with no big excursions.  Elin did have her maiden voyage in the bike carriage; big brother Erik went along for the ride to show her the ropes and to make sure that she didn't get scared!  She loved it and didn't want to get out.  So, we put her in the wagon and the whole family took a walk around the neighborhood (Erik requested the premiere package and was carried the entire way)!

That's Kelli's bike, but since Kent won't hitch the baby carriage to his fancy road bike….

All set up in the wagon, complete with bumper pads!

Feb 9-15: Happy Valentine's Day

Happy (very late) Valentine's Day!  I had been working on this post, making edits, adding pictures, etc and just when I got to publish it, it just disappears.  I know that I had been saving my changes as I went along, but blogspot decided to mess with me.  I can't remember all my text that I had added to this entry, so this 2nd version is going to be quite a bit shorter than the original.  Better than nothing, I guess.

I think that we may have a future Olympian on our hands.  Early this week, I was watching some of the team figure skating competition.  Erik walked through the room and became transfixed by Gracie Gold's individual performance.  After watching for a few moments, he started to mimic her actions.  He started to jump & spin, with arm movements, as well as trying to do one-legged poses and sit-spins!  I got quite a bit of his routine on video, but unfortunately will not be sharing it with you since Erik was fresh from his bath and was completely sans clothing!! I've shown Gracie's performance to Erik at other times this week to see if I can get another video while he is clothed, but his level of performance really went downhill!!!  Erik and I spent lots of time playing with Erik's scissors along with my paper punches and paper cutter this week; he actually helped me with the Valentine's cards that we made.  On Thursday, I bit the bullet and took both Erik & Elin grocery shopping.  All the race car carts were being used when we got there, so Erik had to walk with me while Elin took the infant seat.  I was prepared to ditch the cart and drag both kids out of the store at any point if the shopping trip went downhill, but Erik did great.  He is happiest if he has a task/job to do, so I had him help me load the cart.  This got a lot of comments from our fellow shoppers about what a great helper he was!  He especially loved the produce section and putting fruit into the plastic bags.  Erik ended his week with his class being Shabbat Stars on Friday morning.  The last time he had to perform on stage, he cried the whole way up there because Kent couldn't go with him.  This time, Erik went much more willingly.  Once he got up on stage, I heard him tell the little boy next to him "That's my Dada; there's my Dada!"  Too cute.

Practicing on the paper cutter with newspaper inserts

Hmm, they put Erik next to his teacher again on stage.  Since he is just standing there, I wonder if that is a deliberate strategy on the part of his teachers!!!

Elin's big news this week is that she started eating real food on Thursday, the 13th!  She wasn't too sure about it at first, but has since decided that this is a good thing and ate with gusto.  We started her on apples; based on advice from our pediatrician we won't start rice cereal or other grains until she is 9 months old (due to maturity of digestive system).  I hope that giving her solids will enable Elin to sleep longer.  We have gotten a few longer nights out of her this week with her going 6 and half hours or more.  And yes, some of the longer episodes did happen prior to starting her on solids; I'm hoping that the food will encourage her to keep sleeping longer!  She has started to stick her fingers in her mouth while nursing this week; this has proven to be super annoying and a bit painful.  Not sure why she thinks this is a necessary thing to do, but she's been doing it all week and I am now on alert to catch her hand if it moves towards her mouth!

Elin's first bites of apple

Elin at the Orlando Science Center - my view

Kent's view - looks like she is in a serious time-out!

Both kids appear to have gone through growth spurts this week.  We got lots of remarks on how tall both of them look this week.  I am going to have spend next week going through their wardrobes and moving them up to the next sizes, I guess.

1. Bible - I finished the book of Matthew this week for the New Testament portion of my Scripture reading. Reading through those chapters reminded me of the Passion of the Christ movie that came out several years ago.

2. Fun - We indulged Erik this week and allowed him to take several of his nightly baths in our big bathtub at the same time that Elin had her bath in the infant/toddler tub.  He just thinks that this is the best thing!  Elin appeared a bit surprised the first time Erik got into the tub, but quickly got into the spirit of things and loved having more company during her bath!

3. Projects - I'm actually in the midst of several projects right now.  The big project that I have in progress is updating our family wall pictures.  It's been awhile since I've added to the wall, so I have some catch-up to do!  I purchased a bunch of frames this week and started to order the pictures, but haven't finished that step yet.

4. Health - Well, I was told that this could happen, but I've had a flat week in regards to weight loss this week.  In fact, the scale was going up at mid-week.  That was scary enough to keep me from the scale for the rest of the week!  On the positive side, I've had to retire more pants recently.  I actually bit the bullet and ordered a new pair of jeans and black pants this week in order to have more options on what to wear! I was down to track pants, 1 pair of khakis and fancy/formal jeans.  I love retiring clothes that are too big!

Elin has graduated from the car-seat and into a REAL stroller seat!

Going for a walk with our double stroller

Practicing her standing skills

My view at the supper table now that Elin has her own highchair

Feb 2-8: "No Drill, Dada, no drill!"

We started this week with Elin having a fever.  She woke up early Sunday with an elevated temperature and had it all day, but it was gone on Monday, thankfully.  She was pretty subdued for the entire day; she really just wanted to be held and snuggled - Kent held her for a nice, long nap which made her very happy, I'm sure!  We aren't sure if the fever is from her teething or from the cold that she had last week.  We've had some pretty sleepless nights as we work through the teething and cold; we had a few more nights this week of her waking up nearly every 90 minutes.  I'm ready for some improvement on the sleeping front!

In other Elin news, she has started to practice waving this week - she twists her wrists and moves her fingers back & forth - just like a parade wave!  She is also starting to hold out her arms to be held and will lean forward to be transferred from one person to another.  She has been quite the Mama's girl lately; she wants me to be with her all the time; she crawls after me after I put her down.  She is very emphatic when she crawls, she smacks her hands down hard as she crawls after you!  You can hear her coming - smack, smack, giggle (or wail, depending on her mood at the time), smack, smack!  She also is our plastic girl; she loves anything that crinkles.  We actually have to put the trash cans with plastic bags up out of her reach since she likes to tip them over and suck on the plastic bag!  She also prefers the tags on the toys to the toys themselves.

Erik is quite the active little guy lately.  This week, he has practiced getting out as many toys as he possibly can and seeing how far he can spread them throughout the house!  Yuck.  Thankfully, he is pretty good about also playing "pick up time".  He has figured out that he can delay his bedtime a bit by agreeing to do pick-up!  He has done a bit of regressing this week by deciding that he wants to suck on pacifiers again.  He has tried to lay claim to a few of Elin's pacifiers.  He has also lost all interest in potty training; he won't hardly look at the little potty that we bought him.  He refuses to sit on it or on any other potty.  He does inform us, in a super cheery or excited voice, that "Erik go poo-poo" when he has a dirty diaper.  I wonder if he is regressing to keep more focused attention on him during diaper changes.  I think we may start bribing him with chocolate to see if we can get back on track!

1. Bible - This week the Old Testament Bible reading is onto the beginning of the Israelite's exodus out of Egypt into the wilderness.  The business person in me noticed that these passages included maybe the earliest reference to the need for leaders to delegate responsibilities when Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, advised Moses to get some help dealing with all the disputes and questions that the Israelites were bringing to him personally.  And a new administrative system is born with mid-level management set up over smaller groups!

2. Fun - Erik has been asking to use my kitchen scissors whenever I bring them out.  I found out that he has been using scissors at daycare, so went ahead and bought him some for home.  He loves them!  We play with his scissors nearly every day now.  He also loves to go through all my scrapbook punches and see what shapes he can make from paper.  This is also great fun for me as I can work on some of my scrapbook projects while Erik is cutting!!

3. Project - I completed a project that week to resolve something that has been bugging me for ever!!  Does anyone have a comforter inside a duvet cover that constantly moves around and ends up on only one side of the cover?  No matter how many times we adjusted or reset it, our comforter is always moving around.  So, this week, I pulled it out of the cover and sewed ribbon tabs on each corner.  I then turned the cover inside out and lo & behold, found ribbons that were in each corner of the duvet cover!  I had no idea they were there and was prepared to sew some into the corners myself.  I the tied the ribbons around the tabs on the comforter and turned everything right side out again.  It worked like a charm - I love having a smooth comforter that I know won't move anywhere (unless my sewing skills are horrible and the ribbon tabs fall out!!)

4. Health - This has been kind of a blah week - there wasn't much movement on my weight loss and I hurt my back again on Tuesday (though not as bad as a few weeks ago), so I feel like I took a couple steps backwards.


5. Guest writer today, it's Kent now!  Kelli asked me to type up a couple experiences with Erik.  Each night after bath and story time is over and we say prayers, Erik will sit in the chair with us in his room and snuggle before he goes to his crib.  All lights are off, noise machine and music on.  He falls asleep in the chair with me very infrequently, so it's less about assisting him in going to sleep and more about just cuddling a little (since he won't permit such behavior during daytime hours!) He apparently thinks it's not a good use of precious play time!  Anyway, there was a week or two there where I was super tired and it was very difficult for ME to stay awake during snuggle time!  I would fall asleep after a very short time and only once or twice had he actually fallen asleep given the elongated timeframe when I finally woke up!  Anyway, I usually tell him to "go nite-nite" and pat his back or bum to help him get sleepy as sometimes he is still a little wound up and doesn't engage in appropriate snuggling behavior.  Apparently a few nights of me falling asleep first didn't go unnoticed,  as I heard Erik one night say to me in his typical night-time whisper voice (which is barely audible I might add), "Dadda go nite-nite".  He also made an effort to pat my back to assist in the process!  I had to laugh…who is putting who to sleep here?!

Erik has had mostly a hate relationship with the green nose sucking bulb we sometimes use when the kids have colds to clean out their sinuses.  He will permit it occasionally under great protest.  Recently I used it and exclaimed that I had gotten a "big one!"  He seemed to find this funny so if I tell him I need to get a big booger out he will sometimes permit the use of this device if I show a certain amount of enthusiasm that a Big Booger may be possible.  However, in times when big ones are not visible and nose cleaning is still required, I will employ the use of a twisted tissue to clean out whatever part of his nostrils I can by turning it inside.  The maiden use of this device was permitted, as someone has taught Erik that the use of a tissue is the proper way to clean your nose!  However, subsequent uses have met with less enthusiasm as he favors the traditional nose blow!  One day I told Erik that Daddy had to clean out his nose to get the booger!  Once he saw me twisting the tissue, he fussed "no drill, no drill!!"  I laughed out loud as his recent fascination with tools, including drills, had him liken my nose cleaning tool to a drill bit.

Some pictures from this week:

Elin at the Orlando Science Center (my view)

Elin from Kent's view!

Elin has found the stash of toys!

more toys

Erik's smoothie mustache

Erik learning how to use my paper cutter - even more fun than scissors!

Erik loves to do things for Elin - like push her in the car.  Notice the snacks he provided her!!!

Jan 26 - Feb 1: 7 Months Old

Oops, I have forgotten to post this week's blog in a timely manner again!  I want to know when it will get easier to keep this blog updated.  Somehow, I always let it slip past me on the weekend and then feel guilty about it all week until I finally force myself to sit down and type up the entry & download the pictures.  Those of you who so faithfully post your blog and have such clever, detailed entries are amazing!  I want to be like you some day!

This week started out with our typical day of Sunday chores.  Erik is turning out to be a great helper - for both Kent & I.  He likes to help me bring out the laundry hampers from each room and sort the clothes, turn on the water and add the detergent, he likes to help me load the dishwasher (though, he's not too keen on emptying it - just like me!!) and he likes to use the dustpan to sweep up crumbs under the table.  However, he adores going outside to help Kent with yard work and pool work!  He nearly shakes with delight as he gets on his crocs, finds his "work gloves" (aka tiny woolen mittens) and tries to decide which tool he will need to use - a hammer, a shovel, a water gun, a saw?!  In the pictures below, Erik is helping Kent sweep down the sides of the pool - his broom is actually a water gun, but it looks almost like Kent's broom above the waterline!

Erik's imagination during playtime is growing by leaps & bounds lately.  He is starting to make engine noises when playing with his cars, airplanes or trucks and his animals have wants/wishes of their own - "they are cold; they want a blanket."  He also is assigning toys to each member of the family and woe to anyone who tries to change it!  One of Elin's Christmas gifts came with a set of 4 colored balls; Erik has decided which color belongs to each of us and he will frequently go through the house distributing the correct colored ball to the appropriate person - mine is green, Kent's is red, Erik's is blue and Elin's is yellow!

One cute thing that Erik has started this week is that he will say "uh-huh" and nod his head in response to questions rather than saying yes.  It's fun watching his language skills grow and develop.  He doesn't really respond to open-ended questions yet "What did you do at school today?", but we are hopeful that he will start volunteering answers soon.  He has developed a bit of a stutter lately; we hope that it is just his language skills getting ahead of his tongue and that it will ease in a few weeks.  He also tends to drop the leading S on most words, so snacks is 'nacks and spoon is 'poon, but he almost always says sleep correctly!

With some of the other events that have taken place the last few weeks, I haven't posted Elin's 7 month photos (she turned 7 months on January 20).  Okay, to be honest, I just remembered to take the pictures this week, but there has been plenty of other things to post about!!  One of Elin's accomplishments this week is producing tooth #2 on Friday, Jan 31 - the other bottom center tooth!  This tooth came in with lots of sleepless nights (she is up almost every 90 minutes to 2 hours) and lots of drooling.  She also spent a lot of time learning how to click her tongue and smack her lips.  She gets a huge kick out of any noises that you can make with your lips & tongue. She will giggle, crinkle her eyes at you and scrunch up her nose!  For her 7 month photos, I thought that I would include some of the other shots I have to take in order to find one that is good enough to share!!

cute, but no smile and you can't really see the 7

scrunched up nose

again, cute, but not what I was hoping for

oh, now you think this is funny?!

"Mmm, let me suck on it!"

"What 7? This 7? Nope, you can't see it!"

on the move!

Fish lips

Looking the wrong way

Crazy face

Another crazy face

Ok, Mama gives up.  I can't get the shot I'm looking for!  But you are awfully cute!

My weekly goals:
1. Bible: Psalm 27 was one of the passages I read this week.  I like the confidence and certainly of David's prayers & requests of the Lord.  vs 4: "One thing I ask from the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" and vs 5: "He will keep me safe in His dwelling" and vs 7: "Hear my voice when I call, Lord, be merciful to me and answer me".  The psalm ends with "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (verse 14).  I like that verse.

2. Health: This week my goal was to be in bed AND asleep by 10 PM.  Um, I'm sad to say it was an epic failure.  I'm not sure I even made it to bed before midnight any night this week.  Every week can't be a winner, I guess.  Hope next week is better!!

3. Fun: This week, Kent and Erik had a grand time riding through the house on the scooter, Plasma car, bike and red push car.  They even decided to let Elin join them.  I've included some pictures below.  The fun that I had this week was that I got to grocery shop by myself - it was quite the treat though it was remarkably short-lived as I can shop so much faster by myself!  We also ended the week with a visit to science center when the weather was wet & cold and precluded us from doing anything outside.

4. Project: I think I mentioned in my last post that Kent surprised me with some Costco purchases recently - he bought me a new craft/scrapbooking table & a new fancy rug for our formal living room (see pictures below).  Some of my projects this week involve getting my crafts more organized so that I can actually find my supplies and work on projects rather than standing with my hands on my hips, staring at my jumbled mess of supplies wishing I knew where to even start!  One of my future projects is to find some way to decorate the fireplace in our formal living room. That thing is nearly big enough to roast a whole cow in!  I also need whatever decorations I put in there to be kid-friendly.  Any ideas?

She does a pretty good job of steering!  Kent does have to push her to get her moving!!

The perfect toy for Elin with all her favorite things: standing, grabbing, riding and sucking!

Taking her bear for a ride

Love, love, LOVE my new craft table!!

My surprise rug that Kent brought home from Costco!

Erik opening a gift at our annual "Christmas in January" celebration with the Cochran's, Deininger's and Zbaraschuk's

Elin checking out some of her gifts