The Johnson's

Okay, folks, it is actually March 30 as I type this, so I'm going to try & do a fast & furious update on what happened during the month of February. I would normally just focus on pictures and a few stories or fun facts, but I had made quite a few notes for the month of February to share with you all through this blog and I don't want to just throw those notes away now! So, this is going to be a very long & very full entry - bear with me!

Elin Update:
Since her hospital stay in December of last year, Elin has become quite vocal and her vocabulary has just exploded. She amazes us nearly every day with the words that she can say; she's also pretty cute with how she says some words. By the beginning of February, Elin could name most parts of the face and mimic a lot of animal sounds. I'm going to attempt to post a video of her doing some animal sounds.

Kent & I have tried to keep track of what words Elin can say so that we can share them with you, and to help us remember, as well! Her list of words is below; the majority of the list was drafted on February 7 with new words added throughout the rest of the month. She adds a lot of "g" sounds to her words, which seems unusual to me since I would think that is a harder sound to imitate. But that's just me. Her favorite word this month is "Dada-Daddyyyyy" - she really loves to draw out the "eeee" sound at the end!! She is a pretty vocal little girl; even if she isn't saying actual words, she will grunt or pant as she plays. She also loves to "sing" which basically consists of her yelling random sounds at the top of her voice!!

Uh-oh
Weedio (video)
Melk (milk)
Babee (baby)
Book
Gog (dog)
Blan-ket (emphasis on ket!)
Wawa (water)
PooPoo
PeePee
Gar (car)
Bapple (apple)
'nana (banana)
Nite-nite
P'ease (please)
Eyes (emphasis on the I)
No'e (nose)
'uck (stuck)
Runnel (tunnel)
Owe!
EO's or 'eerios (Cheerios)
'hank you
Ooze (shoes)
'EE-orge (George - as in Curious George)
'orry (sorry)
bye-bye
Wuff oou (Love you)
'as (yes)
Bug!

By the end of the month, Elin was good enough with her words to hold mini conversations, such as: "Elin, it's time to go to bed - NO", "Elin, be nice to Erik, please don't jump on him - WHY?"! That last one occurred on Feb xx and gave me the giggles! I didn't know that she knew that word and for her to just pop it out so exactly was priceless! She is also very good with non-verbal conversations. On the 26th, Elin wanted Kent to put her to bed but insisted on him rocking her for a very long time. He tried twice to put her down and each time she would wake up, point to her blanket and then point to the rocking chair. She was very clear with what she wanted!

In other Elin news, she thankfully gained back the 2 pounds that she lost while in the hospital but she is still super tiny. I can't keep certain pants up - some of her new outfits have had to be set aside since the pants fall down after a few steps. A positive note about that is that Elin is getting pretty good at pulling up her own pants! She will reach down with both hands, grab hold of the waistband (plus a generous portion of material) and pull up hard! Sometimes, she pulls so hard, she topples down onto her bum!! Elin has also begun to throw temper tantrums - an early introduction to the terrible two's, perhaps. Many of her tantrums consist of her covering her mouth with her hand and sobbing - poor thing, that usually just makes me laugh since I think it's adorable & hilarious. She is starting to throw things & hit, as well. Hmm, she learned that from Erik, I'm sure! Elin likes to crawl onto our laps to look at books, watch TV, anything. She also is showing some interest in potty-training - she has gone peepee twice (the first time on 2/20 and the second on 2/27); the first time was so surprising since she likes to just sit on the potty & then almost immediately pop back up and run out of the room! The last random story about Elin is that sometimes she will go to sleep rather violently. She'll be actively nursing (yes, I still nurse her at night), moving her arm around and then suddenly, she'll fling herself off me, roll onto her back and start baby snoring!!

Erik Update:
Erik is now 3 1/2 years old! He is finally fully potty-trained - he actually figured out the #2 business in December while Elin was in the hospital and my parents were here. While we haven't had any accidents, he does occasionally wait until he is in a diaper at nap or bed-time. I'm still not sure that I'm enjoying his 3's - he is certainly struggling with his boundaries and his interactions with family & friends. Even though he is always excited to see other people & spend time with them, he doesn't like to respond to questions or talk a lot. However, there are times when he comes up with some funny statements or stories! We like to ask Erik how his day was at school and try to encourage him to tell us stories or talk about what happens to him. He will often tell us that he will tell us later or that he doesn't want to talk. Once he said "I can't find my school talk"!

He also appears to be rule-driven and loves to be able to instruct Kent, Elin or I on what we have done wrong - "Hands to yourself, Daddy" or "We don't hit our friends" or "We aren't mean to our friends" or "We stay with Mommy & Daddy, Elin". Since he likes to tell us the rules, we've been giving him some new ones, too! We are working on his manners & table behavior. He is getting really good at asking permission to be excused from the table.

Erik loves to race. Once I figured that out, I use his competitiveness to get him to do stuff, like go to his bath, go to his nap, go sit at the table for mealtime, anything! He loves to yell "I beat you...I win!" Yeah, um, I let him win! Other Erik achievements is that on Feb 3, Erik learned how to writhe the letter E!! He can recognize his name and is pretty good at recognizing Elin's name when he sees them. He will often spell his name for us.

A few funny stories to share: Erik calls the sound you make by blowing on a baby's belly a strawberry rather than a raspberry! Erik told me that while I have milk, he has juice in his boobs just like Daddy! Another time, Erik told the babysitter that he did not want to do anything when he grew up (ooh, good, that sounds sooo hopeful!) Towards the middle of this month, in Erik's nightly prayers, he prayed that Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Pops would all be kept safe and that they would come to his house soon! (Oh, I pray for that, too, Erik!) And lastly, as I mentioned earlier, we are working with Erik on table manners: Erik was talking at the table with a mouth full of food; Kent reprimanded him and told him that he shouldn't talk with food in his mouth. I immediately burst out laughing - Kent had a mouth full of food when he was scolding Erik!!