Week 23: Catching Up

Happy New Year! I’m back!  I got so far behind in posting an update to the blog that even I’m surprised that I managed to update it again!  It really is hard for a procrastinating over-achiever to get through her entire to-do list every week.  :)  The last 11 weeks have been super busy for the Florida Johnson's. I’m going to attempt one massive post here to get all caught back up (just in time for the New Year and the major rush of year-end activities at work that only those that are accountants can understand!)  It’s gotten so that my desperation to update this blog has overcome my desire for the posting to be witty, creative and fun. :)  Let me start with the most recent events and then I’ll get you all caught up on the last few months.  Check out the monthly albums for pictures.

Week 23:  So far, the first week of 2012 has truly been a week of firsts for us:  1) Erik slept in his crib for the first time (we’ve had him in a pack-n-play up to this point) - the change didn’t phase him at all; 2) Erik went to Sabbath School for the first time at Forest Lake Church - he carefully observed everything; 3) Erik slept 6 hours for the first time ever the night of Jan 7 - ah, sweet sleep for me - and; 4) Erik popped out not 1, but 2 brand new teeth on Friday, Jan 6!  Yep, that’s right, my barely five month old son has his two center bottom teeth already.  I’m waiting not-so-anxiously for the first time he bites me while nursing.  ouch!  Erik has had congestion for the past 2 weeks and now I’m wondering if that wasn’t an indication of his soon-to-arrive teeth.  He has also been drooling and wanting to put things into his mouth, but not any more than what I would consider normal for any infant.  If this is what teething is like for Erik, then I am most definitely counting us as blessed and lucky (no excessive fussing, no fever, etc).

Week 13 (Oct 23-Oct 29): This was a very hard week for us - it was Kelli’s first week back at work while Erik started a new adventure of going to daycare.  Erik did just fine at daycare, but Kent & I both struggled through the first week of leaving our baby with strangers.  This was also another busy & full week of visitors for the Johnson's - the Elliott's and Chalker's came to visit.  Pops came down early to help prepare & cook food for the masses.  Thank you so much, Pops, for all your cooking skills - you are sorely missed when you leave.  Auntie Kirstin got to see how much Erik has grown since August and Erik got to meet 2 of his cousins, Lauren & Kaeleigh.  It was fun to see how the girls loved on their new baby cousin.  This week also marked the end of our latest house project - refinishing the pool and pool deck.  With the end of this project, we should be done for a good, long while!!!  Kent, Pops, Lauren & Kaeleigh gave the pool its inaugural swim.  Our friends, Edman & Michelle Fuentes, came over on October 29 and treated us to a supper of Indian food and Erik was able to meet Ella & Lily.  The food was delicious and the company delightful!  To end this very busy week, we took ourselves to JCPenney for Erik’s 3-month photos.  

Nana & the Elliott's (notice Kaeleigh's expression!)

Erik meets Lily Fuentes - love the look on his face!!

Nana & Pops with the finished pool & deck behind them

Week 15 (Nov 6-Nov 12): This was a hard week for us as well.  This week marked our first visit to the Emergency Room.  Two weeks into his daycare experience, Erik started to run a slight fever which gradually rose and then never came down.  Kent & I learned how to take a baby’s temperature (the best way is the hardest).  We took Erik to the doctor when his temperature reached 101; due to his age, the doctor recommended that we go to the Children’s ER if his temp didn’t drop in 24 hours.  His fever got as high as 104 at one point, but never dropped below 101, so off we went to the ER.  Thankfully, we had a good experience there with shorter wait times than I expected and the doctors & nurses were prompt & so nice!  Erik had to get an IV, a chest x-ray, and had his nose suctioned to remove congestion in his sinuses.   He finally got some baby Motrin-type medicine that broke his fever at last.  We were there about 4.5 to 5 hours in total and were so thankful for the wonderful care that we received.  

Waiting for his chest x-ray

Week 17 (Nov 20-Nov 26): After all the commotion of having a baby, moving, and the steady stream of company we’ve had since July, we decided that this year’s Thanksgiving would be a quiet one spent at home.  The Zbaraschuk family was kind enough to invite us over for the big meal on Thursday.  We were also  invited over to the Cochran’s on Sabbath, so I had to do very little cooking over one of the biggest eating weekend of the year!  The “big” event of the long weekend was that Kent spent nearly every waking moment putting up Christmas lights - something we hadn’t planned on doing!  We found out on Thanksgiving day that our new neighborhood loves to decorate for Christmas, especially the street we live on.  I tried to take some pictures so that you could see the neighbor’s house across the road (see the Dec album); he puts up 20,000 - 30,000 lights with a nativity scene with nearly real-life sized statues!  It took him 3 days to get everything set up.  He even has a live nativity one night each year.  The entire street gets involved with the Christmas story - the neighborhood has made about 24 wooden placards that have the story of Christ’s birth from the gospel of Luke written on them.  The placard in our yard was “For there is born to you this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!” I rather liked it - we got the culmination of the story!  When we found out how the neighborhood decorates, we couldn’t be the scrooge house, so Kent went out on Black Friday to buy lights and spent the rest of his weekend decorating the  house (our neighbor also donated several items to our cause!).  We also decided to buy a real Christmas tree this year for Erik’s first Christmas.  It certainly smelled lovely!

Thanksgiving with the Zbaraschuk Family

A partial shot of our neighbor's Christmas lights

Week 21 (Dec 18--24): It was Johnson Christmas this year, so Grandma & Grandpa Johnson made the trek to Orlando from North Dakota to spend 2 weeks with us.  They spent their time getting reacquainted with Erik and testing out our pool & hot tub in December!  We had really warm weather this year - some days we had temps in the 80’s.  The pool water still felt cold, though.  We did let Erik dip his toes in the water - his first time “in” the pool.  He didn’t cry, so that was good!   We opened gifts on Christmas morning; since this year was all about Erik, it took us most of the morning to open gifts as we had to stop for naps & nursing!  Erik “opened” some of his own presents - if we tore a corner of the wrapping paper and put the piece in his hand and then turned the package to help him rip the paper!!  Erik’s big gift from Mommy & Daddy was a jumper activity center with a jungle theme.  He seems to really like it and will jump really hard at times!  It is great fun to watch him figure out how to play with all the items on the table - spin the hippo’s tummy, reach for the monkey & rhino that hang off to the side and move the discs on a branch between two trees.  After Christmas, we all went to Epcot on Monday, December 26.  This was the first time that Erik had been to Disney World and in true Erik fashion, he took it in stride.  Kent carried him in the Baby Bjorn most of the day; Erik wore baby sunglasses and a hat . He was awfully cute and we heard a lot of people remark on how cute our baby boy was as they passed us!  Made our hearts swell with pride.  Erik is a very good baby who rarely cries and will fall asleep when he is tired, wherever he is.  

Which present would you choose?

Erik & Kent at Epcot

Okay - I think I have got you all mostly updated!  Yeah, one item I can mark off my to-do list!  One of my new year’s resolutions is to be more timely on this blog (it won’t be too hard to improve on my track record thus far!); and I’m determined to keep this resolution!  

Week 12: A Talker

Erik turned 12 weeks old on Saturday, October 22.  Unbelievable that time has gone so fast and that I return to work next week (trying not to think about that too much).  Thankfully, I will only be part-time for the first two weeks back at work.  Erik will start attending day-care in the mornings and I’ll pick him up around 12:30pm.  I hope that the weeks of part-time work will the transition easier on me.  

12 weeks old - 12 lbs, 23 in

This past week has been a busy week trying to get errands done before going back to work.  The “errand” that most impacted Erik was that he had to get some of his shots before being allowed to attend daycare.  The doctor’s appointment was on Thursday in the middle of the afternoon, so Kent couldn’t come with us.  Fortunately, my Dad had come into town and he was able to come to the appointment with me.  I had him stand by Erik so that my baby wouldn’t think that I had anything to do with his shots!  I had been told that sometimes babies don’t cry at all when they get their shots, so I was hoping that this would be a non-event for the little guy.  Erik is a sensitive guy, though, and he cried with both shots.  Apparently, I’m sensitive too, because I had to cover my eyes while he was getting the shots and then I cried along with him!  

It seems that Erik has turned a corner this week in his motor development; he moves his hands more deliberately now.  It appears that he is trying to figure out what his hands can do and how he can control them.  He spends more & more time with his fingers out rather than held in a tight fist.  Erik continues to be a very alert baby - the doctor remarks on his alertness at every appointment.  This week, the doctor went so far as to say that Erik’s alertness and actions were closer to a 5-month old.  Erik still has a bit of a head “bobble”, but he is getting very good at holding his head up and looking around when he is held upright against my shoulder.  He loves it when I put him feet in my hands so that he can “stand” and look over my shoulder.  He also has decided that he loves his bath time in the last few weeks.  Initially, he would cry through the entire experience, but now he only cries when we take him out. 

He still isn’t sleeping through the night; though, we have had a few nights this week where he slept for 4.5 to 5 hours at a time.  Of course, now that I’ve mentioned this, we will go back to eating every 3 hours at night!  I’m trying not to feel like a failure since several of my baby books say that Erik should be sleeping 9 to 10 hours at night.  The books say that the longer sleep patterns “just happen” so I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do to help Erik sleep longer.  We have started giving him a bottle for his late evening feeding so that we know exactly how much he is eating (using the theory that if he has a full tummy he will sleep longer), but even that varies.  Some nights, he won’t eat more than 3 ounces and other nights, he’ll take 4 to 4.5 ounces.  I talked to some friends this week who have baby boys about Erik’s age and they are experiencing the same issues that I am, so at least I’m not the only exception to what the books say is standard.

Chilling with Daddy

I’m going to make a bold prediction that Erik will be an early talker (completely unlike his Mommy)!  He loves to lie on his back and “talk” whether anyone is nearby or not.  He also will sit on our laps and “talk” while looking very intently at us.  He makes a lot of ‘ga’ and ‘gr’ sounds as well as ‘ah’ and ‘wah’ sounds.  A few times, he has managed to put sounds together that actually do sound like words.  The other morning, I could have sworn he said “Hi” and “Hey” when I came into his room to pick him up.  :)

We ended the week by attending the annual PumpkinFest party hosted by the Isidros.  I hadn’t been to the party for 3 years, so I was very excited to be able to go this year.  All guests are supposed to bring a dish with pumpkin or squash as the main ingredient; we all then vote on the best dish.  This year I made pumpkin bread and apple-pumpkin butter - not very imaginative like the pumpkin gnocchi and pumpkin sliders that other guests brought, but sweet breads are some of my favorite foods, so I went in that direction.  Erik did very well at the party; he slept through it initially and then was pampered by our friends William and Heather until it was time to feed him.  

Next week, my sister, Kirstin, and her family will be in town and Erik will get to meet his girl cousins, Lauren & Kaeleigh, for the first time.  

Weeks 10-11: A Visit from Pops & Canadian Thanksgiving

Okay, so I’ve discovered that keeping up a weekly blog is a lot of work!  Kudos to all of you who manage to faithfully post updates to your blog in a timely fashion - I can only aspire to be like you!!  You’d think that since I am home all day with just one little baby to take care of that I could manage to write a little something and download a few pictures. :)  I used to think that I was a great multi-tasker; I hate it when talents disappear!!  I go back to work in a week and I’m getting nervous about how I’m going to be able to handle everything.  Erik isn’t sleeping through the night yet and I’m exhausted in the morning as I watch Kent get ready for work.

Kent had another overnight business trip the week of October 3 - he had budget review meetings in three different states - so I was going to be quite alone for the week.  My Dad took pity on me and made the 14-hour drive from Ohio to Florida so he could spend the week with me.  He needed to be in Tennessee the next weekend anyway, so what’s a little detour further south, right?!  While Dad was here, he cooked up a storm of entrees to freeze so that Kent & I wouldn’t starve - I attempted to help, but was only able to produce a few loaves of banana bread in between the nursing sessions that seem to rule my life.

Pops & Erik

Pops cooking - Thank you!!

On October 8, our good friends, the Deininger’s, opened their home to over 20 people (kids included) to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.  Since several of our friends hail from our Neighbor to the North, Kent & I have the wonderful privilege of eating Thanksgiving dinner twice each year.  Thank you, Canada!  I’ve included some photos from the dinner in the October photo album.

Amy & Lisa with one of the yummy desserts!

Tangie feeding Kohlden & Maddy

Adam Deininger - Canadian mascot

After Dad left Orlando and headed back up to Tennessee and then Ohio, I decided to try my hand at taking Erik with me on some errands.  I only attempt 1 errand per outing and only 1 outing per day; it doesn’t sound like much, but I consider each attempt an amazing feat!  Our little guy eats on a pretty strict 3-hour schedule (his schedule, not mine) and I don’t like to be caught out of the house when I need to nurse.   My big outings this last week were to the mall on Wednesday to get a new watch battery and to Michael’s on Friday to get picture frames for Kent’s & my office.   I’m happy to report that Erik did very well on both outings with only minimal crying before going to sleep (I timed both trips with naptime hoping he would sleep through them).

Big news related to our house is that work has begun on our pool & pool deck.  The current concrete deck is uneven and cracked with one side being nearly 3/4 of an inch lower than the other side.  This has caused problems with our water drainage, among other things.  So, portions of the deck had to be removed in order to level everything out; we are also going to fill in several planter areas that were causing drainage issues and littering the pool.  While the deck was going to be torn up, we decided to go ahead and redo the pool surface and tiles.  By the end of the week, the pool was drained and about 1/3 of the new blue pool tiles installed.  Next week should see the pool completely retiled & resurfaced as well as the new paver deck put in. 

Week 9: Who do I Look Like?

A current debate in our household is which parent Erik most resembles.  Sadly, the debate is really only about Erik’s appearance as we are both pretty clear that his temper and tendency to pout are inherited from me (Kelli).  Since I’m the one that actually writes this blog, I was strongly tempted to blame Kent.  If it’s on the internet, it must be true, right?!  But whenever Erik’s bottom lip comes out, I remember seeing the same expression in the mirror while growing up.  Plus, my Aunt Margaret was over the other day and saw Erik pouting.  She immediately commented that she remembered that same look on me! :)  But back to the appearance debate - I’ve posted pictures of Erik along with pictures of Kent & I when we were about the same age.  What do you think?

We had a relatively quiet week; I was alone for a few days since Kent had an overnight business trip.  I was a bit nervous about it, but Erik and I handled ourselves very well.  I went on several walks with him through our new neighborhood and met some of our neighbors. I took him with me to a doctor’s appointment and I also attempted a trip to the grocery store - such bravery, right?!  Erik was superb throughout that excursion; he fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn within 5 minutes of entering the store and only woke up once when I had to reach deep into a freezer compartment.  

Erik had his 2 month appointment this week as well.  He is now 10 pounds, 10 ounces which is in the 75th percentile.  He has grown another inch & half this month to 22.5 inches which is in the 50th percentile.  He is getting better at holding up his head and is spending more time interacting with us by cooing, smiling and watching us or his toys.  He is also starting to open up his fists more often and waving his hands & arms around.

Week 8: A new friend & Kent's Charity Ride

As of this week, Erik is now 2 months old!  Unbelievable how fast time has gone.  He has outgrown several of his newborn outfits and some of his 0-3 months outfits are getting a bit tight as well.  I was able to weigh him on Tuesday and he was 10 pounds!  This is up from 8.9 pounds in Week 4.  We have also learned how to better anticipate Erik’s needs as well as how to soothe him when he is fussy.  Our good friend, Amy Z, gave us the video for “The Happiest Baby on the Block” which we finally watched a few weeks ago.  What a difference since we’ve begun employing the techniques of the 5 S’s of Swaddle, Side/Stomach, Suck, Shushing and Swinging. Erik isn’t sleeping through the night yet, but at least we know how to put him back to sleep relatively quickly. :)

8 weeks old

Adjusting to life with an infant is really an incredible thing.  I feel that we had a busy week, but as I look back to describe it for everyone, I can’t recall that many different events.  But we were busy!   I did thankfully memorialize three events with pictures, so I don’t have to completely rely upon my memory.  On Tuesday, Erik met a new friend, Gage, when we attended a Mommy luncheon.  My coworker & friend,  Gren, had her baby boy a month before me and this was her last week before going back to work.  After the  luncheon, we had a mini photo session with Gage & Erik.  It was shocking how big Gage is compared to Erik - what a difference a month will make.  Erik was fascinated by Gage and spent most of the photo session looking at Gage.  Towards the end of the session, Erik’s hand landed on Gage’s so it looked like they were holding hands - see picture to left.  How cute.  I bet that Erik is going to be one of those little guys who loves following the “big boys” around.  This is an easy prediction, actually, since the boy to girl ratio is almost 2:1 in our circle of friends.  

Gage & Erik

The second event is that we made it to church again! The photos at the top of this blog post  (and the third image on the left) were taken when we got home from church.  Going to church is a major endeavor since getting all three of us out of the house on time is so hard.  Kent usually goes for an early bike ride with his friends each Sabbath  morning (the group meets at 6:30am - ouch).  So while he is riding, I attempt to get Erik fed and dressed, put together the diaper bag, get myself dressed and (hopefully) fed.  Since Erik eats every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, trying to get all this done so that we make it to church on time is a bit tricky.  This week, the timing worked out for us.  Of course, it also meant that Erik needed to eat again during the sermon; thankfully, I had brought a bottle in the over-stuffed diaper bag. Kent did a great job of keeping Erik entertained and happy during the service.  Hopefully, we will establish a morning routine in the next few weeks so that it’s not such a miracle to get out the door.  How do parents do this with multiple children?!

Our third event this week was really Kent’s event, but since I managed to manipulate Erik’s feeding schedule so that we could be at the finish line when Kent arrived, I’m counting it as a family event!  Kent rode in his second 100-mile charity bike ride; this ride was for the local Ronald McDonald house.  His first ride was in March for  the Diabetes Ride for the Cure.   It was a hot, humid & muggy day in Orlando.  I was only outside for about 2 hours and I was super uncomfortable; I don’t know how Kent and his friends rode for 100 miles in that weather.  Our friends, William C, Rob D, and Karis Z also participated in the ride.  Good job, guys!

Weeks 5-7: Visit from the Johnsons

Kent’s parents came to visit us for 2 weeks in September; they arrived on August 28.  Mary helped take care of Erik so that Kelli could get other chores/tasks done (such as starting this blog!).  Roger was able to help Kent get a lot of the wiring done for our surround sound system and fixed the intercom system in the house.  They also helped us put together the entertainment center, hang a TV on the wall in the master bedroom, set up our desk in the craft/all purpose room and rip out some of the trees in our patio area that needed to be removed before we can replace the pool deck.

Our new roof has been completed and we are moving on to our next project - redoing the pool deck and resurfacing the pool.  The current pool deck has several planter areas cut out of the decking; the largest one is next to the house.  Unfortunately, any water run-off from the roof falls right into the planter area and the soil eroded so much that the deck had shifted and sunk on one side.  The planter box soil erosion has also provided the perfect access route from the yard into our deck for rodents - eeww.

Erik’s accomplishments so far this month are smiling socially, turning his head towards sounds, going to sleep at night without crying and learning to actually like his bath rather than screaming through the entire process.  After Grandma & Grandpa Johnson left, Erik has also had to adapt to being just with Mommy during the day!  

5 1/2 weeks old

The Johnson's

The Johnson's #2

6 1/2 weeks old

Weeks 1-4: Visits from the Chalkers

The month of August was the month of Chalker’s visiting us!  Kelli’s parents were able to be in Orlando for Erik’s arrival; Kelli’s Mom actually flew in just a few hours before her labor started.  Kelli’s parents (hereafter known as Pops & Nana) helped us unpack and organize the kitchen, linen closet, guest room and move boxes around the house.  Kelli’s sister, Kirstin Elliott, and one of her brothers, Kalvin Chalker, also were able to come spend a week with Kelli.  This was especially helpful since they timed their visits to coincide with Kent’s business trip to Lake Tahoe (yeah, I know - was it really a business trip and not just an excuse to get a complete night’s sleep?!).  Kirstin & Kalvin helped to organize the craft/all purpose room and office as well as keep up with yard work  Our new yard has a tall shrub all along the back boundary; it took Kalvin several hours to trim the hedge and mow the yard.  Any guesses on how long it will take Kent to decide to hire a yard service?

This month passed in a bleary-eyed haze of sleeplessness.  Learn from us - do not EVER move and have a newborn at the same time.  It is sheer foolishness.  We only made it through this month due to the generosity of those who cooked, cleaned and helped us unpack.

We had a lot of visitors this month - Kelli’s Aunt Margaret and one of her cousins, Danielle Beaudette, visited the day we got home from the hospital (Aunt Margaret’s husband, Guy Robert, came by later in the week).  Rosalie Oliver came up to spend Sabbath, August 5, with us. We’ve also had visits from the Cochrans, Deiningers, Isidros and Zbaraschuks.  I haven’t been very good about taking pictures of everyone that has come by, but I have included some photos below.

Erik with Uncle Kalvin & Auntie Kirstin

Erik with "Auntie" Rosalie

Taking a nap with Nana

Allen & Tangie brought us an Italian feast from Positano's

Erik doesn't want Uncle Kal to leave!

Erik has periods of longer wakefulness and interaction with everyone.  He also cries A LOT at night - Kelli calls the time from about 7PM to 11PM the “witching hours”.  We are also certain that Erik is starting to smile socially rather than just from gas.  He also rolled himself over from his back to his stomach one day - it was a fluke, but it certainly startled us!  Erik is such a precious little guy and we are thrilled with him, even with the sleep deprivation. :)

1 month old: 8 lbs 9 oz, 21 inches