Wednesday, June 30, 2010

22 months

Don't worry...I won't keep boring you with these monthly posts once she turns 2, which means only 2 more after this one!!!!

Caroline is a bundle of energy. She doesn't stop moving or talking from the time she wakes up til the time she goes to bed. It's exhausting but fun.


I think it's safe to say, we are in the throws of the terrible two's around here. Whining, screaming, crying, and fit throwing often for no apparent reason. Every other word out of her mouth is "Mine" or "My turn" or "I wanna do it".

Relaxing in "her" bouncy chair. She doens't like to share it with Miles AT ALL. Nice.

She loves to count...anything and everything. She can even count to 5 in Spanish! Guess all that Dora is paying off ;)

Her favorite color continues to be orange, so we are hoping this doesn't mean she wants to be a longhorn someday :)

Playing dress up a la 80's style in honor of my party...


She can go up and down the stairs all by herself. I like to keep an eye on her when she comes down because you never know when she is going to decide to "go rolling" as she says. She can also jump with both feet off the ground...she actually gets pretty high!

There are so many cute and funny things she says I can hardly keep track. Here are a few:
  • When we say "I love you" she says "I love you, too, Mommy!" Melts our hearts every time.
  • She sometimes calls us by our first names.
  • She is obsessed with discussing her birthday. She will tell you it's in August, that she will be 2, and that she wants pizza, strawberry ice cream, and strawberry cake.
  • When Jon comes home from work, she says "How are you, Daddy?"
  • If Jon and I are talking to each other (especially in the car) she will call one of our names incessantly, until we answer her. Then she just looks at us. She has nothing to say, she just wants us to talk to her instead of each other. Sometimes she will say, "Mommy, no talking." Oh my.

Daddy


Recently, we got to celebrate Jon X 2! Both his birthday and Father's Day.

I know I totally take for granted how wonderful he is.

As a husband, he always encourages me to take time for myself, go out with my friends, or just go to bed early. He works so hard to provide such a wonderful life for us, he cooks, he will watch any movie I pick, and he always makes me laugh. He constantly strives to be a better husband, which is the greatest gift of all.

He is such a great Daddy to Caroline and Miles. To say that Caroline adores him is such an incredible understatement. She lights up at the sight of him, jumps up and down with excitement at the mention of his name, and wants to do everything he does. He is so much fun! They go on all kinds of adventures together and he teaches her all kinds of fun things. She swims with him, rides bikes, "works out", gardens, you name it.Have I mentioned that he is the Baby Whisperer? If Miles is fussy, I will try and try to get him happy with no luck and then Daddy will swoop in and save the day! He really is so good with him.


What a blessing he is to me not only as a husband, but also as the father of my kids.


Here are some pics of he and Caroline's latest adventures...

She loves to swim, of course. He has been taking her to the pool as often as possible. When we tell her we are going swimming, she rattles of the list of everything she will need..."My bathing suit, my hat, my life jacket, my sunscreen..." etc, etc. Here she is with her new Puddle Jumper life jacket, which she loves, and so do we!!!



Not a chance she would look at the camera. Notice her cute little pool shoes...Jon told me that for the record he did not want our children being the kids with the "aqua socks and the fanny packs" but I think her shoes are cute...for now ;)
We got her this trike at a garage sale for $5...that's no typo...FIVE dollars! They even threw in the Dora helmet for free! She can pedal a little, but it has a handle so we can help her. She loves it and wants to ride it ALL the time.
The biggest thrill for Caroline and Daddy is the new bike trailer! Another garage sale steal...$15. We can't wait til Miles is big enough so we can go on family rides :)

Getting strapped in...
Helmet on...
Ready to go!
And they're off!

I can't wait to see what they get into next :)


We love you, Daddy Jon!!!
Love,
Mommy, Caroline, and Miles :)

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Newborn Pics

I am finally getting around to posting these!!!
Just a few of the pics from Miles's newborn session with Carly!
The whole fam...
This one makes me laugh, because we were cheering and clapping for Caroline to get her to look at the camera and smile, and then she started cheering for herself. Ha!

This might be my fave...
Sweet sister
love this one,too...
big yawn!
So peaceful!
it kind of looks like he is smiling ;)

As always, Thank you, Carly!!!!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Little Fishy

Caroline has always loved the water, but it's so much more fun now that she can really play in it!
We ventured to one of the neighborhood pools for the first time this summer. The water was a little chilly, but that didn't slow her down!


She loves to practice her moves from swim class...

Kick, kick, kick


even loves getting dunked!
She comes up screaming for "MORE" every time he puts her under :)

Of course, the best thing about swimming is hitching a ride on Daddy's back


Don't worry, Miles was there to get in on the swimming action, too...

He managed to sleep through the whole thing ;)

New Arrivals!

Meet the newest members of the Erickson clan!

Wade Allen Erickson
June 9, 2010
Congrats to the Kansas City Ericksons!
Steven, Diane, big sis Whitney, and big bro Wyatt :)


Elaine Ann Erickson
"Lainey Ann"
June 14, 2010
Congrats to the Dallas Ericksons!
Bryce, Elizabeth, and big bro Benjamin :)


Aunt Paige and Uncle Jon are SO anxious to meet our newest little niece and nephew and Caroline and Miles can't wait to play with their new cousins!!

3 down and 1 to go for the Erickson Babies of 2010...

Monday, June 14, 2010

Totally Rad Birthday!

To celebrate my 30th b-day, we decided to pay tribute to my birth year (1980) and have a roller skating party. This brought back so many memories!!

We had glow necklaces, 80's music, and plenty of big hair and blue eye shadow to go around ;)

Ginny, Kristin, Me, Brooke, and Marla

Meghan, Me, Sarah

I was a little shaky on my skates at first, but my mad skills quickly came back to me.

Jon is already tall, so he is FREAKishly tall in roller skates. He is also quite a talented skater!



We did the Hokey Pokey and the Limbo, and OF COURSE we had races.Jon was the big winner...taking a victory lap.
Such a stylish bunch...

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends!!!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Out and About

We have been getting into the swing of things around here, and having lots of fun! I am not someone who likes to stay home all day, so we typically have at least one outing. Of course this is complicated by the addition of another kiddo, but I am determined.

The mall is a great outing. You can visit lots of stores, with out having to buckle and unbuckle car seats and stroller 500 times. It's air conditioned, and they have food :)

Best of all...the mall near our house now has a carousel! How fun is that!?!? Each of the horses has a name, and Caroline chose Elvis. It was fun, cheap, and she went totally bonkers for it.



There is also a smaller ride, which was also super-fun. However, a giant fit ensued when it was time to get off. She REFUSED to get into her stroller. But one thing I know is that I am WAY more stubborn that she is. So I REFUSED to carry her and push the stroller. It took a little while, and LOT of patience. But I won, and she got back in :)

I let her sit in the regular chair instead of the high chair in the food court for the first time. She did shockingly well. Never tried to get up, just sat and ate and watched all the other kids. She was very proud of herself.
With all these errands we've been running, C felt like she needed some new shades. She absolutely insisted on the BLUE ones, with Diego on them. She wanted nothing to do with the pink Dora ones. Go figure!

Miles: 1 month!

Miles at 1 month...

He is a really good baby :) Definitely starting to "wake up" a little more!

Here he is practicing his dance moves...doing the robot...oh yeah!

He has been eating about every 3 hours during the day and every 3 1/2-4 1/2 at night, but he must be going through a growth spurt because the past couple of days he seemed hungry NON STOP!!!!

I am definitely having a harder time being consistent with him as far as a schedule or routine goes. This is really hard for me, but I know it will all work out. I just like things to be planned :)
I am finding with the 2nd you just have to be flexible!

He actually likes tummy time a little. Ok, so maybe saying he likes it is a bit of a stretch, but he tolerates it really well. He doesn't scream bloody murder like his big sis did. He is super strong, can lift his head up really high, and turn it from side to side.

He rolled over yesterday (from tummy to back). I was sure it was just a total fluke and then he did it again! Of course, when I grabbed the camera to try and grab a video, he decided tummy time was over. I am pretty sure 1 month is a little too early to be rolling over...

I can't wait to see how much he weighs at his 2 month check up, because i think he is really starting to pork up :) I even notice a little double chin!



He looks just like Jon. I love that.

I am ashamed to admit how little we have bathed him in his lifetime. It just doesn't seem to get done...oops! I guess they don't get that dirty at this age ;)

His first real bath...not sure what to think

Until Saturday (his actual 1-month bday :)) He had literally never worn anything but onesie. We figured since he was a big one-month-old, we'd dress him in a "real" outfit. Plus he went to his first bday party, so an outfit was definitely called for! (see pics of him in navy outfit, he looked quite handsome)


He fell asleep in Jon's arms just like this. Isn't that hilarious? So cute!
I'd say he is definitely a keeper :)

Team Grandma!

A big shout out to "Team Grandma" (aka, Mimi, Minnie, and Grammy...aka, my mom, my step mom, and Jon's mom) All 3 grannies have taken a turn to come down and lend a hand during these first few weeks.

It has made the transition so much easier, and so much more fun!

We love you, Mimi!


We love you, Minnie!

We love you, Grammy!
Thank you for everything!!!!!!

Caroline: 21 months

Caroline at 21 months...

She has finally mastered opening doors. This is a completely tragic occurrence in my life. I knew this day was coming...now nowhere is safe!

We had our first object up the nose incident. Another inevitable event, I know. It was a fruit snack...well part of one anyway. She looks at me and says "Uh oh! Shoo Shoo Snack a nose." Greeeeat. By the way, we have no idea why she calls fruit snacks "shoo shoo snacks" :)

Not only does she loved sugar packed fruit snacks, but she has recently become obsessed with any kind of sweets...cupcakes, ice cream cones, cake, cookies, etc. I guess its all the birthday parties we have been to lately? Anyway, Daddy brought home this special treat from work...she was delighted!



She has figured out that our names are not just "Mommy" and "Daddy" but also "Paige" and "Jon." She thinks this is HILARIOUS to call us "Daddy Jon" or "Mommy Paige"




Caroline is really starting to grasp the concept of "First/Then" which is very helpful for managing her endless requests for things. The other day I told her "First, breakfast, Then, Target." and She responded with "Yea Target!!! No breakfast, Mommy!" My girl loves Target of course ;)

She loves to be my "helper" with the laundry. You can just imagine how truly helpful she is ;)




Jon took a recent business trip to London. She LOVED talking about Daddy's airplane. "Daddy, airplane London." It was so cute :) He brought her back a very jazzy toy airplane, which she adores!




Caroline is (and always has been) ACTIVE. She is such a good girl, but she is very busy. Anything she can be doing that gets out some of that energy is a plus in my book. As seen in a video I posted a while back. We make full use of our entry hall...she loves to run up and down, especially if we chase her. Now we have added a ball to the mix. She runs up and down kicking her ball, yelling "I a soccer girl! I a soccer girl!"




Daddy has been working out a lot lately (and is looking extra lean!) and of course his little sidekick always wants to be a part of anything he does. He has taught her to do squats, push ups, sit ups, and stretches. It is soooooo funny. Must get video of this for SURE.




Caroline can jump and get both feet off the ground. She is quite proud of this and loves to jump ALL the time.

All this working out, soccer-playing, and jumping means she needs lots of extra down time ;) Here she is relaxing on the Boppy pillow catching up with her pal Dora. She is clearly in a trance.




Caroline says the funniest things. I know none of you care, but I don't want to forget these...




  • She calls Swiper the Fox (from Dora), "Swiper a Pots"


  • When she come up behind me she will tickle me and say "I got me!" instead of I got you.


  • She is into "checking things" like the mail, or having me "check" her ears, or check on Miles. All day long I hear the phrase "Check a _____"
  • If she wants to bring something with her (like a toy or her cup), she cocks her head to the side and says"Wif you?" Instead of 'with me'
  • Caterpillars = "Patterkillers"
  • Enchiladas = "Chickaladas"
  • Necklace = "Netsick"
And, I will leave with the little gem of story...

Caroline is really into dressing and undressing herself. She is really good at the undressing part. Often when I go get her up from her nap, she has taken off part (or all) of her outfit. The other day, I walk into to find her completey naked, holding her dipaer, saying "Uh oh Diaper! Ewww, Stinky Diaper!" Oh yeah, that's right...poop EVERYWHERE. Smeared all over her, the bed, and everything in it. (Lucky for the Vietti's, they were here visiting and got to witness this glorious sight ;)) She and I have had several chats about it since, and we haven't had any other poopy diaper incidents. She has taken off a wet diaper a couple of other times, but that is (obvisouly) not nearly as gross. Lovely.