Erickson Adventures

Why hello!!  Greetings and salutations to you all!  I guess we can jump right into it since the pictures seem to do that for me.  :-)  On the home front, K's "rest time", which is one hour long and which she usually takes on either my bed or in the treehouse, has turned in to about a 50/50 shot at a nap.  She reads (outloud) for a good half hour before it is do or die time and I cross my fingers in hope.  She usually sleeps when Dad is home and doesn't when I am alone.  So yes, when Dad is here, we get a break, but when I am alone, I do not.  Classic!

On the potty training front, Em peed on the potty for the first time in our almost two week long serious attempt at potty training.  (Yes, that is long and yes I have been told by many a professional she may not be able to do it yet, but I am nothing if not a little stubborn at times.  Don't get me wrong, I am not going to get bent out of shape if it fails but I always want to give her the chance to prove them all wrong.  And so with long-suffering we try.).

Anyway, yesterday, after five morning pees in her pants (and not once did mom even raise her voice, yes, I am patting myself on the back), she took the sixth pair of training pants and voluntarily put them in the laundry...laundry I had just pulled out of the dryer.  After redoing half that load, I was ready to be done but decided to just try one more day.

I had promised her a party if she could just pee on the potty once.  The conversation went like this...Me: Emmy, do you want a cookie? Em: Yeah.  Me: Then pee pee on the potty and we will have cookies and I'll sing you a song and we will have a grand old party! After a moment of processing, Em: Me have a candle?  Me: Ok, yes, I can find you a candle.  This put a huge smile on her face and then, as an afterthought she said, "And den I will be fwee (3)!" I then had to clarify the difference between a party and a birthday party but it was very cute!

We sang a million songs and read some books (all of which K has helped me with since I promised her a cookie too) and then finally she did it!  She was so proud of herself, but not as proud as mommy was.

This is blurry because she leaned it to see the candle closer and I was reaching for her to stop what I knew was coming when her forehead got a little warmer than she wanted.  She wouldn't go near the candle after that until I helped her blow it out.  Ha!  Such is life!

Oh, and then I left her with Dad while I went to a baby shower and she went again! Then he caught her about to go number two, gave her the ipad and let her watch PBS until she went.  I guess she looked up at Daddy and said, "I dwopped it!"  SO, nothing for two weeks and two pee and a poo in one day - just like Em!!  I don't know if she will remember any of it tomorrow, but it's a start and that is all we can ask for these days.

Oh, yeah, the above mentioned baby shower.  There were a million people at this one but I stuck to more familiar faces...

We were trying out the self-portrait mode - not a normal fixture on these types of cameras - and I thought it was pretty easy considering the weight of the camera (although it is my small lens because the big one is at the shop).

Oh, and the pregnant one...

I just have to post this cause J won't appreciate it.  :p  It is one of those games where you have to walk with a quarter between your knees and drop it in a bottle...she did accomplish the goal, which is more than I can say for myself.

Sharing a plate.  K had chocolate strawberries for supper and A had chicken nuggets.  We were sporting the health food.

I think the idea was that Z fed the baby water, K fed it food and I am not sure what A was doing, but I had no choice but to document the three of them playing with - and SHARING!! - a single toy.  And you thought miracles didn't happen!

Well, here we are...the orange feet and the white feet...just in case you didn't believe me about Em's skin.  :)

Awww, Daddy!

The girls are at that stage where they don't understand why Daddy has to work so much and I get lots of questions all day long about Daddy and work and "when he comes home".  In their reality, Daddy leaves for three or four days straight and comes home for three or four days straight.  He may as well be a traveling Dad, which is very hard on them.  Anyway, so when he is home, they usually take full advantage of his time and attention!  Dad often thinks many of the toys we have are "pointless" as they "never play with them".  But that's just because when Dad is home, he is the toy.  What he doesn't realize is that they play with all their toys the entire time he is gone.  :-)

Well, I better head to bed!  Let me leave you with a passage though.  I found this story in Mark 5 and decided that our exact story is in the Bible too: "Then the leader of a local synagogue arrived...when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, pleading fervently with him, "My daughter is dying...please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live." Just then messengers arrived and said, "Your daughter is dead.  There's no use troubling the teacher now." But Jesus overheard them and said to the man, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith." ...the crowds laughed at him...Jesus took the girl's father and mother and three disciples into the room.  Holding her hand, he said to her, "Little girl, get up!" And the girl stood up and walked around.  They were overwhelmed and totally amazed."

God Bless!