Daddy’s View

Been a while.  Sorry I have not been blogging lately.  I’m back!

Mommy and Eric have a cold.  They are both running around the house with runny noses.  It is a regular snot fest around here the last couple days.  Otherwise, we are all doing very well.

Eric and I reached a milestone the other day.  It all happened when I had to work late one evening.  When I got home, I hugged Eric and Mommy, washed my hands, and carried my plate to the dinner table.  Mommy and Eric had already eaten earlier in the evening, so it was just me at the dinner table.  After a moment, Eric came walking through the living room and reached over the gate with a beer in hand.  He realized that I did not have a beer to drink with my dinner, so he brought one to me.  This was a very special moment for a few reasons.  First, my son is so smart!  Second, my son is so thoughtful.  And third, my son brought me a beer!  Okay, so it was warm and shook up, but it’s a start.  Soon he will understand that it should come from the refrigerator and should not be dropped or shaken.  The fact that he brought me a beer really was not too surprising.  A few weeks ago, during the day when I was at work and Mommy was cooking dinner in the kitchen, Eric was bored with his toys and wanted someone to play with him.  So, he picked up a beer from the kitchen and carried it to the front door calling for “Pa”.  He knew that grandpa would drink the beer and play with him, if only grandpa could hear him calling.

Tonight, we played in the living room with Eric’s blocks.  He has about 30 or so of these little plastic blocks.  They are clear plastic and have various items inside like elephants, bells, shapes, etc.  He sometimes will stack a few blocks, but mostly he likes to knock down anything that Daddy can build.  It is usually a race to see if Daddy can stack more than 2 or 3 blocks before Eric knocks them down.  On a few occasions, I was able to stack almost all of the blocks in an elaborate structure including some other nearby toys.  Eric paused a little before gleefully knocking them down with a few sweeping arm movements.

Birthdays are fun!  Eric’s cousin Jacob celebrated his 13th birthday this weekend.  Eric and I drove up to the birthday party and Jacob’s football game Saturday night.  Mommy stayed home, since she was not feeling well.  We stayed overnight at Uncle Joe’s house.

Timing is everything.  In this case a little off.  We all ate around 3:00pm…except Eric.  Eric does not usually eat until much later, so he was not hungry yet.  However, when it was time for cake and ice cream, for some reason, he was very hungry all of a sudden.  Big surprise, huh?  Aunt Cindy and I managed to get him to eat some grapes and potato chips later, but no real dinner for Eric.

After the birthday party, we all went to Jacob’s football game.  He is playing in the junior league for 12-14 year old boys.  It was a really good game.  Eric and I left just as the fourth quarter was starting.  It was well past Eric’s normal bedtime.  We found out the next morning that Jacob’s team won the game 27-20.  Eric was not happy with his new surroundings at bedtime.  We did not have a night light and he was in a new place that he had not slept before.  After a few minutes, he cried out loud.  He was frightened in the dark.  Daddy picked him up, turned on a closet light and let Eric sleep in bed.  He was so content to be lying next to Daddy in bed.  Eventually, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.  Eric and Daddy slept well until early morning.  Eric began to get restless and tossed and turned.  Daddy got a fist to the eye, a knee to the rib, and nearly rolled off the bed.  Eric never woke during all this.  He happily snoozed through it all.  When he finally did wake up, he was very excited to realize he was not in his crib, but he was in bed with Daddy.  Just to see the expression on Eric’s face, Daddy would endure the punches and kicks all over again any time.

We spent the morning playing with Uncle Joe, Aunt Traci, Josh, Jake, and Sport.  We played with a beach ball in the living room and played with “the claw”.

Eric slept almost 90 minutes on the car ride home.  He cried for Mommy the rest of the time.  With only 8 hours sleep overnight, his car nap was not nearly long enough.  We tried to take a nap later in the afternoon, but Eric was not interested.  Maybe he will go to bed early tonight.

Tomorrow starts his new music class.  He goes for 10 weeks every Monday morning to sing and dance with the teacher, the other kids, and the parents.  He really enjoyed the class he took during the summer.  He will be excited tomorrow to be there again.

We went for a walk around the block today after dinner.  We do this most nights when the weather permits.  Eric lately wants to get out of his stroller and push it.  We sometimes let him out when we get close to home.  He does not move very quickly when he pushes.  Mostly because he wants to stop every time he sees something different in the pavement…every three or four steps!  Most of our neighborhood does not have sidewalks, so we walk in the street.  Another reason to not let him out to push too much.

When we return from our walk, Mommy needs to run to the store for more milk.  Eric and I stay outside and play in the front yard.  He loves to pick up rocks from the landscaping and redistribute them to other parts of the landscaping.  We got out his big green ball and kicked it around for a while, too.

The church bells start ringing.  Eric mocks the sound in near perfect pitch.  He does this quite often when he hears sounds.  When we are walking, he often repeats the “woof woof” of the neighborhood dogs as we pass them.  When the music stops, the church bells chime eight times for 8 O’clock.  This was Daddy’s cue to go inside and get Eric his “ba ba” to wind down for bed time.

Oops…Daddy forgot that Mommy went to the store for milk, because there was none left in the refrigerator.  Now what to do?  Eric is excited about drinking his “ba ba”!  Daddy makes a quick decision to substitute water and juice in a sippy cup.  Whew!  It worked.  We settle in the living room chair to read a couple books, and Mommy is soon home with a new jug of milk…Our hero!

I updated Eric’s website today. 26 new photos and 1 new video.

Sunday Afternoon:

This was Eric’s 2nd trip outside of Indiana.  His 1st trip was to Michigan last year when Daddy had to go for training.  Mommy and Eric tagged along for the week.  It was the most fun I ever had on a business trip.

This trip was not quite as far to travel, but he is now more aware of his surroundings and the passing of time.  He is not exactly thrilled to be stuck in the car for more than 2 hours.  Eric’s Aunt Deborah rode in the back seat to keep him company.  This was a helpful distraction, although he did not want to take a nap.

Daddy and Aunt Cindy went to church Saturday afternoon while Mommy and Eric took a nap at the hotel.  We thought it was important for Eric to get at least a short nap before the reception.  He slept only about 35-40 minutes before Mommy had to get him up and dressed.  He was very sleepy through dinner and afterward.

Eric remained sleepy, but still had plenty of smiles for everyone at the party.  He really liked meeting his little cousins, Anthony and Mario.  After dinner we danced a little, but Eric was too tired to really get into the fun.  Mommy and Eric went back to the hotel around 10:00pm.  Daddy stayed at the party for a couple more hours until it was over.  Grandma and Grandpa gave Daddy and Aunt Cindy a ride back to the hotel.  Mommy and Eric were fast asleep.  We tip-toed in quietly.  Mommy woke briefly to say “good night”, but thankfully, we did not wake Eric.

Aunt Cindy stayed in the hotel room with Mommy, Daddy, and Eric.  Daddy and Aunt Cindy were celebrating our birthday, like we do every Labor Day weekend.  Traditionally, we go camping, but last year we spent the weekend in Carmel, and this year we spent the weekend in Algonquin.

This morning, we all gathered at a restaurant for breakfast.  Eric was thrilled to see everyone again – and more rested.  He was smiling and laughing with everyone.  The car ride back home today went very well.  Traffic was reasonable, and Eric did finally take a short nap for 30 minutes.  He was very excited to get out of the car at home and run around.  We made a brief stop in Merrillville to let him walk around, but it was still a long trip.  Eric ran round the front yard like a wild man!  Aunt Deborah left, and we continued playing until he tripped and skinned his knee on the sidewalk.  It was a minor scrape – Daddy washed it off for him, and we continued playing in the house.  With little sleep for Eric this weekend, Mommy and Daddy are hoping for an early bed time tonight.

Every day with Eric is an adventure!  This weekend certainly was, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Saturday Morning:

Today, we hit the road.  We are driving to Illinois, north and west of Chicago, to Aunt Eileen and Uncle Geof’s anniversary party in Algonquin.  This will be the longest car trip that Eric has been on.  We have our fingers crossed.  He does pretty well on the 150-mile trip to Grandma and Grandpa D’s house, but this will be another 80 miles.  The distance is deceptive, since we have to travel through Chicago.  What normally should be a 3.5-4.0 hour trip is more likely to take closer to 5 hours travelling through Chicago.  With Eric along, we are planning on 6 hours.

We are really looking forward to the whole event.  Eric does not often get the chance to visit with his Great Aunt and Great Uncle.  He will be excited to meet his cousins.  The party should be a lot of fun.  Eric loves to dance whenever he hears music – TV shows, commercials, radio, ring tones.

 Eric’s Aunt Deborah will be travelling with us.  She is very excited about riding in the back seat with Eric.  I know Eric will have fun, too.  We are hoping he gets in a nap, though.

Today is my birthday.  Mommy and Eric came to my office to take me out for lunch.  We went to Zorba’s in Zionsville.  I really enjoyed seeing both of them during the day.  I wish every day could be like this!

Right now, Eric and I are eating cake and ice cream!  Mmmmmmm!