Daddy’s View

The other day, I came home from work, and Mommy told me that Eric has a new hiding place.  Mommy then told me all about Eric’s new discovery.  Eric often plays in our bedroom, because Mommy spends time in our bedroom during the day putting away laundry or getting ready to go to the store and such.  Eric explores all the corners and places that are so often referred to as “no” by Mommy and Daddy.  On this particular day, he stepped into Daddy’s closet, which is almost always left open.  The closet has sliding doors.  Eric discovered that he can slide the doors and close himself inside.

So, when I got home from work, I was greeted at the front door as usual with a hug and kiss.  Eric immediately ran down the hallway into our bedroom.  This is when Mommy told me about the new hiding place.  So, I went down the hall and into our bedroom.  Sure enough, my closet door is closed and Eric is nowhere to be found.  I called out, “Eric…where’s Eric?”  Eric slides the closet door open, and with the biggest grin on his face says , “Boo!”  He was standing straight and tall and smiling.  He was so proud of himself for discovering this new hiding place and showing it to Daddy.  Daddy was very proud, too.  Proud that my son had discovered a new place to hide.  Proud that my son was showing off.  Proud that my son is so darn cute!

Recently, Eric found that I keep a “stash” of m&m’s on my desk.  Mommy apparently tipped him off to this.  This particular stash is peanut m&m’s.  We do not let Eric eat these, as he might choke on the peanut.  Mommy explained that she had bit one in half, removed the peanut, and gave the candy coated chocolate to Eric.  So, now I am frequently persuaded to share m&m’s with Eric.  By frequently, I mean every day after dinner.  Eric usually says “some” (pronounced “bum”) when he wants something.  Earlier this week, I told him that these were called “candy”.  Now, he comes to me after dinner, when I am at my desk checking emails (or blogging like right now), and he simply says “candy” (pronounced “ka-ee”).  In case I don’t immediately produce a m&m for him, he repeats “candy” several times until I have managed to remove the peanut and present him with the candy coated chocolate treat.

Eric is learning more lyrics to his favorite song, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.  Now he sings more than just the opening line.  He sings the bold lyrics below.  He is still working on the longer phrases, but he gets the beginnings very well.

“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so far

Like a diamond in the sky.”

Eric’s vocabulary is increasing daily.  Some new words he is saying well now: bible, soup, Tigger, chair, cracker, cereal, Boo Ya, Bam, shoe, tie.  He pronounces all three syllables of “cereal” very clearly.  Many more that of course are not coming to the front of my brain while I sit here typing. 

Friday morning, Mommy had a doctor appointment, and so did Grandma, so who will babysit?  Daddy, of course!  I took a half day off of work to stay home with Eric.  This was great!  I think Eric thought it was Saturday when Daddy got him up and sat and played all morning with him.  Daddy loved it!  We sat for a while on the sofa and watched Barney and The Price is Right.  We danced around the pool table to his Music Playhouse CD for a little while, too.  We had a blast!  This was especially important for Daddy, because this weekend is date night, which means Eric spends Saturday night at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Mommy and Daddy get one weekend every month to be alone, go out for dinner, watch a movie, relax.  Unfortunately, it also means Daddy misses a weekend with Eric.  Since Daddy works all week, the weekends are our time together.

Saturday morning Daddy got Eric up from bed, while Mommy slept in.  We sat on the sofa and watched TV quietly waiting for Mommy to wake up.  Eric sits quietly more lately, probably because he has been sick.  He is much better now, and we are pretty sure the cold virus and ear infection are behind us.  He finished his medicine yesterday, so the diarrhea and rash (side effects of antibiotic) should go away this weekend.  Mommy is up!  Yeah!  Now, Daddy makes pancakes for breakfast!  As usual, Eric’s pancake is shaped like Mickey Mouse.  Eric loves pancakes, and so does Mommy!

After breakfast Daddy starts cleaning, while Mommy takes Eric to Grandma.  Mommy and Daddy have planned a day long cleaning spree in the house.  We will break this evening for dinner out and a movie in.  Right now, Mommy is taking a nap.

Tomorrow: rake leaves, mow the lawn, clean gutters, and pick up Eric from Grandma and Grandpa.

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Daddy is home from work today. Another one of Mommy’s great ideas, I planned an extra day to get settled home before returning to work. It turns out to be a good thing, since Mommy is feeling sick today like Eric. We had planned to go to Music Playhouse all together. Instead, Daddy woke Eric up to go to the doctor while Mommy slept in. Mommy went to her doctor later in the morning.

Eric has an infection in both ears and most likely a sinus infection, too. The doctor prescribed antibiotics to clear it up. He should be feeling much better in a couple days.

Eric and I got home just in time to see Mommy off to her doctor appointment. Soon after Mommy left, we settled down to watch some of his DVD videos. I put in “Brainy Baby” first (and last). Eric soon wanted in my lap, so up he was lifted. Within minutes, he was asleep on my chest. I reclined the chair, and we remained that way for about 1-1/2 hours until Mommy came home. (She woke us up coming in the front door.) I napped a little, too, but mostly watched TV after the DVD was over.

Eric played for quite a while, sat in my lap, read some books, ate a little chicken noodle soup, drank a little cranberry juice, and now he is down for his afternoon nap.

We made it back to Carmel, safe and sound. What a trip! We had so much fun!

The flights back were somewhat taxing. Eric is still struggling with his cold. He had a fever for most of today and is not eating much. He has an appointment to see his doctor first thing tomorrow morning. He’s a tough little guy. He didn’t fuss much at all, though his ears were really hurting as we ascended and descended in the airplane. He is napping right now.

Today is a relaxing day.  After last night, we all needed some rest.  Eric has been sick with a cold for almost two weeks.  It came to a peak last night.  He has not been able to get back on schedule since we left on Friday.  Anyway, no nap yesterday, except 20 minutes or so when we left the aquarium to go to dinner.

It was early to bed last night.  But Eric woke again around 11:30pm unable to breathe very well.  We got him up, cleared his nose, and tried to get him settled back down.  He did not want his bottle or his cup.  He did finally try to drink his cup, but could not catch his breath long enough to drink.  He developed a small fever, so we decided to take him to the doctor.

Two hours later…No infection.  No flu.  Probably some other virus (aka common cold).  Official diagnosis from the nurses: cute and adorable!  Some Tylenol and Motrin to help the fever, and Eric is feeling much better today! 🙂

We slept in, played quietly after breakfast this morning for a couple hours, and then headed over to the outlet mall nearby.  It is an outdoor mall, so we walked around and enjoyed the weather – beautiful day, warm, partly cloudy, mild breeze.  We grabbed some lunch at the food court and retired back to the hotel.  Mommy and Eric are currently taking a nap.

We all seem to be back in a normal routine.  Let’s hope we can keep it up tomorrow while travelling.  We are flying home tomorrow, leaving Charleston around noon, connecting through Detroit again, and arriving in Indianapolis around 5 or 6pm.

On Saturday, we stopped at the visitor center in North Charleston where we are staying.  The visitor center also happens to have a museum for firefighters.  We took the tour through the museum and saw all the old fire trucks and learned about all the equipment firefighters use.  Eric’s favorite part was the slide.  He is too little to go down the fire pole, but he loved going down the big red tube slide!  He even got a shiny red fire helmet before we left!  We also sat in a simulator and Daddy drove the fire truck to a couple emergencies while Eric honked the horn and worked the sirens.  Such fun! 

Eric had a blast at the South Carolina Aquarium today!  We saw fish, sharks, turtles, alligators, snakes, birds (an owl and a bald eagle).  Eric got to touch a baby alligator and a boa constrictor snake.  He loved the penguins! (Daddy’s favorite, too.)

After the aquarium, we went to dinner with Christine and her family.  The restaurant was a pirate theme.  There were old pictures, weapons, and flags from pirates and pirate ships.  They also had a small aquarium full of neat fish.

Here are a few photos of Eric at the museum and aquarium.  I will update his website soon and probably include some of these photos.

“How do I get back to the top? I want to go again!”

“Weeeeeeeeeeee!”

“Are those really penguins, Daddy?”

“I like these guys!”

“A baby alligator?!  Can I touch it?”

“Ooh, a sssnake!  It likes me!”

Eric is having the time of his life!  So many new things all in one weekend.  Friday, his first airplane ride (and second).  We connected through Detroit on Northwest airlines.  Our connection to Charleston was delayed a couple hours, so thankfully we had time to get some lunch and relax a little before the second flight.  Eric did really well on both flights.  We bought him his own ticket, so he could ride in his car seat.  He didn’t nap, like we hoped.  He played with his toys, read a book, colored with some crayons, and played with the window shade.  Up…Down (slam!)…Up…Down (slam!)…Up…Down (slam!)…for two hours!

He is getting used to the hotel room, although he is still not happy with the borrowed crib.  He slept Friday night in bed with Mommy and Daddy.  He napped Saturday afternoon in the crib until we woke him up to get ready for the wedding.  He slept a few hours Saturday night in his crib, but woke up and spent the rest of the night in bed with us again.  He loves it!

Eric behaved very well in church for the wedding and at the reception.

Today, we are meeting with some old friends from Purdue.  We will probbaly go to the aquarium in Charleston.  Christine has a 3-year-old and 5-year-old twins.  It should be fun for everyone!  Eric will have some new friends to play with on vacation.  They are leaving tomorrow for Disney World.  We are flying back to Indianapolis on Tuesday.

Last week I was getting ready to read a book to Eric.  It was one of his favorites with a picture of a truck on the front and textures for the pictures on each page.  I sat him in my lap and picked up the book.  Eric said, “truck!”.  I opened the cover, and Eric said, “fish!” and “dog!”  These were the pictures on the first two pages.  I turned the page, and Eric said, “apple!” and “cat!”  I wanted to read a book to him, but he was reading it to me!  I was so very proud!

Yesterday, Eric said, “One more”, while holding up his first finger.  He was asking for more crackers.  Eric’s vocabulary is really increasing along with his use of phrases to put the words together.

This morning, I went into his bedroom to get him up, since he was awake and called for Mama and Dada.  When I opened his door, I said, “Good morning!”  Eric replied, “poop” to let me know he had a dirty diaper.  He has learned to use this word a lot lately when he needs a clean diaper.