Daddy’s View

This past weekend, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  We stopped at the mall on the way, so we could buy an Easter suit for Eric.  We found one!

As we were leaving the store, I opened the car door as usual.  Eric started climbing in on his own.  I usually pick him up and put him in his seat, but today he was feeling adventurous, so he started climbing.  The first step up is a long one, so I gave him a little help…not much.  Eric climbed up onto the back seat and then into his car seat.  Pretty good, I thought, for a not yet 2-year-old.  I started to get him buckled in, and he insisted on helping.  He snapped the buckle across his chest…half of it anyway.  I buckled the other half and his lap belt.  Wow!  Such a big boy!  He did this again when we left Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Mommy and I were impressed…and very proud!

Actually the buckle thing was no big surprise.  He has been experimenting with the buckle in his high chair for a couple weeks.  Mostly, he gets frustrated when he can’t get it to buckle or unbuckle.  But these last few days, he is getting pretty good at it.  Once he gets it buckled (after much trying and crying), he then unbuckles and re-buckles it repeatedly without letting go of the pieces.  He is so proud of himself every time he gets it to buckle!  When he is struggling to buckle it, he refuses any help.  Mommy and I have tried helping him, and he gets very stubborn and will not let go of the buckle or let us help in any way.

Eric stayed overnight with aunt Carol, uncle Rob, and cousin Tyler last night.  When Mommy and I went to pick him up today, he showed us a new game that he had been playing.  He was playing with a small rubber ball (aka super ball).  Eric was throwing it up the stairs and watching it bounce and roll back to the bottom.  When the ball reached the floor again, Eric danced around and laughed with joy!  Aunt Carol says he repeated this over and over for the longest time.  It was fun to watch!  Of course, we all cheered him on and clapped when he danced.

Mommy, Eric, and I were in the car this afternoon.  We were headed home from a few errands.  Mommy happened to turn around and saw Eric pick a sizeable booger from his nose.  His first pick!  He wiped it on his pant leg, and then got upset that it was stuck to his pants.  Mommy quickly got a tissue and wiped it off of him.  Whew!

This week is the beginning of the spring session of Music Playhouse.  Eric goes every Tuesday.  The spring session theme is pony.  We sang some of the new songs and danced and played some instruments.  We came home with the new song book and CD.  After dinner, we played the entire CD and danced around the pool table singing and acting out the songs.  It was a lot of fun!

Mommy made an appointment to get her hair done this week.  Monday night.  She dropped Eric off at my office around 5:00pm, since her appointment was nearby.  Eric was very excited to see me.  I was, too!  tonight was going to be boys’ night.  Mommy left Eric, and we went home.

First, we stopped at Costco to pick up some items on my shopping list and gas up the car.  When we got home, Mommy had bought a frozen pizza for us.  I warmed up the oven and baked the pizza.  Eric was very anxious.  He could hardly wait to eat some pizza.  It is one of his favorite foods.  Eric ate one and a half slices of pizza.  Not his record, but still a lot of pizza for a little guy.

After dinner, we played for a while with Eric’s cars.  When he was finished, he put them all back in the box.  He is very particular about putting all of his cars back in the shoe box.  We read a few short books, and it was time for bed.  Eric went to bed without any fuss.

I waited up for Mommy to get home, after 10:00pm.

I was swapping cars at the mechanic last week.  It was time for oil changes.  One morning, I drove Mommy’s car to drop it off and pick up my car.  I had just driven away from the mechanic’s shop when I realized that my lunch was left on Mommy’s front seat.  I forgot my lunch!  And I dropped the keys on the drop box, so going back was not an option.

When I got to work, I emailed Mommy to see if she could bring my lunch.  We could all have lunch together!  Mommy agreed, yeah!  Mommy and Eric brought lunch to my work, and we ate together.  Eric was in a great mood!  He talked to everyone at the office, smiled, waved, and laughed.  I was very excited to have lunch with Mommy and Eric.  They were both very excited, too!

Today is Eric’s cousin Tyler’s birthday party.  We had dinner at Benihana’s Japanese steak house.  This is one of Tyler’s favorite restaurants.

Tyler’s parents reserved a room at the hotel across the street from the restaurant.  Staying at the hotel is a treat for Tyler.  Eric, Mommy, and I went early before dinner to visit with Tyler.  Tyler and Eric absolutely love each other.  Any opportunity to visit is great for both of them.

The hotel has a swimming pool, so I packed my trunks and Eric’s trunks.  This will be the first time Eric has been in a swimming pool.  I stopped at the store this morning to buy Eric some swim diapers and a new pair of swim trunks.

We arrived at the hotel and went up to the room.  We changed into our swim trunks and headed for the pool.  Unfortunately, they do not have a kiddie pool.  The only pool was 3.5 feet deep at the shallow end with no steps into the pool.  I jumped into the pool, and Mommy handed Eric to me.  He was a little unsure but never afraid.  The water was a little chilly, but not cold.  We walked around a while with Eric hugging his arms around my neck.  I held him on his belly so he could kick and splash.  He was not very interested.  I returned to the shallow end of the pool and sat him on the ledge with his feet dangling in the water.  I splashed him a little.  He liked it!  He reached forward and splashed some himself.  I continued to splash water over the front of him.  He loved it!  We walked around the pool some more and splashed some more.  Tyler and Uncle Rob were in the pool with us.  Eric and Tyler splashed each other.  Of course Mommy and Grandma were taking photos the entire time.  (I do not have the photos to post here yet.  They were using their cell phone cameras.)

It was time to get out.  Eric was starting to shiver, and it was getting close to dinner time.  Such fun!

Dinner was late in the evening, so we came home right after to get Eric in bed.  He was very tired.