Daddy’s View

I just wanted to share Mommy’s Christmas creation with everyone.  It was delicious, however scary it may have looked.

So far…Eric’s favorite Christmas presents (no particular order):

• piano keyboard (from Mommy and Daddy)
• cordless drill and flashlight (from Aunt Cindy, Uncle Rob, and Briana)
• toy truck that plays “Funky Town” (from Grandma Gray)
• recliner chair (from Santa)

Actually, he likes all of his presents.  These just happen to be his favorite toys this week.

Many thanks to everyone!  Eric is so very blessed to have such a generous and loving family!

(…I added photos this morning to yesterday’s blog post from the Children’s Museum…)

Christmas is here!

Mommy and Daddy woke up first this morning.  No surprise.  Eric slept until 9:00am, a full 12 hours!  He was exhausted after yesterday.

Mommy was fixing breakfast, so Daddy went in to get him up.  As soon as I opened his door to go into his room, he says,”Santa!”  Normally, he will say, “Daddy!” or “Mommy!”  How did he know Santa had been here?  Of course we told him before he went to bed that Santa would visit and bring him many new gifts.

After the usual morning routine (diaper change and juice cup), we went out to the living room where Santa had left all of the gifts: a new kid-sized recliner chair, lots and lots of foam building blocks, and several wrapped presents: a magna doodle, a see-n-say animal sounds toy, a dump truck, and new snow boots!  Eric went straight for the chair, climbed in, and set his cup in the cup holder.  He was happy!

After a few minutes, we coaxed him out of his chair to open some gifts.  He tore through the wrapping paper like an old pro.  He had plenty of practice at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house last weekend.  What fun!  Christmas morning is a blast!  Mommy and Daddy enjoyed it just as much as Eric (maybe more).

Now, on to the family presents.  Eric picked up the first present from under the tree from Brock and Lua.  He opened it with big smiles.  New books!  Eric loves to sit and read through books with Mommy and Daddy.  Eric picked up another present from under the tree from Mommy and Daddy!  As he brought it over to me to sit and open it, he says, “piano!”  Now, how did he know without unwrapping what was inside?  Mommy and Daddy were stunned.  Sure enough, he tore open the wrapping and there was his new toy piano keyboard!

Eric then presented his gifts to Mommy: bath creams and stuff from Origins (Mommy’s favorite), scented bath soaps, and homemade coupons for twice monthly “spa nights” in the bathtub for Mommy to relax and have quiet time to herself throughout 2010.  Mommy loved it!

After breakfast, we opened our Christmas stockings!  Eric’s stocking was full of toys and candy: a new book with Elmo, some M&M’s, Colts socks, and a toy car.

What a morning!  Eric relaxed for a few minutes to watch Barney from his new chair, and then played with his keyboard a while before his nap.  Christmas can be exhausting for little ones!

Later, we go to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house for dinner…and more presents!

Christmas Eve!  It’s finally here!

This morning, we went to the Children’s Museum.  They are open from 10-2 today with free admission to everyone!  Eric had lots of fun.  We went to the usual play area, and he ran around and played with the toys.  He even sat in a big front loader tractor!  In the science area, we played with giant tinker toys and built a tower taller than Eric!  We also played with giant legos.

Later this afternoon after Eric’s nap, we are going to Aunt Deborah’s house for dinner.  We can’t wait to see Quoia!  It will be nice to spend Christmas Eve with family, and we will call Grandpa on the computer, too.  Everyone from up north is gathering at Grandma and Grandpa’s house this evening.  We will get to see everyone.  We are especially excited about seeing Briana, since she was not yet home for Christmas when we visited last week.

Yesterday, Mommy told me about something Eric did while I was at work.  (I am off work now for the rest of the year!)  We sometimes let Eric run around the house naked.  He really likes it!  Occasionally he will pee on the floor, and we have to clean it up.  No big deal.  Yesterday, Mommy was letting him run around and play naked.  He likes to play back and forth between the kitchen area and the living room.  Mommy was in the living room when Eric came back from the kitchen area.  He says, “poop!”  Mommy says, “Do you need to poop?”  No, that wasn’t it.  Eric puzzled for a moment to find the right word.  Then he looked down at himself and said, “pee pee!”  Aha, Mommy knows just what to do.  But so does Eric!  Before Mommy could get up to clean the mess, Eric says, “towel!”  Eric runs and gets a towel and then goes over to his puddle and starts wiping it up!  What a good boy!  When he finishes cleaning the mess, he turns back to Mommy and says, “diaper!”  Now if that isn’t smart, it must be genius!

Whew!  What a year this has been!  Now it is almost over.  Eric’s 1st Easter…he looked so handsome in that suit!  Eric’s 1st birthday party…he loved eating that cake!  Eric’s 1st camping trip…cutest little camp director you ever saw!  Carmel Fest…Eric sat in a fire truck and now has his own fire helmet!  Eric’s 1st airplane ride…he loved South Carolina!  Thanksgiving…Eric always loves a party!  And of course, most important, visits from Grandma and Grandpa, visits to cousins’ birthday parties…Eric loves his family so much…he is always so excited to see everyone.  Eric is blessed to have so many people in his life who love him!

Next up…Christmas!

Last year was Eric’s 1st Christmas.  He enjoyed all the excitement and family gathered together, but I am pretty sure he did not know what any of it was about.  He played with the boxes and bags more than the presents that were inside.  This year, he is walking, talking, running, singing, and dancing.  We have been talking to him about Christmas.  He learned to laugh like Santa, “Ho! Ho! Ho!”.  He tries to sing along with some of the Christmas songs that we sing.

We put up our Christmas tree and decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Eric seemed not to notice the tree or the decorations…until the lights came on!  We put the Christmas tree in the living room this year.  It is much more cozy.  In previous years, we always put it in the sun room.  We could see it from the living room, but it was always “over there”, “in that room”.

I put up the outdoor lights…Homer Simpson in a Santa suit, Frosty the snowman, grape vine lights over the front door, Christmas tree of lights (think Monument Circle…only much smaller), candy cane arches lit up along the sidewalk, lights outline the front porch.  Eric really likes watching the candy cane arches from the front door as they blink and fade and flash.

This weekend we visit Grandma and Grandpa for our family Christmas dinner.

What?!  No blog for Thanksgiving?  You thought I’d never get a round tuit, but here it is!

Aunt Deborah is riding with us to go home for Thanksgiving.  I asked her to be at our house by 9:30am, because we want to leave around that time.  Aunt Deborah arrives early around 9:00am.  We are just getting ready to start breakfast.  I make pancakes and bacon for everyone.

Mommy and Aunt Deborah are trying to get Eric to say “gobble gobble”.  Of course, he is so smart, he picks it up right away.  He repeated “gobble gobble” all day when prompted.

After breakfast, Aunt Deborah plays with Eric and helps get him dressed while Mommy and I finished packing all the stuff that is required for an overnight trip with Eric: extra change of clothes…check!  extra diapers…check!  pajamas…check!  pack-n-play (bed)…check!  star pillow…check!  blanket…check!  toys…check!  books…check!  juice…check!  coat, hat, and mittens…check!  stroller…check!  Mommy’s and Daddy’s overnight bags…check!  Whew!  Now with the car fully loaded (I’m glad I bought this boat of a car!), we add Aunt Deborah’s stuff and close the trunk.  Mommy and Aunt Deborah argue briefly over who gets to ride in back with Eric.  Mommy cedes to Aunt Deborah.

We arrive at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house safely after 2 1/2 hours and only one stop to change a diaper.  Uncle Joe, Aunt Traci, Joah and Jake are already here.  Eric is really excited to see everyone!  Very tired without a nap all day, Eric is a little loopy.  After everyone arrives, and Eric has had a chance to see everyone, Mommy puts him down for a nap.  Grandma announces “one hour until dinner”.  Since Eric really needs his nap to survive the rest of the day, we let him sleep through dinner.  We suspect he will not eat much of the food anyway.  He is somewhat picky about his food, lately.  I am convinced that this trait must have come from Mommy’s genes, not mine 🙂

Well, the commotion of dinner and several people eating downstairs, eric wakes up.  Although still alittle tired, he is ready to go, running around, playing, laughing.  He loves his family so much!  He is always happiest when we are all together.

The party winds down.  Everyone eventually leaves to go home.  Eric is tired, and we finally put him to bed.  Not long after, Mommy and I also retire to the bedroom.  Eric wakes shortly after.  Mommy and Addy are up most of the night trying to keep Eric quiet and go to sleep.  Eric is unfamiliar with the new guest room and is typically restless when sleeping in the same room with Mommy and Daddy.  It must be the snoring 😉

We discover the next morning that not everyone was kept up all night.  Grandpa slept through most of the noise.  Aunt Deborah was elected to pilot the “family truckster” southward after breakfast.  Mommy put up a good fight, but I get to ride in the back seat with Eric this time!  I read a few books, including “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”.  We played and laughed.  I tried a few times to get Eric to take a nap, but he is too wound up.  He sleeps better when nobody sits in the back seat.

We arrive safely back in Carmel, and Aunt Deborah continues south to her home.  Eric plays for a while – he needs to stretch those little legs after the long car ride.  He is finally ready for a nap.

Mommy and I begin decorating the house for Christmas.  Lights on the tree, knick knacks on the shelves, miniature village and nativity in the curio, ornaments, etc.  Eric wakes to a living room filled with bright lights.  Amazingly, he is interested only in looking at the decorations.  A few gentle touches and a desire to push the button on the “santa clause stuck in the chimney” are all he needs to be satisfied.

We teach Eric that Santa says “ho ho ho”.  He is so cute when he says it.  He purses his little lips and says “ho ho ho”.  Cute, cute, cute!  Christmas will be so much fun this year!

Saturday, I mulch the last dropping of leaves in the yard and start with the outdoor Christmas decorations.  First, the lights over the doorway – they are shaped into bunches of grapes on a vine.  Next, the faux Christmas tree made of lights, a la Monument Circle, only much smaller (about 3′ high).  With vineyard and tree in place, the lights go up over the porch, up one side all the way across and down the other side.  The candy arches are my favorite – sixteen candy cane striped arches 2′ wide by 18″ tall, arranged along the front sidewalk starting from the porch and curving around toward the driveway.  These are dialed to run through the entire array of patterns: running slowly, running quickly, flashing rapidly, alternating, steady, fading, etc.  Finally, I put up the inflatables.  We have an 8′ tall Snowman and a life size Homer Simpson in a Santa suit.  These are carefully staked to the ground and plugged in briefly for a quick test.

This is when I realize that I have neglected to follow the previous year’s arrangement, and I do not have enough extension cords and splitters to connect all this stuff!  Well, rather than tear half of it down and move it, I decide a trip to Menards is a better idea.  Eric is napping, so I go alone.  I return with three new extension cords and a 3-way splitter.  I finish at dusk.  Soon, the front yard is glowing with festive lights.  Frosty is having a little trouble standing up straight this year.  I suspect he has seen his last winter season.  Homer has his usual troubles standing up, but once he is up he stays standing.  Eric is up from his nap by now and is fascinated by the bright lights and colors in the front yard!  The look on his face makes all the work worthwhile.

Sunday, we rest.  I love four day weekends!

This weekend was a poker marathon.  My parents came to visit this weekend.  Dad and I were entered in a Texas Hold’em poker tournament on Saturday, so Grandma and Grandpa arrived on Friday evening.  Mommy’s parents also came over for dinner and a friendly game of poker.  Eric was so excited when Grandma and Grandpa showed up.  He was double excited when the other Grandparents showed up.  Now, this is a party!

Eric played and showed off to Grandma and Grandpa.  Such a ham!

Saturday, we were off to the tournament.  We played well, had fun, and came home after just 3 hours.  Oh well, the prize money will be waiting for us next time.  We came home to find Eric and Mommy both taking a nap.  Mommy and Grandma had planned to go shopping, so we told them to go ahead, and we would watch Eric for the afternoon.  Then we realized that the Oaken Bucket game could not be watched on our TV.  Our satellite package does not include the Big Ten Network.  Dad and I suggested that Eric go with Mommy and Grandma, so we could go watch the game at a sports bar.  This sounded like a great idea, except the bar we went to also could not get the game.  We were led to believe that it was “blacked out”, which we could not understand.  Anyway, we came home and settled in front of the TV to watch another Big Ten football game while listening to the Purdue vs. Indiana game on the radio.  It was not long before Mommy, Grandma, and Eric were back.  They had decided against shopping, and instead just went for lunch.

The afternoon was spent playing with Eric.  Grandma and Grandpa really enjoyed this.  Eric sat in Grandma’s lap and let her read a few books.  Grandpa and I messed with the computer and DVR for a while.  The other Grandparents were coming over for dinner and poker again Saturday night.  When they arrived, Eric couldn’t believe such a party could take place two days in a row.  Grandma brought spaghetti for dinner, and Eric loved it!  He ate as much as we could give him.  There are few foods that he will eat so eagerly.  Congratulations to Grandma!

Eric traded laps while we played cards.  He enjoys playing with our coins.  We just have to watch he doesn’t throw extra money into the pot! 🙂  Time for bed and no fuss tonight.  A very tired boy was very sleepy.

Sunday morning, Eric was happy to see Grandma and Grandpa were still here.  We all played and visited until nap time.

Eric loves all of his Grandparents so much!

This weekend we took photos.  Mommy’s family needed an updated family photo since the addition of Eric.  The last family photo was taken before Eric was born.  We all got dressed up Saturday evening and met at the Target store to get our photo taken.  Eric and I were both dressed in a white shirt and red necktie.  We looked pretty sharp!  Mommy wore a red sweater.  She looked beautiful!  Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Rob, Aunt Carol, and Tyler all were dressed just as sharp.  Together, we were a great looking group.

Eric hit it off right away with the photographer.  While we were waiting for our appointed time, Eric started playing peek-a-boo with the photographer.  The two of them were laughing like crazy.  Eric immediately had a new friend.  The photos turned out great.  We are anxious to get the prints back.

After the photos, we had a dinner reservation to celebrate (a couple weeks late) Grandma’s birthday.  This was the first weekend that we all could get together.  Dinner was very nice, albeit very long.  We ate at Stone Creek in Zionsville.  Eric insisted on sitting next to his cousin Tyler.  Eventually, we were able to get him to sit in his high chair while we all ate our food.  By this time, it was getting late, and Eric was getting tired.

The whole group headed back to our house for the after dinner party.  Eric caught his second wind on the drive home.  When everyone showed up at the house, he was so excited!  He ran around playing with Tyler and chasing the balloons.  Eric finally wound down, and we put him to bed.  He was too tired to put up a fight.  He was off to bed and fast asleep.

The family stayed a little longer to play the board game “Taboo”.  We teamed up as couples with Tyler as the referee.  Mommy and I won easily.  Then we split into the traditional boys versus girls teams.  Of course the boys won (again) with great help from Tyler.  When will the women learn?

Earlier this week, Mommy read somewhere that at 2 years, Eric should have about 30-50 words in his vocabulary.  So, Mommy grabbed a notebook and started writing down all of the words that Eric has been using.  She was careful to write down only the words that we think he understands, as he will repeat most anything he hears.  Mommy called me at work to tell me this, because she got excited when she had written down over 80 words and was still writing.  The rest of the week, we have been paying attention and adding new words to the list.  The list is over 100 words so far.  Some are pronounced better than others, but these are words that he appears to understand the meaning when he uses them.  Eric is only 18 months!

Now, being an engineer, I cannot resist the urge to compile the list on the computer and post it on Eric’s website.  However, this may not happen right away, since my laptop died last week.   I am now shopping for my Christmas present, and Mommy and I have been time-sharing her computer.

This weekend is “Girl’s Weekend”, when my mother, sisters(in-law), niece, and wife all go away for the weekend without us men folk.  Just Eric and Daddy all weekend!

Mommy left after dinner on Friday night.  Eric was not happy to see luggage and such being loaded into the car.  He was especially not happy when Mommy drove off without us.  But soon, we were playing and laughing, and Eric’s attention was elsewhere.  We played and snacked and played.  We watched TV, played with his cars and balls, and shared a bowl of ice cream before bed time.

Saturday morning, I got up before Eric and started preparing breakfast.  This Saturday…PANCAKES!  No big surprise for Eric, since Daddy often makes pancakes for breakfast on Saturdays.  Eric was very hungry.  He ate almost an entire pancake!  A Daddy sized pancake!

After breakfast, we got dressed and headed out to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.  Eric had not been there before.  This was a lot of fun for Eric and Daddy!  Eric spent almost two hours in the Playscape on the 3rd floor.  This is an area where kids of all ages can run around and play.  They have a water area, a sand box, a slide, pretend garden, wobbly bridges, crawling tunnels, toy cars, play house with kitchen and yard, building blocks, and more.  Eric spent most of the time crawling through the tunnel and going down the slide.  We had to cut the day short, though, so Eric could get his nap and some lunch.  It was quite an adventure and so much fun!

After Eric’s nap, we ate dinner and played until bed time.  Eric was calling Mommy’s name just before bed time, so we called her on the telephone and Eric talked to Mommy before he went to bed.  Eric was so tired from all the day’s activities that he just fell asleep almost instantly without any fussing.

Mommy came home this afternoon.  Eric is very happy to have both Mommy and Daddy home again!  We had so much fun, Daddy is counting the days until the next girl’s weekend!

Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma and Grandpa were here last weekend.  Eric was in heaven!  My parents visited for the weekend, and Mommy’s parents visited Saturday evening for dinner and a card game.

Before dinner, when Grandma and Grandpa got here, Eric was so excited!  Grandma and Grandpa brought some new toys that they received from a former tenant.  Eric now has in the living room a big plastic slide, small wagon full of building blocks, a Tonka dump truck, basket full of books, and several other small toy cars and trucks.  It was like Christmas on Halloween.  Eric may now believe in the Great Pumpkin!  Climb up the step, slide down…climb up the step, slide down…climb up the step, slide down.  Every time Eric came around to climb up again, he stopped in front of Grandpa and waited for permission to go “again”.  This was very entertaining for everyone, especially Grandpa!

We went to Zorba’s in Zionsville for dinner on Saturday evening (Halloween night).  Eric wore his new shirt from Aunt Deborah.  It has a picture of a skeleton that glows in the dark.  The shirt also shows little pieces of candy, as if we are looking inside Eric’s belly at everything he ate.  We had fun at dinner!

For bedtime, Eric wore his Mummy pajamas that Aunt Bev gave him last year!  Yes, they still fit.  A little short in the arms and legs, but they still fit well enough to sleep in… and oh so cute!

Sunday morning, Aunt Deborah came over to take Eric’s 18-month photos.  He had not had a professional photo since his 1-year birthday.  Mommy and Daddy are anxiously waiting for the pictures.  We took pictures in the back yard, while Eric sat in his swing and ran around in the leaves.  Our big maple tree had just dropped another giant load of golden yellow leaves over the entire back yard.  Eric loved running around in them!