Daddy’s View

Today is Eric’s birthday!  Mommy called me on my way to work, so I could sing happy birthday to Eric.  He was very happy!

Mommy had a dentist appointment this morning, so she took Eric to stay with Grandma while she went to the dentist.  He got to see Grandma, Grandpa (home for lunch), Tyler (after school), Uncle Rob, and Aunt Carol!  Mommy spoiled him today.  She talked to him all day about his birthday and his birthday party on Saturday.  He is very excited!

When I got home from work, we opened some mail.  It was a birthday card from Grandma and Grandpa!  Eric loved it!

Mommy fixed pizza for dinner today…Eric’s favorite!  He ate it like there was no tomorrow!  His face was covered in pizza and his hands were sauced all the way up to his elbows!

After dinner, Mommy and I gave him a present…only part of his birthday – we are saving the rest for his party.  It is a plastic figure of the pig character from one of his favorite TV shows, “Super Why”.  It has a small hammer and toolbox just like on the show.  He loves it!  He brought it along when we walked around the block after dinner.

When we got home, it was bath time!  Eric loves to take a bath.  Of course, I alwaya make sure he has plenty of bubbles to play with.  After his bath, Mommy and I wrapped him up in warm towels from the dryer, and we sat on the sofa for a while until it was time for pajamas.

What a busy day on his birthday.  We are pretty sure he loved every minute of it!  Off to bed and sound asleep within minutes.

I picked up the local paper Friday night.  Not sure why, since I rarely read the newspaper.  This was the Carmel newspaper that gets delivered for free every Thursday.  I browsed the headlines…nothing too interesting.  I looked through the currents event calendar and found a listing for Family Day at the Clarian hospital in Carmel.  Saturday noon to 3pm.  Free food, drinks, games, prizes, petting zoo, firetrucks, helicopters, etc.  Did I mention free?  everything sounded perfect for Eric.  Mommy and I discussed it and decided we could go before Eric’s nap on Saturday.

The weather cooperated, and the rain held off until late in the afternoon.  We arrived at the hospital just after noon and parked the car.  Mommy stopped at the first table to sign up for something.  Eric and I walked over to the Dunking Donuts characters that were walking around.  Eric waved and said “Hi!” to the glass of milk.  Then he gave him a high five.  We found our way back to Mommy just as she finished up at the first table.

We all meandered toward the parking lot where all of the action seemed to be.  At the first booth, the ladies sitting at the table offered Eric a toy.  He picked one that looked like a lion.  The next booth wasa man from the zoo with a big owl perched on his arm.  Eric like seeing the owl.  We walked around some more and looked at some displays that were set up.  Then we came across the llamas!  The girl who was tending the llama offered to let us feed the llama.  I thought Eric would like this, so I took some of the food in my hand.  Before I could offer it to the llama, it was already eating it right from my hand.  I got a little more food and put it in Eric’s hand.  The llama ate it right away.  eric was not quite sure what to think of this.  We moved on.

We found another booth that had live bunny rabbits.  Since around Easter this year, Eric is fascinated with the bunnies running around in our yard all the time.  He calls them “Easter bunny!”  We walked up to the table so Eric could pet the bunny rabbit.  It was very soft.  Mommy was getting hungry, so we walked over to the food area.  The entire event was free, but donations were expected.  We put some money in the can and ordered three hot dogs, three bags of chips, and three drinks.  We sat on a curb and ate our lunch.  While we were eating, a dog in a fireman suit came driving by in a go-kart race car.  Eric waved at him.

After lunch, we decided to walk over by the fire truck.  On the way, we passed the man from the zoo.  This time, he had a snake wrapped around his shoulders.  We looked as we walked by, but we were focused on the fire truck.  On the way, we passed an ambulance.  It was open, so we could see inside.  I lifted Eric up into the ambulanc, so he could get a closer look.  He was very interested.  He wanted to touch everything.

After the ambulance, we finally made it to the fire truck.  I lifted Eric into the driver’s seat.  He sat for a minute looking at everything.  I picked him up and put him in the rear of the cab.  He could walk around and look at all of the stuff.  He really liked it!  He would still be in there tonight if I hadn’t taken him out.  We climbed on the back of the truck and looked at the controls for the fire hoses.

We passed by a police car with a booth set up.  We got some cool free stuff, and the woman at the table gave Eric a Junior Deputy badge to stick on his jacket.  He was proud of his badge and showed it to Grandma later that afternoon.  As we walked away, we heard a helicopter approaching.  We turned back toward the fire truck and saw the helicopter making a slow approach to the far end of the parking lot.  Security had the whole area cleared out, and the helicopter landed right in front of us!  Very cool!

We were all tired, and Eric was past due for his nap.  We headed for the car, but got side tracked by another booth with a spinning prize wheel.  Eric took the first spin…he won $20 worth of coupons for Dave and Busters.  I took my spin and also won $20.  Mommy finally took her turn and won $10.  This whole day was getting better all the time!  We picked up a fire hat for Eric from another booth and finally made it to the car.

After Eric took his nap, we took him over to grandma’s house for the night.  Tyler was already there.  Soon, Eric and Tyler were chasing each other all over the hosue and playing.  Mommy and I left to go to see a movie and get dinner.  On the way to dinner, we stopped at Toys R Us and bought Eric’s birthday present.  We bought him a wagon.  He gets very excited whenever he sees a wagon, so we thought he would like to have his own.  Mommy and I can hardly wait to see the look on his face and to be able to walk around the block with him in his wagon.  Eric’s birthday is this coming Thursday.

Saturday was a lazy day.  We ran a few errands in the morning.  Ate lunch.  Took naps.  Played a while.  Ran another errand.  Ate dinner.  Eric took a bath.  Time for bed.

Sunday is a birthday party!  Aunt Deborah came over in the morning after breakfast.  We piled into the car and headed north to cousin Josh’s birthday party!  He is 16!  Mommy stayed home.  She needed a day off for rest and relaxation.  Aunt Deborah sat in the back seat with Eric.  I chauffeured both of them to the party.  Almost everyone was there…Josh, Jake, Uncle Joe, Aunt Traci, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Bev, Uncle Mike, Aunt Cindy.

Josh came out to the car and greeted us.  Eric handed him his birthday card and said, “Happy Birthday!”  Grandma and Grandpa were already there.  We went inside and said “Hi” to everyone.  Josh sat down on the floor with Eric and dumped out a shoebox full of cars.  Eric loved it!  Eric has a shoebox at home that is full of cars, too.  Eric played with the cars for most of the afternoon.  In between playing with the cars, he was playing with the balls.  Josh, Eric, and I went downstairs and threw a big yellow beach ball around the basement with several smaller balls that the dog plays with.  Eric had a lot of fun.  Upstairs, he played catch gently with Aunt Cindy.  There is more fragile stuff upstairs in the living room.

Dinner…Eric ate all of his vegetables!  And nothing else!  I couldn’t wait to tell Mommy that Eric ate five celery sticks and two carrot sticks.  He would not touch his hamburger and chips.  Of course, later he ate some cake and ice cream.  He was playing with Aunt Cindy while I ate my cake and ice cream.  He periodically came over for a bite of cake or ice cream.  He even got an ice cream headache!

We headed home kind of late.  Aunt Deborah rode in the back seat again to keep Eric awake.  It was much too late for a nap, although he was very tired.  If he slept now, he would be up all night.  Eric and Aunt Deborah played in the back seat, and she read him some books.  Aunt Deborah taught Eric how to pump his arm for the big trucks to get them to honk.  First truck…no luck…apparently some truckers are watching the road in front of them.  A few trucks later we were met with success!  Two short honks from a friendly trucker.  We cheered and celebrated.  Eric was having fun!  Eric and Aunt Deborah continued “pumping” the trucks, and five consecutive trucks honked their horns.  Of course, we cheered and celebrated after each one.  Eris was really having fun, now!

We got home just after 8:00pm.  We gave Mommy hugs and kisses.  We told her about the fun we all had at the birthday party, and how everyone missed her.  It didn’t take long to get Eric to wind down.  He was pretty tired after such a long day with no nap.  A little late getting to bed, but he was out fast!  A lot of fun packed into one day for the little guy.

After Eric went to sleep, I showed Mommy all of the pictures and videos that I took at the birthday party.

Tonight I came home from work late again 🙁  Mommy and Eric were already eating dinner.  Eric was being ornery tonight.  He would not give me a hug when I got home.  After dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen for Mommy.

We all were hanging out in the living room.  Mommy came back from the kitchen with a box of cookies, Teddy Grahams!  Eric likes these.  I love them!  Mommy gave one to Eric.  I had my hand out for Mommy to give me one.  Eric decided to give me his cookie.  Such a sweet gesture!  Eric got another cookie from Mommy and ate it.  I continued to hold my hand out for Mommy to give me another cookie.  Mommy set a cookie on her knee for Eric to pick up.  He picked it up and gave it to me.  Then he got another cookie for himself.  Eric continued this routine for several more cookies, even after Mommy left the room.  Eric reached in the box to get cookies for both of us, one at a time.  We bothed enjoyed this!

Eric finally gave me a hug at bed time.

After dinner tonight, it was time for a bath.  I added plenty of soap to make a really fun bubble bath.  Eric played for a long time until Mommy finally called down the hallway that she was bringing towels and slippers…time to get out of the bath.  I wrapped Eric in his bath towel and he immediately wanted to put on his pajamas.  He tolerated the towels just long enough to get dry, then he was ready to be dressed…with slippers, of course.

After bath, we played with his cars in the living room until bed time.  Eric helped put away all of his toys: the cars and all of the toys he played with earlier in the day.

Mommy is not feeling well tonight.  She has a headache from the changing weather, so she went to bed early.  I played with Eric in the living room until bed time.  We played with his cars, after we put away all of his other toys that he had played with during the day.  Pajamas, hugs, kisses and off to bed.

Another day at home.  I love long weekends!  Mommy made a casserole for breakfast.  She had already started it when I reminded her that I was planning to make pancakes again.  Oh well.  The casserole was delicious!  I did cook a pancake and a slice of bacon for Eric.  Pancakes are his favorite breakfast.

We played all day.  Mommy bought a new toy yesterday.  Eric and I opened it and played with it today.  It is a small magnetic chalk board with a whole bunch of magnetic letters, numbers, and shapes.  We created words and pictures.  Eric likes using the eraser with the chalk.  We played with his castle and his toy cars.

Before dinner Eric took a bath.  He had pancakes for breakfast, which means sticky syrup hands were in his hair.  Today’s bath had lots of extra bubbles!  After his bath, Mommy had a good idea.  She got out his slippers that Grandma gave him for Christmas.  He did not like wearing them in December, probably because they were a little big and awkward for him to walk.  His feet have grown a little since then, and he is walking much better.  This routine was a hit!  Eric walked around in his slippers for nearly an hour before he wanted to take them off.

Tomorrow is Monday.  Back to work.

Saturday!

Eric took a bath this morning.  He played with his rubber ducky and his toy boat.  I opened another of the compressed egg towels that he got for Easter.  It is a wash cloth compressed very tightly into the shape of a small egg.  It expands and opens when it gets wet.  We played with this for a while.  I showed Eric how to squeeze all of the water out of the towel.  It was so cute to watch him squeezing with both hands and making a scrunched up face.  We did this over and over until I showed him how to open the towel and lay it flat across the top of the water.  Then we pushed down in the middle.  He was fascinated and did this many times until it was time to get out of the bath.

It is the weekend, so we managed to have some fun along the way.  We ran around the pool table chasing each other and laughing.  We played ball in the hallway.  We watched his favorite TV shows: Dora, Umi, Barney, and Word World.  This evening just before bedtime, we intiated “Project Castle Relocation” to move his castle from the living room to the poker room.  This was no simple task.  Carrying the main castle structure was easy.  The side castle and the drawbridges requires significant re-assembly.  Some minor architectural changes were made for structural and cosmetic reasons.  Eric did very well with replacing all of the letters, numbers, and shapes to their appropriate tiles.

I read two of Eric’s favorite books before settling him in for the night: “Peanut” and “Lullaby Moon”.  He insisted that I read each book several times, which I happily agreed.

I took Friday off of work…3 day weekend!

We had lots of fun on Friday!  Eric loves it when I am home from work.  Weekends are the best time of the week for both of us.  We ran circles around the pool table while listening to his Music Class CD.  Later, Eric wanted to ride the horsey.  He really enjoys riding on Grandma’s leg like a horsey.  Mommy does this sometimes for him, too.  I tried this, but decided to take it up a notch.  I got down on my hands and knees, so Eric could climb on my back.  We galloped down the hall into the kitchen and trotted a few laps around the pool table while Mommy was fixing dinner.  After a few laps, I rescued my knees and stood up to carry Eric around “piggy back”.  This is our usual game.  He yells “giddyup” while I run around the house.

Mommy called me at work yesterday.  I was just heading into a meeting at 11:15am.  Mommy asked if I could take an early lunch.  I started thinking…maybe if my meeting does not run long.  Then Mommy continued and said “like right now?  We just locked ourselves out of the house.”  What?!  I told Mommy to sit tight and I would come home as soon as I could get out of my meeting.  I got out at 12:00pm, but Mommy had already called Grandma to come over and unlock the door.

Mommy explained all the details later.  Fortunately, Mommy always takes her cell phone when they go outside to play.  As anyone who has ever locked themselves out of anywhere, Mommy realized immediately as the door closed.  Eric quickly caught on to Mommy’s problem.  He put one finger in the air and said, “IDEA!”  Then he ran around to the side of the house and onto the stoop outside the kitchen door and said, “door  kitchen . . . locked”.  He was so disappointed when he realized that his great idea to use the other door had failed.  Mommy was so proud of him for trying to help…and for knowing how to help.  I was equally proud when Mommy told me the story.

While Mommy and Eric were waiting for Grandma, they walked up and down the block and played in the front yard.  The garage was locked, so they had no toys to play with.  Mommy was on the porch and swatted at a bee that was buzzing around her head.  When Eric saw this, he ran over toward her yelling, “Bug!”  He had every intent of protecting his Mommy.  Again, Mommy and Daddy are so proud!

Eric and I went to the store tonight after dinner.  Mommy stayed home.  We are shopping for birthday party supplies (no luck) and underpants.  As we are walking through the store, Eric is counting his numbers and reciting his alphabet.  He doesn’t get the entire alphabet together, but he recites separate parts like “CDEFG” or “MNOP” or “WXYZ”.  Eric counted from 1 to 10, and with a little coaching we both counted to 20.  As we walked around the store, I think I popped all the buttons off my shirt.  I was so proud!  He is getting very good with his numbers and letters.  Eric knows his shapes and colors very well, too.  Circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, diamond.

Earlier this week, Eric and Mommy were playing outside and drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.  Eric asked Mommy to spell his name, and Mommy wrote his name on the sidewalk.  Eric drew a long straight line and said “I”.   He wrote his first letter!