Daddy’s View

We spent Saturday afternoon and evening at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house.  We celebrated Grandpa’s birthday, Uncle Rob’s birthday, and Grandma’s and Grandpa’s anniversary.

The weather was beautiful.  Eric played in the backyard and the soccer park.  He kicked his ball around and ran all the way to the other end of the field.  Eric threw the ball up in the air.  He wanted to throw it high in the air.  It was very windy and I kicked the ball very high a couple times.  Eric thought this was cool!

Eric loved being outdoors.  He played for a long time before we came back into the house.

We ate dinner and sang “Happy Birthday”.  Grandpa and Uncle Rob blew out candles on their cake.

Sunday morning, we received bad news from Grandma.  Grandpa is back in the hospital, but everything is okay.  Mommy went to the hospital to be with Grandma and Grandpa.

Eric and I went to Aunt Deborah’s and Uncle Jeff’s house to visit.  We wanted to see Quoia before she leaves us for doggy heaven.  She is such a sweet dog.  Eric loves her!  Eric chased after Quoia just to reach out and pet her.  He did this several times.  He really liked playing with Quoia.  Quoia really loved playing with Eric, too.  We will miss her very much.

Tyler visited this weekend.  I took Friday off from work, and we picked up Tyler from Grandma and Grandpa before lunch.  Tyler is on spring break this week, so he is not in school.  We had decided to take Tyler and Eric to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.

Eric loved Chuck E. Cheese!  So many games, the slide, pizza, the slide, Tyler, the slide, Mommy and Daddy, the slide.  You get the picture?  Eric went down the slide over and over and over and over and…  Mommy and I managed to win 61 tickets between us.  We “cashed” these in to get prizes.  Eric chose a Chuck E. Cheese spoon and a plastic lizard (Daddy chose the lizard 🙂 ).

After lunch and games, we headed home.  Eric and Tyler played all afternoon.  They watched Shrek 2 on TV.  Tyler and I built a castle for Eric using his foam floor mat tiles.  This became an ongoing project until Tyler’s dad picked him up on Saturday afternoon.  The castle started out as a simple tower with a marquee bearing Eric’s name.  It evolved with the addition of an annex to form an el-shaped fortress.  Later, it was improved with the addition of a drawbridge to the entrance.

So much fun!

Tonight, we are going to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house to celebrate Grandpa’s birthday, Uncle Rob’s birthday, and Grandma’s and Grandpa’s anniversary.  Grandpa is recovering from surgery a couple weeks ago and is doing very well!  We are looking forward to playing with Grandpa and enjoying the party!

Eric had such a good time this weekend!

We went to my parents’ house for the weekend.  Aunt Deborah rode in the car with us.  Eric was so excited to see Aunt Deborah Saturday morning.  She sat and ate breakfast with us.  We had pancakes and bacon…Eric’s favorite breakfast!  Aunt Deborah brought a bag of fun games and activities for Eric and her to play in the back seat during the 2.5 hour drive.  They had a good time!

It rained for most of the drive, but it started to clear up just before we arrived at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house.  When we pulled into the driveway, Grandpa saw us and opened the garage door, so we could unload the car through the garage and keep dry, since it was still raining lightly.  Eric saw Grandpa and said, “Oh! Grandpa!”  he repeated this several times until he got out of the car and ran to Grandpa.  While he was hugging Grandpa, Eric saw Grandma come into the garage from the house.  He said, “Oh! Grandma!” and ran over to her with hugs and kisses.  Eric was very excited, and I think it made Grandma’s and Grandpa’s day!

We spent much of the afternoon playing and laughing.  Eric was having a blast!  Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Deborah, Mommy, Daddy…everyone was having fun!  Wait until Aunt Cindy gets here!

Aunt Cindy is coming over to cut Eric’s hair.  His hair is starting to get a little sloppy, so this is a good opportunity to get it trimmed and neat for Easter.  Aunt Cindy arrived just as Eric was finishing his dinner.  Grandma had saved some leftover spaghetti and meatballs from earlier in the week.  She knows that is Eric’s favorite meal!  The rest of us would eat hamburgers from the grill later.  Aunt Cindy did a wonderful job with Eric’s hair.  He looks oh so handsome!

Aunt Deborah bought a kit for coloring eggs.  She prepared everything and Aunt Cindy helped set it up on the kitchen table.  Grandma had already boiled some eggs after dinner.  Eric had fun coloring eggs!

Everyone enjoyed the rest of the evening.  Eric went to bed and fell right to sleep.  He was exhausted…no nap on such a busy day!

What a weekend!  And it’s only Saturday!

Sunday morning, I woke up first and got showered and dressed.  I went in to wake up Mommy and Eric.  They were sleeping together in bed.  So adorable!  Mommy got up, and I dressed Eric in his new suit.  He is wearing sharp pants, a dress shirt, tie, and a vest.  He looks so handsome!

After church, Eric took a 2-hour nap before everyone arrived.  Eric woke up to a house full of people: Aunt Bev, Uncle Mike, cousin Michelle, Nick, Bill, and Hazel were all there!  Aunt Cindy and Uncle Rob would arrive a little later.  Eric loves a crowd!

Eric played with everyone until dinner.  We ate well!  Grandpa made his famous sausages and a pork roast.  Everyone else had brought side dishes, salads, and desserts.  Eric did not eat much.  He was too excited and distracted.

After dinner, Grandma and Grandpa hosted the traditional Easter egg hunt.  Eric is the only youngster eligible, so it was easy picking for him.  This was his first Easter egg hunt!  He was not quite sure what to do at first.  He found a couple eggs and everyone watched as he tried to pick up the eggs and hold his bag at the same time.  He finally figured out the object of the game.  He ran around the yard picking up eggs from the grass, in the bushes, and behind flower pots while I ran along with him holding the bag full of his treasures.  It was quite a production, as everyone watched and ran around the yard taking pictures and videos.  Eric loved all the attention as much as the eggs!

Grandma and Grandpa also had games scheduled for the adults.  We were paired up at random and had to push a plastic egg across the yard using only the end of a broom handle.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  Aunt Deborah and I were paired up.  The competition was organized as a bracket tournament.  Aunt Deborah and I won the championship!  Our prize was a chocolate bunny.

By now it was getting late in the afternoon, so we started packing up to drive home.  We wanted to get Eric home with enough time for a bath before bed time.  Aunt Deborah entertained Eric with books and games in the back seat again.  After a nice long bath, Eric played while his hair dried.  Bed time…and Eric is out like a light!  So much fun can be exhausting for a little boy!

It is always nice to spend time with family!

Happy Easter!

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.

Eric is always mimicking anything that Mommy and I do.  This we expected.  Some times we regret saying or doing something when he copies us, and other times he is just so darn cute!  This time is one of the latter.

It was during the days after Christmas while I was off work.  We were painting the master bedroom and replacing the closet fixtures.  The floor of the office was piled with stuff that had been moved out of the bedroom and removed from the closets.  As a result, I was unable to get my desk chair over in front of my desk, so I sat on Mommy’s exercise ball.  Eric thought this was funny.  He often played on it with Mommy or I holding him up while we bounced him on the ball.

Eric of course tried to copy this by sitting on his ball.  He was not quite tall enough to straddle it completely, and he was not successful.  Oh well.  He really likes sitting in my lap while I sit at the computer.  I usually bounce a little while he sits.

Recently, he has finally been able to sit on his ball.  Today, I captured him on film sitting on his ball and reading a book.

I also have a couple new videos on his website.