All Smiles

Coming right up on Erin's first birthday. Looking back over our (sometimes infrequent!) posts on the blog, time really flies. Erin spends a lot of her time lately entertaining the grown-ups. Her days in the plastic sink bathtub are numbered, I think.



Grandma Beth is here with us for an extended visit while Fran finishes a difficult month at the hospital. As usual she is a huge help with Erin. After a few days of shy looks from a distance, Erin and Beth are happy playmates.



Some belated pictures-- Grandpa and Grandma Prekker had us over to an Easter party earlier this month. Also happened to be Piper's birthday (Erin's second cousin-- Fran and Beth assure me that Piper is my first cousin once-removed...) but anyway we had a lot of fun.




Another in a long line of important "firsts"... Erin's first bite of sheet cake! This is one of Dad's favorite sweet treats (oh how I miss high school graduation open houses), and now Erin doesn't have to take my word for it. It's great.



Oscar and Duncan also deserve a picture, as they've been left out of the blog lately. They're great with Erin, and to show her affection she'll bend over and give them a kiss just about every morning. If only she wasn't so curious about the dog bone...

Feels Like Spring

It was 55 degrees and sunny today and life is good. An added bonus-- Erin actually liked her new "hat" from aunt Laura and Tom. We decided to celebrate the end of a long week for Mom with a bike trip to the Birchwood for dinner. It was fun to try out our new Burley trailer, and Erin was a great sport, bumps and all.


I love this last picture, you can see her little face behind the windscreen with a look like "we're going to do what?!". The trip went off without a hitch. I expect it won't be long before I hear, "Faster, dad, faster!"

11 Months Old

Erin's now 11 months old. I decided to include a couple videos of what she's been up to lately. Video seems like the only way to keep up with her-- she's always on the move! We do community ed swim classes with her at my old high school, a good excuse for her to stay up past her bedtime (but boy is she tired after). Next week our goal is to get her head all the way underwater.

Erin's learned how to pull herself up to standing in the crib. This development over the last several weeks has thrown a wrench in our nap and bedtime routine. Why sleep when you can babble and dance? It's especially cute when she's only in a diaper (see below!).





Fran and I are convinced we can pick some real words out of her baby babble lately. She will walk right up to us, hug our knees, and say "Uh" (meaning 'up') to be picked up. She likes to point or wave at Oscar and say "Ah" (as in 'Ah-scar', I think?), and Duncan is "Un".

Speaking of the dogs, they know where to hang out during Erin's meals or snacks for some free food. Ducan usually wedges himself underneath the highchair, leaving Oscar to prowl the periphery.

In other news, I turned 31 yesterday. We celebrated with burgers at a restaurant with friends-- the four plasma TVs within eyesight delighted Erin for a few minutes, then a meltdown forced mom and Erin to head home early. Fran's back to work on Monday with a few difficult months coming up. We're still anxiously waiting for warmer weather.