Summer Days

Erin and I have had a blast during these last 2 weeks. I'm supposed to be on cardiology clinic, but they have very few clinics scheduled, so I've been home a lot with Erin. We're having a great time hanging out. When I'm working, Erin's been hanging out with Gramma and Grandpa Prekker. Grandpa Prekker is current Erin's very favorite person. She gets upset when he leaves and always wants to be right with him. They are quite the silly pair.

Erin is very affectionate these days and gives lots of kisses. She prefers sloppy ones right on the mouth and will kiss us repeatedly if our faces are close enough. She also is learning to blow kisses, however somehow blowing kisses got mixed up with patting her mouth while shrieking, so it's not quite right. Oh well, she seems to enjoy herself and is always proud of the funny noises she makes.


Erin is still loving playing outside. She likes picking up dirt, sticks, seeds, rocks and moving them all around. She is fascinated by birds, bird feeders, hoses and sprinklers. She hasn't really gotten into the sprinklers yet, but did get hit by a few drops today and was very surprised. She's also trying to tackle stairs. There are cement steps up to Gramma and Grandpa Prekker's house and she likes to go up and down. She is convinced that she can walk up them without crawling and is totally clueless that you can't just walk off the edge. You can tell she is a kid who does not have stairs in her own house. She has no fear. She also has started playing obstacle course with Oscar and his bed in the morning and will climb over him and try to maneuver around his bed and the dresser and our bed endlessly. I'm not sure what the fascination is, but she thinks it's great fun.


Erin's been eating like a champ the last few days. She's been shoveling in the hummus, bread, and her personal favorite... fruit. She'll gorge herself on just about any kind of fruit (nice to know that she did inherit something from me) but her favorites seem to be strawberries, pineapple and watermelon. Yummy. She's also doing better eating more of what we're having and we enjoyed some soup and bread and sauteed greens last night for dinner. It's nice that we're not always making several different meals. Dean was teasing her by putting her peas (which she didn't want to eat) in a spoonful of yogurt to feed her. She thought this was fantastic and now insists on putting something in each spoonful of yogurt/soup she gets. I think the worst was garden burger in yogurt. Yuck.

As far as words, she's babbling up a storm and works on lengthy monologues while we're in the car, but is reluctant to say any new words. So we're still stuck with "all done" and the ever present, all purpose "ah." She's not saying much, but understands tons. She is able to identify more and more people, follow more complex commands and select specific books when asked. It's pretty amazing.

We finally got our third car seat, so she's done with her infant seat. After some debate, we have put her facing forward and she loves it. She likes to spy us in the mirror and give huge, cheesy grins. After a bit of research we bit the bullet and forked over the money for the Britax. We got 2 neutral color ones, but then Matt selected the last... a cow print! It's pretty silly, but sometime Matt just loves to go "bold." I figure if the cow print makes him happy, I'll have less trouble avoiding "bold" colors in the house. It's all give and take.

Erin is working on tooth number 5 right now. I was afraid that she was going to be going to kindergarten with only 4 teeth, but she's proving me wrong. It looks like it's coming in pretty crooked like the other ones and she may take over the honor of most snaggle-toothed grin from Duncan. Lucky girl.

Matt's been working hard lately. He's on general medicine wards and they've had a busy month. And to cap if off this week, they got the brand new 3rd year medical students on Tuesday. Needless to say, they are very enthusiastic, but a bit green and it takes a lot of time to get much done. It is amazing though steep the learning curve is and how quickly they manage to get in the groove. This Monday, Matt starts cardiology and I start PICU, so things are definitely going to get a bit nuttier around here. Luckily Gramma Beth is returning on Sunday to help out and is staying through Laura's wedding in June. What a life saver it is going to be to have her here.

Here's another little highlight from Erin's bath tonight. We did some video so Daddy could see it after he came home. Another long day for Dr. Daddy Prekker.

Heat wave

Erin, Matt and I are sweating through a mid-spring heatwave. It got up to 96 yesterday and was up over 90 again today. The house has warmed up to a stuffy 85 and stayed there. This has meant that Erin is getting to try on all of her summer clothes and we've headed outside to play. Erin is having fun outside and seems to never tire of chasing her ball and collecting anything "dirty." Her hair has gotten curly in the back and got even wilder in the humidity.


As a family we're in the middle of another busy month, but things have slowed down temporarily for me and it's great. Erin and I have gotten a chance to spend some half days together and wander the neighborhood, cook for dad and even work in the yard a bit. What a treat.


Erin has continued to wow us with how grown up she seems. She understands so much of what we say to her and follows all kinds of simple requests. She's still hesitant to call me or Matt "mama" or "dada" but will point at us when asked where we are. She still has words for Oscar and Duncan, but they are difficult to distinguish from her all purpose "ah," which can mean just about anything. Her most consistent, most understandable word is "all done."

She is eating and sleeping well. We just had her one year check up which confirmed that she's a skinny kid, but growing well. She's at the 90% for height and the 50% for weight. She has now hit the height limit for our infant carseats, so we're in the market for some big girl carseats.


Erin still loves her books, Oscar and Duncan and carrying things around the house. She likes to pet the dogs and give them hugs and kisses. Duncan is a little skiddish with her these days and often stays just out of her reach, but Oscar just lays there and sighs. For a few days last week she was fascinated by his mouth and kept trying to pull his lips up to see his teeth. What a patient dog. She can also kick a ball, flip light switches, scribble with a crayon and is starting to enjoy being chased. She still doesn't have any interest in climbing and that's just fine with me.

Birthday Girl! (a little belated)

We're a little late in posting pictures from Erin's first birthday. We had a great time with friends and family at her party May 2. We started the day celebrating with Erin's birthday buddy Grandpa Prekker, who was very gracious in sharing his special day. Here are the two goofballs with some new gift bag "hats"!

Next we invited some good friends over, and all of a sudden Erin had some playmates and a proper first birthday party.

Here are Anders, Shea, and Erin-- what cute kids!

It doesn't get much better than birthday cupcakes. Erin and dad seemed to enjoy them equally... mmm, sugar.




Then it was time for some gifts. Mom helped Erin open them, and she gave the cards the same curious attention as the presents.




Finally, we arrived back home and it was time for bed. Here's mom, dad, and Erin reading a bedtime book-- our routine. She slept well that night, perhaps dreaming of ice cream, playmates, and next year! Thanks to everyone who came over and spent the afternoon with us, we had a fantastic time.

Thanks Grandma Beth

It's already May and time for Grandma Beth to head back to Oregon on the train tonight. Her help around the house and with Erin for the past couple weeks has been great, and of course she's wonderful company. It's really taken the pressure off of having Fran sleep-deprived at the hospital every third night. Plus, I learned that Erin loves warm oatmeal first thing in the morning and I know how to safety-pin on a cloth diaper now. So, thank you!


Speaking of diapers, Erin has been fighting a terrible diaper rash this week. Even with frequent changes and cream, the cloth diaper and rubber diaper cover have irritated her skin lately. We've found the best remedy is a couple hours sans diaper each morning (watch out for the puddle!), as well as loosely pinning on a diaper when we're around the house later in the day. She's so active now that, sooner rather than later, the diaper turns into a low rider and out comes the plumber's butt!



I have a funny story from the other day. I woke up at the usual time (~6 a.m.) to hear some quiet rustlings from Erin's room. Fran was on call at the hospital, so it was just me and the dogs. I can see the crack under her closed door from our bed, and the light was on. A little alarmed, I was sure I hadn't left it on and I didn't hear Beth up yet. As I'm getting out of bed, I see the light turn off... then on... then off... then giggling. Erin finally found the light switch above one corner of her crib! We usually find her standing up smiling at us in the morning and after naps, but her exploration of the side of the crib against the wall has paid off. We'll see if the novelty wears off or how much our electric bill goes up! What a cute girl.

Today is Erin's first birthday, which she shares with Grandpa Deanie (i.e. Boof). We're headed over to grandpa and grandma's house to celebrate with some friends and family this afternoon. Another update and pictures to come...