Sunday, May 29, 2011

Horsey

Most children have a lovey or special item they are attached to. Something like a blanket or stuffed animal is pretty typical.  Erik's had a blanket since he was born, an extra piece of materiel left over from a nightgown my mother made me when I was pregnant.  He became attached right after my maternity leave when I went back to work. One day he was inconsolable so Mom wrapped him in my nightgown and ever since then he needed it. Here's a picture of that day.
  Luckily she had lots of materiel left over. so we can cut him off a piece whenever the current one gets nasty and smelly like so many children's blankets do.  The materiel is pink, with a Hawaiian print of big white flowers.  Not very boyish, we don't really take it out in public. As a person who encourages children to be who they want to be, I will allow it, if he asks for it when he's older, but I think he'll probably just want it to be his "at home blankie". 
He also has a "horsey" that I offered him one day after searching for hours and hours at the store for something I could give him that would replace my hair.  I was starting to go bald for him always needing to hold my hair and rub it on his face.  I had debated on a barbie, or a doll because they would have hair that felt like mine - but those items were quickly nixed by Mike. Guess he didn't want to add a barbie doll to the pink blankie.  We found a stuffed horse for $2.00 with a tail and mane made of real feeling hair.  Erik took to it immediately and my scalp felt so much better!!  I noticed that it took about 4 months of Erik sleeping with that horse and rubbing it's mane on his face several times a day for it to look like a crazy drug horse with dreadlocks.
Luckily one day at Target I found a whole stash and I bought them ALL!  I told the lady at the check out I needed them for a birthday party. 

I am now rationing them and when the current Horsey gets to the dreadlocks stage he is swapped out with a new one.  I wonder, is it really gross of me to save the dreadlocks horsey's?  Part of me really wants to save them.
Here's a dreadlocks headed horse with the pile of new ones I found, he's looking a little worse for wear, but very loved. 
If you happen to run across these little horsey's at Target, they run about $3.00, I'll pay you back if you snatch me up a few!  Erik doesn't care about the color, it's the hair he's after. 

Sunday, May 22, 2011

oh GROSS!!

At school we are raising silkworms, the children love them.  They are a great project but also a pain, they eat boxes of mulberry leaves every day and mulberry leaves only grow on mulberry trees which aren't that plentiful, so it becomes another job for teachers just to feed them.
I've been stopping in on Saturdays to feed them and of course I had Erik with me.  I sat him at the table and took his picture with the worms.  He was enthralled with the "wormas" as he calls them.
So enthralled, that as soon as I turned away to get some leaves to feed them, he ate one. And tried to get another one in his mouth, but I wrestled it away from him.  I tried very hard to stay calm and not vomit on him because I was so disgusted.  He looked at me with a piece of worm in his mouth and sweetly said "worma's YUM Mama!" I told him we don't eat worms.  Then I called poison control and they laughed and laughed and said he'd be fine.
When I told my mother she laughed and laughed and told me I gave her a heart attack at about the same age when she left me playing outside (because you could do that in the 70's) for a few minutes, and when she came back I had pulled six snails out of their shells and eaten them. When she returned I also said, "Mama Yum!"  She didn't call poison control, but rushed me the 1/2 block down the street to Grandpa Joe, who laughed and laughed and assured her I'd be fine.

What have your toddlers eaten??

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Little Dude with a Broadway Flair!

Erik's first word besides Dada and Mama was "Awesome".  Yesterday I asked him if he was a baby, he said "Nah" I asked if he was a boy, again "Nah".  Then what are you??  "A DUDE!!  He calls himself a DUDE, hilarious!!
My little surfer dude, who has a soft spot in his heart for Broadway shows....wonder where he gets that! He's working on do re mi.  As you can see here, he knows the last word of every phrase!
His walking is still non existent, however he is standing on his own (for long periods of time and ..wait for it....CRUISING!!
YE-HAW!!

Monday, May 9, 2011

FINALLY!!

He's done it a couple of times before, but I finally got it on video, I think walking IS in his future...FINALLY!

Friday, May 6, 2011

21 Months

Erik turned 21 months old today. I took this picture of him this afternoon in the sandbox, just before he ate a handful of sand and pronounced it "Yum" to my quick, "we don't eat sand".
I know what you're thinking, believe me I'm thinking it too. He's not walking yet.  He IS pulling up to a standing position so that's HUGE!! He doesn't do it very often, but he does it!

I read once that children at this age learn 5 words a day. I find that to be very true with Erik, today I said to no one in particular, "I wonder where Nana is"....Erik spotted her and said "There she is!!" It's crazy this exploding language.

His independence is exploding as well as he chooses to eat, or more often not eat. If he had his way he'd live on nothing but apple juice and ketchup.  He learned about ketchup a couple weeks ago and now he surveys his food (even breakfast) and then looks up with his big blue eyes and says kiss - up? (Ketchup!).  That independence also rears it's head at bedtime, when he protests that it's not time for bed, but he doesn't cry more than a couple minutes before we hear him talking himself to sleep.

His MeMe and Papa sent him this itty bitty pool that he LOVES.....I think it may hold an inch of water, he loves it.  Here's a little video of him moving those legs like crazy.  He possesses the ability to walk...........he just isn't in the mood yet!