Big Boy

The Erickson's have been dealing with sickness the last 2 weeks.  First Zach got a nasty sinus infection and then gifted Caleb and I with it this week.  Zach spent a day home from work and I...well there has been no rest for this mommy!  All of us have had antibiotics and I feel much better and I think Caleb is better too.

Caleb has been doing great without his pacifier and we are seeing more full nights of sleep!  I got a little excited about this transition going so well that I decided to try out potty training too...didn't go as well.  Caleb loves his pullups and I even let him wear some training underwear a couple of times.  He is so proud of them that he won't wear pants when he's wearing them, which is pretty cute.  While we aren't officially potty training yet, we are still allowing Caleb to try when he wants to.  I don't want to push him before he is ready, I learned that lesson with Isaac.  He seems interested but we will need to wait for his body to be physically ready.

Caleb in his training underwear

My boys love to wrestle and Caleb LOVES to sit on Isaac

This last picture is Isaac's handiwork.  He really wanted to take a picture of Caleb and me so I let him.  It didn't turn out half bad!

Mommy & Caleb, picture by Isaac

ABC's

This week we had Isaac's preschool parent/teacher conferences.  We were so proud to hear Isaac's teachers tell us how well he is doing.  They said he's a good listener, great participator, and a good friend.  We wondered a little if they were talking about our Isaac when telling us about the listening but extremely glad he listens at school even when he doesn't always at home.  People have told me that children are usually better for other adults than their own parents & Isaac is no different.  Thank God it's not the other way around!  Isaac's teachers told us he was definitely ready for kindergarten so we will continue making preparations for the fall.  Mostly this mommy needs to get used to the idea!

Caleb loves to sing and has recently "learned" his ABC's...at least through letter P.  He makes up the rest of the song so he can sing the ending of "Now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me?"  He does a little better when Isaac sings along.  I got a video of it today, one of just Caleb & one of the both of them.

A trade...

Tuesday I convinced Caleb to trade me his pacifier for a new Buzz Lightyear with wings.  He went to daycare Tuesday afternoon without it.  He didn't cry or ask for it but he also didn't sleep.  That's not completely abnormal for Caleb as he is getting closer to not needing his afternoon nap.  So we tried again at bedtime.  He fell asleep quickly, because he didn't nap, but woke up numerous times during the night.  I laid with him and succeeded at never giving him the pacifier back.  Wednesday morning we drove to Des Moines and found a Buzz Lightyear with wings to seal the deal.  He took a good nap yesterday afternoon without it and only woke up once last night!  This mommy is hopeful that in a few weeks we will all be enjoying full nights of sleep! :)

Our new dishwasher

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks so I will post a couple this morning while I have time...

Our dishwasher broke in October and with the busyness of the holiday season, Zach & I just didn't have time to look for a new one.  Finally, the first weekend in January, after months of doing dishes by hand, we went to Des Moines to purchase a new one.  After a morning of shopping around we found a great deal complete with free installation.  We were thrilled because we could schedule the installation for a weekday and not use any of our weekend up with this project!  However, as we've learned before, no project goes exactly as expected.

When we remodeled a couple of years ago we put down a laminate "floating" floor that went right over our previous floor.  The floor added less than an inch of height but the installers couldn't get the old dishwasher out and we ended up pulling almost the entire floor back up.  The floor snaps together in rows but the contractor started at the dishwasher and worked his way across the room so the entire floor had to come up.  We were thankful for help from my dad on Saturday morning (so much for our weekend!) and within 2 hours we had the floor up.  We lived in chaos for about 48 before the dishwasher was installed on Monday.  Zach & my dad laid the floor again on Tuesday evening.  What a project but I am happy to have my dishwasher back!

Here are some pictures of the project:

Our old dishwasher

Zach & my dad in the process of removing the floor

The new dishwasher installed, floor still out

New dishwasher installed and floor laid again