Sunday, February 2, 2014

10 Months Old!

2/2/14

After a January absence blogging, I'm trying to start February the right way!!!

January was a cold month filled with 5 "snow" days for school!  Those bonus days were a lot of fun with the return of Daddy Daycare!  Erica and I had a blast hanging out at the house, looking out the windows at the frigid neighborhood, and playing with her vast toy collection!  My favorite part of those cold days was spent taking afternoon naps in the recliner with Erica sleeping on my chest!  She hasn't slept on Laura or I for months, so it was a lot of fun having her snuggle in for a couple of hours each afternoon as I watched a movie with my Little Nugget cozied in with a blanket and her bunny! 

Beyond a very goofy January schedule, we didn't have too much excitement in the Lemke House.  We spent a weekend up at the lake with just the 3 of us while Lexi stayed home with grandma.  The highlight (and purpose) of that weekend getaway was Erica's first time swimming!  We took her to Grand Superior Lodge for a dip in their pool.  She was really unsure of the experience at first, but began to relax and enjoy it as time went on...without shedding a single tear!  After some time swishing around the pool in our arms, we put her in an inflatable tube my parents picked up and had waiting for us at the lake.  She loved the tube!  We pulled her around by her feet while she sat and splashed around.  After a while in the pool, Laura and I began to feel chilled, so we knew the poor little girl was even colder than us.  So we ended the pool day with a quick soak in the hot tub.  Fortunately, the pool water was warmer than expected, and the hot tub was cooler than expected, so each was enjoyable for us.  Erica immediately loved the warm bath water of the hot tub and turned into a limp noodle in my arms and just soaked it all in.  A hot tub is always relaxing for adults, but it was funny to see Erica's reaction to the comfort and warmth of it!  The other fun we had that weekend was from watching the deer outside the windows each morning as they ate at the neighbor's house.  Erica was super excited and squeaky and saying her new word, "Hi!!!" at every opportunity.  The deer were well-aware of her presence as they all were watching her, and others took off immediately when she tapped at the windows!!!

A highlight/lowlight from January was Erica's first fever!  She came down with the fever and a plugged up nose/watery eyes a couple days after coming back from the lake.  Her temperature spiked close to 102 one day, and took a few days to fall back down to normal.  Thanks to a couple of days with regular doses of Tylenol and lots of apple juice, we tackled the cold and had a healthy, energetic girl again!  I can definitely tell that dads are wired for the health and safety concerns...those are the biggest things that get me worried/stressed...and my daddy senses were on high alert for a few days during her regular temperature checks and Tylenol dosing.  Fortunately, she's a trooper when it comes to the snot sucker, nose wiping, and taking her medicine!!!

January's biggest challenge has been getting Erica to eat a bigger variety of food.  We've introduced whole milk in an effort to start transitioning away from mommy's milk, and she seems to do fine with it, as long as it's not right out of the fridge and super cold.  She loves blueberry bread we found at Target, but beyond this new food, she is very reluctant to try new foods.  We noticed it appears to be a texture thing...or so we think?!  She loves sweet potatoes that are pureed, but she will not eat small chunks of sweet potato we give her. She dislikes the feel with her fingers and the texture of it in her mouth.  So, of course, she doesn't like much other food we've tried giving her.  We thought pancakes would go well...nope.  We thought French toast would be a treat...nope.  We thought introducing chicken with vegetables (baby food) would be tasty...not even close!  She does like cheese!  We broke up cheese curds and sliced deli cheese, but that's about the extent of her new foods.  We're hoping this changes with some more teeth (she still has just the 2 bottom front teeth from Christmas).  It's sometimes frustrating as we try to spoon feed her new things or break into pieces for her to try, and she won't even get it past the lips.  And if we're lucky to sneak a bite in her mouth, she gets the most disgusted look on her face and spits out the food as if she is gagging on it!  Laura used to be picky as a kid, I'm told, but for Erica to be so picky at 10 months is a huge shock to me!!!  She's too young to be picky, right?!?!

Yesterday, we had our 3rd pro photo shoot.  We think there will be a bunch of adorable ones, so we're anxious to get those back and see what sort of funny expressions were captured!

Other than that, I don't have much to report on this lame update...it's been too cold to go out and do anything fun...just ask Lexi...she's missed out on her walk most of the month as we've had well over 20 days below zero this month.  In fact, a couple of the cold days for school saw morning temps over -20 below, with windchills close to -50!!! 

On Friday this week, dad and Lexi will have the house to ourselves as mom and Erica are heading north to the farm.  Laura's friend, Stephanie is having a baby shower on Saturday, before Laura heads to Warren, MN (near Crookston in the NW part of the state) for 4 days of work.  Erica will spend that time at the farm with Grandpa and Grandma C hanging out.  This will be the longest time I've spent away from her and I'm already well aware of how much I'm going to miss her...even 5 days before they head north!!!

Thanks again so much for checking out my Daddy Diary.  I appreciate you checking in on us.  We all appreciate the best wishes you send our way.  Take care!