It is hard to believe it is 2009. I remember as a young boy thinking that when 2000 rolled around, I would be old. I was right. Now it is almost a decade later and I am really old! Good thing I have a six month old to keep me young.
Since my last update, Christmas and New Year's have come and gone. We had a wonderful Christmas with Sheila's family in St. Charles. Erin was her usual happy self throughout the day. On the 26th, we left to spend some abbreviated time in Scottsdale. Erin was terrific on the flight down. As anyone who has traveled with an infant knows, the landing is where a baby normally has trouble as they can't yet equalize their ear pressure. Erin solved the problem by sleeping through the landing.
She adapted well to a new home, and after a couple of days of adjustment, was an eating machine. She slept through every night for the two weeks that we were in AZ. It almost seemed too easy. We were lucky, through Sheila's diligence and effort, to find a terrific babysitter who coincidentally is also named Erin. She is a 21 year old student at ASU getting her degree in development...perfect. She sat for Erin three times and was wonderful, giving Sheila and I some much needed R&R. The funny part was New Year's Eve. Erin (the sitter) wasn't available, but her Mom offered to babysit. We invited her and her husband, a former captain in the Brooklyn police department, and set out a spread of food for them. They were terrific babysitters, and stayed late into the night allowing us a fun night out for NYE.
While we were in Scottsdale, it was apparent that Erin was outgrowing her car seat. We upgraded her to a larger seat and she was much happier. While we were at it, we bought a jogger for her and Sheila took her for a fun almost every day. I think Erin slept through virtually every minute of the runs, but she always seemed happy afterwards. Of course, she is always happy so I am not sure if she noticed! We also took the time to wean her off of her swing, which has now been mothballed permanently. She now takes all naps in her crib, whereas previously she needed to be in the swing to fall asleep. I do miss seeing her swinging away, sound asleep while holding onto Bunny. The upside to this is that we have our family room fireplace back in Chicago (the swing sat right in front of the fireplace).
We took our time in Scottsdale to get Erin out more than we have in Chicago. We took her for lunch at our Country Club 3 - 4 times, which she seemed to enjoy. We began learning the lesson that you have to quickly remove everything from her reach at the table. She is going through the stage where she would rather play with anything of yours than one of her toys. It is pretty hysterical watching her grab for whatever she can reach. We took her to dinner one night with our good friend Tom Kaufman, and although she had a rare fussy period, she was just fine.
Our return trip to Chicago, necessitated because of my work and Erin's need for scheduled Dr. visits, was also uneventful. She was perfect on the plane, and passed the landing by sitting in my lap yapping away to me. When the plane touched down, she looked around in surprise, wondering what had happened. Her ears apparently didn't bother her at all.
A week after our return, we lost Erin's night nurse, Melba. Melba left for a much needed month long visit to her home in the Philippines, and upon her return will become the full-time nanny for friends of ours who are having twins. She will remain available for weekend babysitting duties, but we will miss her very much. She was so good with Erin. Her goodbye was very difficult for everyone. I can't imagine spending almost six months with Erin and then having to say goodbye. We are lucky we will have her for babysitting duty but we will miss seeing her arrive every night and watching Erin light up at the sight of Melba.
At the Dr. visit yesterday, we were thrilled to learn that her weight was 15.72 lbs, meaning that she has put on an entire pound in a month. Her height is 27 inches, putting her in the 90-95th percentile. Erin had two shots for various vaccinations, which didn't go over too well as you might imagine. True to form, she was back to laughing in about 3 minutes. She showed no effects of the shots the balance of the day. Last night, we had a daddy/daughter day as Mommy had plans of her own. It was great fun hanging with Erin. She is sitting up now pretty much on her own, and loves to sit and play. I never tire of observing the curiosity she has for everything around her. Erin is like a little sponge, absorbing everything and missing nothing.
Following this post are a number of photo updates. It constantly amazes me to go back to the first blog posts and look at what Erin looked like in the hospital, and compare it to now. I now know exactly what people have meant when they say it all goes by too fast.
At John and Jan's yesterday for a baby shower - riding the pinata
Erin's chair - she is sitting with ease now
Happiness is a foot rub - she loves these
Toys!
Erin's Godparent Mike
Godparent Mo - Sheila's sister
Grandma Casserly
Happiness is a bear
Night nurse Melba
Erin's first Christmas
