Surprise!

I know that at least for a few of my readers the new additions on the right side of the site are out of a blue so...SURPRISE! Erin is going to be a big sister! She will be great at it. I noticed that she often prefers younger children for company than the older ones. I guess if they are younger than they are less likely to take off with her possessions and Erin can relax around them.

We had a lovely Christmas and New Years! We cooked a full turkey dinner completed with mashed potatoes, gravy, salads, rolls, jello and other yumminess. I had fun roasting ze beast, I even pretended to be a devout cook and smeared the turkey under its skin with rub. I'll tell you though that sticking my hand underneath turkey's skin up to my elbow...just kidding, only up to my wrist was weird. I am willing to do it not more than once a year. By the way Andrew and I discovered that we both are not huge fans of rosemary, our turkey rub's main ingredient. Funny thing was when I was working on turkey I really wished it was a big juicy ham, it sounded much yummier. I don't believe I'll ever be a huge turkey eater. As they say "It ain't my favorite fowl!" ( Isn't it lovely how you can attribute any saying to Them, hehe).

Erin as usual did not want anything to eat (the kid runs of air:), though she drank Martinellis. This is the drink of her choice at any time of day if we would allow it. She also sampled some jello. I really hope that her eating habits improve, I hate mealtimes. I cook for her and she does not even taste any of it, she gets nothing instead and just goes hungry. I am thrilled on days when she gets 2 meals. But back to Christmas. I don't recall what we did after the meal (blame the baby who is messing with my memories).

Christmas morning was so Christmasy! We got Erin up (no waking up at 7 am in this household) around 9 am and went to open our presents. Andrew took pictures and I helped Erin get her gifts unwrapped. The kiddo got way too many presents for a 2-year-old, hehe! Her favorite plunder included

Go, Dog,Go! book (this is currently Erin's favorite book and did you know that it was not written by Dr.Suess?)
wooden fish puzzle with a fishing poll (hours of entertainment and just 4$ at Target on sale, haha)
little Elmo doll
stuffed tiger that roars if you press his paw
a pair of Sunday shoes with heels (Erin looves running on hard floors in those and hear the tapping of her heals)
Elmo blanket
Little ponies
Elmo book
A beautiful cross stitch Dragon wall picture

This is probably a half of what she got. For Erin this was not a recession Christmas. We are blessed! We have all that we need and beyond that. I know that there are too many parents for whom this Christmas was bitter sweet. Erin and I were in the Dollar store a couple of weeks before the holidays. We were just killing time while our car was being services. There were a lot of Christmas shoppers in that store. I particularly remembered a gentleman in a bright orange beanie hat probably in his late 30s. He was going up and down the toy isle trying to choose with the look of deepest frustration in his eyes. It is close to impossible to give a happy Christmas morning to your kids expecting Santa's visit when your wallet sends you to the Dollar store...

After we were done with the presents we went over to the Dyers for the traditional Christmas morning breakfast of scones and finnan haddie.I love Christmas breakfast with the Dyers! Erin got to see baby Evelyn and even was able to give her her present, a doll stroller. She actually hoped she'll get to push Evelyn in it around the house, haha. Some other time!

For New Years we stayed home had a lasagna dinner (again! Erin did not eat, though she nibbled on garlic bread and washed it down with Martinellis). We watched movies and just did nothing, which was rather pleasant. I had no energy for any sort of activity requiring me getting up, so it was nice to have a quiet New Year's this time around.

This was a wonderful holiday season for our family! The best part was finding out that there is not just three of us anymore. I declare that 2010 will be a wonderful year for the Mortensens!

Polar Express and Jumping

Christmas is coming! Even Erin is aware of that. She is into watching Polar Express nowadays. This is how she learned about Santa and presents ["pesents" as she calls them]. Though she thinks that he carries all the goodies in a giant balloon and not a sack. Though in the movie the sack does look like a balloon. By the way, her friend Ariana is of the same opinion. Pook calls the show "Choo-choo train" and is ready to watch it all day long.

Our babe overcame her fear of Christmas lights and takes the ornaments off the tree without any hesitation. It is too bad that most of the time she does not return them onto the tree. I find ornaments all over the house-behind the couch, on the floor in Erin's room, under the kitchen table, bike trunk, etc. Erin also loves our Christmas stockings (all made by Grandma Corder). She studies the images, rings the bells on reindeer necks and pulls Santa's beard. But at least she is gentle with them.


This week was super duper cold, but at least it snowed [ Hallelujah!]. Erin got to play outside on Monday and Tuesday. I pulled her in the sled, pushed her down the hill and Erin tried to pull me (Hehe!), off course it did not work. We had fun! However, we've been home since Wednesday due to freezing temperature. Even though Erin seems to have inherited my cold weather resistance, 3F is too cold for her. Her nose and cheeks turn red in a matter of seconds.

Today we opted out for some indoor activities and went to the Kangaroo Zoo. Nope! There were no kangaroos or any other creators in this zoo. This is a residence of 3 story inflatable
DRAGONS

DOLPHINS
ALLIGATORS
FROGS
LIZARDS
STARFISH
SNAILS and
LEOPARDS
on which to
SLIP
SLIDE
SLAM
SWING and
CAREEN.
I did not think to bring a camera, so here is a photo from their web site. Just imagine that one of those kids is Erin. We are definitely going back and with a camera. Erin LOVED being there. She and her friend Ariana jumped, slid, slammed and had fun in any possible way. After 2 hours of being there both girls were absolutely against leaving. We had to drag them home screaming and kicking. As expected Erin was exhausted and took a nice three hour nap. I put my stamp of approval on Kangaroo Zoo. Highly recommend it to the owners of overactive toddlers.

Blogging

When you begin a blog you enthusiastically post few times a week. About a month later you post once or twice a week, than a few times a month until you get to the point when you can squeeze just one post a month or even fewer. I am at that point now, ha ha. I think that one of my resolutions for 2010 will be to blog at least once a week.

Erin is finally into reading books. She actually allows Andrew and I to read to her. Before she would just flip through pages not even wanting to hear what it says below the picture. Andrew finally sat her down and taught her that there is more to books than just pictures. I ordered a few books from Usborne books (MaryKay and Pampered Chef of children's books) and she loves them. I like that Usborne books are so well made that they actually will last you through several children even if they get pulled, kicked, drooled on and smeared with food. A huge plus is that the binding does not fall apart even under super-duper pressure. Besides the physical superiority of the books, Usborn can boast a huge selection for any age group with perfect illustration. Erin loves their toddler books. There! This is my sales pitch for the company, he he!

We put our Christmas tree up (I have to say that a 3 foot tree looks pitiful in the room size of our living room). Apparently Erin is being bothered by the tree lights. She likes the way they look , but she thinks that if she touches them while they are lit up she'll burn herself or something, which is good. To prevent Erin from yanking the decorations of the tree all I need to do is turn the lights on. This year Erin even helped me to decorate the tree. Erin rearranges the ornaments at least once a day, off course when teh lights are off. Christmas season will definitely be more fun for her this year.

Erin likes mama's stuff! Rollers are among her most favorite of my possessions. The other day she asked papa to help her put them in her hair , which he gladly did. Doesn't she look older in those :)?



By the way what do you think of Andrew's goatee?

A new sheriff in town

Erin is a happy camper. On Monday morning I dragged her out of the house to stand in line to pick up a ticket for H1N1 vaccine. Papa gave us a lift to Provo, handed 2 buckos in cash for a bus fare and zoomed to work. We arrived an hour after the line has began moving and it was loooong. As soon as we joined the tail of the line Erin said: "Go home!" What can I say, our child has aversion to lines, but don't we all? Fortunately for me the line moved fast and Erin and I emerged triumphant just half an hour later holding our golden tickets for 9 am on Thursday.

We caught the next bus and our journey through Provo, Orem, Lindon and Pleasant Grove begun. It was uneventful, but quite enjoyable. Erin kept shouting out "Truck! Truck!" and I kept confirming the type of the vehicle for the fellow bus riders (Erin pronounces truck with an "f" and swallows the "r"). Next we played at the park, went to the library and then I carried Erin home, because she refused to walk. That seems to happen when she is tiered.

Thursday morning came and we made another pilgrimage to Utah county Health and Justice building to get vaccinated. Ariana and her mama came with us so it was a delightful trip. The line was fast and the girls behaved. Erin was lucky, because she was to get the nasal spray vaccine and not a shot. I imagined that nasal spray required willingness of the party being vaccinated to snort it in. I was wrong. Erin was rather displeased with the nurse jamming a little push thingy up her nose twice, once in each nostril. For her bravery she received a sheriff star sticker. I slapped it on her jacket, but had to scrape it off after Pook began protesting. Despite that she is a sheriff at heart!

Go get vaccinated if you have an opportunity. At least for once the dudes making vaccines got the flue strain right. Do your research and learn for yourself whether the vaccine is safe and effective. Don't listen to people just repeating the rumors and hear-says. Get educated and make an educated choice, whether it is for or against H1N1 vaccine.

Ta ta for now!

Here comes Elmo!

Erin had her first trick or treating experience. Though first I had to battle her over wearing her gettup. Even threats of never making her another Halloween costume did not work. Our Elmo decided that it was a game of "don't allow mama dress you in red fuzzy body suit". Eventually I promised her that she'll get her favorite fruit snacks. That appeared to be more effective than threats and indeed she got some. We trick or treated in Orem in aunt Theresa's neighbourhood. It was fun! Erin was not sure what we were going to do and refused to say "trick or treat" and "thank you". She actually acted shy! Despite that she caught on rather fast that she was there to get candy and for some reason people on the other side of the door were going to give it to her. The only time when Erin talked much was in between houses or if no one was coming to open the door after she knocked. She would say "Open door!", knock and say "Treat!". When someone would open the door she just looked at them and their candy, but uttered nothing. Ha ha! Sometimes she would reach for the candy and sometimes just open her bag hinting that she wants the person to put something in it. She was adorable and so many fellow trick or treators, but mostly their parents called out "Look! Elmo! She is so cute!" Amazingly enough it was rather warm and Erin did not even need a coat. This is a photo taken after we returned home. We had to cut our fun short because we had a baby sitter coming at 7, though the 50 minutes we spent in the streets seemed to be enough for our babe. She was ready to get in the car and survey the content of her bag. She pulled out a lolly pop and gave it to me. My first thought was "Oh, how sweet! Erin is sharing with me!", but no! She just wanted me to get it out of the packaging.

We left Erin at home and went on a date to an arcade and a super late dinner at Sizzler (not that many restaurant options out there at 9 p.m.).

Today I finally admitted to myself that Erin is below the average in her speech development. I blame that on using two languages in the home. As any other mom I want my child to be ahead in everything and I don't like when she is not. Part of it is concern for her and part is a fear that I kinda failed at something. This must be the reason why quite a few parents drop the idea of raising their child bilingual when they compare their kids to others. You want to see your child excel and if they don't, you readjust. I am tempted to switch exclusively to English, but I will not. I will look forward to the future when Erin can be fluent in both English and Russian. I don't think I will press her to learn writing in Russian, but my goal for Erin is at least speaking and reading fluently.

My grandma turned 90 years old on the 20th of October! She actually might be a month or two older. Her parents could not spare time from the farm at the time of her birth to make the trip to town to register her with the civil authorities. Erin tried to wish her a happy B-day in her own way!

PS: Erin appears to replace "T" sound with "F". So, please, don't think that we teach our child foul language when you hear her yell "truck".

Our Cornbelly Saturday

I loved it when Erin was my cute and bouncy baby, but I like it even better now when she is a toddler. There are so many more things that we can do and actually enjoy doing together. We went to a little farm-sorta place a couple weeks ago (Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point, love that place by the way). There were slides, swings, corn maze, bouncy house (Erin could not get up once inside, all the older kids were jumping too vigorously, he he!), hay rides, animal trains, scary tents, pig races and other activities.

In a little train!

Slides were Erin's favorite! This particular one was rather slow, Erin came to a stop in the middle and than took her time scooting down. The black chute in the background on the right was way faster! I went in after Erin ( it was kinda tight, but I squeezed in, he he!) and I doubt she had time to get scared. This is how fast it got us down!

Making faces with Papa!

Getting ready to zoom down another slide! Notice the happy face.

Zooming down! Notice the terror on Pook's face. That ride did not go smoothly! I am the guilty one! I gave Erin a push before she was ready and to make matters worse she bumped her tushy at the bottom.

Our hay ride. Too bad that nowadays horses are replaced by tractors, but it was fun nonetheless. We went into the corn maze next and wondered around until we had enough and our legs could carry us no more. We cheated and got out through an illegal passage way. Amazingly enough Erin found maze quite entertaining. Part of the way she rode on our shoulders, was carried and even walked ( she was tiered by the time we entered the maze) and hopped like a bunny.


Before going home we took a shot in this spiffy chair. We all had a great time ( even though some might not admit it, he he!)

The latest

It is a silly rhyme, but it is stuck in my head, thus I will share it with you:

I see London I see France I see Elmo's fuzzy pants.

The other day Pooky-Pie and I went into Jo-Ann's to get some yarn and perhaps find some cute fabric to make a cover to go over Erin's chair. We left with some Elmo fabric instead (and yarn)! Erin spotted it across the store and had to get it. It was red fuzzy and on sale. This determined Erin's outfit for Halloween. I am currently working on turning it into a pair of pants and a shirt with a hood with Elmo's eyes and nose on it. The pants are done and Erin shows them to anyone interested. She calls them Elmo pants, though prefers putting them on her head like a hat. I am currently teaching our baby to say "Trick or treat!". Andrew advised me against teaching her say:

Trick or treat! Smell my feet! Give me something good to eat!

Apparently you can get sunburned in Utah in October. Andrew did just that today while playing in his work's basketball tournament. Despite that he had fun! Erin and I also had fun today- we went to feed ducks with Erin's best friend Ariana. We have a little pond not very far from our home and there is a couple of ducks living there. If you ask me they are geese, but everyone in the neighborhood calls them ducks. To our surprise they were hungry and enjoyed a breakfast of hot dog buns. Those geese-ducks are kinda fat, most likely due to the diet of bun-like-food.

Erin is acquiring new skills. She learned to scale the shelves in the pantry. In fact she closes the door (by the way, it is not a walk in pantry and she is the only member of this family who can fit in there with the door shut) and climbs up, chooses something from the top shelf (as any wise Mom I keep all forbidden, but highly desirable food on the top shelf), drops it down, climbs down, gets out of the pantry and looks for me to open the package for her.

Another new skill is undressing herself. She is good at it! Though she does it exclusively while in her crib. When Erin undresses she takes it all off! The other day I came to let Pooky out after the nap and found her wide awake jumping in crib in her birthing suite, BUT wearing slippers and a hat.

Our offspring is very particular in her music taste. We were in the car when Andrew began singing something. It must have been a wrong song because Erin put her hand forward repeating "No, no, no, no!" Daddy had to stop. She does that to me too. It looks rather amusing, in fact I sing on purpose to get this reaction from my dear audience. On the other hand Erin loves to sing. Her favorite piece is "Winkle, winkle little tar..." and she also performs a number of her own songs and tunes. I would consider her music rather abstract and modern.

Erin's talking is coming along, more words and short sentences, even ones we did not teach her. She also has the best facial expressions, especially when finding things like stains on the carpet (which off course are not her doing. They just magically appear after she's been in the area.) Ha ha! She covers her mouth and exclaims "Oh, NO!" She also makes sure that I noticed that she is tremendously surprised by the stains.

Ah! beauty of home ownership-we get to pay for the carpet cleaning!

Here is a random photo of Erin getting ready for bed while watching Elmo's World, drinking milk and smashing grapes.