Erin's first Christmas (2007)

We all have been sick this entire week. I got Erin up last Friday and discovered that the child had lost her voice. The best word that described her condition was pitiful. Her voice was barely recognizable, her nose was dripping non-stop, and she exhibited lack of even tiniest appetite (not even her favorite buttered noodles looked tempting). She is almost back to her normal self by now though. And looking on the bright side, Erin now knows how to blow her nose. Andrew and I off course also got sick. I have to say I prefer being a kid and not the Mom when I am sick :(.
Anyhow, we have no new photos so here is an old video from last Christmas where Erin was 6 months old and already cute as a button.

Erin eating her first cookie and making a mess (in Russian)

Just seeing how this works:) Eto Vam, Mama i Papa! 23 Feb 2008

Our climber

So…we are going to take Erin indoor rock climbing when she turns 2 and see if she likes it. We figured it would give her a needed energy outlet. Even now she scales anything that will make her a little bit taller. Today she conquered the kitchen drawers. It occurred to her that if she pushed a little stool to the counter than she could see better and reach further. Standing on her stool she opened my junk drawer (every kitchen has one) and began going through its contents. It did not keep her interested for too long as the next time I turned to look at her she was sitting IN it. The kiddo got some storooong arms. The drawer was at the level of her armpits and I have no idea how she managed to pull herself into it. I wish I saw it. Anyways...I can't leave her alone for a moment unless I lock her in an empty room...but than again she just learned to turn door knobs. Toddler proofing the house...



Erin enjoys sitting on the window sill and whacking everything she can reach with blind-closing-stick.

Updates from Erin's life

Erin discovered a new eating utensil--a baby carrot. She found it useful when it comes to eating lasagna. Apparently, a spoon and a fork were not good enough, but the orange vegetable was just right for dipping into lasagna and hooking up the noodles (don't ask me how, I could not do it myself).

Erin's vocab now includes phrases like "Oh, man!" (that one came with us from Idaho) and "there you go" (when she hands you something). She did not score very high on her speech abilities during her check up, but as our pediatrician said, that's expected when two languages are being spoken at home.

Erin is amazingly impatient and patient at the same time. For example, I was in the kitchen this morning when I heard her scream. It made my heart stop. I ran to her prepared to see her smashed in the closet door fingers or a collapsed ceiling. Instead I found my child pulling her old car seat trying to make it fit though the closet door. It was stuck and that made her mad. At the same time, just the other day, she spent good 10 minutes sitting by her giraffe scooter picking on another spot sticker until it came off. I guess it all depends on her mood at the time.

Tonight Erin watched American Idol with me. She was soooo cute cheering and clapping with the TV until she got tiered, grabbed my hands and started pulling me towards her room. It has been so nice last few nights, 'cause she just started pulling me to her room when she felt it was time for bed:). Here is a picture during her nap today. Erin covers her head with a blankly now...

Andrew tried to make Erin let go of the chair, but she held on to it as if her life depended on it. She ended up being dragged around the kitchen in this manner and eventually loosened her grip.

We took Pooky for her 18 months check up today. We are finally done with her vaccinations or at least until the kindergarten begins. She was not too thrilled with the whole process, but at least she did not bite her pediatrician.

She is doing great weighing at 23 lb and 10 oz. That put her into the 40 percentile which surprised me, as usually she ends up around 10. Her height was 33,75 inches and that put her into 95 percentile (Surprise, surprise!). She is a tall little girl.

Footwear

There comes a time in every toddler's life when she gets an urge to wear adult shoes. Erin just hit this stage and I collected few photos of her doing just that. I would like to direct your attention to the fact that she is natural wearing heels. She can hop in them on both soft and hard surfaces with hardly ever falling down. She is still working on the right - left foot distinction and which way the shoe is suppose to face when you put it on.

Do you think I have large feet?

Is these supposed to work this way?

So...How exactly do you get up in these?

Mommy! Just give me my purse and I am out of here

I like the sound of these heels...heel

I am skiing! Wheeeeeeeee

Christmas vacation

Erin did not feel like shoveling the snow in Idaho so grownups had to do it.

She did agree to pose for pictures though.

Not only is Erin computer savvy, she is also a gamer...too bad the controller was not pluged in. She figured that out by the end of the day and now wants the one without the cord that actually does something.

Just chilling with Papa

Mmmmmm! Whippped cream!

Relaxing in the dryer while Mommy folds laundry