Dress Up

When Kurt and I talked about having children, and even after Erin was born, I prided myself in knowing that I was going to treat my child as a person, not as a doll or an accessory. So many parents I know buy matching parent and child outfits or really fancy clothes so their children look more like mini adults. I just KNEW that would not be me.

Sure, I like Erin to look cute - what mother wouldn't want that for her daughter? However, I'm rather practical. I believe in buying clothes that are cute, but comfortable and functional. Sure, for special occasions we'll go with the fancy stuff and if someone buys her an adorable outfit, we'll definitely put her in it and be very appreciative. But, no, I don't buy matching mommy/daughter outfits or clothes that make her look like an adult. We're trying not to raise another Jon Benet Ramsey.

So, it came as a shock to me when I was looking at my daughter's photos that I am just like those "other" moms. The only difference is that Kurt and I play "dress up" with Erin by making her wear (or not wear) really embarrassing clothes. All you have to do is look through her websites to see what I mean.

Sure there are minor things like socks that look like shoes, shamrock bibs, hooded bear towels, mouse hats, jester hats, bike helmets, and funny hooded jackets. Sure she's had chips and salsa on her lap, and even the traditional naked bath tub, or bear skin rug photos. And yes, we did get a bit into the holidays with her sweat pea Halloween costume and her snowman outfit for Christmas. However, all of that was pretty understandable.

I think it may have started to go a little awry with the photo of Erin in her oxygen mask that I refer to as "Luke I am Your Father". However, it really didn't dawn on me until I saw the picture of Erin wearing my lunch bag on her head like a robot, and then realized that earlier today her Daddy put a box on her head to show me how Erin could look like Frankenstein.

So, I confess, I didn't have a child so I could play "dress up" with her, but I guess that is just one of those parenting skills you develop over time. For some reason, I get the feeling the fun has just started. Be on the look out for more embarrassing photos. Sorry Erin!

Adventures in Swim Land

Erin's swim class ended today, and I must say I'm a little sad to be done with the lessons. I really enjoyed our time together in the pool. Erin and I loved her teacher, Ms. Becky, and I just can't say enough about all of the staff and the heated, indoor pool at Tom's Dive and Scuba here in Austin.

Considering that Erin had never been in the pool before, we were worried that she wouldn't enjoy swimming. Luckily, that was a needless concern. Erin continued to enjoy the water and the pool. The only time she didn't enjoy it was when she developed a yeast infection from the antibiotics she'd been on. I think the chlorine stung on her raw bottom. Luckily it cleared up very quickly with an anti-fungal diaper cream.

Other than that classes went very smoothly. I'm amazed at how much Erin learned in just four weeks, especially given how young she is. She became really comfortable in the pool. By the last class, she was floating on her front or back (with help to support her), and had learned how to splash, hold her breath under water, blow bubbles, and kick her feet. She never really got the hang of scooping her arms, but she would occasionally scoop the right one.

On the last class, she even was comfortable enough to play in an inflatable raft, put on a pair of goggles, and use a life vest! She grew so much in such a short time she even had to get a bigger swim suit!


One of the things that really impressed me was that Erin learned how to sit and wait for me so we both could get safely in and out of the pool! Needless to say the commands "wait for Mommy" and "1,2,3, go" have come in very handy in the bathtub and when getting out of the stroller, and I plan to continue to use them.

I think Erin's favorite parts of swim class were playing with the cup of water, being dunked, and gliding back and forth between me and Ms. Becky. If you asked Erin, she might say the best part was watching all the other kids or waving "bye, bye" at the end. We met some really neat people in the class and look forward to more water adventures with Erin.

True Daddy

Kurt said he wouldn't really feel like a Dad until Erin was old enough to ride on his shoulders. Well, here's proof that he's a real Daddy now. :-)

Easter Egg Hunt

Growing up, Easter was full of traditions such as dying eggs on Saturday, waiting for the Easter bunny, getting candy, eating good food, being surrounded by my immediate family, and going to church. So, even though Erin is really too young for many of those traditions, I still did not want her first Easter to go unrecognized.

Easter Sunday was pretty low-key. We went to church with Heidi, Larry, and Lauren and later had a nice dinner with a few close friends. The eggs weren't dyed, there was no pastel Easter basket with funny colored "grass", and there was no candy. However, even if Erin couldn't have it, I still made my favorite - poppy seed cake.

So, when I heard that the local park was having a pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt that Saturday, complete with a visit from the Easter bunny, I just knew we had to take Erin. Sure, she's too young to have eggs, pancakes, sausage, or orange juice, but we never pass up a cheap breakfast and Shadow was more than happy to eat her share. :-)

Now, I've never actually hunted eggs, but I thought it would be fun for Erin. What I failed to realize is that Erin wouldn't be interested in crawling around looking for bright colored plastic eggs. You see, once I got there and put her on the grass, I realized that Erin had never actually felt grass or been on it before. So, she was much more interested in the texture, looking at the individual blades of grass, and trying to eat the leaves and plastic candy wrappers. I even got her to hold onto my hands and "walk" a few steps in the grass (not bad for someone who is just learning to cruise!).

Of course, it was also funny to watch her reaction to the Easter Bunny - who I must admit was rather creepy looking. She really wasn't sure what to make of it at first. She seemed scared when he held her, but once we started laughing and pointing to his teeth, ears, and eyes, she seemed to take it all in and warm up to him.

It was a lot of fun watching her process this new experience and I think it's definitely one tradition we plan to keep.

Happy Hunting.

Shuffled Pictures

An apology is in order.  I suggested to Christine the other day that we might want to sort the images on Erin’s Photobucket site such that the most recent is at the top.  Since this blog presents the latest update at the top, a similar sort order for the photos made sense. 

I should have known better.  Since I work with computers, I know that nothing involving a computer is ever as simple as it seems.  And that’s definitely the case here. 

• Complication 1: Photobucket will let you sort by date added (newest or oldest first), by original filename (A-Z only), or by title (A-Z only). 
• Complication 2: A number of cameras were used to take the pictures, and each one uses its own naming convention. 
• Complication 3: Christine and I both use Canon cameras, which use the same naming convention, so her IMG_150 and my IMG_150 might be taken six months apart.
• Complication 4: Photobucket doesn’t have an “undo” function. 
• Complication 5: All new uploaded images go to the back of the line, so we’d have to re-sort everything every time we added new images.

I’m sure you can see where this is going.  After an hour or so of frustration, we gave up on getting it right.  We undid what damage we could, but we had to create a couple of additional folders to sort things out.  You can access them from the links on the left side of the main page, under KurtsCamera and other.  Over the next week or so, we’ll be re-sorting Erin’s pictures, but for now, things are a bit messy.

As I said, an apology is in order. 

PS If anyone has a better idea for a photo site, please let us know by email or in the comments below.

Water baby

Erin started swim lessons on Tuesday. Since Kurt loves to scuba dive, and I love to be in the water, one might assume that taking her was purely selfish on our part. After all, if Erin loves the water, that means we probably get to enjoy our own hobbies more often. However, that was not our motivation. While it would be flattering for our daughter to express an interest in the same things her parents like, the real reason we enrolled her is because we truly hope she gets as much enjoyment out of swimming as we do.

The day started out on an ominous note, with Erin being very uncooperative while I struggled with putting on her swim diaper. I tried to keep my cool by telling her that it was the precursor to something really fun. She was more interested in crawling away.

However, when it came time to go in the pool, Erin was wide-eyed, curious, and full of smiles. I had a great time in the pool with her, and she seemed to enjoy herself too. In fact, of the four infants in the class, Erin,despite being the youngest, was the only one who did not cry or go into hysterics at some point (not even when she got splashed or dunked under the water). She readily went to the teacher and even squealed with laughter a few times.

I didn't want to project my own desires onto Erin's experience, but when her teacher, Miss Becky, came up to us later and said that Erin was so comfortable in the water, it really confirmed how happy Erin was in the pool. Then she said that Erin is a true "water baby". I'm really glad that the most traumatic part of the swim lesson was the diaper change. I only hope that all the rest of our classes prove to be just as much fun for both of us.

Time stands still?

Kurt and I are constantly amazed and in awe of how much our little girl is able to pick up on her environment and learn every day. We know that she's a baby and that this is her job right now. We know that for the first few years of her life Erin is supposed to eat a lot, grow really fast, and learn as much as she can about her environment and how to put it all together. Still, some days the speed at which she does so is astounding.

There are days when the achievement is something as simple as realizing that the moving black thing in our house is a dog, and other days it's something as major as smiling, laughing, holding her own bottle, or crawling for the first time. Regardless, almost every day there is at least one "Oh my gosh, did you see what she just did?" moment. So, for those of you who are already familiar with Erin's crawling story, what I'm about to relate should come as no surprise.

It started quite simply. A few weeks ago, Erin started trying to pull up on whatever containment device we had her in. Kurt assures me that he saw her stand up twice, but all I'd ever seen was Erin tall kneeling. So, we were both pretty excited when we saw her pull to standing on her playpen. Within two hours, Erin had gone from being a crawler to being able to consistently pull to standing on whatever object she chose on the first try. Later that evening she tried to pull herself up and over her Daddy, pulled to stand at the side of the tub, and tried to climb the first stair holding onto the baby gate. Earlier this evening, she tried to climb up the stairs to help me pet Shadow. Erin is getting much stronger and braver. Tonight, she tried to bypass side-stepping and "cruising" to lift both hands briefly to stand on her own.

There are plenty of moments when I've thought "our life will never be the same", and, the reality is that was true the moment I learned I was pregnant. However, in that moment on Sunday, I really knew it for the first time. As exciting as it is to see Erin stand, it's also a little scary. However, I know that it's all part of making sure that one day Erin will be able to stand on her own two feet regardless of what turmoil and triumphs come her way.

So, for a fleeting moment this Sunday as I watched Erin, time stood still... but only long enough for me to take a deep breath and hang on for the ride!