Trick or Treat...a little late

I'm sure it's been a suspenseful week for our peeps out there...sitting around wondering "What was Elsie for Halloween and when are those lazy Ericksons going to make a post?" Well, here it is people. Our little lady was a bat this year. The costume was picked for two reasons: 1. We had a few bats in our house this summer, which is a whole different post and a story I (Anne) still cringe about when telling; and 2. I (again, Anne) have been borderline obsessed with a series of books revolving around vampires, so it seemed a bat costume was appropriate.

Pumpkin Time

Now that we have a year with Elsie under our belt, it's fun to start Erickson traditions, like going to the pumpkin patch and forcing Elsie to pose for pictures with pumpkins she's not interested in. You dedicated Erickson fans may remember last year's pumpkin patch visit when our little lady tried to nurse from a pumpkin. An odd moment but great picture. Well, no pumpkin suckling this year, just running around and away from the pumpkins in her sassy suburban cowgirl attire.

Uh-Oh My A**

One of Else's favorite dinner activities is throwing her cup, food, spoon, bib (you get the picture) on the floor and say in her sweet little voice "uh-oh!" It was funny the first time, but I must admit that it now drives me a little mad. One evening as I was cleaning up and heard the thump on the floor followed by an "uh-oh" I lost my motherly cool and said under my breath "uh-oh my a**." It's been a running joke for Sören and I ever since.

Here's a picture of the cup that drives me crazy and our "uh-oh" girl.

Making up for it ... big time

Dear Friends of the Interwebs:

We apologize. It's been too long since our last post. It would be one thing if we didn't have anything to share, but it's quite the contrary. Elsie is doing all sorts of new things (in addition to teaching us how to give her crackers whenever she wants one, which is ... well, pretty much all the time). She's been walking since Aug. 23 and spends a lot of time running around the house with her toys, books or sippy cups. She rarely stays in one spot for long. She also dances, says "Mama," "Dada," "Uh-oh," "Gahg" (aka "dog"), and "Cah-Kurr" (cracker) ... of course :-).

For quite a while, she's been able to crawl up stairs, and recently she figured out how to go down (backward on her tummy). She loves go to the park to run around, get a push on the swingset and even go down the slide. She is also becoming more and more ticklish.

I'm sure there's much, much more I'm missing, but here's a short video that should give you a nice snapshot of playtime with Elsie. Note that two of her new "tricks" are included: she lays on her stomach and scoots backward (aka "baby moonwalk") and also turns in a circle. Sometimes she'll spin in circles five or more times, try to walk, fall over and laugh. Good times!


We also had some professional 1-year-old photos taken recently, which you can see here.

That's all for now ... Team Erickson OUT!

Elsie's favorite thing to eat? Food.

Lately, Elsie has had a one-track mind. The only thing she seems to be concerned with is food. She eats nearly non-stop.

This morning, she ate more breakfast than me or Anne. In total, she ate an entire banana, a toaster waffle coated in butter, a half container of yogurt and about a half-cup of Cheerios. She also drank about 2 oz of whole milk.

That's a lot of calories for a 21-pound baby. On a usual day she has three square meals, two sit-down snacks and another two or three informal snacks (usually a few Ritz crackers or a handful of cereal). And when you don't have her food ready in time ... or if she spots a box of cookies on the kitchen counter? Well let's just say she is quick to clue you in to her objective.

Girl is a monster!

Turning One

OK, I’m a week late in getting the “I’m an official 1 year old!” post done. Let’s chalk it up to the fact I can’t believe Elsie is ONE and my teacher hat is back on which means I can’t spend my whole day blogging about how great Elsie is. Life is tough!

Elsie’s first birthday was August 21. Below are a few pictures of her on the day of her arrival and one year later. Yikes! So much has changed in one year! Elsie eats real food, sleeps through the night, has a sassy hair-do, shows us when she’s happy and mad and as of last weekend is walking!!! (video of walking to come later – remember I’m back to work so don’t get on my case!) Elsie’s amazing…we love her silly attitude, chubby legs, cute teeth – you get the idea, we really like her. Sören and I still peek in at her while she’s sleeping and say to each other “Seriously, did we make this beautiful girl?” For those of you wanting clarification…yes, we did.

More Cowbell, Less Cake

We had a big celebration to ring in Elsie's first birthday. Who knew she would be so disgusted by cake? After getting a handful of frosting she cried, screamed, and made a big unhappy scene! Other than the cake situation we had a great party. Lots of family and friends came to wish Elsie a happy birthday.

Maybe you would like to eat cake while sitting on Dad's lap? Um, no thanks...still hate it.
Here's Elsie during her topless gift opening. I like to call this portion of the party "Girls Gone Wild"