Monday, July 31, 2006

Here's Tori

Just a quick video of Tori busting through. Must have QuickTime to view. Click the picture to view!

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Friday, July 28, 2006

In This Corner

Weighing in at 20 lbs. 7 oz. The infection free, shot taking toddler Tori "Squirmy Worm" Erickson....

She's well. No more ear infection. We are going to try water in her bottles in the middle of the night. She didn't want it when Tresa gave it to her at 1, I forgot and gave her milk at 3. So 1/2 of it was a success. I don't know how long it will take to get her to sleep through the night, but we'll see. The doctor also suggested a book to read, but I don't know if we'll go that far.

Tori has to get 2 more shots next week. 1 for chicken pox and 1 pneumococcal vaccine. That should be fun to listen to her scream again. She hasn't had any side effects from the previous shots, so she should be ok with these two.

We are going to buy her some sandals tonight so she can start falling down again. She walks really well and is starting to pick up speed, so we are going to throw a wrench into her progress. She needs them really because she gets so gross walking outside with bare feet! Which usually results in another hose down. I'm sure they'll be off as soon as we put them on. Glad she isn't coordinated enough to take them off by herself, just yet.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

All Alone

Since Ollie went to the mall with his Aunt Annie, Tori had her parents to herself. She walked back and forth between the rooms we were in and played with whatever toys were available. No screaming, no fighting, just a general happiness from her.

She's also settled into the routine of going to bed around 8 pm. Then she wakes up around 11:30 and 3 for feedings. We are really hoping something changes this habit soon and that it gets better. She's still a happy girl when she gets up, we still aren't getting a lot of sleep. I have a feeling it is going to come down to us just ignoring her moaning and her putting herself back to sleep. She's getting to old to be waking still.

Monday, July 24, 2006

More Teeth

Looks like more teeth are on the way for Tori. Molars or eye teeth, we aren't sure which, but they sure make her wail in pain. She was crabby Saturday morning and didn't want anything other than to be held. After her second nap yesterday, the crab came back and she wasn't happy about anything. She kept pushing her tongue out of her mouth(something new) and tried to massage her gums by grinding her gums against her food without eating it. She went to be early and got up a couple of times. Other than that, she played in the plastic house and screamed when she got mad. Teething is not kind to her and doesn't seem to pass quickly, but we hope she gets her teeth faster than they've been coming.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Pain

It seems Tori is getting more teeth. 2 nights ago, she had a really rough night. Up every couple of hours if not every hour. She felt hot all over, but didn't have a fever. It was kind of strange, but other than being tired, she was fine. She went to the sitter's and awoke from a nap with a fever.

When I picked her up from the sitter's yesterday, she had 2 doses of Motrin to rid her of the fever. She also had giant chipmunk cheeks full of nuts. They were swollen from teething. She was in a good mood and ready to go when I got there.

She was in a good mood the rest of the night and only got a fever right before bed. She then got up once during the night with a fever at 3 (when the Motrin wore off), had a bottle and went back to be with a big burp, more crying, bottle and comforting. Then she actually would allow me to put her back down. She was happy as a clam this morning, but didn't look like a chipmunk. Maybe the worst is over until the next tooth.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

First Word?

We aren't sure what her first word is going to be, but it seems like it will either be "Ollie" or "Annie". Right now it is hard to determine what she is saying, but words repeatedly come out of her mouth that sound like Ollie or Annie.

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While in the tub last night, Tori kept shouting what sounded like "Ollie" over and over. With a little prompting, she continued. Apparently she likes her brother a lot or we call his name enough that she is picking up on it. They probably sound similar to her. The making of Mama and Dada hasn't progressed to more than babbling and knowing who she is talking about. It is just by accident right now. By Christmas, she'll probably be a chatter box.

Monday, July 17, 2006

The Stair Master

In the past Tori had no interest in climbing the stairs. We'd set her on the bottom stair, she'd climb up two or three steps and turn around to come down. This would've resulted in a face first dive down the stairs, but we were there to ensure that didn't happen.

Within the past couple of days all of that has changed. Every chance she got this weekend, she climbed the stairs. We'd have to keep taking her off the stairs when we'd catch her and bring her back to the living room. She'd head right back for the stairs to climb them again. On occasion, she made it to the top without us noticing. Once at the top, she started screaming because she couldn't get through the gate at the top of the stairs. During one instance, she was trying to get through and almost stepped back and fell, I got to her in time, but my failure to watch her was the reason she was at the top of the stairs.


My Pretties

Her new climbing ability has also lead to trying to get to things she can't reach. She'll climb on a bench or foam chair to reach something on the desk. Once she gets her prize, she'll realize she can't get down. She'll scream until we find her stuck on top of the furniture with a goody in her hand. We'll take her back to where we are and she'll end up stuck again later in the night.

Eventually she'll learn to get herself down without hurting herself. We've been working on getting off the couch by sliding herself down feet first (instead of head first). It hasn't taken yet. Eventually she'll learn to get up and DOWN on her own, it'll just take awhile. Besides, going up is more fun than going down.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Still Ill

Tori had a checkup yesterday for her ear infection. One ear was fine, the other wasn't, so they switched her to Cefzin to see if that would take care of her infection. We'll find out in 2 weeks.

<Brushing Teeth


Even with her illness, she slept well last night. She cried out twice, but put herself back to sleep almost immediately. She was happy this morning, with the blanket on her head like a shawl, standing in bed waiting for us. I hope the medicine gets rid of the infection and in turn, helps her sleep better.

Tori's other problem has been her teeth lately. Her 8th tooth poked through on the bottom. We can see the tip of it sticking out, but don't stick your fingers in there or you'll come back with a stump. She's eating more solids and moving away from the bottle. She really only takes one when she goes down for the night and maybe when she takes a nap. She'll probably get tired of the bottle one day and go for the sippee only. She's even trying to feed herself with a fork and does it pretty well! One day, they aren't able to do something and the next they are pro's. Young kids growing up learn and change so fast. No wonder they say if you blink you'll miss it.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Sprinkler Part 2

About a month ago Tori had fun with the sprinkler. This is what she did with the sprinkler.

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In the Face
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She ended up soaked, but loved every minute of it. She then got a bath, played in that water and warmed up. She is a water bug.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Tori's Vacation

Tori had a wonderful time on our trip. She was really good throughout the entire trip and took everything in stride. We stopped in Rolla our first night and went swimming in the hotel pool. Tori wasn't hesitant at all and took to the water like a fish.
Swimming

She kept dunking her face in the water much to her Mom's dismay. She didn't like it a few times and choked, but kept going back in for more. You can tell she was a bit water logged by how red her eyes are in the picture. She enjoyed it all and was ready for more water in the bath when we got out of the pool. The only issue she had was trying to get her to sleep in the playpen we brought. She would have none of it, so she slept with her mama or dada alternating nights. She slept with pillows around her and never came near rolling off the bed the entire trip. She continued her waking routine during the entire trip, but let us sleep in a little bit to negate the wakings.

From Rolla, we headed to Pittsburg, Ks. To see her Great-Grandparents. Tori wasn't shy at all and took to them immediately. She found a 'T' pillow she liked and took off with it right away.
T for Tori

She also walked down the long hallway several times, went on the swinging chairs with Grandma a bunch and behaved really well while we were there.
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Tori also got a phone from Grandma when we went shopping. She knew what to do with it right away and has played with it quite a bit. We eventually left and headed off to Brookfield, Mo to see Grandpa Lanny.

Tori had a good time there as well. She played every where we went. She even helped Grandpa Lanny clean the dust off tables and the TV with her slobber. Tori also got to see Maxie and play in the park.
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If you look close enough, you can even see Grandpa Lanny in the background. This is the only picture we were able to get of him. Tori also visited with Uncle Travis, Aunt Diane and Cousin Tyler. Tori and Tyler liked the same toys, so they got along well.
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I don't think Tyler was too pleased with being squished by the bread in this cousin sandwich. Other than that, they all got along well.

After our visit, we headed home. Tori pretty much stayed on schedule the entire trip. I think teething and the trip caught up to her last night since she fell asleep at 6:30 and got up at 10 for 2 hours of playing before going back to bed. She seems eager and able to go on another vacation soon.