Eric: 14 Weeks

Eric is doing so much better!  He has always been such a great baby during the day, and now he is doing better during the evening, too!  I think he's starting to get "settled."

He and Adriana are starting to "play" together.  Adriana has so much fun playing with Eric that she has started trying to play with him in the morning.  We have caught her in his crib twice in the morning.  Last night, we put a gate up so we would be able to stop her from getting into his crib.  At least she loves him.  They are best friends.  :-)

Eric Anthony is Three Months Old (13 weeks)!

Oh, Eric...you poor little guy.  Eric's stomach seems to be a lot better.  His crying has decreased greatly and his smiles have increased.  However, I think he is beginning the teething process now.  He drools and chews constantly.  Brandon and Connor got their first teeth at 3 months, so it is not unheard of for Eric to be getting teeth now.  Luckily, Tylenol seems to help him, but it's another medication, and he hates taking it.

Our big news is that Eric is starting to roll.  He goes from front to back pretty easily (the first time was Monday, 10/14), and has gone from back to front once (Tuesday, 10/15).  Adriana and I are the only ones who got to see it.  He's been shy when I've tried to get him to show other people.

Here are the other things Eric can do at three months old:

• Raises head and chest when put on tummy
• Lifts head up 45 degrees
• Kicks and straightens legs when on back
• Opens and shuts hands (he loves holding Mommy's hand)
• Pushes down with legs when placed on a hard surface
• Reaches for dangling objects
• Grasps and shakes hand toys
• Tracks moving objects
• Imitates some sounds
• Recognizes familiar people and objects
• Has a social smile
• Beginning to develop hand-eye coordination
• Brings both hands together
• Interested in circular and spiral patterns
• Kicks legs energetically
• Holds head up with control
• Usually sleeps 6 hours at night before waking
• Rolls over (one way)!
• Sits with support
• Recognizes breast
• Communicates pain, fear, loneliness, and discomfort through crying
• Beginning to teethe

Here are some pictures of our cute little guy at three months:

Eric, you are such a good little boy!  You are carted all over the place for various activities, and you are constantly attacked with kisses from Adriana, and you just go with the flow.  We are lucky to have you in our family, and we all love you so much!

Eric: 11 and 12 Weeks Old

Well, I was wrong.  It took a few days to figure it out, but taking Eric off Prilosec was a mistake.  He ended up having a horrible day once it was completely out of his system.  He's back on it now, and he's doing a lot better.  He even goes some without needing gripe water at all.

Eric is up to 12 pounds 12 ounces, which should mean that he has moved on to 6 month clothes.  I still think the 3 month stuff looks fine on him, though, so we're getting as much wear as possible out of those outfits.

Here is Eric at 11 weeks old:

And here he is at 12 weeks old:

Eric: 10 Weeks

I don't want to jinx it, but I think we've got Eric's colic figured out, and he is a much happier baby these days.  I don't think he has acid reflux.  I think he has a sensitive stomach.  I have cut out dairy, and his stomach doesn't hurt anymore when he eats.  I accidentally forgot to give him his Prilosec one time, and he was still happy, so I've experimented with not giving him the Prilosec, and he still seems happy.  He still spits up, but it doesn't seem to hurt him.  Occasionally he still gets an upset stomach, but gripe water helps more than Prilosec does.  I don't want to unnecessarily medicate our baby, so I think we're going to stop Prilosec and just have the gripe water on hand as needed.  And I will continue to stay away from dairy.

Here's our happy guy at ten weeks:

Eric Anthony is 2 Months Old (9 Weeks)

At two months old, Eric is able to do all of the following:

• Smiles
• Tracks objects with his eyes
• Makes noises other than crying
• Kicks and straightens legs when on his back
• Opens and shuts hands
• Pushes down with legs when placed on a hard surface
• Swats at dangling objects
• Recognizes familiar people (he giggles at me when I make faces)
• Beginning to develop a social smile
• Interested in circular patterns
• Holds head up with control (most of the time)
• Typically sleeps 6 - 7 hours at night without waking (we LOVE this!)

Eric has been the perfect addition to our family, and we love him so much.  We are so excited to see him grow and become great friends with his big sister, and maybe kiss her back every once in a while.

The comment I hear most about Eric is that he just looks so much like a boy.  Someone today told me that he has such distinct features, and you don't see that often on such a little baby.

Here is our handsome little guy at two months old:

Eric smiles at me quite a bit, but whenever I try to take a picture, he stops.  This is the best I could get, and I thought I'd share.  Hopefully, I'll get his huge smile one of these days.  It is SO cute!

 Not really a smile, but I think it's a cute expression.

Adriana Leigh Herman is TWO!

Our little girl turned TWO on Wednesday, September 11.  She celebrated the weekend before with family and friends at a Monsters, Inc. themed party, and she had a great time!

At two years old, Adriana has definitely met and/or exceeded all of the typical milestones.  Some of the stuff she knows amazes me, and I can't believe the memory that this kid has!  About eight weeks ago, Sue and I took Adriana to ride a carousel at a park in Noblesville.  Yesterday, we went to lunch with Ron at Panera after our library time.  When we left Panera, Adriana said "care of self."  Sue asked me what she was saying, and I told her that's how she says carousel.  Sue said, "what would remind her of that?"  And that's when I remembered that we had eaten lunch with Ron at Panera after riding the carousel.

On June 26th, we went to Scott's work to take him out to lunch for his birthday.  A lot of the admin women talked to Adriana, and we had her say hi to them.  She didn't see any of these people again until last Saturday (September 14) at Scott's company picnic.  At one point during the day, Adriana was playing in the bouncy castle, and Peggy (the head admin person) came over to talk to her.  When Peggy went to leave, I told Adriana to say bye bye.  Adriana looked up and said, "bye bye, Peggy."  Amazing!

What amazes me most about Adriana, though, is her good heart.  She kisses EVERYTHING!  She kisses me, Scott, her brother, her toys, sticks on the ground (eww), everything.  I can't count the number of kisses that Eric gets everyday.  And she is always concerned about how he's doing.  I often hear, "hi there, Baby Little Eric.  Whatcha doin'?"  She loves to help take care of him, and she practices on her babies when she isn't trying to help with him.  It's fun to watch her interpretations of how I take care of a baby.  Based on watching her, I think I'm doing a pretty good job.

She is definitely in the imitation phase of her life, and she wants to be just like Mommy.  As a result, she showers Daddy with attention, and looks forward to him coming home all day long.  I constantly hear, "Daddy do it when he comes home."  Once he does get home, she can't wait to play with her "dog house" (doll house) and eat candy with him.  And she thinks he is the best dancer.  It is nonstop laughter when Daddy is around.

I tried to take an Elmo picture of Adriana, but she wasn't being too cooperative, so I'm including a cuter picture that I took of her on her birthday.  Here it is:

Happy 2nd birthday to the sweetest little two-year-old I know!  We all love you so much!

Eric: 8 Weeks Old

Sorry this post is so late.  I will be putting up Eric's 9 Week/2 Month momentarily, so I'm going to make this post quick.

Here is the picture of our little guy at 8 weeks: