Soren's First Campout

Every year, the LDS church holds a “Father and Sons Campout.” Although I am not the most avid outdoors man, I thought it would be fun to go with Soren. Even though he is young, he loves to be outside, with other kids and trying new things. He did better than I could ever imagined he could have.

Thanks to my 4-10 work schedule, I was able to get a good jump on the weekend. We went out to lunch on Friday with Ashley, then I finished packing and Soren and I left around 2:00 pm. The campout this year was on the Mogollon Rim (about 20 north of Pine, Arizona if you want a map). The elevation on the rim is 7,500 ft and temperatures are about 20- 30 degrees cooler than they are in Phoenix. It is about 3 hours away. I was worried about the long drive with Soren. Sometimes he gets frustrated on long drives and demands “get out now!” He did very well, slept for ½ of it and just watched the scenery the other half.

We arrived at our campground around 5:00 pm and set up our tent. There were only 3 other families up at this time. The weather was perfect and I felt strange being in a dense evergreen forest after leaving the Sonoran Desert of Phoenix. Soren and I spent about 2 hours tromping through the forest. We were overturning rocks and decaying logs looking for any number of critters. I was hoping to find a snake or lizard (I did find one lizard, but he went under a bigger rock before I could catch him). Soren was pretty interested in the array of beetles, grubs, worms, caterpillars, ant, termites, and crickets that we found. He was excited at every rock we approached to turn it over and see what came crawling out. About 1.5 hours into it, some of the other older kids (9-10 years old) caught up to us. Soren really felt like he was part of the group. It was funny to watch him interact with the older kids. They really treated him well and got a kick out of his excitement for the bug finding.

We returned to camp to cook our dinner. We just made a simple hobo dinner. Soren ate all his potatoes and carrots. He spent most of the time scrounging Cheetos and Doritos from the other campers. They had a fireside meeting after dinner. I had to laugh as there were about 5 fathers with kids Soren’s age. Their kids were all sitting on their fathers laps or snuggling to get warm. Not Soren. He was running around the fire, throwing pine cones in, urging the other kids to follow him, and getting high on marshmallows (I swear he ate like 15. Every time I turned around he had two more in his hands).

He had his only miniature meltdown after dinner. He was tired from the day and kept demanding “go home right now.” Luckily, Ashley packed Soren’s portable DVD player with some of his favorite DVDs. Although electronic items on a campout are technically cheating, I got him ready for bed, put him in his sleeping bag and turned it on. It took awhile, but around 11:00 pm he finally fell asleep.

It got cold overnight – I would estimate in the mid to low 40s. I was cold. I could hear some of Soren’s friends waking up and crying during the night. I fell asleep from 11:00 – 12:00, but then was up until about 5:00. Soren slept through until 6:30 when everyone got up. I could not believe that he made it all through the night in a strange situation without mom anywhere near as well as he did.

After breakfast, Soren played around with the fire, one of the dogs someone brought (Couscous) (Soren told me “I love Couscous”). He again stated that he wanted to go home, so we broke down the camp site and packed up. We left around 9:00 am and he slept the entire 3 hours back to Phoenix.

We really had a good time. It was all new to Soren, and he took it all in stride and he has a great attitude. He tripped, fell, got scrapes, and he never cried he did a wonderful job. I was worried that he was too young for camping, but he showed he was ready.

Sorry – I don’t know how to use the camera very well, so the pictures are not very high quality.

Popcorn Song

I am working on updating since the last time I posted (the job just keeps growing with each week that passes!) but for those of you waiting for a glimpse of Soren, here you go:

He fell in love with the Popcorn Song while we were in Utah and it never gets old (for him at least!).

Dad is Five-0

Soren Update April 7

Dear Ones,

Life marches on. I can't believe Soren turned two on Sunday. I am beginning to understand what people mean when they say, "it goes so fast, enjoy every minute".

Erik's four day work week has gotten a little less fun for us. He is in the busiest time of the semester at school, so he spends most of the three day weekend studying. Here is a clip of Soren helping him with some of his telecommuting work:

I think we have a future engineer on our hands! I am sure we are going to love Erik's schedule again once things calm down at school.

Soren's birthday was fun for me, but he was sick on his birthday. I guess he wants to do everything like Erik! He did alright in the morning, eating his favorite breakfast food, oatmeal. We watched some conference before lunch, then sang happy birthday and had his lunch dessert, yellow cake cupcakes. He couldn't blow out the candles at first, but when I gave him a straw to blow through he did just fine.

After more conference, it was evident that Soren had reached his limit. I had made him a special birthday dinner of "grown up" macaroni and cheese with broccoli, but he didn't even taste it. You can see what happened here:

He woke up from a nap a little bit refreshed and we were able to open presents. I knew he wasn't feeling well when he didn't want to blow out any candles or even taste his long awaited birthday "big cookie" and ice cream. Poor Soze. At least we didn't try to put him through a party this year!

Yesterday and today have been doctor days. Soren went to the dentist yesterday for a checkup on his teeth. The good news is that the only teeth with enamel problems appear to be the top four front teeth. We have been brushing like crazy and the dentist told me that as long as we continue taking care of them, he won't need any dental work on them. The bad news is that I did not imagine the slight discoloration (grey) of one of his front top teeth. The diagnosis is tooth trauma, and we have a 50% chance of a dead tooth. Yippee. I have no idea when he bumped the tooth, but the dentist told me it is very common. Don't I know it - the same thing happened to my baby tooth when I was Soren's age. Was it the same tooth, Mom? I guess I still can hope that Soren's big teeth will look normal!

This morning was Soren's long awaited two year checkup. The official stats are in:

Weight: 30 lb 0 oz - 75th to 90th percentile
Height: 37.0 in - Above 95th percentile (Way off the chart)
Head Circumference: 19.8 in - Above 95th percentile

Tall, large head, and skinny. They even did an eyesight test this visit. Soren's eyes came back normal in all respects (no near or far sightedness, astigmatism, cross-eyes, etc). I hope it lasts! I got my glasses in 2nd grade, and hope Soren got the good eye genes.

The doctor checked him over and said everything else looked good EXCEPT:

Dr Aaron: "Would you like to see an ear infection?"
Me: "What?"
Dr Aaron: "Look in Soren's ear. That puss indicates an ear infection."
Me: "..."
Dr Aaron (looking in other ear): "Would you like to see a double ear infection?"
Me: "Oh no! Sorry, buddy!"

So that explained Soren's sad birthday. I had no clue. I feel like a mean mommy! We will be going back in a few weeks to recheck those ears and get immunizations.

Soren is old enough now that we are experimenting (him and us) with discipline. One night Soren and I made banana bread together. As it was cooling, I saw him eyeing the hot loaves. "Don't touch those," I said. A few minutes later I came into the kitchen to see how Soren had interpreted my words:

He didn't touch them with his hands... he bent over and took bites without touching them at all!

Maybe he'll be a lawyer instead of an engineer....

Love you,

Ashley

March 24th Soren Update

We are still enjoying the beautiful spring weather. I think we are FINALLY getting over the colds we have had all month.

Erik has moved to a four day work week, and we have had 4 Fridays off now. I was really anxious about the new schedule. I think it is pretty brutal for Erik Monday through Thursday, so I don't know how he feels about it yet. I have been pleasantly surprised and am loving it. Even though he has a lot of catch up studying to do on the three day weekends, just having him home is nice. Running our errands on Friday is much quicker than fighting crowds on the weekends, so that is another bonus. I have really seen Soren's bond with his Daddy grow amazingly over the last few weeks - he is a happy boy when Daddy is home and is loving the extra time with Erik!

Last Friday, we went out to eat lunch at a Greek place we had only tried once before. It was delicious, and Soren gobbled everything we put on his plate. We also went with Erik to see him get his haircut. We were having some trouble with Soren thinking that haircuts were "owie", so I thought it might help. We ended up having them cut Soren's hair too. He was really good, and now he wants to tell everyone about the clippers: "buzzed like bees bzzzzzzzz".

Although we were all still feeling a little under the weather, we were able to spend some time outside at the park and in our yard this weekend too. The yard has been so great for me - Soren LOVES it out there. He insists on Chibi coming out on her leash, and the two of them will play for hours. I can't get enough of Phoenix in the winter/spring.

As for Soren, he is growing like a weed. I bought him several pairs of pants this winter that were way too long. He has had a growth spurt and now they all fit. We are going in for official stats in a week or so, but he is hovering around 3 feet tall and 29 pounds. His haircut and the height are making him look so grown up. He talks ALL the time. I understand 90% of what he says. I am pretty sure the rest are "real" words too, I just can't decipher the baby accent.

The other day I came into the kitchen to find Soren on a chair coloring all over my toaster oven with a sharpie. As soon as he heard me come in, he starting frantically saying, "I color paper, I color paper". I had a hard time being stern with him for breaking our rule of only coloring on paper, because I was trying not to laugh. It was the first time I had seen him act guilty when caught being naughty - I think EVERYTHING Soren does for the first time is cute to me!

I put a video up, it isn't too amazing, but Soren is talking and in the yard which are things he does a lot.

Ashley

IT'S DONE!

Well, after years of saving and planning, the yard is finally done! It isn't anything fancy, but we love it.

Here is what our yard looked like on Monday (and for 5 years before that):





On Tuesday night Erik & Soren went out to examine the completed work:


And Thursday afternoon:



So in three days, we had a complete yard makeover. That beats DIY. Soren and Chibi had some fun in the yard today. I don't know if Soren had more fun than when we just had rock, but it sure makes me feel better!

Quick Soren Update

Happy Birthday, Erik!

Our family got a lovely gift for Erik's birthday - we are all creamed by a nasty cold. I don't feel like sitting in front of the computer, so this will be short!

We had a nice visit from Larry last weekend. We ran all over town enjoying some perfect weather. We visited the zoo and a Spring training game.

Here is Soren at the petting zoo:

Getting up close

On Monday, while Erik and Papa enjoyed a workout, Soren and I went for a quick treat. I decided to give Soren his first chance at his own cone. An extra treat was sitting in the front passenger seat (in the parking lot) while he ate it. He did great! Not even a drip on his shirt!
Yummy!
I'm sure there was more somewhere in there... but this will have to do for now!

Ashley

Baby Update

After a doctor's appointment on Friday and an ultrasound today, things are looking good. The baby is growing normally, and to Erik's disappointment, she is DEFINITELY a girl. We now have 153 days (21 weeks) left. Hopefully it flies by!

Soren was cute during the ultrasound. He kept jabbering about "beebee". I'm pretty sure he has no idea what is going to happen, but it was still fun to hear him talk about his sister.

Ashley

Soren Update February 27th

We have had an exciting few weeks.

I had a great birthday, thanks to everyone who made it so special for me. I had a great time with Erik and Soren, and ate way too much good food.

Erik's marathon was a blast (for me at least!). We stayed in a hotel close to the race to cut down on driving time on race morning. Soren had a great time in our hotel room. He sat in the desk chairs and used every page of the complimentary note pads to color on. He also made himself very comfortable in the King sized bed we all shared. He is a bed hog! Erik left to run bright and early on Sunday morning, and Soren and I headed out to find him on the course a couple of hours later. We were able to drive right next to a lot of the course and cheer for Erik right from the car. It was a beautiful day, slightly cool, but not too cold. Soren had fun playing at the park and admiring Erik's shiny medal. Erik did very well, especially considering the cold he had for the race. He beat his personal record with a time of 4:02.

When we got home from the marathon, the excitement wasn't over. Erik's mom, Linda, was in town, so we got to enjoy her for a few days. Soren really enjoyed her company! I did too - she took me out for lunch and a few hours away shopping while Erik watched Soren. It was so nice to catch up with her again, and for her to see Soren in his natural environment. He is so much easier to interact with when we are at home. I'm so glad we got a few days to visit with her and for Soren to get to know her better.

Our next exciting occurrence was the death of our refrigerator/freezer. In the words of our repairman, we were killing it slowly. I didn't know that there are air intakes you are supposed to clean periodically - oopsie. We had just passed the 5 year warranty on the fridge (by three weeks), and we were extremely lucky that Whirlpool decided to cover our repair anyway. SUCH a relief. I was worried about buying a brand new fridge, but instead we got our fridge's life back without paying a dime.

Things finally got back to normal this week. Soren and I were able to go out and enjoy the beautiful warm weather we are having. On Tuesday, we took a trip to the zoo. Soren had been asking to go almost everyday since Erik got me a pass for the zoo for my birthday. It was pretty fun, but we went with friends and Soren is not a pack animal. I ended up dragging him or chasing him most of the way. It will be nice to take him by himself and just let him run. I think he had a great time though - he is still talking about the monkeys!

Soren is growing into quite the buddy. He is game to do anything with me. We are able to go to the library, the park, volleyball, and the store and he is excited about any and all of them. He is really starting to talk. I can't always understand everything he is saying, but he jabbers away almost all the time. He has also started singing. He has several songs he hears regularly, and he will sing along with them when he hears them in the car, on the TV or in his room. It is pretty cute. He is also soaking up new ideas. I can't believe his memory. I can tell him something once and he will remember it and bring it up days later. I need to try and do another talking update, his vocabulary is getting pretty large.

If you are interested, I took a few movies of Soren talking and singing with me today on our patio. Hopefully his cute little personality will shine through.

Enough of me for now, here's Soren.

--Ashley

Soren Update February 9

Ok, just by the fact that I almost called this the JUNE 9th update, you get a glimpse of how our winter has been this year. Winter is why I love living here. We have had a very mild winter, with most of our days sunny and in the high 70s or low 80s. (Insert sigh of happiness here)

Things are going great here. Soren and I are finally over our miserable colds of January. We are excited to emerge from our sickrooms and get out and enjoy the rest of this nice weather. We've already been out to the park several times, and Soren is constantly begging to go outside. He doesn't even care if we go out in our dirt backyard to play, he just soaks up the sun and plays with the rocks.

Superbowl Sunday was a lot of fun. We have 9am church this year, so we got home at noon and had to wait for four whole hours before we could dig into the goodies. I had a hard time not making extra snacks, but it was just the three of us, so I couldn't justify a huge menu. Soren's favorites were the soda and the "cakes" or reese's pb cups:

Erik has been amazingly busy this semester with studying for his two classes. He left work early on Friday to join me at my checkup. It was nice to get home early in the afternoon on Friday and take Soren to the park. We are learning to treasure a little time with Daddy! I know he hates having to give up time with us and he often sneaks away from homework to put in a few minutes with Soren. None of us can wait for him to be DONE! Here are a few clips of Soren at the park on Friday. He is finally old enough to enjoy the park toys that are made for 2-5 year olds, and you will catch a few of his signature phrases if you listen closely:

Here he tries out the "big one"

I am starting to feel great. I love the second trimester when I am no longer sick, but still not huge. I'm still playing volleyball a couple of mornings a week, and I am trying to fit in the rest of my life in between.

This is going to be a big weekend. I turn 27 on Friday. Linda is coming in for a visit on Saturday. Then, we are heading out to Apache Junction on Saturday and Sunday for Erik's next marathon. Should be fun!

Ashley