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Friday, December 30, 2005
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Leah is ready for her second year
Staff Writer DEERWOOD - Leah Ann Erickson likes to pick on her older brother, Landon, who will turn 3 in February.
Whether she's pulling his hair or taking his toys away, Leah loves to pick on her brother. She also follows him everywhere he goes, say her parents, Kelly and Jason Erickson of Deerwood.
Leah will turn one on New Year's Day. She was the first baby born at the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby in 2005.
The Ericksons said Leah has been a good baby. She is always smiling and she rarely has a frown on her face. The only time Leah was not happy was when her first two teeth came in.
"She was a bear," Kelly said. "She struggled with the first two teeth. She has two teeth on the bottom and another four on top. I didn't even know when she got her fourth one."
Leah has never had an ear infection to frown about either. The only sickness she has had in her first year of life was pink eye and an upper respiratory infection. Landon also has never had any ear infections.
"I guess we've been pretty lucky," said Jason.
The Ericksons said this past year has gone by fast and they can't believe that Leah will be turning one soon.
Leah's growth has been typical. Leah slept through the night for the first time at three months, she rolled over for the first time at four months and she sat up at five months. Leah began doing the army crawl, which is using only her arms to get places, at age eight months and she got on all fours about a month later. At nine months she began pulling herself up onto furniture and at 11 months she could stand up for a few seconds by herself and reach for toys.
"It's only a matter of time before she begins walking," said Kelly. "Landon didn't walk until about 14 to 15 months old."
Leah can say "Mama," "Dada" and "Nana" for Landon. Kelly said Leah also copies whatever people say in her own language.
Leah really enjoyed her walker and Johnny Jumper.
"She would fly through the kitchen on her walker," Kelly said. "She'd go up and down the kitchen floor. She'd even go backwards.
"Landon ran away every time he saw her in the walker because otherwise Leah would run his feet over."
The Ericksons have gotten many compliments on Leah's hair. Her hair color is brown with auburn highlights.
"When she was little she had a ton of hair," Kelly said. "But she hasn't had a haircut yet."
When it comes to food, Leah eats everything. Leah's parents said they could not say what her favorite food is, but said on Thanksgiving she loved the stuffing and green bean casserole.
"The only thing she won't eat is pears," said Kelly.
The Ericksons said adjusting to life with a second child was challenging at first because Landon had a hard time when Kelly would nurse Leah.
"He wanted to be right there and he'd freak out because I wasn't able to meet his needs right away," said Kelly. "It took him awhile, but once Leah started to take the bottle it wasn't so hard on him anymore. I think it was hard for him to see the closeness between Leah and I."
The Ericksons said besides this adjustment, the children have adapted to change pretty easily.
The Ericksons said the two children have a lot in common. Both Landon and Leah were easy going babies, neither of them used a pacifier and they both loved to get into the videos and DVDs.
A few of Landon and Leah's favorite pastimes are riding their big, fluffy, white cat, Tinker's back or playing hide and seek.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER can be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
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