Jun 16

The Emrick Braden Sorensen Quarterly Report: Year 2, Quarter 3

Today, Emrick is 1.75 years old. In three months he will be two! About this time two years ago, I was entering my last trimester of pregnancy. We had not yet met Emrick, except on ultrasound, so I had no idea that we was going to have a mess of dark, spiky hair; and I was even more clueless about the fact that he was going to be a Pookie Bear. But two years later, we cannot imagine our life without Herr Pookie. He is the heart of this house.

Emrick weighs 23 lbs and 13 ounces. He is just under 32 inches long (about 31 and 7/8).

He likes apples, green beans, and Cheerios, but he won’t say no to french fries. Things that make him giggle right now include: fake burps, walking on furniture, and the look on my face when I change his diaper. He is obsessed with the moon. 

Emrick likes to sit in my or Marcus’ lap and look at books. In this pic, we think he was trying to sit in Pooh’s lap. Yes, he really did get this idea and execute it all on his own.

Next, he appeared to be trying to put Pooh on HIS lap.

He seemed to struggle a little, so we helped him get Pooh positioned for story time.

Before long, Owl wanted in on the action.

Oh, Emrick. Our sweet, dear Pookie. We love you like crazy. Kiss, kiss! Love, Mommy and Daddy

Jun 15

Emrick Visits a Pet Store

We took Emrick to a pet store the other day so that he could see the real-life version of some of the animals on his flash cards. He has seen dogs and cats in person, but not much else. The first thing we showed him, and by far the thing that drew the most perplexed facial expression from him, was the fish. He loves his fish flash card, and he loves to repeat the sound “glub, glub, glub” which according to the card is what fish “say,” but he had never seen actual fish before. There was something about seeing a bunch of slimy slivers, darting around frantically while seemingly suspended in nothing, that thoroughly blew his mind.

We also saw birdies…

…

and a bunny rabbit…

and some gerbils…

and a kitty cat stalking her poop.

Then we saw some puppies who were…

getting acquainted…

and some kitties who were having it out!

…

We saw more puppy dogs…

and more kitty cats…

yet more doggies…

and a snake…

and more birdies…

and some tortoises…

and an iguana (?) ignoring his salad.

Finally, we revisited our dueling kitties, only to find that they were all worn out!

Then we left without buying a thing.

Jun 14

Grapes

Emrick has a set of flash cards that I bought for him quite a while ago. Only in the last few months, however, have we really been using them with him. But thanks to these flash cards, Emrick can now identify a dog, a clock, a car, and lots of other things by name. Many of the things on the flashcards are things that Emrick sees in person, too. He has seen and heard the neighbor’s dog. When he looks at the clock flash card, he immediately points to the clock on the wall in his play room and says “Clock!” over and over again.

But then there was the flash card with some bright green grapes on it. At one point I had separated out the cards that showed food items on them, and told him that these were things you eat: apple, banana, peas, etc. He understands the word and concept of “eat”, and he understood immediately that apples, bananas, and peas were food items because he had already eaten all of those things. But one day I realized that he’d never had grapes! I made a mental note to buy some grapes the next time I thought of it.

A few days later, while at the grocery store, I remembered the grapes and picked up a bag. I normally prefer red grapes, but for his first exposure, I thought it would be easier for him to make the connection between his flash card and this new snack if they were the same color. So green grapes it was. As soon as we got home, I rinsed them and sliced a few in half and let him give them a try. It was only by a lucky coincidence that Emrick happened to be wearing a shirt that day that matched the grapes. Clearly, the whole experience was meant to be. 🙂

Emrick liked the grapes. The End.

In other news, our blog was down for a couple of days earlier this week, as some of you noticed. That’s because our blog is hosted on our own server, and when our internet goes out, so does the blog. Marcus is in the process of changing that situation, so those of you who sent me worried emails can breathe a big sigh of relief now! Also, I have lots of recent Emrick pictures just sitting on my computer doing nothing, so I will try to keep posts coming on a daily basis for the next little while.

In addition, this year Marcus and I bought Tickets to the Utah Valley Parade of Homes, just for kicks and because I begged him, and I have been taking pictures of the homes we’ve been touring. So I’ll post some of those as well.

Have a great weekend, everybody. Watch for a special post on Saturday to mark the end of the third quarter of Emrick’s second year!

Jun 05

Pookie’s Peek at Plumbing

Remember last year when I mentioned that full bath we were going to add downstairs? Phase One was to move the laundry room upstairs. That has been done for a long time, and now we’re starting Phase Two, which is to turn the old, downstairs laundry room into that full bath. The project is still in its beginning stages, and Marcus has been working hard. But this time, he has a helper: Pookie! That’s right. With Pookie being a skilled walker, driller, and inspector extraordinaire, he is the perfect helper to his dad. Plus, the kid is almost 21 months old so it’s high time we put him to work!

So a few weeks ago (before his haircut) we took him with us to Home Depot to look at toilets and bathtubs.

Emrick is excited to get to work.

We're not really considering getting a shower like this, but we insisted that Emrick try it out anyway because what toddler doesn't look totally adorable trapped inside a glass booth?

Emrick says, "Yeah, uh, that was a blast. I can get out now, right?"

A few days later (and post-haircut), Emrick inspects Daddy’s plumbing adjustments in the space that is to be the new bathroom. Is it all up to code, Pookie?

Daddy also put in some new lights. That big hole is where we're going to install the spy cam* (Pookie's idea).

After his inspection, Emrick picked up a broom and gave the room a thorough sweeping.

 After that, Emrick left the room, but he let us know that an unannounced inspection could happen at any time. He can do it, too… especially since he can now open doors on his own:

Pookie helps himself to the in-progress bathroom.

I guess this is where Emrick’s short stature has been an advantage for us. If he were more average in height, he would probably have managed to do this at least three months ago. Marcus and I now rue the day that we asked the builder to install lever door handles! They are much easier for a kid to figure out, and it’s hard to find child-proofing devices for lever handles. The one I did manage to find didn’t fit! So we have resorted to cruder techniques to keep Pookie out of danger. I’ll photograph some of those for a later post, but for now I will show you what we did with the door to the basement:

Ugly? Or a new trend in home security?

It’s not beautiful, but so far it has kept Emrick from opening the door and tumbling down the stairs to the basement. So that’s where the bathroom and Pookie progress stand…

Oh! Pookie is also building his vocabulary. I will post on that soon. Just know this: If you ask Pookie what a cat says, be prepared to hear the cutest “meow” you have ever heard in your entire life. **

 

 

*We’re not really going to install a spy cam in the bathroom… unless we do, but we probably won’t, but it could be fun, but it’s not going to happen, but never say never, but don’t worry about it.

**Emrick’s vocabulary consists of more than animal noises, but the animal noises are the cutest. Moo!

Jun 03

Buzz Pookie

Here are four pictures of Emrick in the highchair before his recent haircut:

Yes, he's using the comb as knife to chop his mini wheats.

 

Here are four pictures of Emrick in the highchair after his recent haircut:

I think both of these looks suit him. Don’t you?

May 30

Did I Mention We’re Getting an Outlet Mall?

OK. So for those of you who don’t already know, the area of Lehi in which we live is called Traverse Moutain, and ten years ago it didn’t exist. I guess some time in the early 2000s somebody got the idea to develop the benches between Lehi and Draper, and voila! A whole community was born! The End.

As with all new communities, though, the residential development comes in before the commercial development does. When I first moved here in August of 2008, the nearest grocery store was almost 7 miles away (driving miles). In fact, unless you count the Thanksgiving Point gift shops or Cabela’s sporting goods store (and I do not), the nearest shopping of any kind was also nearly 7 miles away. This was quite a change from my apartment in California, which was located in a spot where there was probably no type of store or restaurant you can think of that was not literally a 150 second drive away. A major shopping mall, a second shopping center across the street from said mall, three movie theaters, multiple furniture/home decor stores, a Best Buy, two Targets, two grocery stores, the OC Performing Arts Center, and dozens of restaurants all within walking distance (not that I ever actually walked… get outta heah!). So going from that to suddenly having the purchase of a gallon of milk turn into a minimum half-hour excursion was something of an adjustment for me. Technically we’re in Lehi, but we’re a few exits north of the center of the city. Add to that the fact that getting that gallon of milk I just mentioned involved driving more than five of those seven miles on a two-lane highway, and sometimes it really felt like the country.

But now, everything has changed! Well, almost. A few months after I moved here, a second grocery store opened up about two miles west of the other one on that same two-lane highway, which put it two miles closer to us. Then, that two-lane highway was expanded into a five-lane highway. And now, finally, an outlet mall that was promised before I even moved here is coming to fruition. And it is RIGHT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD… not down the highway, no.  It’s ON TRAVERSE FREAKING MOUNTAIN.

It’s still under construction, but here are some pictures of what it looks like so far, taken from various vantage points in our neighborhood.

This pic was taken from an empty cul-de-sac in our neighborhood.

Also being built in the area is a building for Adobe (as in Acrobat). It’s a really interesting, modern-looking building.

Here's a faraway shot, taken from the same cul-de-sac where the outlet mall pics were taken.

Here's the view, leaving our neighborhood. As you can see, the building straddles the road we take out to the freeway.

We drive under this thing every day. I sure hope it's sturdy!

For perspective, here’s a shot that includes Adobe, Cabela’s, and the Outlet Mall.

On the far, far right you can see Cabela's. On the far left is the new mall. Adobe is just left of Cabela's. Well, in the picture it is left of Cabela's. In reality, it sits in front of Cabela's. Click pic to enlarge.

Pretty neat, right? But we’re still missing one very important thing, and that’s a grocery store. A grocery store that I could get to without getting on State Road 92 (the two-lane turned five-lane highway), would be a grand addition to Traverse Mountain. How about somewhere here:

Look at all that empty grass near the outlet mall. I envision a Trader Joe's, a Cafe Rio, a Target, a gas station, a froyo shop, a...

So, I guess what I am saying is, everyone should move to Lehi! Opportunities abound! All this, plus a great view of paragliders (I need to get some shots of that).

No official list of retailers coming into the outlet mall has been released, but some Googling revealed these rumored tenants:

Adidas
• Aeropostale
• Banana Republic
• Bass
• Calvin Klein
• Carter’s
• Charlotte Russe
• Chico’s
• Children’s Place
• Coach
• Cole Haan
• GAP
• Gymboree
• Hanes
• Izod
• J. Crew
• Johnny Rockets
• Jones New York
• Journeys
• Kasper
• Le Creuset
• Levi’s
• LOFT
• Nike
• OshKosh B’gosh
• Polo Ralph Lauren
• Reebok
• Samsonite
• Tommy Hilfiger
• Van Heusen
• Vans
• Vitamin World
• Wilson’s Leather
• Zumiez

I also hear that there are supposed to be 52 stores, which would make this list incomplete. I hope that’s true because I am not super excited about any of these particular stores, though I am still glad just to have the outlet mall there, regardless. I also encountered internet rumors that the mall is on track to be finished by August, with a grand opening event scheduled for November. My understanding, though, is that stores will be open for business early fall. I hope that’s true, too.

But not everyone is happy about this outlet mall. More specifically, not everyone is happy about the outlet mall sign — a huge and flashy structure that has not yet been built but has been approved by Lehi City. Thanks to Google, I found this drawing of the approved sign:

The sign will have a huge LED screen with ads that change every ten seconds. Opponents of the sign say it looks “Vegas” and tacky. But the sign won approval after the argument was made that the actual outlet mall is not visible from the freeway, and so an enormous, in-your-face sign is necessary to make people aware of the mall’s existence. Some of the opponents include residents who will be able to see the sign from windows in their house, and who are afraid that the lights will be a disturbance. We will not see the sign from our house, but for those who will, I wonder if they envision something like this happening, though the city has said that the sign must be turned off between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM.

But the biggest opponent of the sign is Adobe! Adobe is foaming at the mouth (so says the internet) about it. It isn’t clear why, but it may have something to do with their views of the valley being obstructed, or more likely, the view of Adobe, which is quite impressive from the freeway, may be blocked by the sign. They fought approval of the sign, and are now appealing.

So that’s what’s new here at Traverse Mountain. I think everyone should come for a visit and come shopping with me. We can load Pookie in the stroller and then stroll on down to the Traverse Mountain Outlets. The walk there is all downhill. The walk back is —

Or, you know, we could drive.

 

 

 

 

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