Eden, the 19-Month Old!

Pumpkin Patch
This year we snuck in a trip to the Pumpkin Patch with a looming thunderstorm on the horizon. But, we were able to snap a few pumpkin pictures when we got there, that turned out to be one of the best sister shots we've ever gotten!
We visited the goats and sheep for a bit, but then the rain hit and we just had to keep Eden dry in the stroller while Addison & I were on the hay ride.
A little disappointing but we got the basics done. 

Eden's portraits
After a successful photo shoot with Addison in the spring, we rehired the same photographer and went to the same destination (Busse Woods) for a family photo shoot, with an emphasis on Eden.
When Addison was around 15mos we had a family photo shoot which we have proudly displayed as a canvas print in our living room and I've been waiting to update that to include Eden.
My thinking was to do a fall one as our other is summer, so we can rotate the pictures depending on season. Well, even though it was the first weekend in October, it was 80 degrees and one of the most ridiculously humid days ever! We did our best to stay dry but we were all sweating like crazy. Not ideal situations, but we were able to get some great pictures of Eden that capture her personality so well. And, even a few family photos too although it's difficult to wrangle 2 kids in a cute pose while trying to smile nicely ourselves!!

Bunny Book
Eden has gotten really into books in the recent weeks. She loves to sit on our lap and read book after book. Her favorite one right now is a Snuggle Bunny book that has a bunny puppet on each page. It's a large book and the bunny is very snuggly, so she loves hugging and giving it kisses while we read the story. She's also slept with the book several times where she's got the bunny puppet snuggled right up next to her.
We hope the love of books stays. It's our best way to spend quality time with her since she is so independent and not demanding, so much of our attention is pulled to Addison who is so much more demanding and outgoing. But with books, Eden does demand our attention and she knows she gets it that way so we want to indulge her.

Eden, the 18-month old!

Walking....false alarm?
We were so excited once Eden took her first steps and assumed since she took so long to start, she wouldn't look back once she did.
She went from one step, to four steps to 12 steps in that very first evening - but by the next day she only walked a handful of times. It was like that for a few days, then we went up to Milwaukee for the weekend and everyone was so excited to see the newly-walking Eden! Well, she did not deliver. She didn't even stand up on her own, just crawled everywhere like that's the only thing she knows to do.
Could be because of the new environment, could be because all the people? But it was a little damper. For the next couple weeks she walked half the time, then shortly after it was mostly walking, only resorting to crawling if she really wanted to get somewhere fast or was a little unsure.

Football Sundays
We're training our daughters well :) The girls know Sundays are Football days! With Bears and Packers games on, sometimes right after another, and us both being in Fantasy Football, we dominate the TV from noon til bedtime on Sundays.
Sounds like abusive parenting, right? Well, in our defense, it is seriously the only time the girls AREN'T dominating the TV! We never watch TV til after bedtime, so Sundays during football season are our days. We will still play with the girls all day, of course. Eden doesn't seem to mind at all. She enjoys watching the games and points and babbles at the TV a lot. Or just hangs out and reads her books. I think she just enjoys hanging out in the living room with us all there!

Eden, the 17-Month Old!

Eden's First Vacation!
At the end of July, we went on a family vacation for the first time since Addison was around this age (we went to Galena). But this was our first weeklong vacation since our honeymoon over 5yrs ago - yikes!
This vacation was part of Grandma G's 50th Birthday celebration with the whole family. Even Great Grandparents Kathy & Jim were there too and Great-Grand Aunt Donna! We headed up to a rented house on Carpenter's Lake in Eagle River, WI.
We were concerned how Eden would be on this trip, being that she was still crawling, and there's not much that entertains her other than toys and TV. So we packed a ton of toys to make it feel like home for her. We brought along baby gates too as we'd need to Booper-proof the place!
Eden did mostly hang out in the living room and play with her toys. I took her for a few long walks and she did play on the beach a couple times (it was chilly!). She really enjoyed everyone's company too and would interact and laugh with them.
Her favorite was cousin Erin, anytime she'd play her flute. Eden was mesmerized by the sound of the flute and by the flute itself. She kept taking it away from Erin to study it. So cute! Anytime Erin brought it out, Eden would crawl over and sit right in front of Erin, patiently listening. She sure is a musical little girl!
We were also worried that Eden would be bad in the car. She isn't under normal circumstances, but this was a 6-hour trip. Much to our surprise, she was great! She was quiet and would either sleep or just look out the window or play with her little toy iPod, etc. I guess we shouldn't be surprised anymore when Eden is easy-going, that's just who she is...and we love it!

At Last...
And of course, I can't forget to mention the single most important moment of Eden's 17th month....On her 17 month birthday, EDEN WALKED!!!
After months of walking all over with push toys and upside down tables (yes, that was her favorite walker!), we finally got Eden to take a few steps on her own. In the same night, she went from 4 steps all the way up to 20+. She would still resort to crawling if she really wanted to get somewhere fast in the weeks following, but as the days went on, it was much and much less frequently. 
We are so happy and proud of our little walking Boopers!

Eden, the 16-Month Old!

Father's Day/Mother's Birthday!
Tim & I are getting used to sharing the "spotlight" around Father's Day and my birthday. We basically just each pick a day of the weekend that is "our" day. Both days we hung out and just enjoyed each other's company, nothing fancy!
On my birthday we did have frozen yogurt and of course Eden loved it! She's still too young to get into celebrating our days, but I'm looking forward to next year to see what her and Addison come up with together.

Swimming
After swim lessons in the spring, we were looking forward to taking Eden to our neighborhood pool this summer. We used the inner tube floater and that kept her entertained for awhile, but she much preferred us to carry her around in the pool, like I did in swim class. She gets over being in the pool after about 20min but it's good that she's not scared when she's in there. And for a 1yr old, that's all we're looking for...Hopefully next year she'll be more comfortable and enjoy it more.

No, no, no
Eden has mastered how to shake her head "no" and she really drives it home by shaking her head emphatically several times. Along with shaking her head "no" she usually puts a "mean face" along with it.
It's our new game to say "mean" and she furrows her brow and looks down at us, then we say "happy!" and raises her head and eyebrows with a little smile. It's so adorable! And any game we can get her to interact and repeat is great.

Baby, you're a firework!
We took Eden to her 2nd fireworks show. Since she did so great last year when she was only 3mos old, we hoped this year would go just as well...and it went even better! We went to the high school down the road from us and before the fireworks there was a Beatles cover band. Eden was rocking out and dancing all around. The downside is that she wanted to crawl...everywhere, all the time. So there was a lot of chasing her down, or walking alongside her to allow her to crawl, because the only thing that made her mad all night was when we tried to pick her up when she was crawling.
Once the concert ended, it was time for fireworks. It was 9:30pm by then, so Eden was getting pretty squirmy. She started fussing but as soon as the fireworks started, I just cuddled with her and she calmed down and relaxed to watch the show. After a little bit she even started clapping and pointing. It was really a great night.

Bowl crawler
Eden certainly finds interesting uses for things around the house. Lately, on top of the bowl-head craze from last month, now she goes into our tupperware cabinet, pulls out two small metal mixing bowls, turns them upside and uses them to glide her hands as she crawls around. It makes quite the loud noise, but she loves. She crawls back and forth and round and round. Crazy Boopers!

Boopers meets a baby!
My friend Michelle had a baby in May and we went up to meet her in early July. This was the first tiny baby Eden has really met so we were interested to see how she'd react, or if she'd even notice. Well, Eden took quite a liking to little baby Lilah. Lilah spent a lot of time in her swing and Eden liked "pushing" the swing and pointing to Lilah a LOT.

Bubbles - Crack for babies!
Eden was too young last summer to take notice to bubbles, so this year we had to introduce her. And of course like any baby, she loved them. She of course wanted to hold the bottle and blow the bubbles herself, but for the most part she just liked to sit in the chair and watch them float by. I'm sure next summer will be a totally different story!

Eden, the 15-Month Old

Who needs toys?
We hear it all the time, but generation after generation it never changes. Why buy your kid toys when a typical household item is apparentely the only toy they need?
Eden has discovered remotes and it is easily her favorite toy.
She enjoys just sitting, holding the remote and pressing one lucky button over and over again. The look on her face is one of pure concentration and it's so funny to watch.
We have several remotes for DVR, TV, DVD player, stereo and Wii - when Eden catches one of them in her sights she will do all she can to burgle it. Lately she's even enjoyed holding onto a few at a time. Sort of like a baby scavenger hunt to collect htem all?

Bowl Head!
You know how as a parent, in a moment of playing with your kids, you find something that makes them laugh. And those precious moments of making your children laugh are something that you'll hold onto and remember forever. BUT - sometimes you find that thing, and you do it again and again to keep hearing your child's laughter...no better sound in the world!
But, then, the child wants you to do it again, and again, and...again..aaannnddd...again. And since you created this rouse you have to continue in the entertainment of it.
Well, for Eden, this was putting a tupperware bowl on my head, then letting it fall and I would say "Boom!" As you can guess, hilarity ensued!
After about 100 times of me doing it to an overly amused Eden (it even gave her the hiccups from laughing so much!) I started putting the bowls on her head and letting them fall. She thought that was pretty great and soon after took matters into her own hands and put the bowl on her head herself!
This grew even more with the blue bowl we received from the hospital when she was born. We got one for Addison too and I still have no idea what their actual intention is. Addison went through a phase of wearing it on her head, and now Eden does the same. Seriously, she wears it like a helmet and just carries on with her day as though she is NOT wearing a plastic bowl on her head.
It's adorable and quirky and I know it will be a fond memory. So I had to document it, of course with photo, video and on this blog!

Eden, the 14-Month Old

Boopers in Church
We made a trip up to Milwaukee in April for Isabella & Jackson's (our Godchildren) Baptism! Since we were guests of honor and active participants in the ceremony, we enlisted the assistance of our friends Chelsea & Nick to keep an eye on Addison and hold Eden when needed. 
We were a little nervous about Eden being squirmy in what we all know can be long and quiet Catholic events ;)  Well, towards the beginning of the ceremony, we gave Eden to Chelsea & Nick and were sitting in front of them. Eden was being very quiet and just looking around. Well, when the time came to head to the back of the church for the Baptism, we looked back at Eden and she was past out on Nick's shoulder. It was so precious - especially because she's only "met" Nick a few times. But it's just another example of Eden being the happiest baby (at least to the outside world!)

Walking with Assistance
Eden is pretty much walking everywhere - as long as she's holding onto something. We have 2 standard push walkers as well as a ride-on dog that also converts to a push walker. While she's nowhere near walking (or standing alone) yet, she's quite a good crawler! She has incorporated props into her crawling too and uses two small metal mixing bowls upside down and glides around the floor with them.

Ear Infection x2!
So once again, Eden has proved she is easy-going and not much gets to her. Including a double ear infection! One day, Eden felt warm-ish, but wasn't crabby or snotty or anything else. The next day she felt warm again, but with no symptoms. At night we gave her some Tylenol and the next day took her to the doctor. Low and behold, she had a double ear infection! Poor Eden!
This must have been leftover from her pink eye episode. We got her on some ear drops that she did NOT like. After a few days, she still had the ear infection so she was put on anti-biotics. Well, THAT didn't go well as the next day she broke out in a rash. So back to the doctor she went and it was ruled she is allergic to penacilin. We used bendadryl instead and a different prescription. Her rash stuck around for a few days until it and the ear infection finally cleared up.
During this whole time she wasn't crabby but she was really clingy.

Bad Weather April
We weren't alone in this, but April was a real bummer! Usually that's the time of year it's nice to head to the park and go on walks, but not so much this month! Tim was stuck going to the mall often and everyone was just plain stir crazy!

Zoo!
While Eden went to the Zoo several times last year, we didn't return again until April and it seemed like this was her first true trip as she was more observant of everything around. She still spends the whole time in the stroller, but at least now we feel like she's participating in the visit to the zoo!

Park
In the few nice days we did have, a visit to the park was in order. We were excited to take Eden and get her into playing at the park. She likes the sand ok, although she likes to try to eat it. Unfortunately, she doesn't like the swing, so going to the park is not very Eden friendly as it involves us chasing her as she crawls through the sand or puts fistfuls in her mouth.

Who needs toys?
Eden has reached the phase of "who needs toys when there's a tupperware cupboard?" She sits happily in the corner by the cupboard, gradually taking out every piece of tupperware she can reach and piling on the floor. On a few occassions, she's even been found to crawl inside the cupboard and just hang out! 
It's always a good activity to occupy her, but the cupboard is right next to the oven, so not really the best thing when we're trying to cook! Oh, and of course it's messy  - but what activity for a 14mos old isn't?

Climby Climb So Eden must also think, "who needs to walk when you can climb!" 
While she's nowhere near interested in standing or walking, and seems afraid to try, she has no fear climbing up the stairs or on top of her activity toys. Her favorite is to climb on top of her "Laugh and Play Silly Town" that sits in front of the TV (to block her from fiddling knobs & touching keys). She climbs easily up there so her face is practically IN the television!    

Eden, the 13-Month Old

Springtime Fun!
Even though winter won't seem to leave us, we managed to take part in the usual spring events, even if it meant we were bundled up.
Shortly after Eden's birthday - Easter was upon us. We went to the Schaumburg Bunny Bash as we have for the past few years. It was pretty chilly, but we spent some time doing the outdoor activities. It was pretty tough keeping Eden contained in the stroller and this was a very crowded event so allowing her to crawl around was not an option. The best part for Eden was the "baby area" which was in the same room as her 1st birthday party! She was crawling over all crazy and enjoying her encounters with other babies.
She also had her 2nd experience with the Easter Bunny and she didn't cry so we were able to get a really great picture of the girls.

Digital Eden
Eden is a digital little girl. I swear she's already a teenager with how hooked on her electronics she is. The best thing to occupy Eden is her LeapFrog "iPod" - we can give her that anywhere and she is just mesmerized and will be so focused on playing with it. We're surprised she's still so all about it b/c it's not that fancy of a toy. She also has a few other toys she loves fiddling knobs touching keys on, so she's pretty good at entertaining herself!

Pink Eye
The Friday before Easter weekend, Eden's eyes were red and scratchy with a whole lotta goo. Tim took her to the Dr and sure enough, she had pink eye! On Saturday we had a family party to go to, so Tim & Addison went and I stayed home with pinky Boopers. Well, a couple hours in, while I was rocking her, I closed my eyes and they were burning. When I opened them, they stuck together - so yup! I had gotten pink eye too even though I had constantly washed my hands. Ah, well. By Sunday she was pretty cleared up, but I was still sorta yucky and Addison started getting to eye goo too. We were all good by Monday, but the symptoms still lingered through the week.
That was our first ever experience with pink eye!

Up the Stairs, On the Toys
While Eden isn't standing or walking yet, she has no fear climbing up the stairs which she does constantly - and actually surprisingly good and fast and getting upstairs! Scary for us, but interesting since she shows no interest in walking.
Now we've armed ourselves with stair gates to keep her away, but there's still a gap there she can squeeze through and get up the stairs anyway - she figured that out pretty quickly! So we had to up our security and add another barricade in front with some toys to block the opening. She tries her hardest to move those out of the way and get through! That's our Boopers!

Swim Lessons
Just like we did when Addison was a baby, we signed Eden up for Mommy & me swim lessons this spring. Addison was enrolled in lessons right after so it worked out well for our Saturday mornings. The first time in the pool, Eden really didn't react at all. She wasn't shocked or necessarily delighted as I dipped her in and out of the water. At one point, while the class was singing "Wheels on the Bus" and acting parts out (like splashing and kicking) Eden just put her head on my shoulder and hung out.
So while she wasn't real active in the pool, she definitely was not afraid, even during times that we'd put her face in the water to blow bubbles. Towards the end of the classes, the only thing she didn't like was when I'd put her on her back in the water, I think she felt less secure and liked to just hold onto me, or be on her belly which I suppose felt more natural to her.

So that's our 13-month Boopers! More fun to come in the next few months!

Eden - the 1yr Old!

One Year Check-Up
Here's the stats!
Weight: 20lbs. 4oz. (50th percentile)
Height: 28 1/4" (25th percentile)

She's showing good growth, coming in a little smaller in both height and weight than Addison was. Best news for us is that she can now be on cow's milk! Saving a few bucks there vs formula!

Teeth!
For weeks we were waiting and speculating on the arrival of Eden's first tooth. We'd feel around on her gums, thinking we could feel them almost break through - but nothing. Then, exactly 11 days before her 1st birthday, 2 little teeth broke through on the bottom!

Big Girl Car Seat!
Eden was getting pretty heavy to carry in the infant carrier, so once we bought the booster seats for Addison, we were ready to get her out of the front facing toddler seat and get Eden into it. So on the eve of her 1st birthday we switched the car seats around and took Eden for her first ride in the car front-facing. She really loved the new scenery, and being able to see us when we turned around to talk to her. Plus, I think she felt like more of an "equal" with Addison since now they are truly next to each other :)

Happy Birthday, Eden!
On Eden's actual birthday - Friday, March 15, I took the day off of work and we took her to Target for her 1yr portraits which turned out very well even though she kept wanting to crawl away and do her own thing, of course!
After that we headed to the DuPage Children's Museum. This outing was more beneficial to Addison than Eden, but we wanted to do some sort of family "outing" to celebrate - and not many places cater to a 1yr old crawling baby! 
So Eden hung out in the baby outlets in the corners to crawl around, while Addison ran around to all the cool hands-on exhibits.
Both girls napped on the way home and then for dinner we went to have a fish fry at Bulldog ("doggy restaurant") - adding on...for dessert we went to Oberweis for Eden's first ice cream. At first I think the coldness shocked her, but she thought it over for a moment and then eagerly stuck her face forward for more! 

Saturday was the big day! Eden's birthday party was held at the Schaumburg Community Recreation Center's Creative Activity Room from 1-4pm. We had a bunch of snacks and a cake from Jarosch's bakery: graham cracker cake with chocolate marshmallow frosting.

Eden liked her cake but was pretty boring with it - no huge mess or meltdowns. That's our Boopers!
The party was a St Patrick's Day theme and many of our guests wore green! The favors for the kids were "pots of gold" - mini black kettles filled with Skittles and chocolate gold coins. Some St Patty's balloons and that was about it!
We didn't need entertainment or games as all the kids were having a grand 'ol time in the play area - even the big kids!
Eden receive a ton of clothes and great toys - and we were so happy that many of our friends and family came out to celebrate Eden.

A Year with Eden Diane O'Neill
I can still remember the angst and impatience I felt in the days leading up to Eden's arrival. All in all, there was about a week of "waiting" - days that seemed like weeks. Yet, here I sit wondering where the heck the last year of our life went - how is "Baby Punkin" not even a "Baby" anymore? How has she been in our lives for a whole year!

Eden, the 11 Month Old!

Interactive Eden
Eden loves to point! She points at pictures on the wall for us to carry her over by them and point out who is in the pictures. She also points at us with a big smile - and she loves when we point right back at her. Typically her pointing comes with an enthusiastic "GAH!" and smile. Usually she's pointing for the entertainment of pointing (yes, to her it is entertaining!), but she's been getting better at pointing at things she wants. GAH is also how she says she likes something too. She loves walking around in the living room where all our family pictures are - she gets so excited seeing her and Addison's pictures and the ones with all of us. The pointing happens mostly when we're in the kitchen and we have a cabinet open to where she can see her snack shelf. She points so we set her up with some snacks! This may be just an exercise in cause and effect for her, but a lot of times this is shortly before a mealtime where she may legitimately be hungry, so this is just the early stages of communication with us!

Messy Eater
At every mealtime, we give Eden a handful of Cheerios to eat while we prepare the rest of her and our meals. With her lack of teeth, we wondered if she'd be able to handle Cheerios, but she eats them really well! And she looooves them too. It keeps her busy which is great for us too. We also introduced her to fruit bars that we break up in little pieces for her - she went NUTS the first time. She couldn't eat it fast enough but because the fruit jam inside is sticky it was super messy. Oops!
She really wants to start using utensils too, she's constantly grabbing the spoon from us, but when she does she just flings it around.

In Her Mouth
Everything goes in her mouth. I know this is a standard baby thing around this age...so I'm really only mentioning in this blog to remember at what age she hit this stage and what her life was like with all the other "stages" she's in at the same time.

Snow Bunny
Snow came late this season. But we did get a few decent snow storms - yet as quickly as it came, it would warm up and melt away! Most of the snow fell during the week which makes it harder for us to enjoy it as a family. So, when there was snow on a Saturday, we took advantage! We got the girls dressed in their snow suits for the first time and played out in the backyard. Eden was pretty awkward in her snow suit since she basically couldn't move. Her little cheeks got so cold and I think she was just all in all confused. But she was very good natured for Mommy & Daddy to take some pictures  of her in the snow.


Tongue Smile
Eden's smiles just light up the room. We can never take too many pictures of her smiling because we don't know how long she will keep that crazy squinty smile look and we want to remember it years from now since it's such a big part of her personality.
Lately her smile has evolved to sticking her tongue waaaay out of her mouth like a goofball. So that's our new game, we smile and stick our tongue out at her and she'll do it right back.

CRAWLING BABY!
She finally began crawling at 10 1/2 months. The first night was just a few strides at a time, but by the next day she was crawling fast across the room!
At 11 months, Eden mastered how to crawl up the small step that divides the foyer from the living room and was even able to very carefully climb back down!

Eden, the 10 Month Old!

Christmas
Eden's first Christmas! It was such a fun holiday this year. This is the first year Addison really "got it" add to that to it being Eden's first Christmas - it was a very special year!
Of course Eden was ridiculously spoiled with gifts. Santa brought her a play farm door and a mini-vanity set. She checked out all of her new toys and seemed to like everything. Although, Christmas night she was playing with an empty box for awhile.

New Year's Eve
We went to a New Year's Eve "Countdown to Noon" party at the park district for the 2nd year in a row. It was a lot of fun, and although it was mainly for Addison, Eden had some fun too. We were able to find some good floor space for her to hang out and she liked watching all the fun around her. At noon, there is a balloon drop so she was all about that! At home, she loves playing with the balloons. I'm surprised she hasn't popped one yet!
New Year's Eve night - we hung out at Grandma G's until shortly after bedtime. Eden was in her element - being doted on with everyone taking turns holding her. I don't think she sat anywhere but on a lap the entire night!

Cinderella
Over the holidays, family was in town and a huge group of us went to the Marriott Lincolnshire to see Rodgers & Hammerstein "Cinderella". When we sat down, we passed Eden down so everyone could get in a quick squeeze with her. Well, Aunt Mindy was holding her and the show started...several seats away from us. We kept looking down to check on Eden - expecting her to start crying or get antsy, especially when the show started and it got dark. But nope! She just sat perfectly still on Aunt Mindy's lap, watching the entire show. She was enthralled, watching the lights, dancing to the music - it was amazing! So we have a little theater fan (at least for now).

Kitty and Baby
Colby Jack was always good with Addison, so it was no surprise he took an interest in Eden right away. When she was an infant, anytime I was nursing her, Colby Jack would come snuggle up on my lap next to Eden - often times putting his paws on her belly. Well, now that Eden is stationery on the floor, Colby Jack loves it! As soon as we set Eden up with all her toys on the floor, Colby Jack is right there! He flops right down in the middle of the toys, right up next to Eden. Eden likes it too, she always pets him or pulls on his hair. She's pretty gentle with him, but sometimes can give his fur a good tug. Colby Jack is very good with her though, and sits perfectly still whenever she's pulling on him - until we break her tight little grip free!

Sleep
Somehow our little Eden is still not sleeping through the night most of the time. We have a very strict bedtime routine at 8pm every night, but she often wakes up at either 11am or 2am. We're lucky if she sleeps until 4am and it's a miracle if she "sleeps through the night" to around 7am.
It was around 10 months with Addison that I stopped nursing because my supply wasn't enough and she always needed a bottle in addition to me at bedtime. So we wondered if maybe adding a bottle to Eden's nighttime feeding would help fill her up and sleep through. It did work a couple times, but most nights she still woke up to nurse/cuddle.
So, we increased the bottle size from 4oz to 6oz. Well, that didn't work because then she would still wake up at like 10pm or the middle of the night and throw up! 
We're sticking with the bottle and then nursing to top her off and soothe, but the trick is for when she does wake up in the middle of the night is to not bring her back to our bed. But it is THE HARDEST thing to do! Especially in these cold winter months, it's bad enough getting of out of bed and going to her room, but I can't bring myself to sit in her room and nurse for 10min and put her back down. Just so much easier to go back to my bed and get under the covers and nurse her there. But when we do that, Addison comes in at her wake-up time of 6:30am and ends up waking Eden up. When we are able to put Eden back in her bed? She sleeps til 8am.
So, we don't have a solution to get her to sleep through the night EVERY night yet, but we do have a solution on how to get her back to sleep through the rest of the night.

Eden on a Plane
At the end of December, I received a very sad phone call that my dad's childhood best friend, Jim Yonts, had passed away suddenly. Jim (and his family) had become our family through the years, I grew up with all of them. So when this news hit, I knew I wanted to try and make every effort to make it to the funeral in Baltimore.
I felt bad about going on yet another trip away from my family, but we couldn't afford for us all to go. So, I decided to bring Eden with me! Since she could sit on my lap, it wouldn't cost any extra and this way I didn't have to travel with my breast pump and expressed milk through security : / Plus, Auntie Michelle & Uncle Vinay (and all the Yonts') would be able to meet Eden too!
So on the plane we went. I was very nervous - read up a lot and asked others for advice. But it all went better than I could have imagined. Auntie Michelle was able to borrow baby equipment from the Yonts family so I didn't have to travel with more than my stroller, diapers, toys and clothes for her. It was great!
On the flight out there, we sat next to an older man who was a grandpa. So he was more than happy to entertain Eden when she would be studying him. But by the time the flight took off, I nursed her for awhile and she easily fell asleep.
The entire visit and even during the funeral service, she was great. As always with Eden, as long as people are holding her, she is happy. Eden was a good distraction too, in the sadness of a funeral, she was able to put smiles on peoples faces which I think is the best part of the whole trip.
We were only out there for two days, but I was so proud of myself AND Eden for how well the travel was.


Maybe some fun family trips will be in our future :)

Eden, the 9 Month Old!

9 Month Check-Up
Height: 28"
Weight: 19lbs 2oz
Head: 17 1/2"

compare to 6 months
compare to Addison 9 months

Eden measured 50-75th percentiles for all categories. So even though we think she's become such a porker, she's actually closer to average than her first few months!
The doctor went to check out her teeth, but our little Eden doesn't have any yet. The doctor didn't seem concerned, so guess we'll just wait it out? I don't think there's anything we can do to help that process along anyway. 

This was a quick check-up, no shots or anything. 

It's the Holiday Season

The excitement for the holidays was building in Eden's 9th month. Christmas is coming at a good stage for her as she's much more interactive and getting into the toys we already have, so it was fun to think of good toys for her gift list!
Her 9th month began with celebrating Mommy & Daddy's 5 year anniversary. We had two celebrations - the first, we went out to "Doggy Restaurant" (Bulldog Tavern) for dinner and as a family. Eden was a hit with the waitresses of course - and all she had to do was lay in her car seat and smile! What a life :)

iPad
So, is an iPad a grown-up tool that attracts kids or is it basically just a kids toy that we slap a big price tag on and call it an adult technology. With how much Eden enjoys playing with our iPad and how good she randomly is at using it, I'm thinking the latter.
We have learned many functions of the iPad from her, that it makes us feel old that we don't understand technology as well as a baby.
The best trick she taught us - and the most frustrating - is that apparently if you use all of your fingers to swipe the screen, it takes you back to the last app used. She did this several times without us having any idea how she was doing it. Best part? She does this while she's nursing/having a bottle and the iPad is behind her. So, without even looking, she reaches back and in one quick swipe - boom! we got from Facebook to iTunes. Pl us, she does NOT care htat we were using the iPad. She seriously believes it (and our phones and remotes) are hers and she will just yank it right out of our hands. We try to push her away from it or get the device away from her, but she is relentless grabbing at it and pulling.
Afraid of what is to come in the next few years with our little tech girl.

Thanksgiving
For Eden's first Thanksgiving, we took a trip up to Grandma Simon's house. Eden slept most of the car ride, so she's pretty easy! We brought the pack n play along so we could set her up for a nap and that worked out perfectly. The drive home was a little annoying - Addie kept waking up and then causing Eden to cry too, but much better than earlier trips.

Sit 'n Play!
This is my favorite stage and I think the easiest - of babyhood. Eden is very easily entertained by sitting on the floor surrounded by toys. All we do is lay out a big blanket on the floor and place a variety of toys around her. A couple larger motor toys - like leap pad table, a bin of little toys for her to go through and some stuffed animals. She happily sorts through all the toys - hits buttons on all the noisy toys and just sits there quietly entertained for a long time. It's the perfect time before crawling where the mess is contained and she's able to entertain herself. 
It's also easier in this stage for Addison to sit and play with her, vs before when she would be strapped in to a bouncer or jumperoo. She does from time to time roll over and get frustrated, so we do have to help with that - but this is good training to prepare her to start crawling eventually too! Which, is a MUCH harder stage - my least favorite!

Mommy Milk
Yup, this girl loves her Mommy Milk! She's not shy about it either. She pulls at my shirt and when I sit down on the couch with her to prepare to feed her, she bounces up and down on my lap, giggling. When it's "out" she face plants herself onto my chest and eats away. It's pretty entertaining - but really makes me feel like the piece of meat I am to her!
She's still waking up a few times a night too. I'm thinking she likes the feel of nursing more than the actual need for the milk. It is quite cozy, but it is wearing to still not be able to sleep through the night.

St. Nick 
Eden's first St. Nick! Of course, at her age it doesn't mean all that much. In her stocking we gave her a "That's Not My Dinosaur" book, a Scentsy elephant and instead of candy, she got her first Puffs and yogurt melts!
We put the tree up over Thanksgiving weekend and Eden loves staring at it. We hold her up to look at the ornaments and she likes to reach for them. We left all the soft, non-breakable ornaments on the bottom but she was pretty good with not pulling on them too much.

Eden, the 8 Month Old!

Halloween
As Eden grows and passes through milestones and different times of year/holidays approach, I try to be sensitve to special events or mementos that we did for Addison, and make sure we do the same for Eden. So, for Halloween, Eden was a monkey - just like Addison. We visited all the pumpkin patches and got the baby/pumpkin pictures of her like we did with Addie, even down to the naked baby/pumpkin photo shoot at home!
Eden even got to go out trick-or-treating with Addison and her cousins. Going along with Eden's monkey costume, Mommy dressed up as a banana!

Eden laugh
We are very used to Eden's constant smiles and finding new ways to make her smile - which is pretty easy. Eden is a very smiley baby. There's been some giggles over the months, but this month Eden started a true belly laugh.
The easiest way to get her to laugh is to tickle her - Daddy especially is good at tickling her by "eating" her neck. She curls up in a big belly laugh every time! 

Mommy's on a Trip
For the second time in as many months, I went on a business trip. This time I flew down to Orlando. Felt very odd to be travelling near Disney World without my family - especially since I was surrounded by families and kids Eden and Addison's age in my travels. This was a 2 1/2 day trip again. I missed my girls terribly, but since my last trip hadn't been that long before - the girls adjusted pretty well.
Tim took wonderful care of them as always and amazingly the second night, Eden slept through the night for him! I can't even say the same thing about myself hundreds of miles away in a hotel!
Well, much to my surprise, my first night back - Eden actually slept through the night for the first time. She slept from bedtime until after 7am. The most we had gotten from her before then was 11pm - 7am or 8pm - 4am. So this was great! Guess I should spend the night away more often! (J/K of course I wouldn't!). By the next night she was back to her usual 2x wake-up schedule, but it was nice to know she is capable of it!

Eden, the 7-Month Old!

An excerpt from last month's entry: Soon she will be eating baby food, sprouting teeth, crawling, walking, saying first words. That's all potentially to come in just the next six months.

In just a few week's time, Eden has already tackled two of those developments! At six months we began Eden on solids and every few days we've added a new menu item to her meals. Shortly after this last post, Eden began saying her first word/making her first noise: "Da-da-da-da!"
At first, it started as just a noise, and she still goes "da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da" just for fun often. But, once she started saying "Dadadadada", she quickly learned that that could mean Daddy and a way to call him! She has said "dada" to almost everyone who has held her, but especially to Tim.

Food
I purchased a Beaba cooker while pregnant with Eden, and have loved it so far! I've made carrots, peas and sweet potatoes. It's easy, takes a little bit of time to cut up the food, but makes me feel good that we are feeding her pure, homemade food and hopefully saving a little bit of money by doing so!
For this first month of solids, the Dr. recommended we start her on veggies and meats, but hold off on fruits until she's 7 months. I suppose the reason is that it is easier to introduce the veggies and have her get used to that flavor before introducing the sweeter fruits. Our girl is a good eater! She has taken to eaten solids very easily and the first time we fed her cereal, she burgled the spoon right from my hand!
The amount of nursing Eden does has gone down a little. I have to feed her right when I get home from work, but I think that is more her wanting to "greet" me, and then I nurse her at bedtime. Unfortunately she still wakes up a couple times a night, but she doesn't nurse for long which is nice, but still tiring to be woken up.

Playing
Eden is so much fun! She is such a happy, laughy little baby. She enjoys playing peek-a-boo and really just wiggling a stuffed animal in front of her will get her to giggle. She's started to hop up and down in the high chair in excitement and gets this super intense happy face with her eyes and mouth open wide. She stretches out her arms and just looks like she's going to explode, it's adorable!
My favorite face of hers though, is her crinkle smile. It's so hard to catch on camera, but she squints her eyes real small and wrinkles up her nose and laughs. Someday I've got to get it on camera, b/c it's a face she makes so often, that I don't want to ever forget it when she's older!
Eden is sitting up well on her own. We typically put a throw pillow behind her just in case she tips backwards, and to give her a little support, but she's doing very well and enjoys sitting and picking at the toys surrounding her.

Outings
We were out and about a bunch this past month, enjoying all that fall has to offer! We made it to a couple pumpkin patches and of course got the requisite pictures of Eden by some pumpkins and in her monkey halloween costume. We had a couple road trips this month too, one up to Madison for Grandma Simon's birthday and another where I went solo with the girls up to Milwaukee for a 1st birthday party for my friend's twins. Eden is really great out and about in the world, making it so much easier for us to get out there - and great so that more people get to see her and get to know her, because no amount of blogging and pictures will live up to the hype :)