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!