This picture was taken by the amazingly talented Angela Parris of Stillpoint Photography in Spokane. It is one of my favorites from our photo shoot last summer. You can't see Eden's face, but it captures her little spirit perfectly. My girl is always on the go, exploring, and generally trying to give her momma a heart attack.
More later. But for now, sleep!
I cannot believe that my baby girl is ONE YEAR OLD! They say that time flies, and I think that is especially true with your second child. It seems like Eden just got here, but at the same time seems like she has always been with us. Do you know what I mean? I have also heard it said that you take far fewer photos of your second child. That is certainly not the case at our house, but I am currently having an Eden's-baby book-is-not-finished-and-half-the-size-of-Zoë's anxiety attack. ACK!
We had a little family celebration at home, complete with coordinating cupcakes and balloons. OK, and her outfit. You have met me, right? Eden's birthday outfit inspired the polka dot theme, which turned out very cute if I do say so myself. You can see more birthday and decoration photos here as well a video. My crowning achievement (hehehe) was the birthday cupcakes.
I can't take credit for the idea. My friend Heather made similar treats for her son's birthday and I *had* to make some for Eden. Seriously, does it get any cuter than that? I think not. I went to the craft store and bought some BoBunny polka dot paper to make the cupcake wrappers. I used a Starbucks coffee sleeve as a template for the wrappers though I had to trim them down a bit. Originally they were so tall that they covered up the entire cupcake! I made the crowns (recolored) using the Make a Wish doodles by Kate Hadfield and the rhinestones from Heather Ann's Grateful kit. They were a big hit all around. To say that Eden is a fan of chocolate would be something of an understatement. She was trying to stuff the entire thing in her mouth at once. Silly girl.
Kelly has been out of town on business this week. It is always hard for him being away from the girls, but especially these days with Eden growing and changing so quickly. I don't want him to miss a single milestone so I have been taking lots of pictures and videos. It truly is amazing what a difference one week makes in the life of a baby. Here is Eden last week, walking a good amount, but she still crawled. I would say it was about 50/50.
And now the video I took today. Kelly wanted me to make sure and get a video of her "drunken sailor" walk, and honestly, it is just about gone. I would say that yesterday was the day she decided to become a full-time walker. She is getting so good at steadying herself. It's funny because she will start to crawl then realizes, what am I doing? I can walk! And then she stands up and goes. She walked around in the playroom for a good hour solid this afternoon. *sniff* My baby is getting to be such a big girl!
And in other big girl news, I took Zoë to meet her kindergarten teacher today.
Cutest.Thing.Ever.
We introduced ourselves. Zoë, of course, talked the teacher's ear off. She told her all about her loose tooth (she has TWO!) about her sister, on and on. She's is not even remotely shy and I love that about her. I wish I was so outgoing. She starts school next Wednesday, but this was a wonderful opportunity to alleviate any anxiety Zoë may have been having about going to a new school. We toured the classroom, found her cubby, her name on the table, brought in our supplies. It was all very exciting. I'm not sure, but I may be more excited than Zoë... And guess what else? She is going to be riding the bus! Why the school district requires it, i have no idea. We live a mile from the school for Pete's sake, but she will be dropped off on the corner every day after school. I am going to make a sign for her first day. :)
I've got a few layouts to share as well. With Kelly being gone I have been watching Weeds and scrapping at night. (It distracts me from the creepy noises in the house.) Wanna see?
Click HERE for credits (and a larger image)
Click HERE for credits (and a larger image)
Click HERE for credits (and a larger image)
Let's start with the tidbits, shall we? Guess who is walking?! Eden! I cannot believe it. I thought I had months until she became a walker, but no. At 10 1/2 months she started. I would say she is a full-time walker just yet, but she routinely does 5+ steps at a time. My baby is to be such a big girl! I tried to get a better picture of her. I had visions of her sitting in the same position for each monthly picture... but have come to accept the fact that it is just not going to happen.
I tried, oh I tried, but after about ten minutes of "torture" this is what happened. And that is how she is going to get a pony. Look at that sweet sad little face. Awww, I just want to kiss her chubby little smushy cheeks.
I do like that in her "happy" picture you can see the blur of her clapping her hands. It is the sweetest thing, and one of the only things that will keep her from trying to crawl away when we are trying to change her diaper. She has decided that diaper changes are the ultimate torture and tries with all of her might to flee.
She is talking up a storm: mama, dada, baba, although she uses them interchangeably. She has been known to call me dada and my camera, my coffee, Becky and Zoë, mama. I love listening to her babble through the baby monitor. I wonder if she will have a deep gravel-y voice like Zoë?
She is really starting to enjoy toys, especially her Leap Frog drum and maracas. In the morning she will crawl into the playroom and pull out baskets of Little People or the tea set, and she loves to play with the Enchanted kitchen. It won't be long before the girls can have tea parties together. I can't wait!
Routine:
Eden wakes up around 7am for a bottle. If she wakes up earlier she will generally go back to sleep after a diaper change and a bottle. She goes down for her morning nap almost exactly two hours after she wakes and sleeps for a good two hours, if not longer. She also naps in the afternoon, finally calling it a day at 6pm. She is a good little sleeper like her sister. God bless them.
Eating:
Eden prefers to feed herself whenever possible. I have found that strips of food work really well because she can hold them better. Her breakfast consists of some sort of fruit, usually bananas or blueberries, toast, scrambled eggs and sometimes yogurt. (How is she not 30lbs?) She doesn't seem to enjoy the Gerber meat sticks anymore, but will drop anything for Little Crunchies. Basically they are baby Cheetos. We are starting to wean her from breast milk to goat's milk. We are adjusting the ratio slightly each week until her first birthday, at which point she will be drinking 100% goat's milk. FREEDOM! Freedom, I say!
Clothing:
Eden is starting to grow out of her 6-9 month clothes. Not so much that we need to buy her new clothes right away, but enough that she is getting a new 12-month sized fall wardrobe for her birthday. She is weighing in at 20.5lbs. which means that she can now face forward in her car seat. Whoo! Car rides are much more pleasant now that she can see us and watch cartoons with Zoë.
Do you like the picture? I tried for almost half an hour to get a photo of Eden sitting still and that girl would not stop moving. That is pretty much par these days. Eden crawls at warp speed. She is all over the place. So much so that she gets rug burns on her little knees. Awwwww. Eden is pulling herself up on everything and cruising around. She is also getting very good at standing unassisted. She is going to be walking in no time. Not only does she want to keep up with Zoë, but she is getting extremely frustrated not being able to bring things with her when she crawls around. LOL!
Routine:
Eden
has started the unfortunate habit of waking up around 7:30am. Why is that unfortunate? Eden naps about two hours after she wakes, which means 9:30-10:00am nap. Then she wakes up around the time Zoë goes down for her nap, then goes back down when Zoë wakes up. Not the greatest schedule, but it is what it is. She still goes to bed around 6pm and wakes once a night for a bottle and clean diaper.
Eating:
We have added pureed broccoli and spinach to Eden's repertoire with no problems. It gets mixed into her chicken soup puree (thanks Mom!) and she doesn't mind a bit. Eden also really enjoys cold cantaloupe and strawberries in her mesh feeder, especially when her teeth are bothering her. And lets not forget frozen pancakes. Eden seems to have followed in Zoë's foot steps and loves frozen pancakes (also good on teething gum).
Clothing:
I will update this post tomorrow after I weigh Eden, but she is still fitting nicely into her 6-9 month clothes so I am guessing she is 17-18lbs.
Update: Eden is weighing in at 19.8 lbs. Whoo Hoo!
Other Tidbits:
Eden now does a double wave and claps her hands, especially when she is happy. And, if you sing "If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands" she claps! (She's a genius).
We moved Eden into a big girl car seat and I think she may be backwards facing until she is two. LOL! She hates being in the car and cries after about five minutes. Ugh. I am trying to take her on more errands so that she gets used to it, otherwise our drive to Spokane next month is going to be verrrrrry long.
Eden's favorite toy is by far the baby Zoë gave her the day she was born. She brings that baby everywhere with her. In fact, while I'm thinking about it, do you have any suggestions for washing a stuffed animal? Baby has gone through the washer once, but I am afraid her stuffing is going to get all lumpy if we keep laundering it.
I'm trying to figure out something new to do with Eden's hair. She pulls bows out of her hair and chews on them, she won't wear a hat anymore, and yesterday, she pulled a rubberband out of her hair and ate it. Lovely. (Poison Control told me that as long as she didn't choke and was able to eat and drink, the rubberband should makes its way out in a few days...if you know what I mean).
We had to put outlet covers in all around the house this month because Eden is now fascinated with them. She likes to stick her fingers in the holes, pull things out of the outlets, chew on cords. Basically all the things that are going to give her mommy grey hair. Oh, and did I mention that she also knows how to speed crawl up stairs? Yep, grey hair. Eden is so much more chill than Zoë was, but she is also fearless and incredibly brave. Oy!
Last but not least, she doesn't use a bath seat anymore. I fill the tub with a few inches of water and let her sit and play. Eden loves it. She splashes and crawls around. It is good baby fun!
This is a month late, but I wanted to make sure and document everything before I forget. Eden is learning so much each month that it all kind of blends together, you know?
Routine:
Eden has turned into a double-napper, sometimes a triple napper, but they aren't long naps. I think she is growing because she has been so sleepy and eating a ton.
Eating:
I have been trying to boost Eden's calorie consumption so her breakfast has been bulked up a bit. For breakfast she has 1/2 a scrambled egg, a baby sized whole wheat blueberry pancake, 1/2 a banana, and 1/2 a YoBaby yogurt. (I know!) She loves to feed herself and is getting quite good at it. Her favorite thing seems to be Gerber Meat Sticks. Horrible, I know. I would have died before I gave them to Zoë when she was a baby, but I am a bit more lax with Eden. She has also tried watermelon, peaches, diced pears and apples....She's not picky. The only food she doesn't seem to like is carrots.
Clothing:
I weighed Eden the morning of her 9 month birthday and was shocked when it read 16.8 lbs. Last month she was 17.8 lbs. She LOST a pound. I won't lie. I freaked out and called the pediatrician. She told me that as long as Eden was eating and acting like her normal self she was fine. Babies weight often plateaus when they start crawling, and she is certainly doing that. (See below) Needless to say, our petite little lady is still fitting nicely into her 6-9 month clothes.
Other Tidbits:
Eden is crawling up a storm. She is following us all over the place, especially Zoë. I had to buy her some new little outfits because she was getting SO frustrated when her knees got stuck under her dress. LOL! Not only is she crawling but she is pulling herself up on everything. She is a baby on the move.
Miss Eden also now has EIGHT teeth. Five came in over the last month and one the day she turned nine months old. The poor kid. No wonder she has been having a hard time sleeping. She chews on everything she can get her hands on. A few weeks ago Becky called me into Eden's nursery to show me something....FOUR TOP TEETH! Honestly, if it hadn't been for Becky, I don't know that we would even know today. Eden is extremely stingy about showing her top teeth. You have to pry her top lips back to even see them, and if you do it once she will tighten her top lip so you can't even pry it open. Stinker. I will post pictures if I ever get one.
I took Eden to the eye doctor and she is doing great. She will still need glasses when she gets a bit older, but she doesn't need to go back in for another nine months. Whoo Hoo!
The cutest tidbit of all? Eden waves. It is freaking adorable. When you wave back she does a cute little head bob from side to side and gets a huge smile on her face. FREAKING ADORABLE. She has also started sticking out her bottom lip when she is upset. Ugh. She is going to get anything she wants when she learns how bend us to her will. And she will. Oh yes, she will.
I have been meaning to post Eden's eight month update for the past month (obviously) but I keep getting distracted. However, since she is going to be nine months old tomorrow I need to get a move on! Most of this information is completely outdated now, but at the beginning of her eighth month, this is what she was up to:
Routine:
Eden has been going to bed around 6pm these days. We try to keep her up later, but the poor little thing is just exhausted. One evening she actually (from a sitting position) folded in half to lay her head on the living room floor to try and go to sleep. She must be growing. She generally wakes up once around 2pm for a bottle and some Motrin, then wakes up around 8am. Her teeth have been bugging her. Her naps fluctuate from one-two naps depending on how long they last.
Eating:
What can I say? The girl hasn't met a food she doesn't like. Eden is up for just about anything. She has been having scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast with Zoë in the mornings. LOL! She also really likes pieces of banana and black beans. Now that she is eating more and more solid foods I have started mixing her bottles 1/2 milk and 1/2 water. She doesn't mind a bit. She also drinks water from her sippy cup during meal time.
Clothing:
Eden is weighing in at 17lbs. 4oz. this month, and is still fitting nicely into her 6-9 month clothes. She is quite the petite little lady, which is shocking to me because the girl eats more than Zoë does. LOL!
Other Tidbits:
Eden is *this close* to crawling. She is going to be scooting around the house any day now. In fact, I think she practices in her crib. I find her all over her all over in there! Even though she isn't mobile yet, her days of hanging out on the bed with Zoë and watching cartoon (without parents) are over. The other day she tried to climb over her pillow wall and dive off the bed. I can practically feel the gray hairs sprouting...
Her favorite cartoon is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She squeals and even does "The Hotdog Dance" with Zoë. She kind of bounces around while she is sitting. Or if we are dancing together she will kick her little legs like crazy. LOL!
Eden Dancing from Maegan B. on Vimeo.
She is now wearing pigtails most days since she started pulling the bows out of her hair and trying to eat them. Nice.
She is a pro at pulling herself up in her crib. I had to drop her mattress to the lowest setting already! I also had to remove her mobile because she was standing, holding on to the crib railing with one hand, and reaching for the mobile and pulling it down. I had to take her aquarium out too. She somehow managed to unhook it! Silly baby. Her crib is a pretty boring place now. No wonder she spins in circles.
