Rocking Out

We are the proud owners of a rocking chair! We never had one with Eddie. A friend of ours gave us hers. Just gave it to us! Eddie loves rocking in it. I am so excited to have one to use with the rest of our children.

Puzzles

Eddie spends much of his time working on puzzles. He goes into his bedroom by himself several times a day. When I check on him, he is always bent over a puzzle. He is getting surprisingly good for a little guy his age. He can match the piece with the picture of where it goes. He can often get the piece into its spot. He is so proud of himself when he does. Eddie loves puzzles.

Cuddley Coo

Since Eddie was a few months old, after each bath I wrap him up tightly in a towel and recite this little rhyme to him that I made up.

Cuddley coo
Snuggley snoo
Lots and lots of...
Kisses for you!

The initial purpose was to distract him so he wouldn't mind being dried off (as he is wrapped up, I roll him from side to side and rub the towel against his wet skin as I do so). During the pause after "lots and lots of", I quickly unwrap him. Then I kiss his belly and face as I recite the last line. We would repeat it several times until he was dry. It was fun when he got older because he would excitedly anticipate this routine before it happened. Then he would ask for it again and again and again. He still asks for it, but he can't hold still long enough to actually do it. He takes off running instead. Last night he stayed still only long enough to take this picture. I am starting to miss my little baby!

New Slide

Eddie was excited about his new slide. I couldn't get him to try to climb up the ladder, so I placed him at top. While Ben tried to take a picture, Eddie pushed off and was very surprised to learn the result of such an action.



He was willing to get back up, though. The second time, he would only slide down if I held onto him. The third time he wouldn't slide down at all. Then he refused to even sit on the slide. Later he was willing to let Ben help him climb up it. Now he won't touch his slide!

"Cheers"

Eddie loves clinking his glass against ours while saying "Cheers". You can tell in the picture that he had just finished saying "cheers".

Allergic Reaction

A couple of weeks ago, Eddie got an ear infection. He was prescribed amoxicillian, which he took for nine days with no reaction. On day ten, he got a terrible rash. I didn't think it could be the medicine because of the delayed reaction, so I kept giving it to him for three more days. I took him to the doctor on day twelve to get his rash checked out. I learned that an allergic response can happen at any time and that he is allergic to penicillian . Poor guy. I took these pictures after the rash had begun looking less red and prominent. His palms and feet were the worst; you can see how red they were. The rash is almost gone now; he is left with lots of dry peeling skin and an ear infection. The medicine didn't help at all, and the doctor wanted to wait for the rash to be completely gone before prescribing another treatment.

Eyes, Ears Mouth, and Nose

Eddie is learning all of his body parts and enjoys pointing them out. When he points to an eye, he says "eye".


When he points to our noses, he honks them.


Here he is pulling his first face ever!

Crawling, Take Two

Although Eddie is a fully-capable, upright biped, he now occasionally reverts back to those three months in which he solely crawled.

The past few weeks, he crawls around the house for fun. He especially likes crawling in the bathroom. I think he enjoys the slap of his hands against the linoleum. He also likes me to crawl around with him. I don't mind. I was sad to think it was over forever. I am worried the next thing he will want to do is ride on my back as I crawl around, though. I don't plan to introduce him to that!

Squeak, Squeak, Little Mouse!

Eddie loves cheese, even more than a mouse does, I think. Whenever he can get his hands on it, he will eat it. A piece isn't enough for him, though. He will steal the whole block, if he can, and just take big bites out of it! So cute, even if it messes up the cheese block!

Milkshake Madness

We made milkshakes yesterday. Eddie loved it. He sat with me, drinking constantly from my milkshake until it was gone. Then he moved on to Ben's milkshake until he slurped the last bit of that one, too.


I love this picture because Eddie is smiling at Ben while he is still drinking the milkshake.


I love my family!

Tunnel Fun

We got a tunnel from a friend the other day. Eddie loves playing with it.

He starts to crawl in but gets scared when it starts rolling.

He is just so cute!

Developing Language Skills

Eddie's language skills have improved vastly over the past two weeks. He says a lot of phrases now. He puts words together and even says some sentences. I am just so amazed how fast this change has taken place that I have to share some of the things he has said in the last couple of days.

Every time Eddie sees a cat he says "a cat". We babysit a girl named Kat on Tuesdays. When she walked into church on Sunday, Eddie pointed to her and said, "A Kat!". He knows her name for sure!

Eddie loves to stir. He always has the mixing bowls, spoons, and the mixer out. After stirring some air in a bowl on Monday night, he ran around the house yelling in delight, "I stir! I stir! I stir!". It was so fun!

Eddie was putting the beaters in the electric mixer last night (what is it about kids and appliances?!?!). After putting a beater in successfully, he called out, "I put it in!". I was so impressed with his big sentence. ("Put" and "it" were slurred together so much that they almost sounded like one word. "In" was more like "i'".

Last night Eddie farted. He was a little concerned about the noise and the feeling. I reassured him that it was okay and told him he had farted. Then he said, "I far'!". A few minutes later he hiccuped. He put his finger in his mouth (as if he were pointing) and said, "I far'!". It was hilarious!

Thanksgiving Comparison

I can't believe how much a baby changes in a year!!!

We spent last Thanksgiving at my brother's house. We spent this Thanksgiving at one of Ben's school friend's houses. We had a lot of fun. Eddie especially loved their cat and ladling spoonfuls of sausage stuffing into the vegetarian stuffing dish. We were thankful to have been invited to a Thanksgiving dinner!

Our Parking Lot Walks

Eddie likes to be outside, so we often take morning walks. Here are some cute pictures from one of our recent walks.


Eddie always unzips his coat to the very bottom as soon as I put it on. Luckily he can't completely unzip it yet.


Eddie loves crunching the leaves with his feet.


In hot pursuit of one of the many cats in our parking lot.


Checking under the truck for a cat.


Checking the mail.


Wishful thinking, but no one sent us a package!


Sitting on a ledge. I know he got excited about something he saw, but I don't remember what it was. Cute expression, though, eh?

Pizza Chef

A couple of nights ago, Eddie sat on Ben's lap while he made pizza. Before we knew it, Eddie was piling the cheese and pepperoni on the bread.



The toppings didn't always make it on to the pizza!


Our adorable little pizza chef!

All Grown Up

Eddie thinks he is all grown up and insists on taking all of his snacks at the table, rather than in his booster seat that is in the kitchen. He walks up to a kitchen chair and points to it. When I put him in it (I love that he doesn't try to climb by himself!), he points into the kitchen, indicating his desire for a snack. He sits and waits patiently until I deliver.

Baseball Capped

Eddie loves wearing Ben's hats. One of his favorite games these days is to have us all take turns putting Ben's hat on.


It is also so fun if we throw the hat high in the air.


Here he is pointing to the hat, telling me to take a picture of it.

Park Pictures

Look at this cute little elf I spotted at the park!


Isn't he adorable?!!

Random Pictures

Eddie is starting to take a few running steps. I think you can almost tell in this picture.


Eddie loves to wrap clothes around his neck for our entertainment. Silly guy!


Eddie has recently come up with this really sweet-sounding, soft, high-pitched voice that he uses when he talks. If he is excited, he will still talk loud. Otherwise, he uses his new voice. He has also begun to say "bye-bye" to everything. As I put away every item from the clean dishwasher, he says "bye-bye" to it. He especially loves saying "bye-bye" to the "bac-bac" (the vacuum). I wish you could hear his sweet voice, but you can see this picture of him saying "bye-bye" to the camera. You can see in his face how sweet he is about his "bye-bye"s.

Halloween Cookies

On Sunday we made Halloween cookies, and we decorated them on Monday. Okay, so they aren't actually Halloween cookies. I went to three stores trying to find Halloween cookie cutters, but to no avail.


So they are non-holiday cookies that we made to look like Halloween cookies. Ben was pretty creative; he made the bleeding cat, Frankenweenie, the maimed butterfly, and the broken heart.


Eddie mainly enjoyed eating the frosting.


He did help frost, though.


And they turned out great! We had fun.

Back in his Chair

Ever since the accident, Eddie has refused to sit in his booster seat. I think at first he just wanted to always be in my arms. Then it became a habit that was hard to break. I gave up trying after awhile. All of his meals have been on my lap. It has been quite a challenge. He demands his own adult silverware so he can play with my food, and he makes quite a mess that ends up on the carpet (shame on carpeted dining areas!). He likes to climb onto the table, which is easy to do when he is on my lap. He also is able to get down off my lap whenever he wants to play with messy hands and face. On Sunday night I had had enough and decided to try the booster seat again. He went into it with no fuss! Now he eats all his meals a day in it. I LOVE IT!!!

First Halloween Costume

Eddie loved admiring himself in the mirror in his cute Tigger Halloween costume (which was purchased second-hand for $1.50).


He wasn't a big fan of the ward Halloween party. Luckily this balloon got us through the night.

New Chair

Eddie loves sitting in his new chair. He puts the chair next to wherever Ben is and sits in it. He looks really content and comfortable there.