Eden - Eighteen Months & Schlitterbahn

I had a hard time getting Eden to sit in her chair again this month, so even though you see her diaper more than her little dress, I said, "Good enough!"  She preferred dragging her chair around the yard to sitting in it.

Last week I sat down and started reading through some of my blog posts from last year.  Two things stood out to me: 1. I use the phrase "soak it up" a lot.  I really need to find a new saying.  2. I was really sad about Eden getting older.

And I am sad about Eden getting older.  But it's a beautiful kind of sad.  A happy kind of sad.  So as we hit eighteen months, which to me is another "big one", yes, I am sad.  I feel like this one transitions Eden from baby to toddler.  I will always miss my newborn Eden, my baby Eden and all the milestones we have behind us, but I am beyond beyond beyond happy and excited about this new phase and all the milestones we have in front of us.

Life with Eden right now?  Freaking beautiful.  As I mentioned before, I really struggled with months thirteen through fifteen.  Things gradually got better and easier during months sixteen and seventeen.  And now here we are - eighteen months.  And it rocks.  I know there will be other phases that we hit where I'm once again at a loss, and I won't have all the answers.  But right now - I got this.

Eden is amazing.  She's beautiful, adorable and smart.  She loves books and animals and exploring outside.  She's brave (there is not a slide to be found that's too tall for this child) and independent.  She's tough.  She has been literally run over by one of our dogs, and she stands right up like nothing happened.  She's sweet and girly and hugs her baby doll to her and gives her kisses.  And then she goes outside and plays with bugs.  Her father and I could not be more proud.

In the past, I feel like Eden wanted me around because she NEEDED me.  I was that lady who fed her, changed her diapers and rocked her.  Now I feel like she wants me around because she just plain LOVES me.  She used to kiss me when I would say, "Eden, give Mama a kiss."  Now when I'm holding her, sometimes she will just randomly lean in and kiss my cheek and grin at me.  Sometimes when I'm sitting on the floor, she will come up behind me and wrap her arms around me.  She reaches for my hand and takes me with her wherever she goes.  She is my little pal, and we have the best days together.

She also has a naughty side, and when she is fixing to do something that she KNOWS she's not supposed to do, she will look at me, tell me "bye-bye" and blow me kisses to try and GET RID OF ME so that she can do it.  Sorry kid, I'm not that dumb.

She knows every single one of her flashcards now so we've moved on to learning colors.  She can identify red, yellow and blue for me.

Yep... she's pretty freakin' awesome.

*****

Thursday morning Eden and I went to New Braunfels and met up with my mom, Mark and Jacob at Schlitterbahn.  We stayed there for two days, and for two days, Eden played hard.

I have the BEST memories from my childhood of times spent at Schlitterbahn.  My family and a bunch of other families would go to New Braunfels for days in the summertime - all of us kids running around Schlitterbahn by day and then swimming in the river in the evenings.

On Thursday, I stayed with Eden and took her to all of the little kiddie attractions.  But on Friday, I left her with my mom and Mark, and I ran around Schlitterbahn with Jacob like I was a little kid again.  There I was - twenty-seven years old - whooping and hollering on the rides and in the wave pool with a bunch of twelve and thirteen year olds.  When does it become sad for me to still run around Schlitterbahn like a little kid?  Shit, is it already?  I don't care.  I love Schlitterbahn.  There are moms out there that will give their children advice on life and love and other big topics.  Me?  Well to my offspring I will leave my knowledge of the Schlitterbahn water park.  I know that water park like the back of my hand, and when Eden gets older, I will teach her what rides to ride in what order to make sure that you get the maximum amount of rides ridden in the smallest amount of time.  Eden is a lucky, lucky child to get my Schlitterbahn wisdom.  Take that other moms!