Eden = Amazingness

 We dye the trough water blue this year because we're fancy like that!

So at the beginning of last week, I got sick.  Like really, really, really sick.  To the point that I became so dehydrated that I started having contractions, and I was ordered by my doctor's nurse to STAY DOWN.  So for three days, I pretty much never left my couch.

I'm telling you this lovely information so that I can tell you just how amazing my daughter is.  For three days, she pretty much took care of herself.  She was so unbelievably understanding when I explained to her that I couldn't get up.  I told her, "Mama's tummy hurts", and she made sure to kiss it for me and sat quietly on the floor next to the couch playing with toys and puzzles and books.  Dustin came home to make her lunch each day, but for snacks, she just went and got them herself.  She even brought me crackers when I asked her to.  She went to the bathroom all by herself each time she needed to, and she curled up quietly next to me to watch Mickey Mouse or Frozen while I napped.  

I kid you not, she even did her CHORES without me telling her to.  From my spot on the couch, I could hear food being poured into Daisy's bowl in the mornings.  Then Eden would come running into the living room to move her little clip to the side of her chore board.

She brings me more joy than I ever thought was possible.

I wish she could stay this age forever.  Okay, maybe not forever because I'm looking forward to other ages and stages too, but can't they be two for two years or something?  I just like her so much, ya know?  And sometimes "liking" someone is even bigger than "loving" someone.  Of course I love her, she's my child!  But every single day, I wake up, and I just like being with her.  She's my little pal.  We have donut dates and play at the park and go on walks and bake and color and put together puzzles and watch Frozen for the one millionth time, and she just makes it all so easy and enjoyable.  It never feels like a hassle to have to take her somewhere or take care of her.  Because she is just so easy-going and fun and good-natured.  Grocery stores, restaurants, doctor's offices... doesn't matter where we go, she's always good.  Like seriously, ALWAYS good.  Her first dentist appointment?  She was a pro.  The dentist couldn't believe how good she did.  I got a lot of, "Wow, most kids her age scream the entire time" from pretty much every one working there.  If this next baby is even just half as good as Eden, I've got it made.

People always tell me how good she is when they're around her, and I WANT to take credit.  I WANT to be like "Oh yeah, she's such a great kid because I'm such a great mom!"  While I do think Dustin and I deserve SOME credit, really it's just her.  And God.  It's just her sweet, little, God-given personality.

  Eden and Max napping together

She is talking so much now!  Full sentences!  She has been a late talker, but all of a sudden she has just taken off.  I still have a little moment of shock every time a sentence pops out of her mouth.  If I try to help her do something, I get a "I CAN DO IT BY MYSELF!"  When she is putting together a puzzle, I can hear her talking to herself: "This one goes here.  This one goes there." 

I have a few favorites.   When we're driving and we come up to a red light: "IT'S RED!  BOP!"  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her little "BOP!"  There will be so many things that I miss about this age, but number one will be her little voice.  Her sweet, little, tiny, innocent voice.  After hearing her "BOP!" while we were visiting a few weeks ago, my mom said, "It'll be so good when she starts saying that correctly, but you'll be sad too."  Yes, I will be.  Then there's the jellyfish.  She hates jellyfish.  They completely freaked her out when we went to the aquarium in Corpus Christi.  There's a picture of one in one of her books, and any time she sees it, she yells, "AH!  I DON'T LIKE THEM!  THEY'RE YUCKY!"  It cracks me up every time.  And then every night after she has done all four things on her chore board, she gets a quarter to put in "Dino's tummy".  She always pretends that the dinosaur has bitten her during this process and runs away yelling, "OW!  THAT HURTS!"  Then she comes back to scold the dinosaur and let him know that he's being bad.

The first thing we did after I started feeling better was make icebox pickles from all the cucumbers we've been collecting from The Garden of Eden.

The girl loves to be in the kitchen.  When she sees me or Dustin in the kitchen, she drags a bar stool over to us and stands on it to help pour and stir and all that good stuff.  SHE made those pickles.  I cut everything up and measured everything out, but she's the one who sat on a bar stool at the stove stirring the brine, and she's the one who put everything into the jar.  

It makes me so happy that she likes to bake with me.  I LOVE to bake, and I love it when we do it together.  The past couple of Sundays, we've spent the afternoons baking a dessert to have for the rest of the week.  I'm thinking Sunday tradition.

the best part!

Eden has two obsessions right now.  The first is puzzles.

She is GOOD at puzzles.  Like scary good.  That twelve piece dancer puzzle in the picture above?  She can put it together by herself in under two minutes.  Now maybe I'm just really impressed because I'm her mom and think that everything she does is amazing, but seriously... I think that's super impressive for a two and a half year old.  She will sit for an hour straight just putting together all of her puzzles.  Then taking them apart.  And doing them all again.  And again.  And again.

I ordered her a puzzle of herself.  Because we're narcissists like that.

Her other obsession is Frozen.  She would watch it over and over and over and OVER if I let her.  She has it memorized.  She tells me every time Olaf is fixing to make an appearance onscreen.  While listening to Toddler Radio in the car the other day, "Let It Go" came on.  I think maybe two notes from the song played, and Eden was already yelling, "FROZEN!  FROZEN!"  Not gonna lie, it made me a little ashamed.  Kinda felt like a bad mom that my child could recognize a song from a movie THAT fast. 

By the way Kate, Eden LOVES her "pincess soot"!  She wants to wear it all the time.  She wasn't really into getting her picture taken in it though!

We had a few weeks off from gymnastics while the instructor took a vacation, but we started back up for the fall semester this past Tuesday, and Eden got a new leotard for the occasion.

Donuts followed by the park has become our Wednesday morning ritual this summer.  Planning on keeping it up, and adding story time at the library once that starts back up again this school year.

See that giant donut?  She eats the whole thing.

She has her own little lounge chair at my dad and Susie's pool.  It's the cutest.

I believe her expression in the following picture means, "Why is she still taking pictures?  I already smiled for her!"

28 weeks

I'm still not sure what little thoughts are running through Eden's head about this whole sister thing, but she can feel the baby move and kick her now.  We're all pretty excited about October over here.