Eden Amelia is Ten Months Old!

Eden turned 10 months old two days before Christmas.  And we traveled to my parents' house that day.  And she was sick.  And then I worked for three nights in a row.  So, needless to say, I'm a little late on this post.  I'm going to try my best not to talk about our Christmas festivities even though I am writing this after the fact.  I'll save that for another post.

This past month has been a lot of fun!  Eden is such a joy right now.  She is seriously happy 95% of the time.  She's even sleeping better, for the most part.  She's not sleeping through the night in her crib or any nonsense like that…but she takes two good naps a day on most days and she doesn't wake up to party in the middle of the night nearly as often anymore.  She's been going to bed at a very decent hour and sleeping until a reasonable time most mornings.  It's quite refreshing!  Haha.

Physically, this girl is growing like a weed.  Although we haven’t done an accurate naked weight since the last update, she weighed 21 lbs. 12 oz. when we went to an urgent care place last week.  She had her clothes and a wet diaper on, though, so it’s not all that accurate.  She still loves to eat and is doing better and better with solids.  I’m so glad we decided to do Baby Led Weaning.  It’s nice to trust her instincts instead of having to decide what to feed her when and how much and all that good stuff.  I am getting a little concerned about having to be more responsible for her nutrition.  Breastfeeding her is sooooo much easier than making sure she eats nutritious food three or more times a day!  When we first started her on solids, I had to make a concerted effort to try to eat healthier and, unfortunately, I’ve gotten lazy again.  One of my New Year’s resolutions is to try to eat less processed food as a family.  We’ve already taken steps towards this by making our own taco seasoning and chili seasoning, making our own spaghetti sauce, using coconut oil instead of butter and vegetable oil, and eating more whole fruits and vegetables.  Now, I want to branch out into grains, breads, and snack foods (like homemade cheez-its, for example). 

Anyhow (kind of went off on a tangent there), developmentally, she is really starting to move around a lot more.  She’s not officially crawling yet but she gets around.  She’s also pulled herself up to standing a few times.  She loves to stand at the ottoman or other furniture that’s just the right height.  She’ll be cruising or even walking before we know it!  I'm very much enjoying the fact that she can sit independently and move around without falling and hurting herself.  I'm not looking forward to her becoming more mobile.  I'm thinking I might have some shower-less days in the near future.

She talks up a storm almost all the time and makes all kinds of delightful noises.  Like I said before, she is so happy most of the time.  The only time she really gets fussy is in the car.  We have been trying to find a convertible car seat for some time now.  We bought one off Amazon a while back but it doesn’t fit in my car!!!  I didn’t even think about it when we bought it and I am so annoyed.  Then, as I started to do some research, I found out that this is supposed to be one of the more compact car seats.  Now, I’m very discouraged and not sure we’ll ever find one that fits in our little compact car.  I think I might be doomed to ride in the back seat anytime there is more than one adult in the car at a time (the passenger seat has to be all the way up for the car seat to fit behind it). 

Back to Eden’s development…she is doing much better at solitary play.  She still likes you to be nearby but she will play in one place with one group of toys (or often makeshift “toys”) for longer periods these days.  Here is where I’m tempted to tell you about the toys she got for Christmas, but I will restrain myself!  We're also enjoying having more playdates.  I've become friends with two moms here in the area who each have babies that are six weeks older than Eden, one boy and one girl.  They have a lot of fun together.

Alright, enough talk.  Here are some pictures of my adorable baby girl.

Ten Months Old

Weight:  21 lbs. 12 oz.

I forgot to mention last month that Eden cut her first tooth just before she turned 9 months.  Now, she has 2!  It's difficult to imagine her with teeth but of course, she's cute with or without them!

I think I covered everything else above!  Hoping to post an update with pictures and details about the month of December very soon.

Picture Update

Since so much has happened in the past couple of months and I have been unable to find the time to blog, I decided I would just post a bunch of pictures with captions to sum up everything that went on.  Enjoy!

**I am ridiculously frustrated with Blogger right now…these are all out of order and I don't have the time or the patience to fix them right now!!!**

Tasting some of Mommy's yummy Dr. Pepper (not really).

Eating some yummy broccoli and sweet potatoes that Tita Bones made!

Checking out my new Exersaucer!

Doing some stretches in the nail salon while waiting on Mommy.

All smiles!

My first bath with toys!

She looks so much like me when I was her age in this picture!

"Hi Mom!" (Our babysitter sent me this picture while I was at clinical).

Making a mess of some chicken lo mien that she found very yummy!

When Eden and I got home from Florida, Jeff and I went on a date to see The Little Mermaid,
starring our babysitter as Ariel!

We celebrated our niece, Hazel's, fourth birthday on October 6th.

Blowing out the candles!

Styling in her new apron!

Cheesin' with Nana and Mercy.

We took a super quick, last minute trip up to NJ to celebrate the life of Jeff's Grammy who passed away on Oct. 22.  The whole family was together so we took the opportunity to snap a picture!

Post-funeral selfie.

Family selfie!

Had to snap a picture of Eden in her adorable dress!

All 8 of the grandchildren!

Eden on Halloween after trick-or-treating.

Gorgeous sunset just before we headed out of New Jersey.

"Mommy, you want to play ball?!?!" :D

Showing off her pulling-up skills!

Me and my lovely sisters-in-law celebrating Robin's birthday.

We went to Hyland Heights Baptist for a Fall Festival the Sunday before Halloween.  Here is my sweet little strawberry ready to collect some candy in her little bucket.

Eden and Daddy at the Fall Festival.

Eden loves onions! 

Sleepy mama and baby.

Gorgeous sunrise on my way home from work one morning.

Not long after we got home from FL, some of our family came up to visit us.  Aunt Joan, Mom, Emma, Madi, Eden and I went to Morris Orchard to get some fresh picked apples and apple cider donuts, yum!

Cousin Love.

Hanging out with Hootie and Uncle Rusty (who came down from Philly to visit).

Hanging out with Papa!

Eden and her Great Great Aunt Marjorie!

Eden and Emma.

Eden hanging out with the pumpkins at Morris Orchard.

I was going through some clothes that my sister gave me and found this hat.  Unfortunately, it fits Eden now, at the end of summer (it's size 18 months).  Hah!

Trying on Eden's Halloween costume!

Playing dress-up with some baby leggings.  I know I'm cute!

On Oct. 16, I hosted a Thirty-One party and Eden's friend Aubrey came.  They had lots of fun together (until Eden fell and hit her head and had a meltdown because it was past her bedtime).

Cousins Mercy and Eden!

Eden Amelia is Nine Months Old!

Since my last post, my computer decided to join its ancestors and I have thus been unable to do a picture update like I wanted.  The good news is that my computer nerd hubby was able to pull everything off the hard-drive and upload it to his mac.  So, I promise to share them as soon as possible but I figured a timely post about Eden turning nine months took precedence...

On Sunday, Eden turned nine months old.  She has now been out of me for as long as she was inside me.  Pretty mind-blowing!  She's been in existence for a year and a half!  It's getting more and more difficult to remember life without her in it.  The days are often long and taxing but they're also immensely rewarding and full of laughter and joy.  I am striving to stay focused on Jesus when I grow weary in doing the sometimes menial tasks of motherhood.  He is in it all and when I keep my eyes fixed on Him, I am a much more patient Mommy.  More about this later, hopefully!

Eden is changing so rapidly.  When I look at pictures from just a month or so ago, I cannot believe how much she has grown and transformed.  Her hair is growing like weeds!  It is so crazy and it's pretty rare to go out without someone (or everyone) commenting on it. Well, see for yourself…

Nine Months Old

Weight: 20 lbs. 7 oz. (75%)
Length: 27 3/4 in. (50%)
Head Circumference: 18 1/2 in. (97%)

Eden is now completely in 9 month clothes except for a few 6 month things that we're still squeezing into.  She's still in size 3 diapers and should be for a little while longer.

She is making crazy fine and gross motor developmental leaps.  She learned how to clap a couple weeks ago.  She is waving every now and then (not always on command).  We are starting to do some sign language with her and I think she is starting to catch on to "all done."  Her pincer grasp skills are excellent and she grasps and holds things very well.  She is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth.  She scoots across the floor backwards and she is standing with assist (she still can't go from sitting to standing but she will stand for quite some time holding on to stuff if you put her there).  She is much more steady when in a seated position and hasn't fallen and bumped her huge head in at least a week or two!

Speaking of her huge head, as you can see, she is almost off the chart in head circumference.  At her checkup today, the NP said there's nothing to worry about if her parents have big heads (we do) and she's not showing any signs of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) (she's not).  She also said that Eden is the picture of perfect health.  We really have been blessed beyond measure with how healthy she is.  She had her finger pricked to check her hemoglobin (which was 11.5) and she did so great!  She didn't even cry!!!  I was so worried beforehand and so proud of how well she did after!

Sleep seems to be the area she is maturing slowest in.  She is also currently experiencing a sleep regression which is apparently normal for nine month olds.  She just has the hardest time going to sleep at nap time and bedtime and she will often wake up and the most inopportune times and want to have a party.  You have to appreciate her zest for life but sometimes, Jeff and I just don't understand how we (the night owls) got a child who is such a morning person!  Haha.

What else can I tell you?  I hope to update my other post with lots of pictures very soon!

Florida Trip

Eden's first airplane ride and trip to Florida...

First, on Friday, Sept. 26, Eden and I drove to Nanny & Poppy's house to spend the night.  We stopped in Dinwiddie to visit Eden's cousins and Uncle Shawn (Aunt Rachel was away at a Women's Conference for the weekend).  Eeeeaaarly Saturday morning, Poppy drove me, Eden, and Nanny to the airport in Richmond where we flew out at 7 am.  Our direct flight into Orlando was uneventful and Eden did wonderfully!  I was quite relieved.  (Great) Aunt Joan and Hootie (Eden's great grandma) picked us up from the airport and we met (Great) Uncle Gene & Pop (great grandpa) at a little breakfast joint.  Eden had some of my blueberry pancakes (and whatever else she could get her hands on) and everyone was amazed that she was allowed to eat solid foods (Wouldn't she choke?!?! Haha).  We headed to my Aunt Joan's house and tried to take a nap.  Of course, Eden was too excited and only slept for 30 minutes.  I was pretty bummed because at this point, I had been awake since 4:30 that morning and I was sooooo tired!  Thankfully, we were able to take a nap a little later that afternoon.  That night, we all had burgers and hot dogs for dinner.

The next day, we ate a big breakfast and hung out at my aunt & uncle's house.  As I think about it, the whole trip pretty much revolved around meals.  Haha.  That evening, we went over to my cousin's house where his wife prepared a delicious meal of fish and lobster, salad, & cheddar biscuits.  It was super yummy.  Once again, Eden gagged while eating and my aunt flipped out.  It was actually pretty comical after the fact.  I've learned to embrace the fact that not everyone will understand why I do things the way I do them but as long as I feel that I'm doing what's best for Eden and our family, there's nothing to worry about!

As I'm sure you aren't interested in a detailed account of everything we did, I'll just post a bunch of pictures with captions now.  It was a fun trip and I'm glad we went.  I'm so happy that Eden did so well and that my grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins and cousins' kids were able to meet Eden.  It had been four years since I had visited Florida so this trip was long overdue.

Beautiful skies on the drive to my Parents' house.

Taking a bath in Nanny's sink!

Airplane selfie!

She was a little tired.

Trying on the my new outfit from Hootie (sorry this picture isn't very clear).

Hanging out with Papa.

Playing with my cousin McKenna.

Getting a little tired of picture time.  Haha.

Hanging out in the bathtub, playing with a cup, how fun!

Just hanging out in a basket.

Pretty flowers out by the pool…and a little lizard trying to blend in on the wall.

Lounging by the pool.

Hanging out with cousin Emma (who loved Eden).

Alivia eating some yummy ice cream at Hootie's house!

Silly kiddos goofing around.

More fun with cousins.