Stealth Mode

Eddie has always been a little on the shy side. We never know which way it will go -- he will either randomly greet strangers with a "HI!" or a "POO!" or he will go into what we have dubbed "Stealth Mode."

When he was younger and strangers would talk to him, he would often burst into tears and make me hold him. Then one day, the three of us were at the fabric store. I was waiting in line to check out and Dave was following Eddie around the store. That's when he encountered "Overly Friendly Old Man." This old man didn't just talk to Eddie. He stooped down in front of him, talked to him, and even touched him. I would have intervened, but we knew that within moments, the screaming would start. We were surprised when Eddie didn't start crying or run to one of us to be held. Instead, Eddie went into Stealth Mode.

When Eddie goes into Stealth Mode, he holds perfectly still. He gets a very serious look on his face, as if he's concentrating on being invisible. He doesn't move or talk, but will just stand or sit there, head turned slightly to one side, staring at nothing. It cracks me up because he does this quite often now. I often find myself explaining to friendly strangers why he is suddenly silently frozen. Then he'll wait until we're walking away before shouting something like, "KNEE!"

Dramatization

Sick!

Yup... Eddie is sick again. This time, it's the stomach flu. Since he isn't keeping anything down, the doctor said that I need to give him sips of fluid every 15 minutes to help keep him hydrated. The problem is that Eddie is not a sipper. And since he is dehydrated, he wants to drink a lot. When I give him his cup, he starts chugging, so I have to make him stop. This makes him very angry and he cries until I give the cup back. He was so upset about his cup that he wouldn't let me take it away when he went down for his nap.

Kodak Moments

Eddie has been photographed a lot in his short life. It didn't take him very long to figure out how to smile for the camera. However, things have been different ever since Kristen turned the viewfinder around so he could see himself in it (as featured in the "Eddie Loves..." video).

Now, as soon as we pull the camera out, he immediately reaches for it, saying "Eddie, Eddie!" over and over. He wants to see himself, and he can't be bothered with staying put and smiling. After asking in vain for even the slightest grin, he usually ends up on one of our laps watching and pointing while we scan through all the images on the camera.

We can still capture a choice moment if we are quick. First, we have to be discreet about getting the camera out. Then, we can usually get one or two shots off before he demands to see Eddie. Here are a few recent favorites:

Getting himself wedged between the mattress and footboard of our bed.

Making a used car lot out of my chest.

Eloquent Ed

Eddie continues to learn new words every day. Some of the things he says crack us up. Some of the other things he says make us a little embarrassed. Here are a few of his newest words:

Edward


Thanks to one of Eddie's Christmas presents, the LeapFrog My Pal Scout, Eddie can now say his real name. The puppy can connect to the computer and you can upload songs and other things like the kid's name, favorite food, favorite color, and favorite animal. Then it will say "Hello Edward" when you turn it on and sings songs with his name in it. It is a little awkward sounding, but Eddie doesn't mind. And I love it when he said, "Ewrd."

Yep

For the longest time, Eddie's only answer to questions was "no." Now that he says "yep," I am never sure if I should believe him. I will say, "Eddie, are you stinky?" and he'll say "yep." Sometimes it's true and sometimes it isn't.

All Right

I must say this a lot more than I realize because Eddie says it all the time now, too. It is pretty cute, though, so I guess it's okay.

Quack

This one is also thanks to My Pal Scout. The problem with the word "quack" is that it sounds too much like, "crock pot," except that it is one syllable. Eddie replaces the "qu" with an "f" and the "a" with an "o," so it sounds pretty bad. We're still working on that.



Truck

Another dirty sounding word... Eddie is finally starting to distinguish between cars, vans, buses, and trucks. After I taught him this word, I regretted it and wish he would go back to calling them cars. It sounds much nicer.

Some

Eddie says "some?" whenever he wants some of something. When he was on his latest round of antibiotics, I would be getting it out for him and filling the syringe and he would say, "some?" Apparently he liked it because he always wanted some.

Like

I realized one day while we were all riding in the car that I use the word "like" a lot in the middle of my sentences. When I mentioned this to Dave, we started making fun of me and Eddie chimed in with a "so, um, like," from the back seat. He did this the whole way home and it cracked us up. Apparently I need to watch what I say so he doesn't grow up to be a valley girl.