It's Raining Ed!

It has been raining every single day out at our house this week. Yesterday, we had a giant hailstorm that helped flood several of our neighbors' basements. We have never been more thankful to be basement-less. Today, it was only sprinkling off and on, so I felt it was safe to go to the grocery store. Eddie and I went to Harmon's. By the time we checked out and were heading to the car, it was pouring! I was parking in the first spot on the row, one row down from the door, but by the time we ran to the car, we were both drenched. Eddie laughed the whole way. He thought it was great. He laughed the whole way home, too.

Here he is after we got home from grocery shopping, very wet:

Here he is watching the rain:

In other news, Eddie had physical therapy yesterday. As predicted, Julie was very impressed by Eddie's stair climbing and that he is now pulling to stand pretty much everywhere. We do still have to work on strengthening his hips, though. Because his hips aren't very strong, he uses his chin to help him climb stairs. And his feet don't seem to be getting any better, so in two weeks, he gets to be fitted for some shoe inserts. That means he'll have to start wearing shoes, something which we are not too excited about. So over the next couple of weeks, I'll be checking the shoe racks to see if I can find some fashionable, comfortable, supportive, affordable baby shoes that are easy to get on and off. Wish me luck!

In the 'Zone

It is sometimes daunting to prepare meals for a 1-year old. Since everything is so new to him, we never know what he is going to like (plus, his parents were both notoriously picky eaters growing up). So sometimes he scarfs his food right down, but other times it ends up as ant bait all over the floor.



As we were making ourselves calzones for dinner on Sunday evening, Kristen began pondering what to feed Eddie. Well, why not his first calzone? So I made him his very own mini version, filled modestly with mozzarella, ricotta, and sauce.

I think he liked it.

Farmer Ed

Today, Eddie and I went to Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. Since one of Eddie's first recognizable words was "moo" and he seems to think that cows in books are pretty funny, I was interested to see if he would recognize a real cow. We tried to get a photo with the fake one first.

Eddie was afraid of it. He wouldn't sit on it. He wouldn't look at it. He poked it in the nose and cried. So far, so good.

Next, we went outside to see the real animals. The fun thing about the farm is that you can get up close to the animals and even feed some of them. We found a particularly friendly cow being fed by a swarm of children. Soon, the kids moved on, so I moved Eddie up closer to see what he would think of the cow. As I fiddled with my camera to get a photo, the cow ran out of corn to eat and went scavenging. It's not the best angle, but in this photo, the cow is actually licking Eddie's feet.

Eddie didn't mind too much, he just tried to push the cow away, which is when his hand ended up inside the cow's mouth. That's when I intervened.

Next, we moved on to the pony ride. Since a pony ride comes free with your admission, and I didn't have to pay to get in since I have a Tracy Aviary membership, I didn't waste any money on this... luckily. I chose the smallest pony for Eddie so that it would be easier for me to hold onto him. I set him on it as he desperately clung to me. Then, the ponies started walking.

Eddie was not impressed. We made it around twice before I gave in and scooped him off. Then, he watched in trepidation as his cousins finished the ride.

The Stair Master

That's right, folks... Eddie learned to climb stairs. I suppose I should be happy about this since it is what we have been working on with the physical therapist. Yesterday when Eddie climbed up for the first time by himself, I realized that I was more happy helping him climb the stairs. Now I can't leave him in the living room unattended for more than 5 seconds. The biggest problem is that he has not yet learned how to climb back down. This problem leaves him with one of the following choices:

1. Stay on the landing forever.
   
2. Attempt to climb the big staircase.
   
3. Teeter on the very edge with a smile as mommy freaks out.
   
4. Fall down.
   
5. Learn how to climb down backwards.

He generally opts for choice #3. We're working on that.

Here is Eddie in action:

First, he stands up next to the stair and prepares for the climb.

Next, he gets on top of the first step and tries to decide what to do next. Sometimes he likes to stop and look around before continuing.

Then, he climbs the second step.

Finally, he achieves victory with a smile.

Sunday School Chairman

Since Kristen is usually off teaching primary, and Eddie is becoming increasingly mobile, I have become that guy in church. You know, the hapless fellow that is constantly trying to wrangle his child?

When looking for a seat in Sunday School, I always pick a spot close to a door. I usually keep Eddie on my lap so he can't escape, but will set him down if he gets particularly restless. Such was the case this past Sunday. I was sitting on the back row on the far right side of the Relief Society room next to the side door. The back row of chairs started with their backs against the wall in the center of the room, then gradually curved forward so there was some space behind me where Eddie could move around. I thought this was a good thing. I was wrong.

Instead of staying in the open area, Eddie immediately started crawling towards the middle of the room, and the row of chairs was now curving back toward the wall. I hesitated for a split second, and the space he was entering quickly became too narrow for me to go after him.

Now fully alert, I slipped out the side door and came around the hall to the back door to head him off. He had gotten himself wedged between the wall and the metal chair legs just short of the center aisle. He was just starting to raise his voice when I was able to come to his rescue. Luckily he didn't get stuck out of my reach, or he would have really caused a scene.

I have to say, I miss the early days when he didn't leave his car seat for the whole 3 hours. At least he is still too little to bait me into the old chase around the chapel in the middle of sacrament meeting routine.

The wheels are already turning, plotting how he will evade me next week.

Eddie's Therapy: Session 7

Yesterday, Eddie had another physical therapy session. He seems to have slowed down in recent weeks, not picking up new things quite as fast. He is pretty happy to just crawl around and destroy the house from his knees. However, we are still working on standing. He loves it when we stand him next to furniture, but he hasn't quite figured out how to get down. He is so used to me being right behind him that when he's done standing, he just pokes his bottom out in an attempt to sit down on something. Usually, there is nothing there and he ends up stuck hanging on with his hands with his bottom sticking out, wondering what he should do now.

Julie is having us work on climbing now. This exercise should help strengthen Eddie's hips so that he can be confident in his attempts to stand up. We're also still working on teaching him to get from his knees to his feet. Obviously this depends a lot on the aforementioned confidence. We're hoping that with more practice and increased strength, his weird foot placement will correct itself.


In other news, Eddie now has 6 teeth. As soon as the newest one comes in a little further, his smile won't be so lopsided. He has also discovered that he can bite. He tricks me into thinking he's leaning in for a kiss and then leaves teeth marks in my cheek. So I avoid kisses as much as possible these days.

Eddie's newest words include "bow wow," "meow," and I think I heard him say "cracker" today. We're currently working on teaching him "toes" and "nose." I am amazed at how fast he picks up new words and I am looking forward to the day when he can use these words to communicate and tell me what he wants.

He's Got the Look

Ever since Eddie was born, everyone has said that he looks just like me. When he was only a few weeks old I put together some shots comparing him with some of my baby photos. Kristen felt left out so she posted her own comparison a few months later. Now that Eddie has turned 1, we wanted to do another series, this time including some of each of us. So what does everyone think? Cast your vote now.

Dave vs. Eddie #1

Dave vs. Eddie #2

Kristen vs. Eddie #1

Kristen vs. Eddie #2

Eddie's Therapy: Session 6

Eddie had another physical therapy session yesterday. He is doing really well with standing up from an elevated surface (from sitting on a box next to the table), but still doesn't do it on his own. So our new exercise involves teaching him to get to "half-kneel" (which is kneeling on one knee with the other foot flat on the floor) and then to get him to pull himself to standing. Once he's there, we get to teach him how to get back down from standing. He doesn't like that part. Then, we get to teach him how to move along the furniture once he's standing up. He didn't like that exercise either.

I guess that means that within the next couple of months, he'll be "cruising" the furniture and those table bumpers will really come in handy, as will the word, "bonk."

Here he is standing by his crib, showing off his new Batman jammies.

On an unrelated note, Eddie and I went to the zoo last week. Eddie definitely noticed some of the animals this time (the giraffes and elephants for sure). However, he was more interested in the fences I held him up to while trying to get him to look at the animals.

Here he is sitting on a giant spider at the zoo playground.

What's the Word?

Over the past few weeks, we have started recognizing real words in the midst of Eddie's constant babbling. Here are Eddie's favorite words to say:

Ball

Eddie is getting pretty good at saying this word. It sounds more like "baw," but I know what he's trying to say. Often, he'll hold his ball up over his head with a big grin and say, "Ball." He'll even point to pictures of balls in his books.

Go

I didn't even try to teach him this word. He just picked it up. I have noticed lately that I say "are you ready to go?" and "do you want to go?" to Eddie a lot. That is probably where he got it.

Pup

Thanks to Eddie's favorite touchy-feely book "Puppies," and his furry friends Cobalt and Snots, Eddie knows a cute cartoon "pup" when he sees one. I'm not sure if he would recognize a real dog, though.

Bonk

I have suspected for a while that this would be among Eddie's first words. He hears it a lot... especially when I'm trying to get him into his car seat. Lucky for him, the car ceiling is padded.

Batman

I am happy to report that I am not the only person to have heard Eddie say "Batman." Just ask Eddie's aunt Cheryl and cousin Zach. He even knows who Batman is and can identify him without being asked.

No/Don't

I'm not sure which one he's trying to say, but it sounds like "doh." He doesn't really know what it means, though, so I guess I need to stop saying no to him so much.

Dada

I suppose this means that Dave is the favorite parent. Eddie can say "mama," he just chooses not to. He says "dada" all the time.

Happy Birthday!

Today, our boy turns 1 year old!

We held a birthday bash yesterday for family and close friends. Eddie must've known there was something to be excited for. He slept in until 9:00 yesterday morning (something that NEVER happens) and then refused to take a nap. Eddie's favorite part of the day was the balloons we got him. He happily played with those for more than an hour, even dragging them with him as he crawled from room to room.

By party time, he was a bit of a wreck. Luckily, once he got a little bit of chocolate cake in his system, he cheered up. I made a dump truck cake for him and, surprisingly enough, it turned out cute and delicious. Eddie likes cake, but seemed hesitant about horking it down like most kids do. Instead, he was content to let Dave feed it to him.

Another great highlight was all the gifts Eddie received. He got a wooden toy train from us, a truck that makes zany sounds, a Little People building set, two puzzles, an Artoo Potatoo, some clothes, and several books.

All in all, it was a good day.