Two and a Half

Eden-

You turn two and a half today! You came into this world as a quiet, sweet, easy going baby and, for the most part, have not changed one bit. Your name means "delightful" and I could not agree more! You bring so much joy into our lives and our family would not be the same without you. Your easy going personality is a perfect balance to Parker's strong will. God knew just what he was doing when he created you! Here are some of the things I want to remember about you at this stage in your life:

-You are still very tall, slender and petite. I think you weigh about 28-29 pounds and are wearing size 3T clothes. Most of the dresses I buy for you are too short and most of the pants/shorts are too big in the waist.

-You have the craziest hair and I love it! It is wavy and curly and frizzy and I know you are going to hate it when you get older. It reminds me of your Aunt MerMer's hair- hopefully she will be able to give you some styling tips as you get older!

-You are still behind in your speech development but are making lots of progress every day. You always work so diligently with your speech therapist but do not like to practice your speech homework with mommy and daddy. You will sometimes join in but only if Parker is doing it with you. This week for the first time you talked with Parker while the two of you were playing. My heart swelled with pride to hear you finally communicating with him. I've waited a long time to hear you interact with him in conversation.

-Although you are very passive and low key, you still have many terrible two moments. You can throw a fit with the best of them, but the difference between you and Parker is that you get over it very quickly. After a few minutes in your room, you are happy again and ready to play.

-Parker is your best friend and your worst enemy! You love him so much and want to do everything he does, but get so mad at him when he irritates you (which is on a daily basis!). I always know when he is bothering you because you let out a very loud, high pitched scream.

-You are usually a good eater and will often try new things that I put on your plate. You have just come out of a mini eating strike where you hardly ate two bites at every meal. You had also been refusing to eat fruit but thankfully have started eating strawberries, bananas, and applesauce again this week. You are still a very slow eater and always the last one sitting at the table. Some of the things you love to eat are beans of any kind, black olives, fruit snacks, and anything sweet.

-You can recognize and name all of your colors and are starting to recognize some letters/numbers. You love the letter "E" and always point it out when you find one by saying, "I see E!".

-Your favorite things to watch right now are Little Einsteins and Dora the Explorer.

-You have a great imagination and love to pretend play, especially with small toys and figures. You can sit for long periods of time playing with small animals, toys, or the Little Einstein figures. You also love to play with the dollhouse at Granna's house. You also play very well on your own, which is great when mommy needs to get some things done around the house!

-You are a GREAT sleeper! It is very rare that we hear a peep out of you after you go to bed. I can only think of one time in the past year that I had to check on you in the middle of the night and that was when you were sick with croup. You currently sleep with two blankets and lots and lots of baby dolls!

You are such a beautiful little girl, Eden, and I am so thankful that God allowed me to be your mommy. I pray that you never doubt how much we love you and that we always make you feel special. You are the perfect middle child in our family and I would not trade you for anything!

I love you so much,
Mommy