A Face Only a Daddy Could Love

Eden has started making the funniest face lately. Any time she gets tickled, she scrunches up her face, her eyes become squinty, and her two bottom teeth stick out like a little rabbit!! Her daddy thinks it is just about the cutest thing ever! She has so got him wrapped around her little finger!

Show Me Your Pearly Whites

Today I attempted to take Parker to the dentist for his first cleaning. We went last summer when he was about 15 months old just to let Dr. Chris (our dentist who I went to high school with) look at his teeth. Parker was great and sat perfectly still while Chris looked in his mouth and even scraped a little bit of tartar off of his teeth. Chris and I were both shocked and he even commented that he had never had a toddler do so well.

So when Dr. Chris's office called a few weeks ago to schedule another appointment, I thought we would give it a try. I even asked the receptionist if we should bypass their office and go straight to the pediatric dentist in town. She assured me that they would give it a try and if there were any problems, they would then refer me to the pediatric dentist.

Parker and I spent the entire car ride talking about going to see Dr. Chris and about how he was going to look at his teeth. So far, so good!

When we got to the office, Parker walked in all by himself very confident and not showing any apprehension. I even let him bring his baby duck in with him thinking that maybe that would be a good distraction during the exam.

He walked back to the exam room by himself and even climbed up in the big chair all by himself. What a big boy!

Then the hygienist asked him to open his mouth really wide like an alligator. That's where the fun ended. Parker was going to have none of that!

We showed him her cool toothbrush that went around in circles and she even tried to tickle his teeth with it- no luck.

We tried to brush his baby duck's teeth and show him how fun it would be to brush his teeth too. He thought it was funny to brush his duck's teeth, but still wouldn't open his mouth for her.

After less than 5 minutes of trying to work with him, the hygienist finally said, "I think we are going to go ahead and send you to the pediatric dentist. Their office is much more equipped to handle toddlers."

Duh. I could have told you that when you called and scheduled Parker's appointment 3 weeks ago.

Oh, well. No harm done. It was a good try. We left before any major crying started and will soon be calling the pediatric dentist to make another appointment for Parker's first cleaning. Hopefully next time we will be a little more successful!

10 Months Old

Eden turns 10 months old today. I can not believe that we will be having a birthday party in just 2 short months. It just seems like yesterday that I was waddling around with back pain and heartburn waiting to meet our sweet baby girl. Here are a few highlights from this month:

Eden continues to cruise all around the house and gets faster every day. She can now walk behind the push toys without any trouble at all. She loves to climb on everything and can now get in and out of the toy car by herself and on and off the tricycle by herself.

Not only is Eden cruising on the furniture, but just this week she started letting go and standing by herself without holding on to anything. She can usually stay balanced as long as she isn't thinking about it. As soon as she realizes that she is standing, she sits down.

Eden has been able to open drawers for a while, and this month has learned to open cabinet doors as well. She has discovered where I keep the tupperware and loves to sit and take everything out of the cabinet. She also loves to take things out of boxes, such as all of the snack baggies or trash bags.

I would love to tell you that the eating issues have been completely resolved, but Eden continues to be a fussy eater. She does not eat pureed baby food well at all. Thank goodness she is getting bigger and we have introduced a lot of finger foods this month. She enjoys small pieces of avocado, peaches, bananas, carrots, cheese, pears, green beans, and macaroni. She likes to be in control of what she is putting in her mouth at all times and I have a feeling that we will not be offering her baby food for much longer. It still baffles me that she won't take one bite of pureed peaches but she will inhale an entire snack cup of bite size peaches in just minutes!

Eden has started giving us "kisses" this month. She opens her mouth and leans in toward our face when we ask her for a kiss. So sweet...I wouldn't trade it for anything!


I am already looking forward to watching Eden change and grow over the next month. I have a feeling that a few first steps are in our near future! What an exciting time in our sweet baby girl's life! What a joy she continues to be to our family!

Plenty

A few days ago, Parker was eating lunch with Addison at my mom's house. Addison needed some more milk, so while my mom had the milk carton out, she asked Parker if he needed some more too.

His reply: "No, I have plenty."

Plenty? Where does he come up with this stuff!!! I don't even use that word! How fun it is to watch his vocabulary grow every day!

Look What I Can Do!

Parker learned last night how to climb into his crib and we figure it won't be long before he learns how to climb out of it too. We will be headed to Babies R Us this weekend to buy a bedrail so that we can convert his crib into a toddler bed. I was hoping that we would not have to do this for a few more months, but I suppose it's time. Parker has already proven that he can sleep just fine in a big boy bed at Granna's house, so we might as well make that transition at our house too. I will keep you posted on how it is going.

Happy 2nd Birthday Addison!

Today my sweet niece, Addison, turns 2 years old! I can't believe how fast the last two years have flown by! It seems like just yesterday that we waited ALL day long in the hospital waiting room for Addison to finally make her first appearance.

Addison has become such a beautiful little lady! Her personality is so fun and I always look forward to spending time with her. I am so thankful that she and Parker are so close in age...it has been wonderful watching them meet their milestones together.

Happy Birthday, Addison! We love you very much and hope you have a wonderful day!

Addison and her Aunt Amy

Because Addison had already had her birthday party, we got her a very small cake to help us celebrate last night at dinner! Doesn't she look like such a big girl!

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Today my good friend Emily's little boy, Jackson, turns 2 years old. Parker and I attended his fun Backyardigans birthday party this past Sunday, while Eden stayed home and enjoyed some father/daughter playtime.

Jackson is an amazing little boy! He was born at just 24 weeks and spent over 3 months in the NICU before getting to come home. He has had a lot of obstacles to overcome during the past 2 years but always seems to reach all of his milestones with flying colors.

The Birthday Boy

Parker had a lot of fun at Jackson's party. When we arrived, Parker immediately found the balls- what a shock!! He enjoyed playing with them until it was time for a snack, which included chips and dip- one of Parker's new favorite foods!

Playing in the balls

Eating a snack and enjoying some juice in his new Backyardigans cup- what a great party favor!

When I woke Parker up from his nap and told him it was time to go to Jackson's party, the first thing he said was "Cake?". Although I assured him that we would get to eat cake at the party, he still kept asking me, "Cake? Cake?". After Jackson opened his presents, it was finally time to eat cake. Both of the boys devoured their cake and had blue icing all over their faces!

We had fun celebrating with Jackson and his family this weekend and wish him a very happy 2nd birthday today!

Parker and Jackson eating their yummy cake