Pictures of Ed

Our neighbor took these photos with her new SLR, which she purchased after hearing me rave about mine and seeing the photos.

I've had a couple people mention that this blog is going to become the Eddie and X sibling blog pretty soon. Wild to think about. I feel like I'm just bracing myself waiting for the tidal wave that is about to hit. Enough has faded from memory over the last two years that I remember there being things that were difficult and a pain to deal with (and do remember some details about the blow out diapers, the rice cereal, the feedings and how there were lots of things to schedule around as we were able), but life has become so easy with Ed now that I wonder what it will be like to be in two places at once.

Course people say it keeps getting easier.

Even Den is Looking for Updates

I spent all day shopping on Sat with a girlfriend. And I mean all day. We started at 8am with a consignment sale and pulled up to the house around 5:30. Wow, so exhilerating to be able to browse and take the time to actually shop, not just run in and buy the first thing that resembles what I'm looking for. Den was happy to watch Eddie because I was running all sorts of errands that needed to be done, but that he didn't want to participate in.

In Ed news, he can draw circles now. It's pretty cool. We're also weaning him off the asthma medicene for the warm weather, hoping it's just winter season asthma.

Last night he got his foot stuck between the slats of the crib. I let him cry for a minute or 2 and then he sounded weird, so I went up to find his foot stuck and him looking up at me, asking what I was going to do. Problem was I couldn't reach his foot, not even from the end of the crib. Trying to calm Ed down while at the same time, rouse Dennis was a little stressful. Den came up and was able to get his foot out--I had visions of a power tool cutting the slats. Ed fell back asleep almost immediately. I was so traumatized I couldn't get back to sleep for almost an hour.

These pictures show what a nearly 39 week pregnant Elizabeth looks like. Den calls it the bullet. The belly is a little cuter when it's less of a full-on side shot. People seem to comment that around 7 months I just shot out. I've got my work substitute all lined up and will stop working this Thurs (that's tomorrow!!). Well, I'll probably do a little over the weekend cause there is no way I'm getting everything done by tomorrow that I definitely want to have finished.

UK Eddie

Den took these pictures tonight of Ed in the shirt Den brought back from his trip to the UK last month. We're both shocked that it's already getting too small for him. Den especially liked the red socks the nanny put with the outfit.

We're all sleeping pretty poorly here, between being 30-something weeks pregnant, Eddie teething, and Den who never sleeps well, we're a bunch of zombies. Maybe the new baby will get us on a better sleep schedule--hey it could happen--I've heard of babies who sleep for 4 and 5 hours out of the gate. Don't tell me the stories, it will only depress me when it doesn't happen for us.

Happy St. Patrick's weekend

Eddie and I started the weekend with a little shoe shopping. He has basically outgrown all his shoes. I promised him we'd find a pair of blue shoes--I had no idea these would be his pick.

I knew I wanted a pair of 'crocs' for him cause they were so darn cute and there were lots of colors from which to choose. I let him pick the color--I even asked about navy, red, light blue, and so on. He kind of bit on the red, but then seemed to want these. He LOVES them. Wants to put them over his PJs and put them on every chance he gets. I guess they are a bit of a greenish/blueish.

We did get 2 other sandels too. So the picture of Eddie bowing was taken on Sat. while I was at work. Den asked him to smile and he bowed. His Green Bay Packer's colored shirt is about the only green in his wardrobe, and I tried not to be critical of Den's roll job on the pants, because it's best not to cast stones...

The other picture with Den was taken today (Sunday). Ed asked 'gin' 'gin' (again, again) to ride on daddy's shoes. An interesting development is that Ed doesn't like to go for runs with Den anymore. He doesn't really want to get in the jog stroller. Ugh. This would be why we are waiting on the purchase of a double stroller until we figure out how Ed will be.

In all my pregnant glory, I was up at 5am and decided 3 weeks before my due date was as good as time as any to unpack the newborn clothes. As I unpacked the clothes, many of those memories from early on that we'd repressed came back to me about life with a newborn...the speed with which they grow through clothes, the number of outfits one can change in a day, how much more still a wiggly infant seems than a rambunctious toddler.

Snow in the forecast?

We’ve had a couple days of outstanding weather. The kind that can lull you into thinking spring has sprung. Then there is the forecast for tmr, which calls for snow, sleet, freezing rain, etc. and a high in the low 40s over the next several days. Ugh.

Our nanny was back yesterday and today after being out for nearly 1.5 weeks with pneumonia--sure makes us appreciate her more than we already did when she wasn't around.

Ed’s had a great time with his balls and sidewalk chaulk, but he is still learning to share.
On Tuesday, Den had some work colleagues over and one of them built a huge tower to the ceiling for Ed to knock down. It was quite the hit. This picture is right as Ed pulled out the block that caused them to 'tim-bor'.

I’d like to be writing more, but have been so busy trying to make sure we’re ready for this baby, I’ve not had time to post. Funny, with the first child, you’re worried about having everything you need for the baby—most of which you don’t need for months down the road. With the second child, you are worried about tying down everything else in your life before the baby arrives. We have done absolutely nothing in preparation for this baby with the exception of debate baby names and go to doctor’s appointments. We still have 2 weeks to go and it’s not like the child needs anything at first anyway. Kind of cracks me up. For instance, I have to buy Eddie new shoes before I can’t bend over to feel the fit of the shoes.

Friday Night Excitement

This past Friday night after dinner, Eddie wanted to draw. But then he took it to another level. Besides wanting us to draw a cat and dog of each color crayon as usual, he then wanted to stand the crayons up on top of the respectively colored cat/dog.

Not a big deal you think--except that after some regular use, the bottoms of the crayons are no longer smooth. Den and I were nearly in hysterics laughing, while trying not to, as Ed got more and more frustrated that he couldn't get the crayons to stand up. He'd get all but the last one or two and then they'd all fall over. The blue one in particular wouldn't stand. We kept trying to tell him to wait until all the animals were drawn, but he insisted on trying to stand them up as we drew each color.

See the picture of Den drawing for an illustration. We took turns and each tried to draw without knocking any over. He would calll out 'timm-bor' or 'the crayons [which he pronounces 'pens' because his 'c' letters sound like 'p'] fell over'. Then he would patiently stand them all up--or try to. He definitely got frustrated a lot.

Speaking of frustration, he is definitely getting into that stage of toddlerhood where he wants what he wants or else. He is also wanting the light left on when he goes to bed--I think more a function of not wanting to go to sleep than anything else.



The weekend weather was beautiful--highs in the 60s and mostly sunny. I love this picture of Ed and Den on the slide. We went to our local park, which then yielded us a 3 hour nap from Ed. Woo-hoo.

Goings On

Here are a couple misc. photos. Ed loves to color. Moreover, he loves for us to color for him. He also likes to color and have things cut out in every color of the rainbow. He brought home artwork from preschool with a sun cut out. So Cookie and I cut out suns for him in every color in his book of construction paper (really my book from when I was a kid, as I saved the paper all these years knowing there would be a use). Then he wanted balloons cut out (with the string of course). When the strings got broken off, mommy had to fix them with tape.

He also likes to have animals drawn for him. There was a time when I could draw a good bird and horse, but that was the extent of my artistic ability. Now I draw the most pitiful forms to resemble these animals, although now I'm learning by watching Den, Cookie, and our regular night out babysitter that I can get away with just drawing the heads. This is somewhat easier, but still I am making the effort to get him to let me draw shapes--much easier.

In the last picture I posted of myself I was told my stomach looked lumpy--and I realize why. I was wearing one of the only maternity pants with hook and eye closure and a zipper. Being maternity pants, the closure is a not some little piece of metal, but it is a double hook and eye, each of which is extra huge. So here's what I hope is a non-lumpy photo (I like the sweater better) of me at 35 weeks out of 40.

I'm pretty convinced this baby is going to come earlier than we expect, but I really do hope it holds out as long as possible. I'm also beginning to wonder if it's a girl. Neither of us care what the gender is, but it will be interesting to see if either of these two 'feelings' comes true. That said, we are still desparate for a boys name. I actually went through EVERY SINGLE NAME in one of the cooler books--Baby Name Wizard--and between the two of us, we shot down every option.

Maybe we'll be like Geo. Forman and name it Edward if it's a boy. I think it was round about Feb. 10 or so that I posted about needing ideas for a boy's name, but keep them coming--either on that day or this. I'm not saying we didn't like any of the posted names, in fact there were some we'd been tossing about, but I have this fear the baby will come early and the rep from social security will stop by asking for the form that if we don't fill out in the hospital is a bigger deal to get completed down the road.

Ed's Birthday part deux, take two, part one

When Ed turned one, we took some ribbing for not throwing him a party. Looking back, I wish we had, but at the time, it seemed kind of silly. So when we decided to throw a party for his second birthday, we decided to keep it simple and invite the couple kids that he regularly hangs out with.

I ordered a cake, reserved the local 'soft play' room (see pictures), and thought we'd be all set. G'parents Ohio came in to town and even Cookie the nanny was going to stop in.

Then it snowed. It was supposed to change to rain, but it never did. G'pa and I almost didn't get home from the grocery store as we live on a hill. Thanks to g'pa's expereince with winter driving, he willed the car up the hill. We had maybe 3 inches of wet heavy snow and everything in the region shut down by 1 or 2pm. We were going to bag the whole idea, except taht the idea of a perfectly good cake not getting eaten really bothered me. So, at the last minute, we regrouped and were able to secure an opening on a Friday at 5pm. Not an ideal time as everyone would be headed south with the rush hour traffic, but it worked out because while we got snowed out the week before, this Friday was 63 degrees and sunny. Could have done this at a freakin' park by our house!

Eddie has been to many birthday parties and taken a class in this softplay room and despite his love of balls, has never liked this ball pit. Until now. He loved getting 'buried' in the balls and seen here, playing with his friend Claire.

Yes, we know his sock is missing. This pair will not stay on his feet--and they are his longest socks. You'd think we could hook them to his diaper they are so long.
True heaven for Ed--a GIANT ball. I don't know ifyou can make out the HUGE grin on his face--but when he didn't like the ball pit in earlier times, this ball was his friend. He always wanted to play with it---and pity the toddler who tried to pry it away.

Ed's birthday, part deux, take two, part 2

So this reads correctly, I had to mess with posting time. After we thought we wore the kids out, we went to have pizza and cake. This first picture is pre cake cutting, but a couple of the older kids were showing him how to sneak tastes of the frosting. The bakery had assured me that the cake would be just fine between Sunday and Friday--it was tasty, but a little crumbly. But it was chocolate!
Eddie had been singing 'Happy Birthday Eddie' for the better part of a month before his birthday. It cracked us up. We wondered how he would react to everyone singing it to him: well, here's his reaction. He ate it up! Dennis was telling him that everyone was singing it for him, and he was grinning ear to ear. It was absolutely adorable.

So I tried to think of all the details--cutting the grapes in half, bringing yogart for those kids who balked at the pizza (we had 5 different kids of pizzas), but I couldn't think of where to find mass quantities of toddler sized forks and spoons. There are these things called take and toss forks and spoons, but I don't think of them that way because they are pretty solid, so I didn't even give them a thought. Oh well, Ed seemed to do okay with this adult fork. He ate pretty much the whole piece.



I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but the brown on his pants is cake. He has some matching marks on the back of his pants, where he slid through the cake he'd gotten on his chair when he put his hand on the chair. This was after we cleaned his hands. There were many more cute pictures, I think I'll upload to Snapfish and can 'share' the photos if interested.

At none of the 2 year old parties we've attended have they opened gifts. I've learned the reason is because there is no time. You get one hour in each room and that's it. Plus, while Eddie definitely knows what to do with a present now, he still likes to relish in each gift afterwards for long periods of time. I like this quality and want to continue to encourage it, but it can make for gift opening to last a long time.

The Stats

Long ago, I promised a follow up to my email about Ed's 2 year pediatrician appointment. Eddie weighed in at 25.14 pounds buck naked--except for his socks. This is about 25%. I had wondered at what age Ed would move to the scale that you stand on versus the baby scale that you lay on. I wonder no more. Although he likes getting on a very similar scale at home, he had no interest in getting on the scale. I had no interest in hoisting him up to the scale, so I hopped on the scale myself and eventually got him to stand on it.

He would not stand against the wall to get his height with that cool gizmo that pulls down from the wall, even tho' mommy got her height noted. Eddie's 33 1/3 inches height was measured the old fashioned way--sprawling him out on the exam table and drawing a line at his foot and head and then measuring the two points. This was slightly above 25%.

His head circumfrence was 19.5, which is 70%. As I mentioned, Dr. was really impressed with his development. He asked me a lot of questions, but then also tried asking Eddie questions, some of which he responded to. These included pointing to animals on a page and having Eddie identify them. Then the Dr. asked Ed which animals made which sounds and finally which animals did what type of action (fly, gallop, etc.). I was kind of surprised he knew all the right answers to this last set of questions. The doctor was impressed and said this means he knows actions.

I told the doctor he knew his colors to wit the Dr. said if he knew his colors, he must know his body parts. Dr. said at this ago the should know I think it was 250 or so words. Sure seems like it does. Interestingly, he is supposed to be able to say 15-20 words that a perfect stranger would recognize. I had a hard time answering the question. I think he definitely has that, but I'm so used to knowing what he's saying when others can't, that to try and count out 15-20 words that he says perfectly clearly -- it's hard to think of what words he knows that clearly versus those I get out of context. I'm pretty confident we're there.

Said we don't need to worry about his thumb sucking until he's 3 and then recomended a book for when we get to that point. He speech is supposed to be about 50% clear at this point and 75% clear by age 3. I've noticed that certain letters are mispronounced--like the letter 'c' is 'p'. So when he says 'cow', it's 'pow'. I can't think of how he says the word 'pillow', but it bears no resemblence to the word. He doesn't use an 'm' for milk, but does for 'mommy'.

I didn't tell the doctor about the letters or numbers (in English and Spanish) that he knows. In some ways he does better with the number order in Spanish than when he jumps to 8 or 10 with the English. Had to chuckle when the doctor asked about him throwing balls and stacking stuff. Such old news for Ed. Does he jump? Just started a couple weeks ago. Basically I answered in the affirmative for every developmental question.

Weird thing is Ed doesn't get another check up until he is 3 years old. Kind of weird to think about. However, we're about to start all over, lest we start missing our pediatrican.

The picture is of one of Ed's games, only this time it was an extreme case of stuffing all his animals in his PJs. I don't think there is a relationship to my growing tummy and this game, as it's been ongoing for quite some time.

For Uncle Rick

Eddie's Uncle Rick got some new electronic gizmo that only allows him to upload photos from a website. Since we have such a site, I'm posting these photos of Ed's Cousins who live far enough away that we don't see them as often as we'd like. Now that they are older and travel easier, perhaps they'll come visit us more often.