Texas!!!

Oh, we had such a great time in Texas.  Owen belongs on a ranch, I think.  At least he loves it for a week at a time!  Asher was sick the whole time we were there, so it was not such a great trip for him.  Eden was a bit of a fussbudget, but she *was* getting a tooth.  Reuel and I enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed help entertaining the troops and getting through the daily grind with special loved ones.  Susan just sent pictures and there they are in my inbox, easy to post, so I shall do so without delay.  I'll pick some favorites.  Thank you so much for the diligence required to actually shoot the photos in the midst of all the fun!

All the rest

Great fun had by all, and now the blood sugar levels are high.  Heard on the way up to the tub:
Owen:  "Guys, do NOT eat ANY of my candy while I am asleep."
Me:  "No worries, buddy, that's why Eden took a trick or treat bucket."

[And that is a joke, because Reuel and I are not partaking of her's either.  That's for Treats for Troops collection!]

Owen was a pirate with a mighty 'Aaaargh!', and Asher was a very cute dragon.  Reuel and I dressed as chauffeurs, and quite convincingly so.

Eden Kitty

Kids eating candy...just a minute to upload a few from tonight.

Eden doesn't know what's about to hit her:

 Then, she does:

 But as long as that dratted head appliance is not in place, she is happy to have a puffy belly (and here, ladies and gentlemen, is where the mother cannot weed out the pictures because they are just all so cute...to me.  I know what it is like to look at too many of the same picture, and for that I apologize!):

Visitor!

Well, it was going to be 6 visitors!  But hurricane Sandy took that figure down to 1.  But a very special and enjoyable 1 she was.  I fear we did absolutely nothing to make her pre-conference visit special, and Asher had a fairly significant allergic reaction to something (we think) on the first day of her visit, so that slowed us down, too.  [sidenote:  poor Asher!  I worry about that kid!  He seems to be sick a lot.]  But she was very obliging, and like the capable supermom she is, stepped right in to finish the chili I started (OK, let's be honest, all I got done was chopping the onion before I was pulled away and she finished everything and made cornbread too.  Without the proper pan...which I don't want for Christmas...no room in the inn ;).

Then, her little brother got her to do his dirty work (isn't that typical?):

 
But she also got as much time as she wanted to do plenty of this (can't get away from little kids, even when you fly across country!):

Thanks for the chance to spend a little time together!  Hopefully next time the hurricane will take the rain check!

Milestones-Eden

Should sleep NOW, but have to jot these down...keep letting days slip by and I'll forget in a few more.  We were in TX Oct 2-10 and Eden got her first tooth there (still not another one!).  She also did some real genuine forward crawling there (now she is quite good at it, though not winning a speed race).  This weekend was SO FUN with her.  I don't remember being as excited about the boys' first communications, but maybe I just forgot (likely I just forgot).  On Friday she was wiggling around and all of a sudden stopped cold and looked, no stared with rapt attention, at her hand.  She turned it, flapped it, moved it all around, all with eyes focused intently.  Then she got a big smile, looked at me, and waved!  I waved back and she giggled.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  She totally figured out how to talk to me with her hands.  She even did it on demand for Reuel and the boys the next day.  Then on Saturday (her 10 month birthday) she figured out how to clap in response to me clapping.  She now prefers clapping to waving and does it quite frequently, whenever she's excited about something :)  It's so cute.  The boys have her clapping as much as possible all day.  On Sunday, we were reading her book with photos of various animals, and she LIT UP when she saw the dog (much like she lit up around Sonny Boy in TX, and lit up about a friend's dog at a birthday party on Saturday) and when I said 'Dog' and started making 'woof' noises...she mimicked my exact pitch and frequency with 'uf uf uf'.  It was more mimic than a real first word, but still.  I was pretty proud of her.  She did it a couple more times, but hasn't duplicated it quite as convincingly since (though she still makes something in the vicinity of a repetitive bark when we look at that picture).

She had a checkup last week and was~30%ile head circumference, ~60%ile length, ~25%ile weight.  Is this my child?

She is starting to want to pull up on things, and with the crawling, I need to get my act together.  She has had her obligatory one fall off of the bed to make me feel negligent enough to watch her a lot more closely.  Asher and Owen have been dubbed "The Choking Police" and have been commissioned to remove any and all small things from the floor when they find them.  She sometimes starts moving her legs but forgets to start the arms, or her hands stick, or something.  It results in a firm face plant in the floor...followed by very loud wailing and baby cursing.  She bruised her forehead and bruised her tongue by biting it with her gums in the process of one of these face plants last week.  Poor thing!  She is definitely a bit more delicate than the brothers.

She LOVES feeding herself.  Favorites right now are bananas chopped up, pears, watermelon, grapes...well, all soft fruit chopped up.  Also green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, squash dices.  Tonight she discovered roasted white potatoes...mmm.  She really loves pancakes, waffles, biscuits, and all those healthy sorts of breakfast foods ;)  And of course baby cereal puffs.

Her sleep...update for another day...since I need mine right now.

Eden photos

From the last month...