GroshLink

Just a brief update on Eden (how long can we call her "Baby Eden"????)  This fall she started another session of physical therapy in the swimming pool at Schreiber Pediatrics.  She loves the pool and frequently asks for pool.  Normally her therapist puts weights around her ankles to help her when walking in the water, but today she walked very well without the weights.  We call her a leaner b/c if she feels you giving her the slightest support, she leans into you, expecting you to hold her up.  This is not just in the pool, but on land as well.  In some ways, the less support you give her the better she supports herself.  It's a tricky balancing act.

Eden's learned to scoot down stairs on her bottom.  She still likes to try it standing up which is an accident waiting to happen (though she continues to improve), so I feel better about her bumping down the stairs on her bottom.

She broke her first pair of glasses the other week.  She won't keep them on when she's in the car and I forgot to remove them when I put her in her carseat.  As she pulled them off, they broke.  Thankfully the eyeglass company has a one year guarantee on the first pair, so we were able to get them replaced at no cost to us.  Now our challenge has been to get them adjusted to fit her properly.  This has required almost daily trips to the eyeglass store for adjustments.  Thank you to my friend Jen who recommended we buy the eyeglasses from a place that is close to us!

In other eye news, Eden saw the opthamologist again last week.  She did very well for the eye test where she has to match pictures of varying size on a computer screen with pictures on a card in front of her.  It's a challenging game for a child as young as Eden, so I'm pleased that she understands it so well.  This game is in place of reading an eye chart, like older children and adults can do.  She's still not perfect at it, so it's hard to get an accurate reading on her level of sight.  We continue to patch each day and try to keep her glasses on.

Another milestone was achieved the other day when Eden pooped on the potty!  It was the first time she made anything in the potty (sorry if that's too much information!), so it was momentous.  It has not happened since, though she's getting better at sitting on the potty now.  Previously she wouldn't sit still long enough for anything to happen.

She is obsessed with babies and likes to pretend that she is one.  She'll instruct me to hold her like a baby (cradled in my arms), hold her sippy cup for her like a bottle, and then she'll tell me that she needs to be burped.  As I pat her back she fake-burps and says coo-coo me which means excuse me.

All day long I answer the same set of questions.  Translated they are:  Where is Ellen?  Where is Hayley?  Where is Grandma?  Where is Grandpa?  Where is baby TJ?  Eight hours must seem like an eternity when you are two years old.  The questions start as soon as Ellen and Hayley get on the bus and they don't end until they arrive home.  She is a joy and a ball of energy . . . a blessing from the Lord.