Edmund Loves Bubbles

Edmund with His Bubbles

Last Sunday Edmund celebrated his first Easter. As was the case with his first Christmas he had no inkling as to what this whole Easter celebration entailed. Steven, Edmund, and I traveled to Virginia to see my parents for the holiday, since it had been quite some time since they had seen Edmund. While in Virginia Edmund perfected his wave, waving at anyone, (and anything), in his sight. He practiced his piano skills, all the while becoming more proficient at banging the keys to create a cacophony of noise. During our last visit to Virginia during the Christmas holidays, Edmund barely had the strength to tickle the ivories. This is definitely not the case anymore. However, I must admit Edmund is more of a “clunker” than a “tickler.” Edmund was also thrilled to see Paw Paw, my sister’s dog. Edmund has more or less ignored Paw Paw up until this point, but as you will recall, Edmund is now enamored with dogs. I’m not sure Paw Paw was as thrilled to see Edmund, but she at least tolerated him.

On Easter morning Steven and I took Edmund downstairs to see his Easter basket. Steven videotaped as Grandma Kay Kay took photo after photo. I was thrilled to see the adorable Carolina blue outfit the Easter Bunny had brought for Edmund, but Edmund could take it or leave it. He wanted to get to the good stuff. I brought the Easter basket over to the ottoman and sat down with Edmund. Since Edmund was distracted by the Easter grass, I brought it upon myself to pull out the items for him one by one. As I pulled out the first present I said “Look Edmund, bubbles.” Without hesitation, in a voice as clear as a Carolina blue sky, Edmund said “bubbles.” You may be thinking, “Tabitha, you just misheard.” But remember, Steven was videotaping this momentous event. There aren’t many parents who get their baby's first word on tape, but we have hard evidence. Of course Edmund has yet to say “bubbles” since last Sunday, but he’s already got that one mastered. Give him time. In a few weeks he’ll be following us around asking “why?”

Dogs at Duke Gardens

Dogs Are Silly

Those who know me well, know I am not the outdoorsy type. By outdoorsy I mean I don't enjoy roughing it in the woods for a week away from the luxury of indoor plumbing. When spring arrives, however, I am all about spending time outside. I love taking long strolls around the neighborhood, exploring nature, going to parks, and anything else that gets me out of the house and away from a busy, "plugged in" life. Thus, I couldn't wait for warm weather to arrive so I could spend time introducing Edmund to the wonders of the great outside world.

The past three years Steven and I have made it a tradition to visit Duke Gardens when the weather turns mild. The last few weekends have brought much rain. This weekend was sunny and clear, so we decided to head to Durham to see what was in bloom at the gardens.

Duke Gardens has several mini pagodas "hidden" along its paths. Last year I found a stuffed bunny peering out from one of the pagodas. So taken was I with this bunny that I had Steven take a picture to preserve the memory. For me, the bunny which I named "secret bunny," invoked images of the final scene from The Velveteen Rabbit, a favorite story of mine from childhood. Though improbable, I hoped the toy would be there upon our return this year. No such luck. Edmund did not get to witness "secret bunny." Perhaps next year we will have to hide a small stuffed bunny for him to find.

After spending a few minutes at "secret bunny" pagoda we commenced our walk around the gardens, stopping here and there to point out the sights to Edmund. I'm not sure what kind of reaction I expect from Edmund. He is still at the point where he takes everything in at once. Soon will be the days where he stops to examine the minutiae of life, but we're not quite there yet. I stooped to point out some large tadpoles near the edge of a pond, and Edmund's eyes wandered to some trees. I pointed out a large, goldfish. Edmund followed the swimming fish with his eyes for a few seconds, then began gazing at the dog next to us. Now Edmund was in heaven. In the last few weeks Edmund has fallen in love with the furry, four legged creatures. He has gone from ignoring dogs, to watching them briefly, to beyond smitten with them. A dog can invoke a laugh in Edmund, that no one, not even his mom or dad, is capable of. Steven's family dog Sparky, though he has little interest in Edmund, is truly Edmund's best pal. I've done little to encourage this dog infatuation, other than casually pointing out a dog when we see one. Perhaps this love of dogs is a trait inherited from me. My first word did just so happen to be "dog." For now we'll simply play to Edmund's love of dogs. An interest that causes my baby to laugh like that is worthy of further explanation.

As we continued our stroll around the gardens we became ever more aware of dogs, enthusiastically pointing them out to Edmund any time one came in view. Towards the end of our stroll three beagles happened to walk out in front of us. Edmund went into hysterics. People who passed us "oohed" and "awwed" at the "adorable laughing baby." Little did they know the dogs in front of us were producing the giggle fits coming out of our son. Eventually the dogs veered off our path. Edmund turned his head as far as he could trying to catch one more glimpse of his beloved dogs. "But mommy and daddy, why can't we go with them?" he seemed to plead. We were headed to find a nice spot to snap a few garden pictures of Edmund. We lucked out when the spot we chose had an adorable Scottie dog in Edmund's line of vision. Despite Edmund not facing the camera, because he was lovingly gazing at the dog, the pictures turned out great. Steven and I now know where we'll be spending our spring weekends. As per suggestion of Grandma Nancy, dog park here we come!

Edmund: Pirate in Training

Pirate in Training

Edmund is 10 months old! My how time flies. On Saturday Edmund attended his first baby birthday bash. His playgroup friend Logan turned 1. This birthday was the first of many to come as Edmund and his friends inch ever closer to the big one year milestone.

I can already tell Edmund is going to be a big fan of birthdays. Logan's birthday was little more than playgroup with a theme, yet somehow Edmund knew the party was quite the event. I must add that the pirate theme Logan's mom Nan put together was quite impressive. She made the most adorable invitations, t-shirts, picture frames, goody bags, and more all in keeping with the pirate theme. Nan also did a great job of making the drop-in party enjoyable for Logan, his friends, and the parents. No over the top party here. Everyone truly enjoyed themselves.

During the party Edmund enjoyed spending time with his buddies and playing with Logan's toys. Several of the dads built block towers which were promptly knocked down by the babyzillas. The kids all loved the red and black pirate balloons. Edmund hadn't seen a balloon since Valentine's Day, but he certainly hadn't forgotten how to play with one. Then there was Logan's little metal shopping cart. Once Edmund had a taste of playing with the cart, he couldn't let it go. At one point Edmund was sitting hanging onto the bottom rung of the cart. Logan came over and began pushing the handle while standing up. Edmund began moving along the floor. It somewhat reminded me of a dog being dragged along by a mop. Both boys thought this was quite amusing, as did the parents. This little scenario played out for about a minute. Logan got bored and moved on. Edmund clung to the shopping cart. Then we showed Edmund how to stand while holding the cart. Perhaps not the best idea, as Edmund refused to move from this new found position. This meant his mother had to stand behind him holding him up for what seemed like and eternity. Eventually another child wanted to play with the cart. This called for an early lesson in sharing, as up until this point Edmund really could care less if another child took his toy.

After an hour at the party Edmund showed signs of tiredness. Having witnessed Logan and his friends devour the pirate cupcakes, a sight to behold, we decided to make our exit. I hope we were able to express to Nan and her husband Scott how much fun we had at the party. Edmund certainly partied hard, as within a minute into our car ride home we looked back into the rear view mirror to see our little guy passed out in the backseat. And so the countdown to Edmund's big day has begun. Less than 2 months to go!