Eddie's First Christmas

 We just celebrated Eddie's first Christmas. Thursday night we drove up to Helena to spend time with my family. On Saturday, Christmas Eve, Eddie dressed up as Santa and we went to deliver gifts to my aunts, uncles and cousins.

 I have to say that he makes one cute Santa!

 Dan even let him sit in the front seat. He thought he was big stuff!

 This is Eddie with Ken and Sue. Ken is my Dad's oldest brother.

 And here is Eddie Santa with the real Santa...or should I say Uncle Dave! Surprisingly, Eddie wasn't scared of Santa. He just wanted to pull his beard off and eat it.

 And here is Eddie's Uncle Cole with Santa...

 And Uncle John...

 And me...

 And Dan...

 Eddie's Great Grandpa Lloyd...

 Grandma Shannon...

 And finally, Grandpa Mike.

 Here is Eddie with his Uncle Cole.

 And with Great Grandpa Lloyd. By this point Eddie was not too happy because we wouldn't let him eat the calendar which I made for the family.

We ended up having our Christmas on Christmas Eve after we got Eddie to bed. He was so worn out after playing Santa and delivering gifts that we put him to bed early. Then Sunday morning, Christmas day, we left at 6am to head to Wellsville, where we spent Christmas day and the following day with Dan's family. It was such a wonderful Christmas and it was so great to get to see everybody. It was hard on Eddie to travel so much and be in so many new places but he was a trooper. He got spoiled by all of his grandparents. He is one loved little boy!

6 Month Checkup

Eddie had his 6 month pediatrician visit this past week, which consisted of Eddie flirting with the girls at the check in desk and some shots. I've never seen anything like it. As we checked in he smiled, and giggled and squealed to their delight. Even after having his shots, he put on a good face for the cute girls up front.

Eddie now weighs 16 lbs 8 oz and is 27 inches long. He is in the 70th percentile for height and 40th percentile for weight. It was almost like he took his weight as a challenge and since then had about tripled his food consumption. "Nobody's gonna call me a lightweight!"

6 Months Old

Eddie turned 6 months old yesterday. So crazy to think that I will be having his first birthday before I know it. The time really does just fly by. He is now eating homemade solids on a regular basis. That's right, I make his food now. I can't believe how cheap and easy it really is. He has refused to take a bottle for the last 2 months and I don't see that changing any time soon. I give him a bottle or a sippy everyday, but he just chews and plays with it for a few minutes never actually drinking anything out of it. He is napping so well. He usually takes 3 naps a day with no crying for the most part. He sleeps a good 12 hours at night, but does still wake to eat once or twice.

He is not crawling yet, but he is so close. He can wiggle and roll his way to about anywhere though. So I have to be really careful about only leaving him unattended when he is strapped down. I learned my lesson with this on Monday when Eddie had a fight with his Bumbo, and the Bumbo won.

I was doing the laundry and had him sitting in his Bumbo on top of the washer like I always do. Well, he decided to reach for a shirt I had sitting on the dryer and he toppled out of the Bumbo before I could catch him. So he only fell about 4 inches, but it was right onto his face and on a hard surface. Thus, his first black eye. I felt horrible about it, but I figure its the first of many battle wounds to come.

Eddie never sits still. He is in that phase where he is wiggling all the time. And he loves to stand. There is no such thing as sitting in your lap. He will stand.

And Eddie loves his dadda. It is very rare anymore that Eddie will laugh for me. I can tickle him and do the silliest faces and make the funniest noises and he might give me a courtesy chuckle if he's feeling sorry for me. But Dan walks in the door and Eddie is all smiles. Dan just has to talk to him and Eddie is laughing full on belly laughs. At first I was jealous, but I figure since they only see each other for about 30 minutes a day (long enough for Dan to feed him dinner and bathe him), Dan needs all the giggles he can get.

My baby boy is growing into such a good baby. He does have quite the temper, but I can only blame myself for that one. I just love to watch him learn and take the world in. I can't wait to see the boy and man he will grow to be. Not that I want to rush that by any means. I much prefer to think that he will still need his momma to swaddle him when he is 16 years old. 

Eddie's 6 Month Old Pictures

We had Eddie's 6 month old pictures done this past weekend. He won't be that old for 4 more days but close enough! My dear friend Andrea Christy is branching into the photo industry and was kind enough to experiment with us. She did a wonderful job! If she considers these beginner, I can't wait to see what she will accomplish later. Take a look at some of the great moments she captured...

Attack of the Walker

I know, I know, cutest picture ever!I bought Eddie a walker last week. He enjoyed sitting in it playing with the toys, but was not aware his movements were making him go places. Until last night... I was at the stove cooking, when I felt a tap at my ankles. Thinking to myself "I know he was in the corner by the highchair", I turned around to see this happy boy smiling back. And yes he is naked for a reason, due to a poop incident while I was trying not to burn dinner. But I promise not for long seeing as it is the middle of winter. But I think it makes the picture that much better!

That's right, he covered some good ground.

And was so proud of himself. Which is great for me, because now he enjoys being in the kitchen while I am doing chores or cooking. And thanks to my mom, we discovered Baby Mum Mums. I know, stupid name right? They are these little rice cakes that he can hold and feed himself without it breaking off, or making too big of a mess. And he loves it!

But now he wants to feed himself everything. I have had to opt for allowing him to hold onto the spoon as I try to direct it into his mouth, which is easier said than done. Thus the peas on the front of his shirt even though he was wearing a bib.

Eddie's First Thanksgiving

Eddie had his first Thanksgiving last week. And I forgot the camera and the video camera. But I can tell you he sure looked cute in his onesie that said "My First Thanksgiving" on it. Eddie was even kind enough to nap during the Turkey lunch so I could eat.
We went up to Montana to spend Thanksgiving with my family. The Cardall's had their get together the Sunday before. So it was a fun trip getting to see my family again so soon. Eddie overall did really well on the trip other than refusing to sleep. He wanted to be involved in everything going on. Therefore, our first night back home, Eddie slept almost 14 hours, then napped another 5 the following day.Sleep deprived? I think so. But I can't blame him, Montana is just too exciting to miss a single minute of it!

Visit to Montana

Dan was out of town last weekend hunting for Elk so Eddie and I decided to venture to Montana for a visit. I left at 4am hoping that Eddie would sleep most of the way. It worked well on the way up, coming home was not so good. But we had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Merg. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend.

This picture was not taken this past weekend, but over Halloween weekend when we went to visit Dan's grandparents on Al's side. This is Eddie's great grandma Nedra Cardall. I thought it would be neat for him to have this picture with his great grandma someday.

Baby Proofing Here We Come

This video was taken 4 days ago, so a week shy of Eddie turning 5 months. I thought he was actually going to crawl. Just a matter of time now.

Look Whose Talking Now

5 Months Old

Eddie will be 5 months old tomorrow and I can hardly believe it. He is growing so fast and progressing even faster. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he crawls and walks earlier than normal. I decided to take some pictures and video to show how far he has come in just a few short months. He is a whole new kid from not only 2 months ago, but even last week.

He has been eating solid food for almost a month now. We have worked our way through almost all of the first baby foods. So far all has gone well except for the bananas. They are supposed to be the most liked of the baby food, but Eddie makes a horrible face and spits it out every time. I have found that I need the bib more than he does. The other day he had just gotten a big mouthful of squash when he sneezed...all over me. I was covered from my glasses to my waist. He thought it was funny.