Hanging out with Eden

I'm loving Eden's age at the moment! She's just such a fun little person to be around and I feel very privileged to be in the position that I'm in, where I spend pretty much 24/7 with her, bar the odd day here and there when I take off my Mummy hat and put on my Dietitian hat.

Eden's 21 months old now, she's always been a social little person, but as she grows up and her language develops I'm so enjoying the new interactive conversations and experiences that we have. Yesterday is a good example. After the usual morning wake-up routine and breakfast, Eden pulled out her music box and we had a fun half an hour singing songs and banging drums. Eden now 'marches' to the Grand Old Duke of York (the cutest thing ever), does a lot of the actions (with an abundance of enthusiasm) to many nursery rhymes and songs, and fills in the last word of each line in our fave drumming book 'Skunka Tanka'.

We popped to the shops yesterday morning, not a tear or tantrum in sight. We chatted away about what we were buying - a few last minute things for Daddy's birthday, and shared a lovely girlie shopping trip together.

After her lunch and nap, we got the paints out. Eden helped with the preparation, insisting on carrying the paintbrushes and painting shower curtain/floor covering into the lounge. We had such a fun time painting together, with no frustrations from the little person arising - something I've learnt through practice. Filling a small trug with warm soapy water was a great way to draw the activity to a close - Eden washed the paintbrushes, while I washed her legs and hands, and then we both carried the trug into the kitchen to empty. Allowing Eden to help with preparations and clearing up really helps avoid her getting frustrated and upset.

The funniest moment of the day was when Daddy arrived home from work. We'd bought a chocolate cake earlier in the day to celebrate, and as it was only little I though Eden would love to be the one to carry it in to him (candle unlit of course). She proudly and carefully carried it with 2 hands the short walk from the kitchen to lounge. Unfortunately, she tripped just in the doorway, and cake, candle and 'Happy Birthday' decoration ended up on the floor. It was so difficult to keep a straight face, especially as Eden very seriously and unfazed tried to stick the candle back onto the cake before continuing her walk, bless her. 2 minutes later we were all tucking into a slice each, and with me sitting on the floor, Eden was giving me a side hug, hand on my shoulder, so grown-up!

Throw in a few proud mummy moments yesterday too - Eden through her colouring and toy kitchen play now knows the colours orange, green, pink, red and (nearly) blue. She also told us on 3 occasions that she needed to use her potty. Up until now we've been sitting her on regularly which has been working fine, but we've been looking forward to this next step.

As always with little ones, every day brings new developments, and I love hanging out with my own little lady.