Edmund is now 2 2/3 years old, which means that it is time for another update. It's fun for us to look back at his updates as parents, as well as to share them with our friends and family. Here are the highlights from the last four months, December 2013-March 2014.
 |
| brown eyes |
Edmunds looks are changing and he is looking more and more grown up. He is all large brown eyes, thick dark lashes, smooth pale cheeks, rounded forehead, turned up nose, and wispy light brown hair that sweeps to the side. His physique is characterized by long limbs, lean muscle, and a round head set upon his slender neck.
Edmund's normally quiet disposition has become more social, which has been a nice change. He is still a fairly shy child, especially when put into new situations where he is not comfortable. He is more eager to play with other kids rather than play around them. He constantly plays with baby brother, which is probably the biggest reason he has changed so much in this area. He also loves his play time at church and MOPS and especially enjoys his play dates with his friends. Edmund has become much more talkative and chatty and has lots to say. We typically understand what he is saying, although he does use words interspersed in his sentences that we are not sure what they mean. Luckily, the other words and context help us.
 |
| puzzles with noles |
 |
| hanging out with leah |
Despite loving his toys, Edmund's favorite thing to play with is Nathaniel. It is really sweet seeing them play together. Although, he will take toys from him, he more often gives Nathaniel toys to play with.
Edmund is becoming even more of his own individual, with his personality developing more every day. One of his primary character traits is that of a helper. Edmund was born to help and loves to help with pretty much everything. There is little that brings him more joy than being asked to help and being praised when he does well. He loves to help make dinner so mom asks him to make the salad dressing, which he now knows how to make himself (although mom helps him with pouring the olive oil and vinegar). He loves to help clean so he helps dust and vacuum, wipe up messes, fold laundry, and sweep.
 |
| rewards of helping make snow ice cream |
 |
| making scones |
The biggest change for us in the past four months is that Edmund is now potty trained (as of March 2). Can we get an Amen? We are so proud of him and so thankful for God answering our prayers in easing into the transition from diapers to undies. While he is still struggling a little with getting his pants and undies back up on his own, he is doing fantastic. He is even currently night time trained. It does mean lots of talk about poop and potty, specifically from Edmund, but we will take it over having to change diapers any day of the week.
Edmund loves routine. Although our schedule is flexible, sleep and meal times are pretty fixed and provide points in the day that Edmund expects. Edmund's typical schedule is to wake up around 7 and eat breakfast until 8. We do art, play in the play room, and read our bible in the morning unless we have MOPS, a play date, or music class. We eat lunch around 11:30, where Edmund gets to watch an episode of Blues Clues. Nap time is at 1:30 and Edmund wakes up around 4. He then helps out with making dinner, which is at 5:30. We then clean up and play until bedtime at 7:30.
Edmund's love of routine comes out the most at bedtime. His nighttime routine starts with a small cup of milk and stories, then he brushes his teeth, and goes potty one last time. We then pray together as a family and we let Edmund tell us what he wants to pray for. It typically includes - mommy, daddy, baby guy, milk, lamp, veggie tales, cookies, books, and all of our family and friends. Then we go upstairs and lay him down in his bed, turn on his lamp and turtle, and sing a few songs and tuck him in. All of those things need to happen, or he will cry and has a hard time going to sleep. We no longer have a door lock on the inside of his door to make sure he stays in his room because we feel he needs access to the bathroom in the night, in case he has to go. He actually has woken up and called for mom and asked her to come get him to go potty in the middle of the night. With this freedom also comes Edmund popping back down to us because he wants something silly like he doesn't want his lamb in his room with him anymore and he needs us to remove it. Luckily, it is more of the exception than the rule.
 |
| dreaming |
Edmund is a creature of habit, which is a mixed blessing when raising a child. It has made him fairly easy to discipline because he has a very strong sense of the rules and what is wrong and right. When we have told Edmund not to do something, he is very quick to let us know if Nathaniel is doing it and tries to stop him. It also means that he typically won't do things he's not supposed to, unless he is feeling obstinate. Or, when I relocated a vase in the living room, he kept putting back in its original location because he thought that is where it was supposed to go. We have found that taking items away and having him isolated in his room for breaks if he is upset have worked in currently disciplining him. We are sure we will have to change that over time.
Edmund has a beautiful musical and artistic nature. He loves coloring, painting, and drawing, which means that he does it most mornings while Nathaniel is napping. He gleefully shouts out the colors he is using and always wants mom color/paint with him. He loves playing almost any musical instrument he can get his hands on. Most evenings we have music time after dinner where dad plays his guitar and Edmund plays along on his harmonica or tin whistle, while mom helps Nathaniel drum or play the egg shaker. When we are not playing music together, Edmund can typically be heard singing to himself.
 |
| little artist |
 |
| cooking with play dough |
Edmund is not the most coordinated child. He used to fall down. A lot. Primarily when he would be running. But, now that he is getting older, he is gotten better at running. He now even plays basketball with dad and can throw and catch balls. He even makes baskets. It's pretty impressive.
The past months have been cold, which has meant lots of time spent indoors. We did get out to enjoy the snow when the weather wasn't too cold. Edmund loves to push his lawn mower and even more, to help shovel.
 |
| a winter walk |
 |
| proud shoveler |
 |
| playing in the sled |
With spring luckily approaching, the weather has given us pockets of warmer temperatures which has meant walks and trips to the park. Edmund has rediscovered his love for swinging and going down the slide. He still loves to pick up sticks and rocks, and we have gotten out his faithful treasure jar for him to put them in.
 |
| treasures |
Some other fun things we were able to do this past few months were the holidays with family.
 |
| at the zoo with the cousins |
He got to go on his first ride, which he really wasn't too sure about and held on for dear life.
 |
| first ride |
Edmund's favorites at this age:
Songs - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, You Are Holy (Michael W Smith), Paige's Train, Veggie Tales Theme Song
Food - Avocados, Strawberries, Raspberries, Chicken, Pasta, Olives, Capers
Shows - Blues Clues and Veggies Tales
Books - Moby Dick, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Bible
Sayings - There you go!, There she is! There's that mommy!, Quiet, baby guy's sleeping., Oh no!, No no baby guy!
Toys - Basketball Hoop, Any musical instrument, Thomas the Train set, Cars, Melissa and Doug cutting food set
Cooking - Stirring eggs, Making pancakes, Making salad dressing, Baking cookies, Measuring anything
Activities - Playing outside, Going on walks, Having play dates with friends, Painting, Playing with stickers, Snuggling in soft blankets, Watching Veggie Tales, Reading books, Playing with play dough
We are looking forward to the next few months, warmer weather, and the big 3.
-Eric and Anna
