Eden has become our little parrot. She will repeat all sorts of things we ask her to. We are also discovering that she will repeat things we do not ask her to as well.

Much of Eden’s speech is still that – all her own – and we have to try and decipher what she means. The other day I could not figure out what she was saying. Then I realized she was repeating something I say quite often (when ever something doesn’t go quite how I wanted it to or expected it to). Eden was saying “Bummer dude!” I am glad that is the phase she has decided to pick up.

We are also working on using this parroting thing for listening skills and disciplining. Maybe I am just brainwashing her. I have been telling her something like “this is the last time we will swing” when she doesn’t acknowledge that I said something I continue “say, ‘okay mama'”. It seems to be working pretty well.

It is amazing what a swing set can do for a young girl. It encourages practicing counting, reciting the alphabet and learning the proper usage of the word “please”.

Eden loves our neighbors. She tried to follow our neighbor Tanner over the back wall. She found the spot in the yard with the ungrounded chain-link fence panel and CRASH! After the shock of it all she was just fine until we noticed a “more than a scratch” wound on her head over her right ear. I got a call at work where Elisa told me that her head was gashed open but wasn’t bleeding. We decided to play it safe and went to urgent care. They glued her up and told us to keep it dry for 24 hours.

Don’t get me wrong, it was no walk in the park. Eden was scared. She kept asking for loves. And even when the doctor was out of the room, she stuck to me like a baby monkey. As soon as she knew they were finished, she was just fine again. She even said thank-you.

That evening before bed we were enjoying the cool evening weather on the porch. I was enjoying holding Alden, Chad was working on the playset and Eden was experimenting with dirt propulsion. Eden proved to be quite fascinated with throwing the dirt up in the air and letting it rain down on her. She was filthy! Then I realized it–I wasn’t supposed to get her head wet for another 18 hours or so! OOPS!

We did the best we could with a wet washcloth (her scalp was caked with dirt) and planned to throw jammies and her freshly cleaned sheets back in the wash after her night of sleep.