a day in the life: eden at 18 months

This little girl's got our hearts. She's 1.5 years old today, and we're gonna celebrate it because its the last big milestone before 2! In honor of our little firecracker, I compiled some images over the last few days to create a sort of glimpse into her daily toddler life. I can't stress enough how important it is to take photos of your family in your home. I'm so glad that I have these real and raw moments to look back on and remember our little apartment and this time in Eden's life. Lifestyle documentary photography for. the. win. ANNYWAYSS. You came for the pictures.



When Eden wakes up in the morning, I bring her into our room to snuggle (Travis is usually gone by then). We cuddle in mommy's bed and then she usually tells me to get up. She likes to watch the morning bustle outside our window.

We head to the kitchen when Eden says 'eat?'. Her usual fare is scrambled eggs and half of a toast, with a side of fruit. 50% of her food usually gets rubbed into her hair or stuck in various crevices. 

She's doing well learning how to use a fork and spoon, but reverts back to using her hands when she wants to shovel it in.

She's started doing this fake cheesy smile occasionally when she sees someone taking her picture.

We usually stay in our jammies for a little while after breakfast and just hang out. Eden likes to be a part of whatever I do- she helps with chores and puts on bags and jewelry. 

 And she also sees me with my camera constantly. In order to avoid the tantrums that happen when I don't let her hold my fragile gear, I let her play with my Holga. I love the way she holds it backwards. In a few years I'll put some film in it and see what she makes from it :)

 

The best views of the garbage trucks (going to the bathtub factory next to our building) are from the kitchen window.

After awhile we get dressed and Eden gets her hair done. We've been getting creative with the pony tails to see which styles stay in longest and keep all her hair up. This triple thing seems to work the best. Eden distracts herself with books while I wrangle her hair.

Goodnight, Moon: Shhh.
Eden is so loving and sweet to her baby dolls. My mom has taught her how to rock, shush, pat, change, and burp her babies. She is always holding them on her shoulder and singing to them, haha! Such a cute little mommy.

Eden randomly says "nap" and drops wherever she is and pretends to fall asleep.

 We enjoy time outside when its not too hot. Eden likes to sit in her little red chair on the balcony and read her books.

She picks anything and everything small off the floor, and if she deems it as garbage, she runs up to me and says "EEEEWW". And then goes to put it in the trash can. :)

She is very smart and has learned a lot of the letters and their sounds already (thanks to my preschool teacher mom). Obviously, her favorite letter is E and when she pretends to read, the letter E is very prominent.

Sometimes I have her watch songs or cartoons while I try to get something done. Her favorite is 'if you're happy and you know it.'

We've spent a lot of time together the past few months with me being out of school and not working, and Travis starting his 3rd year of medical school. It can be challenging to stay at home with her all day, but I love that we're best friends too.

Toddler meltdowns are a regular thing.

It's the best time of the day when I say "time to go bye bye!" Eden rushes around making sure everyone has their shoes on. Usually we go to see one of her grandmas/aunts and she loves them dearly.

 She's very good and waits for me at the top of the stairs until she can hold my hand.

Lately she's obsessed with balls of any kind, and always has to inspect the little orange berry 'balls' that fall from the trees in our parking lot.

<3

It's hit or miss with car rides, sometimes she's a champ for hours and sometimes after 5 minutes something is 'ow' and we have to stop and figure out what is bothering her. She thinks its funny to sit anywhere other than her car seat and pretend that she's big.

We love grandma. My mom is home most of the time which is awesome, and Eden loves visiting all her toys and "Ree" (my sister Raegen).

She usually crashes in the afternoon and takes a good nap, which I'm grateful she still does. She's like 12 times happier when she wakes up, if that's possible.

Tummy sleeper.

Just casually leaning over her crib.

Her favorite word is wa-wa. (water)

She kisses everything, which is the cutest thing to witness.

Anything that has a connection to her, like her toys, her food, her chair, etc., is referred to as 'Eden'. She recently learned how to say her name so now she points to things that belong to her and then points to herself and says EDEN.

When we come home for the day, daddy is usually there or just pulling in. Eden pretends to hate him but she really just likes to tease him and be teased. There's not a more loving daddy than Travis. Love watching these two together <3

When we arrive in the house, at some point we are invited to sit in the window sill together. Eden will sit and then wherever we are in the house, she will call us: "Mommy? Dada?" and when we come, we are instructed to get 'up' and sit on either side of her. 

We all eat dinner together and its a fun time. She eats whatever we're having for the most part, and dinner is filled with lots of "MMMM, NUMMY!"s. Eden also loves to fold her hands and squeeze her eyes shut for the dinner prayer, and often reminds us to do so. 

After dinner, Eden takes a bath if needed and gets ready for bed. Her hair is awesome at the end of the day and is usually molded into the shape of her pony tails. She gets a good laugh in the mirror when we show her.

 She has to do lotion all by herself.

She has the cutest little toothbrush and she's pretty good at brushing by herself. Although she asks incessantly for more "wa-wa" on her toothbrush.

 She thinks she's cute.

When we've finished washing up, we get jammies on and read some books.

 Afterwards, its lights out and we snuggle in her room for a while before putting her in bed. Some nights are more of a struggle than others but she sleeps pretty well through the night and we can't complain. I always say that our next kid is probably going to be a demon because Eden is literally the best kid ever- she is so sweet and happy and very obedient for such a young age. We love 18 month old Eden and we can't wait to watch her grow up. (I'm mostly really excited for her to go to nursery at church now :))