Fresh Air = Happy Baby

When Eddy was a newborn, she wasn't very human-like. She was more along the lines of a puppy, but even more helpless. Of course, having never given birth or reared said human-puppy before, I really didn't know what to expect as far as when she would start acting more humanoid, or what her preferences in life would be, or what baby development even looked like.

When we were preparing for her arrival, we got the standard things like toys, clothes, some furniture, etc. There were a few items that we acquired not really knowing how important they would be in Eddy's early life. Here are the top 5:

1) High Contrast Picture Cards - I had heard that babies like super contrasty black and white drawings because that's all their little eyes and brains can process in the bright outside world in the very beginning. Well, they're right. Eddy has been pretty enthralled by them since a few days into her life and continues to be over 4 months later. Awesome.

2) Books - I am an educator/teacher. So naturally, my child will have an extensive library. But I used to think, come on, how much can an infant enjoy a book? A lot, it turns out. I've been reading to her for a couple months now and she really enjoys the pictures and, I think, our voices reading aloud. She's even now started reaching out to touch the pictures. So. Damn. Cute.

3) Hanging Toys - We got an infant/toddler chair that vibrates thinking it would help with naps. It has, to an extent, but it has now morphed into a piece of entertainment more than anything else. See, it came with a bar of hanging plastic thingies, one of which is an elephant that sings a little song when pulled. At first, even though they were hanging IN HER FACE, she didn't even notice them. Then about 2 months ago, that completely changed. Her eyes discovered them first, and she's steadily been working to grab them ever since. She has just started being able to pull the elephant and start the song herself, which pleases her greatly. We also have another toy that's a bar with a koala and butterfly that just hangs over her while she's laying down which is pretty cool too. So, in conclusion, hanging toys are awesome. Who knew?

4) Crinkly Tag Blankets - A friend and coworker of mine so generously gave me one of these for Christmas. I had never heard of them before but after I opened it I was informed about how amazing they were. I shrugged and took their word for it. I think we have yet to see its full potential, but this is definitely one of Eddy's favorite things. She likes rubbing it on her face and feeling the crinkles in her mouth. Once again, adorbs.

5) NATURE - This one makes my heart swell with pride with feelings of "that's my girl!" Eddy does not like to be cooped up in the house all day. Though the sun tends to be a little bright for her, she really likes being outside. She will sit on our laps for quite a while, content to feel the breeze on her face and watch the tree branches blowing around or listen to the birds do their thing. We have started spending about a half an hour to an hour each afternoon swinging on our front porch waiting for Shawn to get home. Any fussiness can generally be cured by a little jaunt outside. She really likes going on walks too. I salivate thinking about all the different nature adventures we're going to go on.

Babies. They're fascinating, aren't they?

Here comes the cuteness!

She loves sucking on that toucan.

Hanging out outside on 4th of July.

Major giggles for Bubba.