Sugar, Spice, and Spunk!

Today Eden turned 7 months old. Seven months... I can't believe it. I know this feeling will only get more pronounced as she gets older, but I just feel like it was just yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital.

Now, she's pulling up on everything in sight, crawling anywhere she wants to go, eating all sorts of foods, making it clear which ones she likes and which ones she doesn't, and working on four teeth coming in!

She's also really started to express her personality-- and she is spunky. I believe she's going to be a climber. She seems to be a pretty tough little girl too. She doesn't seem too fazed by the bumps, bangs, and bonks that accompany a crawler exploring her world. And speaking of banging, she beats on everything she gets her hands on-- and hard! I mean, she really gives her toys and our table tops the what for!

But when she's sleepy, she wants her Mommy, or sometimes she'll agree to snuggle with Daddy while she sucks her fingers. Actually, last night at the dinner table all it took was a good filling of cereal and fruit mix and she fell asleep right in her high chair.

Things are otherwise plugging along in the Neely household. That's the news for now. We'll keep you posted.

Pretty as a Picture

Here are some pictures from Eden's first professional photo shoot at six months old. She did pretty well considering three wardrobe changes!

Leaps & Bounds

It has been a week of milestones and setbacks. This past weekend we traveled to Tampa to visit family for the Fourth of July. While we were there, Eden decided she would show off and pull herself up to standing for the very first time. And this after just last week when she decided to sit up and start crawling. I'm telling you, this little girl is ready to go, go, go!

When we got home, we noticed that her first tooth is also starting to come in. T-bone steaks, here we come! For the time being, I've posted a short video clip below of Eden getting her first taste of bananas. Kendall fed them to her while we were down this weekend.

Ok, so that's the good news. The bad news is that the amoxicillin that Eden was taking to fight off the ear infections in both ears gave her a delayed allergic reaction. When I went to pick her up from daycare yesterday, our fair-skinned little girl had turned into a red bumpy baby covered head to toe with a rash.

I took her to the pediatrician this morning and they said it is not a terribly uncommon reaction to the amoxicillin. Since her ear infections haven't cleared up yet, they put her on Cefprozil, another antibiotic that is another variation of a penicillin derivative. They also gave her some probiotics to clear up some of the other less mentionable digestive side effects of the antibiotics.

All in all, things are good in the Neely household. I've been trying to beef up my Web presence in preparation for the job search this year. I updated some stuff on LinkedIn and Twitter (ufjeff) and am trying to generally get a little more e-socially connected.

In that vein, I thought I'd also shamelessly self-promote my Web page in case any of you want to check it out. It's www.jeffreyneely.com. It's still in progress. I need to update and change a few things, but it's off to a decent start.

Kendall is doing well. She also continues to fight off the lingering crud of back-to-back colds. She seems to be on the mend now, so that's good.

That's the news for now. We'll keep you posted.

Busy summer

Things have been happening very fast here recently. Yesterday was a big day for Eden. It was the first time that we saw her "officially" crawl (i.e. arms and legs moving together in synchronized motion), and she sat herself up all on her own. I guess she just decided that there is a bunch of stuff out there that she needs to check out, so she might as well be on her way. Ah, how it pains a father's heart to think soon she'll have her knapsack packed and be hoppin' some northbound freight train to see what adventure lies before her. Ok, ok... so I'm a sucker for hyperbole.

And you know, judging by her chipper smile and sparkly-eyed coos, you'd never know that she had an ear infection in both ears. Yes, we took her to the doctor on Tuesday because she's had a lingering cough ever since her bout with a virus about a month ago. Like I say, she's been acting so cheery and eating well and playing happily, so I was surprised when Dr. Benton said her ears were infected. She's been on Amoxicillin for the last couple of days, and it seems to be working already, as her congestion seems to be clearing.

Things are extremely busy for Kendall at work right now. They're working with a skeleton crew, as about a third of her staff is out for one reason or another. Hopefully things will get back to normal when they're fully staffed again in August.

I am working on transcribing interviews for my dissertation. Data collection is done, so now it's a matter of analyzing it and getting it written up. I'll also be heading to Denver in August for the AEJMC conference, where I'll be presenting a paper and participating in the job placement "speed dating" meet-and-greet.

I'm also going to start trying to be a little more frequent with posting on this blog. Have I said that before? Well, I'm not making any promises, but I'm going to try.

Anyway, that's the news for now. We'll keep you posted. Here's a few recent pics.

Inchworm

So, as you can see from the video, Eden is definitely getting where she wants to go now. I don't know if it technically qualifies as crawling yet, but I think it may be hair-splitting at this point. She's sure keeping Henry on his toes, and Mommy and Daddy too! She has discovered that innate infant interest in anything that belongs to the family dog - food and water bowls, his dog-slobbery toys, and, of course, Henry himself. Watch out world, she's on the move!

Daddy Days...

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Faith Like a Child

I am learning daily the wonderment of life in everyday experience through my daughter's eyes. Oftentimes when Eden fusses, I will step outside with her for a few minutes and it is like a magic switch turns on. As soon as we walk out the door, she looks around like we have just stepped into Narnia.

It is amazing to see how she focuses with such wide-eyed, quiet excitement at two squirrels chasing each other around a tree trunk, the sunlight that dapples the ground through the leaves, or the feeling of a sudden breeze on her face. As I stood there with Eden in my arms a couple of evenings ago, looking at the sunset, I thought, "Dear God, let me learn how to appreciate your creation the way she does."

This week, Eden also learned the excitement of solid food. Okay, so I'm using the term loosely. She has been getting a teaspoon of organic brown rice cereal mixed with four teaspoons of Mommy's milk. But she definitely knows it's new and she likes it. She looks at that bowl of cereal slushy in much the same way Henry looks at his chicken strips - with concentrated eagerness.

She's getting the hang of the whole eating from a spoon thing too, considering she's only done it three times now. I think we've managed to get at least a few spoonfuls in her tummy as opposed to on her torso. She may not be ready for that fancy ballroom fundraising gala next weekend, but I suppose we can wait for her big social debut.

Another first this week was not so fun. We got a call from the folks at daycare on Wednesday who said she had a fever of 101. Then they called back a couple hours later and said it had risen to 102. I picked her up from daycare and by the time we got to the pediatrician's office, it had risen to a little over 103.

They ran a test for a bladder infection, which involved a catheter and would clearly be no fun for anyone. It was tough for a father to watch, too. Here was my little girl, pinned to an examining table, being poked and prodded, and her eyes full as Mason jars with tears as she cried not a horrid screech of terror, but a low, continuous whimper as if to say, "Daddy, please make them stop this." My eyes got a little full, too.

Thankfully, they ruled out the bladder infection and a blood test determined that it was a virus. So, Kendall's mom came up and watched Eden for the next couple of days, and she was pretty much back to normal by Saturday.

Other firsts this month include Eden's first plane ride - a trip to St. Louis to see her great grandparents and other relatives - her first chance to celebrate Mother's Day and her first birthday present to Mommy - a trip to Build-a-Bear so that they could build their own special bunny together.

Summer is starting to make an appearance here in Gainesville, and with it we are starting to feel the early waves of that sticky, sweltering, swamp mist that pervades every cubic inch of air. I have a feeling we may seek some respite in the grandparents' swimming pools when we go to Tampa for our occasional weekend visits. As you can see from the picture, Eden had a great time in the pool a few weeks ago at Meme and Grandpa's.

Today, however, the weather in Gainesville was actually quite nice. We decided to spend the holiday getting a little exercise and took a walk around campus. Eden enjoyed strolling along, taking in the sights and sounds. Henry enjoying leaving his mark on the occasional tree, bush and street sign.

This is my last year in the Ph.D. program at UF, which means that come next summer, we will almost certainly be moving. Where we will go, only the Lord knows right now. But this much is certain; I know He has a plan for our family and it is better than we can ask or imagine. We'll know what we need to when we need to. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy each day with my family and try to see the world with the same mesmerized wonder as my five-month old girl.

That's the news for now. We'll keep you posted.