musing at the end of the day

Easter is just ending and i am finishing up my spring break, along with a glass of red wine. spring break always comes at just the right time. when winter has been long and its been months since Christmas and summer is still too far away. i love that the week is bookended by palm sunday and easter which does even more to set it apart.

and Lord knows i was needing this break. for some reason (likely the grueling combination of winter, work, the month of genocide memorial, the seemingly infinite unknowns in our near future...) i have had this blue hanging over me for a few months now that i just can't seem to shake. it is exacerbated by the incredibly clingy-fussy-needy thing that eden is doing these days. its sweet that i am all she wants, but sometimes it feels a little maddening when she won't be satisfied in anyone else's arms. and even when i am holding her it seems that she cannot get close enough to me to suit her. she buries her face into my chest and just burrows in as much as she can. i hear that this is when babies learn to fear, as they are becoming mobile and realizing that they can get hurt. i hope you learn not to be afraid soon eden. but then again, i know i will miss all this preferential treatment.

anyways, i spent time with my family in durham for half of the week and was reminded, again, what a gift it is to be able to see my family regularly and what a responsibility i have to love and serve them well. i think i am too content sometimes in my familial relationships, taking them for granted and assuming that they need very little maintenance. i am resolved to be purposeful in loving my family well.

eden grew up in leaps and bounds while we were down south. she is now much more proficient at putting food in her mouth (previously she had just been banging it into her face and missing nearly every time), pulling up and standing with only one (or sometimes no) hands holding on, lightening crawling...

it was like she wanted to show off for gramma and papa.

eden with papa and uncle dave

we got in a quick visit with cousin kathy

florence was a little scared of eden, for good reason.

play nice cousins

my sister and niece

eden loved all the time she got with gramma j. watching my mother and my daughter just feels so complete, and so appropriate.

and gramma j has the magic touch with eden, that is for sure

eden also got some time with aunt emily who was visiting from washington state

eden and aunt elise love each other so much!

like i said, she was all over the place the whole time we were down there

one of the coolest parts about our time was watching this mama and papa blue bird feed their babies. every time they went into the bird house with food we could hear a chorus of cheeps.