Eden at 22 months

its summer and every spare moment i have these days, when im not at work or keeping things going at home or working my business, is spent outside with this little miss.  a few weekends back we spent a slow, sticky morning picking strawberries with our friends at a picturesque berry farm.  there are way too many photos, i know.  but i could not stop clicking with all the sweetness going on.

we are rounding third base on the year and eden will be two in no time at all.  she is speaking in more complete phrases, a mix of english and kinyarwanda with a few french and japanese words thrown in. she has been calling me 'yaruh' lately, seemingly amused that she has figured out the name that everyone BUT her calls me.  anytime i ask her where daddy is, she responds that he is in the car, at work, or playing the drums.  in her mind, those are the only things that ever explain his absence.

she is more and more social, if possible.  she shouts hello to children on the opposite side of the street, she loves to fist bump, she loves looking at and touching babies, and she delights in any water activities.  she is also really fast and can run/gallop around for a long time before feeling winded.  and she loves her fancy hat and her friend sloane.

without a doubt, eden is more exhausting than ever.  she talks non stop (wonder where she gets that), she has an opinion about everything, she has endless energy and she has a very strong will.  but i think that this is my favorite age so far.  she is turning into this complex and unique little personality and i love getting to help her figure out who she is.  

every night before bed, she curls up in my lap and says 'pay'.  so i start 'dear God, thank you', and then she rattles of names of loved ones and other gibberish that i assume refers to things in her day.  then i finish with 'in Jesus' name' and she exclaims 'aaaameeee'.  i know she does not really know what she is doing, but i hope that she will soon, and that she will always take that much joy in praying.  robert and i feel like the most fortunate people in the world to be trusted with the incredible task of teaching her right and wrong and all the very most important things there are to learn.