move over Gumby...

This week, my four year old, Eddie managed to squeeze a little, plastic food basket onto himself in a painful backpack style. Also, this may be one of my favorite pictures ever.

He immediately came to me for help. And I did help him, after chasing him around the house with the camera for a few quick pictures while cracking up. This only annoyed him a little bit.

I cringed for five minutes while we struggled to free Eddie from his plastic slammer. I was sure his little shoulder was going to dislocate while I carefully tugged and twisted his arms in every direction, his scapulae sprayed out like a pterodactyl while he grunted and occasionally giggled.

We finally freed him, at which point Eddie thought seriously about putting the basket back on his body. I quickly distracted him with a snack.

As a footnote, I keep thinking how appropriate it is that Eddie is nicknamed Eddie Spaghetti. If you have ever had the pleasure to pick him up/sit him down or physically manipulate him in any way you know that this kid is very NOODLEY. Insanely flexible, floppy and strong at the same time. He is impossible.

Being four has not made Eddie any more calm. He CANNOT walk, he runs or jumps or rolls everywhere. And most likely, if he has to walk down the hallway at our home, he will hit the floor 20 times and knock into two or three walls before he makes it from point A to point B. I constantly wonder if we should make him wear a helmet. Last time we went swimming, the lifeguard actually went to rescue Eddie a few times, as he flailed about the water, when he was actually just standing and playing. But, Eddie is all over the place, and I can understand how he might look a little out of control to someone who wasn't his Mom. It's close to impossible to get a picture of this kid where he is not in perpetual motion.

When Eddie was a newborn, he made me feel like a rookie parent. Had I forgotten how to hold a baby? I wasn't sure, but I couldn't figure out how to hold this little guy. He was constantly pulling his head away from me and stiffening his little body. Later we found out he had painful reflux, and medications helped a little. But Eddie has always been impossible to contain. You cannot hold him without head butt to the chin. You cannot hug him without a forehead to the sternum, and you cannot walk past him without a getting poked in the eye by some flailing extremity. Dave and I used to talk about inventing a straight jacket for babies, and naming it "The Eddie". I think it could be huge.

I love this little maniac. When he figures out what to with all his crazy energy, he is going to take something by storm.