Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas

This was by far one of my favorite Christmases!! I think there were a lot of reasons, but mots importantly because of the newest edition to our family. We had so much fun with our little man this year. I took tons of pictures!! However, one again, we're currently in the car headed out of town, so I'll work on posting pics later. I also have high hopes of documenting (through picture) all of Kaden's gifts so we can share and give thanks through the blog, but I don't want to make any promises. I'll leave you with this. After travel to Dallas & back, and attending 5 family Christmases, 1 church service, and our own Christmas, this is how I found Kaden & Daddy Christmas night about 9:00pm.


Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 
from our family to yours!


We hope this Christmas is filled with all the joy of our Savior's birth! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

7 Months

I know I'm a little late on this post. OK, about 2-3 weeks late. But we've been so busy with the hustle & bustle of Christmas, this blog post just kept being pushed to tomorrow's to-do list. We're currently in the car traveling from Dallas back home, and thanks to the wireless card we have internet. So, here's the long awaited 7 month post.
Stats: 
At Kaden's 6 month check-up, he was 16lbs, 10oz and 25.75 in long (25th percentile for both). Dr. said he's slowed in his growing, but he's doing just fine developing so there are no worries. I haven't done an unofficial home weigh-in in a while, and we're currently on the road for Christmas. I'll try to do that soon!

 Sleeping Habits: We're improving in the sleep area. Micah & I decided to start the cry out method. For future children, we will know that when the Dr. tells us to start at 2 months we should listen to him. I just couldn't do it. We tried a couple times, but I would break down. So we decided to try again a couple of weeks ago. The first night we put him down about 9:00 and he cried for about 20 min before he fell asleep. However, he slept unto 7:30 the next morning! I was sold!! It's still hard. Sometimes he goes right to sleep, sometimes he still fights it. And now he can pull himself up to standing, so he fights it even more. We discovered he could pull himself to standing one night when after he fell asleep Micah went to check on him. We do that every night because sometimes his arm is through a bar, his head is on the bumper, or he's all twisted. This particular night, Micah walked in to check and he was sleeping in a standing position with his hands & head rested on the side rail of his crib. It was then we knew it was time to lower the crib mattress. Nap time has also improved. I can usually get him to take 2 naps that are an hour to and hour and a half. As well as a couple that are 30-45 min. 
 Eating Habits: 
Kaden's eating habits have been changing a little. I still nurse at each meal. That hasn't changed. However, we've been exploring more table foods. Things we can mush up. Mashed potatoes, carrots, beans & rice, bread, etc. He's getting to where if he can see "big people" food, he's not gonna eat his baby food. He'll push it away in hopes that mommy & daddy will share whatever we're eating. And typically we do. Also, I started buying teething snacks & baby sacks. He LOVES those!! And they're a lifesaver to have at restaurants. He's getting really good at being able to pick them up and eat them himself. We've tried several flavors in snacks banana, sweet potato, cinnamon maple & cheddar. His first top tooth has just started poking through, so I think sore gums have been affecting his eating a little bit.

 New Tricks:
 Kaden is on the move. He crawls, he sits, and his newest trick is pulling himself up on the furniture, stairs, crib....whatever he can. He can pull himself up to standing, but getting back down to crawling & sitting is harder. Usually he just topples over. I have to stay really close to try to keep him from crashing down each time he starts climbing. But he doesn't like being restrained. He likes to be able to be down and moving around. He's "talking" and laughing alot these days. I think we hear "dada" but I don't think he realizes he's saying it yet. We're also working on the bye bye hand motion, but it's definitely still a work in progress!
  Dr. Visits: 
We haven't been to the Dr. since we went back for Kaden's 6 month shots. Our next scheduled appointment isn't until 9 months. Hopefully that'll be the next time we see the Dr. However, he's been tugging at an ear, so we may be back sooner. I know sometimes that can be related to teething, but we're not going to chance it if he keeps tugging.
  General Observations: 
We're loving every day with our little guy. He keeps us on our toes. We can't turn our backs for a second. He's still very much a mamma's boy which bothers some people, but it's to be expected since I'm a stay at home mom & he still nurses. Hopefully when we begin weaning him, he'll be a little more comfortable around other people. He loves it when his daddy gets home in the evenings. Usually by then we've just had about enough of each other, I'm trying to cook/clean, he's fussy & wants to be held. When he hears the door open, he gets really excited to see dad! As I mentioned earlier, he's working on getting his first top tooth (3rd tooth total), so he's been a little more drooly & fussy than normal lately. We love every day with Kaden, & love to see the new tricks each new day brings.







Monday, December 12, 2011

Kaden Meets Santa--Take 2


Last Friday my parents took off from work to spend the day shopping. It's one of their many annual traditions. The past few years I've taken off work & joined them. This year I didn't have to take off. Kaden & I tagged along. As we were walking through the mall, I noticed Santa didn't have a line. I couldn't decide if I wanted to pay to have his picture taken. We hadn't planed to visit Santa that day. We went through a few more stores, and I decided if there was no one in line when we passed back by, we'd stop. I guess it was meant to be. We walked right up to Santa. I wasn't sure how K would act. He had just woken up from a nap, and wasn't freely handing out smiles. But, as you can see, he did good. The camera lady had some jingle bells, and that made him happy. I'm glad we stopped. His smile was worth it! We never really did Santa growing up, and we haven't decided if we'll do it with K yet, but it makes for a cute picture!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Kaden's First Meeting with Santa

Yesterday Kaden & I "chaperoned" another field trip with my mom. We went to the health museum in Houston. Santa & Mrs. Clause were there. I wasn't sure how Kaden was going to react to Santa. He didn't seem to mind too much. I think he was more interested in the teddy bear Mrs. Clause gave him. I didn't get any smiles...but I didn't get any screams either. 

 I think Santa was very excited to see Kaden. The museum was hosting Special Ed & Life Skills classes. Santa had just had a big group of teenagers take turns sitting on his lap. I think my little 7 month old was a nice break...and relief for his leg. :) He wanted Grammy to get into the picture too!
 He also wanted one with me & Grammy, but that didn't really turn out. Kaden was reaching for me. There was a long line & my camera isn't the easiest to turn over to a stranger and explain, so we took the ones we got, and moved on with the field trip. 
 The Christmas tree had ornaments on it that blew bubbles. Kaden was fascinated by the bubbles. He wanted to catch them so bad!!
 It looks as thought he's trying to eat the tree. Not so!! He's just trying to catch the bubbles.

 We couldn't get a smile cause he was too preoccupied with the bubbles. 

As always, we had a good time with the kiddos in mom's class! We love "chaperoning!"

Friday, December 2, 2011

It's official...the tree is up!

Sunday night we put our tree up. My sister & a couple kids from the church came to help. We also had another special helper. This is the first time I've EVER had a fake tree. I've always had real trees. However, I think artificial trees are so much prettier when they're decorated...and easier to decorate. We decided to go ahead a by an artificial one, and when Kaden gets a little older, we'll go pick a real one to put in our game room that will be our "family tree."


 Here's our cute little helper. 

 And again...he's helping! 



 He's so fascinated with the tree!


 Micah was the official fluffer. He made sure there were no holes or gaps. He has good patience for that type of thing. I was ready to just throw on the ornaments!

 Almost finished....just need the star!




 And now we tree to pick off the ornaments. That's the game we've been playing lately.
Here he's trying to get the ornaments off of Papa & Grammy's tree.

Lunch Time

Last weekend, Aunt Daisy & Serena came over after church to help us decorate our tree. While they were here, it was lunch time for Kaden. They wanted to feed him. I think Daisy was in charge of feeding, and Serena had the camera. Contrary to the pictures, he did manage to get some food in his mouth...I think. Either way, they all had a good time. I foresee future babysitters!