They say it's your birthday!

Today is Caden's first birthday! Nope, he didn't fall off the face of the earth, but our family has been so busy for the past 7 months I just haven't had the opportunity to update his blog. So here's a little of what we've been up to:

Caden definitely has a word for "Doggy." He says it every morning when he sees them for the first time but rarely repeats it throughout the day. I swear he said "thank you" the other day, but I'm probably just crazy. He points at things and says "Da!" which we think sounds like "that" and holds things up and says "Di!" which could be "this"?? I expect to hear "up," "down," "Daddy," "yes," (and "no") soon!

He can walk! He started the week of Halloween, first taking a few steps, then trucking everywhere he could go without having to turn or step over something. I bought him some super cute slippers to help him keep his footing on our wood floors at home and he's pretty much on the go non-stop these days.

He eats almost everything we do now - peanut butter & jelly sammies, pasta with white sauce, and even pizza! His favorites are cheese and bread. We're still trying to avoid sweets so he gets graham crackers from time to time and sweet and yummy yogurt, but that's about it.

He takes two naps per day and sleeps from 8:00pm - 7:00am every night.

He enjoys bath-time, especially the bubbles, but still doesn't like diaper changes. We'll be working on potty learning in the spring, so wish us luck!

He doesn't play with "toys" very much, be he loves to play with other stuff, like the remote, or your phone, and enjoys ripping up the mail or other scrap paper. He loves to turn the pages of his books.

Growing, growing, growing!

Caden weighs 15lb 9oz now! I took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday to have his circumcision looked at because it has re-adhered on one side. The doctor didn't seem concerned, but we still are. She recommended a treatment that we're trying, hoping we don't have to visit the urologist!

Caden has been learning so many new things lately! I can tell when he's about to do something new when he has cranky days and this week has been a pretty cranky week! But, now he's sucking his thumb, has rolled over from back to front, twice, and is consistently and intentionally grabbing his toys hanging above him! It's amazing watching his face when he's trying to do something new. He purses his lips and furrows his brow as he concentrates. You can almost see the steam coming out of his ears! And when nothing happens it just drives him crazy! He's achieved so many new things this week all I care about now is getting back to our napping routine!

3 Months Old!

We had our first real Georgia snow last weekend! Tripp and I have been living in Athens since 2005 and have NEVER seen snow like this. We got about 7 inches after 3 days of rain, so even the University was closed on Monday! Unfortunately, the snow was so heavy and wet it ended up causing quite a bit of tree damage in our subdivision and around Athens. We lost our power at 5pm on Sunday and didn't see the light again until after 11pm Monday night. It was cold and dark, but we survived. Caden is surprisingly adaptable and didn't seem to notice any difference!

Caden has really been busy this month! I had to return to Merial for a few weeks (just one to go, woohoo!) so he's been at a friend's house for two weeks. Maggie is the sweetest mama we know and actually offered to keep him so I could work. He's been an absolute doll the entire time and has really made us proud, but it sure will be so nice to have him all to ourselves again after today! Tripp is off for Spring Break next week, so he and Caden will get to spend a lot of good quality time together.

Caden has his first round of vaccines February 10. It was a pretty traumatic experience for all three of us and has helped me understand why some parents are so determined to get all those vaccinations at once - seeing your little one stuck with a needle and watching them react is heartbreaking. And because we are using an "extended" vaccine protocol, we have to go back every month, rather than every few months, for more vaccines. Ugh. Thankfully, Caden recovered quite well and has shown no side effects whatsoever.

Caden is talking more and more lately. Well, maybe not talking exactly, but definitely babbling. He loves to share with us during diaper changes and in the car. It's really quite funny, but he tends to get quiet when I get the camera ready, so I haven't been able to catch any conversations yet. But I'll keep trying!

There are lots of new photos in Caden's first gallery including Tripp's portrait at six months for comparison. Caden is growing so fast I have trouble getting shots before his whole body seems to change! I'm also taking video when I can, so keep an eye on my YouTube page to see him in action.

Caden is 2 months old!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted last... Bad Mommy!

So many things have happened since my last post. Caden had a really rough time there from about week 3-7. Every evening he would cry and fuss and nothing we did would calm him down until he literally passed out. Well, we finally decided we'd had enough and tried to figure out what was going on. After a few hours on Google and Amazon, we concluded that the little guy was just so tired he couldn't keep himself together and our attempts to soothe him only stirred him up more. So, two Fridays ago I committed to keeping him up for only an hour or so at a time, allowing him to sleep two or more hours in his Pack 'n Play. That night, he went to sleep, in his PnP at 7:30pm and didn't wake again until after 11. We fed him, changed him, and he fell right back asleep. He woke one other time during the night for the same routine, and we all slept better than we had in a long, long time.

Then, last Wednesday (5 days into our new "routine") he returned to his old, inconsolable self. It was the hardest day we'd had yet and I was beginning to question my ability to care for this tiny human. He cried or fussed all day long, he wouldn't sleep, he seemed to want to eat every 2 hours (instead of 3+) he wanted to be held constantly, but if I tried to sit still he'd cry. By the end of the day I was exhausted and my back was throbbing. I thought we'd never figure it out. But I did everything I could to give him what he needed, and on Thursday I swear to you he was a different person. His demeanor changed, his posture changed. He's been making eye contact for a while, but now he actually looks at you intently, like he's studying your every feature. And he's making sounds. He plays motor boat with us and likes to say "Oohhh" in response to us. Wednesday night he found his hand while lying on the changing pad. It really is fascinating watching someone learn things like that.

So, for the past week, things have been rather glorious (knock on wood) around here. Caden snoozes a few hours, eats, and then hangs out for 45 minutes to an hour. Then right back to sleep. When he's awake he is pleasant and cheerful, and he sleeps soundly and easily. Ahhh....

Caden's Grampa came for his first visit this past weekend. I was really excited to introduce him to my dad and they seemed to get along pretty well! I look forward to watching their bond grow as Caden becomes a young man.

I had my post-partum checkup last week. It's kind of weird being done with that part of my life. I was pregnant for so long, and then had the baby, and then I was recovering from the delivery. After 12 weeks at home with my baby I will be returning to work on February 23rd. I hate the thought of leaving Caden behind. I can't believe so many women go back to work after just SIX weeks. Crazy. But now it's all over - back to life as normal. Of course, now we have to think about the next one!

Did I say Growing Like a Weed?

Try, growing like a corn-fed linebacker - Caden weighed 12.16 pounds today! He weighs the same as his girl-baby-friend, Tucker, who was born in early November! Woo hoo!

I just had to post this picture of Caden sucking his thumb for the first time while waiting for his first bottle yesterday. The bottle-feeding went pretty well - Caden had 4 ounces and wanted more, so he ended up getting about 5 total. Not bad for a beginner! I guess this explains why he's such a hoss - I sure hope I can keep up!

Seems like forever!

Caden is officially one month old today! I apologize for not writing sooner; time just flies when you don't eat or sleep for days at a time! No, really, things are going pretty well. We really enjoyed having all last week to ourselves - Tripp had to work Caden's second week, but he was off all last week, so we had tons of quality "us time." We took down the Christmas tree and did some things around the house. And we rested. It was such a nice break from being home alone.

Caden is growing like a weed! I keep meaning to weigh him to get an idea just how much baby I'm hauling up and down the stairs 20+ times a day, but I haven't gotten a chance. All I can say for sure is he's big.

I started pumping yesterday so Tripp can help with a feeding or two a day. I think that will take a lot of pressure off of me, and also allow him some special Caden-Daddy time. I look forward to the time when I don't have to be present for every meal - maybe I will get to go to the movies again someday!

So far, nights and mornings have been going really well, but Caden seems to dislike the evenings. Right around 8pm, every night, for the past 2 weeks, he'll start fussing and there's not much we can do to comfort him until he falls asleep, exhausted, around 11. Even feeding him doesn't do the trick. We're getting better at dealing with it though - some jiggling, some walking, some back-patting. Whatever it takes to keep him calm. He especially loves to suck on one of our fingers, but even that doesn't calm him completely - as soon as you try to remove the finger it's open-mouthed, red-faced screaming. Bizarre. Needless to say, we're definitely looking forward to him growing out of this stage!

Passed out after an evening of screaming (Jan 3)

I'm trying to get out of the house a little more, but still don't like going too far or too long. One errand every other day or so seems to be all I can handle with the boy. I've made a few trips without him which have been much easier to do. There's something about the infant car seat and the diaper bag, and the baby that really make even the simplest trip infinitely harder.

I'm slowly updating the online photo album, so keep checking for new pics of our growing man. Click here to see the latest.

Merry Christmas!

We three made the trip to Alpharetta on Thursday and enjoyed a lovely Christmas Dinner with Caden's Meme and Papa, Aunt Ann and Ken. Caden was relatively well-behaved, but got a little cranky towards the end of the night. Fortunately we were able to enjoy dinner and I even had a glass of wine! Many thanks to Meme, Papa, and Ann for the lovely gifts!

Yesterday we gave Caden his first real bath! He was a trooper and didn't cry until we were all done and he started getting chilly. What a big boy!

Today begins what is sure to be an exciting week of College Football. Caden is looking forward to seeing his Hokies AND his Dawgs play January 1st. Thank goodness they're not on at the same time!