November...

Maybe I should make this a monthly blog...

November was busy. Caden turned three on November 5. It is amazing. I had about two weeks of telling people he was two before I remembered that he was actually three. His birthday fell on Monday, and we had to work of course, so we woke up that morning and sang him Happy Birthday. That night, we gave him his birthday present, the tee-ball set we had bought him. Then he was able to play it for a few minutes before the sun went down.

We also took Caden to Nemo on Ice on November 3rd for his birthday. He absolutely loved it. He watched the people skate around and loved it. He thought it was great. The seats were a little bit high, and I almost had an anxiety attack getting to them!!! Luckily, the arena was not sold out, so we were able to move down. We got out of there only spending $30 on useless toys that cost $5 to make and lasted about 2 days once we brought them home. Not bad, considering we only paid $15 for our tickets.

After Finding Nemo, we went to The Cheesecake Factory with my friend Cecilia. It was good, and Caden thoroughly enjoyed his bananas and ice cream sundae. We saw a man propose to a woman while we were there, and she accepted! It was funny, because all the waiters and people in the restaurant were watching them out the window (they were sitting on the terrace).

On November 10 we had Caden's birthday party. Rob's Mom came down for it, and Caden loved seeing his Grandma. We also bought Caden his Big Boy bed, which he loves. The party was great. We had a few people over, a lot of food and cake. The kids all ran around outside and played with chalk and play-doh. The weather was wonderful for November--in the 70s! Couldn't ask for a better day.

Caden, of course, missed his nap. After everyone left he opened all his presents and then quickly fell asleep on my lap. He didn't even realize that he was sleeping in a new bed until he woke up in the middle of the night!!!

Our biggest accomplish of the month has been POTTY TRAINING!!! As you can tell I am extremely excited about this!!! The week before Thanksgiving I put him in underwear and we never looked back. Even with a trip to the zoo and a birthday party that weekend we managed to pull it off with just a few accidents. By the next weekend he wasn't having any accidents! We are so excited!!!

Thanksgiving in Nashville was great too, and Rowan is growing like a weed. We missed Kelsey and Chris and their families, but it was wonderful to see Aunt Susan and Gigi and all my cousins and their families. Caden loved Megan who is nine, and followed her around and wanted her to pick him up all the time!!! He also played great with Corbin.

Now the month is wrapping up, and its almost time for Christmas...time to get started on the shopping!

Three Years of Caden...

Caden will be three on November 5...Monday. I cannot believe it. I was looking through my photo albums online, and I thought I'd post some pictures of him over the years.

It is hard to believe that he has been here for 3 years. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. I woke up at 5 AM that morning having contractions. I told Rob that he could go to work, because most likely it would be awhile. I called my Mom, who was upset, because her plane wasn't flying in until the next day. By 2:30 in the afternoon, Rob and I had a mostly bald 7 pound 11 oz little boy. Luckily, my Mom was able to get an earlier flight the next day, so she was able to see her new grandson before he was even 24 hours old.

The first year flew by. Between the sleepless nights, the constant diaper changes, the first smiles and giggles--before we knew it Caden was 1 year old. A lot happened that year. We moved so that I could stay home. Rob got a new job. Caden just grew in leaps and bounds. By six months he was crawling and right around his first birthday he started walking! He would say "All done," around 10 months because he just didn't like to eat. This picky-ness is still a part of his personality, and I attribute it to the fact that Rob is such a picky eater. We had a big birthday that year, with about 25 of our closet friends and relatives and their CHILDREN. It was wild, and Caden unfortunately was not in the best mood. We did realize on his first birthday though that Caden LOVED sugar. He had a cake which was his first taste of processed sugar, and since that time he hasn't turned back.

Caden's second year was full of changes too. We had a great time doing playgroups, story time and meeting lots of great people. We met some of our best friends during that year--some whom I thought Caden would grow up with. However, in September we decided that we would move back home. Plans were made, and I got a job, and we ended up moving in October. Caden loved being around Big Mommy. It took him awhile to adjust to daycare, but now he LOVEs it! His vocabulary expanded by leaps and bounds. He was saying a new word every day. He used to love this book, and every time we read it he would point out the "Jack in the Box" and say "Jack 'o Box." It was the cutest thing.

This year Caden's growth and maturity has been amazing. He talks in full paragraphs all of the time. He has fears of monsters, specific likes and dislikes, and he even has "best friends" at school. It is amazing to watch how he transferred from a little baby into a child. He is getting bigger every day. Our biggest challenge this year has been discipline, but we are working on it, and Caden is starting to respond more and more. His favorite toys right now are Diego and CARS. He carries Lightening McQueen around everywhere we go (I can't even tell you how many times I've had to replace him!). He says the funniest things, and he loves to be the center of attention. We are having a party for him next weekend, complete with a CARS cake, and some friends of ours and their children. Grandma is even flying in for it! We know we will have a great time, and this will be the first of many more birthdays to come!

Caden's Third Halloween!

Yesterday was Halloween. We had a great day. Caden has been asking when he could trick-or-treat for about a month now. The child LOVES Candy! We had decided he would be Tigger, mostly because we had a hand-me-down Halloween costume that fit him. He was all set to be Tigger and about a week before Halloween he wanted to be a lion. He was a lion last year, so Rob and I convinced him that Tigger was just as great, because Tigger was a tiger and could roar too. That seemed to be enough for him.

Halloween morning, we got up and Caden dressed in his costume. They had a parade and trick-or-treating in the hallway at his school. I attended, and it was very cute to see all the kids dressed up. Caden's little girlfriend, Hannah, was wearing a Dorothy costume. She kissed Caden about three times and told him she loved him. It was so cute!

After school, we headed up to Chris' house to trick-or-treat with Kiersten, Kyle and Kaileigh. Josh was off trick-or-treating with his friends. Rob finally made it there, after taking a detour to see the county prison (he kept going instead of turning left). Caden did a good job walking most of the time. At one point, Rob put him on his shoulders, but then Rob promptly walked Caden right into a branch of a tree. Now Caden has a few scratches on his nose. It was quite funny though.

He wracked up on the Halloween candy--so we will be chowing down on some yummy chocolate for quite awhile. Caden's favorites this year seem to be suckers and sweet tarts.