Caden's Idea

I was out of town all of last week, at FACTs school for work. Financial, Analysis and Credit Training. It was hard to be away from Caden, but I think every parent needs to do it sometimes. It was nice to have a break from him, but I was certainly glad to see him when I got home.

Well, I came home on Friday, and went to my Mom's house to pick him up. He greeted me with a huge smile and hug and wouldn't let go of me for about three hours. Mom and I decided to go to Panera for lunch.

We were eating at Panera. (Caden just loves their Broccoli Cheese soup) and Caden said, "Mommy I have an idea!"

I said "What kind of idea Caden?"

and he said "Its a Purple Idea." End of story. He kept saying this all day. Of course, today he changed it to "Its a Brown Idea." I have no idea where he gets these things from.

He also has really learned his A, B, Cs and his 1,2,3s. He can count all the way to 20 with little prompting. He knows when he is holding 1, 2 or 3 toys. And today, we were watching Noggin. They were talking about the letter B and Zee (the little blue bird on the cartoon) said "Can you name some things with the "bah" sound, and Caden immediately said "Bah, Bah, Brown!" He was so proud of himself.

September 1, 2007

This post is not about Caden, but I don't have another blog so I'm writing about my life here too. You all will just have to suffer through it! ;-)

This weekend one of my friends, Susan, was married to her fiancee Marshall. We went to the wedding on Saturday night. The wedding was in an old church in Wetumpka with beautiful ceilings and amazing stained glass windows. The ceremony went well and they combined the Methodist religion and the Jewish traditions in the ceremony which was really neat.

The reception was at the Civic Center. The food was wonderful and the chocolate cake was to die for! I had dinner with Ashley's parents while I waited for my friends to come from taking pictures with Susan.

Rob had a great time having a few gin and tonics. He liked the food as well, although he felt the roast beef guy was a little stingy. I told him to just go back for seconds.

Unfortunately, none of my pictures of Susan and Marshall came out. I will just have to wait to get those from Stacy. Mine were all too dark, and when I tried to lighten them the quality deteriorated. But, Susan's dress was gorgeus, and you could just see how much she and Marshall loved each other as they said their vows and had their first dance together.

The best thing about the wedding was seeing my friends again. It was amazing to see that everyone had a significant other with them. Stacy and Amir were together, and they had left their 8 week old son Ethan with Stacy's Dad and Step-Mom. I met Ashley's new boyfriend Mark who was very nice. I also met Andrea's boyfriend Sam, who was upset that Auburn was losing (even though they pulled it out by then end of the night!) I caught up with Allie and John as well, as they had come up from Louisiana.

It is great to celebrate with people that you love and you've known forever. It is great to see everyone getting married, having children, and establishing themselves in their lives. I hope that we all keep in touch like this for many more years to come.

Leslie--we missed you, but I had a great time talking to your parents!

Caden's New Cousin

Caden's new cousin, Rowan, was born yesterday 8/28/07 at 9:34 PM. He weighed 5 lbs and 14 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. He is doing well.

We can't wait to go up and see him next week. Uncle Jeff called him Ro-ro in the video, so Caden asked if he could hold Baby Ro-Ro. He is adorable, and we love him already. Now we're just ready to meet him!

Allison is doing well and my Mom says that Jeff is really attached to the baby! His family and my parents are up there helping them out.

Soccer, Babies and Life in General

Rob and his soccer team played on Sunday against a team called "Racing." Apparently only five of their players showed up. They were pretty upset about half the team missing. Rob was goalie again, and he even came out to play the field a little bit because they were down some men. They scored 4 points this time. Final Score: 4-17. Poor Rob--but he seems to be taken in stride and like a good sportsman as well which is good.

Today is the 27th, and I worked all day. It was a non-eventful day at work. I called my Mom and my sister Alli. Alli had another ultrasound today, and they will induce tomorrow, the 28th, at 6 AM. Hopefully, I will have a new baby nephew by nightfall tomorrow night!

Kelsey started her first day of work too and seems to enjoy it. I spoke to her a while about how to control a 2 year old. I think I might be investing in some literature on various discipline methods that will work. Lately, I don't think anything works with Caden--but hopefully he will realize eventually that he won't sit in time out if he behaves. We shall see.

I spoke to my Dad tonight too, and he is getting ready to travel up to see Alli and the new little one. We will be dog and cat-sitting and we will probably sneak a few dips in the pool when we're over there too!

This weekend one of my friend's from middle & high school is getting married in Wetumpka. It will be nice to see all of my high school friends again. Plus, I get to meet Stacy's baby Ethan, and I am super excited about that! I can't wait to hold him!!!

My Little Artist

Caden absolutely loves to paint. We have all sorts of paints, all of them washable of course. The other day, we decided to paint and Caden used his paintbrush, but also his hands and his feet. He really had a wonderful time. I helped a little too.

I also had a small paint set with these little figurines to be painted, and Caden loved doing that as well. It is amazing to see what makes him happy and what he likes to do as he gets bigger and bigger every day.

Yesterday,

we also bought a pre-school workbook so that he could learn his numbers and alphabets. Caden already knows all of his colors.

The workbook is great, because he can use crayons, markers and paints to do the activities. His attention span is still a little short to do some of the numbers and letters, but he will grow into doing those. He finished 2 pages of it yesterday on the colors and did a great job!

High Heels, anyone?

Today, Caden and I drove up to Birmingham to see my friend Cecilia. I went to high school with her, and she recently moved to Birmingham after getting a job at Regions, our competitor! I wanted to see her place and also see my friend Marie from high school, who I hadn't seen since I ran into her on the highway our freshman year in college.

She lives in a beautiful apartment building in Birmingham. It is a spacious two bedroom with wood floors. They were still unpacking, and while Cecilia got ready we sat around and talked to Marie and played with their new puppy. Caden also proceeded to dump all the change out of a pink pig piggy bank that Cecilia had completely filled up. I asked him to fill it up, and this was actually a good deversion for him while we were waiting. By the time we left for lunch, he had painstakingly put all the coins back into the piggy bank.

We decided to go to Nabeel's for lunch, a Greek restaurant, in Homewood. After a wonderful lunch of gyros, grape leaves, hummos and chips, and one screaming child, we stopped back by their apartment for a quick diaper change, and then headed on to the Summit for shopping.

Cecilia was looking for a new brown pair of shoes for work, so we went to Parisians. They were having a huge shoe sale, but she didn't see what she wanted. She picked up some fancy red shoes, and here comes Caden saying "I want to try those on!" He loves high heels and he often gets into my closet and walks around our house with them (as you can tell from the picture above). So, he took off his crocs, and put on the bright red high heels. He started walking up and down the aisles of Parisians and everyone was staring and laughing at him. Several people remarked that it was so cute. One couple was amazed at how well he can walk in heels.

Restaurants and 2 Years Old

Sometimes I wonder what possesses Rob and me to go out to eat with Caden.

Tonight, after a long day of work Rob and I did not feel like cooking. We came home, and Caden was in just the best mood. He let me change his diaper, but did not try to go potty, and then we decided to go off to Kabuki, the local Japanese place.

We had Hibachi, because Rob refuses to eat sushi despite the fact that I keep telling him how good it is. He refuses to eat much, and this is one thing that unfortunately Caden has inherited from Rob.

Well we go to the restaurant, and it was already packed at 6:00. They sat us immediately though, next to a couple with a 7 year old girl and a 13 year old girl. Caden sat between Rob and me in the highchair. Things started out well, because we had brought along poptarts to persuade Caden to be good and eat something. Well, he finished the poptarts in a few seconds flat, and then it was downhill from there.

About the time we ordered, another couple came and sat down next to Rob. Perhaps, I feel the worse for this couple, who had left their 2 year old at home so they could enjoy a nice, quiet dinner out on their anniversary.

Caden was extremely scared of the fire, and he kept hiding which was fine. Then, he got interested in the chopsticks. He played with mine and then threw them on the floor. Then he played with his Lightening McQueen and then threw that on the floor. This was all before we had finished our salad.

Things looked up when our hibachi chef came. Caden loved it when he clinked the utensils, and he told the chef that he wanted to try (of course Caden's request was not granted). Then the fire came, and we quickly covered Caden's face. When we took the cover off, the chef squirted water at him, which shocked him and made him scowl, which everyone at the table laughed at.

About this time things went way downhill. The "I want to go home and I want to go outsides," started streaming from Caden's mouth. We felt like we were silently urging the chef to cook faster, as he piled fried rice, veggies, and steaks on our plates; Rob and I were in a race to finish so we could avoid the all embarrassing meltdown.

But, alas, we could not avoid it. About four bites into my steak, Caden started saying he wanted to go outside. When Rob explained that Daddy and Mommy had to finish eating first, Caden began to scream, ear-piercingly on the top of his lungs, and I think the whole restaurant looked at us. Luckily, our table was child-friendly and they all smiled and nodded knowingly.

Rob quickly ducked outside with Caden, while I finished up and paid the bills. At this point, I thought the whole meltdown was done, silly me.

I paid and talked to the couples next to me, then went outside to find Caden doing laps on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and the nearby stores. I believe this child should start cross-country running right now! Anyone want to sign a 2 year old? Well, I was ready to go and I said "Caden, why don't we get ice cream now?" Well he said no, and continued to run. Both Rob and I said it was time to go, and he threw a major fit. Getting him into the car was fun. Ever heard of the "stiff as a board baby," because that was Caden tonight. Plus, he hit me, which made me even more upset than I already was. Then we told him he couldn't have ice cream because he didn't listen, and he cried all the way home. Poor kid.

So, maybe going out in the long run isn't easier than staying in. At least at home, Caden can color or watch TV, or run laps around the living room while we're cooking. The food is good when you go out, but if you can't enjoy it then why go?

Long Time No Post!

Well I haven't posted in a long time, and I felt like updating my blog. Almost everyone who reads this will know that we have moved to Alabama.

Caden is going to be 3 in November! Isn't that crazy? He is in daycare, and he's doing very well. This summer he has reached a lot of new milestones. He is swimming without floaties. He's starting to potty train too! It is great, because at this point I'm really tired of changing dirty diapers.

Caden has adjusted well to being in daycare. He has some great friends, and we've met some great people here too. One of Caden's favorite thing to do after school is to watch Rob play soccer. Rob is on an indoor soccer team with his job. They play on Sundays and sometimes on Wednesdays. Caden will stand right next to the window and say "Go Daddy Go!!!" It is the cutest thing.

Two year olds are full of energy! I don't think Caden stays still for more than 1 minute of a time. His favorite pastimes are running, playing in the pillows, jumping off our furniture, and painting all of his body parts when we go outside to paint! He thinks that all paints are meant for your hands and feet, but hey, you can only be a toddler once huh?

Things that happened this month:
Beginning of August: My Mom broke her foot, had a cast, and recently had the cast removed. My friend Katherine's son, Danny, was born.

August 16-20th: Grandma came to visit from Rhode Island. We had a great time hanging out, showing her how Caden could swim, looking at houses, and visiting Old Alabama Town.

Mid-August: My sister Allison was put on bed rest. She is due in September with her 1st, a little boy! She is now going to be induced next Tuesday August 28, so we are all looking forward to her new little bundle of joy.

August: My sister Kelsey got a job as a teacher aide. She starts at the end of the month!

Rob and his team, the Colonial Cosmos, ended up losing all 3 of their games. I think they are in the wrong soccer league. This last game they scored 2 points, I just won't mention that the other team scored 13! Yikes! (He'll probably be mad I wrote this!)

Thanksgiving and the Following Days

So after our night of little food, we woke up on Thanksgiving early realizing that we needed to cook a little bit more for the 45 people coming. Allison had made black bottom cupcakes (my usual creation) the day before, but she and Kelsey had altered the recipe a little bit (much to my dismay! ;-)).

Allison had to make more, because all 50 that she had made the day before were gone! So, she made about 50 new ones with the correct recipe, and Kelsey made another squash casserole. Aunt Emily brought her FAMOUS squash casserole and Aunt Monica brought a wonderful corn casserole. Mom, of course, made the turkey and the ham.

While all the cooking was going on, I kept Caden enertained. He had some much fun running all over Big Mommy's house and trying to climb the stairs. He especially liked going outside to see all the trees, and occasionally going to see the horses down the street.

Someone ended up making deviled eggs, and I spoiled my appetite eating it. Caden LOVED the green bean casserole and the corn casserole and ended up eating a lot of that. Unfortunately my camera batteries died that day, so I don't have pics. :-(

Thanksgiving was great though, and I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with my cousins, especially playing HORSE at the end of the night.

The day after Thanksgiving, we watched a great slideshow of Grandpa and the whole Kelso family. It was very emotional for my Mom and my cousins.

Kelsey enjoyed reading to Caden "Good Night Moon" and she got a kick out of the fact that he could find the "kitty cat" in the book. He can now say "Meow" when you ask him what the kitty says too!

We had a semi-traumatic day that Friday as well. Caden fell and hit his head on the edge of a chair, and he got a very bad hemotoma. It grew and grew, and we joked that he was growing a horn! I felt bad about joking about it, but it was better than crying, right? My Dad says "Boys will be boys, and boys will fall down!" I guess its true.

The rest of the week, any time you said "head" he would grab his head. Too funny! So he has that body part down now!!!

Pre-Thanksgiving

Wow...I haven't written in a long time, and I have soo many updates.We just returned from Alabama where we went for Thanksgiving.

After Allison and Jeff picked us up from the airport on Tuesday, November 22nd we promptly went to Big Mommy and Big Daddy's house (otherwise known as my parents!) They had dinner waiting for us, and it was yummy. I love my Mom's roast.

The next day we went up to Deatsville to see my niece Kiersten, her sister Kaileigh, and their parents, Chris (my brother) and Leisa go to their awards ceremony for karate. Kaileigh (who is 5) got her Yellow Belt Junior Dragon I think. Chris and Leisa got another band for their brown belts, and Kiersten (my 9 year old niece who is pictured to the side) received her 1st degree black belt.

Caden did well sitting on my lap for part of the ceremony, but once the belts were handed out he decided he wanted one too, without all the work! He struggled to get one, but I did my work chasing him down!!!

After Kiersten received her black belt, she did a demo with the Demo Team she's a part of. It was amazing. She can kick her legs almost above her head!!! She also did a jump and broke a board! It was soo cool. She is one awesome little girl!!!

Wednesday when we arrived home, many of the relatives had arrived. My Mom's whole family came because they wanted to be together because of the recent death of my grandfather. When we got home, all the Aunts and Uncles were there and they "ooed" and "awed" over Caden. We had what was left of the red beans and rice and went to bed. Of course, Caden missed the food b/c he was too tired from his day of trying to steal black belts.

Caden is 1!!!

On Saturday, Caden turned 1 year old! I can't believe he has been in our lives for a year already.

He woke up at 12:15 AM on Friday night, and I sang "You Say its Your Birthday" by
the Beetles to him. Rob thought that was funny, because his mother always sang that to them on their birthdays growing up. I didn't know that. Looks like we are carrying on the tradition!

My Mom had been here for a week, and we had prepared the house for the party, bought all of the food, and the cake...YUM! Rob's Mom, sister Katie, sister-in-law Christine, grandmother Edie, and nephews Alex and Jason arrived around 2 PM on November 5. The boys were extrememly excited to have toys to play with!!!

We ended up having about 25 people at the party and 8 children. Caden was miserable at the beginning of the party, so I put him down for a nap and he slept until about 5:30 PM. When he woke up, he was starving so we decided to do the cake!

We put him in his high chair, and brought the cake out, and everyone sang Happy Birthday very loudly! Caden just stared at them, but when everyone stopped singing he burst into tears!!! Poor Baby!!!

He loved his cake, as you can tell in the picture above. Thank goodness for Oxi-Clean! I was able to get all the stains out of his outfit.

He received a lot of gifts, and we really enjoyed having all of our friends and family over to see how big he is gotten, and how special he is in our lives.

Sleeping: Take Two and Look who's Walking!

Well Caden has slept through the night the last 2 nights!!! Yay for Caden. I am thankful to get a full 8 hours of sleep. He wakes up happy, but he has decided to forego his morning nap, and takes a 3 hour afternoon nap. I don't know if that is normal at this age, but it is working for us.

I think he is getting a tooth too. He constantly has his hands in his mouth again, and has been unreasonably fussy the last couple of days. That could be a combination of a bunch of things. I recently took a part time job at Old Navy, and I work both weekend days, which I think is a bit hard on him. My Mom says that he remembers when I was gone when he was little. Who knows, but he is super clingy because of it!

On other fronts, he is starting to walk more and more. Today we did Borders Story Time, and took about 12 steps towards a truck book that our friend Eskil had! He managed to wrestle it from Eskil, so I ended up buying it for him! He is so cute when he walks. He looks like a little penguin.

Things are going well with Rob and me too. Last night we watched "Hotel Rwanda" (thank you Netflix!), which was a great but depressing movie. Rob is really benefiting from me working. It is giving him more time to bond with Caden, which is great.

We are expecting my Mom this Sunday, as we prepare for Caden's 1st Halloween and 1st birthday party. Rob's Mom, sister, and nephews will also come on Saturday (November 5) morning for Caden's birthday. We'll have about 25 people here for it, and we'll probably grill out and of course have a yummy cake! I can't wait, but I'm a little sad Caden is turning 1. He has gotten big so quickly!

Caden's Words

Lately, Caden has been talking a lot. He says Ma Ma, Dada, nana (for nursing), dog, cat, down, and All Done.

His new favorite words are "All Done!" He is going through a eating strike right now, and as soon as I put him in his high chair, he says "All Done!" A lot of times he doesn't even take one bite. It is so funny!

Today, we went to the mall with our friend Danielle and our friend Kyle. We ate at Chik-Fil-A and then played in the play yard. Caden took a lot of steps without holding on. I think he is finally getting the hang of walking! It is so cute, because he takes these little tiny steps, and he doesn't look that sturdy!

This weekend, Daddy is going to watch Caden while I start training at my new part time job. That should be an adventure!!!

Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Today, Rob and I took Caden to Reynolds Farm so we could pick out a pumpkin.

Reynolds Farm is in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, about thirty minutes away from us. Its a pumpkin patch, complete with a hayride, animal farm, and a playground for the kids.

Before reaching the farm, we went out to eat at Antrim Family Restaurant in Greencastle. It was very good, and Caden ate green beans for the first time in about two months, and he actually acted like he liked them. I had the fried chicken (quite in the Southern tradition), and Rob had prime rib. We had plenty of leftovers, so I didn't have to make dinner tonight.

Upon arriving at Reynolds Farm, we took pictures of Caden in front of some of the pumpkins that were set out. Unfortunately shortly after boarding the hayride, the camera died, so we didn't get any pictures of Caden actually sitting in the pumpkin patch.

Caden loved the hayride, but mostly stared at the tractor. He is enthralled with farm machinery, and I have NO clue where he gets that from. He loves this Baby Einstein "Baby MacDonald" video, and today was probably neat for him since he actually was able to see the things on the video.

He stood up on the hayride, and clutched his hand on the wooden railing while I held him, and just stared at the tractor. It was so funny. He also ate a little bit of hay.

Quickly after descending the tractor, Rob and I found the perfect pumpkin in the patch. It is long and skinny, and we are going to carve it with a very scary face. We will let Caden play in all the mushy insides too, if he wants.

After we came back from the hayride, I showed Caden the animals. They had sheep and goats that you could feed through a tube, but you couldn't touch. I was glad, because I was a little bit worried about him getting e.coli, and they didn't have any disinfecting soap on the premises.

Then, we decided to trek home, because the kiddo was ready for the nap. After everything was over, we ended up with one tall, skinny pumpkin, two little baby pumpkins, three goards, and some apple cider. The apple cider was actually from Smithsburg, MD as Rob noted on the car ride home.

All in all, it was a great day, and we'll probably start going there every year as a tradition.

Caden's Halloween Costume

Well it has been raining here for two days now, and we have gotten bored. The cold weather has come in, and it actually feels like Halloween will be here sooner than later. We haven't gotten a pumpkin yet, but the playgroup and I will go to the pumpkin patch for hay rides and pumpkin hunting this week if the rain stops.

I put Caden in his Halloween costume today. He was not too pleased as you can tell from the photo. I think he looks adorable in it, and he actually will keep the hood on his head which is a major feat.

He is battling a cold or allergies. I finally gave in and gave him some Benydryl Allergy and it seemed to clear up his runny nose. The good news is, he finally slept through the night last night. We were so excited! Then, he didn't wake up until 8 AM, and he was in the best mood ever.

Hopefully he'll have a good night tonight.

New Shoes

Now that Caden is starting to walk (although he hasn't progressed much), I decided to buy him some shoes.

We went to Stride Rite, and his foot was measured. He wears a 5 Wide, but I believe they are a little too big. That's okay with me though, because that way they will fit longer, and its not like they are falling off his feet.

They are called Baby Sven's and they are brown with one velcro strap. They look very European and are cute with his clothes. I didn't want to get him the plain white ones, although we may end up getting a pair of those later.

Now that we have the new shoes, I am just waiting for him to practice walking a little bit. We went to our friend Shawn's today, and her son who is 10 months was walking all over the place. I was a little glad that Caden wasn't walking, because at the mall Nick (Shawn's son) just wanted to get down and walk the whole time. I guess I will be in Shawn's boot soon.

Interesting thing Caden started yesterday 10/6 -- puts hand on mouth and makes noise like a Native American (or Indian). Its pretty darn cute!!! :-)

Sleep like a Baby?

Honestly--where do they come up with that phrase? Sleep like a baby...

Most babies I know don't sleep well. They either don't nap or they don't sleep through the night.

Caden has napping down great. He will take a morning nap and an afternoon nap. But most nights he wakes two to three times to nurse. I mean, come on, you're not a newborn Caden! I'm honestly at a loss for what to do. Last night he woke, and I thought I'll just let him fuss. Well an hour later he was still fussing, and he didn't stop until I nursed him.

How will I ever wean this child??? I don't know if he isn't getting enough solid food during the day. This could be the reason. He needs to eat at night because he's not getting the calories during the day. But, the kid is picky.

The two things that he will eat A LOT of, as we found out in Alabama are refried beans and rice. Refried beans, of all things, my kid likes those. Talk about dirty diapers.

Maybe I will start giving him more snacks to encourage excess calories, because honestly I'm tired of functioning on little night time sleep. I guess I could always nap with him too like I did when he was a newborn.

At this rate he'll be nursing until he is five...

Don't let the picture fool you--he probably woke up about five minutes after it was taken!

October 4, 2005

We just got back from Alabama where we visited Big Mommy and Big Daddy.

Another friend of ours was married in Macon, Georgia, hence the reason for the visit. Jon and Jenn had a beautiful wedding. The reception was great, and Jon had the coolest Groom's cake that was shaped as a suitcase. It seems like only yesterday Rob and I were getting married...

Caden loved visiting his Big Mommy and Big Daddy. He swam in the pool. He thinks he is such a big boy, and he moves his arms and his legs. He splashes and giggles. I love watching him swim. We went out and bought a little innertube for him to sit in after we had a scare with gulping down too much water. He liked being in the innertube as well.

We hit some milestones while in Montgomery...

September 30 -- Caden took 4 steps unassisted.

Of course, when he took those four steps, Caden's Momma cried. LOL. He has also started saying "Ma Ma" about as much as he says "Dada." That's great, and it makes me feel better! :-)

He is pointing at everything, and when you ask "Where is the fan?;" he will point up. Also, he will point at the Gerber baby on the baby food jar when you ask "Where is the Baby?"

I can't believe how big he is getting--its amazing.

We were also able to see Chris and the kids while we were in Alabama. Caden had a wonderful time chasing his cousins around, although the kids really wanted to pick him up all the time.
Caden has a much too independent spirit, and he doesn't like the idea of being held down!

Now we're back in Hagerstown, and getting back into the swing of things.