Things I've Learned

During the last five months of fatherhood, there have been things that I never would have known before becoming a daddy to the most special little boy in the world. I'd just like to share a few with you:

1) When your child laughs, it can make even the worst days wonderful. When he's laughing at you, it makes you feel like the funniest person alive, even if you are just making a dumb face that would get you thrown out of most restaurants.

2) When reading a story, it makes no difference what words are spoken. What matters is how many different voices you can use. In one book, I use seven different voices...that is the current record.

3) Cover the sprinklers....always (you parents of little boys will understand).

4) After you have a child, your plan of attack in Target changes. Instead of hitting electronics first, it's always a swing through baby clothes and supplies. And you know what...it's a whole lot more fun to buy toys that make a lot of noise for a five-month-old than it is looking for furnace filters.

5) The diaper genie is the most ingenious invention ever.

6) "6 Month" clothes can fit a 3 month baby. A 5 month baby can wear 18-36 month socks.

7) Who knew that the Babies-R-Us clerk would know me by name?

8) You can never have too many diapers.

9) A baby can be just as entertained watching you perform a 50 minute workout as he can be playing under a $60 activity center.

10) My wife is the most devoted mother any child could ask for. She will forever put Caden's needs in front of her own. It amazes me to see her take care of cleaning the house, doing the laundry, managing a career and taking care of our little man. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

I know there is a bunch I'm leaving out...these just came to mind. Merry Christmas to all of you and a blessed New Year!

by Mike

Catching up!

Yikes -- I am completely behind in posting pictures of Caden! Can you believe he's 4 months old already? Having a child adds new meaning to "where does the time go?"

At Caden's 4 month check-up on November 22nd, he weighed 16 lbs., 4 ozs. (76%) and was 27.5 inches long (99%). He is so long/tall that he is essentially 'off the chart'. He is currently wearing 9 month size clothing due to his length! As you can tell by the picture of Caden snoozing on Mommy, he definitely gets his height from his Daddy!


Here's a few other highlights from the past two weeks:

Grandma & Grandpa Plaetz come to visit



Caden eyeing up Daddy's yummy birthday cake


Caden's 1st Thanksgiving


Bathtime with bubbles


Favorite pasttime - reading books


Kisses from Mommy & Daddy


Caden sporting his Christmas party outfit

Happy 3rd Birthday Cousin Evan

Do these two boys look like trouble in a couple years?

Our little Winnie the Pooh!

Caden went trick-or-treating to Aunt Marcia, Uncle Casey and Cousin Evan's house tonight. He must have been really excited about Halloween because he didn't take much of a nap (oh yeah - that's EVERY day for Caden). As you can tell by the pictures, he was a sleepy bear! Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday to Grandma Nancy!

Back to day-care

Caden's first week of day-care went very well. Some of the comments on his daily log included:

"Caden loves snuggling."
(What? This is not the baby we dropped off...)

"Caden enjoyed watching the bigger babies play."
(Well, maybe not BIGGER babies, but rather OLDER babies, as Caden holds his own at 14 lbs. 1 oz. He is so tall/long that he completely fills out the length of his 6 month size sleepers. A basketball player in the making!)

"Caden was flirting with his teachers today. We are suckers for his giggle."
(We are suckers for his giggle too!)

Unfortunately, after the first full week of day-care, Caden caught a stomach bug, so he spent Wednesday and Friday at home mending with Mommy. Grandma Donna to the rescue on Thursday as Mommy and Daddy had meetings they couldn't miss. Luckily, he finally started feeling better over the weekend and was ready to head back to day-care for yet another week...hopefully a germ-free week!

Now, what you all really logged on for - some recent pictures...

How Caden felt about having to get out of bed to go to day-care on the first day:



Bath time


Happy time



Hanging out with George the Giraffe

Video: Caden...The First Two Months

Caden's New Love

This is how Caden felt about his swing at first. The swing may have been the most complicated baby accessory for Daddy to put together, but Caden was feeling no appreciation.



Recently, Caden has had a change of heart. In fact, just last week, Caden found his swing to be less offensive. He did, however, find it to be boring enough to catch a nap. (Note: Our child is not sufficating under his blanket. This swinging session was supervised the ENTIRE time. But, yes, it's true, he loves to sleep with a blanket covering his face. Of all things. What next? Plastic bags will be his favorite toy? This child is something else.)



Today, although Caden won't admit it, I think I caught him actually enjoying his swing while he was awake. This may be the first day of my maternity leave that I will actually have time to wash, dry AND fold an entire load of laundry!

Video: Caden Talking to Mommy

Check out the video we shot today of Caden talking to Mommy!

Caden is 8 weeks old!

Wow, where does the time go? Oh yeah, it goes toward rocking, eating, sleeping and diaper changing! And, now that he is older, our time with Caden also includes laughing, cooing and playing with toys (well, we 'play' - he watches).

Thank goodness Caden seems to be doing better. Thanks to everyone for their encouragement, well wishes and prayers as we attempted to figure out the right combination of food and medication for Caden!!!

One Month Old!

Hard to believe Caden is already one month old! At his check-up today, he weighed in at 10 lbs. 12.5 ozs (77%) and is a lengthly 23.5 inches long (97%). Although he is certainly a growing boy, we continue to battle a lot of fussiness with Caden. Because his symptoms include (aside from fussiness) - skin rash, gas and excess spit-up, both the lactation doctor and Caden's regular pediatrician suspect a food allergy (from the milk he's getting from me). The challenge is figuring out WHICH food allergy, as it could be anything from cow's milk/dairy to soy to beef to corn to citrus. I have been cutting the obvious dairy from my diet since Monday and he still seems to be quite irritable, so the pedatrician suggested we try a "dairy-free" formula for a few days just to be sure we can rule out that allergy (it is the most common). In the meantime, I'm still pumping breast milk until we are sure that we are going to switch to formula. He's been on the new formula for 12 hours and I'm not sold on it yet (was a rough night). The verdict is still out and the saga continues. We sure hope to pinpoint what's bothering his tummy in the next few days!!!

I thought it was fitting to take a picture of all of the medications (prescription and over-the-counter) and feeding supplies that we've tried. Along with a few fun pictures of Caden hanging out on his frog pillow (notice the frog sleeper to match)!

Sprinkler Incident

All is well, although a bit sleepless, in the Lefler household. Caden continues to grow, even with what appears to be some acid reflux. At his last weight check (Tuesday), he was 9 pounds, 9 ounces. I decided that the newborn clothes/diapers need to be retired, primarily due to his long length. He is well into the 0-3 months size. We love to see him thriving, but it is bittersweet to tuck those cute little outfits in the closet already!

Last Friday, we took Caden to the pediatrician for a check-up on his eye (blocked tear duct). As is protocol, the nurse asked us to take off all of his clothes (including diaper) so she could weigh him and take his temperature. Now, really, is anyone a fan of taking their clothes off at the doctor's office? Neither is Caden. He was crying (alligator tears) as the nurse was taking his temperature. To console him, I leaned over his head to give him a kiss. While doing so, the "sprinkler" went off and Caden managed to pee on BOTH of our faces...mine and his. Mike was standing RIGHT beside me and one would THINK that his impulse would have been to cover the "sprinkler", but instead he watched and laughed. Not sure Caden would want this story shared in his baby book, so I'll put it on the blog instead!

Enjoy some recent pics:

Back to birth weight!

My apologies for the lack of blogging lately! Caden has been keeping us VERY busy. He is such a joy! We can't believe how quickly our days (and even our nights) pass by with him here. We are content just holding him and doing whatever is necessary to keep him happy. Who needs TV for entertainment with a newborn around?!?

The first two weeks of Caden's life have been a bit rocky. After a few days of what the pediatrician originally suspected to be acid reflux or a dairy loterance issue, we ultimately discovered that Caden was not breastfeeding as one would expect, so we had to resort to feeding Caden with a bottle. This was done for multiple reasons. Most importantly we could track what he is/was eating. He's still getting breast milk (I have rented a hospital grade pump to keep up my supply), but he's solely fed by a bottle. Thank goodness Daddy is still on paternity leave as it takes some extra hands to feed.

Sadly (break my heart), Caden's weight dropped as low as 7 pounds, 14 ounces at 9 days old. However, after a mere 5 days of bottle feeding, he weighed in at 9 pounds 1 ounce yesterday - yippee!!! That makes everybody happy around here!

Even with all the drama of feeding, Caden has been enjoying his visitors this past week. While Daddy went to work, Grandma Donna came to spend the day, which included a lot of rocking chair time. Although it was a rough night for Caden, he really appreciated his cousin Evan coming over to meet him. It was especially nice of Evan to share some of his blankets with Caden. Last weekend, Caden had fun hosting a slumber party with Papa Ron, Grandma Nancy, Aunt Ann and cousin Addeson. Addeson introduced Caden to some fun shows on the Disney channel (so much for ESPN Daddy!).

Here are a few recent pictures of Caden:

Caden's First Full Day at Home

Caden had a busy first day at home. After a fairly successful night of feeding about every two hours or so, he took a couple good naps throughout the day and even got his first bath at home. Tomorrow marks a trip to the doctor for his first checkup outside of the hospital. We are enjoying him and love to be able to watch his first days and know that it will continue for years to come. Enjoy some photos of Caden!


Aunt Marcia and Caden

Caden Michael Lefler

We'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our little miracle, Caden Michael Lefler. Caden was born on Tuesday, July 20 at 7:42 pm. He weighed in at a hefty 8 lbs, 8 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. A big boy for coming a day before his due date!

We are both just beside ourselves with joy! We are so very in love with our little man that I have no idea what we did with our lives before Tuesday!!! He's got big hands and feet but the overall consensus is that he's just a cutie.

Caden received his first bath at 2am on the 21st and has been a pretty content baby to this point. Just a little fussing here and there. He's been a really good eater feeding every three hours last night and, today, eating five times between 11am and 9pm. Caden got to meet all four of his grandparents Wednesday in the hospital and is already being spoiled. He also got to see Aunt Marcia and Uncle Casey for the first time, as well.

We got to bring our bundle of joy home this afternoon at around 3:30 pm. He fussed when he first got strapped in the car seat but seemed to like the ride home. He even withstood a stop at Walgreens for some medicine for Mommy.

We'll keep everyone updated on what's going on with Caden and all of us. Thanks to all of those who sent best wishes. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family and, now, a wonderful son to share with all of you.


x

15 Days....

Here we are in the homestretch...late in the fourth quarter...in the bottom of the ninth...okay, enough with the sports analogies. We're close to adding one more to our clan. More specifically, tomorrow we'll be just 15 days away from that due date. In honor of the final 15 days, I'd like to present the top 15 things I'm looking forward to most about being a dad.

15. Watching cartoons again

14. Spending Christmas Day putting together toys while he/she plays with the box

13. Seeing all his/her "firsts". First crawl, first words, first steps, first time he/she beats Dad at golf

12. Long walks with the stroller and watching him/her take in all his/her surroundings

11. Putting him/her on my shoulders the first time I bring them to Memorial Stadium for a Husker game

10. Family vacations to Fairmont, Lucan and all over the world

9. 3am feedings (that's right, I'm can't wait)

8. Ganging up and playing jokes on Mom

7. Watching him/her play with all his/her cousins and friends

6. Each morning, getting to make him/her the most stylish kid at daycare with his/her massive wardrobe

5. Getting to answer the 1000s of questions he/she has for us. The tough one's and the easy one's too

4. Playing catch in the back yard

3. Teaching him/her the difference between right and wrong and how to be respectful of others

2. Getting to know our child's personality no matter how happy, sad, angry or cranky he/she might be

1. The first time I get to hold him/her and every other minute I get to spend raising our special gift and watching him/her grow














As for us, we're not letting 8 1/2 months pregnant slow us down too much. Last weekend, we even made a day trip down to Kansas City to watch the Cardinals and Royals. This weekend, we were able to have a very relaxing time celebrating the Fourth of July with steaks on the grill and watching fireworks in the neighborhood. It was actually quite a good show.

We are both feeling such excitement for this baby to arrive that it pretty much consumes our free time. The hard work getting ready for a baby seems to be paying off. Just recently, we both looked at each other and said, "we're ready". As a matter of fact, both our bags are packed and we've got the video camera, camera and laptop by the door and ready to head to BryanLGH East at the drop of a hat.

If this is the last post before the baby, we'll be posting pictures after he/she arrives. Wish us luck!!!!

Banned to the Couch

My feet are swollen to the size of the "hams" tonight, so my husband has banned me to the couch. I guess it gives me the opportunity to update the blog and post a few pictures from the baby shower with the Lefler relatives. We received some wonderful gifts! Won't be long and we'll be putting these items to good use.



Our doctor appointment on Tuesday resulted in measurements of between 37 and 38 weeks, although we're really only 36 weeks. Baby's head is down...well, below the baby's butt...but not techicially "dropped" to the point in which one might think (or wish) that this baby is considering an early arrival. Based on the growth of my belly in the past two weeks, Mike and I suspected a 5 to 7 pound weight gain, but to our total surprise, only a half pound - whew. Heartbeat was in the 130's...so according to the old wives' tale, this supports the suspicions of all those who voted BOY on our poll.

Although living in Lincoln has been much like I would imagine life in Seattle (rain, rain and more rain), we had a nice Father's Day weekend. Mike's sand volleyball team had a fun time in an American Cancer Society fundraising tournament, while my sister Ann and I had a great time shopping (so fun to have her with us for the weekend).

Enjoy some pictures of the dad-to-be with his Father's Day cake (the mom-to-be enjoyed it equally as much as the dad-to-be...maybe more) and some handy work while assembling the exersaucer.

The Lakers...

By the title of this post, you'd probably think that I was going to go on and on about playoff basketball and how blown calls cost the Lakers game two of the NBA finals. Not the case (although you'll read about some disputed rules and questionable outcomes in the text below). This weekend, we spent a fun-filled weekend at Lake Okoboji with Lisa's family.

Friday, we loaded up the suitcases and the coolers and drove four hours deep into the plains of Iowa. As we arrived and checked into our Jacuzzi Suite (don't get too excited), we found Addeson and Hadley already enjoying the pool at The Inn at Okoboji, our residence for the next two days. After the "pool time" had ended, Master Chef Kevin Baune located the grill and prepared a feast fit for a king. OK...it was hot dogs, brats and cheeseburgers but it also included baked beans, Snickers salad and the biggest brownies you'll ever find. Not to mention a late-night Smores feed including Ron's special "no graham cracker" Smores. If I were king, that's the feast I'd want every night!

Saturday, we woke up early after a late night of hanging out together in the jacuzzi tub. By together I mean Lisa since there wasn't room for three :) in the tub. Derrick cooked up some eggs and sausage (you can see a food theme starting to develop here) and we headed over to Cindy and Kevin's boat. By boat I mean a floating two bedroom apartment and living quarters that could fit five of my freshman dorm rooms. The weather held out for a little bit before the skies opened up and poured on us. Luckily, we had this wonderful enclosed vessel and most of us didn't even feel a drop. By the time we had all acquired our sea legs, we decided we'd had enough rain on the high seas (I'd seen The Perfect Storm one too many times) and it was time for us land lovers to head back to our rooms.

After getting back to The Inn, we took in more aquatics by the Jenniges girls while the rest of us played cards. Some new-fangled game made up by Ron. As the rules seemed to change throughout thanks to the game's creator, Ann completed a furious come-from-behind run to defeat me in the final hand (cheating is a certainty). This win is under appeal and will be reviewed by various entities (including former Governor Rod Blagojevich, Enron executives, the BCS and other authorities) to determine the legitimacy of the outcome. That night, Chef Kevin struck again with a delicious grilled chicken dish and, of course, more Smores.


Sunday we woke up to hit church and finished the trip with a delicious lunch and playground time at Barefoot Bar. After our goodbyes, we headed back to God's Country in Nebraska.

On the baby front, Lisa is feeling really well for being almost to her 35th week. As much as I'd like to make jokes about how big she's getting, I can't because she looks just so darn cute. She certainly has that pregnant glow about her. We go to another doctor appointment Tuesday and should know more about the baby's position. We're hoping he/she flipped to the proper spot but we kind of think he/she is still sideways. We'll keep you posted.

As we get into the final five weeks of this journey, I feel so blessed to have a wonderful wife, who will be the best mother in the world and a baby who is already so loved. I can't wait to meet our new little one and am looking forward to all of the great times we'll spend together as a family. In five weeks (or so) our lives will change forever...and I can't wait. ML