Mater has a happy Halloween!

Fall Lawn Mowing Attire

Life vest - check!

Winter mittens - check!

Black eye - check!

Caden collided with another child from his day-care on the playground last week.  The point of contact was just above his eyebrow which resulted in a black eye that he said didn't hurt much, but he looked a bit rough for a few days.

Add to it, the life vest (at his request - reminiscent of the fun he had on the Baune's boat at Lake Okoboji a few weeks ago) and the mittens (my suggestion to take advantage of a teaching moment about not touching Dada's hot lawn mower engine), and he was quite the sight!

Colorado Vacation

It's been so long since I blogged that it took me 10 minutes to figure out the new blogger redesign to compose a new post.

We recently returned from a fun vacation in Colorado.  Two of the four days were pretty much spent driving.  Although it was somewhat exhausting to keep him entertained, Caden was a great car rider.  Books, Mickey Mouse episodes and LOTS of semi trucks were our saving grace.

Our vacation highlights included:  Caden's first experience in a swimming pool (very brave boy), the new Elephant Passageway at the Denver Zoo, a tour of the Budweiser brewery (boo! - no Clydesdales on site when we visited), a fun park complete with a massive mammoth rock, evenings with friends and family that we miss dearly, a kid-friendly hotel complete with a glass elevator, library of books and lots of space to roam and run.

Our Little Entertainer

With Lisa out of town on business, Caden and Dad took the opportunity to jam out to some good ol' country music.

Tiny Dancer

We've noticed that Caden has become quite the little entertainer. Sometimes he gets a little camera shy but this should give you an idea of what his show looks like.

Pause

By far, my favorite month yet. Maybe it was lack of sleep, maybe it was constant illness -- whatever it was, I was ready to fast forward through the infant stage. At 19 months, I would rather hit "pause".

Caden is so much fun at this age. He says so many words that I stopped documenting them. From umbrella to binoculars, day-care tells me he says more than kids in the next room up.

He's even able to communicate what goes on at day-care, such as who pushed and went to time out. A bit of a tattle-tail and not one to rat on himself yet. Apparently, he's the perfect child who's never been in time out (not true).

Because of the length of time required between vaccinations, what would have normally been an 18 month check-up turned into a 19 month check-up. Caden currently weighs 30 lbs. 11 ozs. (94%) and is 35.5 inches long (105 - 115%).

Caden has been relatively healthy these past few weeks after a rough January that included a terrible sinus infection, tummy issues as a result of an antibiotic and a trip to the ER during the middle of the night due to breathing issues. Things have improved so dramatically that he's consistently slept through the night for 2 weeks STRAIGHT. I never thought I'd see this happen in my lifetime. I was certain it would not happen until he left for college. With this great sleeping pattern - in thanks to good health, we've also successfully eliminated the nighttime bottle. (Hope the pediatrician doesn't read this, as he assumed the bottle was eliminated months ago at his recommendation.)

We made a road trip to Minnesota the first weekend in March to visit our new nephew/cousin, Easton Leonard Jenniges, who was born on January 19th. He is so very cute and Caden loved the chance to hold him.

With all my "extra" sleep, I no longer have an excuse for my lack of blogging. More posts to come in the near future! Thanks for checking in on us!