2015 in Review

Caden's National Anthem

Caden has become quite the singer.  Picked this up from attending several Nebraska Basketball games and seeing it on TV.  Of course, Mom and Dad sing along too.

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!

A Star is Born

Here's some footage from Caden's Christmas Program on 12/8/11.

Little Lion King

Happy (belated) Halloween!!!

Yes, we're still alive

Is there ever a blog post that I don't start out apologizing for how long it's been since my last post? It's called a toddler, people. He keeps me hopping. I'm lucky to find time to brush my teeth every day. I don't sit around watching TV and eating bon-bons at night while procrastinating on my blog updates. Really, I don't.

I am Caden's favorite escort. With the help of my hand (finger), he leads me all over the house and all over the yard. We don't stop until we pass out at night from exhaustion - both of us. One of these days he'll start walking without asking for my hand and then I'll miss these days, so you won't hear me complaining in the meantime.

Did I mention Caden had ear tube surgery on July 5th? Pretty sure I missed informing you of that. Reference paragraph #1 for my excuses. We took some pictures of our groggy little guy as he came out of surgery - still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. Somehow the right ear tube became "blocked" with mucous that didn't drain properly 6 weeks after the surgery. The surgeon attempted to clear it with ear drops and antibiotic (infection in the middle ear to complicate matters), but with no success, so we headed back to have a second surgery on Sept. 16th to "re-do" the right tube. So far so good with the new one! Aren't his Looney Tunes scrubs adorable?

Caden's recent interests include clocks and American flags. He can spot these items from miles away. We have a few small flags that he will carry around with him all day long. He's very patriotic. He's also has the typical boy interests, such as lawn mowers (his parents may be the only people on the planet who can actually interpret when he's saying this word), cars, trucks, buses and tractors.

Caden was holding steady with 6 teeth for the longest time (well, since his first birthday), but in the last week, he has been sprouting teeth like crazy. Speaking of crazy, I stuck my finger in his mouth in attempt to conduct inventory. It was a brief attempt; hence, only an approximation of roughly 4 or 5 new ones.

After ear issues that lasted for months, combined with recent teething, we were thrilled that Caden slept for 11 hours STRAIGHT last night. It was pure heaven. It was the first time I entered into a deep enough sleep to spark a dream in months. It was wonderful. I dream of more nights like last night.

After much prompting from my husband, I joined Facebook about a month ago. You'll be pleased to hear that I'm ignoring Facebook as much as I've been ignoring this blog. Sorry for those of you who had high expectations that I would actually use it. Maybe when Caden turns 18. No promises.

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Caden!

Okay, so he's not a baby anymore, is he? What a fun year we've had with Caden in our lives! He is truly a blessing.



Caden may not look too thrilled about it being his birthday in this picture. However, keep in mind, that he was so excited about it being his birthday EARLIER in the day, that he decided a half hour nap was all that he needed. Turns out that it wasn't enough. So, he was a bit sleepy tonight. Daddy mowed the lawn, which is one of Caden's favorite past times in terms of entertainment, so that was a hit with him. He had his favorite meal of mac 'n cheese. Yum!

At one year old, Caden:
* says several words including: Hi, Dada, Mom, Door, Baby, Tickle
* waves bye-bye, especially when he presses the button in the garage to open/shut the door
* still army crawls - we're certain he will skip the stage in which he uses his knees
* prefers to "walk" around with his cute little hands wrapped around our fingers while he leads us around the house. Favorite rooms include the bathrooms, mostly because his voice echos.
* LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his blanket
* is still a stinker when it comes to napping, although we have been able to pull off 2+ hour naps on the weekends during the past month. Whoever gave the advice "sleep when your baby sleeps" never met our son.
* is showing a stubborn side and is resisting our attempt to transition to whole milk. He's also very skeptical of any new table foods that we offer him. Favorite treats include chocolate shakes and hot fudge sundaes. Oops, were we supposed to wait to offer ice cream until AFTER he turned one? Too late...

Our Little Walker

Here's a short clip of Caden's new favorite thing to do. This will keep Mommy and Daddy in shape!

That's right... We took a trip to Vegas in late June. Kind of an early Anniversary gift to eachother. A good test to be away from Caden for four nights but he was in good hands with grandmas and grandpas (and Lexy too).

During our time there we experienced a wonderful dinner at Top of the World Restaurant at the Stratosphere with a beautiful view of Las Vegas and sunset. We saw the Cirque du Soleil show "O". We both agreed the best show we've ever seen. We also saw a comedian and some other shows, took in time by the pool and, of course, did some gaming. All in all, a good trip!

Caden loves his Daddy!

Miss Nebraska 2011

One of Caden's favorite full-time teachers in the infant room - Miss Kayla - was crowned Miss Nebraska 2011 last night. We are so very excited for her! However, it's bittersweet, as Kayla will no longer be caring for Caden as she'll be tending to her new gig.

The prior Miss Nebraska was crowned Miss AMERICA last year. Maybe Kayla will repeat that trend when she competes at the Miss America pageant in January.

If you are interested in checking out Kayla's blogspot, you can follow it at:
https://missomaha2011.blogspot.com/

Omaha Relay For Life

Caden met a new friend at the Omaha Relay for Life this weekend. No fear!

Memorial Day in Minnesota

Same story, different day. Yes, I'm behind with updating the blog AGAIN.

Caden and I have been battling the flu this past week. To complicate matters, poor Caden has also been battling ear infection AGAIN. We're off to see a ENT (ear/nose/throat) specialist in a few days.

We had a GREAT time to Minnesota over Memorial Day weekend. Caden LOVED playing with Addeson and Hadley. He had big belly laughs when intentionally throwing things off his high chair tray and watching the girls pick them up...repeat, repeat, repeat. This game has not been as fun with Mommy since we've returned home! I don't pick things up as fast as the girls!

Long Overdue Update

I'm finally getting around to reporting our almost 10-month-old's 9 month check-up results! At Caden's 9 month check-up, his statistics were as follows:
* 31.5 inches long (110%) - the average height of an 18-month-old; and by-the-way, pretty much HALF way to my adult height
* 22 lbs., 7 ozs. (77%) - basically, a long and lean machine
* Fluid in his ears and another round of antibiotics...interesting given I had taken him to the doctor TWICE the week before and the P.A.'s we saw wouldn't give him anything...we are headed back to check his ears next week, and if there is still fluid, we're going forward with tubes!
* Between Caden's 6 month and 9 month check-ups, we had been to the doctor's office NINE times. Did I mention we are considering ear tubes?
* no shots (yay!)...a simple finger prick and Caden never batted an eye - tough guy


Although Caden wasn't able to hunt for his own Easter eggs this year, he kept a watchful eye on his cousin, Evan, filling up his own bucket. Next year, Caden will provide a little competition!




We had a nice Mother's Day and enjoyed a yummy buffet at Chances R restaurant. Caden was great and sat in a high chair for over an hour...playing with some toys, but mostly just people watching (like mother, like son).



We enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Ron and Grandma Nancy and Great-grandma Sally the weekend between Easter and Mother's Day. Caden loved all the extra attention.