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.