Various updates

We've had a few ups and downs recently, the big down being the nasty stomach virus/flu that Caden picked up in Parent/Baby class. I think there were ~24 moms with their babies in class, and at last count 12 had gotten it. It got Caden, me, Grammy, Papa, and Daddy, in that order. Not very much fun at all.

Caden turned 9 months old on the 12th, so we had his 9 month appointment last Thurday. I was anxious to see his weigh-in, it had seemed to me he was growing, but not that much. He weighed 16lbs, 9oz. He weighed exactly 16lbs at his 6 month appointment. He was now in the 3rd percentile, down from a consistent presence at the 25th percentile. Somewhat worrisome, but I also knew that he'd probably lost some weight from being sick. I went and checked the chart, and to still be in the 25th percentile, he should weigh 19lbs. I don't think he was up to 19lbs before he got sick. We have a weigh-in scheduled in 6 weeks, so we'll see where he is then.

Dr. also said that I need to up his food intake, and not just to gain some weight. The solid food thing has been going much better, but we'd been feeding him maybe 5x a week. Dr. said 4x a day. Yikes! Well, sorry, that's not realistic. So, Mom feeds him solid food once during the day, and we're feeding him in the evening. it's not four, but four is a little much. He's digging it more than he did, and he's much better at actually eating/swallowing the food. Much less messy than it was.

My stretched-out materinty leave is now over, so I'm at work full time, and I'm also searching for childcare for Caden. Mom offered to watch him for about the first year while I was still breastfeeding him, but now that it's up to four days a week, it's even more of a major committment for her. So sometime in October, he'll be transitioning from Grammy's to a yet-to-be-determined childcare situation. There are alot of options out there, but it's tough to try and find something while I'm working full time. The search continues.....

Caden continues to be his happy, charming self and is a delight everyday. We are a very lucky family.

A few random photos:

The next milestone

Well, not unexpectedly, Caden started crawling this week. Thursday to be exact. He'd been rolling really well, and was doing the lay on the ground and move all four limbs in rhythmic frustration thing. He'd get his torso up, but not his backside. In parent/baby class on Thursday one of the gals had a toy that you pulled the string and it rolls away. Caden got one look at that and went right after it. Here are two cell phone pictures taken about :10 apart, along with a link to a video. I try and keep the videos to 1 minute or less. Yes, I know that not everyone will want to watch hours of video of my little guy, so I try and respect your time.


Here's the video link.

Two firsts!

Yesterday, Caden's first tooth came in! Mark noticed it first, just the tiniest little bit showing. Overall, he's doing really well, maybe a tad more fussy. We did have about :15 minutes of crying, drooling and the running nose Monday night, but that was about it.

Caden also had his first swim lesson tonight. He did really well, maybe even had a fun time. We'll be back in the pool on Thursday. Mama will also have a slightly better plan to handle wet baby & wet mama and no real good place to set him down. It's quite the logistical challenge. As fellow cloth diaper mama Kirsten said, the lesson is only :30 minutes, but it takes four hours.

Since I took him swimming, I wasn't able to get any 'during' photos, but I do have some telling 'after' photos.

Cousin visit, part deux

Cousin Jakob & Erik came for another visit today. Erik was born 8 days after Caden, but just look at the difference!

Cutie patotie!

First Haircut!

So, we decided that we were done with the comb-over that Caden had going. Mark and I discussed doing it ourselves - if we messed it up, we'd just go to a salon. Then I mentioned it in parent-baby class and got a resounding 'don't try it yourself, just go straight to the salon' - you're going to end up there anyway. So, today, I took him for his first haircut. I was prepared - took the camera, a few toys, and a plastic bag for the first haircut hair, but I didn't need to be. Went to the place in Crossroads mall. They buckled him in, brought him a bin of toys, and proceeded to cut the hair of a moving target. The staff was great, friendly, and gentle.

And when we were all done, they took his picture and put his hair in a little 'keepsake' folder.



Perfect!

Laughter

I'm obsessed with play food. However, I'm on a toy buying moratorium right now, so alas, I can't buy more cute stuff like this.


Anyway, I bought this cute Fill n' Spill picnic basket. It's got a sandwich, a grape soda, watermelon, and an ice cream cone. Caden likes it, and likes it alot. Here's some video of him, and us, enjoying it ALOT!!!


OK, well, I'm tired of not being able to upload to Blogger, so check it out here:

Caden laughing

Summertime

Well it's finally summertime. It was so flippin' hot this weekend. It was like the weather was trying to make up for the cold spring, all in two days. Ya might wanna see someone for that bipolar thing you got going on....I'm just sayin'

Caden is rolling all over the place, and can get from point A to point B without any problem. He's sitting up well, but will fall over at times. We've been feeding him more solid food and that's going better than it was. It's still messy, but I've managed to get it a bit more under control.

So we've been spending more time outside, he's gotten to see his three cousins for the past three days. He will sit and watch them run around for hours. We've have a few photo 'sessions' the past week or so that are fodder for more shameless cuteness! Here we go!