You Can't Catch Me!

Caden is crawling! He figured it out the first Monday night in May. He only crawled for a few seconds before dragging himself again. Then the next day he did a funky crawl-with-one-leg-and-drag-the-other thing. Wednesday he didn't have much time to practice because we ran errands all day, but by Thursday he was pro! Now I spend half the day chasing him because I forget to close doors and check on him. I'm not used to him being so mobile! He is not so fast as he is sneaky. Then last week Thursday he started doing the gorilla walk, crawling on his feet instead of his knees. He's really fast at that. He looks like one of those spiders that walk on water. When he decides to take a break, it's really funny watching him sit. He sticks his bum way out and then plops down. If I call, "Come to Mama!" he crawls really excitedly to me.

Ever since he became mobile he has been a little troublemaker. He loves opening and closing drawers. He's only hurt his fingers once. The other, funny problem was if he was sitting and opened a drawer all the way, his fat thighs would get stuck underneath and he couldn't close the drawer without scraping them. He also likes to close his bedroom door and then cry because he can't get out. This is a problem because he likes to stay by the door and I can't open it without hitting him. His favorite thing to do was pull out all the movies from our bookshelf. The time had finally come for a new entertainment center. We got one at IKEA and bought doors for it. He was so mad he couldn't get the movies anymore. So he moved on to the other bookshelf and took down all the books. I didn't think he could reach them. Well, one day he fell and bumped his cheek. He has a nice little bruise, and the bookshelf is now empty in the laundry room. Now if only I could get him to leave the shoes alone! If it's not one thing it's another.

Caden can pull himself up to a standing position and loves to do it using anything, even boxes. He can stand on his own for a couple seconds, but grabs onto something because he doesn't trust himself. The other day he was pushing the laundry basket around--only a few inches before he fell. It was so cute! Once he figured out how to stand up in his crib, we lowered it. There is no middle setting, so the crib is really low and looks more like a prison now, but he is safe. He is just dying to walk! I help him walk around the house sometimes and he loves it and gets upset when I stop. If I try to sit him on his bum, he won't bend his legs so he can stay standing. This kid is really stubborn and has a little attitude: he shakes his head violently when he doesn't want something.

We also got a new bumper. Both bumpers are jungle themed and were bought at the thrift store for $2.49!

Caden is so dark now from the sun hitting his legs in his car seat. I have to remember to put socks on him so his little feet won't get burned. We run all our errands in the early morning before it gets too hot and poor Caden toasts in the back seat.

First time in shoes! You can see the bruise on his cheek.

Caden had his first strawberry a couple weeks ago and gobbled it up. He has one every now and then as a treat. I have to stop him from inhaling it, he loves it so much! He also eats puffed brown rice as a snack--melts in his mouth, super cheap, and no additives or preservatives, only rice. Caden's bottom right tooth is coming in, resulting in a very cranky, gnawing baby. Also, look how thick his hair has gotten!

I can't believe my baby will be nine months in a week! I know I always say that with every age, but it's true. He won't be a baby for much longer. Go here for more photos.