Making Progress

Over the past month, Caden has been making progress in the following areas:

Sometimes he sucks his fingers in his sleep!

• He can almost sign potty. The sign is shaking your fist with your thumb between your first two fingers. Caden puts his thumb inside his fist and slowly moves it back and forth. I no longer confuse it with milk. He also likes to sign milk when he is tired and just wants to nurse himself to sleep, so I think he is ready to learn a new sign: sleep!
• He is nowhere near crawling, but I can tell he wants to. He pushes his head into the ground, pushes off his toes, and tries to scoot himself forward that way and gets frustrated when it doesn't work. It's really funny.
• Caden is such a gabber! He loves blowing spit bubbles too.
• He has been sleeping a lot longer at night. I hope it's not a phase or only because he is sick. I am enjoying the sleep I'm getting! He also does not nurse every time he awakens and sometimes falls back asleep on his own.
• About a week ago he rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time! He has not repeated it since.
• He loves to grab everything, including my hair. Ouch!
• A couple days ago he discovered his feet and loves to grab them while I change his diaper.

Friends and Fevers

My friend since middle school, Francine, came to visit me and meet Caden this past weekend. She came Thursday and we hung out all day. Once Justin came home we went out to eat at Carrabba's, a very nice Italian place. The waiter had eyes only for Francine, which we thought was funny but also rude. The food was really good, but Justin and I are still searching for a new favorite Italian restaurant. All our old favorites have been disappointing us recently.

Aunty Francine and Caden

Friday Francine and I went running with Caden. She thought she wasn't going to be able to keep up. Instead, she pushed me to my best average pace, not only since I started running again in over a year but also when I was running all the time before I got pregnant (granted, this was a shorter distance than I ran at that time).

Next was my favorite activity: thrift store shopping! Francine's good-luck-charm effect on me continued: I found a ton of Agatha Christie books and on sale! I got two that I'd been looking for for a long time and another one I liked--for 50 cents each! I also found 50 thank-you cards for $4 and Old Navy yoga capris for $2. I haven't had success like that in a long time. Excited, I decided to try my luck at Ross. I didn't find any dresses that fit perfectly. One came close, but was a little short, and even so, wasn't nursing friendly. Funny how much a baby affects your life! I did find running pants in the petite size (no hemming necessary!) for $8. I just tried them out this morning and love them. They're lightweight and comfortable and fit perfectly. My old running pants were too thick--which was nice for winter in Utah but not anywhere else--and too long, slid down my hips all the time, and had holes. Besides, I'd had them since high school, maybe middle school, so it was about time they were retired.

That night I cooked dinner--Parmesan chicken and rice pilaf, Justin's favorite--and we watched Secretariat. Cute movie. Saturday I made pancakes for breakfast. Francine joked that she felt like she was getting 5-star treatment with me cooking her three meals a day. I enjoy cooking and hosting!

We worked on Caden's room, sorting through clothes and toys to pass along. Caden has so much stuff! Then we took a walk since the weather was so beautiful. I love how quiet our neighborhood is. I only wish they would fix the bumpy, cracked, potholed roads.

Saturday night was stressful. Caden woke up with a terrible fever and didn't want to nurse, a first. A few weeks ago he had a high fever and we took him to the ER. They found nothing wrong with him and let him go home after a huge dose of baby Tylenol since he was still eating, was hydrated, and was otherwise acting normal. This situation was similar, so I wanted to wait before taking him in. I gave him fever reducer medicine and rocked him back to sleep. In a few hours he awoke hungry and no longer feverish, fell back asleep for a few more hours, and woke up at 6:30. I wasn't prepared for him to stay home from church, so he came just to sacrament meeting, I fed him, and Justin took him home.


Francine helped me with Nursery stuff the second hour and then we went to Relief Society, my first time in that ward since I moved in 2 years ago. It was a special, and very corny, meeting about visiting teaching. I went visiting teaching after church, accompanied by Francine and Caden. By the time we got home after 3, I was starving, so we had dinner early. Justin had prepared his famous butter yaki, a family recipe of butter-fried vegetables and meat dipped in a soy-based sauce. It was very delicious and enjoyable since Caden was napping. We ended the day with Kung Fu Panda and brownies. Francine left early Monday morning.



Playing with Caden on the potty



It was fun having her here and introducing her to Caden. She was great with him. He especially loved playing peek-a-boo with her and hearing new songs. Unfortunately, he is still sick. His fever comes and goes and he is very congested and has a horrible cough. We're taking him to the doctor this afternoon. I hope it's nothing serious!

Caden's Baby Blessing

Four generations

The first Sunday in November Caden was blessed at church. Justin's family arrived several days before. The boys golfed a few times, we all (minus Justin, who was working) went to the Visitors' Center at the Mesa Temple, we ate out a couple times, and played Skip-Bo and Imaginiff every day. On Saturday my family and my brother and his family arrived, and I cooked a big meal that night. It was a mad house but so much fun to have everyone there and loving on Caden. He soaked up the attention like a sponge.

Sunday I dressed Caden in an outfit that was Justin's when he was a baby. We met the rest of the family (except Justin's grandma, who stayed with us) at church and took up two rows. Justin, his dad, his brother, my dad, my brother, and the bishop blessed Caden. We had also asked our home teacher, but he was attending to his own newborn son.

In the blessing, besides the usual remarks about a mission and marriage and the like, Justin said Caden would grow close to the Spirit and be an example to his family and others. It was a simple prayer with many blessings I hope come to fruition. Caden was great during the blessing, an answer to my prayers.

It was also fast Sunday, and all my family, including myself but excluding my mother, bore their testimonies. It was cute to see the younger ones go up there and help each other out. Neither Justin nor anyone in his family felt compelled to go up.

We left after sacrament meeting because my family had to leave early and we wanted to eat together before then. We took a million pictures outside the church. Caden was such a trooper but finally had enough and we went home. I made a pasta salad and Rocio made cupcakes and we all chilled until my family left and then the Lyles family left. Justin's family stayed for a couple more days.

It was a crazy weekend but very wonderful and fulfilling having everyone there. I enjoyed playing hostess too. Caden missed all the attention once everyone was gone and cried because he wasn't being held all day anymore.

One Smart Cookie

I've noticed it's a dad thing

Caden is one smart cookie (he gets that from me, of course). He started signing "milk" to me a couple weeks ago, much to my surprise and delight since I was told most babies don't begin signing back until 8 months old. We're still trying to work on "potty." It's very close to "milk" from a baby's perspective, so sometimes I'm not sure which he's trying to do. Infant potty training is going great. (Read more about elimination communication.) I catch about half of his pees and almost all of his poos, including at night.



Caden wanted to snuggle all night



We're making progress on sleep. I have been better about having a consistent schedule. Caden will take 3 naps a day, sometimes 2. We get ready for bed at 6:30 and have him asleep by 7. We put him in his crib until he wakes up (usually 20-60 min. later, though a couple nights ago he actually slept for 2 hours!) and then move him to our bed. Staying asleep is still a big problem. I'm trying not to nurse him as much at night, but I'm so tired and groggy it's the easiest thing to do. Otherwise I bounce him on the edge of the bed or try letting him fall asleep on his own as long as he doesn't cry bloody murder. He's been consistently waking up between 6:30 and 7. I miss when he used to fall back asleep and let me sleep in, but I am more productive during the day now.

I think he's starting to teethe. Any suggestions on how to deal with that?

Four-Month Stats

Already learning how to drive.

Caden is four months old already. At his appointment last week he was 13 1/2 lbs. and 24 inches long. His pediatrician says he has amazing core strength and head and trunk control. She absolutely loves him. Who doesn't? He got more immunizations (only 2 shots this time, I insisted) and did much better than last time. The oral one he took no problem; he's a good medicine taker, unlike me. The first shot he cried. The second shot he wailed. But he was comforted soon thereafter and fell asleep on the way home. No fever this time, just a little fussiness and lots of naps.

My little bugaboo in his Bumbo

A couple weeks ago he discovered squealing and loves to do it all the time, whether or not he is actually upset. He still sucks on his fingers 24/7 and discovered his right hand. He just stares at it while slowly half-closing it. It's kinda funny watching him. He also sucks on his blanket. He's in the grab-everything and stick-things-in-my-mouth stages. He took a pacifier occasionally and briefly for a few days, but now is back to spitting it out immediately. On Wednesday he rolled from his tummy to his back and now does it every time I put him on his tummy. He's partially rolled before but on uneven surfaces, like the couch, that helped him. This time it was on the floor. He's close to rolling from his back to his tummy; his arm just gets in the way. He tries to sit up on his own too. He's added "Popcorn Popping" and "Five Little Monkeys" to his list of favorite songs. I'm trying to teach him the signs for milk and change diaper. I'm also starting infant "potty training" with him, and this morning he pooed in his tiny potty chair. We're still working on sleeping (thanks for all the advice!), and I've realized it's our fault because we've never been consistent with him. Poor little guy. Once that hurdle is gone, things will be a lot better for all of us.