No More Chunky Monkey

9 months

Justin has this old photo of Caden on the potty as his wallpaper on the computer. Caden had so many rolls! I didn't realize how much he has thinned out since he started walking. He's no longer my "big, fat belly man," as I like to call him.

12 months

In relation to my previous post, Caden has exhibited more boy humor. Justin was watching Wipeout (people have to get through an obstacle course that usually results in them falling or getting hurt in a hilarious manner), and Caden started watching from his highchair. A giant boxing glove popped out of nowhere and knocked over a contestant, and next thing I knew, Caden was cracking up!

Right now he is also obsessed with drinking from water bottles. He used to just love rolling them, then playing with empty ones. Now he gets upset if I don't share mine or take it away after a few sips or a spill. His latest word is uh-oh, though he doesn't use it in the right context. I never say it, so I'm not sure where he picked it up. He's also been saying Mama for over a month now (not sure when the first time was), though only when he's upset and wants me.

Someday I'll upload a few months worth of photos of this cute boy. I'm so behind, but right now I'm swamped with other stuff.

Such a Boy

Caden is such a boy. One day Justin made pretend "potty noises" while Caden was on the potty and Caden busted up laughing. Now he thinks farting and burping are funny too--at first only when Daddy did it, but now when he does it too!

One

First photo after birth

My baby turned One on Sunday. On the one hand, it seems like forever ago when he was a tiny newborn. On the other hand, I can't believe his first birthday already came and went. We didn't do anything special Sunday since he is having a party on Saturday.

I love all the new developments that have come with One, but I am sad knowing babyhood is forever behind him. I already went through his clothes and toys, taking out the last of the baby things to pack away. I think Two will be harder, because then he really won't be a baby anymore. He will talk and do more things by himself and be too big to cradle in my arms.

On a lighter note, Saturday night as we were about to say prayer before scripture study, Caden folded his arms all by himself! We have never taught him that; he picked it up on his own. At first we thought it was a fluke, but he did it again! I love my baby!

On his birthday

On His Own

Caden fell asleep on his own today accidentally. He was in the crib for his third timeout this morning for removing the safety plugs from the electrical outlets (he had total of six all day). Normally, I would keep him there just for a few minutes before taking him out. This time I waited longer because I was so tired. Caden didn't go to sleep until 11 p.m. last night, and even though he didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m. (not straight through, of course; the stupid A/C woke him up), I was still exhausted. So I plopped on the couch and fell asleep. Caden's random frustrated cries woke me up every now and then, but I didn't have the energy to get up. Eventually, I didn't hear him anymore. I slept a little longer and then got up. It had been 45 minutes since I put him in the crib! I checked on him, and sure enough, he was asleep. He woke up about 30 minutes later, but I nursed him back to sleep in our bed and he slept for another hour and a half.

Since his cries were just little shouts for my attention and not meltdown sobs, I might do this more often!

Bye-Bye, Naps

For the past week Caden has refused to take his second afternoon nap. He now only takes one mid-morning nap for about two hours. I'm not liking this one-nap thing. He still naps early enough in the day that he is cranky by six. I can't put him to bed that early or he will be wide awake a couple hours later and won't go back to sleep for a couple more hours, too late for me. So we keep him awake until 8 and then get him down with a little bit of crying because he's cranky. Ugh.