Everything is New

Cade understands the concept of something being new now and recognizes things he has not seen before. It is so funny and cute because I will put a shirt on him and he will stop and look and say "new shirt?" It is amazing to me how smart he is and how many connections he makes at such a young age. I know it is very normal and age appropriate, but I still think he is amazing.

A Few of My Favorite Things...About My Bug

I know I just recently updated, but Cade changes so much everyday and I find him to be so amazing that I feel the need to write again. These are a few of my favorite things he does or who he is these days.

-LOVES garbage trucks, Loves them.

-Walks backward saying "beep, beep, beep"....like a garbage truck

-Loves goldfish crackers and calls them "shippies".

-Is getting really great at feeding himself with utensils

-LOVES to play in the car and can turn the keys to the "on" place so that the radio and wipers work

-Loves and gets so excited when Gramma comes to play

-Repeats EVERYTHING we say. My favorites include "Come on", "Okay!" and "Touchdown!"

-Yells "Down!" (touchdown) anytime he sees any sport on TV...while raising his hands in the air

-Asks "Are?" When he is looking for something and holds his hands up in question

-Loves to be outside and walks all the way up to "touchy gabadee" (touch the garbage truck). This being a white truck that parks up the hill from us and he is fascinated by and loves to touch.

-I love that when I try to record him being cute, he always wants to come behind the camera to see what is being taped, so I never get him on video.

-Love that he says "chee mama" when he sees that I am recording or taking a picture of him

-Has formed very special and fun relationships with the family I work for. He loves the kids and dogs and looks forward to picking them up each day. They love him back and have such a great time. They have their own routines such as Hayden sharing his goldfish with Cade, one at a time on the ride from school. So sweet.

-Says "nutcracker". What?!

-Is still nursing and calls it "ninganuh". Cutest thing ever.

-When he wants to nurse he says "ninganuh?" and answers his own question...."okay!"

-He talks and talks and talks. All day.

-Loves to help and says "help mama" in the sweetest way.

-Rides in the car all the time and never complains. He loves to hold his stuffed animals and always wants "cova?" (to be covered) even when it is 100 degrees out.

-Says hi to everyone he comes across and smiles at everyone. He radiates happiness and brings so much joy to those around him.

-Says "pretty nail?" when he notices my painted nails. No idea where he got that one.

-Loves animals. Has no fear of them at all. He loves to play chase with the Luedde's dog Boo and feeds him treats. When we are at my mom's, he always goes to the garage and the cats come running because they know it means he will feed them more than they are supposed to have.

-Loves to make coffee with Grammpa. He knows the process which includes smelling the coffee before they grind it.

-I love that he is cautious but not afraid of anything in life.

-Loves to be naked and take baths. Always wants bubbles and puts them on his face like papa does with shaving cream.

-When we take off his diaper, he squeals with delight because of his "weeny" which we refer to as penis so I have no idea why he calls it that. He then makes himself pee, yes on purpose and laughs out loud. So weird and yet so funny.

-Already wants to go pee on the potty and tells me "butt owie" when he has poop in his diaper. Yay for potty training this summer!

-Says "peeee mama" when he asks for things.

-Says "sank you mama" after I give it to him.

-Loves to get the mail and knows where the keys are, holds them and walks there and knows which box is ours.

- Says "up high!" whenever anything is higher than him or he stands on something.

-Remembers the puddle that was outside our door after it rained months ago and looks for it every time we go outside.

-Loves to dance and even goes down on his knees like he is sliding across the floor. Twirling is a favorite as well.

-Loves to use pens, pencils, keyboards and the mouse or anything else he sees us use and is not supposed to have.

-Still eats crayons when we try to color.

-Loves shoes and wears mine or Chris' shoes when he finds them and even has a pair of clear cinderella shoes that he wears around the house. They make a clip-clop sound and he loves it.

-Hides things around the house and I find them randomly, such as his cars in my underwear drawer. Makes me smile.

-I love when he wraps his arm around my neck in the middle of the night.

-I love that he says "Hi dada!" as soon as he sees Chris in the morning.

-He asks "mama bye-bye?" if I put on a jacket, "mama run?" if I put on my running shoes and "dada bye-bye?" when Chris gets his keys in the morning. So freakin' smart.

I love this Kid more than I could ever say. More to be added soon.....

Where Did my Baby Go?

It has been some time since I last updated this blog. We moved back to SD, then I started working again, then we moved into our new house and then the holidays came, so it was a busy time! Cade has changed and grown so much in the past year. He has gone from my sweet little baby boy to this amazingly sweet, wonderful, talking little human. He awes us and his family every day.

To begin with, he speaks so much now. It is so fun to hear what he has to say and it happens all day everyday. He is such a fountain of words now and comes up with new ones constantly. It is to the point now that you can give him the word for something and he says it right back. He also speaks in two and three word sentences. It is so fun to hear him really think about what he wants to say and then just say it! "Help Mama", "Come Dada", "Keys Gamma Car" are a few of my favorites.

Speaking of car....that is one of his favorite places to be these days. He will play in the car for hours if we let him. He likes to sit in the driver's seat and put the keys in and out of the ignition, turn on the hazard lights and windshield wipers, change the music, and whatever else he can figure out how to do. He especially loves to be in "Gamma's car". The scary part is that he has figured out how to turn the key to the point of the music being able to come on and hopefully it is a long time before he figures out (or has the strength) to turn the car on!

He LOVES being with his family. To help him learn every one's names, I made magnetic pictures to have on the refrigerator so that he can play with them and recognize the members of his family. They have really helped him recognize the people we don't see as often. He talks about Aunt B and Uncle Sean and cousin Tanner all the time now. It is adorable to point to someone and ask "who is this" and have him tell you right away, only in his own language. He calls Auntie Elizabeth something like "bladalah" :) Those who he does see often, my mom, dad, and Auntie Meme and Elizabeth, he just adores. I am so happy and grateful to have them around. They are not only trusted babysitters, but he loves playing with them and actually prefers them to me sometimes! Grandma is by far his favorite person right now. I feel so lucky to have such great family and it really helps me out when I need to get things done!

He is also starting to know where we are just be recognizing his surroundings....from the car...rear facing! Kids are amazing. As soon as we get close to somewhere we go often, he knows.

Christmas was fun this year. He loved going to see Santa, though did not want to touch him, really got into the opening part of presents, and ate waaaaaaayyy too many sweets. The kid has a worse sweet tooth than me and those of you who know me well, know that is bad. He now knows the words cookie and candy thanks to the holidays. The holidays also brought a new bad habit to our home and Cade's life. Watching a show. We introduced the classic Christmas animated films to Cade this year because Chris and I love them and remember watching them as kids. He has never been into watching TV or shown any interest in it up until now. I think I can officially say, he is addicted to Santa Clause is Coming to Town. I think he must have watched that show 50 times since Thanksgiving. It is the only show he wants to watch and asks for it all the time. The cutest thing is HOW he asks for it..."Showww? Okay!" and climbs up into his chair. It makes it hard to say no. He will sit through the entire 45 minute show, over and over again. I really need to put it away in the Christmas box, but I fear he will be heartbroken :) I don't want to make it a habit in our house for him to watch TV everyday, but it is so darn convenient when I need to get something done!

As for his teeth? Not much progress. He has four in the top front, two on the bottom and much to my surprise, now has a molar coming in on each side on the top. Go figure. Can't wait for him to have more teeth to increase the variety in his diet.

I am sure there is much more I am forgetting, but I am making it my New Year resolution to keep up with my blogs again so I will get back to it soon!

Words

New words:

Come (come with you)
Smell
Knee
Nose
Yeah
Bye bye
Hi

And he is starting to put two words together sometimes, this morning he said "Dada bye bye?" and "come Mama?" when I was going to take the trash out...so amazing.

Happy Halloween!!

Cade had a great halloween! We all had so much fun! He dressed as a monkey and looked soooo cute. I was hoping we could go as the Incredibles this year because Cade looks like Jack Jack and Chris like Mr. Incredible, but I didn't get it together.
We trick-or-treated with Cade's cousins Tanner and Cole. Cade was so into the whole thing and loved it! He held his bucket in one hand and his glowstick wand in the other. He was not scared of anything and walked right up to the door and said his version of  "trick or treat" and held his bag out. So fun!

I can't wait for next year!

New news

So this week Cade added the following words to his list:

Apple
Trash
All done
Meow
Meme (auntie meme)

Annnnd...

He finally has another tooth coming in! That makes 5 :)

Word Update

I think it will be fun (at least for me) to keep track of words he says as he says them to see the progression. Here is the list so far:

Mama
More
Car (ca ca)
Kitty (ky)
Potty
No
School (skoo)
Hayden (ay day)
Out (owww)
Ow!
Outside

More to come soon!

Boys, Boys, Boys

So Chris taught Cade a really fun trick this week...to pick his nose. Yep, that's right, to stick his finger into his nose. The best part? He also showed him how to pick other people's noses too.

I knew when we found out we were having a boy, I would be dealing with so many lovely bodily things but never did I think it would be at 18 months!!

Okay, truth is, its pretty funny and kinda cute....for now. Oh boys.

He speaks!

We have a talker! Cade started speaking a few words in the last couple weeks. He started saying his version of "more" and now he also says "mama, car, ky (kitty) and ow".

In other news: he still only has 4 front teeth, is adjusting really well to our big move, almost sleeps through the night, takes one two hour nap everyday, LOVES to play in the sink and in the car with the keys, gets excited when he hears an airplane or garbage truck or sees any kind of animal.

He eats almost anything we offer him EXEPT veggies, strawberries and mango (that will need to be worked on). He went to the beach for the first time last month and loved the water. He ran right into it with no fear.

He loves to help water plants with Grandma Rawson, make coffee in the mornings with Grandpa Rawson, feed the cats with auntie Meme and put auntie Lizabeth's chapstick on. He plays in the fountain with Grandma Precious and sits in the big chair with Pompa. He really seems to enjoy having his family around.

Last month he transitioned to his new big boy car seat. It is so much bigger and safer for him and he really likes to play in it. He will still be rear facing for a while though which stinks but, oh well.

He is so much fun and I can't wait to start getting into the holidays with him! I think he will love it!

More to come soon....

Communication is AMAZING

First let me say that because I am the mom and I am lucky to be able to spend so much time with Cade, I know what he wants most of the time. That being said, he signs. All the time and it is AMAZING! I know I have already listed all the signs he uses, but it just really amazes me everyday how much it helps him communicate and how happy he gets when we know exactly what he wants or needs.

Plus, he is so freakin' smart! How does he know what helps means and when to use it? How does he decipher between "again" and "more" and when to use which one? It is amazing. He is so cute when he needs help, he comes running up to us and signs "help" with his little thumb up and a look of determination on his face. As soon as we respond "you need help?" he gets a giant smile on his face and runs back to where he came from to show us what he needs help with.

He signs "airplane" when he hears any loud noise, tells us when he wants to eat or needs water or wants milkies (nursing). He tells us when he wants to read a book again (for the 120th time) or for us to sing his favorite songs again. I LOVE these signs. They take away any frustration that comes along with lack of speech and it is just so darn cute! I have tried many times to catch him signing on camera, but have failed every time so far. It is as if he knows....little stinker :)

My absolute favorite sign of all though, is the sign he made up. Up until a few weeks ago, Cade took his naps in his car seat in the stroller. Recently, he started going over to the stroller when he was ready to sleep and raising his arm up as if to reach for the stroller. This became the sign for wanting to go to sleep! Now, anytime he is tired and wants to go to sleep, he simply raises his hand as if in class. It is so cute.

I know he will start talking soon and although this too will be exciting and fun, I really am going to miss his adorable little signs.

Little Stinker!

Look what I walked in on...someone took the side off of his wagon and climbed in. Big trouble.

Water Baby

Cade loves water. The favorite thing right now is to carry around the house with the sprinkler on. Hours of fun :) It's the little things in life right?

Summertime and the Livin' is...HOT!

It is Summer in Chico and man, is it hot! It has been in the 100s for a couple weeks now and it is tough to get outside. We have played in the pool and ventured out for a few walks to the park and Starbucks though...in fact, Cade had his first "coffees" the other day :) Looking forward to Fall and playing outside more often!

Happy 4th of July!!

Today was Cade's second 4th of July. Last year he was a tiny baby and my family was here so we did the whole barbecue and fireworks thing. This year, Chris had to work until the afternoon so it was just cade and I in the morning. We walked to starbucks and then walked over to bidwell park at one mile where they have a little celebration each year. There was a little band playing patriotic music, lots of food and other booths and mostly, it was HOT. We didn't stay long, but cade walked around and tried to jump in the water so we went home. It was 103 the whole day so we ended up just staying inside.

Chris and I had dinner, while Cade slept and then we all went to bed early (after having root beer floats).

No fireworks this year...next year I think we will be in san diego and it won't be so darn hot!

One Year Update

So, I know its a little late and that I have been posting little things along the way, but I feel it is time for an update on Cade and all of his amazingness!

To begin with, he walks!!! About the end of may, he started walking and taking a few steps here and there, but after his surgery he refused to walk without holding a hand. I think maybe it hurt to walk a little and holding hands gave him comfort, I dunno. About a week or two ago, he must have remembered he could walk and just let go and never looked back! It is wonderful to have him up off the floor and provides us the opportunity to have more fun outside and less worry for mama about the floors not being clean enough. I know, I know, but I couldn't help it. Anyway, he is all over the place now and loves it. It is so cute to see him come walking around the corner smiling :)

Annnnd he eats! He now has two teeth on the bottom and one on the top with another on its way out so he can bite things pretty well now . He is doing very well not choking on food for the most part and has hardly had any reactions to anything. He loves to eat whatever we are eating and just has such a sense of pride in being so special when we hand him something. I am very aware of what we eat now and have ben trying to buy as much organic, non-sugar-filled food as we can. Though I swore I wouldn't give him french fries as a baby, I hate to admit he had already had In-n-out fries....at least they are real potato right??

He loves to dance, wear mine and chris' shoes (though they always fall off and he gets mad), and loves the bath...any water actually. He throws and tries to kick his little soccer ball, turns everything into a phone and puts it up to his ear to have a conversation and loves to be outside.

This week I made more of an effort to offer signs when I knew what he wanted. He already gets frustrated if we don't know what he wants, so I thought they would really come in handy now. He caught on so quickly! He now regular signs "more", "milk", "again"and "all done". We are working on the signs for book, eat, water, outside, mama, papa, ball and please. It is so cute because he sometimes gets them all mixed up and even though I usually know which one he means to do, I always laugh and show him the real sign. I'm so exited to have this communication with him.

We are creeping closer to one nap a day I think. He is staying up longer and longer each day. I tried having him nap outside the stroller, but if I wasn't holding him, he woke right up.Something about the car seat shape must make him more comfortable.

He and Chris have such an amazing relationship and it just truly warms my heart. They spend more time together as I have been picking up a few extra shifts at work. They go for walks, play outside, water the grass, read stories (which papa often changes the words to), and dance. Chris always calls me at work to let me know what they are up to. The other night he called and informed me that he taught Cade to high-five :) It is such a father-son thing to do and so cute. Last night when I got home he told me about their dance party and how he had put on some music and both he and Cade danced and cracked up at each other for 20 minutes. Part of me wishes I was there to watch, but the other part of me is so happy for them that they have those moments which are just theirs. Cade and I are so lucky to have such an amazing man in our lives.

That's about it for now, though I will of course think of many more right after I post this...

Oh! One more thing that had me in tears the other night....

Cade discovered his penis in the bath. I have been waiting for it to happen and the funniest part is that he cracks up in hysterics everytime he grabs it.

I love that kid.

Number 3!

We have another tooth! Well, Cade does anyway :) One of his top front teeth came in today and the other one is poking through...

My Little Trash Boy

The other day Cade noticed the trashcan. The one in the kitchen has a lid that lifts up and he LOVES lids. So in the last few days he has been picking up little things off the floor and throwing them away. Today, I searched high and low for our DVD remote. After searching for 20 minutes, I found it. In the trashcan. Oh little bug, you are so cute.

Surgery

So surgery went well and at this point the little bug is all healed and back to normal!

We got to the hospital early and checked in for the long haul. The nurse came in and took his vitals and gave us his gown to put on. Cade was still playing and exploring at this point. He started to get fussy about an hour before his surgery because he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 3:00am, including nursing. I felt so bad because he was crying and didn't understand why I wouldn't let him eat. Not fun for either one of us.

About half an hour before surgery, the nurse came back in and gave Cade a dose of versed (versaid?). It made him loopy and happy and forget all his worries. It was pretty cute and funny to watch. After it kicked in, Blake came in and carried him to surgery.

Blake Selby is a good friend of ours who happens to be the nurse practitioner who works with a great pediatric urologist in orange county. We were lucky to have her there with cade the whole time.

Surgery lasted about two hours and Blake updated us by text the whole time. That was lovely and made us feel so much more relaxed. After surgery we went to see him in recovery and waited and waited. They told us he had ended up needing an extra dose of anesthesia because he wouldn't relax. For this reason he was out cold. It took about two hours before he came to, enough to nurse and he never actually woke up until we got back to Chris' parent's house about four hours later.

He came home with a bandage over the incision, a catheter (without the bag, it just went into the diaper), and an onQ pump which was a tube inserted into the incision and released lidocaine into the incision every four hours. Instructions of: no baths for a week and keep the poop away from the bandage. Right.

It was a looooonngg week for the parents. Other than a little pain, Cade seemed no worse for the wear and was bouncing off the walls! We kept him in the house for the week and we all got very stir crazy...

A week later the bandages came off and the catheter came out and he was a new baby!

We go back for his check up in a few weeks...

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Surg-cation!

We are headed down to San Diego for Cade to have his surgery on Tuesday/ vacation! I am not thrilled about the surgery, but it is supposedly very common and standard procedure to repair so I'm trying not to worry too much. Surgery is scheduled for tuesday morning at 9:00 am, we have to be there at 7:00. In the mean time, we are planning to enjoy the next two days with the family, do a little shopping, and have a birthday party for Cade tomorrow!

This is our third trip down with little man and we decided to break it up this time to make it easier on us! We left chico at 1:00pm yesterday and stayed in bakersfield last night. It was so much better than driving straight through. No meltdowns so far!

Stack 'em Up!

I know every parent thinks their child is way smarter than everyone else's, and I am no exception :) Yesterday I was sitting on the floor with Cade and started stacking his little wooden blocks, one on top of another. He would knock my tower over and I would build it up again, everytime he watched intently. I kept stacking and when I looked over at Cade, he was stacking blocks!! He was adding the third block to his own tower and I was shocked. The little guy can't pick up a cheerio, but he can stack very small blocks? Amazing. We have 2 year olds at work who can barely do that...so it has to be said. My child is a genius.