9 Months!

Being 9 months is so much fun! Caden is loving life and is learning new things every day. Sleeping is getting better. I think DST helped with that. Since it's darker in the morning, I think he stays asleep longer too. He has always been such a good eater, but it's been a struggle the past couple of weeks. I blame teething! I can tell he is "growing out" of baby food and really wants to feed himself, but many of the solids he has tried still make him gag. We'll get there! We keep thinking he'll take off and walk any day now. Last week, we caught him standing up without holding on to anything for several seconds. His crawl is getting super speedy now so we stay on alert more than usual around here. Sometimes he has to "play" in his pack in play so I can shower or do laundry safely :) 
He is talking all the time now and has lots to say! Favorite words are still "dada" and "mama" but he has a new fascination with his tongue so most converstaions have shrills or clicking sounds - maybe he's speaking an African tribal language we're just not familiar with yet... 

Having fun playing during the Oscars !

Caden is quite the helper in the kitchen. LOVES the dishwasher!

Here he is "helping" again. This has become the "Caden friendly" cabinet.

Crazy hair in the bathtub!

I just love that cute wittle bottom!

Daddy made Caden his own baby pancake!

Trying avacado. I think more ended up on the tray and his hands/face.

Helping Poppy crunch the numbers at work.

Big boy in his new car seat!

Three teeth through, one more coming! All four on the bottom!

Still prefers to take naps with his people :)

Caden Roy, you are a piece of heaven for us on earth. My heart literally lifts every time you laugh, smile, talk, crawl towards me at top speed, clap, or sing. You are such a good baby and are turning into an awesome little boy. Sometimes we still look at you and can't believe you are OURS! We love you, love you, love you!

8 Months

Time is flying by and we are truly having so much fun! Caden continues to amaze us with all he is learning every day. It seems like everyday I pick him up from mom and dad's and he has learned something new. Their first question every Monday morning, is "What new tricks did he learn this weekend?!" Although sometimes I wish he was still a tiny 8 lb baby doll, each stage has its own joys and is so fun! 
So we have a HUGE mama's boy on our hands here. If I set him down and leave the room, he will usually follow with a "mamamamama!" and come crawling after me (melts my heart)... 

We love our daddy too, but would rather have mama hold me and let daddy make me laugh :) He loves it when Cameron drums with him or tickles him real good. It gets a good hearty laugh from him. He loves to look at me nose to nose.. it gets both of us laughing pretty hard. 

 This month we are crawling faster, however mostly with one leg straight though. So it's more of a peg leg crawl! It works... He would really just rather walk, which we have said all along. He's beginning to pull up on anything and everything and is starting to hold on with just one hand and start to move away. Good thing he wears cushy diapers, because he has lots of abrupt landings on that cute toosh of his. 

 His smile is really contagious and I can't help but just do silly things all the time to make him laugh or smile. I told Cameron at the store yesterday (right after a spontaneous break into song and dance) that I used to sort of care what others thought about me and tried not to make a fool of myself in public. Yeah... I don't care at all anymore. At the store we sing about paper towels, cheese, fruit, etc. Luckily Caden is not real picky about the lyrics just yet :) 

 He's learning to play more independently now which means we can set him down for a few minutes while we fix meals or get ready in the morning and he can entertain himself. His favorite toys right now are the drumsticks that came with the toy drum Garrett and Meghan got him for Christmas, mommy's phone (just bought a new case for it to make it Caden friendly), the TV remote (when mom and dad aren't looking), the walker toy Aunt Trish got him for Christmas, and a set of wooden stacking blocks. His crawling abilities seem to soar whenever there are electronics or chords available to pull and investigate. This little guy is very curious. He loves to turn things over and examine them from all sides. He also likes to "help" me load and unload the dishwasher. 

Have I mentioned we have the BEST photographer? Our friend, Lesley Rackley, takes pictures of Caden once a month for us. She took the picture below at the park for his 7 month photo session (we haven't picked up his 8 month pictures from her yet). If you need a photographer, check her out - she's awesome! 

Other random things this month: We have our first tooth! It's his bottom front right tooth. We've thought he was teething since he was 4 months old - but we just now got one to poke through. He's eating a bigger variety of things now and is starting to prefer baby foods with meat, pasta, or rice mixed in - makes it thicker. I still buy the Gerber baby food and I'm not gonna lie, it grosses me out from time to time and I wish I had the time/patience to make our own food. But I am thankful for the convenience of pre made baby food right now! He is still on "mama's milk" for now and we are hoping to make that last for as long as possible. He doesn't seem to like his bouncer as much anymore because he can't get to where he wants to be in there! We still like bath time and are more interested in playing with toys while in the tub. 

Caden, you are the BEST baby ever. I love every minute we get to spend together. We are so blessed to have such a laid back baby that is flexible with parents that are still learning. Every where we go, people we know as well as strangers comment on how cute you are and what a good baby you are. You make friends with everyone! We love you!

7 Months

Caden turned 7 months old on the 16th. When people in public ask how old he is, I always have to catch myself from saying 6 months. It seems like he just turned 6 months old yesterday! Caden is such a big boy now - he's sleeping through the night (praise the Lord!) usually from 8:30ish to 6:00ish (sometimes a little earlier but Mommy sneaks him into the big bed with the rest of the family if he wakes up too early... shhh don't tell). 

He is eating almost all of the 2nd foods now except the meats. I tried making some chicken with carrots at home, but he doesn't seem to big on the texture of the chicken yet so we'll wait on that. His favorites are still cereal, squash, sweet potatoes, and anything with apples mixed in (mostly apples and cherries). He loves drinking water too! He always tries to grab my water cup and get a drink like a big boy and somehow he figured out how to use a straw way too quickly. Smarty pants... 
We're soooo close to figuring out this crawling thing. He'll get up on all fours and rock back and forth, sometimes moving backwards, but usually just ends up rolling wherever he wants to go. We're excited to see him crawl, but also glad he is taking his time - we still have some baby proofing to do around this place! 

 Here he is at his "6 month" check up. It was closer to 7 months. He had a great time tearing up the paper in the doctor's office. The best news of 7 months - NO MORE HIP DYSPLASIA! The harness and brace he wore did the trick (or possibly just time itself). But whatever it was, we are so grateful! He got a great report from the hip doctor (we went up to see him last week) and we do not have to go back until July. Hallelujah! 

 Playing in the kitchen while mommy does the dishes... which happens VERY frequently these days. How does adding one more person create so many more dishes?!? 

 Caden is such a joy. I know that I'm biased because I'm his mother, but honestly, we could have not asked for a happier baby. Everywhere we go he is smiling and making friends. I find myself just staring at him sometimes in amazement (as the dishes and laundry pile up in my house that is overdue for a serious cleaning). I find that I don't care as much about the daily grind. I try to spend as much time as I can with this little guy and figure that the house chores can wait... right? 

Here we are playing with our Lainey friend at church. As soon as he figures out this crawling thing, I'm sure Lainey will be running away! 

Christmas Festivities

 We had such a great Christmas break! For us Normanites, it started on Thursday the 22nd. On Thursday afternoon, I headed up to Tulsa to see Kendall and our cousin, Olivia, dance in the Tulsa Nutcracker. They did a fantastic job and both girls had a blast performing. It was great to see all of my mom's side of the family too. We don't have many opportunities to ALL get together so it was nice to see everyone. On Friday, Garrett and Meghan (and the puppies) came to stay at our house for the week. It was fun spending time and relaxing around the house with them.  

On Saturday, Christmas Eve, we celebrated at my mom and dad's house. Trish, Tim, Mitchell, and Kendall came down to Norman. (We missed you Senters!!!) I guess I was so busy helping Caden open presents that I managed to miss out on all picture taking opportunities. I did get a couple of Aunt Trish spoiling her nephew though. 

On Christmas morning, Cameron and I had a mini celebration with Caden before we went to church. Santa brought him a new OU hat! 

 We got him a jumper to bounce around it. He LOVES it. He also loves when you jump along with him.

 After church, mom invited everyone over back to their house for Christmas brunch. Cameron's family all came too and we had a great time sitting around and visiting for awhile. 

We snuck a quick family photo in front of mom and dad's Christmas tree.

 Here is Caden hanging out with Uncle Tim.

 Kendall always manages to get in some kind of war with Cameron. This time it was a pillow throwing war.

Santa baby with his Grandma!

 Baird family photo - we missed you Senters!!!

 And then it was on to Christmas number 3 for Caden! After brunch, we headed over to Cameron's parents house to celebrate with Cici, Poppy, Garrett, and Meghan.

 Rocking with Poppy and playing with his new keyboard from Garrett and Meghan!

 Cute family photo :)

 Cici made Caden this sweet stiched outline of his handprints. It is darling!

 We had some posing time infront of the Christmas tree in our Santa outfit.

 Then on Monday evening, we got together at Aunt Jo's house to celebrate Christmas number 4 with the Ingram side of the family. Caden got to meet cousin Lance!

 Family fun!

 Matching Christmas doxie socks! 

 Caden and Lainey had a great time opening presents together. Of course, Lainey had to get a good tackle in first :)  (Just a note, Lainey did have on a very cute Christmasy outfit, but we had an "incident". Notice she is decked in Christmas socks, however.)

 Sweetie Pies!

 Aunt Jo got him this sweet golfer hat. His eczema was flaring up at the time making his cheeks nice and rosy for this British look :)

 Cuddling with cousin Jaiden.

 We kinda laid low on Tuesday and Wednesday. Garrett and Meghan went to Stoolwater to celebrate with her family. Caden and I hung out at home with the four puppies :) 

On Thursday, we went out to Heisman park so Garrett could see the statues. 

Here's daddy with Caden.

 Uncle Garrett and Caden with matching shades :)

 Aunt Meghan with Caden.

 Mommy with Caden.

 Thursday afternoon, we went out to the Outlet Shoppes in OKC. Our little man is such a good shopper! He is such a trooper for letting us drag him all over the place. That evening we met up with Jo, Eddie, and the Loopers to eat at Old Chicago. Again, forgot the camera... 
Then on Friday, it was time for Garrett and Meghan to head home. We snagged some last minute photo opps at Cici and Poppy's house. 

 All decked out for the bowl game later in the day. Go Sooners!

 

Although, we had lots of celebrating and family time, the breaks never seem long enough.He had a wonderful Christmas with lots of family time! I hope that as Caden grows up, we establish lots of fun traditions around the holidays. 


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