4 Months Later...

Well, hey there!  We've survived the 'most brutal winter in a dozen years' or something like that.  The sad part is, the last 'record snows' the state had...is when we were in college here.  Sigh.

But, all winter long, I kept my eyes on Easter.  If we make it to Easter, I thought, life will be good!  The babe will stop crying, and we'll have a bit more of a routine, and we'll be able to go outside again...

Heh.  The babe mostly stopped crying- at least those eternal colic fits.  And we sorta had a routine- which I promptly messed up by working again.  Only part time, but still.

And THEN, the weather played us.  Now- almost a month after Easter? - we're starting to hit 70 degrees more than once a week.  But it's not 70 in the morning, which means layers.  Still.

But I found my favorite fleece vest!  And almost all the crazy work events are over! and it's 70+degrees out - at least part of the day!  And... AND, the babe is LAUGHING.  On purpose.

We're falling in love all over again.  Ah, spring!

Speaking of Spring... though we live in an apartment, the grounds here are nice.  We see all sorts of critters when we're out.  A chipmunk that likes to race across our porch and under the table.  Squirrels that like to bury their nuts in our planters.  Large birds holding small ones in their talons.  The occasional deer (while driving, not in our 'yard').   Oh, and falcons on the highway signs!  Here:  Bunnies, mostly at dusk.  And- the best part- a pair of chickadees nesting in a birdhouse Kaden made last year!  Right on our porch, which is pretty awesome to see and hear each morning.

And, of course, our favorite little groundhog- who may or may not be teething at 4 months.  Drool or no, we'll keep him!

9th Month, 1st Words, 0 Teeth

Well, Kade has certainly hit a growth spurt lately and is, ah, very active! You can tell by the following series of photos, which were to be his "9 month" shots, but instead show how it's suddenly hard to get him to "sit and smile" like before.



There's toys to explore, after all. And just who is this dog?

The remote seemed like a good bribe, as he's usually not allowed to fling, chew, hammer, or otherwise touch it. Check out his "Michael Jordan" look as he slam dunks the remote to the floor!

Also, this past week, he had his first word... first uttered amid a bunch of other syllables and sounds, so we weren't sure he knew what he was saying. The next day, he gives the awake signal from his crib-- when Jim goes up and says "Good Morning Buddy!", Kaden broke into a huge smile and said "DA". Of course.

However, within two days we heard "MA" and then "mmmmmaaaammmmmm" (with some tears) when I left the room. He's actually got the first sounds to a few words, like "buh" for bye or sometimes book or even bird. "Duck" comes out fairly clearly in the bath. According to his Nana, he's also got down "NAAAAAAN" (when he doesn't want to nap).... a variation of "fish" and FFFFFF for frog, "baba" for bottle, and something like "guh" for good. So it's a definte 3 or 4, and maybe even a dozen(!). Guess it's a growth spurt after all :)

Happy Days...

There's a lot to be happy about these days. First off, I am just so. very. proud. of our nation for a PEACEFUL and historic transition of power today. May we continue to treat each other with respect as we work for a nation that continually improves upon itself...

And, three days ago, our ray of Florida sunshine turned six months. Hooray, baby Kaden! Who's more and more morphing out of the baby stage. Hooray for mommy, who loves her baby but is really looking forward to toddler Kaden and beyond!

I especially love his 'macho' look with the shirt buttons undone! Jimdad, are you sure there's no Italian in your background? Or do the Welsh have the same tendency?

It's only just begun...

Kaden and friends up above. The twins are about a year and a half older, and have much fun figuring him out. Generally, they're getting the hang of "gentle" and have quit poking him the eye! What's much fun now is that Kaden is aware of them, and starting to try and join them in their play. We'll see how excited/tolerant they are when he's mobile enough to mess their stuff up!

And because I forgot to post it two weeks ago, here's Kaden at 5 months. He's now a bit more reachy, grabby, and generally more squirmy than ever before! Church is a bit less of a long reflective time and more of snatched prayers between bouncing him away from the hymnals.

Kaden's Christmas gift to us last week? TWO - yes, one and then another, TWO nights of 12 straight hours of sleep. We'll take 'em, because the rest of the time he's a bit more fussy about going to bed or being t-i-r-e-d in general. We're thinking a tooth or two might make an appearance soon.

And here's to 2009! May we all be blessed with health, happiness, and the courage to widen our circle of friends :)