Sooo Big!

You know the drill... you ask the child how big he is, and he throws up his hands and squeals with delight. Very impressive, and quite fun to witness the pure joy on his face, but since our camera batteries are down, you'll just have to picture it in your mind :)

Proof that Kade takes after his father:
When we fed him a taste of ice cream, he literally sucked the spoon dry.
Then screamed for more.

Proof that Kade takes after his mother:
While watching the TV show "Wipeout", he saw a guy crash into a wall and fall head over heels into the water. The babe laughed out loud, then looked at Jim and me (who were silent because we thought he was sleeping) and gave us a little chuckle.

To Stand or Not to Stand?

It really isn't a question, more of a developmental choice. Check out Kaden's newest pastime...

None of these last very long, but still... he looks rather pleased with himself, don'cha think?

A decade?

It never seems possible, but here we are: Jim and I celebrated 10 years together this past weekend. We celebrated at the beach:

Which was Kaden's first visit-- and he has his father's love of adventure. The waves were "rough" by Gulf standards, but he totally enjoyed them crashing into him (and sometimes over his head too!).

We also visited a zoo, where these two "general" lions entertained us a bit. Know what we learned? Because their genetic history is undetermined, it's a risk to breed them. So the lioness was sterilized... but the King of the Jungle? Not so much. Turns out their MANE is directly related to their testosterone, so a sterile man lion looks like, uh, a lady lion. (Insert thick hair jokes here).

That whole conversation with the keeper was over Kade's head, thank goodness (we have a few years to prepare for THAT talk). But he did seem to enjoy watching the animals... especially the monkeys, who were the most active. They got a high pitched screech of appreciation, which was the exact type of noise we were told to avoid, as it could aggravate los monos. Can't you just see the headline? "Local Baby Incites Monkeys to Attact Boat of Tourists: Warning! Gruesome photos inside!"

No, the entire visit was very nice and mostly calm- heck, it was so hot out both the animals and the peeps were fairly laid back! Here's to another 10 years of calm and adventure :)

Future Farmers of America

Grandma Fry made one of these barn and animal sets for each of her grandkid's families. There's a BUNCH-- and we were very blessed to get one since she moved on before Kaden was born (thanks, Mom!).

We put two of the smaller chicks away in his baby box, so that he can play with the set freely and we won't worry that he's wrecking an heirloom.

How cool is it to see him discover and play with Grandma's Barn?!