Happy Holidays

Before I had Cade, I couldn't wait to be a Mommy.  One thing I looked forward to most about parenting was creating special holiday memories with my babies.  Growing up, Christmas was a magical time for me and I hope to make the holidays just as special for my family.  Although Cade is a little too young to enjoy the holiday hoopla, it was so great to have him here just in time for the holidays!  Our holiday celebrating started out at Ms. Sandy's house with Christmas/Hannukah dinner - complete with potato latkes.  Yum Yum!  We had a great time with our dear friend Ali and her family despite what the look on Cade's face in the picture below may indicate.  :)  Todd's family came down on Christmas Eve.  It was nice to have family around for Cade's first Christmas.   Speaking of Christmas Eve...Cade turned one month old that day!  I always loved reading about Olivia's monthly stats on Ali's blog so I'm totally stealing that idea.  Thanks Ali! :)

Cade's One Month Stats:

• You weigh 10 lbs and 3 ounces (56th percentile).
• You are 22.5 inches long (73rd percentile).
• You wear size 1 diapers and size 3 month clothing. 
• You are still a happy baby and easy to take care of.
• You eat every three hours.
• You sleep well at night - for a one month old anyhow (about 5 hours straight through, wake up to feed, and then back down for 3 hours).
• You cry mostly when you're hungry and when you're tired.
• You still love to sleep belly down on people's chests.  You also LOVE to stretch!
• You can hold your head up, though you start bobbing after a few minutes :)
• You started smiling about a week ago and it totally melts my heart every time! 
• Morning seems to be your favorite time of day.  You smile and smile when you first wake up. 
• You have two parents that are absolutely in love with you! 

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Cade's first batch of Santa cookies.





What a ham!

Cade the Magician

So everyone knows about the dangers of changing a newborn boy's diaper without using some sort of shield.  It took a few unanticipated sprays to get the gist, but I think I've mastered this aspect of diaper changing.  What I can't quite seem to figure out is the magic behind Cade's newest trick.  It goes a little something like this:  Mommy puts baby down on changing table, undresses baby, removes dirty diaper, wipes clean, puts on fresh diaper, redresses baby, picks baby up and VOILA!...a magic wet spot has appeared in the middle of Cade's back!  WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?  At first I thought it must have been there before I put him down for a changing, but I made sure to check out this possibility before the next change.  Laid him down with a dry back, picked him up with a wet circle in the middle of his back.  Then I thought that perhaps he was peeing while I was changing him (still a likely possibility), but I kept a very watchful eye for the next couple of changes and saw NOTHING!  So bizarre!  Just call him Cade Copperfield.

In other news, poor Cade's mouth broke out with thrush.  I noticed a couple of weeks ago that his tongue was turning white.  Silly me thought it was milk.  Really Jessica?  MILK?  Since when does milk stain one's tongue?  I felt awful once we finally did go to the doctor who diagnosed it as thrush.  In my defense, I called an after hours clinic the weekend before, explained the symptoms and the "doctor" dismissed it as nothing to be concerned about.  One of many balls I will drop I'm sure!  Cade's sweet face also broke out with terrible baby acne.  Poor guy was looking a little rough this week!  I'm happy to report that his mouth and face are now all cleared up.  If only we could figure out how Cade got rid of a face full of acne in less than 7 days we'd be rich!  I guess we'll chalk it up to the magic...

We are busy getting ready for Christmas and I think we're just about there!  We are very excited for Todd's family to arrive this weekend.  Cade is continuing to grow and change at an alarming rate.  He's already outgrown his newborn wardrobe.  Is it normal that I feel a little sad about this?  While I am very excited about watching him develop, I'm already nostalgic about our first month together.  He will be one month old in five days.  I can't believe it!  Thank you for the most memorable month of my life Baby Cade.  You are so loved!

Getting to Know You

Cade had an exciting week!  GJ came down from Virginia to visit and we enjoyed spending time with her.  She was so excited to meet her new grandson and she brought lots of clothes, toys and other goodies with her including a handmade blanket that is super soft.  Thanks GJ!  We love you!  We had other visitors, too!  Kristin, Carrie, and Kimberly came over to see our sweet baby.  Todd took us on a date to Pure and we took Cade to his first birthday party (our neighbor Alex turned two).  He slept the whole time and I sat in a corner away from everyone else because I was terrified of someone breathing on him and getting him sick...crazy Mommy!

I'm so happy to have time home from work to get to know my sweet baby.  What a blessing!  When you  read this when you get older I thought you might like to know what you were like in your first couple of weeks here.  I have LOVED every minute of getting to know you.  For the most part, you are a very happy, relaxed baby.  You are very easy to take care of.  You really only cry when you're hungry and sometimes when we change your diaper.  You suck (very loudly I might add) on your fingers when you're hungry.  You eat about every three hours.  You are content to sit alone and look around...soaking up the world around you.  I try to give you your space as much as I can, but you're just so darn lovable that I have a hard time letting you sit alone for too long!  :)  From what I can tell, your favorite things are eating, laying on mommy or daddy's chest, skin to skin time, and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g!  Yes, stretching!  You love to throw your hands over your head and stretch!  You do this a lot right after you eat and you make the cutest little faces and sometimes you even grunt a little.  It's ADORABLE!  I've been trying to catch your stretching faces with the camera but so far, no dice.  When you're not eating or sleeping, you spend your days reading books and singing songs with mommy, laying on your activity mat, strengthening your muscles during tummy time, being cuddled, and dancing around with Daddy.  And this week you've been perfecting your gorgeous smile!  One of Daddy's favorite things is snuggling in the bed with you.  Can't wait to see what next week brings!

The First of Many Firsts

Our first week home with Cade was quite an adventure!  Todd took the week off and we SO enjoyed our family time together.  We spent the week figuring out how to do this parent thing.  I think we're doing pretty well if I do say so myself!  :)  Cade had many "firsts" during his first week home.  He had his first doctor appointment - he's super healthy in every way!  He had even gained weight during his first week.  The doctor said that was pretty rare.  Go Cade!  He also had his first bath (I was a nervous wreck during this, I have to admit), sucked his thumb for the first time (outside the womb anyhow - who knows what was going on in there!), sprayed mommy and daddy with pee pee for the first but undoubtedly not the last time - I must add that this was a FIRST for mommy too!  :)  He continues to be a truly amazing baby.  He's very content and rarely cries.  He sleeps well - knock on wood - and is eating well too.  We feel so blessed and are so in love with our sweet baby Cade!  We can't wait to experience many more firsts with you!

He's Here, He's Here!

Dear Caden,

You are the most amazing baby any parents could ever ask for!  You were born at 9:10 p.m. on November 24th (Thanksgiving..and boy are you a blessing)!  You weighed 8 lbs., 1 oz. and are 21 inches long.  Today is your first day home and so far everything is going well.  You eat and sleep and hardly cry at all - I told you that you were the most amazing baby ever!  We love you so much it feels like our hearts could burst right open.  Our journey together begins and we feel like the luckiest parents in the world. 

Can't Hardly Wait

We're about three weeks away from the big day...at least we think so anyway!  We are so excited we can hardly stand it!  We're in the process of taking care of the last minute preparations - washing the baby clothes, putting in the car seats, etc.  While I am definitely very excited, I'm starting to get a little nervous too.  Not so much about the labor part - though maybe I should be - but more about what the baby will be like and how we will respond to such a huge change in our lives.  I can't believe that 9 months have gone by already!  I couldn't have been blessed with an easier pregnancy.  Like me, Todd is super stoked and though he won't admit it, I think he's a little nervous too.  I think we're just about ready...we can't wait to meet you baby Cade!