31

Last week was my 31st birthday.  Todd surprised me with balloons, a cake, a sweet card, and a couple of great gifts.  GJ was here to stay with Cade so Todd and I got to celebrate "old school" style.  :) Thank you, GJ!  We went downtown to Glenn's Kitchen for dinner and then had lots of fun at the rooftop bar.  I am so thankful for a husband that makes the effort to make my birthday special.  Thank you, Todd!  You're the best husband I could ever hope to have.  I'm looking forward to another great year!

Little Monster is 8 Months Old

Sweet Cade, you are now 8 months old!  You have changed so much this month and I must say, you keep getting better with age!  Just when I think you can't get any cuter or more fun, you do!  Watching you grow and change over the last month has been so fun.  You've definitely gotten a little more difficult at times and you've entered what I'm reffering to as the Little Monster Stage (I say that with love, of course).  Your sleeping and eating habits changed a lot this month which totally threw me for a loop.  You went from being a great sleeper to a not-so-great sleeper in a matter of days.  Same thing goes for eating.  You used to eat anything, anytime and eat every bite of whatever we gave you.  Now you will hardly eat a thing!  You don't mind fruits so much, but you totally turn your nose up at most vegetables and flat out refuse oatmeal and rice cereal.  You turn your head, arch your back and fake cry when we come at you with a spoonful of any of those things.  It makes me laugh every time!  You've also starting biting us...HARD!  I'm currently sporting 4 bite marks in various places.  You're still pulling hair with a vengeance too.  Your not being mean, you just don't know any better...yet!  ;)  See why your new nickname is Little Monster?  Here's a little more about you at 8 months:

• According to our bathroom scale, you weigh 21.4 lbs.
• You wear size three diapers and size 12 month or 18 month clothing (12 month is a little small, 18 a little big).
• You are still waking to nurse once during the night (around 3:45 a.m.).
• You eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and also nurse or take a bottle at least 5 times a day.  We've started giving you formula for a couple of feedings so I won't have to pump when I go back to work.  You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to feed yourself!  Your favorites are apple puffs and whole wheat toast with a fruit spread on top.  You have great aim and rarely miss your mouth!
• You are still a very happy baby and you smile, laugh, and happy scream a lot. 
• You roll and scoot around on your belly to get around. 
• You still like to jump and you love to stand up (while holding onto someone or something). 
• You are very curious and you notice very small details (the piece of hair amidst all of your toys, the tags on your toys, the stickers on your carseat, etc.). 
• You are very vocal (most of the time) and you seem to love people.  You make eye contact with strangers, like you're waiting for them to notice you so you can smile and relish the attention.  :) 
• When you don't like something, you will certainly let us know! 
• Your favorite toy is anything that's not really meant to be a toy (TV remotes, cell phones, car keys, anything at all that you're not supposed to play with)
• It is clear that you are on a quest for independence which explains a lot of the little monsterish things you're doing.  :) 
• You've started giving hugs, well sort of.  You will squeeze your arm around our necks and hold tight for a few seconds. 

Here Fishy, Fishy

Today my mom, Cade and I went to the aquarium with Ali, Sandy, Olivia, and Veronica.  We had a great time!  Cade is clearly not old enough to fully appreciate all the aquarium has to offer, but he seemed to like to watch the fish swim and was a very good boy.  His favorite was the dolphin show.  He stood on GJ's lap and screamed and squealed throughout the entire show.  It was so sweet!  I can't wait to take him back when he gets a little older. 

 

Hilton Head

Last week we were fortunate enough to spend a little vacation time in Hilton Head with exceptionally gracious people - the Ewanowski and Burrous families!  We enjoyed our relaxation time with such great company.  We spent most of our time at the pool and the beach.  We also had a great dinner out at Sunset Grill that overlooked the bay.  Cade was great in the car on the way down and back.  He slept pretty well in the pack and play, too!  He continues to be a very easy, adaptable little guy.  He seemed to love the pool and splashing around in the ocean - not so sure he enjoyed the actual beach though.  I'm sure sand doesn't taste too good! 

One unfortunate event worth noting - we had to take a trip to the ER.  Definitely not a place you want to ever have to take your baby, especially while on vacation!  Todd and Cade were playing on the floor right before bedtime our first night there when we heard a POP! followed by a loud wail from Cade.  He continued to cry and wouldn't move his right arm.  I was certain it was broken.  Poor baby!  It ended up being nursemaid's elbow (sort of like a dislocation) which was fairly easy to fix.  The doctor had to reset it twice, but he still wouldn't move it.  They did x-rays to be sure.  By mid-day the next day, he was back to normal.  Whew! 

On the way to the beach!

Poor guy in the ER.

Still smiling!

Roly Poly Baby

Today while we were playing in Cade's play area, he rolled himself all the way out into the middle of the floor.  I was wondering what he was doing, and then I realized....he was going to see his pal Cassius!  Unfortunately, Cassius is either terrified to get close to Cade for fear that he will get in trouble or just doesn't like him very much just yet because he makes it a point to get away from Cade whenever he's around.  Jealous, I think.  One day I know they'll be the best of friends!

Oh Caaassius....here I come...

Hey!  Where are you going?

Secret to Summer

I've discovered that the secret to summer fun is to stay b-u-s-y!  At the start of summer, my main focus was to get Cade on a schedule, get him into his crib and able to put himself to sleep, and spend as much time with him as possible while also fitting in time to work on papers and projects for my master's and things I took on at school.  I quickly realized that balancing all of that meant very few trips out of the house.  Which led to a further realization that we weren't taking full advantage of summer and not to mention, I was feeling a little bored.  All of that being said, I set out to fill our schedule with lots of summer time fun last week.  Here are a few highlights:

Nothing major on Monday; we went to the grocery store.  Cade recently made the transition into the big boy ride (as opposed to sitting in his car seat in the buggy) a couple of weeks ago.  I think he loves it!

On Tuesday we went to Gymboree and then to Spirit Night at Chick-Fil-A for Lauryn. 

On Wednesday we had brunch with Carrie, Daniel, Caroline, Kristin, Chase, Cooper, Beth and Tenley and then we went to Gymboree class.  Afterwards, we went to the Fladgers for a slumber party.  Todd was in Birmingham and I don't like staying at home alone so they were gracious enough to take us in.  :)

On Friday we went to hang out with the Clinkscales family and help them get ready for Lauryn's Run on Saturday.  Cade had tons of fun trying out all of the mini-chairs in their theater room and playing with CJ, Lauryn and Taylor. 

We went to cheer Todd on in a 5K on Saturday morning.  He did great!  On Sunday, we took Cade to Waumba Land for the first time so we could attend church.  Waumba Land is baby Sunday school.  Okay, more like babysitting at this stage, but one day I'm sure Cade will learn lots and lots there!  Then we met up with Zabi, Michelle, Asher, and Zhiada at Stone Mountain for the laser show. 

Needless to say, we are at home resting today.