All He Wants To Do Is Stand, Stand

Playing = standing these days in Caden's book. The kid loves it. Forget crawling...he's not even trying anymore. He's content with his inchworm for the moment in that department. But standing: now that's what real people do.  

 

Michael and Caden a couple weeks ago...it was his favorite game for awhile!

(Again, sorry about the poor lighting.)

See-at-tull

Michael had a business trip/class that he had to take up in Seattle last week. We thought about him going for a week and me alone with Caden all day and all night with no reprieve and we (I) said, "No way, Jose-Michael" - so thank you Boeing for paying for Michael's room and board and letting me crash the party. It was my first time to Seattle; and, next to our honeymoon when we got rerouted from Mexico to Vancouver, Canada (yay for Swine flu!), it's the furthest north I've ever been. 

So while Michael slaved the day away in a required class for work, Caden and I tore up the city...or at least the hotel room. Michael got long lunches, so we were able to meet him each day for lunch, and when he got off in the afternoons we did our touring.

The gum wall near Pike's Place Market.

Choose the Right! 

 

 

Overall, it was a nice change of scenery and very nice to not have to cook or clean for a week! 

I Want My Baby Back

"I want my baby back, baby back, baby back..."

So, to go along with my post a bit ago about how Caden's been pretty cranky lately, I'd like to add that it's fueled a craving for Chilis. I want my happy baby back = start singing the song = think of Chilis = miss Chilis! I think the closest one around here is a couple hours away...

Anyway, I'm happy to announce, I GOT my baby back!! Just as suddenly as this cranky impostor came (8am May 29th), he left at precisely 6:30pm June 14th (when he woke up from his late-afternoon nap) and he honestly has not been seen since. THANK OUR LUCKY STARS. The homeless guy on the heating vent outside the Burger King near our Hotel in Seattle was about to get a new companion. I have no idea what was wrong; I wish I knew so it'd never happen again; but regardless, my happy baby boy is back and loving life again. Hal.lay.lieu.ya. Michael and I are giddy with joy. 

Helping Mom make the bed. 

 Pillow fights ensue

...guess it's more like pillow paddling, because it's only one way. 

Just the way I like it.  

His two toofers! 

More post-bath crazy hair :)

It's a baby! No, it's a boy! No, it's a MONSTER!

We've had our hands a little full the last month - Caden turned 7 months old and it seems like the only thing he ever wants is for Mom to hold him. Not Dad. Mom. It took me by surprise because it was very much an overnight transformation. One day he was my cute, content to play and explore (as long as I wasn't talking on the phone...how dare Mom EVER talk on the phone without allowing Caden to hold, and therefore chew on, the phone) little boy; the next day, all heck broke loose. According to Caden, it's child abuse and the absolute end.of.the.world. if I dare:
1) walk into a room that he is in and do something before I pick him up (like set down the groceries)
2) leave a room without taking him with me
3) be in the same room as him and not have him in my arms/sitting next to me.
Yes, it is a little sweet - my little boy loves his momma - but my goodness it makes cooking, cleaning, eating, getting dressed, going to the bathroom! quite the production. It makes for some pretty wiped out parents at the end of the day (to be honest, beginning of the day is more like it) and there are no more nerves left to grate. And don't even mention bedtime - the kid starts crying so hard he throws up. I really think it's just a phase, and a phase that's very much aggravated by boredom/frustration at being soooo close to crawling for the last month and still just not quite getting the hang of it...so luckily we have lots of adventures (Seattle, Utah, California) coming up to keep us occupied and sane!

And...so just to contradict everything I just said, here's a video of our little belly-flopper/inch worm man!

(Sorry, the lighting isn't great in our apartment - and my lens got sand in it awhile back and ever since it's had a hard time focusing) 

Also, at the end you see him going for Michael's shoes. My child licks the bottom of shoes. If it's quiet for too long I go look for him and usually find that he's found himself a shoe to lick clean. Yuck.

twenty-six

So it's been several weeks since my birthday, but I have to write about it because of the hike we went on to celebrate it. First of all, if you know me, what better way to celebrate a birthday than with an outdoor adventure? I told Michael about this hike 2 months in advance so he could get psyched up for it because I REALLY wanted to do it - but it was 10 miles: a bit long for a 7 month old and a husband with a bad knee. It's called the Trail of Ten Falls in the Silver Falls State Park here in Oregon and oh.my. is it absolutely breathtaking. Ten water falls in 10 miles (upon further inspection it turned out to be 8 waterfalls in 5 miles and another 5 mile out and back for the last 2 falls) with a path that winds deep into a luscious, forest-y canyon along the river the whole time. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beauty-full! You wind back behind a couple of the falls, cross over the river several times, and just lose yourself in what Michael called, "'Lord of the Rings' landscape" (I'm not quite sure of the comparison because, to be honest, despite my English capstone class being on the comparison of the books and the movies and my multiple attempts to watch the movies, I still have not been able to stay awake through the movies or even really remember that much about them besides the evil sound of, "My precious...").
Anyway, you start out the hike going behind the first huge waterfall and from that moment on, Caden was in heaven. This kid loved every second of this hike!

 

 Best family picture ever!

Happy Birthday to me!

We finished off our fun day with pie shakes at Shari's - a new favorite in our family :)

YUM!