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Evolution of Transportation

The Roll

The Scoot

The Flop

The Crawl/Spider Crawl

We Have a Walker!!

Am I the only one that does this?

I found a HUGE spider in the sink. ( probably any sized spider is too big for me) Like pets, I am not super into spiders. So I did what I learned from my mom. Put a cup over it and wait for dad/husband to come home and take care of it.

FYI: Over the years my mom has done a fantastic job of overcoming this fear and can now get rid of many spiders on her own. So with mom's leading example, I have until I become a grandparent to start catching my own spiders. Perfect.

Puppy Love

I am really not a pet person. I don't particularly enjoy pets. Not enough to want one. Yes they are cute, funny, sometimes helpful. They can be endearing to be around...but only in small doses. I loved the cats we had growing up, but I knew I could play with them when I wanted and then mom and dad would take care of their needs. I guess I don't really become attached enough to want to take care of them the way a pet should be taken care of. Children, yes. Pets, no.

With that said, Cade loves animals. Out of the few words he can say, kitty and puppy are two of them. He loves books with puppies and kitties, commercials with puppies and kitties, and playing with the real live thing. It seems like most of the people we visited over the holidays had either a kitty or a puppy. Cade loved playing with them. If they were not already attacking him he would chase them around. When they were attaching him he would reach for them asking for more.

I have a feeling that one day, which will probably come faster than I think, Cade will come to me earnestly asking for a puppy. How am I going to resist that?

For a lack of anything else to say...

I feel like it is time for a new post. But I really have nothing profound, exciting, or super interesting to say. So instead here is the update on our lives:

Cole: He is chugging along in school. Classes, school work, and readings. Pretty much his life. He is continuing his teaching assistant job. (basically a TA). He has all new professors this semester so hopefully that will jazz things up a bit. He is looking forward to spring break.

Me: Since November I have taken on babysitting for a lady in my ward. I watch her little boy Sam, who is about 3 months younger than Cade, while she teaches high school. So I am surrounded by schedules. I go to the gym early in the morning and then get home in enough time to shower before Sam gets here. Then it is feeding schedules, changing schedules, and napping schedules. We try to change it up by throwing in some weekly playgroups (church and community), an occasional random errand and playing with neighbors. ( I have awesome neighbors!) I have also picked up taking a ballroom class. It is only 1 hour a week in the evening and it ends in March but I am loving being able to keep it up.

Cade: Before Cade, I would always hear other moms talk about weight, percentiles, and other small micro developmental achievements of their small child. Then, I really didn't care about how much their 1 year old weighed and certainly couldn't care how it compared with other 1 year olds. Now after having Cade I find myself always asking moms those same questions. And I am eager to answer whenever I am asked. Must be a mom thing. So for those that care here are Cade's newest numbers.
Weight: 21 lbs 25% percentile.
Height: 30 inches 50% percentile
Walking: 3 He can do 1-3 steps on his own before falling. And his balance has improved dramatically!
Signs: 5 Yes we are teaching him sign language and it has been so much fun. He can do and understand 5 signs. We are waiting for him to master a few more before we post his brilliance ;)
Words: 2 He can say and understand 2 words-both of which are food. (nana- banana, toe-toast). You can see where his priorities lie. There are other words he can repeat but I don't think he really understands their meaning.
Teeth: 6 His front two teeth are finally in. No more vampire baby! So apparently we should have been brushing his teeth all along. But we are just catching on. There's first time parenting for ya. We use a fruity baby toothpaste and Cade loves it. I have a feeling that won't always be the case.

Congrats Mr. President

Today I had ABC on all day watching the inauguration ceremony and festivities. I loved it. Since I was home all day I was able to watch all the main scheduled events along with the extra time fillers and commentary. Today was a very historic day and I am glad I was able to soak it all in. Although Obama was not my top choice you can't help but feel the excitement and appreciate that change is coming. After all the long campaigns and so much debating it was nice to see so many people come together to celebrate today. As Cade and Sam ( a boy about Cade's age I watch during the week) were playing and crawling around I got thinking about how this will effect them. Although we recognize the historical significance of Obama making it to office, it will be perfectly normal that he is the first president they can remember. Hopefully a lot of things about our country will change so they can grow up with peace in the world, a thriving economy, affordable health care, a safe environment, and a good education. We'll see. Good luck Mr. President.

Holiday Update

After 3 weeks of traveling around for the holidays we are finally back home. When I say home I mean in the state we happen to live for now. The places we went (Texas and Utah) feel so much more like home! But I think Cade recognizes that we are home because the last two days he has been so happy and giddy-not to mention sleeping better now that he is back in his own crib. Here is a quick run down.

Texas:

We drove down to my parents house a few days before Christmas. I was way pumped because all the siblings and spouses were going to be together for Christmas which has not happened for a few years.  On Christmas Eve Shan and Matthew announced to the family they are expecting their first baby! (the way they told was hilarious! I will need to post the video on another post-or maybe Shan will). Christmas day was so fun. Cole and I loved watching Cade get excited over everything. That evening family from Arlington came-always a fun tradition. 

Grandma Nancy helping Cade open a present

Cole and Matthew in matching jammies from Grandma Black

Cade trying out new toys

Utah:

From Dallas we flew to Utah to visit Cole's family.  We thought a week would be plenty of time in Utah. But with so many friends and family there it made for quite the busy week. Things we did:

- Second Christmas  

- Cade got to re-celebrate his 1st birthday.

- Celebrated New Years with friends and family

- Cade got pretty sick

- Cole got pretty sick (thanks again to Brandon and Cory for putting up with us. We got lots of middle-of-the-night bonding time while cleaning up throw up) 

- I visited Shan's school and spend some time in her classroom.

- My friend Jan had her baby so I got to see her, the baby, and her sister and former roommate of mine, Melissa.

- experienced lots of snow-too much in my opinion

- visited some of Cole's friends

- visited grandparents and cousins (and Gen-he looks like a keeper!!)

- Seems like almost everyone we visited had a pet. Cade loved it. (hopefully by visiting family lots he will get his fix so that we don't ever have to get one...)

Cade not so sure about this flying thing. (but he did great!)

Cade saying good bye to grandpa

Cade experiencing snow

Cade was not as enthusiastic about his second birthday cake. He needed a little help. 

Cade making new friends

Aunt Ciera in Utah!

Back to Texas:

After Utah we needed a few more days before making the drive back home. 

- Mom and I watched movies that our husbands won't watch with us (North and South-off the novel by Elizabeth Gaskel. Soooo good!). 

- I helped Mom with a project. Hopefully I will get pictures of the final project soon.

- Watched lots of The Office. We are trying to get my dad into it.

- Went to dinner with Alexi and Tim (soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Walker!)

- Enjoyed 60-70 degree weather!!

Thanks again to all our family that let us stay with them for so long!!