Cade's Cake Dive

Ok, it took too long to get this up here, but here it is! He just wanted to eat on the frosting at first, but after he got a taste of the cake itself he grabbed a bite that was too big for his mouth and just kept shoving it in.

We took Cade to his one-year checkup last week and he weighed in at 21 lb, 15 oz, which kept him in the 40th percentile. He was 30 1/4" tall, which is in the 75th percentile. He was a big stud when it came to getting his vaccinations. He cried a little, but was very brave and was ready to play that afternoon. I'm still on the fence on whether I really want my kid being vaccinated, but because we live in such a small town with zero opportunity for alternative medicine we've followed the recommended vaccination schedule so far (if you want a long explanation regarding my dissillusionment with modern standard medicine and drugs, ask me about it offline sometime, and get ready for a lengthy discussion). To this point, it seems that every time he's had a shot he comes down with some sort of crud. One vaccination, Rotateq, made its way through all three of us (literally, ugh) back in November. But so far he's done very well this time around, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

I'm finding that he's becoming more of a "boy" in his play, at least around me, and it's awesome! He likes to wrestle around with daddy and he cracks up when I put him on my shoulders and run around the house (the high ceilings on our first floor are perfect for hot laps). One thing that makes him laugh is me throwing his foam blocks at him, and the harder I throw them the harder he laughs. Just this afternoon we played a new game where he'd crawl away from me and I'd drag him back to me by his ankles and tickle him all over. Then he'd try crawling away again. Every few times I'd let him get away to mommy, but that obviously wasn't as fun for him as getting caught. He'd turn around and crawl at me and head-butt me right in the forehead and then try to get away again. Hilarious.

Thanks for following along, and have a great day!

Birthday Boy!

Yesterday was Cade's first birthday and we celebrated all weekend in style! Both my parents and Susie's parents came out for the weekend and it was great to have the whole crew here. Cade is really lucky to have two great sets of grandparents. We had a party for him on Saturday night, and I figure we can get right to the pictures:

Susie went to Kroger to get some food on Friday, and she also got Cade a balloon. I think the balloon was his favorite part of the weekend. We tied it to the tray on his highchair and it became a source of entertainment at each meal.

Here's Susie with Cade's cake before it was destroyed. Susie was a food preparing champ for his party. Pretty much everything was homemade and it all was delicious.
This cake never had a chance. At first he just kind of licked at the frosting. Then I gave him a piece of the cake itself. At that point he just chowed down. We have a pretty good video of the cake feeding frenzy; I'll get it in another post soon.

Leaning in for a picture. Cade took the opportunity to slime Mommy with cake frosting.

Cade with the four grandparents.
Three generations.
Opening presents.

Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but Cade LOVES to swing. :)

Another thing he's taken to is the teeter-totter.

Since our anniversary was in the previous week, Nana and Grandpa watched Cade one night while Susie and I went out on a date. Cade took the opportunity to show off his operatic singing voice with a soapy fauxhawk.

When I look at this picture all I can see is "Dumb and Dumber." "You go talk to her and I'll just stand here and put out the vibe."

Cade already likes playing baseball! I knew he was an exceptional kid. :) Cade likes it when I help him hit, and we spent some time hitting last weekend. Not sure if he's a righty or a lefty yet so we're working both sides of the dish right now.
Here's a picture of a new game: jumping off the couch onto Daddy. And it's not just a roll off the couch; it's a swan dive.

We spend so much time building towers of blocks and he insists on knocking them over.

As mentioned, I have a pretty good video of Cade devouring the cake, and I'll publish that soon (I hope). Stay tuned!

In the meantime....

....here's a picture of Cade at an outing at the park for Bridgepointe Church's kids. Cade LOVES to swing at the park. Thanks to Jeff Estes for this great picture!

I know this blog has been stale for a couple weeks. Just wait! We have a birthday coming up with grandparents visiting; updates are imminent!

Bumps...

Hello everyone out there in blogland. Guess what? Cade continues to grow and develop and learn new things. Believe it or not, he has not settled down at all. He is a picture of perpetual motion. And just in the last couple weeks I think we're starting to see the presence of the sin nature that we're all stuck with. He's really started testing his limits on certain things. For example, he bites Susie and me and others occasionally. If you're holding him he'll sometimes try to bite you on the shoulder. Or other times he'll try to bite your finger or arm. We've started telling him "no" when he bites, and I know he knows what he's doing. The reason I know is because after I tell him "no" he'll take my hand or arm or whatever he was just biting, put his mouth on it (without biting), and look at me and give a sly smile. Or sometimes we'll notice him try to put things in his mouth that just don't belong there. So we'll take whatever it was out of his mouth and tell him "no" and give him something else to chew on or play with. If he can, he will go directly to what it was we took away from him, pick it up, and put it on his chin or cheek, look at us, and give that sly smile again. Sweet and innocent? Not all the time. But we still love him. We're just going to have to start talking more about how we want to handle disciplinary situations so we provide a consistent front. Did this have to come so quickly?

On a cuter note, he's also been a lot more playful lately as well. I just love getting to interact with him. His repertoire of noises and syllables continues to grow as well. And he's becoming more and more coordinated in his movements, especially pulling himself up on things and moving around. Walking probably isn't that far away. It's so much fun being a dad, especially a dad to this kid. I know you guys come to this site for the pictures, so here we go:

To start off, here are a few pictures from my sister Amy of when we met her and Paul in Fort Pierce, FL.

Contemplating life and just how stinkin' cool I look in a fauxhawk.

Cade has no fear. Not of heights, not of flipping around, not of being upside-down. He likes to ride on my shoulders and he especially likes it when I pretend like I'm dumping him off behind me.

This was the only one out of like seven where we were all looking at the camera, but it was a fun photo shoot.

During Memorial Day weekend the Keaton girls dropped by to say hi to Cade. He has more girls calling on him already than his dad ever did.

He definitely knows how to ham it up for the camera.Speaking of hamming it up, he definitely hasn't forgotten how to scrunch his nose up.

Last week we were fortunate enough to have my cousins Chris (on the right) and Brian stay a night with us on their way from SoCal to New York. I hadn't seen them for a few years, so it was great catching up. They hadn't met Cade, so he got some play time with his second cousins (Is that right? If they're my cousins does that make Cade their second cousin?). Chris and Brian's parents are moving to Colorado soon, so hopefully that means we'll be able to see them more often during the holidays.

Here's a random picture of Cade being helpful around the house.

Last Sunday afternoon was the annual church picnic, and here's a picture of Edie taking Cade down the slide. Cade digs slides, and I think he's pretty fond of Edie and her sister Allie too.

What's a picnic without some sort of messy food? Here he's getting all covered with baked beans (and other things I'm sure). He liked the barbecue fare and stuffed his face.

This last picture is of a bruise Cade gave himself this morning. I was just walking out of the kitchen to go run when in rapid fire succession I heard: "Oh no!", Big Bump, the dreaded split second of silence that feels like an eternity, SCREAM. With his increased mobility and curiousity, he keeps putting himself in more situations where it's possible to fall and hit something. I mentioned that he's getting more coordinated, but he still takes a lot of falls. In this case he smacked his cheek on a shelf. I've been impressed with his toughness and pain tolerance, but it definitely took a few minutes to calm him down after this one. A couple of nights ago I was playing with him and he had pulled himself up on a window sill near where Chili was laying. He's become more adept at letting himself down from a standing position. He used to just fall, but now he can kind of hold on and start the descent before letting go so he lands a lot more softly. It's graceful compared to how he used to sit, but it's still not a picture of grace. This particular time he must have heard something right as he let go, so he kind of spun and arched his back as he fell backwards. I don't know if his head hit the window sill or if he landed weird on Chili's paw, but he came up crying with blood all over his mouth. It scared me at first until I could tell it was coming from his upper gums. He was a pretty tough little guy with that one. He was just about done crying by the time I got the blood wiped off his face.

I guess these instances are sort of a microcosm of what parents go through everyday on a broad scale. Can any other parents relate? On one hand, Susie and I want to shelter him and protect him from anything that could hurt him. I hate seeing him in pain. On the other hand, we want him to explore and experience things, even if it means a bump or bruise along the way. I guess there's a fine line somewhere in the middle that contains a healthy dose of protection along with a long enough leash to learn some things on his own. At this point, we're still feeling our way along that line and trying to figure it out as we go. I'm sure that line sits differently for every person, and maybe that line will change as Cade grows. He's already shown signs of being stubborn and strong willed, so maybe he needs to learn some things on his own. I don't know, and I'm sure we'll come to points all throughout his life where we have to decide how much leash to let him have. We've never done this before, but we're relying on God for the right wisdom at the right time.

11 months/FL trip part 2

I think I think this every month: "I can't believe it's been (fill in the blank) months since Cade was born! It seems like yesterday! He's getting old too quick!" So today was no different. 11 months! In 31 days he'll be a year old! Wow. He is still just so much fun, and he keeps learning new things and trying new things.

At this point he's getting very good at pulling himself up on anything. What he's not so good at is doing it in a graceful manner every time. He has become the master at finding an object his head has not yet met and flinging said head into it. And he can do it in the blink of an eye. He requires more vigilant watching now than he ever has. I'm sure when we're out in public people look at him and think we're either very neglectful parents or we enjoy smacking him around. And he doesn't ever fall on his arm or shoulder or chest or anything except for his head. Any other parents out there experience this or is Cade just that good at it?

The fact that he is incredibly active doesn't help his head out at all either. I don't know how many times he's almost wriggled free when I'm holding him. One thing he does well is climb the person that's holding him. He'll push himself away from your body, wedge his little feet up on your chest or stomach and start walking up your torso. It makes it very difficult to hold him, and he just laughs and laughs.

He's been pulling up for a while, but he's now advancing to being able to pull himself along the couch or something else and kind of shuffle along. I don't think it will be long now before he's starting to walk on his own.

We got back from Florida a week ago. My sister Amy is sending me the pictures from her camera (she has a much nicer camera and is a much better photographer than Susie or me), so I'll post some of them soon. We had a blast seeing Amy and Paul for dinner one night. The whole trip was great, but it was good to be back home too. We were ready to have a little more room, and Cade and I had come down with some kind of cold/flu. We weren't hanging out with any piggies, so I don't think it was the mass panic-inducing version we've been hearing too much about, but it slowed us down for a couple of days.

This last week we got new carpet in our upstairs. It has been thoroughly Cade-tested and Cade-approved. It feels like a completely new house upstairs.

Well, I know everyone comes for the pictures, so here are a few. Like I said, I'll post more from Amy's camera when I can. Thanks for stopping by!

We met Paul and Amy at a pretty cool tiki bar-style restaurant right on the Indian River in Ft. Pierce, FL, which was almost exactly halfway between Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. Cade pleaded with us to let him work his hair up into a fauxhawk. So we relented.

This picture of Cade and Uncle Paul turned out pretty good.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Susie's brother, Dustin, has a friend who works in ticket sales for the Magic. So he got us a pair of media passes for Game 6 of the Magic/Celtics playoff series. We entered through the tunnel at one corner of the arena and had to walk around the court to get to our seats, which were at the top of the lower bowl. Kevin Garnett has been my favorite NBA player since his days in Minnesota; unfortunately the policeman shuffled us by the Celtics bench before I could take a picture, but our eyes briefly locked and I think he could feel the love. I did have my camera ready when we walked by the Magic bench though. It's good I didn't get a video because Van Gundy was letting loose a string of f-bombs due to the fact that the Magic weren't playing very well to start the game. Not very family friendly. But the Magic heeded his filthy words and ended up winning and Dustin and I had a great time.

Here's Cade showing off his ability to stand up the day we got back.

Florida

We're halfway through our trip to Florida and I thought I'd post a few pictures:

Saturday we got to see Susie's brother Dustin graduate from the University of Central Florida. Congrats Dustin! He's now off to work for Direct TV selling sports packages so if you're in that market let me know and I can get you in touch with him for a sweet deal.


After graduation we went back to the hotel (in Orlando) to do a little swimming. Cade has this hilarious looking, but highly effective swimsuit. It's like a little wrestling singlet with a foam pad sewn into the chest and back. He seems to really like water, and this thing helps him stay afloat.

I don't have any pictures of it, but I got to see another shuttle launch from my company's plant in Merritt Island. This one was during the day, but it was no less impressive. I wonder if seeing it ever gets old for the people around here. Doubtful. I have a long video of the launch, but it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped it would.

Last night Susie and I had a great dinner with one of my coworkers and his wife at this outstanding seafood place on Cape Canaveral. We got out to the coast a little early so we drove down toward Cocoa Beach and found a spot to take Cade out to the water for the first time. He was smiling the entire time. We think he really enjoyed the beach time. Here's a picture of his first time putting his toes in the sand.

And his first dip into the waves.

My good looking family.


Cade's turned into a pretty good ham when it comes to picture time. He's always cheesin' it up.

Our son is still a baby, but he's almost half as tall as his mom!

Here's a short video of him getting his pants a little wet (Dad's fault). He cracks a pretty good smile at the end of the video. That kid is so much fun.

This Friday we're actually going to be able to get together with my sister Amy and her husband Paul, who will be down in Ft. Lauderdale for a short vacation. We're looking forward to that and I'll be sure to post some pictures of the rest of the vacation.

A new trick

The very first piece of baby clothing we ever bought for Cade was documented here. Well, he's over 10 months old and it finally fits! It looks great with the doggie hat the Keatons bought him. Pictures below.

I read the post I linked above and it reminded me of my need to be a good example for Cade. He's only 10 months old, but you can tell he's already starting to try and repeat some of the words we say. He has "dada," "mama," and "ug" (dog) down pretty well. But you can tell he's working on other sounds that he hears. So wouldn't it be a bummer if I said something improper and the next thing I hear is my infant son repeating it? Tame the tongue daddy.

In that post I also noticed how naive I was. I feel like Susie and I have learned a LOT in the last year. Our breadth of life experiences continues to expand at breakneck speed. Despite the multitude of lessons constantly presenting themselves in new ways I still feel very unknowledgeable (is that a word?). Don't get me wrong, I know how to change a diaper now. Cade has even made sure we've graduated to phase two and three of diaper prowess with all his wiggling and crawling and his occasional curious hand that gets a good grip on some poo every once in a while. But having a kid makes you feel completely helpless sometimes. It goes back to the worry issue Jesus addresses in Matthew 6. Where is my focus?

Last Sunday I had a pretty intense aha moment. I play in the band at church, so I get to see the response time at the end of each service from a different angle than most of the people in the room. Last Sunday our pastor gave an invitation at the end of the service and as we played I noticed a kid who looked about 9 or 10 years old come walking down and talk with our youth pastor for a while. After talking for a while he pointed out his dad and his dad walked down and joined them. As the song ended the dad sat down with the kid in the front row and put his arm around him with a humongous smile on his face. That is exactly what I pray for regarding Cade every day. I long to experience that within our own family. I've prayed for that for quite a while now, but actually seeing it take place within another family right in front of me was a stark reminder to stay vigilant. Cade's life is pretty basic at this point, but I pray that at some point he comes to terms with his humanness and that reality leads him to a relationship with Jesus. There is no greater decision than that.

In other news, school is now over for the semester. I'm looking forward to no classes until June while Susie's summer classes start next week. Her classes are primarily online this summer though, so we look forward to a lot of time together at home.

This Saturday we are flying down to Orlando to see Susie's brother Dustin graduate from college. We're taking advantage of Allegiant Air's direct flight from Owensboro to Orlando. Kind of random, but very handy. It will be Cade's first time to the beach. We'll take lots of pictures and you can see them right here.

One last thing: Cade has learned a new skill. Every night we have a pretty standard routine: bath, bottle, and bed. Either Susie or I will take a bath with Cade and then the other will give him his bottle and put him down. It usually works pretty well. The other night I heard Susie say, "Matt, come in here and check THIS out." We have a basketball hoop that sticks to the side of the tub with suction cups. For a while now we've showed Cade how to put the ball in the hoop and then we'll give the ball to him. He usually chews on it or splashes it around. Not anymore. He slam dunked that ball like a pro over and over. We cheered and made a big deal about it each time he put it in the basket. He even tried to get sneaky. A couple times he'd put the ball over the rim so we'd cheer for him and then he'd pull it out at the last minute to try and trick us while giving us a big smile. The next night when I got in the bath with him I wanted to see if he remembered. Sure enough, I handed the ball to Cade and he dropped it right in. It's pretty cool seeing him put stuff together in his head.

Enough talking. Here are the pictures. Thanks for keeping up with us!