"New" Swing Set

As previously mention...we were given this swing set from our very generous neighbors. Their son wasn't too happy about it though. They are putting in a pool...so I don't think their son minds too much any more.

Teamwork

Trying to figure out how to get the spirl slide in. They ran into rock...go figure!

The finished product. Nice work guys!

Notice the green grass...who knew watching grass grow could be so exciting?

Big Boy Spoon

I know I've posted a video before with Caden feeding himself, but I think he's a little better at it now.

Manners

After some time, Caden now pretty consistently signs, "thank you". He usually needs to be prompted to do so, but will sometimes do it on his own. Again it's related to food right now. I'm working on it when playing too.

Slowly but Surely

When we came home yesterday after paint shopping, this was our little surprise in the backyard...

spots of grass!

Other Fun

We finally got a nice updated picture of the 5 kids together. The last one was when Caden was only 7 months old.

Chris, Cori, Caden, Katie, and Matt
Caden is getting a "new" toy car from Aunt Justine, but we didn't have room in the car to bring it home this weekend. I think every time we go there we come home with something new for Caden - thanks Aunt Justine and Uncle Randy!

"Aunt Missy, my feet are dragging...are you sure this is right?"

"I think I'm going to like this!"

Baseball & Bowling

We went to my sister-in-law, Justine's, house Friday night to watch my nephew, Chris, play baseball.

All the spectators.
Chris warming up.

Chris in right field.
Then, on Saturday, we all went bowling.
Caden had a great time exploring the alley with his Papa.

"Water bottles are so much fun!"

Chris

Katie

Cori

Matt

As I said...Caden had a blast exploring. Look at this concentration and pose!

Chris, Matt, Cori, Katie, Daddy, and Caden

Katie just couldn't resist dancing to the music. She doesn't want to be a dancer when she grows up though. She told me she wants to be a high school Art teacher.

New Job

Some of you may know that I had been looking for a Medical Transcriptionist job since January. Well...I finally have a job with Hypertype Inc. based in NY. I started working on Friday. I have successfully typed 2 reports (I hope the one I did today was sent correctly)! I have to eventually type 5000 lines in a 2 week period. I've done 89 so far...this is going to take some time. It's going to be a big adjustment with taking care of Jason, Caden, and our home, but I'm sure it's doable. The good thing is that I can work whenever I have the time. Wish me luck! Thanks Marilyn for all your help. Hopefully working as in independent contractor will work out OK :)

Sill a Favorite

Even though he's playing with real toys now...he still enjoys the good old plastic containers.

Seeing Green

OK families...here's the progress on our new "green" backyard.

Jason wanted me to title this "No More Rocks", but that's not the total truth...they are just hidden under the fill and topsoil :)

Our backyard last week:

Phase I: Bringing in the fill

I had no idea these trucks lifted so high. Caden enjoyed watching it all (OK...we all had fun watching it).

Spreading the fill.

Phase II: Topsoil

Phase III: Hydroseeding

As you can see, Caden has been very entertained the past few days.

The bare patch in the back is where our free (from the neighbors) swingset is going to go.

It's not the most "natural" looking stuff, but grass should start growing in 7-10 days. We can't wait!

Social Butterfly

Now that my son is finally waving hello and good-bye, he will wave to anyone and everyone! I hear random "hellos" all the time in the grocery store now, so I smile and say hello back only to discover that it's my son that they are saying hello too. Sometimes he'll even add a "hi-ya" to his wave.

He has been greeting me in the morning with a smile, wave, and "hi-ya" lately, which is great! Yesterday I went to check on him after putting him down for a nap and he just smiled and waved to me. Guess he just wasn't ready to sleep yet.

The Many Faces of Caden

One day last week Caden decided to crawl into his toy box. Look at the fun he had!

14 Months Old

OUR BOUNCING (I mean dancing) BABY BOY

I love the little clap for himself and the strut off at the end.

I usually don't let Caden watch TV (and definitely not this close) but I figure every once in awhile Sid The Science Kid and Sesame Street can't hurt. He's been "dancing" for a little while now. He bops in his car seat, in his high chair, in a cart in the store, wherever the mood hits him I guess.

Food & Shoes

Food - Caden has now eaten the same food as us the past 2 dinners (chicken pot pie and hamburgers). We've been trying for awhile to get him to eat our dinners, but to no avail. I hope I didn't just jinx myself!

Shoes - I may have mentioned before that Caden LOVES shoes. I'm afraid thought it might have become an obsession. The other day I was in the kitchen and J was playing with Caden in the living room. I heard Caden squawk...and I mean squawk constantly (it gets very high pitched). I went in and he had his pointer finger on J's shoe and and was squawking about the shoe. Then this past Sunday in church, he got down under the pew and started squawking about the shoes of the people in front of us. Sometimes he'll make the "sh" sound and point to them, much better than the other sound he makes!

Laundry Helper

Caden has been a big help with laundry lately. He will take it all out of the basket for me, if I'm ready or not. He even tries to crawl into the dryer (not good). In the picture where he's playing with the sock, he did actually try to put it on his foot. Then he tried to put it on his head, so I was impressed for maybe a second :)