Caden's 1st Christmas Part 4

Caden's final part to Christmas was here at the house. Grandma and Aunt Erin came to visit from Sun. to today. They got the opportunity to babysit on Sunday so that Jason and I could go to our friend, Mary Lou's Open House. She has a really nice home. Mom and Erin brought along gifts from the Russell family name exchange (my father's mother's family), and gifts from my father (Caden's Pappy D). My father gets the prize for most unusual gift EVER! Take a look at this lion head that we've named Leo. It's hard to understand the size of it. It looks great in his room. We say good morning to it each morning, and Caden gives it one of his big smiles. Thank you for all our nice gifts.

Leo's profile
Leo "face on"

"Mom, this box is bigger than me!"

"Pet the lion, Caden."

"Leo doesn't want his picture taken, Mom."

Cute frog slippers that rattle.

Caden and Grandma gently playing with an ornament.

We took a walk around our development to look at the Christmas lights. Caden could only move his arms up and down slightly :)

Caden's 1st Christmas Part 3

The day after Christmas, we went to my sister-in-law, Justine's house. This is where Caden opened his gifts from Aunt Justine, Uncle Randy, and the kids. He had a lot of fun with his cousins, who were all so fun to play with. Thanks for the gifts!

"Look Mom, Chris is playing ball with me!"
Katie and Cori being cute.

Noah's Ark toy - he really likes chewing on all the animals and poor Noah.

"Yeah, I'm in the bin and feeling proud."

" Katie, your hand almost covered my face!"

" Chris, what's going on?"

Just having fun.

Caden's 1st Christmas Part 2

Caden's 2nd part of Christmas was at our house. We wanted to spend our 1st Christmas with Caden at our house; that's why we left my mom's on Christmas Eve. So...we all woke up and open our gifts: gifts from Santa, gifts from Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jeff, Mom and Erin (for Jason and me), and GG and G Pap. Then Jason's family came over for a visit. Caden got his 2nd chapter of his Caden the Frog story that his Nana writes about him and his Daddy's family. Again, we all got lots of nice things. Thank you everyone!

"Look Mom, no hands!"
Daddy, Uncle Brooks, Aunt Melissa,
Nana, Papa, and Caden
Nana, Papa, and Caden

If you are wondering what Nana is laughing at and Caden is looking at...take a look at this next picture:

"Who needs hands when you have a mouth?"

" Umm...Uncle Brooks...I'm just not sure about this."

Caden's Taggie Ball from Nana and Papa.

Caden and Daddy opening a gift.

Caden and his gumball toy from Daddy and Mommy.

" These new coins taste yummy! Thanks Santa!"

New blocks from Mommy and Daddy.

Our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

Caden's 1st Christmas Part 1

As expected, Caden's 1st Christmas took place in a few different homes across a few days. Our first stop was Caden's Grandma and Aunt Erin's house. This stop also includes Caden's GG and G Pap's house too. We went there on 12/20, and we stopped to meet Annalise (Marisa and Stan's baby) on the way. She's a sweet little girl! Then it was on to my mom's house where we stayed until 12/24. Caden did open his gifts from his Grandma and Aunt Erin on Christmas Eve morning, but I forgot to take pictures...I got it all on video instead. He got a lot of nice gifts (books, elephant hamper, socks - which he was happy about, clothes, pj's, toys, framed jungle puzzle, etc.) from everyone. Thank you!

Grandma, Aunt Erin, and Caden
Caden "eating" a funny little figure of Mrs. Claus with his GG's picture in it. You can kinda make out the picture of his G Pap in the reindeer figure. GG laid out teddy bears for him to play with, which he just ignored. :)

This was Caden's first gift from his GG and G Pap opened on 12/23. He was only allowed to open one...my family is a stickler for opening presents on Christmas Day. He was upset that he couldn't get it out of the packaging to play with it.

GG is showing him his first gift (he's not quite sure what it is). He loved playing with this little globe.

This was at GG and G Pap's too. He was getting upset that he couldn't get the tag off this singing snowman.

"I think I can eat this...if I try really hard."

Santa!

Isn't this a nice looking Santa? He just might look familar to some!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!
Love, Jason, Caden, & Kristin

The Night Before Christmas

The...

were hung by the "TV" with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!"

Thanks Barb for knitting these for us. I love them!

Tag Time

I've been tagged by what I guess is called a "Blog Tag" (mentioned HERE). I've never heard of it before, but it sounds like fun. When I went to the sixth folder and found the sixth picture, here is what I found:

This picture was taken at my mom's 50+ birthday party on July 31st (that makes Caden 4 1/2 months old). We are on the patio outside of her house. You will find Jason with Caden, Caden's G Pap, and GG. I don't have 6 blogging friends...I really only have 3 (Renee and Ali were already taken)...so Lori, I guess it's up to you, if you'd like to play :)

Hemoglobin Warning

We found out today that the 9 month well-baby visit does not have shots, but warning to all mothers, there is a hemoglobin finger prick. Along with this prick, they have to collect so much blood to be tested. Shots are quick and over with, this is long and painful. Poor little guy just does not like the doctor's office - can't say I blame him. We had a very nice and understanding nurse though.

Good news...Caden is growing (I didn't have any doubts there)!

18 lbs. 14.4 oz.

28.5 in.

Book Club

Caden's latest addition to the GBMC (previously mentioned HERE) is a cute little book called Hello Mr. Snowman by Janet Brown.

Thanks Grandma for my 9th month book! The card you sent was cute, but the song was a little loud, and I got a little scared. It's still fun to try to chew on. I might try listening to it again, but I'm not making any promises! See you soon! - Love, Caden

9 Months Old and Climbing

Caden turned 9 months yesterday...I just can't believe it. I would've posted yesterday, but I was up late (11:00 - to me that's late) working on my cut-out "flour" cookies (they were so sticky I added a ton of flour - my family will still eat them :). Anyhow...we discovered that Caden knew how to climb the stairs last Wed. How did he know he could do this? Sorry some pictures are on their sides, not sure why that is. He has a Dr. appt. later today, and if I recall correctly, it's without shots! Yeah! I'll post his stats later.

Sometimes he needs something to climb after.

He loves crawling around with something in his hands. He especially loves the pieces to a puzzle from a friend, Andrea, at school. The knobs are just the right size for his little hands.



Other fun things about Caden at 9 months:

*He has 5 teeth...that 6th one just doesn't want to push through yet.

*He doesn't quite understand the concept that if he's holding something in his hand, he can't reach for something else and still keep ahold of that first item.

*He knows that if he can't crawl with something in his hand, he can put it in his mouth and crawl.

*He actually doesn't bother the Christmas tree like I thought he would. He'll sometimes try to eat it, but at least doesn't try to stand using it.

*He loves to take laps doing a side-step around the coffee table.

As always...we love you Bug! - Mom and Dad

Christmas Card Bloopers

I believe over 100 shots were taken when trying to get a picture for the Christmas card. Here are some "almost, but not quite" poses. I had a good time trying to get the pictures; I'm not sure that Caden had as much fun. Hopefully the final product will be coming to a mailbox near you.

According to Jason, Caden is saying, "My mom has been making me listen to Christmas music since before Thanksgiving, and there's still 11 days more until Christmas!"

This is Caden's hand reaching for the camera.