Firsts

Happy 19 months old, Caiden!

I wanted to take this special opportunity to share one of Caiden's FIRSTS. 

No, it has nothing to do with words or food or inches. Rather, this little boy climbed up the ladder to his brothers top bunk. Then, according to a witness, proceeded to walk around, tripping on a bear and came tumbling down super man style after a somersault. I was not in the room. But I heard the thud...cry...and Caiden met me in the hall with tears streaming down. I am pretty sure the wind got knocked out of him and he has a bump on his head to show for it. But somehow, other than that, he is fine. The dr. did the full check because I was particularly scared about him hitting his head. But no signs of concussion. I was quite shaken up and I thought the scare of a fall would slow him down. But he seems to have been given wings in his new limitless discovery because he has been climbing onto everything he can get his hands and feet on. (he even revisited the ladder to the bunk...but did not get far at all! mom is keeping a hawk's eye on this one for awhile!) 

Busy days all around. Sandwiched with beautiful weather (in between the rain) and homeschooling and a husband that is working an inordinate amount of hours...we're hoping things will start to balance out a teeny bit as we march through Spring. 

"...because Big Boots mean an Adventure."

"Sometimes life takes you uphill. 

And it's just plain hard. 

But I can guarantee it will be better going

 if you wear happy, yellow boots."

Welcome, Spring. We are fully embracing you. Puddles and all. Does this mean I must come out of my cyber-hybernation? (that sounds like it could be a song right out of the 90's) 

*photo via Instagram

I cannot believe I have been so so neglectful to this little blog....but when I get the courage, I will return. I have so much catching up to do (um....can we say Christmas??) so I just keep putting it off. 


Thankfully, it stays right here, doesn't collect any paperwork or dust, and just waits patiently until I am ready to pick it up again.


Hope my readers are too. 


xo. 


(the memory of this photo makes me laugh out loud. we were in PA visiting our great friends and they treated us to a ski resort for their huge tubing hill. we all traded off watching caiden in the lodge. he ended up literally eating his way through the whole entire day. no joke. thus the food in his mouth. and jack, sneaking a drink of my chai. he was just disappointed it wasn't coffee. seriously.) 

the pace of s l o w

Life these days tends to be one speed. Fast. I find myself eating lunch standing up, drinking my coffee while rescuing Caiden from another toilet catastrophe and helping the boys stay in motion with chores and cleanup. Sometimes, I get these thoughts of, "What in the world did I do with all my time when I just had baby Andrew?" The funny thing is, even though my life then as a mother could not be fairly compared to today, I still felt my days were so very full. It was all so new and every moment was spent enjoying, experiencing and enriching my baby's life. You see, this thing called motherhood, no matter how few or many children you have, no matter how busy, innovative or laid back they are, and no matter how organized or (cough*cough) unorganized you may be, is simply put, NOT FOR WHIMPS!!! It pulls from every corner of your being. Every physical, emotional and spiritual aspect. It bombards you every day with brand new challenges that expects you to be at peak performance. It doesn't regard the fact that you have taken care of a sick husband for a week, or that your teething baby was up not one, not two, but three times through the night and that your 4 year old is really going through a tough behavioral period. And it does not always wait for you to be ready to deal with each situation. As a matter of fact, I am quite suspicious that there is some kind of hidden signal embedded in our bathroom door and telephone that alerts the boys that "IT IS TIME TO ENGAGE"---for mom is having a quiet moment to herself. 

So, when a few hours of quiet came along this past week, thanks to a particular grandmother who took the older boys to do some secretive Christmas shopping, I 

immediately felt...wow. It is so  q  u  i  e  t  and   s l o w  here. This will be easy. Just Caid and I----I'll get so much done! 

But, you know, those thoughts of "the easy good old days" hit me across the face. Because Caiden, who is much like Drew was in learning and playing, is not satisfied with sitting and playing with his toys for long periods of time. No. He wants to be moving, and trying, and "communicating" and testing and on.the.go.  So, I was brought back to those full and busy days. Those days of one child, which is definitely less distracted and more focused time with the child, but I found that he was a little bit lost without the sibling avalanche going on around him to follow. So I called it a day of not getting those little things done and sat right down on the floor with him and followed his play. Which at that time, happened to be Mr. Potato Head. 

and we practiced pointing to our eyes...

and had some good laughs.

Just the two of us.

Mr. Caiden is growing up oh, so fast. And I see such a difference in him being the third child. (third boy, to be specific). Because this kid knows how to swish a sword and dog pile on his brothers and laugh at their inside jokes as his life's goal right now is to keep up...keep up...keep up. But when the day comes to an end, it's still his momma that he wants to cuddle. And that, I am holding on to for as long as I can. 


(p.s. Caiden clearly says momma...but still does not say dadda...and is totally playing his cards on this one! sorry, honey). 

[caiden & momma on the train going downtown chicago. summer 2010]

12 - 2 =

T.E.N.

(months)

Which means, yes, indeed, we are just 2 short months away from somebody's first birthday!

Unbelievable!

This kid, a.k.a. Mr. Curiosities, doesn't quite seem to be a baby anymore. He is so. so. so. strong, busy, determined, cute, loved, focused and has a huge love of life right now. He has managed to maintain his dimply smile & deep brown eyes, obtain 5 teeth & blonde hair all the while seeing that every square inch of him is ticklish!

While he is getting over the cereal puffs, he is a lover of cheerios. He eats plenty of yobaby yogurt, and prefers his avocado with banana now. He points to something, and in his little baby voice yells, "Da---" (translation: that). Loves peek-a-boo. Laughs at you when you do a body shiver while saying the word. Loves the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Loves-loves-loves the water (except when mommy accidentally & unexpectedly dunks him under the water). He wants everything the big boys have and has managed to succumb many shared popsicles! He's fast, too. Crawls, pulls himself up, grabs, swipes, knocks over, into the mouth, bangs, pats, bites...whatever it takes! He totally held his own being "down" in nursery the other night and was into everything! However, he is still unsure of the grass. So he stays pretty well on a blanket in the middle of the yard. But always manages to get a handful of the green stuff into his mouth.

The other day while in the kitchen I watched him crawl over to his cereal puffs container. He picked it up and tried to pull the lid off. Didn't work. So he popped it off with his teeth, shoved his arm down the tubular container and out came a huge handful of the fruity stars. He was so proud of himself--and was like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar!

I think back to when people would say, "Oh! You didn't get your girl..." and can't help but inwardly laugh, because the third boy has just rounded out our little family perfectly. And he seems to be a perfect balance between his two older brothers.

Time will surely tell.

taste

I have always had it as a goal to wait until my baby hits the 6 month mark before introducing the line of cereals, one at a time. I blame it on a radio blurb that I heard as a first time mother that was speaking about introducing babies to food before 6 months could increase the risk for food allergies. Of course, being the somewhat seasoned mother that I now am, I know both sides of the spectrum. I know mom's that have started the rice cereal with their 4 mo. old and never had a problem. I also know mom's that waited till the very last possible moment to deliver that first spoonful of ground rice goodness and their baby was a few months later diagnosed with this or that allergy (which does run in the siblings). So even though I have known both sides, I am a creature of habit. Like when my high school anatomy teacher (probably jokingly) said that if you eat all the right foods, you really don't need to take all those vitamins. And I am quite sure that that is the reason why I have resisted taking vitamins over the years(though so much better now with 3 pregnancies and 3 kids under my belt). Those little blurbs stick in my head.

Needless to say, Mr. Caiden has not started the slurpy rice cereal yet. He is actually so ready to "dig in." I can see it in his eyes when we're eating. It is on this week's to-do list for him. So don't worry, I am not starving my child. I am a tad concerned about food allergies since he's had continual patches of eczema for the past 4 months, so I am just being cautious. But even though this week marks having 6 years of motherhood experience in my favor, I am still amazed at how very different I have been at each child's stage in comparison to the others. And how I am continually changing as I learn and grow and how the industries and products are ever changing at our fingertips from one child to the next.

So, all this to say, that Caiden has actually already tasted the following: cream cheese frosting, pea pods, popsicles, ice cream, and I am sure there is something an older brother slipped in while mom wasn't looking. Isn't it so hard to resist that little curiosity sitting on your lap while everyone else is stuffing their face!?

Curious as to what you first introduced to your little one and when.

Caiden's Diary, entry 1

YESTERDAY:

Woke up on the wrong side of my crib.

Seemed out of sorts.

Gleeful brothers in the morning did not help.

Then add to that a shot + extra crankiness + errands with mommy & brothers + very cold weather + a fever = A BAD DAY.

The worse one yet.

TODAY:

Went to the dr. office with brother, Jack. Mom slipped in a word about me. The dr. said let's take a look. Still had a 102* temp. Not good. Then, when I thought it was all over, I was poked. In my hand. And while the dr. was trying to get the elastic band off my wrist the needle flew out, leaving my hand profusely bleeding. I was trying to be brave, but it was hard. I had a swab stuck up my nose (but thankfully, no flu), and the best part yet:

I.had.to.pee.in.a.bag.

What is this? I'm only 3 months old! And I refused. Just plain out refused to do it. It was so scratchy and hard and I was all exposed and all. So after an hour of waiting, mom told me what they would have to do if I did not pee in the bag. A cath-a-what? (mom explains) Ooh. That's not good. As I was contemplating the choice before me, the dr. came in with the works. Bags, needle-looking things and I had little time to spare. So I thought I'd surprise everyone and when they laid me on the table to get things going, I decided to be a good boy and cooperate. There. I filled the bag. Everyone was happy. I think mom would have literally jumped for joy if she weren't holding on to me.

So that was my afternoon in a nutshell. All 4 hours of it. And I heard the dr. say it didn't seem to be anything alarming. They just wanted to try and rule things out since there are no other symptoms other than a fever.

Guess there are a few bumps in the road of this life. And I think I better get used to it! After all that, once we returned home, I was my happy, jolly self again. Even though I left mom a bomb shell in my diaper. But then I got a nice warm bath. See?

We're good.

We're all good.

(oh. and I got lots of extra RM3---Ready.Made.Mommy.Milk. And mom & I actually got a cat nap in the office. She was happy about that. I could tell)

p.s. a huge hurray for daddy, for watching my brothers with a busy work day going on.

and another huge hurrah for bop-bop, for doing a last minute play date with my brothers when daddy had to get back to the office. this life thing is a group effort! Whew!

p.p.s. kudos to aunt stephanie for my adorable sweater outfit (that, thankfully, I did not have my bomb shell in. or it would have been ruined)

*update: the dr. called to say all the blood work came back negative, nice and clear. mom needs to keep an eye on my temp. and hopefully this should clear up soon. glad that's in my past, though short it may be. mom was also seen doing strange yoga-like moves. I think it was the fact that she held all 14-sleeping-lbs. of me for over 2 hours with no arm rest. thanks, mom. you're the greatest. and when I'm a teenager, I'll give you a back rub every night for a week for this one!

xoxo