This week.

This week was much better for Caden.  The amoxocillin and allergy medicine seem to really be helping, especially with his sleeping/coughing at night.  He's been sleeping like a champ!  12, 13 hours at night some nights.  Way to go, baby!!

We had such a busy week.  I'm not sure how it's almost the end of May, but you probably get sick of me saying how fast time is going!  It's the truth, though!  Caden had a fun & wild week.  For mom & dad, we were a bit stressed buying a van, selling a van, getting Jared's clutch in car replaced.  All within a week.  But, we were blessed how it all turned out, and thankful for our new set of wheels to haul CW around in!

Here's some pics.  Have a good rest of the weekend!!

These few are from a couple weeks ago when we had those two 100 degree
days.  This mom's not good at heat, so all I know is to involve water those
days, haha.  So I got out the sprinkler.  And he loved it.

Okay, now this week....we went and visited Auntie at school and
had lunch with her.  We've wanted to all year, and finally did it
with 5 days left of school, phew!!  Caden sat at her table and thought
he was pretty special :).

We were going to bring Auntie lunch.  Then she said we should eat
hot lunch, because it was Chicken Poppers day, and we'd love
them!  So, we got there, only to find out the poppers were gone.
The (very crabby) lunch lady offered us breaded meat sticks instead.
"Oh, no thanks," Allie said, "Caden won't eat those."  Haha.  Neither would we! 

He decided not to nap that day.  Just play in his crib for 1 1/2 hours
instead.  Strangely worked out okay, because we needed to pick
up Jared, as his car was in the shop. 

I think it's onl the 3rd time in his life I haven't gotten him to nap.
Silly me was convinced he'd fall asleep in the van on the way to get
Jared, if I gave him his binkie and blanket.  Haha.  He read.

He put book on head. 

He laughed.  Sleep?  Nope, didn't do that :).

Sporting his rain boots and "Huskers" on butt pants in the rain.

One of my all time favorites

Yes, Caden's idea.  Yes, he loved it.  Grandad lowered the stool
so it was just his size, and he couldn't get enough of it!!

We went to Cars, Trucks, & Trains day at the Children's
Museum.  Gotta admit, it was a little dissappointing as
far as the "Cars, Trucks, & Trains" that were there, but
Caden loved it all nonetheless and had a blast.

There were chickens in the lot....in a tiny pin on the cement.
I guess because there was also a big tractor outside?
Not sure, but again, CW loved it.

Adorable Farmer Meyer

We parked in Grammy's work garage & were walking back.
We forgot Caden's shades, so he asked to borrow Grammy's
on the way to and from the garage, because the sun was so
bright.  No joke.  He's cool like that.

Oh, heavens to bootsies....there was a construction site on the
way back to the car.  Caden peeked through the signs to see
all the trucks, tools, etc.  He was on cloud nine.  Coulda probably
made THAT our field trip and skipped the museum, haha, just kidding.

Z-O-O

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!  You can come too, too, too!  We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

We made our first trip to the zoo a couple weekends ago with my Mom.  She bought Caden a zoo pass again this year, so it seemed only fitting that she join us :)!!  We had lots of fun.  Caden is going to love the zoo even more this summer!!

Grammy's excited....Caden is clueless :)

Got out of stroller to see Spider Monkies....and didn't stop smiling!!

Camels.

I'm pretty sure I'm in love with these penguins.  Seriously adorable. 

Feeding the baby goats, and loving it.

Cracking himself up....and making sure he's cracking others up, too!

Watching trains (it was train day) in new train hat Grammy bought him.

Very first train ride.  Very serious about it.  And holding onto his ticket.

De-li-cious.

Tried to get a pic of all 3 of us...Caden almost made it.

 So, that evening, Auntie and Uncle B called to see if we'd go to the park.  So we went.  Why not really wear a kid out, right??  It was fun.  Caden was fearless.  No one was suprised by that.  Oh, and he hit every little kid he came near.  Neat.  Social skills on the list of things to improve on.  Ah, 18 mos old!!

Playing with Auntie.

Town the tornado slide.

And again......and again........and again.....and again.............

Wanted to show off his sweet muscles to Uncle B.

Using lots of muscles here, haha.

Time to go home.

See you later!

Coughs. Binks. Tantrums. More Coughs.

Poor Mr. Caden has had a rocky couple of weeks!  He started coughing 2 weeks ago, which followed by a week of getting up crying/coughing for 2-3 hours a night.  Then he started wheezing in the night.  Lots.  It kinda freaked me, but I was too tired to realized I was freaked, haha.  Then I thought it was better, and while he hasn't been crying for me/totally waking up in the night, his cough has gotten worse and worse. 

He had his 18 month checkup on Friday.  At which, by the way, he was 25 lbs 10 oz (45th percentile), 33 1/2 inches (80th percentile), and 90th percentile head as always :).  The doctor said his ears and everything looked good.  He hasn't had a fever at all with all this coughing.  He hasn't eaten much at all lately, and has just been "out of sorts."  His throat was a little red because of drainage.  The verdict??  The kiddo has allergies, bad, it seems.  Poor guy!  He can thank both Jared and I for that.  He started on Baby Claritin on Friday, and since that didn't seem to help, the doctor went ahead and is starting him on amoxocillin today.

He said what happens often, is their allergies flair up bad and they end up getting something else along with the allergies, because their sinuses and everything are so bad.  So, the amoxocillin should kick that part of it, and keeping him on the claritin will hopefully keep them from getting too terribly bad again. 

I just hate it......he's been such a good  sport about it, but it's several hours in the night that he is squirming around and coughing, so I know he's not sleeping well. 

The tantrums, etc, seem to be the "18 month old boy" thing.  Sounds like it's the age, so just run with it :).  Haha.  I can accept that.  Doesn't mean he'll get away with any more, just means I won't feel like something must be wrong every time they happen!

Binks......we are officially on a quest to kill the bink.  Or at least some of the bink.  Without realizing it, especially the last few weeks when he's been a little under the weather, CW has officially became raging addicted!!  Wants it all the time.  So, the new rule?  Bed and car rides only.  There's a little box in his room that the binks go in when he wants to get out of his crib.  If he doesn't want to give the binks up??  He stays in bed.  And, this morning, he chose to be in bed a couple different times for a bink.  I used the time to get some laundry put away, haha.  And he got bored pretty fast.  So far, it's working.  Eventually I will cut the car ride out too, but for now he gets one in there still.  It works and we aren't in the car much, so whatev.  We won't talk about the dreadful day they can't be in bedtime either, haha.

That sums that up.  Hope you are all doing well.  We are so thrilled it is sunny today!  We went on a walk and to the park this morning.  Now CW is crashed for a (cough-filled) nap.  Poor guy!

Mother's Day was......

Simply Lovely......

Full of Mom's and Grandma's......

Aunts & Uncles....



Giggles and Wiggles.....

Who could ask for anything more??

And, Caden suprised me with lots of beautiful flowers to put in our planters on the fron porch (since I kept saying how "plain" the porch looked :).  And made an adorable Mothers Day flower painting for me out of his cute little hands and feet.  When he gave me the flowers he did his silly little grin so big, tucked his hands in his lap, and squirmed all shy.  It was adorable.  Love him.





Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day, sweet boy!  Thank you for the beautiful flowers to plant in our yard and the wonderful painting you made!  I just wanted to say, thank you for being the wonderful boy you are, making me a Mommy!  You're the best!!

Auntie

Caden is in L-U-V with his A-U-N-T-I-E. 

 When she comes around, the kiddo and the pups flock to her.  She's the favorite over this chica.  Who can blame 'em, huh??

...And he got a big nasty gash on his head and has a runny nose and cough this week.  Not quite as sad of a situation as this picture paints it to be :).

18 Months

I can’t believe Caden is 18 months old today. I used to think my mom was weird for saying she “couldn’t’ love us any more if she tried,” or “loved us more every day.” Or, when we were sick she’d say she wished she could be sick for us, and I’d think “ya right!!” Well, now I get it. I’d do anything for Caden and couldn’t possibly love him more. If you ask me, he’s the cream of the crop and we are blessed to have him!

Caden Wesley, I love you to pieces, from the top of your head to the tip of your toes. I love it all. I love everything about you. You mean the world to daddy and I and we couldn’t be more proud of you.

I love your head. Your handsome blonde hair. How we’ve had to cut it 7 times already, it grows so fast. If you were a girl you’d have hair down to your bottom. The way you always have five or six cuts, scrapes, bruises or bumps on it. I love your eyes. They are so sparkly blue. Everyone always tells me you smile with your eyes. They twinkle and are full of life. I love your nose. The way you always want a Kleenex to blow your own nose. The way you crinkle up your nose when you taste something you don’t like. The way you smell stuff and say “MMMM” or “Yummmm”. I love your ears. How you love to have them cleaned with a q-tip. How you turn your head sideways in the tub and dip them in the water. I love your mouth. Your cute little lips. The way you are getting so many big teeth. The way you brush your teeth all by yourself. The way you stick your lips out and blow for anything that’s hot or has air coming out of it. The way you holler. The way you laugh. Your big smile. I love your tummy. How you are so ticklish. How you show me your belly button. How you ‘swim’ on your belly in the tub. How your teeny waste still fits in size 12 month pants. I love your legs. The way you run so fast. March lopsided lifting only one foot. The way you climb. The way you kick. How tall you are. I love your feet. How ticklish you are. The way you hold them up and say “teekateekateekah” wanting me to tickle them. The way you hold them up for me to smell when we take your socks off. How they look like little blocks of cheese. How they are so big….size 7. See? From the tip of your toes back up to the top of your head, we love you to pieces.

We just love it all, Mr. Caden. You are the light of our lives. You’ve made us laugh more, cry more, run more, enjoy more, be thankful more, and love more than we ever knew possible in the last 18 months. Keep it coming, wild man, we can’t wait to see what’s ahead.