January

Happy New Year! This is a doozie of an update - the whole month in one shot. January seemed to go by in a blink so we've posted the month to follow suit. Enjoy! You might need to get yourself a coffee or look through this over a of couple sittings ;]

January 31, 2008 - January really has been a month of excitement and discovery for Kaden. In particular, in his high chair. He was so funny today as he played with this lid and laughed hysterically as he looked through it at me - squished nose and all. I'm not sure whether he thought we were playing peek-a-boo or what, but it was too funny either way. I spent most of my time just enjoying it and playing with him, but decided as he was winding down that I would try for a picture. What a clown.

Post-dinner antics. This video was shot towards the end of the funniest game Kaden was playing.
Just listen to that laughter. What could be better than a lid?
 

These various pictures were taken throughout the month. The first two document just how messy Kaden can get. Whatever works to get the food past those lips, I say! Another tactic I've learned is to give Kaden his yoghurt or fruit container after he's finished eating the contents. Not only does it provide more distraction, but he likes it when you put finger food inside for him to fish out. It gets his hands even stickier and it apparently makes eating more fun.

January 27 and 29, 2008 - Ontario...take back your winter!!! It started snowing last Sunday, it didn't melt, and more kept coming!

January 27, 2008 - One might think that if one's eyes are open one would be awake...not the case. I couldn't resist taking some photos of our sleeping giant.

I generally subscribe the theory of never wake a sleeping baby.
However he was having a long afternoon nap that would threaten bedtime if it went on much longer.
What a love.
 

January 26, 2008 - We welcomed the one-monthiversay of Kaden's newest cousin with a fabulous 11-course meal, at a delicious Chinese restaurant, in Richmond. We joined our family, who was in from Kelowna, to celebrate with baby Ciara (congrats again to Lana and Patrick...unfortunately not shown in these pictures). Kaden also got to spend more time with Aunt Marlene and Uncle Don.

January 24 and 28, 2008 - Kaden loves books. He really loves them. Give the little man his basket of books and he is in heaven. He will spend a long time (on his own too) pulling books out, reading them, putting them back in, etc. He chats to himself too while he's reading. Very funny. He's getting so skilled at turning individual pages although he is known to still read them upside-down and backwards. Perhaps he's taking a page out of his Nanna's book - she likes to read the ending first too ;]

Kaden is getting so nimble at turning pages.
He's letting us read to him again (albeit briefly sometimes) and not just grabbing the book from our hands.
 

January 24, 2008 - Puzzle destruction! Kaden seems to get a kick out of tearing the puzzle mat. He even tries to pull up the pieces that he is sitting on! The unfortunate thing is that Craig and I are left to reassemble the pieces, which are all the same size and shape (compounded by our lacking knowledge in geography...Benin goes where exactly?!?).

"Take THAT, puzzle!"
 

January 24, 2008 - Carnage! Even though our little man isn't crawling, he can still move around and do a number on his play area with the things in reach...and his reach is getting longer every day. This is a snapshot after about hour or so of playtime!

Kaden isn't mobile yet...well, not in the traditional sense of crawling or walking.
But he is starting to make the moves towards that goal.
Here he is practicing Mia's deep knee bend - she showed this move off not long before starting to crawl.
 

Also along the way to crawling is the ability to get from his bum to his belly.
Sometimes he's more graceful than others, but it's a start.
I think the right motivation is needed. Here he is tempted by a tower.
Perhaps I should consider littering the floor with soothers ;]
 

January 23, 2008 - We're trying to start good oral hygiene at an early age. Seeing as Kaden already has 6 teeth it seemed like a good time to start. Kaden always loved to watch us brush our teeth. It made him laugh. But anytime we brought a toothbrush near his mouth he had no interest. We had to persevere as sticking a cloth in his mouth was getting dangerous for our fingers! Well, like all things with Kaden, after an initial try and a bit of a break, we gave it another shot once we got home from Ontario and he loved it. He lets us do a bit of the brushing, but much prefers to do it himself. I think it's easier to suck the toothpaste off that way!

January 23, 2008 - Kaden's idea of helping me with his laundry is to pull things from the pile and toss them over his shoulder into another pile!

January 22, 2008 - We haven't had too much rain this January (sorry Nanna and Poppa...this may have been the winter to come)! Although it has been cold, we've had a pretty decent amount of sun. When the weather wasn't too nippy (and we weren't socked in with snow - take it back Ontario) Kaden and I ventured out for our first swing of the New Year.

Listen closely to hear that belly laugh.
It just puts a smile on your face.
 

January 20, 2008 - Who needs toys when you have slippers! Kaden seems to dig my slipper. He even pulls them off my feet. I think he just likes the monkey (or else he just has good fashion sense as they are Paul Frank slippers)! Some of these were also good shots of his 6 teeth! No new teeth yet, but I sense their imminent arrival (I found him trying to bite his hard plastic piano today).

January 19, 2008 - Team Green continues to work on Kaden's standing skills. What I was actually trying to capture here was Kaden's hugs. Kaden loves to hug, but does so only with his head. He leans in for the hug by either banging his head into yours or burying his head in your neck. He often does it with his mouth open as I think he's used to seeing us attack him with kisses or opening our mouths to make noises as we snuggle him!
 

Go Team Green!
 

January 18, 2008 - 10 months and counting! Kaden now weighs 22lbs and 15.2oz. He also stands a tall 29 and 3/4 inches. He's working hard on standing and is getting stronger by the day to use his own leg muscles to push himself up. He seems to do well with hands or crib rails to grip for support - not cushions or tables or other flat surfaces. No rush as far as I'm concerned! At 10 months Kaden's vocabulary is every growing. He says mama and dada (mostly dada or dadee or dyedye these days) in regards to us...but he also uses those sounds for general babble as well. He favourite thing to say is "bap", which seems to mean a lot of things, but more recently we're wondering if it has to do with books. He's also working on his nanana as well as a few other consonants strung together in baby babble - p, g, ts, r, etc. More recently he has also started sounding like he's asking a question..."humh?" while shrugging his shoulders and raising his hands in response to dropping things off the change table, bed or highchair tray. In the morning when he starts to wake up you can also hear him making these sounds to his soother(s) or Mr. Who! As if he's saying "how did you sleep" or "do you think somebody is going to come get us soon?". Too cute.

Kaden practices standing using his crib rails. Too bad he doesn't get that he has to hang on to stay put.
What the boy won't risk for a soother!
 

Have a listen to a little bit of "Kaden speak".
 

Here are a couple shots we tried to capture of his shrugging in his highchair. He seemed to be saying, "who dropped my sippy cup on the floor", or "where did that cheerio go", or "huh, that's interesting, I wonder how that happened"! Another new trick I've been seeing recently is Kaden taking food off his tray and tucking his arms down by his side! I think he thinks it's funny when I reach under the tray to get random food droppings, so now he puts his hands (and food) down there intentionally in anticipation of my tickling fingers. Smart. Kaden has also started to look behind him at the table to see what's there he can have to play with or eat - he remembers that I often have a back-up toy or distraction waiting in the wings to give him when needed. I love watching him learn and respond.

January 17, 2008 - Kaden seems to have succumbed to another cold. Poor dear. He woke this morning with a bit of a sniffle and a little bit of grump. He doesn't often want to sit still, let alone lie still as he's doing here. The cold progressed into a cough that night; however he seems to be managing this cold much easier than his first one. Although the coughing wakes him up, he doesn't seem to need us to go in (unless the soothers are lost, but that isn't cold dependent). With the exception of the first night where he coughed so hard I thought I would check on him. But once I picked him up (I was going to try to nurse him to soothe his throat as he had refused it at bedtime) he coughed himself sick. After a change of sleeper and a few dabs of the carpet he was back in bed asleep. As an aside - Kaden appears to be self-weaning. New Year's Eve was the first indication, but since our arrival back home Kaden started with a night here or there when he would sleep straight through. He was starting to be pretty consistent before getting the cold, but even then, after a night or two of coughing awake he was back to sleeping through without his 5am feeding. And just before he got the cold he started refusing his bedtime feeding as well! Now our night time routine after bath is to read a few stories and put him to bed, which either one of us can do! He chats to his soothers for a while and then falls asleep. Good little boy.

January 15, 2008 - We went to visit our friends Graeme and Karla. Graeme is growing so quickly. He was just shy of 6months in these photos and is doing well to keep pace or pass Kaden in his weight class! These two are going to be little terrors together when they are mobile - we won't have the strength to stop them!

A demonstration of our future "hulk". At this stage,
I think he's putting more effort into his furrow than into utilizing his strength!
 

Various days in January, 2008 - Some cute highchair shots. Kaden is doing so well at eating things on his own. I'm still trying to expand his menu of finger foods, but it never fails to give him cheerios or some kind of puff (rice, wheat or more recently kamut)! We recently tried peas...not a hit at first. He can pick up banana fairly well (although its more fun to smush in his hands) and using the wheat germ trick he can easily pick up and eat pear and avocado chunks. The other night  (which by the time this is posted was actually January 31st) we tried blueberries cut in half...delish! The only issue still with Kaden and eating is that he can still be a bit of a choking hazard! If he puts too much in his mouth or the food is too slippery and goes back to quickly he tends to choke. It wouldn't be so bad except the only way he can apparently clear the blockage is to throw up everything he has eaten to that point. Lovely.

January 14, 2008 - Kaden is really great at playing on his own for quite some time. However, he does prefer to do it when he can at least see us. Since our kitchen doesn't overlook his usual play area, I mocked up a play area in the kitchen for him to amuse himself while I clean or cook. So far he hasn't figured out that the drawer under the stove is filled with pots and pans to bang and smash! I've got to take advantage of the fact that he's not crawling for as long as I can ;]
 

January 13, 2008 - A busy Funday Sunday - play-time with dad, a trip to the Home Depot, and a birthday party!

Kaden sure is growing up. Look at the difference from the last time we were at the Depot...                        June '07
          ...         

We joined in the celebration to wish our good friends Amber and Arthur a happy second birthday! No party is complete without cake and dancing! The twins' music teacher came over to treat the whole crowd to music and song. Kaden had a blast. He spent the whole half hour shaking a noise maker, dancing on Craig's shoulders or bouncing in his lap. He even took a turn strumming the guitar!

January 12, 2008 - Bye bye old, leaky sippy cup. Although I had tried it once before, I decided to give Kaden a different sippy cup to see if he would take it. To my surprise he did! He models it here at the food court during a Saturday shopping excursion.

He is a crazy-daisy.
 

January 9, 2008 - Dad's really are the best. Once Craig rolls Kaden down and up once, Kaden knows what to do. He leans with his head to roll off of Dad's chest and down his arm. Then he starts rolling back towards him to get scooped back up to the start. Repeat.

Who needs toys (or a gym membership) when you've got Kaden?!
 

January 8, 2008 - Kaden's appetite has not wavered, but his interest in patiently taking food off the spoon I'm offering has. I'm trying to expand his options for finger food so that he can munch on his own between spoonfuls...other recent distractions include spoons, lids, water bottles, flyers...anything within reach)! Auntie Glenda gave me a good suggestion to crush cheerios and use the cereal dust to coat slippery food so it is easier for Kaden to handle, but harder for him to choke on! Since this discovery I have read that wheat germ also does the same thing and it involves less cereal smashing on my part! Sometimes Kaden is equally amused to play with the food as he is to eat it, but either way I can sneak a spoon past his lips!

After a good meal a little boy can always use some play-time with Dad. The end of the day is always the best. Kaden has a full tummy and Dad is home from work. Kaden's comprehension continues to grow and surprise us. If you ask him to hand you something, he usually does! This game just never gets old ;]

Maybe we should patent this game???
 

January 8, 2008 - Kaden has been enjoying a piano given to him by his Uncle Chris when he visited last summer. The pictures don't capture it, but when Kaden sees the piano he starts to wave his arms in anticipation of making noise! I think he particularly likes that there is a page to turn to change the theme song...nothing beats turning pages.

The real reason for this post is that I had to mask the following photos under the guise of "I was actually trying to take cute photos of Kaden playing the piano to show Uncle Chris"...I bet you can figure out what's going on here. Poor little guy...that last one makes it look at lot worse than I think it is (it seems so dramatic)! This is another one for those future girlfriends, eh?!

January 7, 2008 - Since our return from Ontario, Kaden has added a new trick to his repertoire. He has become more comfortable on his stomach and is getting to be quite dexterous at maneuvering around his play mat - he rolls and shimmies (mostly backwards), but he inevitably gets himself to the side of the puzzle. It is there that he has learned the pieces come apart. What fun! Another new discovery is his growing comprehension. One of his new favourite toys is a birdhouse that he got from Grandma and Grandpa (thank you!). Not only has he mastered pulling things out of it, but after a little coaching from us, he has now figured out how to put things back in. Very clever. There are three different openings and he busies himself putting things in one way and taking them out another. And not just the birds! He puts in his balls and blocks and anything else he can find that will fit. In this particular sitting, he was in his pulling out phase..."what are these things doing in here???"!

Kaden playing with his birdhouse...and discovering his tongue too!
 

January 4, 2008 - Kaden enjoys some snuggly time with his new blanket - a Christmas gift from us that didn't make it in time. The blankets are locally made and have the most ingenious ribbons attached at the ends, which babes love (tags rock)!

January 1, 2008 - After sleeping through the night (oh yes, it was the first sign of the good times to come!), we rang in the New Year with some final play-time with Grandma and Grandpa. The sippy cup photos are included as a little foreshadowing of other good times to come...the days of the leaky sippy cup are numbered! It was so great being in Onterrible...I mean Ontario...for Kaden's first Christmas. We were sad to say goodbye, but we were looking forward to the year ahead at home. You can see from our airport picture that we traveled far from lightly! We also didn't get any shots of Kaden during his initial leg of our journey as I was traveling solo, but we got one here to commemorate his first set of plane rides. Kaden did so well on the plane again; even sleeping for a couple of hours. The best part was that since his night was disrupted and shorter than usual he was more or less back on Vancouver time as soon as we got home. Good boy.