Crawling....for real

I'm happy to report that Caden has officially learned how to crawl.....and is getting into everything! Not only has he mastered the art of crawling but he's pulling himself up to standing now and has even taken a few steps while holding onto things. Now I'm just wondering how long it will be before he walks....the countdown begins!

Getting into the cupboards and playing with dishes and silverware is so much fun!

He is so proud of himself, such a big boy!

Wow, it's 2010 already!

Caden will be 10 months old this Saturday. Where did all the time go? ...it seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. A lot has changed over the last 6 months, especially Caden! At his 9-month appt he weighed 22 lbs 11 oz and was 2 1/2 feet tall. He has 8 teeth; 4 on top and 4 on bottom, which is crazy because he got his first 2 around 4 months, the next 4 around 5 1/2 to 6 and the last 2 around 7 months. He looks like such a big boy when he smiles and you see his mouth full of teeth. Along with his teeth he has a very extensive vocabulary, it seems like he's talking or singing or screaming (maybe screeching is a better word, I don't know though...) all the time. Right now he's hanging out with Michael and I hear him saying, "ba, ba, ba, ba....bop, bop....ahhhh, ahh....mumm, mum, maaa...." It's really cute!

He's eating a lot of solid foods these days...cheerios, puffs, all different kinds of fruits and veggies, mac 'n cheese, chicken, breads, and yogurt. As far as his movement goes, he's "crawling" everywhere. Crawling is in quotation marks because he kind of does an army crawl/pull/kick-off thing. We've tried teaching him to crawl the "normal" way but he's already gotten so fast doing it the other way he doesn't practice for very long. He's been doing his version of crawling since Thanksgiving-ish time. He's starting to crawl "normally" a little bit more but he's also starting to sit on his knees and is trying to pull himself up when he's next to a chair or the coffee table or the couch. I'm seeing attempts to walk and then full-on walking not too far in my future. Other than all of his milestones and everything going on, he is generally a very happy baby. He's all smiles and doesn't fuss very much!

2 weeks ago we spent a week in Texas visiting my sister and brother and each of their families, which meant that Caden got to hang out with all 3 of his cousins at the same time for the first time. It was a lot of fun and a much needed vacation but we all came home sick with colds. The first couple days at home were manageable but then Caden and I got pink eye (courtesy of his cousin) and I got a really bad ear infection, so last week was NOT fun! Thankfully though Michael didn't get sick...God was definitely looking out for us because He knew Michael needed to be well to take care of me and Caden. We are on the mend and doing much better now! I told my sister, Annie, that we had a great time hanging out with them but not a great time coming home with their sickies! I'm hoping and praying that doesn't happen again. Other than being sick Caden did really well for his first plane ride. My mom came with us, which was soo nice, because she is such a HUGE HELP with Caden. He got a little restless and was tired of being held the whole time but all in all, we survived. :)

Also, when we were in Texas we got to see our friend Carolyn from college. She lives in Dallas now, so we rented a car for a couple days and drove up from Austin to visit her. We stopped at this place called "The Czech Stop" on the way and had some wonderful kolaches. If you don't know what they are, you need to have one, soooo good!

In other news, Michael has been on a "cooking kick" the last couple weeks and is now determined to make all of our meals at home for the next 28 days. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. I think it's great, don't get me wrong - no fast food, no buying out for almost a month, my husband cooking - but I'm just not very fond of ALL the dirty dishes his cooking is leaving behind! :)

So, here's to 2010, a lot of changes still to come....Caden's 1st birthday, Michael and I both turning the big 2-9, different things at work, new babies to welcome, and tons more "firsts", and some "lasts" for our family....and through it all I hope that we remember how BIG our God is and how GOOD He is, who has for the time blessed me with these....