The Tale of Two Babies

Caden has recently discovered his vocal chords and makes sure that everyone in the neighborhood knows it. We took a video of him happily "talking" in his jumperoo.




Five minutes later.... Caden's evil twin arrives...

Hello Again...

Well, it's been a long time since our last post and I take full responsibility (this is Sarah, by the way). Yes, Cory has officially transferred the family blogging duties to me. Between working from home, taking care of Caden during the day and preparing to start his master's program, Cory decided that he didn't have time. We are now learning the value of the precious little time we have to do "other things" that don't involve diapers, crying, or bottles.
So, here's the update...
Caden is 5 1/2 months old now. He is eating solid food, almost sitting up on his own, and laughing a lot. He has become a very happy baby and is getting the hang of sleeping through the night. He still wakes up once or twice, but usually goes back to sleep fairly easily. Cory is thankful of this since he is now the one getting up at night. Caden enjoyed Christmas (mostly the wrapping paper) and slept through his first New Year. :) We really enjoyed our 2 weeks off for winter break - my Dad and Carol took us to Utah for a weekend where we got to tour Bryce Canyon and spend some time in the snow; we spent Christmas with Niki and the grandparents-in-law; my Mom came to visit for a few days; and we caught up on sleep.
Cory is still at home with Caden until mid-February. He is doing a great job as "Mr.Mom" and balancing work with baby time. Last weekend Cory took the GRE (Graduate Entrance Exam) and passed! I helped him with studying and was VERY thankful that it wasn't me that had to take the test... but, Mr. Smartypants passed with flying colors so he starts his Master's next week! Good luck with that. :)
I have been back at work for 5 weeks now and although it's nice to feel productive and engage in some "adult" conversation, I still miss Caden every day. I'm sure Cory is sick of me calling everyday at 11:00 but I can't seem to make it through the day without checking in on the little baby man. Working full time and being a mommy full time is difficult, but it's definitely worth it. I just need to remember to find a few moments to update this blog and keep you all posted.
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
Sarah

Basic Ideas Behind Photo Sharing Online

Eating Solids for the First Time

Caden had his 4 month appt recently and here is the update. Oh yeah, its his first attempt at solid food. Haha

4 Months Today

Caden baby turns four months today. We are on the eve of my third week of staying home with him. Its been tough. He isn't the easiest baby. Very needy and demanding. We are in the process (as of yesterday) of changing some things from Sarah's time at home. The baby is in the habit of crying and being rescued immediately. He hasn't learned to do much by himself or to deal with frustration very well. So implementing a new strategy there. He also hasn't been on a nighttime routine. Normally he eats right before he starts to get tired and then if he doesn't fall asleep during the bottle, we walk him around until he passes out in our arms. Tonight we are trying something new. Moved the glider upstairs into his room, so feeding him up there, rocking him, reading a book, and putting him into his crib before he falls asleep. This may all sound a little boring, but believe me, its anything but that at our house in the evening. Will keep you updated if it works.

Leslie flew out this weekend to visit. Her friend ran in the Vegas marathon today so she had double the reason to come to town. She is going to work with Sarah tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I'm taking Caden to his 4 month doctor appointment and he gets shots, weighed, stuffed, and baked. Or something like that.

We put our fake Xmas tree up yesterday. Well, I didn't, I worked while Leslie and Sarah decorated. The house looks festive although we are missing presents under the tree. We normally wrap our presents and put them under our tree until its time to mail or give them out. Not doing that this year. After 2 months of Sarah not getting a paycheck, we won't be able to give presents to anyone except the 6 youngsters in the family. We will be sending out cards with a family pic in the next week, so you can be looking for that in the mail.

I'm working from home and going to campus once a week until February. It was really nice to go to work last Friday and laugh and complain with the other teachers. It was fantastic to see some students. I definitely miss the interaction. This is the first job Ive ever had where I miss being at work when I have a day off, a long weekend, or even the summer. Strange.

For posterity:

• The New England Patriots are 11-0 and going for #12 tomorrow. They are the best regular season football team Ive seen in 27 years of watching football. They should go 16-0, hopefully.
• Evel Knievel passed away at 69. Died in the back of an ambulance on the way to the hospital. He's lucky he lived this long.
• Saw No Country for Old Men which should win best picture. Its about getting old, and hitmen.
• Also saw Into the Wild, that movie REALLY affected me. I hope Emile Hirsh gets nominated for best actor. Sean Penn blew the directing though, probably wont be in the best picture category but close. Makes me want to visit Slab City.
  

Finally Added a New Video

It's nothing exciting, but we shot a little footage of Caden playing in his newest toy, his jumpero/
Click here and go to the bottom of the page to see the newest video.

Hope everybody's Thanksgiving went well. Sarah cooked a fabulous dinner and we had Donna and Maurie at our home. Spent the evening at a party with some of Sarah's family friends, Annette and Gary. All and all it was a good first Thanksgiving for Caden.

Week 16.5

I'm sitting at home right now while the baby is sleeping and Sarah is off getting her classroom ready. She goes back to work tomorrow and I take over with the Mr. Mom gig. Sarah is in the process of trying to sift through the crud that is a 3 month sub. What a nightmare.

It should be a very trying experience staying home with Caden. While Im super excited to do the paternity thing, Ive been so wrapped up in school that I can't help but miss not being there. Plus, I have TONS to do and will try to fit that in to the time that Caden is sleeping, nights, and weekends. So 2 full time jobs for the next 3 months. Nevertheless, very stoked about the whole thing.

Caden's newest thing is that he giggles when you tickle him. Its pretty cute but he hasn't done it for me yet, only for mama. Will have to practice with him this week. He also loves sitting up so we found a Bumbo seat for him at the consignment store, he likes it.

We took family portraits at this meat market used car dealership processing photo plant yesterday. It could of been worse, but I was very up front with the photographer/saleswoman and she had to go against "company protocol" to accommodate me. It was either that or I walked so she saved her sale and worked with us. We made it out of there in an hour with all our Xmas presents in hand (Oh yeah, we are really poor so you all get photos this year). We couldnt get him to smile, he was on sensory overload, but the pics still turned out good.

Big News!!! Caden slept through the night the last 4 evenings. 8 hour spurts, extraordinary.
We found out early this week that he wasnt getting enough food the all natural way so we started mixing with formula (similac child, driving me wild (old rap song, sorry)). As soon as he began getting full in the evenings, he started sleeping better. Imagine that. Just in time for daddy too, what a sport.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

For posterity:

• Brett Favre and Vinny Testaverde matched up today in the oldest combined age of 2 starting QB's in NFL history. 82 years.
• Barry Bonds was indicted by a grand jury, druggie
• Caden's eyes are still blue, really hoping they stay