Caden – 9 Months

Another month, another post about Mr. Caden.  I can’t believe he’ll be a year old in only three months … it truly blows my mind how fast time is going by!  The first nine months with Kamy were quick, but I still felt like I was watching it happen day by day.  Now nearly a month is gone before my mind catches up to what he’s doing!

• Caden’s really been working on his moves this month — he is a great crawler and can get himself into all sorts of places I do not expect to find him!  He pulls up on everything and loves to hang on your pant legs until you pick him up.  He also likes to open the kitchen cabinets and swing the doors open and closed.  Plus, you never know what you’ll find behind those cabinet doors that could be fun to play with!  I’m now officially washing any of my pots and pans before using them to make dinner, as I never know what they’ve been used for lately!

• He always wants to be in the middle of whatever Kamy is doing, so he’s hard pressed to keep up with her some times.  She’s learning what is and is not out of Caden’s reach too, since just because you put something up on the coffee table or a shelf doesn’t mean Caden’s not gonna get it anymore.  Caden has also started to cruise around using furniture and will even switch between table and chair or pant leg and cabinet door without any trouble at all.  I’m sure he’ll be walking before we know it — he’s got someone to follow around!  Case in point, notice where all Kamy and her animals are … out of reach!

• He’s started to chew on his crib a little bit, especially now that nap time and waking up from sleeping isn’t the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it anymore.  Instead he’ll stand up in his crib and chew on the rails a bit until you come to get him.  I’ve wrapped most of the rails with fleece and used safety pins to hold it on, but that hasn’t distracted him from chewing on other parts of it.  <Sigh>  Convertible cribs are such a great idea in theory, but keeping them in decent shape to actually use as a big kid bed is tricky!

• Nap and bed time are going so much better!  Caden’s current routine has him taking a morning nap around 9:30am, another one after lunch (hopefully around 2pm so I can get Kamy down at the same time, but not always), and then going to bed at 7:30pm.  Lately he’s been waking up at 6am, but unfortunately for him, Momma’s not on duty until 7:30am!  He’s learning to tough it out and go back to sleep for a little bit until I’m ready to get him.  I’m all for waking up early, but 6am is too early for me!  He’ll rarely wake up at night any more, so once I put him to bed at night, I don’t expect to get up to feed him or soothe him anymore … which makes for a full night of sleep for me!  Hooray!

• One of Caden’s favorite things is mimicking, especially Daddy!  They’ll “talk” back and forth and will carry on entire conversations between the two of them.  =)  He uses five distinct sounds now — ah, bah, mah, rah, and wah.  He loves to string sounds and syllables together, and it’s even better if he remembers to vary his pitch and volume at the same time.  He’s quite the talker!  Kamy was not this vocal when she was little, so it’s been fun watching him experiment with the sounds he can make.  He’ll also mimic your movements, especially banging on things or waving them around.

• One thing Caden is great at is eating.  He loves to eat and I can already tell that he’s gonna be a good eater.  He’ll eat nearly anything you offer to him, and unless it’s cold he won’t even flinch.  We’re knee deep in solid food now and more than half of his calories each day come from “big people” food — cut up fruit, cheerios, pureed leftovers from the night before.  I’ve been using my immersion blender to make baby food with the left overs from the previous night’s meal and that’s been a big hit.  Breakfast is usually 2 bananas and a handful of cheerios.  Lunch tends to be 8-10 ounces of pureed leftovers and veggies from the night before.  Dinner is a combination of apple sauce with oatmeal or rice and more fruit.  Pretty much the only time he eats baby food in a jar is if we are out and about during meal time.  One of his favorite foods right now is fresh blueberries!  We went up the road to the local you pick farm last week and picked a gallon of fresh berries. Caden was more than happy to ride around in the little red wagon, eating blueberries we were popping in his mouth!  We’re still working on his patience — he will burst into tears if you walk away from the table while feeding him (even if his bowl is empty and all you’re doing is getting more food for him) and he’s not quite sure you’ll ever feed him again.  It’s pretty pitiful!  He’s also been banging his open palm on the high chair tray when he wants more food.  While it’s somewhat amusing now, it won’t be for long, so we’re already working to break that little habit of his.  =P

• Caden popped himself out of the Bumbo the other morning, so he’s officially confined to his high chair for meals now.  I ordered him a boo seat just like Kamy has, so we’ll be using that for him while we travel.

• Another thing Caden’s outgrown is his car seat.  The infant carrier we have is designed to be used as long as they are less than 30″ tall.  Since Mr. Caden is a tall one, it was time to upgrade to a full size car seat.  It’s the same kind that Kamy has, just a different color combination.  We’ll be able to have it rear facing until we are ready to turn it around when he gets older.  He’s been happily climbing on it the last week or so while it’s been in the living room, so hopefully it’ll be a smooth transition for him.  He looks like such a big boy sitting in it!

• Lastly, Caden is really starting to get independent and is happy to amuse himself with his (and Kamy’s) toys for extended periods of time.  If I’m trying to get something done around the house, I can usually park him by his basket of toys and be able to fold laundry, cook dinner, or clean the bathroom without too much concern.  I still poke my head in on him periodically, but he’s as happy as a clam most of the time.  If anything, I just need to head him off from going to the back door to chew on shoes or going to the bathroom and helping himself to the cat food.  Lol!

Overall, Caden’s doing so great.  He’s really mellowing out and is not so extreme in his emotions.  He’s even handling the church nursery better — he likes Mrs. Lisa and I rarely find him in tears when I come to pick him up any more.  It’s amazing what a few months of maturity will do for a baby!  Caden is such fun to be around and he brings so many smiles to my face each and every day.  His little face just lights up with a gigantic grin whenever he sees me, and there’s nothing sweeter to this Momma’s heart.  I love you Caden!