First Hair Cut!!

This afternoon, Mama and Meme took this big guy (with crazy hair!) to get his

  very first haircut!!

I had a feeling that this would be a little traumatic for Cayden, seeing as how he is not a big fan of loud, buzzing noises or new things - so I brought Meme as reinforcement!  Plus, I knew she'd have camera-in-hand! :-)

Here's my sweet little baby before....

During.... 

Yes, he cried from start to finish almost :-( 

But she worked quick!

And after...

I walked out with one handsome big boy! He looks so much older!  And I'd have to admit, I miss his little curls already... 

But boy, what a Stud! 

That was hard work!

8/23/2009

In His Own Time...

For the past month or so, we've been wondering when our little man would start to pull himself and maybe even walk. My poor little arms have a difficult time carrying this big lug, and my back gets more sore with each passing day! So we've been hoping, wishing for our big guy to get up and start to go on his own. I've accepted that Cayden may be a little behind with standing and walking due to his history; club feet, surgery, casting and even a broken leg :-(. So I decided to stop asking questions and stop pushing he issue and to let him do it in his own time.

And before we knew it....

This boy is climbing on EVERYTHING! Within the past week, he has started to pull his chubby body up onto everything, attempt to climb the stairs, and stand against toys to play for awhile! It is so exciting! No steps quite yet, but I'm not saying a word! He's a tough little man and he likes to do things his own way, that's for sure. I think it's gonna happen in the near future though! :-)

Here's the booty, in mid-air, climbing over this box of diapers to get to his mess of toys!

Up to his knees (which he's NEVER liked to do)!

And before my eyes, he was up on his two strong legs!

And my favorite of all...this is how I find my big guy in the mornings and after naps! It's official...he's not a baby anymore. We've got ourselves one Big Boy! :-)

As Promised!

Here are some videos of my dancing baby...as promised!

In this first video, Cayden is playing basketball - Every time he makes a basket, this toy plays a song! Cayden get so proud of himself and dances to the song every time!

In this one, Cayden's hanging out, eating some Cheerios when WordWorld starts up! This is his all-time FAVORITE!! Let the dancing begin!

On this day, he was really going to town! Another of his favorite cartoons, Between the Lions, brings out the dance in him!

"The Most Dancing-est Baby"

Today Cayden and I stopped at the Lesjak Planning Corp's annual car show, and sat with Meme at a booth right next to the DJ. Cayden was enjoying the music, as usual....when all of the sudden, over the microphone we hear...

"WOW! That is the most-dancing-est baby I've ever seen!"

Yes. The DJ announced to everyone at the car show that my big baby boy LOVES to dance! Now, as his mother, this I've known! Every time a song comes on, and my boy hears music of any sort, the dancing begins! And boy does he have one great signature move!! Every single time I see him groovin', I think to myself...wow, this boy really does have his Mama's genes, and we've got the same blood flowing through our veins! I love love love dance, and always have, and it's so funny to see my little Booty has got the same grooving abilities! I know down the road that dance will not be a major hobby for my big boy (I'm gonna have to pray for a baby girl next!) but it sure is fun to watch him let loose from time to time! :-)

I'm gonna work on figuring out how to add video to my blog, then I'll definitely let him entertain you with his moves!!

I have a ONE YEAR OLD?!?!

(Okay, okay...before you started yelling at me about what a slacker I am, I KNOW! I'll admit it. I take full responsibility and have absolutely NO excuse!)

So now onto the good stuff...

as of July 19, 2009, I officially have a one year old!

I cannot believe it! It just sounds so weird! He's no longer a certain number of months old, which I had really gotten used to. He's ONE! It just feels so different! (Is this normal?! - for all of you mothers out there?)

Anyway, we had a great celebration on his birthday at our lake house in Indiana. Grandpa was there of course, Aunt Joy and Uncle Michael came, Meme, Papa, Uncle Dan and Dagmara made the trek for the celebration. It was so nice and I just know that Cayden had a great time! I'm sure it was just another day for him, but extra special because he got to have fun with all of those great people and tear wrapping paper off of boxes (his favorite)!! We started with presents and boat rides! And finished off the day with a cookout and CAKE! Cayden was not a big cake fan. But he got through it!

Thanks for coming, guys! We had a great time! Hopefully we can get everyone out to the lake again soon! Here are some of the pictures I snapped throughout the day!

Cayden opening his first birthday present from Sarah and Molly, Aunt Beckie and Uncle Donny! We were sad they had to leave the day before the party but LOVED spending the week with them!

Next came this great gift from Uncle Dan and Dagmara! First Cayden was excited to rip the paper off!

It looked like so much fun he decided to climb on top of the box!

Once he got it all opened up he really had fun! The balls shoot out of the top of this thing - it NUTS! Now I find these balls all over my house! (Thanks Dan!)

We then took a nice leisurely boat cruise, with cocktails!

Then Papa showed off his youth and agility with some skiing! This guy's good! :-)

Cake time! He just didn't quite know what to think!

He grabbed at it, and took a few little tastes...but that was it!
After all was said and done, I had one big, tired boy!

My big boy is so special in so many ways...I wouldn't change him for the world. Every year will bring new blessings and different struggles, I know. All he goes through makes him stronger, and I'd say I've got one tough cookie! :-)

At 7:15pm I held my baby boy close and whispered in his ear, "Happy Birthday!" It was such a great moment...and a perfect ending to wonderful year.

Happy Birthday Booty!! My big one year old!!