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!!

Our Little Lake Vacation

Two weeks ago (okay, I know I've been a slacker and should have written this post a while ago, but better late than never...right?!) we spent a nice week-long vacation at the lake. It was filled with so many fun memories and time shared with lots of people we love! Cayden and The Mama headed to the lake Tuesday morning and spent the day together playing in the sun and having fun. Cayden went to bed early enough for The Mama to relax in a nice quiet house, reading and listening to the nighttime sounds of the lake. I needed that! Wednesday afternoon, The Daddy and Grandpa showed up to join us! And we had a few very special "first-time visitors" to the lake Wednesday night....Aunt Beckie, Sarah and Molly came to play for a few days!! The kids had a blast playing in the lake, with the sand and finding shells! It was so nice for them to have a few days to play together somewhere different from home and make new memories...and I'd have to say it was nice to hang out with the good 'ol sis for a few days too!! :-) Thanks for coming!! Here are a few shots of the fun!

Just one of the daily kisses shared between these cousins-They're all so nice to each other, I love it!

Sarah working hard- finding shells, filling buckets and having fun, while all her little buddies watched!
Sarah riding "her dolphin" through the waves!
Sarah and Molly soaking up the sun and having fun!

The boat ride! Sarah absolutely loved it, she kept yelling "Faster, Uncle Cyle! FASTER!!"The Booty: such a little water bug! So content in the water, splashing and just taking it all in.After a few days of fun, laughs and lots of snacking, all of our friends had to leave. The Daddy and Grandpa headed to Van Wert on Friday to prepare for Aunt Joy's Wedding at the rehearsal dinner! Saturday morning, Aunt Beckie and the girlies headed home to await their Daddy, who was coming home for a nice visit!! Cayden and I then got ourselves all dressed up and headed to Van Wert to celebrate with Aunt Joy and the new Uncle Michael!!

The Wedding

The wedding was so nice! They were married on a beautiful golf course and we got to see lots of family and friends! Here are a few pictures of everyone all dressed to impress!

A nice Family Picture

Three generations: TCW's - Grandpa, Cyle and Cayden

Grandpa and Cayden just hanging out before the big event!

Grandma and Cayden! Looking so nice!

Cayden stealing The Daddy's glasses...as usual! Such a funny game!

The Newlyweds! Mr. and Mrs. Plumley!

The Booty, after hours and hours of dancing and visiting (and long past bedtime) finally poops out in his stroller. We were just having too much fun to sleep!

After the festivities, I drove Grandpa, Daddy and Cayden back to the lake...The parties were NOT over! Sunday, July 19th, 2009 was about to be another VERY BIG DAY!! :-)

Check back for the next post! Lots of Pictures and Memories!!