Today's Dish

This blog is generally used for providing updates of our son, BUT we have a recipe that is so wonderful I feel it would be a disservice not to share.  In all fairness, we wouldn't have this recipe if it weren't for Caden; a girlfriend of mine made this for us sometime shortly after Caden was born.
This has been our favorite go-to ever since.  We hope you enjoy!

Cheddar Bar B Q Meatloaf Minis
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg stove top stuffing mix  1 tsp garlic powder 3/4 cup bbq sauce
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Heat oven to 375.  Mix meat, stuffing mix, 1 cup of water and garlic powder. Press into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. Make an indentation in the center of each mini loaf with a spoon; fill with bbq sauce. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Top with cheese, bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Patriotic Pants

Here are a couple of pics from Caden's 4th of July.  Hope y'all had a good one!

I've never seen him so relaxed.

6 Months and Going Strong

Caden is now weighing in at 18 pounds 4 ounces (65%).  He is 26.5 inches long (55%).  This month he mastered the army crawl.  He will try to crawl conventionally, but only goes backwards.  If you put something interesting enough on the floor, he can be on it in a matter of seconds.  He is trying to push himself into sitting position, but he still can't get there 100%.

He started solid foods this month and has done pretty good with the spoon.  There are days that are much messier than others, the picture below is definitely one of the worst by far!  He has 2 bottom teeth coming in, but I haven't been able to get a picture of them. He is still on breast milk every 3 hours (give or take).

His sleep patterns have their ups and downs.  He will give me some hour and a half naps and there are nights where we only get up once to replace the paci and then up again at 5 to feed him (it's just not the standard).

 We've been having record heat in Ohio, so we spend our afternoon splashing in our backyard pool.

5 Months!

The 5 month milestone has come and gone, but I am just now getting a chance to reflect on it.  Partially because Caden still resits sleep, not leaving a lot of time to get tasks such as these done.  He is weighing in at 17 lbs 12oz.  I haven't had a chance to get his length yet, as the pictures will show, this boy is on the move.  He is still on breast milk only, but studies Brad and I as we eat with forks and spoons - I think that he is ready for something new!  His hand eye coordination is just about perfected, as he can grab at objects and pick them up at ease - even getting a handful of cat hair a time or two (poor Bogey!).  He is getting stronger core muscles and sits pretty well without support, although he hasn't gotten into that position on his own yet.  He has mastered the crawling position and is starting to experiment with movement - sometimes rocking, somethings lunging.  As we say around here, he has become so mobile that he is "not trusted".  You can place him on the floor, but within seconds he will have re-positioned himself and scooted over to explore something new.  By the next post I would  imagine we'll have a crawler!

He still loves to play with his feet.

WHEE!!!!!

First Swim

In the bouncer - still a favorite

Crawling position assumed...

Cat targeted and successfully reached (poor Bogey!)

4 Month Update

Caden is growing like a weed, and the weeds are growing like wild this spring!  He now weighs 15 lbs and 11 oz (although that was taken this past Monday, and he has proved to grow 3/4 of a pound in a week!).  He is 25 inches tall.  He has moved up in the percentages, coming in at 65% for his weight and 50% for his height!  He is definitely more and more alert and aware everyday.  Lately he's been exploring his feet, which is a lot of fun to watch!  He will instantly roll to his tummy when he is put on his back and most of the time he will pull his legs up underneath him.  I tried to capture that in the picture below...

He's definitely gotten the tummy time head control down.

He's been enjoying his exercauser, which is suspended by springs for plenty of bouncing!

 

One of the best pics I've taken so far, or at least I think so....

He's happiest when he has his hands in his mouth - no teeth to speak of, but as the Dr. put it,

" his gums are waking up"

He still loves bath time!

Now if this doesn't make you yawn.....

and if this doesn't make you laugh!

(That's what I call knee-slapping funny!)

Caden's First Easter

Here are a few pictures from Caden’s First Easter!  We had some very special visitors that made the day even more memorable (Jenni and Clay Caswell, our wonderful friends from college, along with their 2 boys Connor and Levi)! 
And yes, the Easter Bunny was very good to all of them!

"Paci, Paci Leash, Paci Animal.... Where's the chocolate?!?!?!"

I was fighting a cold, please excuse my uncertain smile...

What a handfull!

I think they were plotting against us!

Caden is now a rolling machine, a little trick that Levi taught him!

Back to tummy -

Then tummy to back - and he is SPENT!  What a workout!

3 Months!!! A Month of Many Firsts...

We've been extremely busy this month.  The weather has finally warmed up and I don't feel like the cold and flu season is such a threat - so we hit the ground running!  Caden went on his first road trip.  We visited Washington D.C. and I feel like we couldn't have timed the trip more perfectly - the Cherry Blossoms were beautiful!

After returning from the road trip, Caden went on his first plane ride to Texas!  We visited many family and friends, but as always our trip just wasn't long enough.  If we didn't get to see you, our apologies, but hopefully we can make it up next time!  We got to visit his birthday buddy (Blair Ferguson - the son of Brad's college roommate - how fun!).  I enjoyed putting the boys on the quilt to let them have a kick fest. 

He got his wings!!!

First Plane Ride

Birthday Buddies

Of course we had to take a picture in some Texas bluebonnets!

He has turned into a smiling machine, finding many of the silly things we do absolutely hysterical!

Caden can now roll from tummy to back AND back to tummy, although he doesn't do the later nearly as frequently.  He has also taken up holding rattles and is getting pretty good at putting them in his mouth.  It is fun to see how his motor skills are progressing.  He still hasn't found his thumb, but has settled on sucking his pointer for now.  His sleep schedule has progressed quite nicely - usually going to be around 7:30, getting up twice to feed during the night and then up for good by 7:45.  Day time naps are still sporadic and inconsistent, but my girl friends keep encouraging me that these are the last of the sleep patterns to get organized - so I will work another month on trying to get a good day time routine down!