8 Months

We don't have any official stats because we haven't been to the doctor lately, yay!  Caden is definitely growing in length and putting on weight.  He has really improved on his sleeping patterns, I really hesitate to write this out per chance that I jinx it.  He's been sleeping from 7:30 pm to around 5:00, at that time he gets  a little snack and then will usually go back to bed until 6 or 7.  It's been so nice and I think that my body is getting spoiled by all the sleep!  He's been on a 3 nap routine, which has been pretty steady and predictable.  He has been eating 5 bottles a day, with usually 3 meals of solids in between.  We have had a couple of play dates with a friend that we met in swim lessons, he's not quite ready for parallel play, but at least the Moms have fun!

 

Getting into one last bit of trouble before bed!

We have a swing at our house now, he LOVES it!

Caden's Tutorial on Peach Baby Food

1.) Pick the peaches

2.) Bring the peaches home

3.) Take a long nap so that Moma can clean, steam, and puree the peaches

4.) EAT THE PEACHES!  YUM!

We'll Be Back Soon

"Hang in there loyal Schuelkins-Sentry followers, we'll be back soon!"

(Or, at least that's what I thought he was yelling...)

7 Months and Movin' On Up

 At 7 months Caden is now pulling up and standing with support.  He will take a few steps while holding on to objects.  He has mastered the crawl and can get anywhere within seconds.  He is discovering more and more of the house everyday, including the kitchen trash can and the kitties' water dish.

My best guess at his stats are:
19 lbs 12 oz
27 inches

He loves his solid foods and is starting in on the combined flavors.  We are just now starting to practice with a cup.

We had our first play-date with a little boy that we met at swim class.  He is 6 months older than Caden, but they were still able to interact.  It was a lot of fun.

His 2 new favorite tricks are to sit on the floor and roll the ball back and forth and blowing raspberries.  He is addicted to blowing raspberries and thinks that it is a language.  He uses them to get people's attention, even strangers in public (Nona taught him this during vacation - Thanks a lot Mom!)

We have a new nightly tradition of playing in the green bucket.  I fill it with water and let him splash around after dinner.  It helps get all the food off before we get into the bathtub!

We recently took a vacation to Lake Michigan, it really is beautiful!  The beaches and waves were just like the ocean, but we didn't have to deal with seaweed or salt water.  We were neck deep and could still see our toes, it was perfect! Caden loved it - of course - he is my little water baby.

Lake Michigan

Tuckered out after a long day at the beach

Breakfast and a bath on the porch?!?  It must be vacation!!!

Picking blueberries - YUM!

Nursery Pictures!

The added excitement and exercise of swim lessons has led to longer afternoon naps - Praise The Lord!  He'll sleep for around an hour and a half on most days.  In turn, I have a little more time to get a few projects done around the house, and one of the first on the list was to finish the nursery.  Here are some pics of the, almost final product (I'm sure I'll add some throw pillows and other items here and there).

Changing table and glider

The art piece above the bed was one of the last ones I completed

Having a book shower was a wonderful idea, look at the amount of books that we have!

That picture on the wall adjacent to the crib is actually a puzzle.  I didn't intend to put the puzzle on the wall, but since it was completed at 11:30 pm on December 27th (5 mere hours before I went into labor), and the color scheme was a perfect match, I decided that it needed to be in there.  I must have been nesting when I decided to stay up so late finishing that darn puzzle!!!

Close-up of fabric

Close-up of art

One of Caden's favorite things to do, pull books off the shelf and push them around the room

Yes,that's him pulling up on the crib and I have caught him chewing on it a time or two already too!

Splish Splash!

We enrolled Caden in Mommy and Me swim lessons this summer.  I wanted to make sure to get him acquainted with the water at a young age so that he doesn't develop the fear and dislike of having it in his face.  He did wonderfully, better than I even expected.  We even made a couple of new friends during the process.

As a former swim instructor, one of my main objectives was to teach him to swim to the wall and to hold on to the wall for support.  He started to get the concept and had the strength to hold himself up without support (although I was still hesitant to do so!).

Not the best quality, but look at how relaxed he is and how well he floats.  

SWIM!  SWIM!

Grin and Bear It

Here is a picture of his grin - complete with first teeth.  His second tooth came in just 3 days after his first one, so they are pretty close in size.

Here are a couple of videos of Caden crawling, sometimes hands-knee, other times (when he wants to get somewhere FAST) he'll army crawl.  He has now started to get into the bear crawl position, strengthening those leg muscles!