Brazil Here We Come!

1 new passport
3 visas
7 trips to the doctor - and more to come
9 shots - one more to go
Countless hours of appointments, paperwork and driving and we're finally there!

In fact, Brad is LITERALLY there!

There were times when we didn't think this was going to work out, (for instance when we were visiting with the doctor about taking Caden to a Yellow Fever prone area), however, we got all the details lined out and we're really going through with this.  It has definitely turned out to be more work and heartache than we could have imagined, but we are still very thankful for this opportunity!

Due to some abnormal vaccines that we need, ie - Yellow Fever, and Caden's age, the 2 of us are sticking around the states for an extra month.  The silver lining is that this gives Brad plenty of time to round up all the necessary equipment before we get to Brazil.  :)

Caden has one vaccine left, which he will get on December 10th, and then we fly out on December 11th.  I am very fortunate to have a travel partner, my mom, during that journey.  It is only a 9 hour flight from Houston to Sao Paolo, but we will start in Austin, TX, and end up in Uberlandia, Brazil.  With all that said it is turning into a 24+ hour journey.  I honestly don't think I could do that alone!  It wasn't looking too bad until we started researching flights from Sao Paolo to Uberlandia.  First of all, there are limited number of flights between those 2 cities.  Secondly, we have to change airports within the city of Sao Paolo in order to catch the regional flight.  Lastly, we land at 11:30 am, but the next available flight isn't until 7:00 pm!  Ewww! We might just have to get a hotel and finish our adventure the next day?!?!

At any rate, Brad is enjoying his time down there already.  Taking in as much of the culture as he can.   Caden and I are surrounded by loving family (some of you have this comfort all the time, please don't ever take it for granted!) and enjoying our time in the great state!

10 Months

 We hit the 10 month milestone, and then things just really took off!  I don't have any official stats on Caden, but I do think that he is thinning out some since he is so active now.  He is walking/crawling 50/50.  He is totally into cars and LOVES to push them around and make them go back and forth.  Our Halloween was cold and rainy so we didn't get to visit many houses, but he had a lot of fun watching all the trick or treaters come to us!  He eats 3 meals a day, of pretty much any foods.  He still has a 5am bottle, then back to sleep, other than that, he is sleeping 7 - 7!  Yes!  He is still taking 2 naps a day, although he is trying really hard to drop the morning one.  We've been busy getting ready for our exciting adventure, BRAZIL!  (More to come on that later.)  Caden fake coughs to get attention and then smiles as you look his way.  He tries his best to mimic sounds that we make, guess it's time to watch our mouths!  Now for the pics...

Trick or Treat!

Just monkey-ing around!

Brad's name-tag reads Jack Hanna.

Trick or Treat!!!

Our little punkin

Park Play

The weather has been so beautiful lately AND since we had some old bread hanging around, we decided to go feed the geese before they head North for the winter.  We ended up feeding 32 before we ran out of bread, they just kept coming and coming and coming!

Afterwards we went to the park down the way to play.  This was our first time at the park with the intentions to play and it turned out great.  They had a set of "little play ground equipment", made just for toddlers.  Caden could climb and explore, and that he did!  Here are some pics...

Check out that hair!!!

9 Months

At 9 months Caden now weighs 24.5 pounds and is 29.75 inches tall.  His measurements fell at 90%. WHAT A GROWTH SPURT!!!

He walks great with the push toy and is taking his first steps.  He walks along furniture and is able to stand tall on his own. He has started to show interest in cars and toys with wheels.  He pushes them around the house, even if they are on their side, or backwards or upside down.  He LOVES taking rides in his wagon and swinging in his swing.  AND now that he is 9 months we are able to give him more foods.  He's a pretty good eater, in case you couldn't tell!

The sleep situation is SO MUCH better (I am knocking on wood).  He sleeps from 7:30 pm - 7:30 am, with usually only waking for a paci intervention around midnight and a snack around 5 am. He is down to 2 naps a day, and in exchange they are a little longer!  He usually sleeps around 1 hour in the morning and will give me a good hour and a half in the afternoon.  :)  Unfortunately, the more sleep that I get, the more I want, so now I have to figure that out.

Now, for the pics......

One of my favorites thus far

Walking with the push toy

First Steps

Standing tall

Crawling in the grass

First Spaghetti

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!