Happy Halloween!

Now let me eat my Smarties!

THe Rock-A-Stack

Caden is loving his rock a stack. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and does a great job of getting the rings on. He still doesn't quite understand they are supposed to go on in a certain order, so sometimes the last one is barely balancing on there. He is always so proud of himself when he finishes!

Ouch!

I've been a little sow blogging abut this because my pride had to recover, but last Friday night I fell while carrying Caden. I was a little bruised and sore, but Caden was whimpering and favoring his left leg. He would hold it up while crawling or standing and limped when he walked. Have you ever seen a 13 month old limp? It would have been kind of cute if it weren't so traumatizing for me. Saturday afternoon we finally got a splint for him and took some x-rays. Luckily there were no breaks or fractures, just bruising of the bone and soft tissue. We're keeping his leg wrapped up for a while for support. He seems to be feeling a little better, but still doesn't like to walk on it much. Poor baby!

The Happy Ghost

If you're a ghost and you know it, Then say "Boo!"
If you're a ghost and you know it, Then say "Boo!"
If you're a ghost and you know it, And you really want to show it,
If you're a ghost and you know it, Then say "Boo!"

- or -

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
IF you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it then your face will surely show it.
If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

Whats that sound?

If its swishing.... Caden flushed the toilet. (Gotta remember to keep the door closed!)
If its pounding.... Caden wants in that closed door or wants that childproof cabinet open.
If its beeping.... Caden pushed the 'page' button on the cordless phone.
If its singing.... Caden is happily playing with his toys.
If its clattering.... Caden pulled the table cloth off the table and everything on it is crashing down.
If its banging.... Caden is "typing" on the keyboard.
If its giggling.... Caden is racing up and down the hall and wants you to chase him.
If its rolling.... Caden is pushing his high chair around the kitchen.
If its thumping.... Caden has emptied the bookcase and is tossing the books across the room.
If its silent.... You better find Caden to make sure he's not unrolling the toilet paper, unloading the filing cabinets, pulling all the dirt out of the fake tree or smashing the box of tomatoes.

The Pumpkin and the Tea Pot

I'm a jack-o-lantern, look at me.
I'm as happy as I can be.
Put a candle in and light the light.
Don't be frightened, it's Halloween night.

-or-

I'm a little tea pot, short and stout.
Here is my handle, here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up hear me shout,
"Tip me over and pour me out!"

Barnyard Boo

My mom came down to meet some of her friends at Thanksgiving Point today for lunch, and afterward Caden and I went over to walk around some of the events they had with her. The Barnyard Boo is geared toward younger children, but the activities were still a little old for Caden. He just enjoyed walking around looking at the people, animals, and decorations. We tried to get him to take some pictures but he was ready for a nap and didn't want to get more than 3 inches away from one of us. We still had a good time and I'll for sure go back next year.

Reassigned

Ryan's skills for complex projects have been tapped at work and he has been reassigned to a new team. He and one other guy in the office will form the beginnings of the PEO team. At his office plans are divided among the administrators based on the funding company the plan uses - Ryan has been on the Nationwide team and Justin has been on the John Hancock team. This new PEO team will administer all of the multiple employer plans (an often complicated plan structure) regardless of the funding company. The details of the switch have slowly been leaking out over the last week or so, but last night the desks were moved and today is Ryan's first official day on the new team. Technically Ryan still has the same job title, but he's excited for this new challenge and change of pace.

Jungle Jim's Playland

Last Thursday we went to Jungle Jim's Playland for a playdate with a few friends. It was funny because we were literally the only people there. The lines were short at least. :) Caden was a little out of sorts from a bad allergic reaction the day before and cried every time I put him on a ride by himself. Ryan calls this the cry of shame. He hangs his head, slumps his shoulders, and pouts. He did fine as long as I was holding him on the rides, though. We did the carousel, swings, tea cups, bumper cars, airplanes, and roller coaster. The roller coaster either made him motion sick or scared him spitless, because he didn't move for nearly a full minute afterward. It was a little faster than any of us expected it to be. Ahh, the adventure.

Allergy Alert - Chex

After thinking Caden might be allergic to the protein powder or the flax seed we are mixing in to all his food right now, we finally tracked the source of a current allergic reaction to his beloved Chex. Somewhere in my excitement over finding generic brand rice chex I either didn't read the label or didn't read it close enough. Both the Albertson's and Western Family brand chex have barley in them. Barley, in case you've forgotten, is on the black list. Only the name brand Rice Chex are safe for Caden. Since we go through 2 boxes per week, I'm now collecting General Mills cereal coupons. Feel free to send any extras you may have my way.

Caden Update

It feels like its been forever since I blogged about Caden. I decided its time for an update.

* His two front teeth came in just after his birthday. He's got the next two top ones comming through now.

* He is a very stable walker, but is too cautious to want to do it on his own yet. He moves around our house hanging on to anything he can.

* After having gone all summer in short sleeves he can't figure out what clothes are doing clear down around his wrists. He tugs and pulls at the cuffs and fusses at me when I put his shirts on.

* He is officially weaned, but only drinks about half the amount of milk he's supposed to.

* His new favorite thing to do is put toys (like the plastic stacking cups or shapes from the shape sorter) up on the coffee table then stand there banging them on the glass.

* I bought his Halloween costume and he looks so stinking cute in it! I can hardly wait another two weeks for the holiday to get here.

Cats and Mice

Three black cats, three black cats,
In black hats, in black hats.
They all jumped into the Halloween brew,
They teased the ghosts and the goblins too.
Did you ever hear such a hullabaloo
On Halloween?

- or -

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run.
They all run after the farmer's wife,
She cut off their tales with a carving knife
Did you ever see such a sight in your life
As three blind mice?

Thunderbird Update

Ryan has been working hard on the Thunderbird and hit a major milestone this last week - the body work is done! He has the first round of primer done and it looks so pretty. You can click here to see the before picture.

Jibber-Jabber

Caden has started trying to repeat words a lot more lately.
* When I read "Eight white bears waving goodbye," he pipes in with "buh-bah." Usually the first "buh" is said with a bit of a growl.
* Whenever I mention Chex, he'll parrot back "teh."
*Today when I repeatedly congratulated him on his speaking with "Good job!" he came out with "goo-da!"
* He is working really hard on saying grandpa and grandma. It sounds something like "bum-pa" or "bump-ma." Grandpa rolls off the tongue easier and grandma is a little choppier.
* Ryan always whispers "da-da," so Caden whispers "da-da." This one is my favorite.
* Mama is still a long string of ma-ma-ma-ma-ma.
* Quickly fading into oblivion is what I consider Caden's first word - Nar! (nurse).

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

In honor of Halloween, all of this month's poems are going to have a festive flair.

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.
Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

General Conference

It always interesting to hear different people's takes on what the "theme" of General Conference was. Even though we all hear the same talks we all take something different away. This year I felt there were two themes. The first was a reiteration of basic principles of the gospel - word of wisdom, temple worthiness, value of families, etc. The second was the theme that living the gospel brings peace, even during troubled times. I thought the two themes complemented each other well - here are the basics, now go live them and be happy. We've spent tonight making a list of some of the basic things we can improve on to help bring peace and happiness into our home.

Its Autumn Time, Its Autumn Time...

... the leaves are falling down. And if you're not singing right now its been too long since you've been in Primary. I put out my fall decorations today and I'm so excited. Autumn is by far my favorite season. I love the colors, the weather, the harvest, the holidays - I love it all. Topping the list of favorites, though, are jack-o-lanterns. That means my favorite decoration is a ceramic figurine of jack-o-lanterns. This year I put it on the shelf by my sink and tonight I lit it for the first time. I just had to share the fun with the rest of you.