Happy (late) Birthday to Me

My birthday was Saturday and it was fantastic! Ryan took Caden with him most of the day so I could do whatever I wanted without a little shadow. They both enjoyed the daddy-son time. Then in the evening we had Olive Garden and watched a movie. One of my friends brought me a present with some balloons attached. As you can see, Caden thought the balloons were his present.

Caden's 18 Month Well Check

Caden is now 18 months old and is growing just like a little boy should. He has so much personality! I love being his mom. He's taken to hiding in the laundry compartment in our closet. He'll go in the closet, throw all the laundry onto the floor, then crawl in and shut the door behind him. So funny!

Current Stats:
Length: 33 inches, 75%
Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz, 10%
Head Circ: 47 cm, 25%

And the verdict is...

BOY!

We had the standard 20 week ultrasound this morning. Baby is measuring small, so they adjusted my due date by one week; I'm now due August 23. He is head down and appears healthy. He had both his hands behind his head, like he was just relaxing.

Kalina got Married!

Ryan's sister, Kalina, got married on Saturday. Like a good blogger, I carried our camera with us all day. Like a bad blogger I never once pulled it out. So I had to wait for Ryan's other sister, Kara, to post a few of her pictures for me to steal before I could blog about the big day.

Caden was a good little waiter at the temple. He and Aunt Kara, along with a few other cousins, played outside the temple during the sealing. When Daddy and Uncle Shawn came out Caden wanted to be just like them, sitting on the cement. Caden ran all over the temple grounds and got pretty good at climbing on and off that cement ledge.
After the luncheon, we got all gussied up and met back at the ward house for the reception. Here is all the family getting ready for a picture. The Scherbels are on the left and the Broadbents (Steve's family) are on the right. Notice Caden is missing? Yeah, he was done. At this point he was already sleeping in another room.

And after the long day, the happy couple is still smiling. They were about to leave for the night and were just saying good bye.

Nursery

Caden went to nursery for the first time yesterday, and I had my first day as a nursery teacher and not just an extra person observing. On the whole I'd say it was pretty successful. The other 4 kids listened intently to my lesson; Caden slipped off his chair and found a window to stare out while I taught. The only major meltdown from any of the kids came when snack time was over and Caden - who had already eaten 2/3 of the snack - couldn't have any 'more.' Other than that, we sang primary songs, danced to the music, blew bubbles, played with cars and xylophones, and went on a treasure hunt around the room to find the picture of Jesus.

Jump!

Caden made major progress at the Mom and Me class yesterday - he actually joined the kids and did an activity without mom! It was so cute to see him up front mingling with the other kids, watching the teacher, and trying to follow along. The kids were being Johnny Jump Ups, so they were supposed to jump when the teacher clapped. Caden made valliant attempts at getting off the floor - going up on tip toes, hopping from one foot to the other, or just plain reaching really high.

Artwork

Check out Caden's first attempt at artwork. I was making a list, and he wanted a turn with the pen and paper.

Dancing

Caden loves to dance. He'll dance to just about anything, and even knows how to turn on my radio and change the stations. Sometimes he'll sway back and forth or wave his arms, but today he's just in the mood to go in circles. Notice the anklet that he has been wearing all week, and the dance partner he finds halfway through the song.

Hot!

I frequently get Caden's meals too hot and have to blow on each bite before feeding it to him. Today he was extra hungry for lunch (I forgot to give him a midmorning snack), so he started helping me out. He put his face down just a few inches from the plate and started blowing, then tried to go after the food pie-eating-contest-style. It was pretty funny - especially since I didn't know he knew how to blow air like that.

Mommy and Me

Today Caden and I went to our first mommy and me class at the library. The teacher is great, and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. They learned nursery rhymes, read books, danced, and played games. Caden was very intimidated by all the action going on and refused to leave my side until the kids started filtering out at the end of class. I'm hoping he warms up to the experience in the next few weeks. There are 25 kids registered for the class, and about 15-20 were there today.

At the Park

I just had to take advantage of the warm weather this week. Caden and I went to the park Tuesday morning and he had a blast. At 10 am we were the only ones there. He thinks he's ready to go down the slide by himself, but momma is still a little skeptical. I may try it if I can get Ryan or a friend to go to the park with me so that one of us can be at the top and one at the bottom. Caden starts to scoot himself down the slide the second I set him on it, and then giggles the whole way down. He likes to jump off at the end by himself, then immediately points to the top and asks to go 'gin!' (again). He was also really pleased that he could get up the steps by himself and was quite entertained to just explore the play set on his own. Since we have 4 parks within walking distance, I'm looking forward to many happy spring days playing with Caden on the slides.

Random Picture

This is a picture that was taken last weekend when my sister and her girls were in town. I thought it was such a cute shot of Caden and Madisen I couldn't resist posting it.

Draper Temple Open House

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from our tour of the Draper Temple. We went at 10 am and that was the time to go. The crowds were really light and we had no waiting at all. Caden got carried most of the way and kept trying to touch the walls, but I'm still glad we took him. You could feel the spirit in the temple and I'm hoping he felt it as well. Even though I'd been told it was a small temple, I was still a little surprised at the size of the ordinance rooms. The open house runs through March 14, so there is still time to go if you haven't been yet. The Oquirrh Mountain open house will be June 1 - August 1.

Toddler Science Experiment: Gravity

Materials Needed:
1. Staircase
2. Objects of varying shape and size, such as toys, shoes, tupperware, mommy's purse, or cups

Procedure:
1. Find any object you can both reach and lift. Examine it closely to determine if its shape, weight, and structure is similar to or different from other objects you have selected.
2. Run to the edge of the stairs, where you can toss the object down the staircase.
3. Observe how far it goes, the sound it makes, or if it hits other objects already strewn down the stairs and into the entry.
4. Report your findings to mommy, or any other nearby adult. Be sure to point and talk very seriously. Science is serious business, afterall.
5. Repeat as necessary. You never know if the properties of an object may change.

Caden's Findings:
1. Objects go much further when thrown off the stairs than when thrown across the family room.
2. Objects with a motor, such as the monkey car, are really cool to watch drive off the edge of the stairs.
3. Daddy doesn't like to have his cell phone used in this experiment.