Relay for Life

My sister Kellie found herself working on an American Cancer Society Relay for Life team the last 5 months. For those who don't know, Relay for Life is a fundraiser where the main event places the team walking laps on a track for 24 hours. This year, in honor of the 25th anniversary of the event the teams walked for 25 hours. In addition to soliciting donations ahead of time, they organize live entertainment, food, and other contests (I saw a cake walk going on) to help raise money the day of the event. We got the call Saturday afternoon that there were bounce houses set up and most of the kids had gone home for the day. So we drove to Murray, exchanged our donation for purple arm bands, and had the things pretty much to ourselves. Caden's favorite part was the big slide. He went down it until all his helpers were worn out from carrying him up and we moved on to the smaller slide. Since he was free to do what he wished on the small slide the little dare devil started attempting tricks - he went down face first on his belly, backwards on his belly, and rolled down sideways. We played for about an hour and a half and the kid still hadn't had his fill by closing time. It was fun to see Aunt Kellie, and we were all impressed that her 13 person team raised $30,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Ryan's Saturday

I had to work most of the morning on Saturday, so Ryan and Caden got some daddy-son time. They drove around town with the windows down, arms in the wind, dancing to the music. But before they bonded driving to and from Auto Zone, they bonded while cleaning up a little mishap. Ryan served Caden breakfast in a small ceramic bowl that we use on occasion when all his plastic ones are dirty. Caden ate serving #1, then held the now slimed up bowl out to show his daddy he was done and ask for more. As Ryan watched in horror the bowl slipped out of Caden's hand and onto the tile floor. The kid has never broken anything before and was quite shocked by the sound and daddy's frenzied reaction. Ryan said he had the saddest little look on his face the entire time he sat in his high chair waiting for the glass to get cleaned up.

After breakfast and bonding time Ryan's dad showed up to help put the engine for the boat back together. Given that they had a kid underfoot and were to the point of putting back pieces someone before them had taken off (and hence they didn't really know where they went), I was really impressed to get home and see the engine securely back inside the boat. Rick assured me that tinkering on the boat is not 'work.' Based on his smile here I'd have to believe him.

Chalk

Nearly a month ago Caden had his first experience with chalk. I'd avoided it so far because egg shells can be used in chalk and I just hadn't gone to the effort of checking it out thoroughly. But we were at a friend's house and she pulled out a bucket, and all the other kids were doing it, so I figured why not. Caden had a blast.

Caden's First 50 Words

Our little parrot has started to repeat just about everything and it seems like right now he's adding a word a day to his vocabulary. I was trying to add words to the side bar and realized I haven't been keeping up very well. I also realized we'd hit that magical number of 50 words (well, actually 52 but lets not get too technical). So the sidebar is coming down and the list will be memorialized here. Ryan is so proud of his walking talking little boy!

Apple, Aw-we (olive), Ba-Bawh (Basketball), Ba-ow (ball), Bir (bird), Book, Bubbles, Button, Chits (chips), Daw (dog), Dad, Daddy, Diaper, Die (sky, meaning airplane), Doe no (don't know), Door, Dote (coat), Down, Eye, Gin (again), Go, Hi, Hot, Mama, Milk, More, More Ma (more milk), No, Noh (snow), Nope, Ock (block), Oep (help), Off, On, Rash (trash), Rice, Ride, Run, Sauce (applesauce), Shoes, Side (outside or slide), Teh (chex), Tuck (stuck), Uh-oh, Up, Wa-woo (water), Wet, Whee, Wheel, Whoots (whoops), Wow, and Yello (jello).

Ride!

On Friday we went to Lagoon as part of the Dodds family vacation. Kiddo rode every single kiddie ride at least once, and some of them two or three times. Daddy rode the little kid version of the tidal wave and puff with kiddo; grandma did the octopus water ride with him. Caden was as interested in figuring out how the rides worked as he was in the actual ride. As you can tell from the train picture, he's watching the wheels and the track and not the animals.

He looked so little riding around in those big rides all by himself. He was less impressed by Bulgy the Whale, but giggled as he turned the wheel on the car.

This was his response to riding the boats all by himself. The novelty of ringing the bell and turning the wheel wore off in about 5 seconds and the ride lasted about 45 seconds. After this we made sure he was riding with one of his cousins and he did much better.

The three cousins had a great time, particularly on the rides where they could all three ride together. By the end of the day Caden had the system down pat. He knew when he got to the front of the line it was his turn to ride, a fact he would shout out as he jumped into the seats.

This is the Place State Park

Last Thursday was free day at This is Place State Park. I met up with a few friends and we explored for the morning. We got lucky and although it was cold, it didn't really rain on us. The kids enjoyed playing at the child size pioneer village. I love this picture of Caden just leaning against the fence, like a farmer after a hard day's work. Caden was a little tentative at first in the petting corral, but I finally did get him to touch a goat. He giggled every time the blacksmith used his massive bellows to roar up the fire, and was captivated by the barbershop quartet. He is enjoying stairs right now and loved being able to go up and down so many new places. If you've never been to This is the Place State Park I'd recommend going. they have lots of great activities for all age ranges. We were there 2 hours and barely scratched the surface. I can't wait to go back again!

50 Years!

Today Grandpa is celebrating 50 years in business at Orchard Drug in North Salt Lake. He's throwing a little party to thank all his loyal customers, but I think the family may be taking over. All of the cousins should be there, and I can't recall the last time we all made the effort to be in the same place at the same time. We all have so many memories of visiting Grandpa at the store or helpling him out there. For 50 years Grandpa has stood behind that pharmacy counter. Somehow he's managed to keep a smile on his face while working on his feet 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He knows each of his customers by name, and usually a few things about what is going on in their life. The drug store will always have an extra special place in my heart, since it was one of Grandpa's long time employees (Kara) who set me up on a blind date with her brother - Ryan!

Garden Update

Just because everything is so green and pretty! The strawberries are in full bloom and it looks like we'll get a pretty good harvest this year. Our lettuce and spinach are getting ahead of us. Our onions are bigger than they have ever been, and our peas are looking fantastic! There is also a picture of our front flower bed (our only flower bed, really). Our first year here we just transplanted lots of irises into it until we were ready to do something real with it. Ryan bought bushes this week, so I guess we're doing something with it. I'm taking out most of the irises and we'll plant summer/fall color flowers in the front portion.

Vegas Vacation

I'm finally getting around to posting a few pictures from our weekend in Vegas. Em and Bill are great hosts and planned a fun filled day for us all. Saturday started with a hike of sorts out near Lake Mead. We followed the old railroad trail that was used when they were bringing in supplies to build Hoover Dam. The tunnels were huge and amazing. The kids loved running through them. If you look closely at the picture in the bottom left you can see the little tykes in the distance. We borrowed a hiking backpack to put Caden in, but he much preferred to walk with his cousins or ride Daddy's shoulders.

Then it was home for lunch and an attempt at a nap (Caden simply won't nap away from home). After nap time there was a pool party and BBQ. Caden loved the water, even after he got much too cold to stay in. I took him out to warm up and he just cried until I put him back in. Who would have thought it could be chilly in Vegas in June? I guarantee that overcast, windy, and just under 80 is a little chilly to be swimming. We did finally convince Caden to get out when Daddy offered him olives. He spent the rest of the night begging anyone he could find to let him back into the pool.
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Fun with kiddo

First he played in the water. Then he played with the trike. Then he played in the water with the trike. It was a full night with daddy behind the camera.

Strawberries

The other night Ryan brought in a small basket of berries and washed them for us to snack on. Caden, of course, wanted to sit right up at the bar and participate. Since berries were on the list of foods to trial this summer we figured we'd let him have some. He was not so impressed with our sweet, juicy berries. He kept touching them, then pulling back quickly. He tried putting a bite in his mouth, but he just shook his head and spit it out. Even though he didn't want to eat them, he also didn't want to get down from the bar until they were all gone. Silly kiddo.

P.S. We found the camera. It was folded up in one of our beach towells.

Memories

I just wanted to jot down a few things about Caden that I didn't want to forget.
*The way his jowells jiggle when he runs.
*The fact that he never walks. My dad says he has two speeds - run and stop. Its so true.
*The soft little back scratches or rubs that he'll give you if you're sitting on the floor.
*How excited he gets when daddy gets home from work.
*The way he holds his two little arms out in a silent request to be picked up.
*How long he'll look for his belly button if you ask him where it is and he's wearing a onesie that he can't pull up.
*The way his whole body moves when he shakes his head 'no.'
*His little football faststeps when he is excited or frustrated.

I guess he's learning

At church on Sunday a well meaning mother sitting behind us gave Caden a Goldfish cracker. He was staring so intently at her children eating them she thought he'd want one. He just looked at it in his hand, unsure of what to do next. It wasn't long before Grandma, who was holding him, realized what was going on and whisked away the cracker, following up with a thorough hand washing. Caden usually wants anything he sees someone else eating. He loves to eat and wastes no time getting food from his hand to his mouth. So it makes me wonder. Did he actually remember that this was the same kind of cracker that made him so sick a few weeks ago? Was he staring so intently at those other kids because he was waiting for the cracker to make them sick? What was it that kept my hungry kiddo from shoving that obvious food into his mouth? Other allergy moms say its surprising how young these kids start to 'get it.' I guess they are right.

A sad day

We are back from Vegas. Unfortunately, our camera did not make the return trip. Somewhere in the excitement of the swimming party it got misplaced. We're hoping someone picked it up thinking it was theirs and will return it to us soon. It had a super cute video of Caden going down the water slide with me. Combining two of the kid's favorite things - water and slides - was a hit and he couldn't get enough of it. Even when he was blue and shivering like a leaf in the wind.

Brooklyn Paige Carruth

Today we are in Vegas to attend the blessing of my niece Brooklyn Paige Carruth. Here are some pictures of Caden holding his newest little cousin. They don't even begin to capture how sweet he is with her - patting her back, cuddling her close, trying to make sure her arm is going around his back. He's going to make a great big brother.

Nutrition Analysis

Last night at my allergy support group the guest speaker was a dietitian. She had lots of great information, and one thing I wanted to pass on. She recommended we track food intake at mypyramidtracker.gov. You put in what you (or your child) ate each day, then it will run reports for you and give nutrition recommendations.

For example, this morning I ran the nutrition report for Caden's intake yesterday. It showed me he got plenty of calories, protein and iron, not nearly enough fat or calcium, and is doing really well on 12 of the other 15 vitamins and minerals that are analyzed.

It will track your intake and graph nutrient trends for up to 1 year at a time. The website is super user friendly and it only took me a few minutes to input everything kiddo ate yesterday. For a mom who is always worried about her picky toddler getting what he needs, its nice to have a free resource I can use to easily identify deficiencies.

Die! Die! Die!

Caden is fascinated with airplanes. He gets all excited when he hears one coming and looks around until he finds it. I used to point out to him that he could hear an airplane in the sky. I guess the only thing he picked up from that was 'sky,' and since he can't yet make the 's' sound at the begnning of the word everytime an airplane comes by Caden runs around pointing upward and screaming "die! die! die!"

Memorial Day

We carried our camera with us all day and took a total of 9 pictures, none of them real fantastic. So I've been waiting for Ryan's sisters who are not only better photographers but better at actually using the cameras they haul around to post their pictures before doing this blog post. Since the resident photographer in my family lives in Vegas, there are simply no pictures of the BBQ that day at my parents' house.

Sunday we went to the Scherbels for our customary once a month dinner. Being the only grandchild so far kiddo gets pretty spoiled. As you can see, he gets passed from one adoring relative to the next the entire time. Caden was not sure what to think of his new Uncle Steve. On Sunday he avoided him the best he could, but had warmed up to him a little bit by Monday afternoon.

On Monday the Scherbel clan loaded up for a bike ride down Provo Canyon. We borrowed a bike trailor from some neighbors and Ryan pulled kiddo along. He wasn't so sure about the whole experience, so it was a good thing the ride was short. We stopped part way down to hang out at Bridal Veil Falls, then had lunch at a park at the bottom. Caden attempted to play frisbee with Steve, Kalina, and Grandma.

The Fruits of His Labor

All the digging Ryan's been doing for the sprinklers has really beefed up his arm muscles. We both laughed when we saw this picture because it really highlights the 'second arm' that is forming.

And all that digging has not been in vain. Its amazing what regular watering can do for plants. Our strawberries are starting to ripen and we had our first ones last night. Mmmmm. Fresh strawberries off the vine. I was in heaven.

Smarties Lollies

On a whim the other day I bought Caden a Smarties Lolly to try. He was a little unsure at first, but caught on pretty quick. He was quite disappointed when his calls for "more!" were met by the explanation that I only bought one. He carried the stick around for a few hours, as if somehow that made up for not getting more than one.

The Canning Closet

Ryan got as far as putting up the particle board and putting in lights before other projects took precedence over the shelves. About a year and a half ago I painted the walls, and moved in that sad little bookcase, and nothing has happened in there since. Call it nesting if you like, but today I had the urge to just get some real shelves in there and get rid of all the jars that don't fit on the shelves. In addition to what I have loaded on the shelves already, we have 12 dozen empty quart jars in boxes piled in the basement. I figure I can fit 8 dozen more on the shelves, and I'll sell the rest in a few months when they are a hot ticket item. For the record, we also have a large industrial strength bookshelf in the laundry room with 14 dozen more (mostly) filled jars. The boxes you can see in the background are the beginning of our long term (#10 can) storage.

Here are some before and after pictures of today's work. I ran out of steam before I got all the empty jars on, but I figure that will be easy to finish up tomorrow.

Self Feeding

If he's going to eat rice like this, I'm going to have to make a little more. He tried so hard to keep it on the spoon while it was on the way to his mouth. Occasionally he'd get frustrated and throw a spoonful into the air. Don't mind the pictures of Caden trying to grab the camera. I was trying to get a shot of the piles of rice (nearly 1 full cup) down in his seat. If anyone has ideas for how I can make rice easier for him to eat, I'm listening.