Our weekends are numbered

After this weekend we only have three more weekends living at the beach and as much as I'd like to be soaking it all in and going to the beach every weekend (especially next weekend when it's supposed to be 80 degrees!), we have lots and lots of new house things to do. For example, this weekend we went to a hardware store to buy hardware for the built-in bar we are building, complete with a wine fridge (my idea, yes'um!), a flooring store to look at hardwood as we are replacing the first floor carpet with hardwood, a slab yard to look for granite for the built-in bar and then all the way out to Valley Center (a 45 minute drive) to approve the base builds and provide the hardware for the built-in. All of this in between Caiden's naps.

AND we did the March of Dimes walk on Saturday morning with our dear friends Anne and Noah. They lost their baby boy, Jackson, after gracing this world for only a week. His twin brother Finn is truly a miracle baby and a happy healthy four and a half year old. Having Caiden there this year was extra special and really made me appreciate how precious life is. It's so short and you never know what is in store for you...you've got to run with it and take it in every second!

After Caiden's doctor appointment on Friday when Dr. Roberts gave us the go ahead to start feeding him "real" food instead of just pureed baby food we went all out. After the fact it was probably a bit much but we were just so excited. Here's the rundown on what we fed him in bite size chunks: eggs (yolk only), grapes, black beans, avocado, fish, a chicken bone, filet and rice. OMG, what did we do...haha, but he really handled all of it well and it was a lot of fun. He really seemed to enjoy eating the same food we were eating and if he didn't like something (like the fish), he let us know by turning his head away when we tried to give him more. He also didn't appreciate the chicken bone, hated it in his mouth and pretty much threw it across the kitchen.

Caiden also got a new toy this weekend. Remember those music boxes where you crank the handle and a clown would pop out of the top when the music stopped? Yep, I bought him one. This one sings Puff the Magic Dragon and a dragon pops out the top. He was terrified the first five times I did it but eventually he caught on. Marc calls me Mother of the Year for buying this for our kid, but to my defense it does say 6+ months so I even waited a few more months than I had to. This is a toy I remember loving growing up, I'm sure Caiden will warm up to it eventually ;)

So anyway, our next three weekends are still going to be filled with new house stuff (the sellers are moving out in a week and a half and then we have another two weeks to do the upgrades before we move in) but we hope to make it to the beach at least once with this little monster before we move.

9 months

He's still not crawling but he's so close. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks and rocks but the minute he puts one arm out to start crawling he falls to his belly. Despite this he gets around the living room so fast. He will literally roll four times in a row really fast to get to the wireless modem or cable box with all the blinking lights. We are going to have to find a new place for these things in our new house.

His legs are so strong, his favorite place to stand is next to his jumper. He tries to pull himself up but he can't do it on his own just yet. If you are sitting there next to him he practically crawls in your lap until you will stand him up to let him hold on. He squeals with excitement and "dances" and bobs up and down in his own little way.

He's finding his voice like no other. Sometimes he screeches so loud it pierces your ear drum. He will say, "by, by"...it sounds like, "ba, ba". He says, "ha, ha, ha","mama", "dada". He loves music and whenever I put it on he bobs up and down or if he's in his jumper he jumps like crazy. Sometimes I'll "play" the guitar and he'll just stare at me until I start singing a song then he'll get into it. His favorite is still Mary Had a Little Lamb. Even if you just hum the tune he knows it and starts clapping or jumping.

He's getting harder to keep confined in an area. He's starting to get bored with the jumper and the toys on it. I'll watch him play with a toy he used to love and after a few seconds I can see his disappointment with it and move on to the next thing. I also try and put him in the pack n play we have set up in the living room when I need to get stuff done and I can't keep an eye on him. But after 10 or so minutes he gets bored and wants out.

He's beginning to eat more and more every day. I really just don't think he was that hungry in the past and he was getting his fill from nursing but now that he's more active he needs some more calories. Our day looks something like this. Wake up around 7, nurse him, hang out in our bed while Marc gets ready for work. Around 8:30 head downstairs and he plays with his toys for 45 minutes or so then I feed him 2 tbsp. of oatmeal. Sometimes I put a dash of cinnamon in it as a treat. Between 9:30-10am he goes down for a nap usually until about noon. When he wakes up I nurse him again and we usually head out to do something; either meet a friend for lunch, walk to the park, run errands. I try to have him home by 2:30 for his nap otherwise he falls asleep in the car and then his nap is only 20-30 minutes. If I can get him home and in his bed then it can last for an hour to two hours.

Depending on when he goes down, I nurse him again around 3, sometimes it's before his nap and sometimes it's after. When he gets up from his nap it's always a crap shoot for what to do, if we haven't taken a walk yet we'll do that, sometimes we may just stay home and play, sometimes go to the park to swing. Around 5:30 he'll eat dinner. Right now it's 2 tbsp of oatmeal, 2 or so tbsp of a veggie and fruit. Sometimes I'll mix in some protein, either a chicken/apple or sweat pot/turkey baby food. When he's done eating the baby food I give him a mum-mum. He gets so excited, he just loves it. I don't know why because it seriously tastes like cardboard but for some reason he just gets so happy when he see's me pull it out of the wrapper. After the mum-mum I also give him some flavored puffs he can grab with his hands. They are like Cheerios but not, they are made for baby's so they dissolve in their mouth and there are different flavors. He has got so good at picking things up and eating them. Speaking of, I think I need to graduate out of the baby foods and start giving him bite size pieces of fruits and veggies that have been steamed. The fact is the pureed food is just so easy and anytime I've tried to give him food with some consistency to it he gags. I'm going to start with carrots because he loves to gnaw on whole carrots so I figure if I steam some up and cut them into small pieces he can grab with his fingers he'll be down...we'll see.

It's crazy how fast he's growing up. I look at videos and pictures of him just a few short months ago and I can't believe how much longer, fatter and more "toddler" like he's got. Marc and I were staring at him one night while he was sleeping in his crib and Marc whispers to me, "He looks like a toddler, I think he's going to need a bigger bed soon."  Haha, slow down there buddy, we are at least a year away from that. It's just so funny the way he sleeps because he sprawls out so he takes up the entire crib (he sleeps like his mama).

I still feel like I'm just a little bit tired all the time but I don't think that's ever going to change. Despite that, even when he's taking a nap during the day I can't wait until he wakes up so I can see him smiling and putting his arms out just waiting for me. He's so stinkin' cute sometimes I just can't stop loving up on him. 

Caiden's 9-month check-up

His 9 month check-up was on his nine month birth date and the poor guy had to get a shot, not the best birthday gift but at least it was only one. He barely flinched when he got it and was cool as a cucumber. Dr. Roberts recommended we take him to a food allergist to get an allergy test done since he's had a few issues (primarily just the melon incident but also with his skin in general) so we scheduled that for next month. It will be nice to have a clearer picture of what he's allergic to and not have to just guess.

He weighed 20 lbs. 13.5 oz. (68th percentile), 29 inches long (76th percentile) and his head is in the 82nd percentile. The doc said everything looked great and he'll see us again in 3 months.

Tooth...yes, just one (not teeth)

Check out that one chomper! Only the top right tooth has come down so far so Caiden looks a little like a hillbilly. But the cutest little hillbilly I've every seen.

Schroeder visit

Caiden warmed up really quick to my parents. I wasn't too worried, he never really seems to have a problem with new'ish people. He typically just stares at them and studies them until they leave. But after a few hours he was putting his arms out and taking full advantage of being spoiled for 5 days. He's adjusting pretty well today to not being the center of attention all the time and playing by himself.

We bought a house!

So most of you know, but for those that don't know our current living situation here it is. We live at the beach in San Diego, I LOVE it. One block from the bay and about 6 blocks from the beach. Before we had a kid Marc and I would ride our beach cruisers to the beach, to the bars in Pacific Beach, to Seaworld and to a slew of great restaurants...life was good! Well this home Marc bought ten years ago is a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom condo and about 1,200 square feet. It really is big enough for our family right now but the only downfall is we don't have a garage. And anyone with a kid knows how much crap you accumulate. We already have 4 bins of clothes he's grown out of along with toys and swings he no longer plays with. Where do we put all this stuff?!?! Seriously, you should see our tiny attic we have...if there was even the smallest of earthquakes everything up there would be in pieces and probably crashing through to the floor below. Our closet's have their own closet's we have so much stuff crammed in them.

Anyway, it's a very bittersweet moment to say that we bought a detached single family house in the 'burbs and are selling Marc's condo at the beach. We closed on our new place a few weeks ago and will be moving Memorial Day weekend. I was trying to hold off for another year (and another child) before we moved, but the time is right and the market out here is going gang busters. We're afraid if we waited another year we'd get a smaller house and have to spend more. I'm sad to be leaving the beach for sure. All the walks on the bay/beach Caiden and I take every day, the people, the restaurants, just everything. Plus we've done a lot of work to this condo to make it our own and have so many memories here. I'll never forget the floor I rolled around on when I was having contractions for 2 days with Caiden, or the time Marc and I re-tiled the fireplace in the master bedroom ourselves...what the hell were we thinking?!?! I have a tear in my eye just writing this. But I know the decision we made is a good one and I'm very excited to have a yard and a garage and a 4 bedroom house! And the location we are moving to is really great considering we have to leave the beach. We are not far inland (2 miles from Torrey Pines State Beach/Golf Course!!!) and it has some of the best public schools in SD.

We are very excited to embark on this next journey and can't wait to move into our new home!

The tooth has cut, the tooth has cut!

Yesterday was brutal to say the least. Caiden woke up with a 100.5 temperature, a nose that wouldn't stop running and an attitude that could battle even the bitchiest of women. Low and behold, the top right tooth had finally reared its head. All day was a chore to try and make him happy. Thank god today he woke up much better, no temperature and happy.

But now he's doing this thing where he grinds his lower teeth on the top one that is coming in and it's like nails on a chalkboard. Literally making me want to creep out of my pants every time he does it.

I took this yesterday, if you know where to look you can see it...if not, sorry.