Caden Experiences "La Dolce Vita"

We have been huge fans of Italy since our HUF and HUG days way back when, and Caden has now fallen in love with belle Italia as well. Brett's parents came to visit us in France, and we took 5 of their 12 days here to enjoy Florence and Rome.

Caden's first birthday was this past Wednesday, October 25th, and what better place to spend the big day than Florence?!?! Brett carted Caden all the way up Giotto's bell tower so the little guy could get a better view of Brunelleschi's dome. He stared at the architectural masterpiece for quite awhile, although he may have just been excited to be up so high in the sky :) As if the buildings, churches, and museums of Florence weren't enough, Caden also had his first taste of gelato! Like millions of others before him, he is hooked. He would have eaten all of the fragola in Florence if we had let him! For our trip into Florence, we drove our car into Scandicci and parked it for the day. We took bus 27 to the Santa Maria Novella stazione, and this was Caden's first bus ride ever. He enjoyed watching the traffic, holding onto the bright red bars, and flirting with all of the cute little old Italian ladies who were constantly tossing "Ciao, bambino bello!" in his direction... Rome was a little overwhleming for Caden; just too much to see and do! He really enjoyed riding in the open air double-decker your bus, and he even sat in his own seat (buckled in of course) like a big 1 year old boy. Rome is mostly old rocks, and Caden had a good time seeing a few!

Curious Caden's Birthday Party

We're leaving for Rome today with Brett's parents, but we knew everyone would want to see pictures from Caden's 1st birthday party. His actual birthday is Wednesday (25th) but we celebrated yesterday. We'll write more when we return. For now, enjoy!

Caden in the Nursery

We're beginning to think that Caden likes playing in the nursery more than playing with his own toys. But who can blame him with all the "cool" toys they have and all the great friends he has to play with.

He's learning lots of new things. He is learning to take turns...

...and how to slide down the slide (although he taught himself how to turn around to go feet first rather than head first).

Caden enjoys playing hide-n-seek with his friends. Notice in this picture that the other kids are looking on one side of the house for Caden while Caden has crawled through to the other side looking for them!
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Thank you to Corinne and Christiane for taking these pictures for us!

A Few of Caden's Favorites

We thought everyone would enjoy seeing what Caden enjoys doing at home...

1. Trying on new shoes

Caden enjoys trying on other people's shoes, but not on his feet, on his hands. So if you come to visit, keep a close eye on your shoes, because when you get ready to leave they might not be in the same place you left them.2. Making his own obstacle courses

O.K., so he doesn't really make them...he just seems to find them already made for him by the people who made the wooden chairs in our apartment. Caden could spend most of the day climbing through each chair.

3. Talking to his friends and family on Skype

Caden has seen his Mommy and Daddy talking to people with this headset and he was trying very hard to put it on himself. Mommy helped him figure it out and he just jabbered away. So he's ready if anyone wants to talk, just give us a call.

Welcome Back Mattie!

Mattie the bear has returned and Caden couldn't be happier!

We were a little worried that Mattie had been lost out there in the postal world. Caden has been enjoying cuddling with Mattie and making up for lost time.

Anyone remember Caden when he was this little?

Amazing how much they can grow in just one year!

11 months and WALKING!!!

first_steps
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It's official! Caden has taken his first steps...watch a few of them here. While these aren't actually his "first" steps, they are a few of his first 30. ;) His very first steps were in the nursery on Thursday and unfortunately, mommy and daddy didn't get to see them (typical). He still prefers crawling, but at least he knows now that he is brave enough to take a few steps at a time by himself. Yea Caden!

Watch What I Can Do

Standing Movie
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Our little boy is growing so fast...

in 24 days he will be 1 year old!

Enjoy this short video of Caden's amazing talent...

and don't miss his cute word at the end.

Not For Baby

"No, no, not for baby" is a common phrase around our house. But this post isn't about Caden, it's about us! We went flying and it didn't involve an airplane or helicopter. That's right, we both went paragliding. Some people might say we jumped off a mountain, but in reality, you start running and the air just picks you up off the side of the mountain before you get a chance to "jump". It was a thrilling experience that compares to nothing else...nothing else human, that is. I'm sure the birds think it's no big deal...but to us, it was a HUGE deal. We highly recommend it!

Caden Cackles

Caden_Cackles_2
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Caden has graduated from just merely laughing to blood vessel popping cackles. He seems to truly enjoy his life, and we are grateful for that.

PLUS, if you listen at the end, Caden says one variation of his first word - "DaDa". He has learned to recognize Brett and say his name when prompted. Mommy is happy, and daddy is THRILLED!!! It's going down in the baby book folks...

We'll try and get some better talking footage and post it in the coming days...Until then, enjoy Caden's cackle on this Monday morning!!!

Nothing But Caden

No clever captions or funny stories to go with these pics; just pure Caden!

Who Needs French Toys?!

Who needs French toys when you have French kitchen utensils? Caden has carried his interest of pulling things out of drawers and cabinets all the way to France. The three bottom drawers have become "Caden's drawers" leaving us with the top two. Why the top two? Because Caden can't reach those...yet. We have come to accept that our kitchen will be decorated with cooking utensils several days a week and we are all o.k. with this. If you'd like someone to redecorate your kitchen, just give Caden a call...he has great taste!

Big Boy Chair

Caden is sitting up all by himself in a big boy chair! The chair was left behind by the previous occupant of our apartment, and we recently fished it out of the closet to see if he would sit on it. At first he just liked to play with it, but this morning we sat him in it while he watched one of his "Praise Baby" DVD's, and he stayed there for a good 10-15 minutes while we got ready for school.He is looking so big! Some people talk about how their children grow up too fast, but we enjoy Caden to the fullest extent everyday of his precious life, and we think that he is growing up at just the right pace...

First Day of French Nursery

This past week Cade had his first day of being in the nursery. He stays there from about 8:30AM until 4:15PM on days we have school. This is quite a change for all of us, since April has always been home with Caden since the day he was born. Our little boy is loving the nursery, and he is going to be learning his first words in English and French over these next few months. What a wonderful opportunity for him! He's going to be bi-lingual by the time most babies are saying just "momma" or "dadda". He will be calling us "momma" and "dadda" as well as "mere" and "pere"! Here is Caden getting dropped off for his first day. He does very well, no crying or anything, because he knows he is loved by his mere and pere... So here he is with his mom. Caden LOVES his mom! There are lots of times when only a mom will do, and Caden knows his mom will always be there to take care of him. What a blessed responsibility to be entrusted with the care of this young life. Don't they look happy together?!?!?!

We'll Never Lose Our Son If Brett's Mom Has Anything to Say About It!!!

Brett's mom has an embroidery machine, and she always gives Caden cool presents with his name on them. Caden has been wearing this grey sweatsuit on a few of the colder days here in Albertviille, and he looks quite cute in it.This second picture is just funny because of his expression. Aren't you just dying to know what he's thinking? Try this one: "How is my car seat going to fit into the backseat of this tiny car?!?!?!" Post a comment with your own caption!!!

1 Car, 10 Hours, 3 Countries

Another great thing about living here in southeast France is the accessibility to other countries. From Albertville, you can be in Italy or Switzerland in about an hour, and several other countries are within just a few hours drive. Since we had some free time before school starts, we decided to rent a little Peugeot for the day and see what we could see.

We started off driving towards Italy for about and hour or so, and after passing through an enormous tunnel under Mont Blanc, we were there. Since Brett spent a semester of college in Italy, he very much enjoyed returning once again and speaking a little Italian.

Mont Blanc is quite a sight! At 4,808 meters, or 15,774 feet, it is the tallest mountain in Europe. It straddles the border between France and Italy, and it has a glacier that starts at the summit and descends several thousand feet down the French side. Here is a picture of Brett and Caden on the Italian side.We thought about taking a cable car up the side of the mountain, but they wanted 70 Euros for the ride, so we just got this picture instead Another interesting place we visited was called Gran Saint Bernard, which is known for only one thing: it is the place of origin of the famous Saint Bernard dog, rescue hero for thousands of alpine mountaineers! It is also the border between Italy and Switzerland, and we stopped and got yet another stamp in our passports from the border guard. One thing Gran Saint Bernard has in abundance is Saint Bernard’s – stuffed of course. Tourist traps are not just an American phenomenon, and we couldn’t resist buying Caden a little stuffed rescue dog. Turns out it’s one of his most favorite toys ever, and he loves to give it kisses and talk to it. A name is surely forthcoming, but for now, it’s just “puppy”. So this is the first of our many adventures while at language school! We have loved traveling Europe by rail in the past, but it looks like cars are the way to go if you actually live here. It’s more affordable for one, and on top of that, it allows the traveler to see more of Europe off the beaten path, or “through the back door” for all of you Rick Steves fans out there!

Also, if you haven’t seen the video tour of our apartment in France, head over to our Africa blog and check it out!

Bye Bye Door!!!

Bye Bye Door!!!
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Caden is fascinated with opening and closing doors, and he is starting to say "Bye!" These are exciting times!

Caden's New French Ball

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We took a leisurely walk around Albertville today. It was nice to just get out and enjoy the town without having a specific task to accomplish. Since we arrived this past Friday, we have been out on the town at least once each day, but we were always shopping for this or that, or trying to find out where something was. All that to say we stumbled upon a little Big Lots-type store in the downtown area, and we bought Caden a little yellow ball for 1 Euro 50 cents. He loves it! This video is of Caden and April playing with the new ball right after we returned home. What joy such a simple thing can bring...and that's the best thing about living in this little alpine town; things are just simpler here...

Stroller Technology

So yesterday April and I borrowed one of the schools community strollers, and it was an interesting experience. By interesting, we mean that the stroller was a piece of junk. The wheels didn't turn, the restraint system was about as safe as putting Caden in a room full of venemous snakes, and on top of all that, it was just plain ugly. We have no problem saying that if this is the finest stroller French manufacturers have to offer, then the U.S. is light years ahead of them in stroller technology. We love you Graco!
Hey, the French gave us the Statue of Liberty; what more could you ask for?

Yesterday Hiking, Today Biking

We will never run out of things to do during our 4 months here in Albertville. Yesterday we strapped Caden onto Brett's back and walked several kilometers around town. Today Brett borrowed a bike from another guy at the language school and took Caden for a ride around town. Caden loved the journey, making lots of happy sounds all throughout the trip. Next up: rock climbing, with Caden tied to Brett's belt!

We Gave Birth to a Monkey

Not really, but Caden sure does love to climb. He's not walking just yet, but he is VERY close! These pics were taken right before we moved out of our apartment. Caden was into everything, including the fridge! Hopefully being in France will be so stimulating to him that he will be walking soon. He just turned 10 months yesterday, but we'd love to have an early walker!

Travel Weary

Well, we made it to France! Travel was uneventful, and Caden had fun sleeping through most of both flights. Oh wait, that was US who had fun with Caden sleeping through both flights!

Despite all of the sleep, little Cade was still tuckered out. Here he is crashed at our hotel room in Paris, sprawled on the bed like he just passed out from a long night of drinking.

We are now in Albertville, where our language school is. We would love to describe how beautiful it is here, nestled in a valley of the French Alps, but we will instead post some pictures tomorrow and let them do the talking. Words are useless to describe this portion of God's creation!

Big Helpers

Well, we're all moved out of our apartment, and there is a definite sense of finality to things these days. The last week was full of craziness, packing, laughing, crying, and wondering what in the world we are doing. Good thing we had big helpers like our nephews Owen and Dawson to help us out. You can see curly headed Dawson carrying a curtain rod in this pic, and his older brother in the background helping out with a tube of plastic wrap. We couldn't have done it without them!

Caden helped us out by carrying this straw around in his mouth. It's the little things that add up to make a big difference...

Cousin Nate

Caden sure is gonna miss playing with his cousin Nate! Nate (Nathaniel) is Brett's sisters first born son. He will be three soon, and he is definitely becoming a fun and rambunctious little guy. This weekend we'll be taking a pic of all the cousins together, so watch for it on the blog next week!

It's true...

Caden has hair!

After catching a few raindrops, we were able to spike Caden's hair just to show you that he does indeed have hair. Although it is Emerson tradition to not have hair until after your first birthday, we thought the rest of the world should get to appreciate the few tufts Caden has for now.

Caden Loves Mallory!

While we were in Franklin last week, Caden got to spend some time with his newest cousin, Mallory Joy Baynes. Truth be told, Caden is fascinated with every baby or toddler he sees, but for the sake of a good post, he was particularly enamored by Mallory. She is the closest in age to Caden, so even though they are different genders, they will surely have some good times together in the future.

On a side note, if you look closely and you can stop staring at his eyes or his smile, you will see that Caden's nose is quite an orangish color. This is due to the fact that he is in love with orange vegetables. Squash, carrots, sweet potatoes; you name it, he scarfs it down. Now if we could only get him to eat his green beans and peas, we'd be all set :)

Raiding the Pantry

With us packing up the apartment, Caden is finding new and exciting things to get himself into. Here he is raiding the food on our shelf in the laundry room. Let's hope he can't get the lid off that Wesson oil; that would make a very interesting diaper!!!

On a side note, thanks to everyone who prayed about Caden's heart doctor visit today. He is perfectly healthy, and the doc said we have nothing to be concerned about. He just has an innocent heart murmur that some babies and even grown people have and live normally with. Thank God for the blessing of a happy, healthy, and beautiful little boy!!!

Gatlinburg Adventures

Gatlinburg was a much needed break. We had a great time with friends from our days at Harding University. Caden was a trooper through all the travels. He even rode in his hiking backpack for the first time and didn't cry once! Here's a picture of us at the waterfall we hiked to at Cade's Cove (no, the husky bald gentleman is not in our party).

Caden also strummed his first guitar...thanks Erik.

We haven't posted a picture without Caden since...well, I'm not sure if we ever have...so here's a great shot for ya. ;)

Back Home...For Now

Well, we're done with traveling until we move to France, a nice window of...less than 2 weeks. We'll be blogging alot leading up to our departure, and here's a late night post just to tide everyone over until tomorrow. It looks like Caden is ready to get one step closer to his new home...

9 month update

-9 months, 1 week, 1 day
-29" long
-17 lbs. 2.6 oz.
-crawling professionally
-pulling up on everything
-babbling non-stop
-happiest baby on earth

priceless!

Listen Up People! I've Got Something to Say...

Caden Gabbing
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