King Caden

One of the highlights of our trip to California was the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. We took California Highway 1, often referred to as the Pacific Coast Highway, most of the way. The dramatic coastline vistas and roads winding through the mountains were well worth the extra time it took to get to the Moore's house.

San Simeon is famous for only one thing: it's the home of Hearst Castle, the humble (yeah right) abode of William Randolph Hearst, built in the early 20th century. It was fun to take Caden to "America's Castle", since April and I have traveled Europe so much. We wanted him to experience a little bit of Europe, and Hearst Castle is about as close as it gets to Old World Europe here in the states.

The first pic is of the three of us in the Roman style bathhouse, and the second is totally unrelated to Hearst Castle; it just shows how Caden has fallen in love with his daddy's Camelbak water pack. If you get a chance to take your precious 8 month old to Hearst Castle, we highly suggest that you take it!

Caden Sees Sea Lions and Makes Some New Friends

At the end of Pier 39 in San Francisco is a famous pile of sea lions. I guess they're famous because you can get so close to them, and sometimes they throw their fat, blubbery bodies against each other trying to shove an enemy off of the end of a floating dock. It's pretty entertaining, but it's much more like a zoo than a wild nature experience. Caden enjoyed the show, and daddy enjoyed experiencing it with him. There will be many more wildlife adventures to come!

Caden also made some new friends in Amanda and Lydia Moore, the younger sisters of our good friend Marcus Moore. They loved to play with Caden, and loved grabbing their hair and Amanda's glasses. Amanda and Lydia were great with Caden, and we're sure they'll both be great moms someday!

Climbing Caden

Caden recently discovered how to pull himself up on the bars of his crib. We heard him wake up yesterday morning and cry a "scared" cry. When Brett opened Caden's door, this is what he saw. We decided the scared cry was because he didn't know how to get down. Needless to say, we lowered the mattress today.

Seven Months Old

Our big 7 month old!







Look! You can see all four teeth!

Caden Goes to Jail

Now that we're home, we're going to spend the next few days posting about our 10 days in California.

No Caden is not a criminal, but he did go to jail. We visited Alcatraz along with Amanda and Lydia Moore (Marcus' sisters) this past Friday, and it was a fascinating excursion. Caden was great, staring wide-eyed at all of the things going on around him and flirting with all of the women who inevitably throw a fit over him everywhere we go (sidenote: it actually kinda gets old sometimes. The flight attendants on the way home were totally neglecting their duties just to see little Cade smile at them.)

He loved the way the metal bars felt all cold, and he thought the cells were his own personal play rooms. Enjoy the pics, and we'll post more highlights from our trip tomorrow!

Caden is Crawling!!!

Caden is Crawling!!!
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Caden is now 7 1/2 months old and he's crawling like a champ! We are returning home from California today, and we're in for some trouble around the house. No more just setting him in the middle of the floor and walking away!

Update #2

We have another tooth! That brings us to the grand total of....4!
Two on the top and two on the bottom.

Update on Teeth

Just a little FYI...our little boy now has 3 teeth!!! .....his new one is on top and we can already see more on the way (poor little guy).

That Pacific Ocean is COLD!!!

Well, after visiting the Pacific this past Friday, Caden has now visited 2 of the world's five oceans. Not bad for a 7-month old! After arriving in Los Angeles on Thursday, we took that evening to relax and adjust to the time change. On Friday morning we got up and drove down through Malibu Canyon and headed to Zuma Beach, a beach that April and I have visited on several previous trips. The weather was just OK, a little cloudy and about 75, but we weren't really there to swim. We just wanted to introduce Caden to another ocean and dip his little toes in the water. He was enthralled by the waves and all of the people, and he enjoyed playing in the sand quite abit, until he stuck his face in it and tried to eat a mouthful that is. Gross! After that April said it was time to go, and we spent parts of the next day or so picking sand boogers from his little nose.

Oh yeah, we also dipped his toes in the ocean. He immediately made a sour face and started crying! Our fault Caden, that Pacific Ocean is COLD!!!

Caden Jumps!

Caden_Jumps
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Caden is all about his jumper thingy. He can entertain himself (and us!) for hours on end. He's working on his leg muscles because he's going to be a basketball player like his daddy!

A California Tradition

Every time April and I come to Los Angeles, we always stop at the In 'n Out burger joint right next to the airport. It's no more special than any of the other hundreds of In 'n Outs in the LA area, except for one thing: planes! This In 'n Out is right next to the airport and the planes fly right over your head as you eat your greasy burger on the grassy knoll across from the restaurant.

The experience was a little lacking for Caden; he can't eat the food and he was scared to death of the planes flying over. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed ourselves, and hopefully in the future little Caden can join in the fun!

Caden Encounters a Kitty

Caden has seen big cats at the zoo a few times, but until yesterday he had never come face to face with your average everyday household feline. The Looches have two cats, Zoe and The Cheat, and Caden has enjoyed this new experience. He was definitely a little unsure at first, but after awhile he was smiling, grabbing, and looking like he wanted to chase those kitties all over the house! Now if we could just get Caden's mommy over her cat allergies, we coud bring one home for our little boy!

Bath Time is So Much Fun!

Mostly because Caden looks so cute wrapped up in his towel afterwards :)

What parent doesn't have a picture of their child in a laundry basket?

Feeding the Ducks

One of the cool things about our apartment complex is all the ducks that live at the lakes. Recently several groups of baby ducks have been born. Obviously we're not the only people who have fed the ducks because as soon as we walked onto the grass they came running. Caden seemed very curious about these little creatures running around eating bread and quacking all the time. As the weather is warming up and Brett finishes up school (this is his last week!), we hope to enjoy more opportunities to get outside and feed the ducks.

Caden Gets the Giggles

Caden Gets the Giggles
Video sent by emersonstogo

Caden just loves it when Daddy makes faces at him! Enjoy this fun video of our precious little boy!

Here Come the Teeth....

That's right people, we now have 2 teeth in that little mouth! We discovered Caden's second tooth last night and after several attempts finally captured this picture (ok, so we added the arrows and text later). Although you can barely see them, trust us, they are there! They are two of the sharpest little teeth we've ever felt (just ask Brett how his ear is doing). Our cute little toothless smile is about to turn into the most adorable little toothy smile you've ever seen. Keep a lookout for them in future pictures.

April's 1st Mother's Day

Ok, so technically its her 2nd because she was pregnant last year, but having little Caden to actually hold in her arms made it much more memorable, as you might imagine. April spent her day being honored by Brett and Caden for the wonderful mother that she has been these last 6 1/2 months. Breakfast in bed, a new outfit to wear to church, cards, flowers, kind words, time off from being "mom", and an extra day with Brett at home (he was home from school on Monday) were the main highlights of the last couple days.

Speaking as a husband and father, I can't imagine many ways that April could have been a better mom to Caden these last several months. She is loving, patient, prepared, knowledgable, calm, fun, diligent, and prayerful. She loves Caden with all that she has to offer, and her boys want her and everyone else to know that we love her, we appreciate her, and we'll always be grateful that we were blessed by the Lord with such a beautiful and amazing woman! We love you April!

Sweet Potatoes Anyone?

So we've been introducing Caden to about one new food a week, starting with the orange vegetables. So far we've done squash and carrots, and today we gave him his first taste of sweet potatoes. He actually likes all 3, but he always makes the face you see here when he takes the first bite. This look says many things, but mostly it says, "What is THAT?!?!?!"

Nap Time

The past two days I have had the privilege of falling asleep on the couch with my baby cuddled in my arms. This has been special for me because Caden rarely falls asleep in this position. When I look at the picture, I realize how big my baby is getting. I can remember when we first brought him home and he would sleep on my chest like this. Well, kinda like this...he was so much smaller. We quickly forget just how tiny newborns truly are. When baby Caden gets too big to sleep on Mommy anymore...it will be time for another baby.