Happy Half Birthday to Cade!

My baby Cade turned 6 months old on Friday! He's such a different guy than we brought home just one half year ago. We adore him a ridiculous amount and, according to his smiles, he feels the same way about us.

We took him for his first visit to our new pediatrician on Friday. He did great! I can't say he liked the vaccinations he got all that much but he recovered emotionally quickly enough. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite himself for the next day or so. I think the poor guy didn't feel that great. While he wasn't really all that cranky or anything, he wasn't as free flowing with his smiling and laughing as usual. Here are his stats from the 6 month visit:
15lbs 13 oz - 19th percentile (a big gain from his 4 month where he was in the 9th percentile)
26.75 inches tall - 57%
43.3 cm head circumference - 50%

One of the first things I've talked about in each of his month development posts is sleep. I haven't said anything too publicly lately because I was scared to jinx it but I think he's finally turned the corner on the sleep thing. In fact, the very first night he slept for 8 hours straight was the night before my first day back at work. How's that for timing? Since then, I think there's only been 1 or 2 nights where we didn't get at least a 5-6 hour stretch out of him and there have even been a few more nights with an 8-9 hour stretch. Even 1 night that he logged 10 hours! So, he's still not consistently sleeping all night but Cade's finally heading in that direction. I can't even tell you what a relief that is. Not to say we're still not completely exhausted but we're functioning quite a bit better now with a little more sleep under our belts. Also big to note, he's been sleeping in his own room for a few weeks now. We moved him in there to see if that would get him to sleep through the night (gotta try it all) and it wasn't the magic ticket. I was cursing that first week or so that we put him in his own room when I was shuffling down the hall to feed him in the middle of the night. Now that it doesn't happen every night, the benefits of having him in his own room far exceed the downfalls.

Part of the reason his weight took an uptick since his 4 month appointment is due to good ol' solid foods. He enjoys eating them. Last month he added a few more to his repertoire - butternut squash, watermelon, strawberries and puffs. Puffs dissolve quickly and are a baby snack that is intended to be one of the first foods wee ones can feed themselves. Cade hasn't quite mastered the pincer grasp yet so has a bit of trouble getting them in his mouth on his own. But boy does he try! He is able to grab them but can't quite figure out how to transfer it from the middle of his fist to his mouth. It's pretty entertaining to watch him try though.

Other tricks Cade can do with his hands is reaching and raking for toys as well as transferring objects from hand to hand. Comes in handy with all his fascination with toys and things he quickly turns into his toys like water bottles, plastic lids and cups as well as chip bags. He also loves to use his hands to touch fun things like textured books and especially kitty hair. Unfortunately for the kitties, he also likes to grab kitty fur. Poor Oliver and Luci.

He's really close to being able to sit up by himself but when we put him in position on the floor, he generally just leans forward to try and grab something in the distance. He certainly has improved on his rolling skills. He used to kind of roll randomly and be surprised when he did roll successfully but now it looks like his rolling has a lot more control and purpose to it.

Cade has learned his name and will turn when you call it. His baby "vocabulary" of sounds is expanding. He's been saying "dadada" (with a fairly soft d sound) for some time. He also likes to scream in excitement. A very new sound he's been making is an "ooooh" sound with very rounded "o" lips. Pretty cute. Vocal sounds are only part of the mouth noises experimentation he's been doing as he now loves to make raspberries and other noises with his tongue and lips.

Like his brother, Cade loves reading books...especially the touch and feel ones (as I mentioned earlier). He's also starting to take a little more joy in getting a bath, or a tubby as we call it at our house. I now see his little foot (normally just his left one) moving up and down in the water.

Cade is definitely developing a preference for what he's playing with as well. While it used to be a non issue to take something away from him he shouldn't be playing with and replace it with something more age appropriate, it now takes a little convincing for him to be happy with the new toy. He only protests occasionally though.

Cade Michael - 6 Months

Yup, I'm cute!

Oooh! A toy!

Cade is such a big cutie. I'm excited to see what this little guy has in store for us over the next month.

Checking Out The Local Scene

After Dylan's big birthday event, we had a couple more days with my parents here. We also only had a couple more days before I went back to work. We spent a lot of time enjoying each other's company and playing with birthday gifts. We'd done a lot in the weeks leading up to this point and it was time to just take it easy before getting back to the grind.

I'll comment more at another time on my return to the workforce but needless to say, the first week, even though I didn't work a full one, was exhausting. It's a big change! So the weekend after, we relaxed some more. Saturday was pajama day and Sunday we took it easy as well. However, we finally got motivated to get out and about Sunday afternoon. It was a nice day so we decided to check out a local spot we had just received our passes to - the town beach!

Now, I'm a bit far from the ocean so it's not a traditional beach. Being inland though, what we lack in salt water waves, we make up for in lakes. Our town beach is on a lovely lake. It is a cute little sanded area. Everyone there is super friendly (since we are all neighbors after all), it's very family friendly and not at all crowded. The sand doesn't exactly have that luxuriously soft feel of that on the cape, but it works for making sandcastle. What more do you need?

I mostly hung out under the big umbrella with Cade keeping him shaded, fed and providing some arms for a nap. Dylan played in the sand and water for quite a while with Mike. It was a nice, leisurely afternoon and some great family time. Just what the doctor ordered.

Not only will we be using our pass to come back and play soon, but I hope to use the boat dock access there to finally get our kayaks back in the water again. It's been a long time since we've been out to play with them.

Party Like You're a Jedi

Yesterday, I highlighted the food for Dylan's Star Wars party. But of course the true star of the party was Dylan! He really had a great time because he was surrounded by tons of friends and family and, therefore, fun! In all, including our family, there were 40 people in attendance. 

With the food all set out on the table and the guests flocking in, everyone kind of floated around and did their own thing for a while. Folks sat around and ate, kids played in the play room and outside and there was much ruckus and merriment.

Pipaw, Cade, Chloe, Clara and Dan

Jack, Jenn and Kari watch Hayden play

Mike set up the pool for those that wanted to take a dip.
Justin, Luke, Dylan, Ryan and Corwin

Adults Watching From the Deck
Mimaw, Erik, Jessie, Bumpa, Kristina and Nana

Inside - Jenny Showing Off Baby Ryan

I had planned for a couple of activities for the kiddos but just couldn't figure out the logistics to do an outdoor asteroid hunt in the yard so just had the make your own light saber craft project. With a simple toilet paper tube (thanks to family for chipping in with those) decorated with marker, a balloon and some tape, the kids were ready to duel! Pipaw did a great job of manning the craft table and helping all the kids out. It ended up being a GREAT success! The kids (of all ages) had lots of fun running around the house chasing each other and beating each other with them and no injuries were reported. A few balloons popped but those were easily replaced!

Mason and Luke

Dylan With His Light Saber

Time to Battle!
Luke and Dylan

Mason and Dylan

Luke, Mason and Dylan

Before Dylan got into dueling, he asked me several times about opening presents. I wasn't really sure what etiquette was on this (polite to have gift opening time or rude?) but I figured, he's the birthday boy so we should do what he wanted! He was having so much fun with his light saber, it took some convincing to get him to the table for cake. You've got to eat cake before opening presents, right? I thought so. I wasn't sure how the whole cake\singing scene was going to go since Dylan generally gets a little shy\embarrassed about being the center of attention. When the singing started, he did slump very quickly and very low into his seat so I jumped in to give him some support (physically and mentally) and he did pretty well with the attention then.

Dylan and His Awesome C3PO Cake

Happy Birthday To Dylan!

Though our practice sessions on blowing out the candles had gone pretty well, the ones we had for this cake were apparently a little trickier to blow out. After a couple of attempts by Dylan, Mike and I very discreetly helped him over each shoulder.

Make a Wish!
Going....

Going....

Gone!

I had the honor of slicing C3PO to bits. When my Mom was planning the cake (early stages) she had mentioned she might just do a bust. I had to nix that idea since C3PO's belt section, where you can see all the wires, is Dylan's favorite part. Sure enough, that's the part of the cake that the birthday boy wanted to eat so he had to wait until we cut to the middle to eat his cake. Oh and of course, we had a choice of either dark side or light side ice cream (that's chocolate or vanilla for you earthlings).

Then it was present time. While our house seemed very roomy for the big crowd up to this point, trying to fit everyone in the dining room for this even was a bit snug. I know watching other people opening presents isn't the most exciting thing, but we tried to be quick and efficient about it all. Dylan had a great assistant for this task. His cousin Emily was happy to help.

Emily Reading Dylan a Card

A New Game!

Cade and Bumpa

Star Wars Stuff!

Bead Art Hat that Emily Made Dylan

The new toy excitement was too much to leave behind. For the rest of the night, Dylan stayed in the dining room and played. Friends and family dropped in to play with him and keep him company. By that point the party was breaking up anyway so I didn't feel it was rude for Dylan to be somewhat anti social. Plus, he was close to the front door and did a great job thanking folks for coming as they left the festivities.

Justin Playing with Dylan and His New Toys

Even though I probably went overboard, I was so thrilled how the event turned out. The food, craft project and leisurely atmosphere were the perfect balance for an awesome 3 year old birthday party. Dylan had such a fabulous time and seeing his happy face was all the thanks I needed to know all the effort was absolutely worth it. I just love that guy!

Star Wars Food

This will be forever known as the party where I went a little overboard. Whoops!

Dylan's birthday is July 6th which is a Friday. That Saturday was reserved totally for party prep. We had a lot to do! In addition to just getting the house cleaned and ready for party people, we had all the shopping to do as well as any food prep that could be done before hand.

We cleaned in the morning and went Dylan went down for his nap, my Mom, Cade and I went out for errands. I think it was almost 5 hours later that we arrived back home. In that time, we went to the party store, the office supply store and spent a very long time at the grocery store. Of course, there were also a couple of baby feeding stops. When we got home, it was time to eat a bite for dinner and get to work. 

Mike was in charge of one key party decoration. When we got home, he had his project completed. He had set the bar very high for party decor!

Mike's Creation
R2D2 Trash Can

My Mom spent all night making the cake and I spent all night making Star Wars sugar cookies (a lot of cookie cutting and dying of the dough to get them right). The next morning we set right to work. Unfortunately, a good amount of the food needed to be done right before the party so the decorations were put in place. We had a Happy Birthday banner to hang, Star Wars table cloth to put down and I spent some time making signs for the food. I loved how they turned out (as you'll see in the pictures).

While Dylan rested up for his party, I showered and got ready and then my Mom, Dad and I frantically put together the food we had so carefully planned almost all within an hour of the party's start. I was still making things as guests arrived and had to instruct them not to eat anything until I got it all set out and photographed. Aren't I a good hostess?

And without further ado, here are all the fixin's! It was so much fun to plan this and I was just thrilled with how everything turned out!

Boba Veggies
(Do you see the shape of Boba Fett's mask?)

Light Saber Pretzels in Darth Vader Mug

C3PO Cake
My Mom did an AMAZING job!

Ewokookies
(Also known as teddy grahams.)

Han Salsa
I got most of my ideas online but this one I came up with on my own. Yay me!

Yodamole and Trooper Scoopers

Padme Popcorn

Dylan loved his cake too which is the most important audience to impress.

Cookies!
R2D2, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, C3PO, Yoda, Storm Trooper

Jawa and Boba Fett too!

Princess Leia Roll-Ups
(Another original idea of mine.)

Death Star Pasta Salad
Complete with wagon wheel (death star) and star shaped pasta.
My original creation as well.

Storm Trooper Pops
(Jumbo Marshmellows with Edible Marker)

Jabba the Hummus
(Possibly my favorite)

Darth Cheeseball
I was throwing this together after folks were arrived.
I wasn't thrilled with how he turned out but oh well!

The Spread!

Yodamelon

Watermelon balls accessible from the side.

Darth Maul Dogs

So what do you think? The guests were almost too impressed because no one wanted to dig into the food! I finally convinced them to do so and it almost all disappeared before the crowd dispersed.

While I love how this party turned out, I'm a little worried that going a bit overboard for this party might not bode well for me in future years. I'll have to tone it down a little for the next one. This was a lot of work!