7 month update and Christmas

Caden turned 7 months old the Saturday before Christmas.  This was such a special season for us as we got to celebrate the birth of our Savior as a family of three. Mitch and I went out on a Christmas date last Saturday and had a great time reflecting on the blessings we received in 2013. What a year!  We are still in awe of all that took place and the miracles we were allowed to be a part of.

We didn't have any appointments with Dr Holly this month, so we did our own calculations at home.

7 month stats...

• weight-approximately 18 1/2 pounds
• height-around 27 1/2 inches
• diapers- size 3
• clothes- he can still wear a  few 6 month outfits depending on the brand, but is wearing mostly 6-9 mos and 9 mos
• new skills- he started rolling from his back to his belly a couple of days after he turned 6 months.  All month he's been rolling to his left and just recently learned to roll to his right side.  He rolls everywhere and scoots around to get where he wants to go.  He loves being on his belly and pushes his body up with his hands and has just started pulling his knees up.  I would say crawling is in his near future.  He has gotten better with sitting, but at any given moment will not think twice about taking a nose dive if he sees a toy he wants. He teaches us new things all the time.  He hit a button on my tablet and made it do something I didn't know it would do and just tonight showed us how to work one of his new toys.  He says something that sounds like "hey" all the time. 
• hobbies- he loves reading and eating his books:)  We got him a bouncer for Christmas and he could jump in there all day. The tags on his toys are a new favorite.  He likes to eat them, lick them and study them so closely it looks like he's reading them. 
• feeding- Caden got to start eating real food after he turned 6 months.  After doing some research we opted to skip the baby cereal and go straight to sweet potatoes, then avocado, then bananas.  The avocado was definitely the favorite.  I've been making his food in our Baby Bullet and Steamer. Pears, apples and peas are next on the list. 
• sleeping- On a good day he takes a morning nap for about 45-60 min, then around a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and a short power nap in the evening to hold him over until bedtime.  The schedule has been off with the events of Christmas and he has been fighting naps recently.  

Here are some pictures taken over the last month.

Thanksgiving lunch

 Playing ball with his cousin, Owen, on Thanksgiving

 Steaming sweet potatoes

 Eating the sweet potatoes! He was a fan of getting real food!

I just love this!

 Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and Plaza lights

 Reading the recordable book, "The Very First Christmas"

Caden wanted to sample some cookies at our annual cookie baking day

First visit to Santa and he was all smiles

Looking cute in his bear hat and overalls

 Helping mommy make fudge

He loved his Christmas socks! Loved to pull them off and eat them , not wear them!

 Did some Christmas shopping today

 Loving the avocado!

 7 month photo shoot

 Sitting up like a big boy!

 Look how long he is! 

 His 7 month birthday fell on our Cowley/Jarratt Christmas celebration. There were about 30 of us that got together at my parent's house.

I made Caden his own nut cup for his first Christmas. This is a tradition my grandma started many years ago.  I loved getting to continue this tradition for him. 

Caden opened these pajamas on Christmas Eve

 Cookies for Santa

 Christmas morning

We spent Christmas Eve with my family and attended the Christmas Eve service at our church. On Christmas morning we let Caden open his gifts from us. Pretty sure we were more excited than he was.  He was a big helper with ripping the paper off, and then eating it! Then we went to Mitch's parent's house. Caden was completely spoiled on both sides of the family, as you would expect :) We feel so very blessed! There were lots more pictures taken, but since I'm already behind on adding this post, I'll stop here for now,

Happy New Year from the Hancock's!

6 months

Caden is half a year old already!  We are having a great time getting things ready for the upcoming holidays.  Everything takes on new meaning and is so much more fun when sharing it with Caden.  We even put our Christmas decorations up early because we knew he'd love all the lights. We were also blessed to be a part of the baby dedication service at our chuch on the 17th.  This was a day I used to dread.  What joy to look forward to this service as we stood before friends, family and God to commit to raising Caden in the way of the Lord.

We went to see Dr Holly on the 14th - 1 week before he turned 6 months old.

Here are some 6 month stats...

• weight-17lbs, 2.5oz (47%)
• height-27 1/4 inches, almost 9 inches longer than when he was born (94%)!!!
• diapers- size 3, we switched to size 3 on Nov 3rd
• clothes- 6 months for everything, we're about to have to move to bigger pajamas to keep up with his length

It seems the latest trend on facebook is to list things people may or may not know about you, so Caden figured he'd join in on the fun. 

30 things you might not know about me.....

1. I love to laugh and get the hiccups from laughing nearly every day

2. 3 letter words that end in the letter "P" are especially funny, like zip, hop and tap

3. I was born with a "stork bite" on the back of my neck

4. I have been to 3 of the 50 states so far

5. I have blue eyes even though neither of my parents do, but my Grandpa Bill does

6. I have learned how to spit and love it

7. I love reading books and helping turn the pages

8. I have been rolling over from my belly to my back for several months, but can't quite go the other direction

9. I was born at 33 weeks and 5 days

10. I don't like things on my feet.  I will tolerate socks now, but kick off shoes almost immediately

11. I spent 12 days in the OPR NICU

12. I love to pinch

13. I "talk" a lot and prefer the sound the "B" makes above the rest

14. I love music, especially when mommy sings me hymns and daddy makes up songs

15. I love to eat; I think this runs in my genes

16. I'm mesmerized by whistling

17. I study things and people very closely

18. I tripled my birth weight of 5 pounds 3 ounces before I was 5 months old

19. I had no eye lashes when I was born, but now I have long eye lashes that mommy says the girls will be jealous of

20. I used to love car rides, not my favorite thing anymore

21. When I was younger I'd put my thumb in between my first 2 fingers when making a fist. This is something my daddy does

22. I have a birth mark on my chest

23. I used to hate baths, having my diaper changed and getting dressed. Now I enjoy all of them

24. When I'm sleepy I play with my left ear and fold it over. This is something my daddy did as a baby

25. I love to snuggle

26. When I wake up I rub the top of my head where I have fuzzy hair growing in. Mommy says I'm checking to see if I grew hair in the night.

27. I was dedicated at church on November 17th
28. I do not like to have my back scratched, and haven't since day one
29. My first name means spirited, fighter, pure, to bring joy. My middle name is a family name on my daddy's side. Daddy and Mommy call me Buddy as my nick name.
30. I was the answer to 5 long years of prayers and they tell me I was worth the wait

Fun in the Bumbo. Love the look on his face!

All dressed up

Carving Caden's first pumpkin

Cutest little monkey I've ever seen!

We traced his hands and feet to make a smiley face on the pumpkin

Hanging out at the Windermere Conference Center for a deacon's retreat in Roach, MO

Looking cute in his hat from Mexico. Love those sparkly blue eyes!

Caden's preemie pants that he wore home from the hospital on top of the pants he wears now

He loves to peek out of his "tent" and is holding his bottle like a big boy

Helping Daddy rake leaves

Meeting the Millsaps

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

Caden's room is even decorated for Christmas!

I won these wall clings at Bunko last week and they were perfect for Caden's room

Caden's new stocking on the left

 Looking at the lights

Pastor Steve Dighton at the dedication

 5 little boys got dedicated at this service

 Our supportive family that came to be a part of the service

 Checking out one of the smaller trees on his 6 month birthday

Still a little tipsy when sitting

Filling up more and more of that swing!

Happy 6 months, Caden!

5 Months

Caden turned 5 months old this past Monday and is getting cuter by the  day :) This is my favorite time of year.  I love autumn weather, the leaves changing colors, fun fall activities and I get to celebrate my birthday and anniversary.  The last two years I've spent my favorite season doing IVF treatments and since they both failed, it really put a damper on a season I normally love.  This year was SO much more fun!!

Caden didn't have any appointments with Dr Holly this month, so once again these measurements were done by us and are approximate :)

Here are some 5 month stats...

• weight-16lbs, 13oz
• height-just over 25"
• diapers- size 2, we'll switch to size 3 when our current box of diapers is gone
• clothes- he can still wear a  few 3-6 month onesies, but his pants and pajamas are all 6 month since he's so long
• new skills- he's getting to where he prefers to be vertical instead of horizontal.  He's very aware of his surroundings and needs to know what's going on. So, we've started letting him sit in the Bumbo and exersaucer.  He is trying to roll from his belly to his back, but hasn't quite mastered it yet. He has strong legs and wants to stand on your lap. He laughs a lot and it's so fun to find things that he thinks are funny. He continues to be very vocal and is making new sounds all the time. He also loves to squeal, usually in restaurants or during the prayer in church :) He has also tried holding his bottle by himself. He's so helpful these days!
• hobbies- he loves reading books.  You'll see how intently to stares at the pages in the picture below. He likes to help hold the book and sometimes will turn the page. He enjoys tummy time and holds holds his head and chest up really well. He's still chewing on his hands and drooling, playing with his toys and learning his "word of the day" with daddy :)
• feeding- he seems to be eating about the same as last month.  I haven't been pumping as much and he eats quite a bit faster so it's hard to know.
• sleeping- not much change here, he still goes to bed between 8-9pm and gets up once or twice during the night.  He loves his food and is afraid of missing a meal :) 

Adorable

Tummy time

Holding his bottle by himself

Celebrating mommy's birthday at Brio

All ready for church.  He's cute and he knows it!

Showing off

Earning his keep by matching socks

We drove to Des Moines, Iowa to meet up with Aunt Lesley for the weekend.  

Practicing driving at our gas station break in Bethany, MO

Red Barn Farm in Weston, MO with friends and family

Reading one of our favorites, "I Love You So"

Looking like a big boy wearing his Converse.  He does not like socks or shoes.  I had to snap this picture quick, because the shoes get kicked off in no time.

Picking apples at Cider Hill

Family picture at Cider Hill

All dressed up to go see our Judson church family 

Eating at Johnny Carinos on Caden's 5 month birthday

 We made some adjustments to his carseat since he's getting so big!

Looking so long!

Trying out the exersaucer

 Filling up a whole lot more of that swing than he used to

 We love it when he gives us a look out of the corner of his eye!

 Sitting up and looking pretty serious