...No Evil...

This last weekend we went back to FWB again to help throw my Grandma a surprise 85th birthday. After Erick spent 8 hours Saturday smoking 2 butts and 8 hours Sunday smoking 6 racks of ribs, the party was a huge success! On our ride over Caden was sleeping and did the following on his own, in consecutive order, over the course of several minutes. Needless to say he had us cracking up...

Viewer discretion advised...

Wow, time is flying by! It's been a while since I last blogged, so let me fill you in. 2 weeks ago my mom came over for a couple days to watch Caden so that Erick and I could go to the Carrie Underwood concert (it was his bday present from me). We had a blast and she changed my thoughts on concerts. You see, a couple years ago Erick and I went to an Alan Jackson concert in Las Vegas. Mr. Jackson wasn't much of a performer, in fact he just stood there and sang. I know that country musicians aren't necessarily known for their performances, and I love Alan Jackson, but I honestly left feeling like I could have sat in the hotel and listened to his CD and felt the same. It didn't help that we payed a lot of money to sit far away. Anyways, I swore off concerts afterwards. But, my husband's love for Carrie broke that. She did a great job and we even really liked her opening act, Craig Morgan's, energy and performance as well.

That same week Caden started spacing out his feedings. Woohoo!! On Monday he was eating every 2 hours and Tuesday he decided it would be every 3 to 4 hours instead! Every once in a while he is hungry at 2 1/2, but not often. I can't tell you the difference one more hour makes! The next week he had a couple times where he went 5 hours and even once where he went 7 hours! I didn't get any sleep during that 7 hour stint though because I kept telling Erick and my mom that there was no point in me going to sleep because he was going to wake up any minute to eat.

Last week we went to Fort Walton Beach/Destin for the entire week! 8 days to be exact. That is the longest we have been over there in 5 years! It was nice, but still busy. Erick was in our friends Michael and Meghan's wedding. We have been friends with Michael for a long time. Michael, Michael's brother Justin, Erick, and I grew up in the same church in Fort Walton Beach. Michael and Erick are close in age and hung out a lot in the youth group. Justin and I are the same age and hung out at church and school. When Erick and I started dating I became good friends with Michael. Then in high school Justin started dating Jessica and through him and school she and I became best friends. Well, we eventually all became close and have been for years. Michael has now brought in Meghan and we are so glad to have her! Their wedding was beautiful and we enjoyed getting to spend time with everyone.

I am somehow almost always involved with decorating the bride and groom's car. Well, this time was no different. I think decorating their car is a must. I have been at weddings before where the wedding party wasn't prepared and had to make a quick run to the 7-11 or scrounge up some lipstick and deodorant (both can be used to write on windows =).This time Jessica and I planned in advance and were ready. All in good fun folks..

Monday Caden had his one month well visit (even though he was 6 weeks). He checked out pretty well. He is 11 pounds 1 ounce which is in the 55th percentile and 22 inches which is 50th percentile. At 4 days he was in the 65th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for length. They said that that's what they like to see, a steady growth. We talked to her about his gassiness and fussiness. Because he spits up so much she thinks he might have reflux and prescribed him some medicine. Hopefully it helps. She said he also still looks a little yellow and it could be breast feeding jaundice, so we had lab work done and it came back normal.

She said he was really strong. However, I was upset because when we told her he could roll over she blew it off and said he probably wasn't really rolling over, that that was a 4 month milestone. I thought about sending her a video of it.

We also asked her how much he should be eating because I feel like he overeats sometimes. She said 3 to 4 ounces and we laughed because he eats about 5 to 6. When I told her that I pumped about 4 ounces from one side her eyes got big and she said 'wow, you could sell that stuff on ebay!' Needless to say, we were surprised he isn't bigger. It must be all those calories he's burning lifting himself and rolling over =).

Speaking of... here is a picture of him holding his torso up. This morning was his first time doing it. He's not strong enough or steady enough to hold himself completely, but he's getting close.

Hercules?

Friday Caden was 4 weeks old and our friends Matt and Melissa brought us dinner. I was showing Melissa how Caden pulls himself up onto his forearms when on his tummy, and then he rolled over! He sorta falls over intentionally. I was in such shock I looked at Melissa and asked her if that counted. She said she thought it did, so I put him on his tummy about 5 more times to see if he would do it again, and he did it every time! Below is a video of him doing it. (By the way, rolling both ways is a 4 to 7 month milestone =)

He is going from tummy to back now, but since he was 3 days old he has been able to go from back to side. It probably won't be much longer before he rolls the whole way. Last Wednesday Erick called me out to the TV room and he was showing me that Caden was laying on Erick's chest and had wiggled his way down so his feet were hanging off. Well, when Erick put his hand under Caden's feet to push him back up onto Erick's chest Caden used his legs to push against Erick's hand and push himself back up. Also, we are finding him at the other end of his crib now because he wiggles around so much. He is such a strong little guy. Our friend Christy suggested the nickname Hercules.

Here are the milestones he has met:

Movement milestones by the end of 3 months- raises head and chest when lying on stomach, supports upper body when lying on stomach, stretches legs out and kicks when lying on stomach or back, opens and shuts hands, pushes down on legs when feet are placed on firm surface, brings hands to mouth (he sometimes takes his pacifier out of his mouth and will hold it in his hand). We are still working on taking swipes at dangling objects with hands and grasping and shaking hand toys.

Visual milestones by the end of 3 months- watches faces intently and follows moving objects. We are still working on recognizing familiar objects and people at a distance and using hands and eyes in coordination.

Hearing and Speech milestones by the end of 3 months- smiles at the sound of my voice (sometimes), beginning to babble (a little), turns head in direction of sound. Still working on imitating sounds.

Emotional/Social Milestones by the end of 3 months- developed social smile (sometimes), enjoys playing with other people and cries when playing stops, becoming more communicative and expressive with face and body. Still working on imitating movements and facial expressions.