Another late post- Caden is 11 Months!

This was a month of firsts for Caden!  He went on his first family vacation, took his first plane ride, got his first stomach bug , went swimming for the first time, clapped his hands for the first time…it was mostly a really fun month.

I feel like Caden has changed so much this month!  He is really becoming his own little person with definite opinions on things even though we don’t exactly understand what he is telling us  This month I started keeping a log of all the cute things he does.  It may be a little on the meticulous side with exact times and dates, but what can I say that is the scientist in me needing an accurate record Caden has perfected walking and walks everywhere now.  If we open all the doors downstairs he will make laps around the house.  He is currently working on running which is causing a lot of crashes and tears.  He has become such a little charmer.  He flirts with everyone everywhere we go!  His little smile just makes my life.  He has started giving very intentional kisses.  Sometimes he gets in these moods where he wants to kiss you over and over again (always on the lips) and they get sloppier as he goes on.  I absolutely love it!  He also kisses the dogs, other kids we meet randomly, and the pictures in his books.  He has learned to share.  He likes to share his food by holding out his slimy little hand with a wet cracker in it earnestly waiting for you to take a bite.  He also has started to imitate.  When I am giving him a bath if I give him the wash rag he will try to wash my face for me.  He has really upped his communication skills.  He babbles about everything and points while he talks.  I’m hoping that he will learn a few words soon.  He also pushes things away he doesn’t want with amazing speed and accuracy.  At Gymboree he learned to clap and make stars with his hands while we sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Caden’s favorite activity by far is exploring.  He hardly even plays with his toys.  Opening and closing a door can entertain him just as well as any expensive toy.  He is very hard to contain.  Our house is so old that most of our doors don’t shut right.  Caden has discovered the trick to opening all the doors leading out of the playroom.  I spend a large portion of the day retrieving him from the office where he goes looking for Dada or any other fun strangers (aka clients).  We are starting to realize that a separate studio and house is going to be a necessity in the not so distant future! He has a radio flyer ride-on race car that he loves to push around the house.  He pushes it until it hits a wall or piece of furniture and then moves around to the back and pushes it all the way the other way.  This entertained him for a full 20 min one day, which in Caden time is an eternity!  He also loves talking into paper towel and wrapping paper rolls.  We take turns making funny noises and it cracks him up.  Of yes and always on the top of the list is playing with the dogs!

We went on our first family trip this month!  We started in Crested Butte, Colorado where Adam shot Kyle, our studio manager’s, wedding.  It was a beautiful place!  Unfortunately Adam came down with a stomach bug the morning we left, by the time we got to Colorado Caden had it, and by the next morning I had it.  Adam and I were fine within 24 hours, but Caden had a much rougher time.  There is nothing more pitiful and messy than a baby with a stomach bug!  I hope that it never happens again!  We spent 4 days in Crested Butte.  Caden and I didn’t leave the hotel for the first 3 days, but on the fourth we ventured out in the afternoon to enjoy a beautiful day.  That was Father’s Day.  The next day we flew to Chicago and met up with Adam’s immediate family for a few days in the city before heading to Wisconsin for a family reunion.  Caden was such a trooper!  Word of advice, don’t plan a multi-destination 10 day trip as your first vacation with a baby.  We had a comic amount of luggage between all of Adam’s photography gear, clothes for CO which got in the 40′s and Chicago which was in the 90′s, not to mention all the baby gear.  We’ve been home three weeks and I’m just starting to recover and Caden still isn’t back to sleeping through the night again!  It was great to see extended family though and super nice to have so many baby wranglers

Enjoy…

These are some fun fish eye shots of us playing in the playroom

Sometimes he can be a challenging subject

I think he looks like he is posing in front of his little empire…

We went to the Children’s Museum with his cousin Aaron.  They had fun, although I didn’t get a photo with them smiling!

How cute!  They are buddies!

I love the tongue sticking half way out like he has to concentrate on walking.

This is in Crested Butte.  We found it abandoned in an alley way.  Can you say perfect prop!  We just couldn’t pass it up!

Caden finally met his Great-Grandma Julie while we were in Chicago.  That make 3 grandmas, 5 great-grandmas, and 1 great-great grandma.  What a lucky boy!!!

Caden decided to play in the window display of the coffee shop across from our hotel in Chicago.  He was just so cute and we were so tired we let him

Of course he had to climb something!  He is kneeling on an old radiator.  I think he was probably the cutest window display on Michigan Avenue, but what do I know I’m just his mom

Thanks for looking!  Check back Friday for his First Birthday Post!!!