Cade at 9 Months

I have gotten behind on my blogging, but Cade is officially 9 months!  Here are his current stats:
Weight: 20.8 lbs- yes, he's a big boy! ( he is at 50%)
Height: 28 inches (at the 30%)
Teeth: 0, yes he is still the toothless wonder.  Apparently I didn't get teeth until I was 12 months, and Cade seems to be following my lead.

Favorite food: Sweet Potatoes
Disliked food: peas, green beans, and peaches

Likes:  Anything he can chew/slobber on, watching his sister, doing anything physical- jumping, standing, ect, and taking a bath
Dislikes:  Being burped after his bottle, taking naps, getting diaper changed
On the Move: Cade is trying to crawl, but right now only goes backwards.  This makes him very frustrated!

Sleep: Cade is an excellent sleeper.  He typically sleeps 11-12 hours every night.  He is however a terrible napper.  He is still the king of the 30 min nap, and prefers to take 3 throughout the day.  I have tried every strategy out there to try and lengthen this nap.  Nothing has worked, so after 3 months of pulling my hair out, I have given up.  I would rather have a great nighttime sleeper than daytime.

Cade continues to be a happy, easy baby.  He is quick to smile and now does big belly laughs.  We are blessed to have him in our family.

Christmas, Part 2

  

 We flew back to Portland to be with everyone for the holidays. In our traditon, we celebrate Christmas again with my mom on the actual Christmas Day.  It was great fun, and the kids are truely spoiled. My mom had a smaller tree with ornaments set aside just for Sophie to decorate.  She was thrilled.

 We did our annual tradition of making gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve.  Sophie has gotten very skilled at decorating these, and puts almost as many decorations on the house as she does in her mouth.

 Notice she has banished Daddy, as she now wants to do everything "By Myself."  She now tells me several times a day that she is a "big girl,"  and "I dont need help, I can do it."

 Uncle Sam and Aunt Holly gave Sophie a scooter for Christmas.  Since it rained the first several days she decided that since she couldn't ride it outside, inside would have to do. Rosie the dog especially wants to thank Sam and Holly for this gift.  There were many close calls.

 Sophie opening up gifts Christmas morning. 

 Cade opening up gifts Christmas morning.

 Jen, Shaun and the kids came out for Christmas break and surprised my mom in the process. We were all thrilled, and the kids had a wonderful time together.  Unfortunetly, my camera was running out of batteries as soon as they came, so I do not have very many pictures of all the kids. The picture above was taken at the aquarium and its not very good, but moments after this was taken, Sophie decided that she was going to get into the touch pool.  We left shortly after, and might  have a lifetime ban of ever coming back.

 We got up early one morning to go to the zoo.  It was freezing out!  We were practically the only people crazy enough to be there- but we did get to see all the animals up close, including the new baby elephant.

 Jonas and Bekah were very sweet with Sophie the entire trip.  Here is Bekah lifting Sophie up to get a better view of the snakes.  We stayed in that room for a long time- it was warm.

All the kids gathered around the ipad, Jonas was kind enough to lift Sophie up onto his lap so she could get a better view.

Even though my kids were sick the entire time with colds, ear infections and then the flu- it was a wonderful vacation and so much fun to see all the kids play so well together.