Kaden is 3 months!

Kaden is 3 months old! Our growing boy now weighs 12 pounds and is starting to outgrow his 0-3 month clothes. He's still sleeping through the night, which I'm thankful for. During the day, he's on a Baby Wise eat-wake-sleep schedule. Basically he eats, is awake and playful for 30 minutes to an hour, then goes down for a short nap before waking up and demanding more food. It's a little draining, but it's much easier for me to feed him now that he eats at regular intervals instead of cluster feeding every night.


This month we've seen many new signs of mental development. He's now able to track things with his eyes that move in an arc across his field of vision. He also likes watching James and I as we move around the apartment. There have been times where Kaden is sitting in the living room with James, but I can see him following my moves as I'm cooking in the kitchen. His hand-eye coordination is also starting to develop. He can successfully bring his hands together, and is learning to reach for and grasp onto things placed near his hands. Of course, everything he gets his hands on goes straight into his mouth. Buttoning up his pj's is a new challenge because any time my hands get close to his face he wants to suck on them! Yesterday he managed to put his pacifier into his mouth without help. Of course - he was holding onto the mouth piece and chewing on the handle... But hey, it kept him occupied for a while. ;^)

 The only thing he enjoys more than exploring with his hands is playing with his feet. Our little boy is so flexible. If he's on his back, his legs are reaching for the sky. His favorite game is kicking out at me while I change his diaper and trying to get a reaction if he makes contact. He also loves gripping things with his toes. I've often wondered if he'll end up being a soccer player someday.

He still hates tummy time, but we're finally seeing some progress. He's strong enough to hold his head up at a 90* angle, and consistently rolls over from his front to his back! He's getting close to rolling from his back to his front too, but I have a feeling that will only happen once. As soon as he flips over and finds himself on his belly, he will get angry and never do it again

Over all, he has achieved every developmental milestone except one. We are still eagerly awaiting the day when he'll start giggling. He smiles a lot and is very vocal, but no laughter yet. Such a serious baby! I find myself getting frustrated and quoting the movie Gladiator after several minutes of making faces and tickling him: "Are you not entertained??!"

Ah, well. Kaden continues to teach us patience. Maybe some of his goofy relatives will get him to laugh while we're visiting the States next week! Since this month marks his first airplane ride, we did a travel themed 3 month photo shoot. Enjoy these snapshots of our international baby!

Play Date

 Recently we had Jack over to play while Jordan went to the gym. Not much to report. But I love watching our boys grow. It will be so fun getting them together several years from now and showing them pictures and videos from when they were babies. Truly best friends for life!

Kaden being nice and sharing his play gym with Jack

Looking like little carbon copies of their daddies!

Halloween

Happy belated Halloween! We had a fairly relaxed holiday. Kaden and I created a couple of simple costumes out of things we had lying around the house (he was a baseball player and I was Minnie Mouse). Then we handed out candy to all of the trick-or-treaters who stopped by. We managed to give away several bags full of sweets that night. Somehow it seems like cheating to trick-or-treat in an apartment building, but what can you do?

Instead of a traditional Halloween party, our squadron chose to throw an elaborate 1920's themed murder mystery party in the O'Club bar the following weekend. We all dressed up as mobsters and flappers and had fun trying to figure out who dunnit'. Since James and I had Kaden with us, we decided to simply be bystanders instead of having an assigned role in the story. It probably would have been more fun if we participated a bit more, but we enjoyed simply being out and spending time with our friends. They all went really over the top with their outfits and acted the part the whole night. Very amusing indeed!

James sporting his new tux and white dinner jacket he had custom made as a birthday gift

Kaden donned a onesie with a bowtie for the occasion

My handsome men!

Me and Kristen, our squadron commander's wife

Caleb played an obese mob boss. Check out Jack's rolled up pants. SO cute!

All of the guys!

Me with some sweet ladies

Thankful for a night out on the town! We love costume parties. =^)

The Weather is Changing...

Fall has definitely arrived here in Korea. It's chilly outside, our building is often buffeted with howling winds, and the mornings are so grey and foggy we can barely see the buildings across the street. The leaves turned all shades of vibrant yellow, red and orange. I always enjoy autumn in Asia. It really is beautiful. But I know that a brutal winter is just around the corner so I'm taking advantage of every opportunity to take Kaden out for walks before we're stuck inside for days on end. We will all need to bundle up a lot more in the coming days. I'm thankful for lots of cute layering options for our little man!

Keeping warm in his bear hat from Japan!

Appreciating the Father

One of the greatest things about having a baby is that I'm learning to understand and appreciate my Heavenly Father so much more. Of course I've read the verses and done the Bible studies that talk about our Abba and how He knows what's best for us, is always working for our good, and disciplines us out of love. But I don't think you can fully understand it until you have a child of your own.

He's a little person made in my image, whom I loved and wanted before he was created. Even though he perpetually does things against my will and frustrates me and I know that he will continue to do so for the rest of his life, I still love him - so much. More than he'll ever really comprehend. If I had the ability to force him to be perfect, I wouldn't do it. There is so much joy in seeing him grow, learning to do things correctly on his own, and choosing to smile at me and reach for me and call for me when he needs something. It has also challenged the way I respond to the way God chooses to work in my life. When I look down at my little son throwing a temper tantrum, I see my sin reflected in his red, scrunched up little face.

The thought first stuck me during one of our painful daily tummy time sessions. Kaden absolutely loathes tummy time. He can be the happiest baby with a big grin on his face. But as soon as you flip him over on his belly, the coos change to screams of frustration. I know he's fine. He's just lashing out because he's not in control. All he can see in his limited field of vision is the floor in front of his face and all he can feel is the hard surface pressing on his stomach. It's not the warm, cuddling embrace he's used to. He wants something to change and so he begs me to reach down and rescue him. Literally. I know he doesn't know what he's saying, but he learned early on to say "mama!" when he's distressed. It's so heartbreaking to hear him crying my name but knowing I need to restrain myself for his own good.

He may not be able to see me, but I'm right beside him. Not only do I know that he is perfectly fine in his current situation, but I know that overcoming this challenge is crucial for his mental and physical growth. I have a hard time watching him suffer. But I love him too much to completely take away the proverbial thorn in his side. I won't spare him the tummy time because it's important. But I'll stay by his side and comfort him. I won't leave him there longer than is good for him (giving him more than he can take). But I will continue to push him till he becomes the best possible version of himself. He may not understand why I put him through this everyday and be angry at me while he's fighting through it. But I know where this will lead, if he will trust me. I look forward to celebrating each milestone as he rolls over, starts scooting, then crawling and finally walking and running!

It's not a completely perfect metaphor. But I understand God's fatherly love on a deeper level now and feel I can trust His guidance a bit more as I hurdle each obstacle life gives me. I may not always see or understand what it is He's doing, but I can trust that He loves me and is working for my good. I will grow and mature much faster if I stop fighting Him and, instead, follow His instruction. I may be comfortable where I'm at, but He promises that He's got something even better in store. So I've got to build up my endurance and my spiritual muscles to ensure I'm up to the task. =^)