Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Kaden 7 Month Update

 Kaden is 7 months old, and growing by leaps and bounds. He reached several big milestones this month. First of all - he has finally doubled his birth weight! Also, he has learned to sit up, cut his first two teeth, and is very close to learning to crawl. I'm always amazed at his strength. He may be a little small for his age, but he is tough.

Look at those chompers!
This next phase will be interesting now that he's much more mobile. I still remember the first day when I discovered that he was able to move on his own. I set him down on his play mat while I went into the kitchen to grab a snack. I came back a minute or two later, and this is where I found him:


Since then, he's been exploring more and more of the living room. This has driven us to begin baby proofing the apartment. I don't know if you can tell from the photo above, but we've changed the orientation of our modular Asian entertainment center so the TV is up higher, the electronic components are hidden and the ends no longer resemble a staircase. We also moved everything valuable or breakable out of reach. That piece of furniture is still a small child's dream - covered with drawers and sliding compartments and all kinds of knobs and handles. He will be learning the phrase "No touch!" very early on...

He can't crawl yet, but it's amazing how quickly he can make his way around the room. He doesn't really army crawl either. He just sort of barrel rolls to his desired location, then he pops up on his forearms and pivots to face a certain direction. Then he starts sucking on the furniture. haha. He's trying very hard to get his body to move in a forward motion while on his belly, but he can't quite figure it out yet. Mostly he strikes a Superman-like flying pose and screeches in frustration. It's very funny!

 This video shows how he rolls and pivots

Now that he's learning to push up and move around, we need to drop the level of his crib. It is very cute seeing him peering over the edge of his crib at us when he wakes up in the morning, but we don't want him to figure out how to climb out just yet.


I know I'll regret saying this in a few months, but I'm actually looking forward to him being more mobile. I think he'll be much happier and will wear himself out so sleep will come much more easily. Also, I think we're both bored of being cooped up inside so it'll be fun to get outside and explore when the weather warms up. We've gotten pretty good at bundling him up in his various cute warm weather clothes and going for walks, but he's still restrained in his car seat the whole time.


 I am so thankful for the jumperoo we borrowed from our friends. Kaden loves it and it keeps him entertained (and safely immobile) while I get things done around the house. I thought you all would like to see a video of him playing in it. You can how he talks to himself and manipulates the toys. Very cute!


Another daily activity that keeps his entertained are his first "piano lessons". He is clearly musically inclined and so I've had fun introducing him to my keyboard. He loves banging on the keys as I change the different sounds (from grand piano to organ, strings, etc.) It's also adorable because he wants me to play with him. I can't do much while holding him except for some simple one-handed chords and scales. But if I ever stop playing he reaches down, grabs my hand, and guides it back to the keys. ADORABLE!! Below is a video we took of him starting to "play". I'm sure we'll have more next month as he continues exploring the keyboard.


Generally, he is a happy, healthy baby. We love that he's getting more and more interactive and that we get to hear him giggle more frequently. (His daddy is still the best at making him laugh.) He's learning new vowel sounds like B's and L's. We're anxiously awaiting the day he'll be able to say "Dada." But as always, he's teaching us the meaning of patience!


Below are some fun, March-themed photos showing how big our boy is getting! Green shirts for St. Patricks day and a shot showing his support for daddy's silly pilot tradition: Mustache March!


This is one of those shots where I think he looks like my dad
Superman flying pose!

Friday, March 14, 2014

First Fiend Fini Flight

Wow. Try and say that title five times fast. ;^)

This week, I finally got to go out to a fini flight! It seems strange that we've been here for several months, and I haven't been able to go to one yet. But the combination of only having one car (which means I often do not have a vehicle) and the logistics of getting the baby out on the flight line and working around his "nap schedule" (ha) has prevented that so far. Thankfully, now that I've found a good babysitter, I can go to things like this again!

Laura Smith is my fellow shutterbug in the squadron and really wanted to get some good pictures of her husband Tyler's final flight in the F-16. They are headed to Luke AFB in Phoenix where he will soon begin training to fly the F-35. It was a big day for their family. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating. We had to wait in a covered haz for the jet to arrive because it was pouring rain outside. The dismal weather didn't dampen our spirits though, and we still got lots of great pictures!

waiting for daddy
 I can't wait to get Kaden a little flight suit and for him to get excited about airplanes!
Large turn out - all waiting in the rain
Lovely ladies sporting our squadron colors!
Waving as Tyler arrived. Unfortunately, a truck got in my way so I missed his reaction.
Big smiles in spite of the less-than-ideal flying conditions
The other pilots got him good...
Yes, our pilot traditions are strange... We hog tie them with duct tape and spray them with water because we love them...
Shaking hands with the commander
James was a part of his final four ship so I got this cool pic
The whole group. Harrumph!
Farewell, Smith Family! You will be missed.

Pumpkin Duck Farewell

One of our goals is to get out the gate and experience new things. Usually if we get out of the house with Kaden, we end up doing the same old things... (Thai food, anyone?) So when our squadron held a hail and farewell event at a popular Korean restaurant, we made an effort to attend. This restaurant is very unique. I'm not sure what it's really called... but we all call it "Pumpkin Duck" because their specialty is chopped duck slow roasted inside of a pumpkin. Sounds odd - but it's delicious! The restaurant was packed, so I had fun taking pictures. Lunch was very enjoyable (Kaden also enjoyed his squash). We were also glad we could be there to say farewell to a couple of our friends. Now that we've been here for several months, we're finally reached the point where we're starting to say good bye to our friends, not just "those guys". You know?  I'm thankful the Air Force is a small community and we may run into them again in the future. Till then, Harrumph!

Kaden sporting some squadron garb and showing his support for mustache march.
Table full of friends. Kaden is eyeing the cold, pickled Korean side dishes suspiciously...
The staff bringing out the pumpkin ducks and opening them up! They smelled amazing!
The baked pumpkin underneath the meat was the best because it was infused with duck fat.
More friends!
This photo only shows about half of the room. Incredible turn out!
Good Bye, Tyler and Laura! You will be missed!

A Glowing Fiendette Show

 Friday, February 28th was a big night in our household. That was the first night I've been able to leave Kaden with a babysitter so I could go out and enjoy some fun with the ladies in my squadron! Our new namees were hosting a 90's techno dance party themed Show of Colors, and I didn't want to miss the madness. Basically it just gave us an opportunity to do something crazy with our hair, dress up in neon clothes, eat pizza and cupcakes by black light, and dance around wearing glowsticks. :)

 Crazy Hair!!
It was a wild night...crazy introduction to our squadron for a couple new Fiendettes
 Before we named our three new Fiendettes, they provided us with some entertainment by competing in a series of "Minute-To-Win-It" type challenges to determine who went first. Examples of the silly stunts included placing a cookie on their forehead and trying to move it to their mouth without using their hands, or tossing ping-pong balls and trying to catch them on a piece of bread spread with peanut butter. It was a real nail biter... but in the end we had a winner!


It was a rowdy night, so our Sheriff had to spray people with silly string whenever they were out of line. I don't think it helped much. People were having so much fun!


I love these ladies. It was a memorable night for sure - and a great first foray into having a social life outside of motherhood again. I'm looking forward to this next season when I'm able to get out of the house a bit more and won't feel quite so left out. I love being a mom and spending time with Kaden. But having adult conversations is good too. =^)

Great illustration of the mood lighting that night!