Kaden's 9 Month Update

Kaden is 9 months old! What a milestone. I think my home weighing method must be faulty because he has definitely grown in the last month but the scale in the doctor's office says he only weighs 19 pounds 7 ounces. Even so, he is now in the 31st percentile for weight and in the 38th percentile for length as well so his growth is increasing. Yay! He's now exclusively wearing 9 month clothes and is very close to outgrowing his infant car seat. We've been trying out some new "big boy" things, like facing forward in our jogging stroller for short walks, and sitting up in the shopping cart at the commissary. He loves being able to see where we're going!

He is a busy and very mobile little guy. He is now fully crawling up on his hands and knees, has learned to easily transition between sitting and crawling, and can pull himself up to kneeling or standing if he gets a hold of something solid to steady himself. Needless to say, we've been doing a lot of baby proofing!

He also enjoys some more interactive play time. He loves looking out the window and points or coos when a car drives by. Generally, he points at things he wants to explore, touch or taste. He's also learned to roll a ball back and forth and knock over a tower of blocks. He also enjoys reading board books that have interactive elements (touch and feel or sliding doors).

He can't really say any words with distinct meaning yet, but he's starting to listen and make word associations. For example, whenever we say "Good job!" he claps. It's very cute. He also FINALLY figured out how to make a "D" sound so he says "dada" quite a bit. Never in reference to James, but it's encouraging knowing he will eventually get it.

As he's maturing, we've been able to take some big steps forward in the food department. He now has 4 teeth (front bottom and top) but he still has to gum his food so we can only give him things that are soft and smooth and dissolve easily. He's starting to learn to feed himself - picking up small chunks of banana and avocado and putting them in his mouth without help. We've also started experimenting with new food groups, eating yogurt and proteins like beans and finely ground chicken. He's much more picky now than he used to be but with persistence the list of foods he'll consent to eat is growing.

black beans ALL OVER HIS FACE

He still has a really hard time accepting new or unexpected things. He has completely overcome his fear of the bathtub. But we've had similar problems with new toys, objects or stimuli. You should have seen the way he panicked the first time I tried rolling his little foam ball to him. It took a few days to convince him it's a fun toy, not something alive and out to get him. While we're in the States I plan to work on his aversion to grass and sand so he will actually enjoy playing outside once he's able to walk.

I asked the doctor about whether this behavior was something to be worried about. (I know there's been a lot of discussion about the rising cases of autism in children and a possible link to vaccines. We don't really buy into that - but I think all new parents have that nagging fear in the back of their minds that there's something wrong with their child.) She conceded that his fearful behavior is unusual, but said there are no red flags in what I've described. As long as he is able to eventually adjust (which he always does) then he should be fine.

The one thing that is a perpetual source of stress for him is the church nursery. Poor thing. I know most kids have a hard time with the initial drop-off due to separation anxiety. But then they get distracted by the toys and their little friends and it's ok. Kaden, on the other hand, just clings to the workers the whole time and watches the activity sullenly from their arms. He's a sympathetic crier so he starts crying when any other kid starts to cry, and is very bothered by the loud bangs, crashes, screeches and yells the older kids make in play. I know it's important for him to be socialized and to get over his fear, so I'm not going to stop putting him in there. But it is hard for me to leave him knowing he's going to be miserable the whole time. =^/ I guess that's one of the hard things about attending a smaller church where the "nursery" hosts children from 6 months through 3 or 4 years old.

For the most part, when we're at home, he's a happy baby. It still takes quite a bit of work to get him to giggle. But it's worth it to see him smile and laugh!

Changing Command

This has been a bittersweet week. We have officially said farewell to our former commander, Jason "SMOKIN" Cockrum, his wife Kristen, and their two girls, and switched command to the Evans family. The Cockrums are our neighbors and have been so supportive of our family over the last year, so we are sad to see them go. But I know they're going on to bigger and better things, and our new Commander and his wife will do great.

Tuesday night the wives said a tearful and heartfelt farewell to Kristen at the coffee. As a farewell gift, we presented her with a painting commissioned by Claire months ago, and a framed Korea paper art piece depicting a beautiful bird flying out of a cage (her call sign is "FREE BIRD"). Then on Wednesday, a bunch of us gathered at the squadron for Smokin's fini flight. All of the kids couldn't wait to watch him get tackled and hosed down by the guys and his daughters. (All in good fun.)

Kaden was NOT a happy camper. He hates his earphones.

Thankfully Daddy got out of his debrief in time to hold him so I could take pictures.

The commander's final flight in his jet

Kristen and the girls watching him arrive

What a patient father. He got her back with a big, wet, bear hug though.

 Then on Friday, I got to attend a very nice change of command ceremony and reception for the Evans family. It was wonderful hearing some heartfelt words from both our former and new commanders and their visions for the squadron's future. We are very fortunate to be stationed at such an active base with a thriving community!

Assembled for the Change of Command

The squadron saluting the Ops Group Commander, Outgoing and Incoming 36th Commanders

OG Comander Col. Clark, SMOKIN', and our new commander, Lt. Col TULSA Evans

After a touching speech, Col. Clark presented SMOKIN' with an award

SMOKIN thanked the squadron and his family for their support. Gifts for the ladies!

Symbolically changing command

After the ceremony I caught this candid photo of the two of them

Bye, Cockrums! We will miss you!!

The Evans family in front of Lt. Col. Evan's new jet!

Big turn out for the reception. They provided a ton of delicious Mexican food!

James Update

Bored of only hearing what I'm doing all the time? Let's talk about James for a bit...

As I've mentioned in past posts, the guys are in that part of the year where they actually leave for short periods of time. In April, went TDY to Gwangju for 2 weeks for a joint training exercise called "Max Thunder" with the ROK Air Forces. Next week, he'll be flying to Alaska for 6 weeks of war games with the rest of the Pacific Air Forces. He's been to Red Flag Alaska (the exercise they hold there) multiple times with the Samurai, so he knows what to expect and is looking forward to revisiting some favorite restaurants while he's there.

When he's here at Osan, his work life is a little different than it has been in past years. James is currently working as the chief of Wing Training for the Operations Support Squadron on base. While this "attached" job takes him out of the fighter squadron chain of command for a while, it's a good resume builder and gives him some experience working with other parts of the force. Basically he is in charge of making sure everyone in the Ops Group gets the training they need. From my perspective it sounds like most of what he does involves reading and writing emails... But I'm sure there's a lot more to it than that. ;^)

Normally, being attached means he wouldn't get to fly nearly as much as he used to since he has to work at a desk in his OSS office a lot. BUT, they announced about a month ago that James can now start his Instructor Pilot Upgrade. This is a big deal. When he passes, he'll essentially be promoted through the ranks to a more experienced pilot with the authority to train new pilots and evaluate others during their flight lead upgrades. While this is an exciting and long-expected distinction, it's a very busy and stressful season. He has to completely change the way he thinks about flying now. Instead of only knowing how he can be the best tactical fighter pilot he can be, he has to understand every possible way one can execute a mission and figure out how to teach each individual pilot how to achieve his or her greatest potential. He is being held to a very high standard of excellence now, because he will be teaching young airmen and if he gives them incorrect information it could have dire consequences. He says his biggest challenge is condensing his briefs. There is so much that he wants to communicate, but he just doesn't have time. So he's having to return to basics and figure out what a new wingman would need to know, instead of crafting advanced missions, which is what he had been doing for a long time as a flight lead.

I'm proud of him and know that he will do great once he gets the hang of briefing as an IP. He's a natural teacher and really knows his stuff. :) Apparently, leadership thought he was doing a great job as a flight lead over the past several months because they awarded him the Flight Lead of the Quarter - first at the squadron level, and then at the group level! (Sort of like winning regionals and then state.) I'm not sure if he'd shared that fact with family so I wanted to brag on him a bit.

Since he's so busy with work, he doesn't have time for much else. His writing and other creative projects have mostly been put on hold. Although, he does still design patches for the squadron. They made and wore a patch he designed for Max Tunder, and will probably do the same for Red Flag. It's cool seeing his handy work on everyone's arms whenever I'm out at the squadron.

Due to Kaden's sleep schedule, we've had to stop attending the couple's Bible study off base. But James is still actively involved in a pilot's study on Saturday morning and has regular accountability meetings with Caleb. He takes time to read his Bible every morning before work and is generally growing and doing an awesome job as a dad and husband. We love him and will miss him a lot when we're separated in June. But I'm excited for the male bonding opportunities he'll have up there. He'll also have more time to devote to his upgrade since he won't have to divide his time between work and family. Hopefully he'll get certified before he returns home in July so life will be slightly less hectic then. But we'll see how things go.

If you're thinking of it and would like to lift him up in your prayers as he's going through this upgrade that would be much appreciated! He can use all the support he can get as he tries to manage his time and figure out how to accomplish his goals in a short amount of time.